texts: Does the omission of the first part of a hyphenated compound run afoul of Chicago?

texts:
The top answer to the question Suspended hyphen in "ever-expanding and contracting gulf"? states that "ever-expanding and -contracting" runs afoul of Chicago. (I would have asked this question in the comment section of that answer if I had enough reputation to do so.) The argument is that Chicago 7.84 (7.89 on my 15th edition) explicitly rejects "overfed and -worked mules," which would be "functionally indistinguishable" from the phrase in that question. However, Chicago's rejection comes under a paragraph referring to solid compounds. Does it follow that it must apply to hyphenated compounds as well?
Answers to related questions, such as Is it correct to say “inter- disciplinary/national” instead of “interdisciplinary and international”? and Hyphenating Multiple Compound Adjectives With Common First Word suggest that the suspended hyphen may be acceptable, even if "clunky" or "odd," but the responders did not sound too sure ("You might get away with", and "You could certainly try") nor they mention Chicago or any other source.
Although my question is general, the phrase that prompted it was "estimation of eye-pose and eye-shape parameters." If I were to ask about a specific construction, my question would be "Does 'estimation of eye-pose and -shape parameters' violate Chicago rules?"


texts:
Can the word "coexist" be used for more than two things/people/subjects/... etc?

For example:

  The three communities complement each other and it will be marvelous to coexist side by side.


texts:
I searched for an English translation of the German term Durchhalteparole, meaning to appeal to a group of followers to hold out (especially in politics), but having the connotation of being a hopeless appeal and having more the purpose to be blind to a coming defeat.

I got 4 different translations. 3 seem to be plain wrong machine translations, and rallying call seems a more common term according to ngrams. Has it the connotation I am looking for or is there a better English idiom for a hopeless call? Actually I am pretty surprised by the low quality and different translations of the German dictionaries as it is a very common German term.


texts: What words have “‑ei‑” (except in “‑cei‑”) pronounced [i:]?

texts:
The rule is that written ei is pronounced [i:] only after the letter c — or that what is pronounced [i:] is written ei after the letter c only.

Here are exceptions I’ve found so far:

foreign (possibly)
seizure
either (possibly)
neither (possibly)
weird
being
seizure

Can you add more exceptions to this list?

Update:

I am not so much interested in differences of pronunciation between dialects of English as I am in helpful (for me) mnemonics for written English.

Update 2:

Once more, this question is not on orthography but on mnemonics to help in writing.

If you know other helpful mnemonics to deal with spelling words with ‑ie‑ and  ‑ei‑, you are welcome to answer this question.


texts: What is an alternative word for 'repercussions' that has a positive denotation rather than a negative denotation / connotation?

texts:
The relevant ODO definition of repercussion [n] is:

  1 (usually repercussions): An unintended consequence of an event or
  action, especially an unwelcome one.

The caveat means that a negative denotation is often intended / inferred, and surely that there is at least a negative connotation. Is there a word with the meaning 'positive consequences'?


texts:
I have two possible sentences of the some situation and I am confused:

Realizing he did not belong there, he left the meeting early.
He left the meeting early, realizing he did not belong there.

Does the second sentence lack the causation feel that the first sentence shows?  The first sentence seems to say that he left early BECAUSE he figured out he didn't belong.  The second sentence seems to say that he left early WHILE knowing that he didn't belong.

For another situation:

Shooting people on sight, he barged into the house.
He barged into the house, shooting people on sight.

For this pair, the first sentence means that BECAUSE he had just shot people on sight, he then barged into the house.  The second sentences means that he barged into the house WHILE shooting people on sight.


texts:
Small clauses are clauses with "to be" deleted.

  I found him (to be) difficult.

And as we all know, an adjective complement can be added afterward.

  I found him (to be) difficult to work with.

  I found him happy to do the job.

  She appeared unable to work with me.

  I considered him incapable of doing anything.

And there was this sentence:

  a. I thought him angry at me.

Somehow, this sentence sounded extremely unnatural to me. Also this.

  b. She called me different from others.

  c. I called him incapable of doing anything.

Even though they are theoretically correct, since there is an adjective complement after the adjective in the small clause, they sound extremely strange with the adjective complement. Are those sentences grammatically wrong? Do they sound natural to you? I am not a native speaker, so it's rather hard for me to judge.

Also, is it true that an adjective complement can be used if there is an adjective in the sentence, no matter what? Is there a situation in which the adjective complement cannot be used with an adjective because of a grammatical issue, not context?


texts: Word for someone searching for reason to hate another

texts:
I'm trying to find a word that describes the following type of situation:

Person A already hates Person B.  Person A then subsequently searches for reasons to further hate and roast Person B.  These attempts may get progressively more and more ridiculous, but Person A continues the attempts.

What would you call this?


texts: What do you call a person who prevents his/her own progress?

texts:
There is a psychological condition that affects some people in such a way that they prevent their own progress. They fear to advance. They fear to progress and compete. They might even try to achieve high goals but often get stressed out and withdraw just before reaching the finish line and become losers. They fear their own heights, as evidenced by their probably pervasive acrophobia in the physical world. However, they justify their frustration by saying they don't want to compete and create frictions. They find it hard to try to secure something that others don't have, simply fearing rivalry. They find it a challenge to get involved in something aimed at bringing them to a better level in something, however small that hop might be, so they enjoy doing trivial and fruitless repetitive jobs. There is probably some kind of inferiority institutionalized in them that they believe in and subconsciously think they don't deserve more, making them see little achievements too much for themselves.
Thus, in short, is there an English term (either noun or adjective) to describe a person who prevents their own progress, out of mental disorders, bad past experiences, bad upbringing or whatever?


texts:
I understanding that the following sentence is reasonably good for expressing the given idea.

  (1) This method is likely to be biased since this requires participants to bring their own laptops.

However, I was curious to know if the following is correct (given that it sounds better at least to me).

  (2) This method is likely to be biased since this requires participants' bringing their own laptops.


texts: Word for someone who when leaving a room makes it feel like someone has entered

texts:
I'm looking for a word that describes the following:-

"When they left the room, it was as if someone else entered".

I vaguely recall reading a Yiddish term that described this in a novel many years ago, but all I can find is Nephesh  - soul.


texts:
English is not my native language, and I'm having a hard time being convinced that the following usage of the word "counterexample" is correct.

  In this age of ever-eroding privacy, the new GoodCompany™ website wants to be a counterexample on how to build a website that protects your data instead of sharing it with third parties.

To me, it sounds like: the good guy is a counterexample of being a good guy.

If both parts of the sentence are synonyms (e.g. good and good, as opposed to good and bad), shouldn't the "counterexample" word be replaced with "example" instead? Thanks.


texts:
"Halloween: the one day where we encourage children to accept candy from strangers, go to strangers' homes, and vandalize property and terrorize people if they don't get their own way."

Original quote by Yvette Colomb

I also notice grammar checks often rebuke my apostrophe placements.

I am wondering if there is a missing comma and if the apostrophe at strangers is correct. Does it have to include an apostrophe for ownership?

I tend to overdo it with commas, and restricted myself this time.

the vandalize property and terrorize people if they don't get their own way

is an inclusive point after the other list items.

Usually I would write:

  the one day where we encourage children to accept candy from strangers, go to strangers' homes,  vandalize property, and terrorize people if they don't get their own way.

which is not the same thing or:

  the one day where we encourage children to accept candy from strangers, go to strangers' homes, and  vandalize property and terrorize people if they don't get their own way.

Which is the best or most correct way (if there is one) to write this?


texts: How to express "used to be... but more a ... now"

texts: I want to write a sentence like "Gold, which used to be medium of exchange and unit of account in history, but now it is more the store of value and investment vehicle in financial markets". I don't know whether "it is more the ..." grammarly correct and has a clear meaning. If not, is there any way to improve it?


texts: A word for something which covers the eyelid of horses and lead them to run straight

texts:
I am looking for a word for a thing that covers the eyelid of horses and lead the horses to run straight without track distractions.

Something similar to funambulist.


texts: Is there a word for a measurement process that affects the thing being measured?

texts:
I feel the need to refer to this concept regularly in quite different situations, so I feel that there probably is a word.

Example 1 (silly engineering one)

I want to know how fast my paper aeroplane flies so I attach my smart phone to it with an app to measure speed. The plane does not fly any more because the measurement device is far too heavy; the plane's behaviour is altered by the measurement device.

The method suffered from X.

Example 2 (human one)

I want to know what people think about something at work so I ask a question. If I ask the same question but follow it with "I want to tell the management what people think" then in some situations this is likely to affect how people answer. The questioning suffers from X.


texts: Where can I find words that have "literary meaning" like "ardent", "antic"

texts:
Is there a place on the Interent where we can find words with meaning that marked as literary in the Oxford Dictionaries (Lexico) like these:

  for

  literary: because; since: he felt guilty, for he knew that he bore a
  share of responsibility for Fanny's death.

  antic

  literary: grotesque or bizarre.

  pinion

  literary: a bird's wing as used in flight.

  ardent

  archaic or literary: burning; glowing

I tried googling it but only found list of terms like "oxymoron" that describe different figure of speech..


texts: How should I order the two marked phrases in the sentence 'I spoke (on the phone ) [with John]'

texts:
Regarding the sentence,

  I spoke (on the phone ) [with John],

should the phrase in parenthesis precede the phrase in brackets, or vice versa?

Do you know of a principle of construction that pertains to ordering phrases such as the two above? If so, how would you apply it to the sentence in question?
Do you notice any connotational difference between the alternatives? If so, why do you suppose changing the phrase order effected that difference?

Thank you.


texts: The age of terror is an age of shocks. What is a difference between "the+noun+of" and "a+noun+of"?

texts: I thought when a noun followed by "of something" has to be addressed with "the" because it is subject to the following of... However, I found the sentence such as "The age of terror is an age of shocks." Should be it like "The age of terror is the age of shocks"? Please give me some advice.


texts: Literary term for a "placeholder" protagonist that readers/viewers "inhabit"

texts:
In some books and films, the protagonist is a "blank slate" of sorts--the character's personality is bland or never deeply developed, and he/she mainly serves as a sort of "shell" through which the reader/viewer experiences the story. They often appear as the main female characters in "bodice ripper" romance novels or the (usually male) heroes in an action film.

