texts:
From this morning, in an online conversation, of mine, about Econo Lodge franchises.
My usual on-line go-to place to resolve such close differences in words is, https://wikidiff.com/franchiser/franchisor .
I see that franchiser is a synonym of franchisor, whereas, franchiser is more basic in the sense of further latitude in meaning.  Which option makes more sense, in the above noted sense?
franchiser
English
Noun
(en noun)
A franchisor, a company which or person who grants franchises.
(rare) A person who has the right to vote.

1843 ,", book 3, chapter XIII, "Democracy
No man oppresses thee, O free and independent Franchiser : but does not this stupid Porter-pot oppress thee? No Son of Adam can bid thee come or go; but this absurd Pot of Heavy-wet, this can and does!

franchisor
English
Noun
(en noun)
A company which or person who grants franchises.
Synonyms

franchiser


texts: What is the single word for "make something slow"?

texts: There is the verb quicken to make something quick or faster, but Merriam-Webster doesn't list slowen.  What is the verb to make something slow (as in 'reduce in speed', not 'something that is slow')?


texts:
All airtime is billed by the second after the first minute, additional local and domestic long distance minutes are $0.10 per minute.

My phone company and I are arguing over the use of the word 'additional' in the above phrase.

I think it means that any additional local and any ADDITIONAL domestic long distance minutes incurred will be charged at a rate of $0.10 per minute.

They think it means any additional local minutes are $0.10 per minute. All domestic long distance calls are $0.10 per minute regardless of time of day.

From an English language point of view what role does the word additional play in this statement?


texts: Word for when set A is not a subset or superset of set B

texts:
I'm looking for a word to describe the relationship between two sets when set A is neither a subset nor superset of set B. Obviously if a technical term exists, great.

Otherwise, imagine someone has inquired whether set A is related to set B. They are only interested in the subset/superset relationship. I reply by saying that set A is (a subset/a superset/equal to/_???) set B. I'm fine with stripping articles, prepositions, etc off to get a single word.


texts: 'Belong to' or 'have belonged to' - simple present or present perfect?

texts:
Which sentence is correct?

  I have belonged to the tennis club for three years.

OR

  I belong to the tennis club for three years.

I would appreciate it if someone would kindly answer my question.


texts: Using would to express the simple future

texts:
Is the follow grammatically correct:

He reserved the sleeper.  It would leave just before midnight so he wouldn't need to leave home till half past nine.

The 'would' seems to express the future and there is little doubt the train will leave.  If anyone could tell me what part of grammar the 'would' represents I'd appreciate it.
Thanks


texts: Word for situation in which there is no alternative

texts:
What is a word to describe the situation in which there is no alternative or something cannot be helped?

I am looking for a neutral word, similar to impotent, instead of the slightly negative helpless, grudgingly, willy-nilly or nolens volens.

For example, how do we describe this situation?

  The teacher's lecture is dull, but I have to sit there and listen. I
  have no choice.

In Japan the (-.-) icon is used in text messaging and in Chinese 無奈 is used to describe this.


texts: Does zoism mean "approaching a subject from an original angle"?

texts:
Example sentence:

  Zoism.co.uk

  Zoism - 'Approaching a subject from an original angle'

However Collins Online Dictionary defines it as:

  zoism noun
  1. a reverence for animal life or a belief in magical animal powers
  2. a doctrine that life is due to a certain vital force

Is zoism really a word that means "approaching a subject from an original angle"? If not, is there another word for that concept?


texts: What preposition goes with "good" in this sentence?

texts:
Here's a sentence from a test:

  To be honest, there aren't many things Serena isn't good ___.

What preposition should I use after 'good'? I think both 'at' and 'with' are possible. Can I also use 'in'?

Which would be the most natural to say for a native speaker? (The test only accepts one answer.)


texts:
"Rise/Ascend shallower" doesn't have quite a nice ring to it.
Optimally using two words!
Also, I don't necessarily mean by swimming. One should be able to apply the phrase to both swimming creatures or submersibles.
To be explicit, I don't want the phrase to mean "go to the surface". Just shallower.


texts:
Can anyone help me about the following passage?

