texts:
Wagner is said to have described Mayerbeer's operas as follows:

(translated into English and originally written in German, probably.)

"Meyerbeer ... wanted a monstrous, piebald, historico-romantic, diabolico-religious, fanatica-libidinous, sacra-frivolous, mysterio-criminal, autolyco-sentimental dramatic hodgepodge ..."

I can never even guess what "autolyco-" means. I didn't find any definition in any dictionary in any language. But this is quoted in a few books.

What is the answer?


texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  Is audience singular or plural?

  During the final minutes of his speech,the speaker requested the audience to hold its applause.

Is the usage of 'its' correct in the sentence. Should it be replaced with 'their' ?

I am not sure of using 'its' because, the audience are not inanimate(like stones).


texts: Word / Phrase Assistance of Mother Nature

texts:
There is a word, "Qualia", in which details the subjective and qualitative experiences and sensations a person has. An example of this is immeasurable data such as the way listening to a stream or river makes you feel inside.

I'd love to find a phrase or word I can use in combination with this that sort of summarizes the Qualia "of nature" or "mother earth" without it being so long. I originally settled on "terra" but in the scheme of things it seemed to general.


texts: What is the difference between "owing to" and "due to"?

texts: "Due to" seems more common than "owing to" in modern English. Is "owing to" simply an old-fashioned way of saying the same thing, or is there a rule to using it?


texts:
Our software "knows" to migrate itself to spare hardware in case the main hardware is damaged. The process of such a migration is called failover.
When the main hardware is repaired the software can migrate itself back to it.
How would you call such a process?
We thought about "fail-back" (to stress it's a reverse of fail-over) and "fallback".
Thank you!


texts: Is there a more popular alternative to the term 'flexibilization'?

texts:
Flexibilization refers to the changing work practices by which firms no longer use internal labor markets or implicitly promise employees lifetime job security, but rather seek flexible employment relations that permit them to increase or diminish their workforce, and reassign and redeploy employees with ease.
Source: K. V. Stone, 'Flexibilization, Globalization, and Privatization: Three Challenges to Labor Rights in Our Time,' Osgoode Hall Law Journal 44, 77 (2006). (link)

The term is often used in other languages to characterize neoliberal changes in labor and labor policies, including the removal of social protection for workers (such as sick pay and dismissal protection). Importantly, the term flexibilization does not have the negative connotation of neoliberalism. Other than the latter, it is also used by business insiders who argue that companies need to be more flexible to be able to quickly adapt to new challenges.


texts:
Why doesn't the author just simply say "trusting your gut"?

  He lit up when talking about movies and people that have influenced him, particularly Billy Wilder’s “Sunset Boulevard,” which he said he discussed with Mr. Eastwood during the making of “J. Edgar.” They wanted to emulate how that 1950 film handled voice-over narration. But Mr. DiCaprio also seemed to go on auto pilot from time to time, answering in the way that actors tend to answer. (Lucky to be employed this, trusting your gut that.) And personal questions are not appreciated. Just why is it that he dates all of those supermodels?


texts: "While this was happening, Beijing played its hand skillfully" Does it sound natural?

texts:
"While this was happening, Beijing played its hand skillfully. Decades earlier, when China first embarked on its economic reform project, Deng Xiaoping, China’s leader until his death in 1997, urged subsequent generations of leaders to maintain a low international profile. "

I understand the meaning of the phrase that they took advantages of the situation. But does the phrase in bold sound natural, and are there any equivalent expressions?


texts: Is it okay to use "adequate/inadequate", to describe the quality of a product?

texts:
Is it okay to determine the result of a product's quality test as being either 'adequate' or 'inadequate'? The Oxford dictionary defines adequate as: Satisfactory or acceptable in quality or quantity.

But is it okay to say that "the quality is adequate"?

Thank you.


texts:
Is "John demands of science that it have logical consistency" correct grammar? I think this is called subjunctive mode. My doubt is the verbal form "have". Thanks.

Edit: Thank you all. So this is correct. It is counterintuitive to me because in my native Spanish, infinitive and subjunctive verbal forms are different.


texts: What do you call a person who has an interest to be a lecturer or professor?

texts: If someone has interest (means that they are doing something to achieve that) in being an academic, such as a lecturer for a university, if that person is having educational qualifications which are suitable for that lecturer position and if that person has not become a lecturer yet and if his/her profession is something else now, what is the best word to call that person? Can he/she be called as academic enthusiast?


texts: A word that represents a group of people working to achieve a common goal or dream

texts:
I am working on a project that involves bringing people together who share common goals or dreams.  Is there a word or phrase to describe groups of people who are working together to accomplish these common aspirations? People have suggested terms like "Dreamers", or "Goal-setters", but I am preferably looking for something a little more catchy.

Or are there any words/phrases that describe a person who accomplishes their goals. Perhaps then, I can then just pluralize that term.


texts: what do you call a person who is good at making improvements on the way things are done?

texts: I'm thinking of a skill or a characteristic trait that is descriptive of someone who is always asking him/herself: "How can this be done more effectively?"


texts: Is the phrase “Did you do that on porpoise?” a pun?  It doesn’t exploit multiple meanings of the same word but instead uses a different word that sounds similar


texts:
Can I reply to someone's ‘Thank you’ with ‘return good’?

For example:

  A: Thank you for all your advice and guidance.
  B: You're welcome, I hope it will return good on you.


texts:
Does "channel" in the provided context mean "to produce and consume"?

Context:

  Anand assumes that the objects she has gathered together constitute a
  material culture of urban life that is both banal and deeply
  historical. The land or soil continues to support the human histories
  that ferry back and forth across it; many of these human histories go
  undetected, moldering under layers of other objects and material in a
  landfill. Perhaps Anand makes a plea for us as viewers to consider
  making more conscious commitments to the objects that flow through our
  lives and that possibly contain the meaning of our existences, which
  should not merely be a function of how much of this stuff we can
  channel. It is a plea for a slower and more deliberate way of living
  with the objects we have around us (Art and politics by Claudia Mesch).


texts: Is the origin of the word "loot" a coinage as a result of the East India Company's behavior?

texts:
As a South Asian, I've long heard that the English word "loot" comes directly from the Hindi word lūṭ, meaning to steal or plunder, and was coined as a result of the East India Company's siphoning of huge amounts of wealth and resources from the British Raj (including modern-day Pakistan and Bangladesh).

Is this origin of the word loot correct, and what's the earliest use of the word in this context?


texts: Difference between "fell to the ground" vs. "fell on the ground"

texts:
What is the difference between the following two:

A young bird was flying in cold weather; after awhile, her wings froze up and she fell to the ground.
A young bird was flying in cold weather; after awhile, her wings froze up and she fell on the ground.

I understand that the first conveys the movement toward the ground, while the second merely says that she fell on the ground. But I am not sure which one to pick. Is there something more to the usage of these two prepositions?


texts:
As a non-native English speaker, who never says "Xth century" in my language, phrases such as:

  In the late 19th century, they invented a lot of cool stuff!

... always forces me to stop and think about what is being said. "Obviously", they mean the 1800s, but to my eyes and my brain, the first thought it that they mean the "late 1900s", AKA the 1990s. I have to really concentrate to make myself believe that they are talking about "one century prior to what makes sense".

Even when the context should make it more or less clear, just seeing that "9" in "19th century" brings my thoughts over to "the 1900s" rather than the "1800s".

Also, what if I don't know for sure that the author of the text is a native English speaker? Maybe that person has the same confusion as I, and he really does mean to say the "late 1900s"?

You can imagine how confused I used to be as a child to see "20th century entertainment" logos and whatnot in the beginning of popular culture TV shows... or when it changed to "21st century" when it had switched over to year 2000! For the longest time, I assumed that they just wanted to be "futuristic" and didn't even realize that "21st century" actually means "the 2000s"...

Is this a common confusion? Maybe even among native English speakers?


texts: Which is correct: a name or number was/were nowhere to be found.


texts: An expression that expresses I know someone can do their job

texts:
I complained to a company about one of their employees, and tomorrow the
owner is going to call me in to explain myself.

I know for a fact that he is going to say what he has done to that employee
and what kind of things he said to him. But it's important, logistically, that
I tell him that I know he (the boss) can do his job well and what he told the
employee doesn't really concern me, that all I want to do is solve the issue.

How can I say that? How can I say "I know you can do your job well;
what you told him doesn't concern me" in a single expression?

In Portuguese we have a saying that "one knows how to fry his chicken",
which means that I know he knows how to deal with the employee.

Is there such an expression in English?


texts: Mix active and passive voice in the thesis

texts:
I am starting to write my thesis and was told not to use passive voice. But the active voice pronouns "I" and "we" do not sound right somehow and I even found this link How to Write... encouraging active voice yet instructing not to use first person pronouns.

So I am planing to mix active voice with passive voice, such that when I refer to my work specifically I will use passive voice and else I will use active voice. I am not a native English speaker, but in my language this sounds fine. Moreover this link Mix... says it is okay in English too.

Is this good practice in dissertations?

If not is there any other solution to this problem?

For instance in the abstract I want to say "In this thesis I prove that the...". How can I write this sentence in active voice without using I?
Thanks a lot.

I believe my question is different from Style Question: Use of "we" vs. "I" vs. passive voice in a dissertation as I am asking about mixing two voices in same document specifically and not about using we vs I.


texts:
I'm looking for recommendations on how best to abbreviate the following demographic income range:

  1 below 3,000,000 Japanese yen (JPY)
  2 between 3,000,000 and 4,999,999 JPY
  3 between 5,000,000 JPY and 7,999,999 JPY
  4 8,000,000 JPY and above

Would it be correct to rewrite as:

  1 below 3M JPY
   2 between 3M and 4.9M JPY
  3 between 5M and 7.9M JPY
  4 8M JPY and above

Should the M for million be in caps or lower case, and should there be a space between the number and the m?


texts: Usage of this and that almost interchangeably

texts:
Here and there the usage of the words this and that look artbitrary and often completely interchangeably.

Example

  Today the politician Pete Brown stated that the CIA bribed the
  president's advisors. This is of course not true.