My initial impression was that this sort of character is what's referred to as a Mary Sue character (for females, Marty Stu for males), but that seems to be applied to a sort of boringly perfect character standing in for the authors for their own wish fulfillment.

Does this "Mary Sue/Marty Stu" term also apply to characters that are deliberately generic so the reader can imagine him- or herself as the character, or is there a separate term for this?


texts: Past tense of people watching (applied to zombies)

texts:
My characters in a book are watching zombies, ie people watching, but the people are the walking dead. Anyway, I'm wondering what the correct tense usage is, as I'm writing in past.

'drinking from tea cups while they zombie-watched.' is the exact part of the sentence at present.


texts:
Is there an adjective in English that means "pertinent to the capital city"? Example from Russian: The name of a certain vodka brand means "related to or coming from the capital city". I know at least one restaurant having the same name and there used to be sweets called like that.

Sample sentence (X is the word I'm looking for):

  The restaurant offered a variety of X dishes.


texts: A conditional sentence with present perfect

texts:
Is it correct to say:

  If you have finished it by then, I'll come and take it.

thus using the present perfect in the "if" clause to mean the future instead of the present?


texts:
I'm not sure if the following sentence is correct.

"After the library was demolished, we now have to drive farther to rent books."

Do I have to use a specific tense for the second half of the sentence?


texts:
I did some search on the Internet but am unable to get clarity on this.
SET 1
Which of the following is correct?
A) Have you: Ever purchased a blue car? Ever visited Hong Kong? Ever gone on a long road trip?
B) Have you ever: purchased a blue car? visited Hong Kong? gone on a long road trip?
SET 2
I would also like to know if one needs to start a question after a colon with a capital
So if B is a better option, should I write 'Have you ever: Purchased a blue car? Visited Hong Kong? Gone on a long road trip?
Here there is more than 1 question but what if there is only one question after the colon? Do I still start with capitals? If I substitute colon with emdash does the same rule apply?
Thanks


texts:
The word masochist is used for someone who enjoys what others consider unpleasant:

  1.1 (In general use) a person who enjoys an activity that appears to be painful or tedious:

It also has song sexual connotations:

  1.0 A person who derives sexual gratification from their own pain or
  humiliation:

Is there a word that describes this condition without the sexual baggage?

Citations from ODO


texts:
I have a text I'm proofreading that lists certain types of people, and in the list is the word "dissolutes" ("highwaymen, loners, children, dissolutes"). My Word processor is telling me that while "dissolute" is fine, "dissolutes" is not an acceptable word.  Help?

ps. this is a made up list of adjectives used to represent the type of list I'm dealing with, not the real thing.


texts: What are some old-world alternatives or precursors to 'WTF' (expressions of frustration or surprise)?

texts:
Such as 'what on Earth' or 'what in the world', etc.  I'm trying to come up with a list of witty alternatives.

Note: I'm not looking for alternatives to the letters W, T, and F.  I'm looking for alternative phrases such as the ones I listed above.


texts: What are the origins of gully and googly in cricket?

texts:
The OED supplies no clue to the origin of either gully or googly. It does not in fact mention etymology of the cricket sense of gully, which has led me to infer that it is from the ordinary meaning of gully, i.e. a channel between point and slip. However one responder to an earlier question suggests it is of Indian origin.
As regards googly, the OED says 'origin unknown'. It is interesting because of the derived verb 'to google', which nowadays has acquired an entirely different meaning.

a. A ball which breaks from the off, though bowled with apparent leg-break action.
1903   C. B. Fry in P. F. Warner How We recovered Ashes (1904) ii. 29   You must persuade that Bosanquet of yours to practise..those funny ‘googlies’ of his.
1904   P. F. Warner How we recovered Ashes 106   Bosanquet..can bowl as badly as anyone in the world, but, when he gets a length, those slow ‘googlies’, as the Australian papers call them, are apt to paralyse the greatest players.
1909   P. A. Vaile in Westm. Gaz. 17 Sept. 14/2   The ‘googly’ is merely the American service at lawn-tennis introduced into cricket.
1920   E. R. Wilson in P. F. Warner Cricket ii. 74   The ‘googly’ or ‘Bosie ball’ as it was afterwards christened in Australia.
1924   N. Cardus Days in Sun 48   Hirst cultivated the swerve and Bosanquet the ‘googly’.
1930   C. V. Grimmett Getting Wickets i. 22   It was at this time that I learned to bowl the ‘bosie’ or ‘googly’—an off-break with a leg-break action.
1954   J. H. Fingleton Ashes crown Year 46   Australians call it bosie after Bosanquet..Englishmen call it the google, or googly.
1955   K. R. Miller & R. S. Whitington Cricket Typhoon i. ii. 32   In..Yorkshire, the ‘Chinaman’ is regarded as the lefthand bowler's off-break... In Australia..the ‘Chinaman’ is..the left-hander's googly.

Can anyone supply any further clue to the origin of either word, please?


texts: What is the word for "idiosyncrasies of a specific group"?

texts:
The word idios comes from Greek, meaning one's own.

Can I use "idiosyncrasies of [group]", despite the subject being a group rather than an individual?


texts:
As is commonly known, one of the most delicate question is how to refer to people of mixed race, which can be a matter of condemnation.

Some words may have fueled the problem and  I never would have thought that the word miscegenation were one of these.

In fact, as Merriam-Webster reads, miscegenation especially refers to a "marriage, cohabitation, or sexual intercourse between a white person and a member of another race."

However, racial issues aside, I'm wondering whether there is a "parallel" word which is especially used to to refer to a "marriage, cohabitation, or sexual intercourse between a black person and a member of another race;" a word which is not perceived as offensive from a black person.

Can anyone explain?


texts:
I've been listening to trap music lately and I came across Gucci Mane's "Bussin' juugs". There is a lot of slang in the lyrics of trap music and given that I'm not a native speaker I didn't understand the title of the song.

Googling I've found that "juug" is "profiting from ilegal activities". What is the meaning of that expression  then? Being too busy from getting profit from ilegal activities?


texts: Should I use "the" in a list of multiple subjects?

texts:
Which of these sentences is correct?

  The assets of the thesis are the parser library, tag library and external database, which can be used in other applications.

or

  The assets of the thesis are the parser library, the tag library and the external database, which can be used in other applications.


texts: "Object oriented" vs. "object orientated"

texts: I've heard both used interchangeably with regards to object-[oriented/orientated] programming. What's SE's opinion on it?


texts: In Search Of: a noun (or phrase) like "irrefutableness"

texts:
Ideally I'm looking for a word, though it could be a phrase.  It should be a noun, like "veracity".

Its somewhat close in meaning to veracity.  It should mean low likelihood of being refuted. Sort of like being "authoritative" on a subject, but not as certain as that.

I intend to use include it in a sentence like: These improvements give our information product a greater X.

I can elaborate if that would be helpful.

Thank you!

ADDED

I don't think veracity ("truthfulness") is the right word.  It's not a matter of our telling the truth.  It's a matter of the likelihood of whether the information presented is sufficient to prove something.

ADDED

Our information product speaks about having observed certain data and presenting an accurately preserved, complete and untampered with record, which is why "authoritative" didn't work.  (In theory, there could be relevant unrecorded data.)  Also, because of this, "authenticity" isn't the issue since there's no reason to doubt the authenticity of our data.

(And I certainly wish the context allowed me to be cheeky enough to say "truthiness"!)


texts: How do I pronounce Gaudí, the architect?

texts: How do I pronounce 'Gaudi', in the name of Antoni Gaudí (the architect)?


texts:
I am having difficulties trying to understand this sentence:

  In some respects, Courses of Action are the more basic of the two. In
  and of themselves, however, Courses of Action tend to be rather blunt
  instruments.

In Merrian Webster, blunt is:

slow, deficient in feeling; obtuse in understanding; abrupt in manner;... and when searching for images in Google, it seems a blunt instrument can be a bat, a hammer, and any other object used to hit something or someone.

What is the meaning of tend to be "blunt instrument"? It will determine if a course of action will be successful or not like a judge's hammer?


texts: How could I write below summary more professional with good English

texts:
At beginner level I have learned a lot as a  developer and has closely observed development life cycle which results into  from past experiences. Now as a group lead I am managing and working  with team of 6 developers and also working as a independent resource .I am always working towards creating good vibrant environment to work with and has always work to handle stress full situations without creating a havoc. I am quick learner and a good
team player .Now I am interested in organizations which will be giving me challenging and creative opportunities as a frontend developer, full stack developer or leading a development team.


texts:
Until today I believed that both terms are basically the same.

But our English teacher told us that the correct term is Holy Spirit.

Is there any difference between Holy Spirit and Holy Ghost? I know a song whom lyrics say: I've got the Holy Ghost down in my soul.

When should we use Holy Spirit and Holy Ghost?

BTW, Wikipedia says:

  Holy Spirit, or Holy Ghost, is a term found in English translations of the Bible, but understood differently among the Abrahamic religions


texts: Another word for someone who follows plans perfectly

texts:
I mean to use the word in a good sense. To show that the person always adheres to the plans/strategies. Does not deviate even an inch.

I'm not looking for stickler or conformist nor do I mean to use the word in any disparaging way.

e.g. sentence - Joe knew that Michael would begin to see his point of view and he would have to agree to it, albeit reluctantly. After all, that had been the plan all along and he would stick to it. He was a phrase here all the way through.

Note - I'm ok with slang.


texts: Which one is correct to say: "It's me" or "It's I"?

texts:
I was taught at school that the following expression is not grammatically correct:

Who is there? It's me.

The correct one is:

Who is there? It's I.

Can you let me know which one is accurate?
Here is a good explanation about both forms.


texts: Current Open Position vs Currently Open Position

texts:
I came across the context Currently Open Position, but I felt it was grammatically wrong. When I googled, I saw relatively equivalent context usage of both.