  The impact of these changes becomes discernible upon further exploration of the ways in which Armenian activists exploited and were moved – literally and figuratively – by the turn-of-the-century's time–space compression, as they spread and disseminated revolutionary activity into the neighboring empires.

The text is about the Armenian revolutionaries in 19 and 20 centuries who were active in Russia, Iran, and Ottoman Empire. The text is clear but the words in bold are somehow problematic.

Many thanks in advance.


texts: Describing a group of mismatched characters

texts:
I'm trying to remember the description that is often used to portray a group of characters that wouldn't quite belong together under normal circumstances, something analogous to a dysfunctional family. It's not a metaphor to the best of my knowledge, but it is quite common in film summaries.

Also, I've often seen it used as a description for the group of races that constitute the Horde (in the Warcraft universe).


texts: What is the standard rule for using or not using hyphen and diaeresis on the words like reelect , reexamine, and cooperate?

texts:
I found that diaeresis is used on the word, reelection in the following sentence of the article titled “Rational Irrationality” in the New Yorker magazine (April 27).

  “This morning’s news that economic growth slowed markedly between January and March is an unmitigated bad for Obama and an unmitigated good for Romney. The President’s reëlection chances largely hinge on being able to point to evidence that the economy is finally improving.”

As I don’t think I’ve come across diaeresises being used in the articles of today's journals so often (Correct me if I’m wrong), I checked dictionaries at hand and online.

Cambridge Dictionary online resisters reelection without hyphen nor diaeresis on ‘ee’, same as Merriam Webster online.

Both Oxford Dictionary online and Oxford Advance English Learners’ Dictionary register ‘re-election’ with the former coming with the notation - Spell ‘re-elect’ with a hyphen after the first e. Other words beginning with re- that have a hyphen are re-educate, re-emerge, re-enact, re-enter.

New Yorker used diaeresis on ‘reelection’ as shown above, and their separate article titled “The Curse of the Diaeresis’ (April 2) stated:

  “The special tool we use here at The New Yorker for punching out the two dots that we then center carefully over the second vowel in such words as “naïve” and “Laocoön” will be getting a workout this year, as the Democrats coöperate to reëlect the President.”

I find no consistency of the use and non-use of hyphen and diaeresis among Cambridge Dictionary, Oxford Dictionaries and New Yorker magazine.

What is the standard rule or custom of using, not using a hyphen and a diaeresis on the words including ‘ee’ ‘oo’ letters?


texts: What does the 'which' in 'after which refers to?

texts:
at one time the surface broke apart as a result of repeated impacts, after which the fragments rejoined through mutual gravitational attraction.

I understand the sentence can be re-arrange as below:

at one time the surface broke apart as a result of repeated impacts,
which the fragments rejoined through mutual gravitational attraction after.

Can someone explain to me what does 'which' refers to here? I was told that 'which' cannot be use to refer to the whole clause so can the 'which' used here refers to the preceding clause? Or does it refers to 'the surface?
Thank you.


texts:
Is this sentence correct: Had this happened around the time of mad cow disease, it'd be easier to explain.
Shouldn't this read : Had this happened around the time of mad cow disease, it would have been easier to explain.
Thanks!


texts: What images evoke the concept of "skin in the game", commitment, investment, and accountability?

texts: What would be a great picture to display (as a visual metaphor) to convey the idea of "skin in the game", commitment, investment, and accountability?


texts:
Both of the versions are correct.
  Both versions are correct.

Are both of these correct? If only one, is it the latter?


texts:
EDIT see end of question for updates:

The question came up if this is proper English:

  Sorry, I felt the need for a disclaiming for some reason.