The word this in the above sentence should refer to the sentence itself shouldn't it? And the sentence should be more correct if it was "That is of course not true."

Is my observation true? If yes, why is that ("this(?)") often done?

Isn't the word this a self-referential word so that logically, saying This is not true is a contradiction in terms?


texts: Why does the Greek letter lambda often get substituted for the letter A?

texts:
It happens a lot with commercial products, for example the car company Kia.  Except they spell if Kappa Iota Lambda (KIL).  Why?  That is just one example among many I see nowadays.  Are all these companies just trying to be cute or is there something I don't know about?  Is it now acceptable to use lambda for A?

Edit:

This was originally a comment, but I thought it appropriate to edit the question.

If this is just one company's stylization then I would say it would be off-topic and would not have asked the question.  But I see this EVERYWHERE.

Duncan Donuts stylized the word doughnut, but now, "donut" is considered an acceptable spelling.  And that's just one company.  And phonetically, it's correct.  "Nite" for night is used too, and it's phonetically correct as well.

If Duncan Donut's stylization can change the English language, why can't the use of lambda (and yes, folks, it is a lambda) lead to a change as well?  I don't think people are appreciating the ubiquity of this "stylization."


texts: “Thank you for your kindness, but I am not fond of this”

texts:
Suppose somebody gives you something — for instance, a chocolate — and you do not like it, so you give it back to the person.  Is it then correct to say something like this:

  Thank you for your kindness,  but I am not fond of this.

Which I think means:

  Thank you, but I don’t like it.

I think it sounds formal.


texts: Which is correct: "A contact between green and red balls/a green and a red balls/a green and a red ball"?

texts:
I'm writing a technical paper, where I discuss the behavior of contacts between two slightly different materials. What is the correct way to write it:

A contact between a green and a red balls
A contact between green and red balls
A contact between a green and a red ball

It sounds very simple, but I couldn't find a clear cut answer in any of my text books. I need to make it clear to the reader that I'm talking about a single contact between one red-type ball and one green-type ball.

Many thanks for your help!


texts: More accurate synonyms than "Mayan apocalypse"

texts:
When describing this announcement by Australia's Prime Minister on an language learning website, the best term I could come up with was "Mayan apocalypse". It felt a little inaccurate, as it's neither an apocalypse happening to Mayans, nor an apocalypse predicted by Mayans.

Wikipedia uses the term 2012 phenomenon, which is a little vague, and one blog used the term "Mayan moment", which confused one person enough to ask a question about it.

Are there any more accurate synonyms for "Mayan apocalypse" that are still reasonably concise?


texts: A word that simultaneously means caring and not caring?

texts:
I'm trying to write an essay about teenagers and modern society (I'll spare the details), and I am looking for a word that describes the attitude of both caring about everything (eg. Marks, Social Standing, Achievements), and yet not caring about everything (eg. not doing homework, procrastinating, purposefully aggravating others) The word would describe a person expressing both attitudes at the same time.

Anyone have any ideas?


texts: Which is correct: "while away" or "wile away"?

texts:
Instinctively I wrote "wile away the hours", but on reflection that didn't seem right, given what "wile" is usually taken to mean. Then again, "while away" doesn't seem to make much sense either.

Which usage is correct, and why?


texts:
The term supernatural often refers to things like ghosts, magic powers or special abilities, or a general sort of "magic".

I was wondering if there is a specific word for the supernatural within a religious (esp. Christian) context - things like possession and exorcism, the devil, demons and angels, miracles, magic rituals etc.

E.g.

  The movie involved themes of the supernatural

But replacing supernatural with something more specific to the religious context.

EDIT: the Exorcist series of movies is probably the quintessential example of this theme in action.


texts: What is the difference in meaning between criticism and critique?


texts:
I was watching a show and there was a dialogue

  Her blood flows through my veins.

Why do they say veins? Why not arteries?
What is it's origin?


texts: What do you call this bathroom item that is filled with water for people to dip their feet in?

texts: Usually found in the bathroom. Also, in certain old films, you'd see characters dip their feet in them (they would be filled with hot water) in the winter.


texts: What rule prevents this usage of commas: "this research, see references [1] and [2], has shown some success"?

texts:
I am reviewing a journal paper and the authors constantly use sentences of the sort

"this research, see references [1] and [2], has shown some success"

It seems to me this is ungrammatical, and that it should be instead:

"this research (see references [1] and [2]) has shown some success"

but what can I say to convince them? That is, what is the rule being infringed here?

Thanks.

PS: please note that my question was not on references format, but about English grammar in general. They are including a separate sentence (in the imperative) and separating it with commas, and that is what seemed incorrect to me, in the same way that

"I was watching this show, check it out tonight, that tells the story of a man (...)"

This seems fine as colloquial English but not as formal English. Is this the case and, if so, what is the reason?

Thanks.


texts: The Taller Girls of the Two Girls [Ellipsis]

texts:
I have a case in which the head of a noun phrase can be omitted.

  the taller girl of the two girls

First of all, can I consider taller a new head or should I only notice that the head is omitted (when translated into another language, the translator still has to use an equivalent and he has to write some note). I have read in some book a researcher considers taller a new head but I forgot.

Secondly, is this possible if I remove the second noun girls so we have:

  the taller of the two

Or may I delete only girls:

  the taller girl of the two

If yes, either case above, there will be no head?


texts: Can you use present tense and past tense in the same sentence?

texts:
In this sentence specifically:

  We managed to talk and share ideas between us which taught me how to communicate well within a team and makes me feel confident in my ability to communicate with new groups of people.

I say "which taught me A and B" but both A and B are different tenses. It seems to make sense to me, because this one event "taught me" something and also "makes me feel" something continuously.

is this grammatically correct?


texts:
Jack gave Billy a glass of some drink and asked him to add couple of ice cubes to it. Billy took the glass and went to the kitchen. Moments later he came back with the same glass of drink and some ice in it.

Should I use with or and?


texts:
What does the English phrase 'Vision Upon Vision' mean?
I don't remember where I heard it, must have been an online video, but I wrote it down to look it up later. Then I forgot about the phrase for a week or so, but just now I saw it written and I'm asking you.


texts:
Is this a correct usage of "to this effect"?

  I plan on coming to your soccer game on Sunday. Unfortunately, I cannot make any guarantees to this effect.


texts: Are Anglo-Saxon words better at expressing emotion?

texts:
Twice recently I've seen someone on this site state that Anglo-Saxon words, or words of Germanic origin, are better for expressing emotion than words derived from Latin.  Does anyone have any information about this? My intuition says that this has to be false.

One example is this answer to a question about four letter words, and the other is this answer about emotional writing.

Now, I'm not saying, and I don't think the original speakers were saying, that one language is better than another at expressing emotion, but rather that English words whose origin is one language or another are better for that purpose. This seems to me to be something that would be illogical, given that the emotions evoked by a word would depend entirely on what the reader put into that word.  However the certainty expressed by the two examples suggests to me that I may have missed something. This is a subjective question, but what I want to see is whether there is any evidence on this subject?


texts: Group of people that are always there for you

texts:
I am looking for a single word which refers to the group of people that are always there for you and supporting you to achieve your goals. In this case it's about friends, family and business relations. Is there a single word for this kind of group?

It's for a title that needs a single word.


texts: Can “the rubber meets the road” be used as a stand-alone phrase to mean “stop disaster in its tracks or keep it at bay”?

texts:
I didn't know the idiom, "the rubber meets (hits) the road." So I was drawn to the passage, “When it comes to Ebola, the rubber met the road at the Firestone rubber plantation” appearing in NPR’s (October 6) article under the title, “Firestone did what governments have not: Stopped Ebola in its tracks,” which reads:

  “The classic slogan for Firestone tire was “where the rubber meets the
  road.” When it comes to Ebola, the rubber met the road at the
  Firestone rubber plantation in Harbel, Liberia. Harbel is a company
  town not far from the capital of Monrovia. Firestone workers and their
  families make up a community of 80,000 people across the plantation.
  Firestone detected its first Ebola case on March 30, when an
  employee’s wife arrived from northern Liberia and was diagnosed with
  the disease. Since then Firestone has done a remarkable job of keeping
  the virus at bay.”

Obviously, the line “the rubber met the road at the Firestone rubber plantation” is associated with Firestone’s familiar product slogan, and is used here, I guess, to mean that the Firestone rubber plantation kept the prevalence of Ebola virus at bay.

I wonder if I can use the phrase, “the rubber meets the road at (place)” in the sense of keeping a problem under the firm control” as a generic mention, without any specific reference to the Firestone slogan.

Is “When it comes to Ebola, the rubber met the road at the Firestone rubber plantation” a nonce term?


texts: What do you call someone who accesses something?

texts:
For example, someone who accesses an IT system?
Edit: for clarity, I'm not assuming any intent or relationship.  For example, not a "hacker" or "vandal" or "client".  I'm looking for the most generic term.  I had considered "accessor", which seems natural, but I did not see that in my dictionary lookup.  I'm happy with that term, though, since it would be understandable to a reader even if not familiar.


texts: Can I use well received on professional emails

texts: I am a PhD student. Sometimes my professor sends me an email to inform me about something. Can I used well received to respond to her message ?


texts: What phrase means "the minimum you need to take part"?

texts:
A while ago I came across a phrase that succinctly described how a new or existing business might need to offer some basic service in order to compete meaningfully. It may have been sporting or gambling related. The sentiment was similar to a "barrier to entry". It went something like...

Coffee shop owners know that free wifi is what you need to play the game

Any ideas?


texts: What do electricians and mechanics "do"?

texts:
A carpenter does carpentry.
A scientist does science.
An engineer does engineering.
A blacksmith does blacksmithing.

(The grammar of these sentences may be poor; the point is to get the idea across.)

So then:

What does an electrician do?
What does a (car) mechanic do?