Which is the right thing to use here?


texts: I was thinking about the word "acyclic" meaning not having or containing a cycle. Then I thought of the word "bicycle" and wondered if it made sense to call something that an "acycle". As an example I would want to say that stilts are an acycle (because they do not inherently contain a cycle or cyclic motion).


texts:
Does anyone know another word or way to say double entendre — in the non-bawdy sense of the word — as this phrase was only invented in the latter 1600's and so not around when Shakespeare wrote his plays, specifically as ever, the Merchant…

it is a straight statement... he is a good man... just one that two people take to mean two different ways is there a nice word for that when used purposefully?


texts: How to differentiate between decimal and larger number, in countries that use a comma

texts:
This might be off-topic here, since most people speaking English write decimals with a period and not a comma, but I'm unsure where else to ask this. Let me know, if you know of a better place to ask or where to research this and I will remove my question.

How do people in countries that use commas as a decimal mark tell the difference between a decimal and a larger value?

For example, in the U.S., it's easy to tell the difference between 1.567 and 1,567.  How would you tell the difference, in a country where they write their decimals like 1,567?


texts:
It seems that in this context "by-and-by" doesn't mean "before long" or something of the kind.
It's an extract from Meredith's Diana of the Crossways. I'd be grateful if you could explain what it means; my only guess is that it is something like "your health" because the characters are about to drink champagne. Thanks in advance!

  'I'll never live to hear a lady insulted.'

  'You don't mean to say you're the donkey to provoke a duel!' Mr.
  Redworth burst out gruffly, through turkey and stuffing.

  'And an Irish lady, the young Beauty of Erin!' Mr. Sullivan Smith was
  flowing on. He became frigid, he politely bowed: 'Two, sir, if you
  haven't the grace to withdraw the offensive term before it cools and
  can't be obliterated.'

  'Fiddle! and go to the deuce!' Mr. Redworth cried.

  'Would a soft slap o' the cheek persuade you, sir?'

  'Try it outside, and don't bother me with nonsense of that sort at my
  supper. If I'm struck, I strike back. I keep my pistols for bandits
  and law-breakers. Here,' said Mr. Redworth, better inspired as to the
  way of treating an ultra of the isle; 'touch glasses: you're a
  gentleman, and won't disturb good company. By-and-by.'

  The pleasing prospect of by-and-by renewed in Mr. Sullivan Smith
  his composure. They touched the foaming glasses: upon which, in a
  friendly manner, Mr. Sullivan Smith proposed that they should go
  outside as soon as Mr. Redworth had finished supper-quite finished
  supper: for the reason that the term 'donkey' affixed to him was like
  a minster cap of schooldays, ringing bells on his topknot, and also
  that it stuck in his gizzard.


texts: Describing a person who values the unimportant while ignoring the important

texts:
How do you describe a person who gives the most importance to little details (of little value) while ignoring the aspects of much greater importance?

It would describe one who places more importance on, say, presentation/reporting than on actual content, showcasing small and less important work as opposed to the most difficult, innovative and challenging work.

Is there a word or phrase which can be used to describe this behavior?


texts: Is “workload” ever a countable noun? Can it also be uncountable?

texts:
Here are two sentences which have almost the same meaning that I have found in two different dictionaries:

Teachers are always complaining about their heavy workloads. (Cambridge Dictionary)
Students complained about the heavy workload.  (Merriam-Webster Dictionary)

Both citations show a plural subject, but the grammatical number of what those subjects are complaining about is inconsistent.
So, should I use singular/uncountable workload or plural workloads in a sentence sentence like:
Not countable:

They have heavy workload.
(Like saying that “They had great contentment” or “They breathed fresh air”.)

Countable:

They have a heavy workload.
They have heavy workloads.

Or are both possibilities admissible here, depending on whether it’s countable or not? If both are meaningful, do they both mean the same thing, or does each mean something slightly different from the other?


texts:
Which one is correct:

1- 4.23% of the world (world's) population SPEAKS Arabic.

2- 4.23% of the world (world's) population SPEAK Arabic.


texts: Is there a pessimistic counterpart to the term "Pollyanna"?

texts:
The term "Pollyanna" came into the lexicon with the 1913 publication of Pollyanna, a novel by Eleanor H. Porter. The name has come to mean

  A person regarded as being foolishly or blindly optimistic.

(By the way, the term echoes Voltaire's Pangloss, a character from Candide "who views a situation with unwarranted optimism.")

The term is used in the following way:

  "Only a Pollyanna would think the climate change problem will solve itself over time."

I've wracked my brain to come up with a correspondingly pessimistic term, based on a character in literature, but I'm coming up empty. Yet it feels like there must be such a name just beyond the veil of cobwebs blocking my memory. Any ideas?

The term must involve a character from literature, and must be in a form that would fill in the following blank:

  "Only a _______ would think human beings can't figure out a way to solve the issues that we face."


texts:
Sentence (1) below was written by a friend. Sentence (2) is the one I fixed, by capitalizing "Salaried Exempt" and adding commas after "Exempt," "time," and "Young." Please tell if my corrections are correct.

(1) Since you are salaried exempt you technically don’t need to submit time but with Ernst & Young we want to track your hours.
(2) Since you are a Salaried Exempt, you technically don’t need to submit time, but with Ernst & Young, we want to track your hours.


texts:
I ran into a sentence which I would like to share in here to prepare the context for my question.

  "it was shown that TBT, HBT, and HSDT1 have the same results in order to derive fundamental frequency of the nanobeam – ABT and EBT are the same as well – in all of the different selected aspect ratios and gradient index parameters."

Now, I need to know if the two dashes used in this sentence represent what grammar calls 'parenthetical phrase'!
Plus, I guess using dashes in sentences has become a bit of tradition and commas are good replacements for them. Correct me if I am wrong.


texts: I'm not sure about the usage of "in" and "after". For example, it's January now and I got rejected in a job application, some one tells me that I can re-apply in six month. Is this "in" the same as "within"? Does it mean I can re-apply in the period between January and June but not after June? Or does it mean I should re-apply after June?


texts:
Does anyone know the meaning behind the phrase, "for the romance of the thing"?

  Standing in the middle of the room, they renewed their bowing, and passing from side to side, with a gravity and tediousness almost ludicrous, till he finished the ceremony by approaching and lifting her veil from her head. We were told that till then he had never seen her! She blushed, and sat without raising her eyes; but, alas for the romance of the thing--she was ugly! (Travels in South-Eastern Asia, embracing Hindustan, Malaya, Siam, and China, H. Malcolm)

Hmm here's another sentence

  At this time, I was a fore-mast hand aboard the Amazon, having joined her in Valparaiso, for the romance of the thing--to learn how to catch whales and eat blubber; and my curiosity was in a fair way of being satisfied, for we were bound for the Pacific South Cruising-ground, where whales can be had for the catching... (The Knickerbocker: Or, New York Monthly Magazine, Volume 4, C. F. Hoffman Et al.)


texts: What type of sentence is a list of dependent clauses

texts:
I'm trying to classify the following sentence as compound, complex or compound-complex:

  These are: a book with drawings, a man holding a picture and a statue.

I think it's a complex sentence, because I think it has an independent clause (These are) and three dependent clauses (a book with drawings, a man holding a picture, a statue).

However, the regular words that start a subordinate clause aren't there, so I'm feeling like I'm missing something.


texts: How to say you can reach a destination via these specific means?

texts: I'm having one of those moments, I just can't remember how to say it.  By air, by water, by ground?  Or is it by airplane, boat, and car?  I was reading about an island where the writer was saying "the island can be reached by kayak" so it got me thinking.  Thank you for your help.


texts: Should I acronymize "Health, Safety, and Environment" as "HSE" or "SHE"?

texts: Which abbreviation is most used for "Health, Safety and Environment"? I keep seeing different abbreviations, and a quick search on Google shows that they are all used widely. But does anyone actually know if there is one "correct" abbreviation?


texts: In a university project which I am writing I have been reprimanded at least 10 times for using the word scuba in lower case. i.e. Scuba tank, Scuba diving etc. Is this permissible and can I tell my tutor that I will stick with my preference of lower case scuba.


texts:
I'm trying to contrast three types of mortality: "mortal", things which are living and temporary (humans); "immortal", things which maintain their existence through infinite lives (ideas); and "amortal", things which are not dependent on life to exist (machines).
'Amortal' is not technically a word; I was inspired by the use of 'astable' in an engineering context (https://english.stackexchange.com/a/134912/77833). Still, I find this comparison beautiful. Here's a sentence that attempts to incorporate all of them:

While the mortal architects of society have proven its foundations unstable, the architects of the Internet have engineered an immortal feat of amortal stability.

Does "amortal" make sense in this context? Or, how might you rewrite this sentence with a similar comparison?


texts: Inversion/non-inversion in wh-questions with long phrases after the wh-words

texts:
Can a sentence like this:

  "I don't know who the first man that made such and such thing in such and such place was,"

be grammatically correct if we don't put "was" at the end of the long phrase, that is, if we write:

  "I don't know who was the first man that made such and such thing in such and such place"?

I can see in Google Books examples that in such cases the verb is often put after the wh-word, but I don't know if there is a grammar rule to support this. Some examples:

"We do not know who was the first man who ascended above a poor and humble people to become Egypt's first king ..."

"... we do not know what was the ultimate judgment of the various members of the community ..."

"I do not know who was the first to suggest a connection between the problem of free will and the breakdown ..."

"I do not know what was the date of this change in me, nor of the train of ideas ..."

"We do not know what was the primitive text from which Codex Bezae derived its Latin or its Greek ..."

"We do not know what was the practice in the days of the monarchy, but the story of Athaliah shows ..."


texts: Dependent clause *comma* independent clause *comma?* *coordinating conjunction* independent clause

texts:
I have a sentence that starts with a dependent clause, followed by an independent clause and another independent clause, but I'm not sure if a comma would be required before the coordinating conjunction. Here's the sentence:

  "After taking the bus to work for years, I finally had enough money to buy a car, and now I can finally go to work without waiting outside in the cold for the bus to arrive."

In that sentence, I added a comma before the coordinating conjunction "and" because the clause after that is independent. But since a dependent clause comes before the two independent clauses, should the comma be removed? Is there a rule that states this?


texts:
In the following passage about Napoleon, I can't make out what the writer means by on the wood - is it the wooden nub of the pencil after the lead has worn down, or the wooden surface of his desk?