And I think it is but some others say it isn't. I gave a further example to back up my case that that is acceptable with:

  "A disclaiming was made by the mayor"

And thus was born the question that you see here. I'm not saying it should be used all the time, but as an occasional usage, is this proper?

Yes yes, the appropriate word to use there would've been "disclaimer" not "disclaiming" but disregarding that?

My proof that this is acceptable is the countless number of books I've read where I've forgotten more than I remember that I've read, but I'm certain I've seen a literary device such as this used before and not heard a great deal of complaining on it.

So since I posted it was pointed out to me that this is most likely a gerund. If it is indeed a gerund, then is this a proper use of this particular gerund in this instance?


texts: Is there an expression for someone who often takes things too literally?

texts:
E.g., if you use an idiom (in a context) like: "To throw the baby away with the bathwater." and your conversation partner says: "Huh, seems I don't have a baby/bathwater!" Also, when you explain the meaning of the idiom, the other guy will still say: "Oh, but I really don't have a baby/bathwater!"

Or say something sarcastic like: (context: excellent tennis player on his way to a match. Everyone knows he wants to and it will be easy for him to defeat his opponent. Yet, on their way (tennis player and friend in his car) to the court, they are stuck in traffic and there is no way the excellent tennis player can turn up at his match in time (which means he will be disqualified). He goes "well, I am glad, at least I don't need to get all changed and tired to play my tennis match now." On which the other guy says "But I thought you wanted to win the trophy? You could have easily beaten that other player!! Why did you say that?!"


texts:
I am writing the following sentence (I made it shorter for this question):

  To achieve a better bound, we seek graphs with the following property.

I read that using the phrase "seek for" is not recommended or even incorrect. Is my sentence OK?

Thank you


texts: Name for “having no concern about the truthfulness of one’s own remarks”

texts:
Take the following statement:

  I hate the ease with which X makes disparaging remarks about their rivals without the least concern as to whether they are truthful or fair.

Now I would like a word expressing this lack of concern, so that I could just plug it in the blank below and keep the meaning of the sentence above:

  I hate the _________ with which X makes disparaging remarks about their rivals.

This is an all too common attitude and I think it deserves a name of its own. The word that came to my mind was levity, but I haven’t come across this word very often and I’m not sure of its particular tones and shades of meaning. Merriam-Webster defines levity as:

  Simple definition
  : a lack of seriousness
  : an amusing quality
  Full definition
  1 : excessive or unseemly frivolity
  2 : lack of steadiness: changeableness

The attitude I’m trying to name certainly displays lack of seriousness as to the truthfulness and fairness of the remarks, but I do not want to imply they are made in jest or that X is being silly or thoughtless. X could be very serious about their aims: “I’m going to say this; don’t give a dam whether that’s true or not; even if it’s not true I’ll get away with it.” This excludes, I think, all the words Merriam-Webster lists as related to levity, which probably means it excludes levity too:

  facetiousness, flightiness, flippancy, frivolousness, frothiness, frivolity, light-headedness, light-mindedness, lightness, silliness

So I’ll accept an answer that despite my reservations shows that one of these words is indeed the one that works best in the sentence above; or gives a more fitting word; or shows that no word really fits (I am of course aware of the difficulties of proving a negative).

I prefer a single word but I’m willing to trade singleness for meaning: so I would take a short phrase it fits better than any single word.

Update

I’m spoilt for choice. But I wonder whether the various suggestions implying lack of concern would in my sentence imply lack of concern specifically for truth, which is what I’m after, or could instead be interpreted as lack of regard for norms of polite behaviour, rival’s feelings, or consequences (say, libel lawsuits, rivals reacting with violence, people feeling encouraged to attack the rivals, etc.)

Tweak the example sentence if it helps (say, I hate the ____ of X’s remarks).


texts: Is it "a professor at the institute" or "... in the institute"?

texts:
I am not a native English speaker.