Or are there perhaps really no such words?


texts: Looking for an idiom similar to 'pros and cons' but with different meaning

texts:
I'm writing an essay where where the protagonist faces betrayal & hurt etc (negative things) but along with that she also experiences compassion & affection (Positive things). All the emotions at the hands of different people, so I want an idiom or a saying (if one exists) which u know explains that 'Where there is bad, there is also good' or 'When bad happens, good also keeps happening simultaneously' or something like that! I'm sorry if I failed to explain u clearly, but my English is not really good because it is not my native language!

Thanks in advance..


texts: What does this part of the sentence mean? "..where I had not so much arrived as simply stopped"

texts: "Perhaps because I was beginning to know all too well not indeed where I was going, but where I had not so much arrived as simply stopped"---whats the function of "as" before "simply stopped"


texts:
There is an expression I have heard used many times in conversational U.S. English but cannot recall ever seeing in writing: day of as an adverb, omitting the object of the preposition.
Examples:

"Should we pick a restaurant now?"
"Nah, we can decide day of." [Or: "... the day of."].

"The day of, the weather turned out to be terrible."

The implied meaning is "adv. on the aforementioned day (of some event)".
I've checked several dictionaries and haven't found anything. Google searches have been fruitless because "day of" is almost always the beginning of a longer noun phrase.
Is there any documentation of the phrase's usage and origin?


texts: "Kick off tracking time in the notepad" means start making notes or stop making notes

texts:
I'm not sure for 100% if "Kick off tracking time in the notepad" means to start or, otherwise, to stop tracking time in the notepad.

Could anybody explain?
Thank you.


texts: What is a proper word for time slowing down

texts: I've been trying to figure our a proper single word for the phenomenon of time slowing down . Is there any such word ?


texts: Word meaning a job someone is installed in where they don’t do anything

texts:
I’m looking for a word I’m struggling to remember that refers to a job or role which is inconsequential and usually created in order to install someone in a company, not based on their merit.

An example would be creating a vague new role for a friend’s son. The word I’m looking for refers to the actual job itself - it’s a noun that would replace the ‘job’ (e.g “they put so and so’s cousin in a ____”).

I believe the word may not be a strictly formal or technical word but I don’t think it was slang.


texts:
What is the difference between saying "a friend of mine once gave me a gift", and "my friend once gave me a gift".

If there even is a difference of course.


texts: Meaning, origin, and usage of “cor lummy”

texts:
I came across an expression I’ve never seen before when reading a Kate Atkinson novel. A quick internet search netted little information apart from a possible cockney origin as a  distorted form of “god, love me”.  Does anyone have any more information on meaning, origin, and usage?

Update

Here is the excerpt from the novel:

  ‘You’ve been in a fight!’ Amelia looked at him for the first time but when he caught her eye she looked away. ‘How exciting,’ Julia said.
  ‘It was nothing,’ Jackson said. (Just someone’s trying to kill me.)
  ‘What day is it today?’ ‘Tuesday,’ Julia said promptly. Amelia grunted
  something that sounded like ‘Wednesday.’ ‘Really?’ Julia said to her.
  ‘Cor lummy, how the days fly, don’t they?’ (Cor lummy? Who said things
  like that? Apart from Julia?) ‘I always think,’ Julia said, ‘that
  Wednesdays are violet.’ Julia seemed in an exceptionally merry mood.
  ‘And Tuesdays are yellow, of course.’


texts: "driving across the state" or "driving across state"?

texts: Is it "driving across state" like "driving across town", or "driving across THE state", like "driving across the country"?


texts:
When writing, one often needs to quote the name of a book. How should I do it properly? I have met all of the following kinds of quotation. Which one is correct and what's the principle?

An Introduction to Manifolds
AN INTRODUCTION TO MANIFOLDS
an Introduction to Manifolds
An introduction to manifolds


texts:
I must admit that I'm unsure whether or not this is the right forum for this question. It may belong to statistics and AI also. If there exists a more suitable forum, then tell me.

The thing is, I want to analyse a lot of English text for an AI project (Confabulation theory). Is there an online collection of freely available English texts? Books, news would be preferred — scientific texts will properly not do, due to large amounts of math etc.


texts: Should it be "100% donations policy" or "100% donation policy"?

texts:
Some charities have a "100% donations policy" or "100% donation policy" - e.g. "We abide by a 100% donations policy" - by which they mean that 100% of each donation donated to the charity will go to the charitable cause(s) (and not a penny will be deducted for administration purposes).

The question is: should it be donations (as a plural) or donation (in the singular) in the above policy? Or are the two interchangeable?

I'm guessing what they're really saying is We abide by a "100% of your donations" policy, in which case both (plural and singular forms) would make sense?

Or is the policy just worded badly?

Or am I just reading too much into this?


texts: Confusion about the meaning of "narrowly"

texts:
What does this adverb really mean? Sometimes I even cannot understand if it has negative or positive implication. Oxford has three definition for this word:

  Only just; by only a small margin. ‘the party was narrowly defeated in the elections’
  Closely or carefully. he was looking at her narrowly’
  In a limited or restricted way. ‘narrowly defined tasks’

My main problem is about this text:

  The man who is interested, narrowly interested, if you like, in
  poetry as an art, ought never to write about bad or indifferent
  poetry. The historian or the philosopher may.

I couldn't understand, by no means, what the writer try to convey by adding "narrowly interested, if you like".


texts: Should I use the past tense or present tense?

texts:
I am struggling to choose the correct tense for this question:

What were the names of the sons of Mahatma Gandhi?

OR

What are the names of the sons of Mahatma Ghandi?

His sons have passed away so I would naturally opt for 'were', but they are still his sons so 'are' seems more appropriate. Is this correct? Thank you.


texts: Unusual usage of the phrase "leave me alone"

texts:
Is the following phrase incorrect or awkward somehow:

I've been trying to make the ghost of you leave me alone.


texts: "My company is closed on the first and third Wednesdays of the month" -- Wednesday? or Wednesdays?

texts:
I have a hard time figuring out if I should plural days of the week in this situation.

My company is closed every Tuesday (or just "Tuesday"? or "Tuesdays"??) and the 1st and 3rd Wednesday... or Wednesdays??

I feel like I'm being thrown for a loop and can't get answers anywhere. Please help!


texts: the definite article in following sentences

texts:
Insert the definite article,'the', where necessary:
'Monkeys are intelligent animals. But they are not the most intelligent of all ___ animals'
'___ world opinion is against ___ aggression'
I'm a bit stuck on these problems from a textbook.


texts: How to say that a research topic is applicable for different purposes?

texts:
I want to say that my research topic is applicable for different purposes, or I can do a lot of things with my research work, or I have worked on a research topic which has a lot of application.

How can I say it? multi-purpose research topic? or versatile research topic? what is your suggestion?


texts: Is the word "on" pronounced like /ʌn/ or /ən/ instead of /ɔn/ when it is unstressed?

texts: Is the word "on" pronounced like /ʌn/ or /ən/ instead of /ɔn/ when it is unstressed in an American accent?


texts: What's the meaning of "Ye Olde Timers got Ye Olde Tired of this."?

texts: In a blog article posted by Joel Spolsky, there is a sentence saying "Ye Olde Timers got Ye Olde Tired of this." I don't know what the meaning is. I've checked the definition of "Ye olde" in wiki, but still couldn't understand. English is not my native language; can anyone explain the meaning to me?


texts: Is there a word analogous to "dual" for three or more options?

texts:
Let's say you have a sentence like

The circulatory system plays a dual role of carrying oxygen to the body's tissues and removing carbon dioxide to be expelled from the lungs.

However, what about

The circulatory system plays a _________ role of carrying oxygen to the body's tissues, removing carbon dioxide to be expelled from the lungs, carrying cellular waste products to the liver and kidneys for detoxification, and fighting disease through the production of antibodies.


texts: What does "crossed signals" mean in this context?

texts:
While reading Experts Exchange(EE) Community Newsletter, I came across a new phrase.  I'm trying to understand, what does crossed signals mean in this context?

Excerpt from the Newsletter:

  This time we mean it: Call it crossed signals. xxxx, one of Experts
  Exchange's site administrators, was supposed to host a meet-up at xxxx
  in Denver last week, but a mix-up in communications forced its
  postponement to Thursday, .... If you're so inclined, feel free to
  come bend his ear about anything EE; you can RSVP here; the beer is on
  us. ...

... and finally, what does the sentence "the beer is on us" mean?

Complete Newsletter is available here.


texts: What do you call when you clasp your hands to propel someone up a wall?

texts: I'm sure it had a name. It's when you clasp your hands (palms up) so the other person can stand on them and go up a wall (or a tree). Any suggestions?


texts: Is there an adjective related to solidarity?

texts:
Per Merriam-Webster (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/solidarity) the word solidarity means

  unity (as of a group or class) that produces or is based on community of interests, objectives, and standards

It comes from French solidarité (same meaning) which in turns comes from solidaire (characterized by solidarity).

Is there an adjective that means characterized by solidarity?


texts: Should I use Technopole or Technopolis? (or neither?)

texts:
I only find Technopolis in Lexico and not on Cambridge dictionary. I do not find Technopole in either, but I can see it is used on some books (
based on ngrams)

I want to describe:
A city or society characterized by (advanced) technology; (also) a center or area devoted to technological research, development, or production.

For example:
Nearly everywhere, incubators are a very important element of a technopole's offer.


texts: "I have blocked the user account" versus "I blocked the user account"

texts:
One of the tasks I have as site maintainer of a site is deleting spam reported from users. (The spammer account is blocked too, as part of the process.)

Which is the preferable sentence, or the most correct one, I should use?

  I have blocked the user account, and deleted the comments.

  I blocked the user account, and deleted the comments.


texts: What's the most appropriate name for non-italicized text: "roman" or "upright"?

texts: Let's say I am reviewing galley proofs, and the author has written some text in italics which shouldn't be. Would I write: “please typeset this word in roman” or “please typeset this word upright”? If both are clear and understandable, what are the differences?


texts: What is "The" meaning of "A Word" or What is "Without Article" meaning of "A Word"?

texts:
Hi I am talking with my English-native friend and my friend used the word "Comprise".

So I asked her "What is the meaning of the word Comprise?"

But I think comprise could have multiple meaning depending on its contexts, thus I think what is a meaning of the word Comprise? or just without article, What is meaning of the word Comprise?