  He ended by giving up pens and ink and substituting pencils. He had a
  number of them ready on his writing table, which enabled him to write
  more rapidly and saved the time which it took him to dip his pen in
  the ink. If he thought that what he had to write would need more
  pencils than he had he would keep someone with him to sharpen them as
  they were used up, and with that it often happened that he wrote on
  the wood.


texts:
I always knew that "to understand " is not used to get the meaning of sentence but is used just for the language comprehension

So my question is, in the sentence above which is the best between understand and figure out verbs?

"Given a requested resource list is interesting to understand/figure out if these resource have been returned or the server has returned an error"

Thanks in advance
Dom


texts: Who do you think is I/me/you in the picture?

texts:
Do you think it's correct to use the verb to be this way in these sentences?

1 Who do you think is me in the picture?

2 Who do you think is you in the picture?

3 How can I recognize who is you in this crowd?

I happen to hear natives' opinion that they are not correct. They should be:

4 Who do you think I am in the picture?

5 Who do you think you are in the picture?

6 How can I recognize who you are in this crowd?


texts: In the phrase "Good afternoon" what type of word is "afternoon"?

texts:
In the phrase "Good afternoon" what type of word is 'afternoon'?

I've argued that it was a temporal pronoun, but a colleague googled the term "temporal pronoun" and came up with almost nothing, so I'm now convinced that is an incorrect description.

Is there a category that succinctly describes the temporal part of traditional greeting such as "Good morning", "Good day", "Good night"?


texts: In my understanding, the word "RECEPTOR" is used for only physiological things. Can you use the word for other categories, such as mechanical devices like "transceiver is a device that combines transmitter and receptor"?


texts: How to pronounce al- at the start of a word?

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  Sounds of the letter a

I was wondering if there is a general pronunciation rule for how to pronounce A and L when they start the word. I noticed words
Also
Almost
Always
Alright
Almighty
Already
Although.. etc.
That is, al- is followed by a consonant, A is pronounced more like O.

where as in words where L is followed by a vowel, A is pronounced more like A, not O. For example:
Alone
Alike
Along
Aluminium
etc.

then I thought of 'Ale' where its pronounced even differently. or the word Ally (allies) where L is followed by a consonant but pronounced as if followed by a vowel.

My confusion is then between /ɔl/ and /el/ Is there a rule and what is it?


texts:
These animals can be dangerous.

Sentence 1) can be glossed as:

These animals are sometimes dangerous. Or

Some of these animals are dangerous.

We can also add the adverb of frequency "sometimes" to sentence 1) to make it clear which meaning we intend to imply:

These animals can sometimes be dangerous.

Q: Can we use the frequency adverb "always" or "usually" with "can":

These animals can always be dangerous.

These animals can usually be dangerous.


texts: Can a prepositional phrase starting with "during" work as an adjectival phrase?

texts:
A prepositional phrase comprising a preposition and a noun phrase can generally function either as an adjectival phrase or as an adverbial phrase.

  The book on the table is mine.
  (The prepositional phrase on the table is an adjectival phrase modifying the noun phrase the book.)

  Put the book on the table.
  (The prepositional phrase on the book is an adverbial phrase modifying the verb put.)

I used to think that this dual property of the prepositional phrase is applicable to all prepositions without exception. But then, here comes this example.

  Do you have any plans during the vacation?

Which sounds awkward at best.

I thought about the reason why this sounded awkward.
The reason I came up with is that the prepositional phrase during the vacation cannot modify any plans. It can only modify the verb have, thereby rendering the sentence awkward.

Can "during" ever lead a prepositional phrase that acts as an adjectival phrase?


texts: What's the difference between "cup" and "glass"?

texts: Are "cup" and "glass" the same in English? Can I call a "glass" a cup made of plastic?


texts: "The price of an apple is greater than an onion"– Why is this incorrect?

texts:
I think C is correct option.
D option is clearly wrong since more and costlier can't come together.
I don't understand why other options are wrong?
Please suggest.


texts:
I came across this sentence in a book:

  He was astonishingly humble, exhibited great charitableness and such a sweetness and meekness that he would often shed tears at a sad story.

It seems strange to me that the author treats charitableness as a mass noun, while sweetness is preceded with an indefinite article. Is this construction lawful/grammatical? What is this grammatical phenomenon called?


texts: "separated by", "separated with", or does it not matter?

texts:
I'm describing how you write something down (specifically, an array initializer in JavaScript, but that's not important), and find myself intrigued by the choice of using "separated by" vs. "separated with." I wonder if there are rules, or whether it doesn't really matter which you use.

As a native English speaker (mostly of American English but influenced by British English), my largely unschooled instinct is that "separated by" is more of an observation of fact ("As we can see in the diagram, the entries are separated by commas"), and that "separated with" is more related to an instruction ("When writing...put the entries between the square brackets, separated with commas")... I think part of the reason I feel that tug toward "with" is that I'd definitely use "with" in the imperative sentence "Separate the entries with commas."

Is there language logic to back that up? And/or is my unschooled instinct simply wrong? :-)

In this case, I'm primarily interested in informal but professional American English usage.


texts: April Fool's day = April (Fool's day) or (April Fool)'s day

texts:
Ok, that is a bad example :)

I was wondering how should I understand the phrases like April Fool's day. It could be understood in two ways, could it?

April (Fool's day) - The day of Fool occurring in April.
(April Fool)'s day - The day of April Fool.

How to know which one is the right one?


texts: What is it called when a prefix moved back for alphabetic sorting purposes?

texts:
I have seen this many times, but I am not sure what to call this. For example, the People's Republic of China is often written as China, People's Republic of.

Thanks in advance!


texts: Are "go on"; "go for it"; "Carry on" and "go ahead" synonymous?

texts:
I saw “Carry on” vs. “go ahead”

A friend of mine said this to me, and it sounded kind weird for me...

  If you know a better way "go on"

I would say

  If you know a better way "go for it"

Are they synonymous? and Carry on and Go ahead could also be used on this kind of phrase?

  "Carry on" if you know a better way for it

  If you know a better way "Go ahead"


texts: What does “One can easily give it a miss” mean?

texts:
I read this in a movie review:

  One can easily give it a miss.

What does it mean?

And what is this type of construction called? (I'd like to investigate it on Google.)


texts:
As an example, which is correct: "The seal hunted the fish" or "The seal fished the fish"?

What about marine birds, do they hunt or fish?


texts:
In this sentence should it be public "was" given or does the first "was" cover it?

  A notice was published in the newspaper, and the public given 30 days to comment.


texts:
I've seen people write a sentence like this:

Example A: "I'm often asked what's the story behind my work."

To me, it just seems that this reads rather poorly. I feel like it should be written as:

Example B: "I'm often asked what the story is behind my work."

Is there a right/wrong way here, or is this purely preference?


texts: Is there an English variant of "Zeitgeist" other than "spirit of the times"?

texts:
Is there a cut-and-dry English word that means the same, or roughly the same, as the German word "Zeitgeist," other than its literal meaning of "spirit of the times"?

I've grown sour on its presence in conversational English due to heavy use as a clever buzzword and would like to know if there is a simpler alternative.


texts: What should one call his or her mother-in-law?

texts:
We call our own mother "mum". What should we call our mother-in-law? In China, we call our mother-in-law "mum" as well. Do English speaking people feel comfortable calling their mother-in-law "mum"? Could we simply call our mother-in-law by her first name?

EDIT: I thought it was just about everyday conversation and not about complicated cultural practice. To be clear, I'm not asking what to call mother-in-laws in different cultures. Rather, I just want to know what native people in countries like U.S., U.K., Australia, Canada and New Zealand call their mother-in-law in daily conversation.


texts:
Out of curiosity, how come height is spelt with an e while one drops it in high or highest? In my opinion, it seems rather weird that it isn't consistent.

Is there a logical or historical explanation?


texts: Is it correct to say : I am glad to be part of this family NOW?

texts:
I am joining a team and just as I join, I say this sentence. Is the "now" correct in the end of the sentence or how to make the sentence more fluent?

  I am glad to be part of this family now.

I want to say that I am glad to join the team (family). But if I just say that "I am glad to be part of this family." (without the "now") ,  it kind of means that I have been part of that family for a long time.

This question may seem confusing, but feel free to ask answers, to improve the quality of this question.


texts: Phrases or idioms for rebuilding something from the ground up

texts:
Looking for phrases or idioms that can be used to describe a project so horribly done that there are no other options left but to demolish it and start it over again.
A sentence might be like:
"This project is so horribly done that I have no choice but to ......"


texts:
I've tried looking this up and I've read somewhat unhelpful advice like "to bemoan something is to moan about something".

I am mostly aware when one feels correct, and when one does not, but I'm not sure why.

  I bemoaned my fate.

  I moaned every day and night for the last month.

  I moaned my fate.* (wrong)

  I bemoaned every day and night for the last month.* (wrong)

(Taken from this related question)


texts: usage of the term "former" to apply to the dead

texts: I've been told that is it wrong to call FDR a "former president" as "former" means someone who is still alive who was once President,


texts: How to translate "schleifen" to English well for this specific situation? Polishing? Sanding? Rubbing? Abrading?

texts:
Today saw someone riding a bicycle with his full, plastic shopping bags hanging beside the front wheel.

The bags were hitting the front wheel from time to time and I guess as the wheel was turning quite fast, it made a very certain, very typical, continuous sound when the spokes of the wheel interacted with the bag. It reminded me a lot of sharpening, polishing etc. You may have a fast spinning object and then hold another object against it, for example, a gem to cut or polish it.

Saying, however, "The spokes of the wheel polished the plastic bags" has a rather strange and funny ring. "Rubbing" might be ok, however, lacks noting the very fast motion in the above situation.

I feel like "to abrade" may be the closest approximations, however, I am unsure what would be most natural and precise. As always thanks in advance.


texts:
What is the noun form of the word "implore"?

I saw some suggestions online for "imploration", but this seems awkward to me.


texts: How should I phrase "Not only but also.."?

texts:
I am writing a sentence like so:

  "I bought the Dell laptop because not only did I find the price appealing but I also liked the  the fact that the laptop had an integrated webcam."