Examples
"Peter Parker is a professor at the Institute of Sociology at the University of Vulcan"

"Peter Parker is a professor in the Institute of Sociology in the University of Vulcan"


texts: What's an example of good style for an "if/then" statement?

texts:
I'm not sure what's common for conditional statements, with and without alternative consequent clauses, in speech—even my own—but as a computer programmer, I'm niggled whenever I have to write English instructions that follow the form of a programmatic if (condition) doThis(); else doThat();. I was just wondering what structure seemed clearest and least ambiguous (not necessarily restricted to the following), keeping in mind that the place-holders (condition,alternative,consequent) might include punctuation such as one or more commas, or even a number of sub-clauses:

If <condition>, <consequent>.
If <condition>, then <consequent>.

With alternative:

<If...>, otherwise <alternative>.
<If...>; otherwise, <alternative>.
<If...>. Otherwise, <alternative>.
If ... is ..., <consequent>. If ... isn't ..., <alternative>.
<If...>, or else <alternative>.

I've determined "or else"  to be poor style. "Else" on its own would be better but still sounds inferior to otherwise or negating the condition.


texts:
scrilla (uncountable) (slang, African American Vernacular) money

  scrilling: making money.

  I'd buy a car, but I don't have any scrilla!

  That car is worth mad scrilla.

So what is the origin of scrilla and scrilling? How did they emerge?


texts: Is there a word meaning "true-on-average"?

texts:
Economist Bryan Caplan asks:

  What's a good word for "true-on-average"?

Can we help him out?


texts: What is the difference between postpone and cancel

texts: I thought I had a good understanding of the difference between "postpone" and "cancel," but lately I've seen officials using postpone instead of cancel, perhaps to soften the blow of cancelling a fun event. One city hosts a Blues Festival every year during the same month. The announcement said the festival was postponed until 2021. But since they were planning on having a festival in 2021 regardless, wouldn't it be proper to say the 2020 festival was cancelled?  Thanks


texts: Equivalent for "inhumane" in regard to animals

texts:
It's probably appropriate to use the word inhumane when referring to the improper treatment of animals, but I was just curious if there was another term in the English language that refers to the improper way to treat an animal.

Generally speaking, inhumane simply means lacking qualities of sympathy, pity, warmth, compassion, or the like; cruel; brutal, but it can also mean not suited for human beings. But I think that the ethical standards for treating a human are slightly different than the standards for treating any other animal, so it would be appropriate to have its own word. Does such a word exist?


texts: Coordinating conjunction for connecting list items

texts:
In compliance with the Oxford comma when listing three or more items a comma is used between the items and before and.

What if in a list of three items two of them have a word in common (edge computing and cloud computing = edge and cloud computing), how should the commas be used?

  We discussed task offloading, edge, and fog computing.

Edge doesn't really make sense, so if I delete the comma after it, do I get a list of two items instead (view bellow)?

  We discussed task offloading and edge and fog computing.

Furthermore, what if a fourth item is added:

  We discussed network latency, task offloading, and edge and fog
  computing.

or does the other way round make more sense (both in terms of general clarity and in terms of grammatical correctness):

  We discussed edge and fog computing, task offloading, and network latency.


texts: Why are the reasons behind the common pronunciation-spelling mismatches in English?

texts:
For example, why aren't "t"s pronounced like "d"s spelled as "d"s? Why isn't spot spelled sbot? What about "ph"s and "gh"s?
I'd like to form a comprehensive list--so there should be one answer that gets edited.


texts: Which is correct: I'll be moving next month or I'll be shifting next month?

texts:
For changing one's home from one place to another, I've heard people in western part of the world using the sentence:

  I'll be moving next month.

In India, even in the English news channels, I've heard many people using the phrase:

  I'll be shifting next month.