I am confusing which one would be heard natural and adequate to Native speakers.

Any hint?


texts:
In the preface to a textbook for teachers, I saw the following sentence and am curious as to why "example" is not in the plural.

In the first edition of this book I acknowledged the help and example that I had received from a number of people, especially...

Obviously, there is more than one (teaching) example in the book.


texts: Opposite of ‘Irredeemable’ in Describing a Trait

texts:
I am helping a friend write a recommendation letter.

To me, he has one trait - tenacity - that makes him an excellent worker for his industry, as once he latches onto a problem, he persists in solving it, using all available resources.

I have a general sense of the word I want for that purpose: the opposite of irredeemable, as in, the one trait that makes him irredeemable is tenacity, but flipped in meaning.

Obviously, the direct opposite of irredeemable is redeemable, but instead, redeemable is more of a word to describe a trait that redeems a series of ‘negative’ traits, while I wish it to describe a singularly excellent trait, similar to how irredeemable refers to a singularly terrible trait. It also does not have the same dramatic effect of the word irredeemable.

One word I have come across that may be a good fit is ‘virtuous’, but it doesn’t nearly capture that aspect of excellence of a person due to one trait.

Any suggestions of a word that fits the bill? Specifically, a word that completes this sentence while giving a sense of excellence:

  The one trait that makes him _____ is tenacity; he never gives up on a problem, and employs all his resources to solve it.

More than one word is also ok, as long as they’re still adjectives. Also, feel free to let me know if there is a better way to word my question and/or title. Thanks!


texts:
How do you say the next sentence?

1) I told him to stay on the path while he was hiking, but he wandered off into the forest and was bitten by a snake

2) I told him to stay on the path while he was hiking, but he has wandered off into the forest and has been bitten by a snake

3) I have told him to stay on the path while he was hiking, but he wandered off into the forest and was bitten by a snake


texts: English Subjunctive: An Imposition from Latin?

texts: Often English grammar (as well as Koinê Greek, e.g "deponent", and probably others), has often been ruled by what I call "totalitarian grammarians" who impose Latin structures on it rather than doing a thorough internal study of the language; this is part of why the rules of classic English grammar can be so convoluted. (My father couldn't make any sense out of grammar in grade school but after studying linguistics is now a grammarian). Has English historically had a subjunctive, or is that an imposition of a Latin form upon the English construct that translates it? In other words, is there a more accurate description of what is often termed subjunctive in English?


texts: "When I say...I mean" or "When I said...I meant"

texts:
context:

  I live in a small town called Jiaxing. It is one-hour's drive away from Shanghai. When I say small, I mean it is small by Chinese standard——there is close to a million people living there...

In the above sentence, should I use I say or I said? Gramatically, it seems to me the past tense is correct, but intuitively, the present tense sounds better.

Thanks for your time.


texts: What grammar rules are being employed here?

texts:
I was talking to my wife (for whom English is not a first language); we had just returned from shopping, and had bought an item that I would have felt "awkward" buying by myself.

She said something along the lines of:

"If we had not bought this item today, you will have to buy it when you come back after your trip to Europe"

I corrected her and said, she should have instead said:

"If we had not bought this item today, you would have had to buy it when you returned from your trip to Europe"

She did not understand why she had to use past tense (would have had to buy ...), when we were talking about the future.

I had no answer, and was similarly surprised when I came to analyse what I was saying. What is the grammatical rule at work here?

As an aside, it appeared that the rule took the form of:

IF (SOME EVENT E DOESN'T HAPPEN):
    THEN USE PAST TENSE WHEN DESCRIBING WHAT HAPPENS IN ABSENCE OF EVENT E

For example:

If you had not inoculated your child against that disease, you would have had to spend a lot of time worrying about your child catching the disease...


texts: A common word for something Simple yet Powerful

texts: As the title says: what is a common word for something simple yet powerful?


texts:
In Norfolk, in my youth, people would always talk about the nights pulling in in  the months running up to Christmas, when daylight would be reduced to approx. 7.5 hours a day. In the spring the nights would draw out, till daylight at the solstice reached about 17.5 hours.

So my recollection is that the nights pulled in and drew out.

This morning, following the clocks changing back to GMT for the winter, I have heard some people on TV talking about the nights drawing in.

So do they draw in or pull in?


texts: Meaning of "I'll hardly have time for a rubber"?

texts:
I encountered this expression in the book Sea Glass by Anita Shreve and can't figure out what it means. (Actually, I have a few ideas but want to know the correct meaning.)

  "I'll hardly have time for a rubber before we land."

A woman is talking about her upcoming trip on a luxury plane, a cabin with six rooms. The time is 1929. Thank you for your help.


texts:
There's a Hungarian saying, "akinek nem inge, ne vegye magára". A literal translation is "if it's not your shirt, don't put it on".

Practically every dictionary I checked equates it with the English saying "if the cap/shoe fits, wear it", but to me, the meanings are precise opposites: the Hungarian saying means "if you don't think the criticism applies to you, why the heck are you getting offended?", while the English expression is more like "if the description applies to you, then guess what: so does the criticism".

Is there a better English equivalent to this saying? Does anyone ever use "if the shoe doesn't fit, don't wear it", and would anyone know what it's supposed to mean?


texts:
For the phrasal verb to throw something up, as it to toss an object in the air, is this sentence OK, or is it interpreted as John vomiting out a ball?

(I) John threw up a ball

My intuition is that this would imply John ejected a ball from his stomach through his mouth.  To get the reading where John tosses the ball in the air, I would need the particle up to follow the object.

(II) John threw a ball up.


texts: Difference between: Also, too and as well

texts:
I understand that the correct usage of also is with a verb:

  She was smart, she also studied so much.

However, my trouble is with too and as well, I have been reading and I just found that as well is not common in American English, and regarding with the examples that I have found, those adverbs have the same meaning and you can use them in the same way and always at the end of the statement.

  She was smart, she studied so much as well.
       She was smart, she studied so much too.

How much of that information is true?


texts: Words to describe a person who frequently asks questions even though they know the answer

texts:
I have an annoying friend that he frequently asks me questions in which he'll be the one to answer at the end if I can't answer his questions. Here the situation goes:

  Friend: Hey Jay, do you know the medical term where the nerves intersect, i.e. in the spinal column, that's why right brain hemisphere controls the left side of the body and vice versa?
  Me: No. I really have no idea. Sorry.
  Friend: It is called "decussation".
  Me: Oh okay.
  Friend: Now, what do you call a person who frequently asks questions even though they know the answer?
  Me: Hmmm I don't have the slightest idea.
  Friend: It is ______, Jay. You really need to read books.
  Me: WTF!
  (annoyed)

Is there a way to describe this kind of personality?


texts:
I was surprised to find that the EL&U spellchecker refused 'fuddy-duddy' and was disappointed not to find any further information in the EL&U archives, so I branched out on my own.

Phrases.org states :

  Duddy was a Scottish term meaning ragged - duds having been used to refer to rough tattered clothes since the 15th century. That usage continued for some centuries and is still heard occasionally, notably in the popular 19th century traditional song The Blackleg Miner:

It also quotes 'the breekums on thy fuddy' (1833) but misunderstands 'Scots dialect' about a certain part of the anatomy.

And finally we have :

  Duddy fuddiel, a ragged fellow (1899).

The Ngram shows no preference AmE to BrE and begins around 1900, rises steeply in 1940 for some obscure reason, then settles down.

But none of this actually tells me anything about the way I, personally, use the expression to describe my own, old-fashioned, sometimes fussy and objectionable self, betimes.

Wikipedia has a half-hearted go at it :

  may have originated as a fused phrase [...] American English, of uncertain origin.

Can anyone shed further light on this ?


texts: Difference between anything but and anything other than?

texts:
If I say "anything but ordinary", it means it is not ordinary, it is unique and different.
What if "anything other than ordinary"? Does it mean the same as "anything but ordinary" or does it simplify emphasize the state of being ordinary?


texts:
A headline today reads UBS Says Rogue Trader Lost Firm $2 Billion In Unauthorized Dealing.

Apparently, the meaning is that because of this trader, UBS lost $2 Billion.

Yet, the headline somehow sounds strange in my ears, but that could of course be because
I am no native English speaker. I realize that it's okay to say Someone gives someone something, so maybe this is the same construct (Someone loses someone something).

Anyway, is this headline correct and proper English?


texts: Replacing must when conveying logical deduction

texts:
Can I use have to/ have got to to replace must when expressing an inference?
Let's take this sentence for example.

"There must be a catch"

There has to/ there's gotta be a catch.


texts: What's a word to describe a person being deliberately unclear/obfuscatory

texts:
I had mistakenly thought that if you said a person was being 'obtuse' it meant that they were being deliberately unclear. I want to describe a frustrating exchange with someone from an organisation who was professional in their manner but deliberately avoiding direct answers to my questions, (because they seemed to have an agenda not to help me).

What is the word to describe a person that does that?


texts:
My husband very often responds with obvious responses that I just want to roll my eyes and I need to find out why he does it or at the least tolerate it if I know what he's doing.  He has many good qualities, but he's been doing this since I've known him.
Example:  We're in the middle of renovating a room in our house and I reached out to flooring company from the other side of the country who had a product that I was interested in, so I supplied my phone number in an e-form.  We weren't quite ready to reach out since we're awaiting our interior decorator to get back to us on the flooring design, but the company was trying to get ahold of me via text/calling, doing his job reaching out several times more than I thought, but I hadn't responded back - my bad, so I asked my husband if we should call back and get some information on the flooring product they had to offer.  My husband said "he's trying to get back to you because he wants to get our business."  That was when I rolled my eyes, saying, of course!  What I was really getting to w/my question was when do we want to consult with the company. Do I need to be more specific moving forward to avoid obvious answers like this?   Anyway, I may have gone way to long on this explanation, but I'd to know why he does this and more importantly, is there a word for it.   He does this a lot to a lot of people in many different conversations.  I think people tolerate it, because he is such a thoughtful  & nice man.


texts: Which would be the english word for "perroflauta"?

texts:
This is a Spanish slang word, usually used despectively which refers to certain type of people with usually extreme leftist or progressist ideas (meaning with progressist ideas things like being pro-abortion, pro-multiculturalism pro-inmigration pro-feminism etc) that are seen on street playing a flute and near to a dog, which usually have looks which don't match with what people consider serious. It's also commonly used as an insult for people that show that extreme ideas whatever their looks are. I'm leaving this link to some google images to show the meaning more graphically.