Is my use of ".. not only .. but also ..." appropriate? Is there a better way to phrase such a sentence?


texts: To-infinitive usage: which sentence is correct?

texts:
which one of the following sentences is correct and why?

Her face was intentionally blurred in the photo to not to reveal her identity?
Her face was intentionally blurred in the photo not to reveal her identity?

Thanks in advance!


texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  Conditional sentences not starting with “if”

What is the meaning of this sentence - "Were it not for the bodies there on the ground, it would have appeared to be a normal day at the oasis."?

Does it mean something like this -
If the bodies were not there on the ground, it would have appeared to be a normal day at the oasis.

Can anyone also explain the structure of this sentence and example of some similar sentences?


texts: The uses of word information before 1948

texts:
The concept of information is very useful today, however it is used in different ways: number of symbols in a sequence, less description of a sequence, a sequence that is useful for an agent, and much more.

A professor who teaches me Information Theory (the mathematical theory) said that Claud Shannon was able to capture precisely the common sense notion of the concept of information. However, since Shannon's work was successful, there is a risk that our use of the word common sense information may have been influenced by Shannon's own definition. And, consequently, the fact that Shannon's definition of information is very similar to one of the ways we use the word information may be a consequence of the very success of Shannon's definition. So, to avoid this bias, I prefer to look for the use of the word information before Shannon's work.

  What are the uses of the word "information" before 1948?


texts: Word for bad habit considering alcohol, drugs

texts:
I couldn’t find this word for so long I am starting to feel like I am making it up.
When we are asking a friend what they’d like to drink we can say “what’s your choice of poison?” The word I am looking for is a substitute for poison, more in the meaning of bad habit. I think it started with a v or sounded like “virtue” but I am not exactly sure of that (may be something completely different), I think a friend of mine asked me the question a while ago and I loved the usage of the word but can’t remember it. So what would you say to a person “what’s your choice of _____ tonight?” when you’re asking for their preference of alcoholic beverage or drugs?


texts: Do you need a comma before a subordinating conjunction (like if)?

texts:
Are both of the following sentences correct?

a: You can call me, if you need me.  OR
b: You can call if you need me.

Note that in a:, the comma is placed before the "if" and is not present in case b.

From this link, I gather that it isn't necessary because it's a short sentence: Is it mandatory to use a comma before a coordinating conjunction uniting the two independent clauses in a compound sentence?

But can someone point out an "official" source on this usage?


texts:
What is the difference between speckled and spotted in the following context:

  I will pass through all thy flock to day, removing from thence all the
  speckled and spotted cattle, and all the brown cattle among the sheep,
  and the spotted and speckled among the goats: and of such shall be my
  hire. - Gen. 30:32 AV

I did research in a few dictionaries and yet can not grasp the distinction between the two.
For example, W3 provides the following definition for speckled

  : covered or marked with speckles : spotted

SOED states the following:

  Covered or marked with (numerous) speckles; variegated or flecked with
  spots of a contrasting colour

Not too much help comes from OED:

  Covered, dotted, or marked with (numerous) speckles or specks;
  variegated or flecked with spots of a different colour from that of
  the main body; spotted

For a non-native speaker, these definitions don't provide a clear distinction between the two words, they seem to be synonymous.


texts: The middle of obscuring and appreciating positive psychology

texts:
I am examining characters who have ideologies or outlooks that lead or obscure appreciation of the attributes of positive psychology. Within the spectrum of both, what do you call the middle person who neither obscures nor appreciates the psychology?

Sample Sentence:

  Within the spectrum of modern day psychology, it is possible to lie mid-way in the continuum, _______ the idea.


texts:
Which is correct?

They marveled the effigy.

OR

They marveled at the effigy.

Please provide an explanation.

Thanks.


texts: What is the meaning of bank in this sentence?

texts:
I read a sentence in a chapter named 'Silk Road' in 'Hornbill' book which was:

The trail hugged its bank, twisting with the meanders as we gradually gained height and the valley sides closed in.

The 'trail' in the sentence means a path but what is the meaning of bank?
Does that mean a steep slope?
Correct me if I am wrong.


texts:
By definition, past perfect simple tense "expresses an action taking place before a certain time in the past".

I have a hard time to understand why Terry Pratchett used it in the sentence:

"The scythe that had done the work leaned against the gnarled bole of a pear tree."

Can I kindly ask for an explanation? I can't see any reason for it because no exact information about certain time in the past is given.

Thank you in advance.


texts: A future loan-word for English that means the protective love one feels for children not your own

texts:
I am looking for words for a research project and possible commercial venture.

Is there one word in any other language that specifically means the protective love one feels for children that are not one’s own?

The word ‘storge’ seems to me to be close, but is more general, including love of country, and also seems to me to be more about the love for one’s own children, rather than children in general.

Example: Seeing that small, shivering child at the snowy bus stop, I felt overwhelmed by [word] and wanted so badly to bring him a warm coat.

I am new here, and appreciate help with the rules and etiquette of this site. Please let me know if this question is inappropriate or misplaced and I will revise. I apologize also if my grammar is not the best. I feel very out of my element here and I'm doing my best.

Thank you.


texts: Is there a rhetorical term for remarks like "you're exactly what I've come to expect from..."?

texts:
Is there a specific term for a statement that uses words such that their precise meaning conveys a subtext contrary to the colloquial meaning?

For example, the joke in Men in Black:

  Gentlemen, congratulations. You're everything we've come to expect
  from years of government training.

where the precise use of the words conveys a sarcastic meaning (ie that the candidates are inept because that's what he's come to expect from government training).

I was going to use "irony" to describe this but then realized this is basically the opposite of irony - the use of words to convey their literal intention, when a nonliteral intention was expected.


texts: What is the direct object in the sentence "He causes you difficulty"?

texts:
I'm confused because if I said "he cause you to go home", the "you" would be the direct object, correct? But if I said "cause you difficulty", I would think that the direct object would be 'difficulty".

He causes difficulty.

He causes difficulty for you.

He causes you difficultly.

So, 'difficulty' is the direct object, and 'you' is the indirect object, correct?

However, in the next sentences, you becomes the direct object. Am I correct in thinking this?

He causes you to go home.

He causes to go (incorrect)


texts: What dialect is "You wants I should do it for ya?"

texts:
I heard this phrasing in an episode of a TV show, but I can't remember what for the life of me. I just remember how weird it sounded, because no one else talked like that in the series?

It was a white character in a rural setting, if that helps. A criminal henchman. Is there an area or something where "You wants I..." is commonplace?


texts: What is this an example of... 'tongue in cheek' maybe?

texts: If i were to call myself a small town doctor, kind of humorously inferring that a small town doctor can be just as good as a big city doctor, would that be an example of "tongue in cheek" ?


texts: Name for someone who believes that sciences is more than just descriptive

texts:
Some people believe that science can answer the 'why?' rather than just 'how can I visualize/model/interpret this?'. It's the attribution of a 'super natural' quality to science as is currently quite popular in the western world.

I mean, there is a strong overlap between this believe and the concept of empiricism, with the huge distinction that an empiricist need not attribute this quality to science at all. An empiricist can be fully aware that an apple does not fall to the ground because (the 'why?') of gravity/spacetime curvatures, but that gravity/spacetime curvatures are simply the way we model our past observations of such events which is super useful in our daily lives and gives us limited control over reality, but can never give a true deeper understanding of reality itself. So what I am looking for is the word for someone who answers the 'why?' with 'because science'.

As common and widespread as this believe/faith is in certain circles I am quite sure there must be some term to describe a person adhering to such a believe, but I have come short. A word describing somebody who adheres to scientism would come extremely close, except that I have not been able to find the name for such a person and 'scientism' itself is primarily being used as an (academic) pejorative rather than something that simply describes a certain believe/faith.

(Do note that lacking any better answer I will be open to accepting an answer with the word that describes a believer of scientism though I really hope there is some more neutral and/or specific term for this. I rediscovered the term 'scientism' whilst writing this question, so I am already quite happy with that, just the very strong connotations the term carries will never allow me to ask 'Are you a ...?')


texts: "There are so many" vs. "There is so many"

texts:
There are so many questions on this website.
There is so many questions on this website.

The former "sounds right," but the contracted form of the latter does as well:

There's so many questions on this website.

Which is correct?


texts: do we say in a marathon or through a marathon?

texts: Can I say "Have you ever sprinted in a marathon?" or should I say "Have you every sprinted through a marathon?"


texts: Using stressed "the" to emphasize outstanding noun

texts: I'm not a native English speaker and sometimes I encounter article "the" used in stressed form before some noun or name, mostly in movies, like "That's not the gun, that's THE gun" or "He is THE specialist". Is it correct or common use of this article for emphasizing something outstanding? Is it allowed in written form?


texts: I'm writing a technical report and must use the plural form of LASER. Seeing as it is an acronym, how does one add the 's'?


texts:
If someone wins a match, that person is called a winner.

If someone loses a match, that person is called a loser or runner up.

But if the match is a draw, that is, no one has won or lost, what do you call them then?


texts: Word for "coming to know about something's existence"

texts: What is the word to know / understand something / someone's existence. Realization seems close. But i want a word with the essence "It's shocking that I didn't know this till now."


texts: "unaccounted for externalities" vs "unaccounted externalities"

texts:
Which of the two formulations is correct or preferable?

Alienation of consumer from producer allows the existence of unaccounted for externalities.
Alienation of consumer from producer allows the existence of unaccounted externalities.

I would say the first is correct while the second isn't. What do you say?


texts: What is the official word that refers to both bride and groom?

texts:
Instead of saying, e.g. "Before the wedding, I spoke to the bride and groom", is there a single word meaning, "those to be married"?
I thought of "postulants", e.g. "Before the wedding, I spoke to the postulants."
From this  dictionary however postulant does not have the right meaning.

Definition of postulant 1: a person admitted to a religious order as a
probationary candidate for membership 2: a person on probation before
being admitted as a candidate for holy orders in the Episcopal Church.
[M-W]

Question
Is there such a single word or must you always refer separately to "the bride and groom"?
Thanks


texts:
W : I'm impressed at how expertly you played that piano sonata.
M : Sorry. I'm still just an apprentice.