Which one is the correct usage? Or are both of them correct and the difference in usage is regional?


texts: What's a word for being proud of another that doesn't suggest you had anything to do with their actions?

texts: I'm looking for a word to suggest that I'm very pleased with somebody's commendable actions. It keeps coming up for me. A friend or family member does something awesome. Then what I feel like saying is "I'm proud that you made that decision" but that feels so condescending in many contexts. I need something more outwardly directed.


texts: "I like watching" vs "I like to watch" What's the difference?

texts:
Which of the two possibilities would native speakers more likely say when they watch a football (soccer or American) match from the comfort of their home?

  What sport do you watch most on television?

  I like watching football
  I like to watch football

And if the speaker went to a stadium to watch football matches, which sentence would they be more likely to say? Do native speakers (especially British and American) say they watch football in a stadium?

Is there a difference in meaning or usage if the speaker is thinking of their physical presence at the sporting event?

  What sport do you watch most?

  I like watching football [in a stadium]
  I like to watch football [in a stadium]

If someone enjoyed all the rituals leading to the match; the travelling to the stadium, the football chants, the fast food, the camaraderie with fellow supporters, everything that is part of a live sporting event, which sentence might they say: 3 or 4?
Without prompting, would “like (to) + watch(ing)” be a common response or would a different verb be used with “like” for instance “go”?
Would it be in the gerund or the infinitive form? Is there a syntactic or semantic explanation for this preference?

EDIT

This question is not a duplicate of  When should a verb be followed by a gerund instead of an infinitive? which simply asks

  “Which particular verbs are followed by ing and to? Can you please provide a list for that?”

This post is not asking for any list, it is not asking which verbs take the infinitive or the gerund. The answers on the older question handle that matter well enough. Instead, my question is one that frequently comes up among learners and ESOL teachers, it is specific and necessitates a deeper analysis and more thoughtful approach than saying there is no difference in meaning between the two forms. Native speakers are aware of this difference but find it difficult to verbalise, and ESOL and EFL teachers often struggle to explain why the verb “like“ can be followed by the infinitive or the gerund.

Not all verbs are this problematic, the verb remember can also be followed by either the infinitive or the gerund, e.g. “to remember to do something” and “remember doing something” But the two constructions have two distinct meanings, and they are not interchangeable.

The following expresses the memory of performing that activity e.g.

  “He remembers swimming in the lake as a child”

The speaker recalls the experience, and the process it entailed: getting undressed, getting into a pair of swimming trunks, running to the shore, the initial impact of the cold water on his warm body, and so on. However, in

  “We must remember to swim where there is a lifeguard”

The speaker is not thinking of the past, there is no fond recollection of that experience, the person is not concerned with the actual process of walking along the beach, spotting whether there is a blue or red flag flying, and seeing if a lifeguard is present etc.  Instead, the speaker is thinking of the event itself, and reminding the listener not to ignore this important piece of information. The same cannot be said for

I like to watch football on television
I like watching football on television

What is the difference in meaning (and usage) between the two forms? I feel there must be, but I am having difficulty in pinpointing it. When would someone instinctively say one form over the other?

To sum up, I am specifically asking about the difference in meaning and usage between “I like to watch” and “I like watching”, the older question simply does not address this issue.


texts: Where to put a hyphen when there's an abbreviation in the middle?

texts:
Ethiopia wants African Union (AU) mediated negotiations on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD).

Using AP style. You want a hyphen in front of mediated. What is the correct way?


texts:
This doctoral thesis is very technical and therefore hard to read. On the other hand,
  this book on the subject is a bit too naive. Our goal is to give a
  text whose difficulty is in-between.

I think that the last sentence above is incorrect. How could one phrase that the text is more precise and detailed than the book, but still less detailed than the thesis?


texts:
The text runs:

  If your front door is directly opposite your back door the Qi will just charge straight through your house and out the back without stopping for a cup of tea.
  If you stand in the hallway with a tennis racket it might slow it down long enough for you to stuff it in a teapot.