I'd like to know which would be the word that describes those meanings, or maybe the different words that exist for each one (maybe one describes the person and another one is used as an insult).

For example:

For the person

That guy over there that's playing the flute is a [searched word]

And for an insult

Your ideas are extremely ridiculous. You are just a [searched word] that doesn't even shower himself!

Thanks for your help.


texts: Is "you can't have it both ways" impolite? What's a polite alternative?

texts:
When I've said "you can't have it both ways" to my boss, and my former professor, they reacted negatively. This leads me to wonder if this phrase is considered impolite. Is it?

If so, what's a polite alternative?


texts: Can you end a multi-sentence quotation with a comma?

texts:
This is correct:

"Rats," he said.

But this looks wrong to me:

"I left the oven on. Rats," he said.

I can't find any rules about whether you can end a quotation with a comma when there are periods inside the quotation. How would you write the second sentence?


texts:
What is the word for the action of telling the horse you are on to move forward, turn left, turn right, or the like?

I assume "driving" would be the easiest to understand, but it sounds like it does not fit a living thing like a horse.

The word "controlling" seems most accurate, yet controlling an animal gives negative connotations, does it not?


texts:
What would be the most frequent/common way of telling the time when the minute is between 01 and 09? Is there any difference between BE and AmE?

5:03 ->

1) five oh three

2) five three

3) three past five


texts:
What is the difference between "about" and "around" in following example ?

I'll see you around 6 O'clock.

I'll see you about 6 O'clock.

Now, I usually the first one, but I heard the second one on the phone from one of my friends (native English speaker).

Thanks.


texts: Is there a general word or phrase to describe the things you do after getting up, such as face-washing?

texts:
I'm looking for a more general word or phrase to describe the things like face-washing, tooth-brushing and gargling together.

The word or phrase is to these things as doing sports is to playing basketball, playing football and so on.

Is there such a word or phrase?


texts: I have confusion in using present and past tenses in writing about history of english literature.please this for me

texts: American literature is also divided into periods for convenience because of its common traits and characteristics. Naturally, the first phase of American literature is of colonial literature. This phase dawns with the beginning of America and covers the time period until 1776. Second is the age of reason that opens in late 1770s and remains until 1800. During this age, authors focused on reasoning rather than facts taught by authorities. After age of reason, romanticism replaces reality. Romanticism begins in 1800 and lasts until 1850. Gothic literature also stirs in this period as a sub genre of romanticism. This genre also includes the element of supernatural in literature.  Then is the era of transcendentalism (1840-1855). This period stresses on individualism and self-reliance. During the same period, anti-transcendentalism is taking place. Three simultaneously literary moments remains in the period from 1865 to 1015. First is the moment of realism.  Realism replaces romanticism. This is the reversal of objectivity in literature. Naturalism accompanies realism. The defining feature of naturalism is that it highlights forces that are not under control of human beings and it underlines pessimism. At the same time, regionalism is in fashion.  Writing about the specific geographical areas is the prominent feature of this literature. An epoch of experimentation with stream of consciousness, fragmentation and interior monologue follows age of realism. This period of unique style is the period of modernism (1915-1946). Literature since 1946 is called contemporary literature. We have plethora of genres in contemporary American literature. It includes fiction, fantasy, science fiction, horror, political writings, romantics, plays, poems and many other experimental writings.


texts: Manifesto, values, creed or doctrine for a secretive organisation?

texts:
When a secretive organisation adheres to a set of principles, was created just to safeguard those principles, then should that set of principles be described as a manifesto, creed or a doctrine? I'm lost on the subtle differences when I look at dictionaries, thesauruses and Wikipedia.

This organisation is not religious, but would probably be recognized as a somewhat evil sect from the outside. They have not publicized any of these principles.

The principles are stated in the same style the Agile Manifesto was originally stated, but it is not made public:

  Individuals and interactions over processes and tools

  Working software over comprehensive documentation

  Customer collaboration over contract negotiation

  Responding to change over following a plan

I'm again getting confused however, as the above lines are now headlined as the Agile Values, rather than manifesto. Perhaps "values" is better than manifesto, creed or doctrine, but the connotation implies something public to me.

Then there are the words dogma and ideology. However, the principles are stated explicitly within the company, principles to live and die by. So the word should indicate a material list of principles within a secret sect-like organisation. It's a word the organisation itself uses to refer to it.

Some insight is greatly appreciated.

/edit: I notice I dodge around the issue by using the word "principle"; I'm not ruling that out either.


texts: Is it OK when I say "I have a little request from you"? Is it commonly used?


texts: Abbreviation for fixed price of product sold in shops

texts: What is the abbreviation for the fixed price of the product being sold (resale) in consumer shops?


texts: Is it appropriate or polite to say 'I am here to educate you'?

texts:
When doing a presentation, is the following introduction

  I am here to educate you
  (or)
  Let me educate you

considered polite to say to an audience?


texts: "such intention" vs. "such an intention"

texts:
"Intention" is a countable word, so I think we should say:

  Trainers intend to help the participants, or they are employed based on
  such an intention.

But the word has been frequently used without "an". For example see Google Ngram Viewer

Is there any clear rule about using "a/an" for countable words?


texts: determiner "the" followed by adjective - parts of speech

texts:
In English, adjectives usually cannot function as noun or pronouns, at least not to the degree it is possible in German where you can do it without thinking.

  The old car sucked. The new is better.

In English, we'd need a "one" here to make it grammatically correct.
Now, in "Game of Thrones" they keep saying the following

  By the old gods and the new.

Here are my questions:

Is this old fashioned English?
Are there more examples like this?
Is there maybe a rule when such constructions are possible?

and finally:

How is the grammatical analysis of this? What is "new" here? Is it considered a noun? Or is it an adjective with the noun missing?


texts: "Obsequy" as a more concise synonym of "sycophancy"

texts:
Yesterday I was composing some text and found myself in need of a concise, formal word denoting an act or practice of servile, insincere flattery. As I mentally searched for the right word, the semantically-related words sycophant and obsequious came to mind, but neither was quite right for the job: sycophant denotes the actor rather than the action, and obsequious is an adjective rather than a noun. From sycophant I considered sycophancy, but that word just seemed too long and arcane. From obsequious I considered obsequiousness, but that word too is excessively long. Then I thought, what about obsequy? Wouldn't that be the root word of obsequious, just as calumny is the root of calumnious? Surely no one would describe slander as "calumniousness"!

To my surprise, however, I found that most dictionaries (e.g.,
AHD5,
Collins,
MW,
RH)
either don't have an entry for obsequy, or have only a redirect to obsequies—an obscure word I'd never encountered before, meaning "funeral rites". The few references that did have an entry for non-funereal obsequy simply defined it as "obsequiousness".

This surprises me. It seems to me that obsequy—meaning an act or practice of servile, insincere flattery—would be a useful word to have in one's arsenal. To what extent is it [descriptive!], or should it be [prescriptive!], acceptable to use the word in this way?

There are, of course, many other examples of {-ious adjective/-y noun} pairs; a few are acrimonious/acrimony, harmonious/harmony, parsimonious/parsimony, and sanctimonious/sanctimony.

(Incidentally, in that moment yesterday, I ended up throwing formality to the winds and chose ass-kissing. =)


texts: What do you call nested circles that are not concentric?

texts: The circles in the image don't have the same center, so they are not concentric. Is there a word to describe circles that overlap (completely or not) so that enclosed circles are smaller than the outer circles?


texts:
When school's off for more than three or four days, I usually don't write much (I prefer to type at home!) and so when I come back and hold my pen[cil], my fingers refuse to move like they normally do. My handwriting comes out all weird and I have to really make an effort to write something for the first few hours.

My question is, is there a word for this, except for maybe 'being out of practice'?


texts: "By clicking submit you agree..." or "By clicking submit you are agreeing..."

texts:
By clicking submit you agree to the Terms and Conditions.
  By clicking submit you are agreeing to the Terms and Conditions.

Which is correct? Why?


texts: What's the difference between ‘perhaps’ and ‘maybe’?

texts: I would like to know how to use them. Are they alike, or just two different words that can be used in the same way?


texts: Relationship between the word sodium and the word soda

texts:
I am a student studying chemistry and I am wondering about the relationship between the name of the element sodium and the word soda.

For example: sodium bicarbonate is also called baking soda, sodium carbonate is also called soda ash, sodium hypochlorite is also called chloride of soda etc.

What is the relationship between the two words?


texts:
I find myself using the word suboptimal quite a lot. In my understanding it is an understatement in itself, as suboptimal is not optimal at all and the subject needs drastic improvements.

Is this assumption correct?
Is this term feasible for a semi-academic paper?
Can it also be applied to other adjectives like sub-logical?
Is sub-optimal also correct?


texts: Person with single PhD is granted with title "Doctor". Is there any specific word for double doctorate?


texts: When Should I use 'the' with months, seasons?

texts:
Should I say:

There are four seasons of (the) year?
Today we will talk about  names of (the) months.


texts: Are both "in regards to" and "regarding to" correct?

texts:
Do in regards to and regarding to imply different meanings or is it okay to use them interchangeably?

Example:

  This mail is in regards to your inquiry.
  This mail is regarding to your inquiry.


texts:
In a sentence like

  How do you get to the train station?

What would be an appropriate answer (tense wise)? Could you say both of these two:

  I’ll drive you.
  I’m going to drive you.