When the man says "sorry", what does this exactly mean in this circumstances?
Is it kind of a humble expression I can use when praised?
One more question,

W : Mr. Smith, the tiles in the restaurant bathroom need to be replaced.
M : Why? There's nothing wrong with them.
W : Yes, but they're starting to look old.
M : I don't think that warrants the expense.

Does this mean "That is not enough for changing the whole tiles."?
Do you frequently use this expression?


texts: Why are "said" and "paid"/"laid" pronounced differently?

texts:
The words say, pay, lay are phonemically /seɪ/, /peɪ/ and /leɪ/ respectively (with the diphthong /eɪ/). Their past and past participles are respectively: /sɛd/ (or /sed/), /peɪd/ and /leɪd/. The past/past participle (and present simple singular) of "said" contains a vowel instead of the expected diphthong /eɪ/.
Say and lay are both Old English words while pay is from Old French through Middle English. "Say" and "lay" belonged to the same verb class in Old English, if I understand it correctly. That's why their past/past participle are spelled the same.
I didn't have much luck tracing their roots and finding what happened that caused "said" to have the vowel /ɛ/ instead of the diphthong /eɪ/.
So why does "said" have a vowel and not a diphthong?


texts:
Are both of these structures grammatically correct, and is either of them preferable in something like a semi-casual email?

I read chapters 1 through 3.
I read chapters 1, 2 and 3.


texts: What’s the name of two words that are put together to make another word?

texts: What’s the name of two words that are put together to make another word, e.g., mobile phone, chewing gum, or credit card. I’m not sure if these would be classed as portmanteau, compounds, or something completely different, as the words are still separate and not conjoined.


texts:
Original reference: http://edition.cnn.com/2015/02/03/world/taiwan-plane-crash-transasia/index.html?hpt=ob_galleryfooterexpansion&iref=obnetwork

In this case of usages of relative pronouns,

  Thirteen people are confirmed dead and dozens remain missing after the
  TransAsia Airways ATR-72, carrying 58 people, veered out of control en
  route from Taipei to Kinmen, off the coast of the Chinese province of
  Xiamen.

Some words are left out. What are the words being left out? Are they as shown bellow?

  Thirteen people are confirmed dead and dozens remain missing after the
  TransAsia Airways ATR-72, (which was) carrying 58 people, veered out
  of control en route from Taipei to Kinmen, (which is) off the coast of
  the Chinese province of Xiamen.


texts: What is the best word or idiom for someone who suddenly leaves/disappears without informing?


texts: An verb or expression for regularly writing about things that occur

texts:
I'm not a native english speaker.

I'm looking for a verb that expresses (regularly) writing about things or situations.

Two words came to mind;
chronicling
novelling
logging

Any verb will do, as long as I can use it to describe me adding text to my work log.

Kind regards,


texts: Which grammar rule (if any) applies to the phrase 'I like it when you smile.'

texts: Why can we say 'I like it when you smile,' but not 'I like it how you talk, or 'I like it where you go.'?


texts: Is the usage of “does no longer exist” grammatically correct?

texts:
Example: This Facebook member does no longer exist.
Is it grammatically correct to add “does” in front of no longer exist or is it only correct to say that “it no longer exists” or “it does no longer exist”?


texts: How to write out 28,358,292,110 in english

texts:
28,358,292,110
Is this twenty eight billion, three hundred fifty eight million, two hundred ninety two thousand, one hundred and ten dollars if it is written out?


texts: Word for working with disruptions, with more mistakes than acceptable

texts: Is there a word for doing work like this? For example when you have a lot of outages, you would say your power supplier is working ...ly. Something like inconsistent or erratic but with a less forgiving connotation.


texts: What does [nopass] mean in the dictionary?

texts:
afford

  [nopass]to have enough money or time to be able to buy or to do sth
  [nopass]~ to do sth if you say that youcan't afford to do sth, you mean that you should not do it because it will cause problems for you
  if you do

What does the [nopass] mean in the dictionary's explanation?


texts:
I am always in confuse with news heading and paragraph content.
Here in this image the heading sentence seems in active voice and in paragraph it is in passive voice, the result is like the actor has been changed.
Could you explain?


texts:
I am editing something that has an appositive phrase surrounded by m-dashes.  But the thing that gets the em-dash phrase in it is the first item in a list.  I feel like I need a comma, so that it's clear that this first thing is part of a list.  It looks kind of like this:

  He hopped off his bicycle--which was neatly caught by a volunteer--took off his bike shorts, revealing his swim trunks, ran into the water and started swimming towards the first marker.

How do I get a comma in there (after "volunteer")?  Or don't I need one?

The solution I'm currently using is to replace the author's em dashes with parentheses, which allow me to use a comma as well:

  He hopped off his bicycle (which was neatly caught by a volunteer), took off his bike shorts, revealing his swim trunks, ran into the water and started swimming towards the first marker.

(Side question: should I have said "appositive" instead of "appositive phrase"?)


texts: How to spell and write ஃ(tamil) in English?

texts:
I need a English word for the sound of one famous Tamil language letter

  ஃ

How is this sound written in English?


texts: What does “meth“ mean in “Meth heads snuck in to it to do meth.”?

texts:
There was the following passage in the New Yorker’s (September 22, 2014) article titled “Field trip” describing a photographer who travels to take pictures of oldest living things in the world:

  The one she photographed was a 3500 year-old tree just outside
  Orlando, Florida – actually the original tourist attraction before
  Disney. Meth heads snuck into it to do meth, and they accidentally
  burned it down. One of them later said, ‘Oh shit, we killed something
  that was older than Jesus.’

As I had no idea about ‘meth,’ I checked Readers English Japanese Dictionary at hand, which defines it as a slang to mean methyl alcohol or drug, methadone.

Urban Dictionary defines meth as an abbreviation for methamphetamine, a drug that stimulates the central nervous system by causing it to release more dopamine, a neurotransmitter that gives someone a feeling of satisfaction.

Does ‘meth’ in the above quote means methadone or methamphetamine, and 'do meth' mean to take or inhale it? Is it a popular slang as pot and weed are for marijuana?


texts:
What do you call a road that parallels a main road and is primarily used for parking?

This would be like a frontage road for main roads instead of highways. Plus it is mainly used for parking.

If you are familiar with Chicago, this word would describe the roads on both sides of Martin Luther King Drive. See the picture for reference.

The side roads in question are marked in red in the image above.


texts: I don't understand the difference between slightly and a bit?

texts:
What is the difference in meaning or usage between slightly and a bit?

For example, the sentence:

  I thought she was younger than me, but in fact she proved to be even slightly older.

Is this correct? Or I should say:

  I thought she was younger than me, but in fact she proved to be even a bit older.


texts: Meaning of "a century old if it was a day"

texts:
In Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451, there is the following sentence (emphasis mine):

  It was a flaking three-story house in the ancient part of the city, a century old if it was a day, but like all houses it had been given a thin fireproof plastic sheath many years ago, and this preservative seemed to be the only thing holding it in the sky.

I am not quite sure of what the bold part means. I understand it as a building that is a century old, but in good condition thanks to some preservative.

Is that a correct understanding of this sentence ?


texts: A word for "foreign entity with local traits"

texts:
What I am really looking for is "some entity who does not belong to certain domain but happens to possess the traits of the entities from that domain". The entity, traits, and domain can be anything.

For example, a foreigner can share similar value/custom/preference with the locals.

Any answers from abstract to specific are welcome. I will conduct further investigation to find the appropriate word which fits my specific context.


texts: Use of "ante" to refer to previous pages in an English text

texts: At work I have seen "ante" being used for referring to previous pages of notes written by staff. For instance, when one has to refer to something on previous note, he/she would write, "Refer observation of Mr. XYZ on noting page 1 ante". I have searched on the web but couldn't find anything concrete. At least nothing that pertains to English language. Is it something conventional or erratic usage?


texts: What is the word that means to make a given paragraph into bullet points?

texts:
I think I'm looking for a verb here.

It's something similar in sense to when one would say 'I'll annotate it'; they're taking a given text and adding meaning to it. I'm trying to say I will convert it to a specific style.


texts: What is the name of the pronunciation symbol /o/ with a dot over it?  We know it is pronounced /aw/ but need to know what the name of the symbol is.


texts: What does "country fellows" actually mean?

texts:
I searched on Internet for country fellows, but I couldn't find definition. What is the origin and the real meaning of country fellows?

Edit:
I didn't mean "fellow countrymen". does this phrase have a double meaning? Because I heard it in a bad context. If a guy did something unnatural they call him with pity.


texts: How are words added to the Oxford Dictionary?

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  Is there an ‘official’ way to suggest a new word become part of the English language?
  What are the criteria to adopt new words into English?
  Creating a new word
  Regulatory bodies and authoritative dictionaries for English

I was reading an article on how the Oxford Dictionary was being updated, and wondered what criteria would make a word suitable for being in a dictionary. I used to assume that all words would be included in a dictionary of such reputation, but this is obviously not the case. So my question is, what makes a word applicable to be added in the Oxford Dictionary? Is there a process for choosing these new words? Thanks.


texts: Succinct phrase that covers both “not started” and “previously started, later stopped”

texts:
I maintain a web page that tracks tasks for my team.  There is a column currently called "not started" that we use for tasks we haven't started yet.  We would also like to use that column for tasks we started, but didn't complete, that no one is actively working on for the time being.  However, people are reluctant to move it back to that column because the label implies no work has ever been done on that task.  A fourth column isn't really an option due to space constraints.

What's a phrase that succinctly captures both meanings?


texts:
Which spelling is correct — reseller or re-seller?

I was writing a question on another Stack Exchange site, and I wrote reseller, but the editor underlined that as an incorrect spelling. Microsoft Word accepts it however, but Microsoft Encarta Dictionary has no entry for reseller, resell, or reselling.


texts: Which adjective is better to describe 'weather' and 'climate' that they are neither cold nor hot?

texts:
There are some adjectives which are used to describe weather, such as hot, cold, wet, dry, fine, nice, etc.