I think both could be correct: the will one if you say it right after you’ve asked the question, and the going to one if it’s planned and you’re having that chat a week before or something.


texts:
'The Penance', a story of Saki, is about a dead cat. I am trying to understand a phrase in the following sentence from that story:

  That same evening when twilight was deepening into darkness Octavian took up his position as penitent under the lone oak-tree, having first carefully undressed the part. Clad in a zephyr shirt, which on this occasion thoroughly merited its name, he held in one hand a lighted candle and in the other a watch, into which the soul of a dead plumber seemed to have passed.

What is the meaning of the phrase 'dead plumber' in this context?


texts:
Can someone give me an account of the word wherewithal? According to etymonline it is a combination of where and withal. But withal means "in addition." So how does wherewithal come to mean "having the means?"

Additionally, what is the name of the phenomenon of two words joining into one - where + withal?


texts:
What do the three sentences imply?

  1) I thought I would never have been an engineer.

  2) I thought I would never be an engineer.

  3) I thought I will never be an engineer.

Does the first sentence imply that I am an engineer now?

I’m not sure what the second sentence implies. Could it imply that I’ve just become an engineer?

Does the third sentence imply that I’m not an engineer now?


texts: Can we say "I come not" or use "not" after verbs  like that sentence in English ?


texts: The implication of "the problem" or "the problems" in "I don't want to be involved in the problem(s) of my boss."

texts:
What is/are the difference(s) between the two sentences? Is it just the number of problems, or do they mean something different other than the number of problems?

I don't want to be involved in the problems of my boss.
I don't want to be involved in the problem of my boss.


texts:
In an academic paper I'm using thus to indicate the conclusion of an argument. Today my professor said that thus should not be used in the beginning of a subordinate clause and suggested to use whence instead. Here's some examples to show how I use thus:

  The substance did not freeze at normal pressure when the temperature
  dropped below 0 °C, thus it's not water.

  Lisa's evidence does not satisfy the epistemic standard, thus she
  doesn't know that p.

  Joel's utterance was offending, thus it was inappropriate.

Is it okay to start a subordinate clause with thus? Would using another word, e.g. whence, be more appropriate?


texts: Is there a single adjective to describe an attachment target?

texts:
I can attach a picture file to an email.

The picture file is "attachable", is there a single word adjective that describes quality of the email that it can be attached to?


texts: Is the phrase "Please be informed that" grammatically correct?

texts:
I have seen this phrase in many articles. It sounds a little bit odd to me.

Also, what could be an alternative to this? Can I use "please be aware" or "For your information" instead of this phrase?


texts: The book Martin Fierro has been divided into (in Spanish) "Cantos", chapters written in prose. What is their name in english?


texts: Use of "the" in sentences--when is it redundant?

texts:
He played with the items in the house.
He played with items in the house.
Target the addictions that plague your life.
Target addictions that plague your life.

What exactly is the effect of removing "the" in such sentences? I've had it crossed out a couple of times now, but I'm not sure which ones I should edit away from my sentences.  Is either sentence wrong? Is the sentence without "the" better?


texts: Idiom/single word request for ignoring something wrong because it benefits one

texts:
I would like to know the idiom for ignoring something wrong because It is beneficial for one?
Turn a blind eye is close, but It is not precisely about ignoring for benefit or gaining something. It is more like to keep neutral in the situation.

Or if there is a single word for it.


texts: Difference between "society" and "the society"

texts:
I am not very clear on the difference between "society" and "the society". As far as I know, "society" (without "the") refers to a society that is more general. But I don't have a clear distinction between them.

Could anybody explain to me? For example, if I want to say "socialization is the process of learning to live in (the) society", should I use "the"?

Edit: I am still a little confused here: it seems that "society" can still refer to a subset of people. After seeing your answer, my understanding is that without the article, "society" doesn't emphasize a specific society: it doesn't matter which society it refers to (although through context, which one is referred can be inferred). With "the", however, the speaker emphasizes a specific society.
Then the sentences should be different:

  Soldiers protect society.

  Soldiers protect the society.

Am I right? Could someone further explain it to me?


texts: For the Page #, it normally should be [My last name], [Page #], correct? What do I do to format the Page # properly in a group project?


texts: Is this grammatically correct: "...of, and the NOUN to, .. NOUN"?

texts:
I would be glad if you let me know if something similar was already answered somewhere.

Is this grammatically correct?

"The researcher's aim was to study the living conditions of and the medical treatment given to the inpatients of a particular hospital."

Or:
"The researcher's aim was to study the living conditions of, and the medical treatment given to, the inpatients of a particular hospital."

I realise this of, and ... to, might sound unnatural and may be expressed in a less complex way, but wanted to inquire whether the sentence is grammatically incorrect.

Thanks!


texts: What does ‘bookend’ mean in President Obama’s remark, “My address on Tuesday will be a bookend to what I said in Kansas”?

texts:
The Time magazine’s (January 21) article titled ‘Osawatomie Reprised,’ reported that President Obama said his address will "be a bookend" to his Kansas speech last month, in video previewing Tuesday's State of the Union, with the quote:

  “In a lot of ways, my address on Tuesday will be a bookend to what I said in Kansas last month about the central mission we have as a country, and my central focus as President. And that’s rebuilding an economy where hard work pays off and responsibility.”

From the context of the above statement, I guess the bookend here means “a pair” or “duplication, repetition”.

But as I checked Cambridge online dictionary to make it certain, it simply defines ‘bookend’ as a noun meaning ‘an object used, especially in pairs, to keep a row of books standing vertically.’

Oxford online dictionary, in addition to the similar definition with the above, provides the usage as a verb meaning “be positioned at the end or on either side of (something): the narrative is bookended by a pair of incisive essays.”

There was another definition of ‘bookend’ in www.businessdictionary.com;

  “In marketing, set of two matching or related commercials; one played at the beginning of a commercial break period, the other at its end. This technique aims to aid the listener's or viewer's recall of the advertised item.”

None of the above definitions seems to suitably fit to the case of President Obama’s ‘bookend.’

Is it a popular usage of “bookend” in the sense of “another pair, duplication , repetition, reproduction, or the like” as used in President Obama’s statement?.


texts:
What is a single word antonym of censorship? Freedom of speech is too long. I would like to be able to contrast it like:

ignorance vs knowledge
submission vs defiance
oppression vs freedom


texts: Dropping L in compound adjectives. Is it "skillful" or "skilful"?

texts:
We have been taught at school that when a word ending in "LL" helps form a compound word, "LL" becomes "L" (e.g. skill -> skilful). I have also come across the usage of this adjective as skillful (with double L's). I checked the NGram to see how the usage has changed over time, and it got me more confused:

What is the correct form of skilful and similar words? Is there a definite rule or are both usages acceptable?


texts: Does "verdure" also suggest "a condition of health and vigour"?

texts:
I've known the meaning of verdure as "lush greenery" all my life. But now, it seems (according to Merriam-Webster), it also signifies a condition of health and vigour.

Can anyone point me to a concurrent usage of the word verdure in the alternate sense, in any book/article etc.? I'm really lost otherwise, as to whether this is a deprecated alternate meaning that has been discontinued.


texts: How do I refer to a number in an image in a scientific paper?

texts:
I'm note sure if this is the correct place to ask this, but if I have a schematic illustration that contains numbers to enumerate interesting details. How do I refer those numbers in a text that describes this image? Is the following correct?

  Figure 3.1 shows (...). It consists of
  a diffuser (1) that is used (...).

Here point 1 would indicate the diffuser on the illustration. Are there any other ways to refer?


texts: Why aren't "nohow" and "nowhy" real words?

texts:
So we have:

Where-Nowhere
When-Never(/Nowhen)
Who-Nobody
What-Nothing

Why can't we also have "nohow" and "nowhy"?
"No reason" works to some extent, but "nohow" isn't really replaceable in a concise manner, to my knowledge.
The real question here is not how to say it otherwise, but why it would be horribly wrong to use it. And would it?


texts: Is “Grey tsunami” a mere metaphor, or acknowledged phrase to represent for accelerated global increase of old age population?

texts:
The article of the Economics (April 26, 2014) titled “Demography, growth and inequality; Age invaders” ends up with the following passages:

  It (shift to ageing population) will be a world in which ageing
  reinforces the changes in income distribution that new technology has
  brought with it: the skilled old earn more, the less-skilled of all
  ages are squeezed. The less-educated and jobless young will be
  particularly poorly served, never building up the skills to enable
  them to become productive older workers. Compared with the dire
  warning about bankrupting consequences of a gray tsunami, this is good
  news. But not as good as all that.

I think “Gray tsunami” means global and quantum increase of the aged population, and find it an interesting wording.

But is “Gray tsunami” an acknowledgeable set of words to describe accelerating ageing of global population to the point, or just a one-off coinage invented for this article?


texts: Why do Americans still call Native Americans "Indians"?

texts: Why do some Americans still call the indigenous people of the Americas "Indians" when they now know that they're not from India?


texts:
I looked for the expression to be on cloud nine on Etymonline; it is stated 'of uncertain origin or significance'.

My question is could there be a connection between the origin of cloud nine and Dante's Inferno which is depicted as a hell  having nine concentric circles  -- in other words, cloud nine is heaven vs. Dante's hell.


texts: A verb that describes someone limply falling into a sitting position

texts:
In my writing, I have a character who, after a brief and sudden firefight, limply sits where she is standing. Normally, I would describe this as:

  Karen limply fell to the ramp.

This makes it sound like she toppled over unconscious. So I tried:

  Karen limply sat on the ramp.

This is better, but it sounds too much like she is in control of her position. She's sitting more out of shock than anything else. So I tried this:

  Karen limply fell to a sitting position on the ramp.

Which is more accurate, but a bit too long and technical for the context. It also has contradictory verbs, indicating both controlled and uncontrolled motion.

Is there is single word I can use instead of 'fell to a sitting position'?


texts: What is it called when you use "I would do X" to show strength of feeling?

texts:
For instance, in The Proclaimers' hit song I'm Gonna Be they say

  I would walk five hundred miles, and
  I would walk five hundred more
  Just to be the man who walked a thousand miles to fall down at your door

The protagonist in the song isn't literally going to walk a thousand miles, they're using this construction to intensify their description of their feeling for the person they're singing to/about.