I think we can use 'mild' (relatively warm for winter or cool for summer). Or we can use warm to describe relatively mild conditions in winter, or cool for summer.

My first question is:

Which adjective is better to refer to the weather that is neither hot nor cold regardless of season? And I want to know if we refer to the weather as '... weather' regardless of season, are we now talking about climate?

Considering the answer for the second part of the first question, here is the second question:

Which adjective is used to describe climate that is again neither hot nor cold?

And finally, can we use adjectives which are used to describe weather for climate?


texts:
I am currently writing a paper and am kind of struggling with the corrections my co-writer did on my sections (he is the main author and I only had to write a few chapters).

There is a phrase in here that is odd to me, please tell me if that is something you can, at least in principle do:

"Tow-dimensional histograms harboured two main clusters ...".

Can you use harbour in this context ?


texts: Is it correct to say 'plenty of chance' rather than 'plenty of chances' or are they both acceptable? You certainly wouldn't say 'many chance' but 'many chances'. Is there something about the phrase 'plenty of' or is it that the word 'chance' can be used to mean more than one opportunity, thus intrinsically denoting a plurality of concept? Can anyone explain the correct usage?


texts: What does "work me right" in "I set an explosion if you don't work me right" mean?

texts:
It's a quote from the song "Bomb" by Isa.
Here is the rest of the lyrics: https://www.musixmatch.com/de/songtext/Isa-3/Bomb


texts:
Is "be built of" a phrasal verb? If so, in the following sentence the verb would be a verb conjugated in simple past, or on the contrary, would be in passive voice?

It was built of horizontal planks, and so badly put together that, as he bent over his high desk, he was barred from neck to heels with narrow strips of sunlight.

Heart of Darkness of Joseph Conrad.


texts: Omission of "but also" in "not only ..., but also ..."

texts:
I've seen some topics related to this correlative pair 'not only..., but also ...', but I'm still not quite sure if it's correct to use a comma without any conjunction in the following construction:

  "The American commoditization of time not only serves as the basis for a "time is money" mentality, it can lead to a fixation on timelines that plays right into the hands of smart negotiators from other cultures".

In this excerpt, the comma between 'mentality' and 'it can lead' joins the two independent clauses without any conjunction. Can we use commas to join two clauses without any conjunction?

I was thinking that the conjunction 'but' should separate those clauses, because 'not only..., but also ...' is a correlative pair, so it is always used as a set. Am I wrong? Or I guess there should be at least a semicolon between them.


texts:
Context:

A degree does not change your potential to make an impact on the world. If you want to dive head first into a problem and solve it, go for it. Nothing is stopping you. What is does allow is for you to cultivate your mind and discover your talents and interests

Do native English speakers actually say "What is does allow is" ?

Sounds alike way too many verbs.


texts: Was Mrs ever intended to mean Mr's, as in mister's to indicate possession?  I started thinking about this when someone brought a breakdown of the word history (his-story) to my attention.  It obviously would be very sexist but not surprising.


texts: When traveling abroad, are you "oversea" or "overseas"?

texts:
I live in Singapore and I will be travelling to Jakarta.

Should I say "I will be oversea next week." or "I will be overseas next week."?

Looking at Google Maps, it looks like there are two seas between Singapore and Jakarta.

Is there any instance where I should use "oversea"?


texts: 1 in 7 appleS becomeS green? or, 1 in 7 apple becomeS green? or, 1 in 7 appleS become green?

texts:
Which of the following is proper grammar usage?

  1 in 7 apples becomes green
  1 in 7 apple becomes green
  1 in 7 apples become green


texts:
Allow me to explain: There is a famous quote from the movie shining

  "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy"

I can also paraphrase it: Jack was dull because he didn't play enough.

My question is, what if I intentionally modify the original quote and turn it into the following?

  All work and no play makes Pouya a dull boy

This is neither a quote nor a paraphrase. Is there any word for these kinds of phrases?


texts:
Is this usage of "to have difficulty with" ok?

I've been having some difficulty with reading the books that I decide to read.

A Google search suggested that the "with" may perhaps be dropped, but I'd prefer to keep it if it is ok. A noun after "having difficulty with" seems more clearly ok, like in "I'm having difficulty with the homework", but I wasn't sure about the quoted sentence above.


texts: A person without awareness of his own knowledge

texts:
If he knows, but knows not he knows, he is asleep. Awaken him (Part of an Chinese/Persian? proverb)

By what word can we call him using one or two words? A sleeper? An unaware person ? Incognizant? or what?


texts: "I gave him + INDIRECT OBJECT" vs. "I gave + INDIRECT OBJECT+ to him"

texts:
Consider these two sentences: "I gave him a pencil," and, "I gave a pencil to him."

Is it correct that the important part of the sentence is placed at the end? When we want to emphasize the pencil that I gave him, must we say, "I gave him a pencil?" When we want to emphasize that it is him to whom I gave a pencil, must we say, "I gave a pencil to him?"


texts:
I know that usually with "so that" there is a modal verb. However, I do not know if this is correct because there is not a modal verb.

  I will wake him up so that he does not (will not) miss the train.
  I woke him up
  so that he did not miss the train.


texts: Why is "he" twice as common than "she" in the English language

texts:
When you look at word frequency data in English such as the Corpus Of Contemporary American English (COCA) he appears on 16th place with 6500 occurrences per mil and she at 35th place with 3210 per mil.
This is a factor of 2 in usage.
Compared to many languages, in English, he and she are only used for animate subjects, with it serving serving as the inanimate subject. And as far as I'm aware in an ambiguous or neutral context he or she or they would be used.
Therefore the null hypothesis would predict that he and she would have the same frequency, being used as pronouns by almost exactly half of the population each.
Is there something I'm missing? Or does this simply point to some deeply rooted sexism and gender imbalance?
If older works were included I could easily imagine this phenomenon being as strong as it is, because all the writers were men, but in the current language Corpus?
At the link above you can download a spreadsheet with a further subdivision of frequencies in different context and this relationship holds in most of them:

rank
lemma
PoS
freq
perMil
range
disp
blog
web
TVM
spok
fic
mag
news
acad
blogPM
webPM
TVMPM
spokPM
ficPM
magPM
newsPM
acadPM

16
he
p
6467470
6512.91
331648
0.97
519986
638982
912036
974382
1671940
652027
871369
227209
4184.87
4968.24
7121.13
7724.88
14130.41
5171.08
7157.51
1896.72

35
she
p
3188078
3210.48
206627
0.93
181410
217759
483074
354703
1283180
285458
295580
87513
1460.00
1693.13
3771.82
2812.08
10844.81
2263.90
2427.92
730.55


texts: In linguistics, what is called when you use a word to down-play something?

texts:
In any theories of semantics or pragmatics such as Grice’s Maxims and Speech Act Theory, is there a term when you use a word to “down-play”, “mitigate”, “soften-the-blow” of a word?
I concoct a few examples to illustrate what I mean:

It’s not that bad!
I will only just be gone for a few months!

I’m sure there are much more examples, but those are the only ones I could think of to mind.
The terms/phrase that come to mind of what it could be are: “intensifier”, “filler” and “mitigation” [*] but I’m not sure if these are appropriate
[*] There is “Mitigtion theory” (mitigate: to make something appear less severe) but I do not know enough about it or whether it’s a linguistic or grammatical theory.


texts: What do you call a freelancer working predominantly at home?

texts:
According to Farlex Financial Dictionary, an e-lancer is an independent contractor who performs their duties predominantly or exclusively online, at home, communicating with clients and colleagues via phone and e-mail.

So, since in others terms an e-lancer is a kind of freelancer working at home, I would like to call a character participating in my next novel a 'homepreneur', which seems a word in current usage ("Three's the magic number for Kristy Sturgess, a homepreneur from Vineyard.").

But, alas, I didn't find that word in dictionaries, so I wonder:

Is 'homepreneur' a valid word, a word that I can use in a novel?
If not, what do you call a freelancer working at home?


texts: Analogue of "most recent" for events in the future

texts:
In the context of a listing of events that are time-based, it is common to use "Most Recent" to describe a listing of events ordered by date, in descending order, with the upper limit being today's date (or perhaps yesterday's date, since an event happening today would be a "current event").

Is there a similar, compact, title ("heading") that is appropriate for future events, ordered by date, where the event whose date is closest (in the future) to today's date would be ordered first, and events farther in the future would be ordered next?

"Upcoming Events" is often used, but doesn't convey the specificity of the ordering in the same way that "Most Recent" does.


texts:
I'm about to run a very large survey of Canadians, and I'm wondering how I should identify gender. Currently, I'm asking:

Are you ...?

() Male
() Female

What word would you use to capture people that don't necessarily fit into either gender? Do I need to?

In person I would refer to a person as the gender they present (for example, in reference to a male that presents themselves as female I would say, "she/her/self") - but I'm not sure how to classify them for the purpose of my survey

Typical survey conventions would suggest "Other", or "None of the above" however, I'm not sure if that would be appropriate nor politically correct. Changing the question type to select all that apply felt like a reasonable option too.


texts:
I'm an English learner and my mother tongue is Portuguese. I've been studying English(American) for 5 years. I lived a year in  Northern Virginia, United States, however, my Portuguese accent is still very present.

Now I have an oportunity to study in the UK for a year, more specifically in Wales. So I started listening to more British English in order to get used to that. I have some difficulty understanding British accent sometimes.

Now I'm afraid my accent will become a mess, a mixing of American and British , because I will start listening to a lot of Bristish accent.

Should I try to keep getting the American accent or should I change it?


texts: Is there some other way to say, "courtesy of"? Let's say that person X gave me a dress; I would like to know a different, rather unique way to say that the dress came to me "courtesy of X". Can someone help?


texts: British English plural verb for group noun in a contraction

texts:
I'm curious about the use of the famous British plural verb form with a group noun¹ in a contraction. The general custom for the plural is discussed here and here but those don't call out contractions.

England football fans are currently singing the following to the tune of September by Earth, Wind, and Fire:

  Woah, England are in Russia,
  Woah, drinking all your vodka,
  Woah, England's going all the way!