If I were describing it in a phrase I might say "exaggeration for effect," but is there a (more) specific term for it? If so, what is it?


texts: What could be an alternative word implying 'to endorse someone'?

texts:
On professional social network sites (like LinkedIn) there are terms like 'recommend someone' or 'endorse someone'. What could be an alternative term that is somewhat lighter in meaning as compared to endorsing someone, but rather more inclined towards meaning 'to appreciate someone in academic or professional context or to appreciate his works'?

I need to use a noun as well as a verb of the term.


texts: Etymology of close |kləʊz| (klōz) & close |kləʊs| (klōs)

texts:
In doing research for the question Is it “close-minded” or “closed-minded”?, which was in turn prompted by the discussion under this answer to another question, I realized that some of the confusion around the word close had to do with its versatility (it can be an adverb, adjective, noun or verb).

We have two primary pronunciations of close (klōz and klōs) that help us distinguish how the word is being used. I thought at first that this was fairly straightforward. When the 'z' sound is used, it is usually a verb:

  I close the door.

The 'z' ending is also used in the following noun form:

  I'll bring my argument to a close.

When the 's' ending is used, it is usually either an adjective in these ways,

  The hotel is close to the sea.
  My brother and I are very close.

or an adverb in these ways:

  Please sit close to me.
  I'll keep  your secret close.

But as I read through the lengthy entries on close in my New Shorter Oxford English Dictionary, things started to get confusing. I found close (klōs) listed as a noun meaning a closed place and close (klōs) also listed as an adjective meaning closed, shut as well as secretive, stingy, and hidden.

Questions:

How and when did the different uses
of close take on different
pronunciations?
Are close (klōs)
as a noun and close (klōs) =
closed familiar to others?
If these rarer uses of close
(klōs)
    were once common, when and why did
    they fall out of favor?
Etymologically, what overlap exists
    between close (klōs) = near and close (klōz) =
    shut?


texts:
Take the following sentence:

  For all work-shifts of any given day, except for the last one, the following constraints are set forth.

Does the subordinate clause except for the last one refer to work-shift or to day?


texts: Are the words “how” and “howl” pronounced the same?

texts:
I can see some differences when I listen to someone saying “Howl“ with the purpose of showing how it is pronounced. But I want to know if in a native would be able to tell which word someone is saying without a context in a normal conversation. For example:
Person A: “What is your dog's name?“
Person B: “His name is Howl“
Would Person A know that Person B said “Howl“?
In a conversation I would say “howl“ with a silence “L“. I can pronounce the “L“ but it sounds unnatural. Maybe I just need to improve my pronunciation of the word?


texts: Avoiding "existential it" while referring to a past event?

texts:
I know the use of "existential it" is frowned upon, but I'm not entirely sure how to rephrase the following sentence to remove it:

  It is hard to tell what would have occurred if the battle had been lost.

Is something like this really all that bad? How can I rephrase this to remove that "it"?


texts: Is there a word that describes an inept schemer?

texts: I am idly curious as to whether there is a word for someone who is prone to scheming, but not terribly good at it.


texts:
I have another question. Please take a look at the following sentence (error correction)

  The more Robert tried to please his mother with mere flattery, the greater he succeeded in annoying her.

In the said sentence, the answer key says that the wrong part is the "the greater", which, accordingly, must be replaced with " the more greatly".

Why is " the greater" wrong here? I haven' t used " the more greatly" before, as this one.

Thank you!


texts: How do I punctuate a series of quotes from TV shows?

texts:
I want to write this:

  “Dy- No-Mite!” “Stifle it Edith.” “Good Night John Boy.” “Nanu Nanu.” “God will get you for that.” “Book em Danno.” “Da plane, da plane.” “Eizabeth, I’m coming.” “Kiss my grits!” “Marcia, Marcia, Marcia.”  “Who loves you, baby?” “Just one more thing.”

Do commas go between quotations or as part of the quotation? What if there is a question mark or exclamation mark as part of the quote?


texts: Complete sentence: Is the subjunctive mood suitable for this case?

texts:
The worst that can happen is that he fail/fails/would fail/will fail the exam.

Which of these is (or are) correct? In Spanish, the subjunctive mood would be used, is the case similar in English?


texts: Are the names of cocktails proper nouns?

texts:
Help me out with cocktail names. Are they always capitalized because they are proper names? For example, would I capitalize this way: "Do you prefer a Gin and Tonic or a Sidecar?" It's confusing because, in a way, giraffe could be considered the proper name of an animal species, yet giraffe is not a proper noun.

If not, do the rules change if a proper noun is the name of a drink, as with a Margarita or a Tom Collins? And what about cocktails in which only part of the name of the drink is a proper noun, as with a Moscow Mule or a Long Island Iced Tea?


texts: What is the name of the supports which are used with screws to hold a box together?

texts:
It's common in electronics to use only screws to hold a box together, instead of having screw nuts at the other end of the box. There are raised supports which the screws are screwed into.

They look like screw anchors, but that means something different. In other languages (e.g. German) the word "dome" is used, but in English that means the small cover on top of the screw used to hide it.

What are these things (painted green on the image) called?
In the whole list of screw-related topics on Wikipedia, nothing similar turns up.


texts: More family friendly phrase for "always use your full ***"

texts:
There's a saying that goes something like:

  Never half ass anything. Always use your full ass.

Is there another succinct way of expressing this in more polite language?

I think there are a number of concepts conveyed simultaneously, to varying degrees:

Don't be lazy.
Fully commit to what you do.
As @jim points out in the comments, "If it's worth doing, it's worth doing right."
Take responsibility for your actions, or perhaps, take pride in your work.
Pick and choose your battles. Or perhaps, don't spend time on things that don't matter.


texts:
This is a sentence:

"How nearly he had not gone there"

I want to know the exact usage of how nearly here. The web's empty. I found nothing so good.


texts: The specific meaning of 'spices' when describe a kind of perfume

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  Problem with two abstract noun usages describe a perfume

For every Casanova, here is an eau de parfum inviting intense pleasure... Warmed with heady spices and colored by sweet fruits.

Under this context, I thought the spices are not the general spices we mean when cooking because the author has already named some specific components used in this perfume. So what's the meaning of this spices?

source: http://www.histoiresdeparfums.com/us/histoiresdeparfums/characters-masculine.php


texts: Negating ‘to’-infinitive in negative clause

texts:
The sentence: There aren't any reasons to do it.

I'd like to say other form of this phrase with opposite meaning.
Something like this: There aren't any reasons to don't do it.

How to say this form of the phrase with double-negations of affirmative meaning correctly? And are there some rules to make a sentence of such form?


texts: What is the difference between "He can take care of you" and "He takes care of you"

texts:
I would like to introduce David my friend who can take care of all your needs.
I would like to introduce David my friend who takes care of all your needs.

What is the difference between the sentences 1 and 2?

Here I want to introduce David to a stranger, and I want to know what will be the best sentence to use to get their attention or interest.


texts: Is there a term for a word coined to fit the rhyme/rhythm in a poem?

texts: As in "Hickory Dickory Dock; the Mouse ran up the Clock..."  (Perhaps there is a separate term for a real word used nonsensically (Hickory and Dock).  Is there a word for this sort of usage?)


texts: What is an expression for "getting older in appearance"?

texts:
"The children in school grew up so fast. They, like their parents,
  went about their professional career. In a flash they became gray and
  grizzled, and were getting tired of life."

Is there a better expression than "gray and grizzled"? I want to express the subject's appearance getting older, their skin with more and more wrinkles, their face with increasing spots, and hair turning gray. Is there an expression or word that would vividly depict this feeling of "getting older in appearance"?


texts: Divide two into four and Divide two by four

texts:
Why does "divide two into four" equal two, and "divide two by four" equal one half?

Correct if I am wrong, but this what I have learned recently.


texts:
I am collaborating on a text which includes a sentence like

  This is always true of subset A and, here, it is also true of subset B.

A collaborator has asked if I should write "true for" instead of "true of", and this has led me to question why I decided to write "true of" in the first place.

While I found some discussions on Google, none clearly distinguished to me when to choose one over the other (or even if both are correct).

In one hit, one answer offers the example

  There is a difference:

  be true (for someone/something): Carleta is from Valencia and the same is true for he [sic] friend María.

  be true (of someone/something): It rains a lot in the northwest of England, and that is especially true of Cumbria.

with the explanation

  In the first sentence, Carleta and Maria are two separate entities, while, in the second sentence, the northwest of England includes Cumbria, so there is a relationship between these entities.

  "Engineers are smart people and the same is true for John" -> John is a smart person just like engineers, but he's not necessarily one.

  "Engineers are smart people and that is especially true of John" -> John is an engineer and, as such, a smart person.

According to this logic, I think I should write "true of", but I don't want to take one Google hit as gospel, especially given the lack of any references.

Another discussion on the same site gives no clear answer and digresses into the meaning of "of" in several contexts.

So, when is a quality "true of" something and when is a quality "true for" that thing?


texts:
I want to say that we (as a company) choose only the best companies to join our partners program and I'm looking for a better way to say it.

Something like:

  We choose our partners by _____.

Any other suggestions would be appreciated.


texts:
It wouldn't hurt you to be a bit more serious.

Wouldn't/won't/never hurts make perfect sense in this example. I'm wondering if there's any alternative way to preserve the meaning of this phrase in a little bit less strict context, while also avoiding a negative connotation, such as in these sentences.

It (or whatever) ... to say "Thank you".
It (or whatever) ... to keep an eye out for the perfect job.

And if there are other ways to say never hurts, what do you think about their differences then?


texts: What is the origin of the "Dear John" letter?

texts: You might receive one of these when you are getting dumped by your erstwhile partner.  I don't think it is a coincidence that the a recent movie called Dear John includes a Dear John letter as one of its plot points.


texts: How to interpret "adjective and adjective" structure?

texts:
They are responsible for key and large projects.
They solve the core and most complex problems of a team.

In the examples above, does "key and large projects" mean "key projects and large projects" or "Projects that are key and also large"?
Does "core and most complex problems" mean "Core problems and most complex problems" or "Problems that are core and also the most complex"?


texts: Can we use quotation marks to refer to a specific term on a website?

texts:
Here's the paragraph:

My first inclination is to find the search bar and type the word “Graphic design”. But, there is no search bar. On the top left panel, there are 3 tabs : “Courses”, “Programs”, and “Discover new”. The highlight on the tab, "Courses", indicates that i am on this tab. The other two tabs are : "Programs" and "Discover new". With "Programs" i am not clear what it is specifically. What is the difference between "Courses" and "Programs".

I read that quotation marks should only be used around words as scare quotes. Here, i am referring to a specific term on a website. So, is it appropriate to use quotation marks around them, or not?
Also, i put quotation marks around the word Graphic design. Is that inappropriate?


texts: What does "You might be better off thinking of something" mean?

texts:
I found this sentence in my programming book:

  You might be better off thinking of the block and the method as
  coroutines, which transfer control back and forth between themselves.

What does be better off mean?


texts:
In a blatant plug for the Reagent Guide, each Friday  I profile a
  different reagent that is commonly encountered in Org 1/ Org 2.

What is the meaning of "blatant plug". here ? I searched the net but could't find its meaning.

Source http://www.masterorganicchemistry.com/2011/12/09/reagent-friday-zinc-amalgam-zn-hg/


texts: Which is more appropriate: “drop in to the library” or “drop in at the library”?

texts: The sentence in question is “You can drop in to either library from 10am–5pm and make your notebook.” Should it be “to either library” or “at either library”? Thanks.


texts: In a business proposal, which personal pronoun should be used?

texts:
Which personal pronoun would you use in a business proposal?

Most people either go with first or third person, e.g.,

  We propose this marketing plan.

or

  Company x proposes this marketing plan.

Which person do you feel is most appropriate, and why? Does it matter?


texts:
"As was his habit, he planned to spend the month of August in Normandy, visiting friends and working on his house."

I often see this kind of structure:As was his habit. But I do not understand what it means.

Please explain the structure and meaning.

Thank you in advance!


texts: Term for intentionally using a word in a context inconsistent with its definition

texts:
Is there a term that describes an instance where someone intentionally uses a word in a context inconsistent with the word’s literal definition?

I spent a long time trying to phrase it correctly. Here’s an example of what I’m trying to get at:

I’m reading a book in which the author writes the following: “While there is no single method that can do it all, the set of tools offer a powerful instrumentarium for better understanding and, ultimately, designing systems.”

According to Merriam-Webster, an instrumentarium is “The equipment needed for a particular surgical, medical, or dental procedure.”

The passage I quoted from the book I’m reading is not about surgery, medicine or dentistry.

Assume the author knows the literal definition of the word and used it anyway.

Is there a name for this use? The first thing that comes to my mind is the word “metaphor” but I feel like there should/could be a more specific word describing this situation, especially because it’s a fairly common practice.


texts: What does 'drivelled' mean in this sentence?

texts:
'The waves hardly made any noise as they struck the cliff, and they drivelled backwards slowly'.
This is a fragment from O'Flaherty's short story titled 'The Wave'.
All dictionaries give two similar definitions one of which is the most appropriate but not absolutely:
'to let saliva or mucus flow from the mouth or nose; dribble'.
The word was also used in 'The Harleian Miscellany' (eds. William Oldys, John Malham):
'... the waves dashed up to the clouds, and the clouds, on the other side, spit and drivelled upon them as fast'.
As I can understand, in the last sentence it means 'to drizzle' or 'to sprinkle'. And what about the first example?


texts:
The milk having soured, Martha drank her coffee black.

Is this sentence a run-on sentence, or is it an (grammatically) acceptable sentence?


texts: Words describing types of justification given

texts:
There are words to modify justifications or reasons given.

One means "the real motive", and the other means "a plausible explanation, but not the true motivator".

I searched quite a bit, but was unable to find anything. I think one of the words is like "obstinate", but not that, and now that it's in my head, it's all I can bring to mind...

Does anyone know the words I am trying to think of?


texts:
I have rarely heard regret used like this, and while it sounds wrong to me, the dictionary doesn't appear to preclude this usage. Dictionary.com:

Regret
1. to feel sorrow or remorse for (an act, fault, disappointment, etc.): He no sooner spoke than he regretted it.
2. to think of with a sense of loss: to regret one's vanished youth.

For example, is the following correct?

He always regretted her impulsive decisions.


texts: Is "cute" used sarcastically in Scottish English?

texts:
In American English, "cute" is sometimes used sarcastically or to mean "clever." An example of the latter is the recent headline "Donald Trump tells Harley Davidson: 'Don't get cute with us'".

I've heard that such usages are uncommon in Australian or British English but may be used in Scottish English. Can anyone help me out with this?


texts:
These are song lyrics, so there's poetic license--yes. However, it raises a grammar question that some friends and I have wondered about for years.

Song goes:

  If for a moment I were you, and you were me, how would it be?
  Would you fall apart as I walk by?
  Hang around to catch my eye?
  Be jealous of another guy?
  If I were you and you were I?

It's the last line: is it wrong?  If one can say, "If I were you," why can't he flip that around and write, "If you were I?"  Does it have to be "If you were me?"  Or is that even correct?  "If me were you" certainly isn't right.  So why is it correct (if it is correct) to say, "If you were me?"


texts: Why do Australians and NZers call snacks/lunch *crib*?

texts:
From another question I found out that Australians and New Zealanders call lunch and snacks crib.

On the Macquarie dictionary site, there are several (user contributed) theories about why, but nothing authoritative. These all seem to agree that it's a mining term likely from Cornish dialect, but disagree as to it's original meaning.

User067531 provided the link to Macquarie's in his answer here.

I was unable to find anything on etymonline or elsewhere showing this derivation.


texts: What's wrong with "One of my children's name IS John"?

texts:
Please don't throw this one out as a duplicate of “one of …” singular or plural? I'm not asking about the plurality of the noun immediately following those two words - I'm interested in exactly why the example below is problematic (context: I have several children, one named John)...

  1: One of my children's name is John.

I can't see any obvious reason why singular name there is completely unacceptable, but it certainly doesn't sit well with me. It seems to turn on whether one of my children can be treated collectively as the "subject" of the Saxon genitive 's, but I don't see a problem with...

  2: It's actually one of my children's, but you can sleep in this bed.

I realise that in practice we'd normally pluralise names in the first example. But of course, this implies that one of attaches to my children's names, which isn't really the same construction.

So - is there some kind of "rule, principle" debarring #1 above? Or is it just "one of those things"?

(Apologies if my later switch from brothers to children invalidates any comments or answers.)


texts: What is another way to describe an action based on a previous action?

texts:
In a turn-based game, each player's turn is based upon the turn their opponent took before them. You could say that each action taken in the game is an action based upon the previous action taken in the context of this game.

Is there a word or phrase that describes each individual action in this chain-of-events more succinctly?


texts: How to unambiguously refer to someone from India

texts:
One can refer to an American Indian as a Native American, but I cannot come up with an unambiguous term for an Indian from the Indian subcontinent. How can I refer to someone who is from the country of India, preferably without having to say "from the country of India"?

Ambiguous example:

  My roommate is Indian.


texts: Using the metonymy "feather" to refer to an angel?

texts: I was wondering if you can use the metonymy feather to refer to an angel(s)? Would feathers refer to several angels? Does this apply to poetry only or can I use it in other media?


texts: What would be the serious equivalent of "parody"?

texts:
I'm looking for a suitable word.

A parody is a work that references some other work by making fun of it, usually having similar setting and characters but comic outcome.

What if the referencing work is not intended to be funny? For example, I'm just reading a comic clearly referencing some other comic but turning story originally intended for kids much more realistic, gitty and simply gruesome. Is there a word in English describing such a work?

Edit: After reading a few suggestions I noticed one subtlety I intended to express. Just like in the case of parody I'd like to indicate a sense of discussion with the original work. It's something I have an impression is missing in case of remake or rework.


texts:
we often  see these
1. Liza is poor but she is honest.
2. Liza is poor but honest.
Is their any rule against the first one?
which one is preferable?


texts:
This is what I want to express:

  I want to get to know more algorithms that have been created.

I have thought about changing the sentence into

  I want to gain a better insight into algorithms that have been created.

But it seems inappropriate.

Any better phrase (or single word) to replace get to know?

(Or better way to construct the sentence?)


texts: Can “another” be used with plural nouns provided periods or measurements don’t count?

texts:
Merriam-Webster says about another the following:

  being one more in addition to one or more of the same kind
  —http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/another

However, I come across such sentences as: “I am giving another three books away”, “give me another 2 flowers”. I think it’s fine to say “give me another twenty minutes” as it is a period of time, but I wonder about “another two books/flowers”. Is it grammatically correct? Another thing which seems to be suspicious is that I can’t find such examples in dictionaries.


texts: Hyphenation in "First computer crime targeted laws"

texts:
I am preparing a presentation for my English class. My question is whether the phrase

  First computer crime targeted laws

should have any hyphens in it such as

  computer-crime-targeted


texts:
Is there a clear categorization of tropes?

Some talk of the four master tropes (Metaphor, Synecdoche, Metonymy, Irony),
Whereas some give An extended, unsorted list of tropes

Some talk about the 13-18(?) types of metaphors,
Whereas some categorize types of tropes as matephors (Allegory, Parable...)

Is there a specific, clear categorization of Figures of speech?
So far from what I've gathered it may look like this:

Figures of speech

Schemes
Tropes

Metaphor
Synecdoche
Metonymy
Irony

Each trope is further subdivided, in a way I'm not yet sure of.
Is it even mildly correct?


texts:
Possible Duplicates:
  Is pronouncing “The” as in “Thee” still correct in titles?
  What is the pronunciation of “the?”

What would be the correct way to pronounce "the"? According to my Swedish-English dictionary at home, it follows the same rule as for the articles "a" and "an". Is this really true in every situation? I've noticed that native speakers doesn't always follow this rule, and I've catched myself pronouncing (or thinking) it as [ðɜ] before words beginning with the "a" sound (like in "play" or "age"). Is that incorrect? Or does it just depend on dialect?