Now, it's a football song, not high poetry, but note that in the above, the first line uses England are but the last line uses England's. Unless we magically decide that the first England is the team but the second England is the country, that's...interesting.

The plural contraction is really awkward:

England're going all the way
Family're hard work sometimes
The group're on it

...and as we know, awkwardness tends to get smoothed out of language.[citation needed] ;-)

Is this just a fudge to make the song's meter work? Or is it a deeper pattern to use the singular form in a contraction even when using the plural form otherwise, perhaps because of the awkwardness?

Sadly Google Ngrams won't let me look for England is going vs. England are going (and England is vs. England are is too general) and in any case, I'd be flooded with American English results. Trying to search Hansard, unfortunately Google Search treats the ' as a space.

I can't use my own instinct on this and am having trouble coming up with other examples to look for: I'm an English/American dual national who spent 30 years growing up in the U.S. reading British novels and watching British television on PBS, who's been back in the UK for 18 years. So my dialect is mid-Atlantic and horribly confused. :-)

¹ E.g. the team are vs. American English's the team is for nouns representing groups of people (roughly; there's lots of nuance).


texts: The term "My best to you" at the end of an email

texts: What does the above mean?  A form of goodbye?  Or the best to you until we speak or communicate again? Best wishes? A male acquaintance wrote this at the end of his email when responding to my email.We do not communicate everyday because he has busy career. He knows I have experienced tough times.


texts: What is the origin and meaning of "racing to a red light"?

texts:
During the third episode of the HBO show "True Detective" the following dialogue is exchanged:

Cop 1: "Certain linguist anthropologists think that religion is a language virus that rewrites pathways in the brain; dulls critical thinking."
Cop 2: "Well, I don't use ten dollar words as much as you, but for a guy who sees no point in existence you sure fret about it an awful lot.  And you still sound panicked."
Cop 1: "At least I'm not racing to a red light."

I had not heard this phrase before, and am curious of its origin and meaning?
EDIT: Before transcribing the dialogue, I had written the phrase as "racing to a stoplight."
You can find the full dialogue here


texts:
"We can't let Cardinal Law get wind of this until we know what we have."

This is from the movie called "Spotlight", which deals with the sexual harassment the priests committed on boys. One journalist said "We can't let Cardinal Law get wind of this until we know what we have." From what I understood he doesn't want Cardinal Law to know what they're trying to investigate. What I want to know is the meaning "have". What does it mean by "have" as in "as we know what we have"


texts: What is the opposite of highlighted, in a visual presentation

texts:
Im looking for a word to describe the visual aspect of a user interface. Imagine a form to fill out, in a web page. Disabled fields will be grayed out, and draw less attention. The opposite of highlighted.

I have a similar situation, but the fields are in fact not disabled, I just want to mark them as less significant than the others. In order to be able to reuse the style, I'd like to name the style something that means the opposite of highlighted.

These are the antonyms I have found, but none of them really works:

lowlight - Never heard this word actually used. Might work?
disappointment - No go in a visual context
nonevent  - No go in a visual context
anticlimax  - No go in a visual context
bringdown - Never heard this word actually used. Might work?
downer - No go in a visual context
downfall - No go in a visual context
letdown - No go in a visual context
let-down - No go in a visual context
washout - Maybe?
nadir - Not understandable to most people, me included
low point  - No go in a visual context

So, does any of these work for my situation? Or are there any others that I haven't found?


texts:
Voice of the verb cancel

The sentence below comes from More Word Smart:

  We’d better hire some extra security for the concert; it’s going to be
  teeming with hopped-up kids, and they’ll be furious when they find out
  that the main act canceled last night.

In this sentence the verb cancel seems a bit awkward in terms of voice.
To my sense of English grammar canceled would be a lot better if it were to be replaced with was canceled.

And the dictionary check-up proves my theory, that is, the verb cancel almost always used as transitive verb except used in a very limited sense, as in, two opposing forces that canceled out.

Do you agree with me?


texts: Happy Marriage Anniversary or Congratulations of Marriage Anniversary?

texts: Today mine best friend has Marriage Anniversary. I wished "Happy Marriage Anniversary". I am confused whether I spoke the right words. May be I should have congratulated. Can anybody help me here with correct usage?


texts: Difference between research and résearch (with an accented e)

texts:
Edit: to anyone who stumbles across this
It seems that this is a nonce word, and the intention, disappointingly, is unclear.

In the Wikipedia page on Josiah Willard Gibbs, a quote from one of his former students invokes a difference between research and résearch.

The full quote is:

  Gibbs was not an advertiser for personal renown nor a propagandist for science; he was a scholar, scion of an old scholarly family, living before the days when research had become résearch ... Gibbs was not a freak, he had no striking ways, he was a kindly dignified gentleman.
  - E. B. Wilson, 1931

I have bolded the phrase, but the first part of the word is italicized in the original, not by me.

I've looked in a couple online dictionaries (including the OED), but I can't seem to find the latter word.

Is résearch an English word? If so, what does it mean, and what distinguishes it from research?


texts: Why is the word "fewer" seemingly doomed?

texts:
More and more I see the word "fewer" less and less.  It's being replaced by "less" and seemingly falling into disuse.  What is the reason for this?  Is it as simple as the marketeers believing, "fewer calories" sounds "stuffier" than, "less calories," or is there some other reason?
(Please note I'm not asking for when to use each word.  I'm curious about a trend I've observed in the usage itself.)


texts:
Can I say 'I updated something with something else?' Meaning, I replaced this with that ? Or should I use 'for' maybe?
Concrete example :

I updated images with icons

Thanks !


texts: How to remove ambiguity due to having both an `and` and an `or` in a sentence

texts:
I have two questions related to the following sentence.

I have an apple or an orange and a banana

First I would like to confirm that the sentence is ambiguous because it could mean one of the following

I have (i) an apple or (ii) an orange and a banana.
I have (i) an apple and a banana or (ii) an orange and a banana.

Second, I would like to remove the ambiguity by making it mean the former. What are some ways to do this?


texts: When used to mean "someone who loves ladies", rather than a female lover.


texts: When I mention a webinar's title in an article, do I italicize it?

texts: I'm writing a review on a webinar that was recently done. In my article, do I italicize the title of the webinar, or do I put it in quotations or underline it? Google search just shows bibliography guidelines, which is not what I'm looking for.


texts: "Separate procedures for every combination" vs. "a separate procedure for every combination"

texts:
Which form of this sentence is correct and why?

  Therefore, in a real life system with multiple source and output data
  formats, separate procedures would have to be written for every
  combination of source data format and output data format, resulting in
  the number of such procedures being the product of the number of source
  and data formats.
  Therefore, in a real life system with multiple source and output data
  formats, a separate procedure would have to be written for every
  combination of source data format and output data format, resulting in
  the number of such procedures being the product of the number of source
  and data formats.

I'm leaning towards the latter, but don't have a concrete reason.

UPDATE: Thanks for the feedback. Exactly one procedure is required for each combination. So, I guess the latter version is correct.

Looking at this sentence more carefully, maybe each would be more correct than every.


texts: Succinct way to express that a person does well with emotions

texts:
I'm looking for a good way to describe a particular personality trait.  The subject in question is a very caring and nurturing person, the kind that seems to always know what you need to hear, good or bad.  For current purposes, let's call her Susan.

The normal rules for pr/swr questions at ELU.SE is to provide an example sentence, but I'm not sure how that works here since my intended use is simply:

  I would describe Susan as ________.

So instead, I will provide some alternatives that should give potential answer-ers a starting point to provide even better alternatives.

  I would describe Susan as a person who takes inspiration and motivation from her own emotions, the emotions of others, and especially her ability to recognize and empathize with the emotions of others.

This says everything and lays it out well, but is a tad verbose.  There is nothing inherently wrong with the above version, but I'd like to pare it down a bit if possible.

  I would describe Susan as emotional.

Technically, this is a correct usage of the word emotional, but in context it is usually interpreted different.  If you say "that was an emotional moment for me" or "I really enjoyed the emotional scenes in the play" then this is what the word emotional means.  But when describing a person, most people take it as having extreme and wildly vacillating emotions, which is not at all what I want to convey.

  I would describe Susan as an anti-Vulcan.

This could work, and I like the humor in it.  I'm not sure everyone will get it though, and whether it gives the full idea I'm going for.

  I would describe Susan as perceptive.

While again true, this could also describe a person who simply has really good eyesight.  It's a start, but there is more to Susan that this doesn't say.


texts: Is there a word for, ‘the need to say something’?

texts: Having the urge to say something  (can’t help myself or  have to say something about a comment another person has stated)


texts: "She has put on some weight." vs "She put on some weight."

texts:
Say, you ask the father...

  A: How is Mary?
  B: She is fine, but she put on some weight.

Say, you ask someone who just saw Mary after a long time...

  C: How is Mary?
  D: She is fine, but she has put on some weight.

In the given context, would it be correct to say that the Present Perfect tense in the second example implies that we haven't actually witnessed her gaining weight week by week?

Similarly,

  E: How is Mary?
  A: Apparently, she has put on some weight.

Even though the "apparently" makes it somewhat clear, does the use of Present Perfect imply that we haven't seen but heard from someone?

If I'm correct in my assumptions, what is the name of this type of use of Perfect tense in grammar?

[EDIT]

Thank you all for sparing your time.

From the answers I have a nagging feeling that my question might have been slightly misunderstood.

My intention was not whether Present Perfect Tense has such and such connotations, but whether such uses may have above mentioned implications. (The answer seems "no".)

Still, how about these examples:

F: What happened to him?
G: He had an accident.

H: What happened here?
I: There has been an acident.

Comparing these two examples, is it not the case that "I" implies that he has not witnessed the accident happening? (This does not mean that the first example implies that G has actually witnessed the accident.)

Isn't it similar to TV news: "According unverified sources there has been a nuclear leakage in Saturn..."?


texts: What is the meaning of this sentence? "How many men do you know who can connive an Indian out of clothes?"

texts:
In the third episode of Barkskins (France circa 1600s), a man wants to work for somebody but he refuses. Then he says this sentence to convince him.

"How many men do you know who can connive an Indian out of clothes?"

Does it mean "How many men do you know who can steal an Indian's clothes?"