What is "Qi"? I've looked it up on Wiktionary, and it gives:

  1.A Chinese surname
  2. A state during the Zhou dynasty

Also, it seems to be a variant spelling of "chi", "chi" meaning:

  chi , ch'i or qi 2  (tʃiː)

  — n
  ( sometimes capital ) (in Oriental medicine, martial arts, etc) vital energy believed to circulate round the body in currents

If this is the case, why would the fact that your front door and back door are directly opposite cause your vital energy to flee out the back door?


texts: empty bags that authorities suspect [were] used to hold

texts:
The following is from the CNN news of today.
I wonder if "were" is mistakenly omitted between "suspect" and "used."
Am I in the wrong?

  A number of used syringes, prescription drugs and empty bags that authorities suspect used to hold heroin also were found in the apartment where Hoffman, 46, was found dead Sunday.


texts: I was wondering which tense should be used in the following sentences

texts:
Suppose it is now 12 o’clock at noon and I want to tell my mother I will have three meetings: one in the afternoon, one three days later, and one in several months. If I spoke at 9 in the morning, which tense should be used in the following sentences, simple past tense or past future tense?

  I told my mother I had a meeting in the afternoon.
  I told my mother I had a meeting three days later.
  I told my mother I had a meeting several months later.

  I told my mother I would have a meeting in the afternoon.
  I told my mother I would have a meeting three days later.
  I told my mother I would have a meeting several months later.

Which group of sentences is correct, and what are the reasons?


texts:
Let's say John and I agreed that at April 6h he and I would have a work done. Thus, I would like to send him an e-mail saying something like this:

  Hi John,

  the agreed date is approaching. Do you have any news for me?
  the agreed date is coming. Do you have any news for me?
  we are quickly reaching the agreed date. Do you have any news for me?

How could I express this and sound like an American native speaker?


texts:
My father gifted me a car.

Having that context in mind, is it correct to write the statement below?

  "Father's Gift"

There are two meanings to this statement.

I gifted a car to my father
father gifted me a car.

What is the correct way to write this?


texts: Is it derogatory or offensive to call a detective a dick?

texts:
The word dick is generally considered offensive and is marked so in dictionaries. But there is also a meaning of detective that it carries. I usually find no derog indication for this meaning.

Is it offensive to call a detective friend of mine a dick?

EDIT (thanks to Kristina): I want to know if the usage of this word to refer to detectives is offensive in practice, though the dictionaries may opine otherwise. The question is general and not about how I could call my friend :)


texts: Is there a specific word to describe the opposite of egotistical - acting for the specific benefit of someone else?

texts: I am trying to discover a word that means seeing things from another persons perspective or acting for the benefit of a specific person or group of persons, but distinct from altruistic.


texts: Is it okay to use "pre-" in a clause referring to "prelaunch"?

texts:
My question has to do with the word "prelaunch." According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, the preferred spelling is without a hyphen. In the following clause, is it correct to use the hyphen after "pre"?

  … through the pre- and postlaunch process …


texts: When we ask the day of the week, can we use "What's the day today?" instead of "What day is it today?" Is it a common phrase?


texts:
I arrived at the station at the last minute before the bus left?

I feel as if this question is wrong as far as the tenses are concerned but I'm quite confused.any thoughts?


texts: "with a lamp and one wish left" - is that a quotation or allusion? And what does it mean?

texts: Arsenal won the FA Cup and now a YouGov projection for the Times shows the Conservatives losing their majority: somewhere there's a Jeremy Corbyn with a lamp and one wish left.< (New Statesman)


texts: "I have her for homeroom", "i have her for math "?

texts:
I have a question about the meaning of "for" in this sentence.

The two sentences were extracted from the book "WONDER"

"I have her for homeroom"
"I have her for math"
She started writing the list of names on the second-to-last page of her note book.

I think that "her"=she is in the same class.

What exactly does "FOR" mean in the sentence? and Could you make another example for more explanation?


texts: What is the correct term for "rubbing statues' parts for luck"?

texts: What is the correct term for the habit or action of rubbing statues' parts (noses, fingers, feet etc.) for luck or other superstitious reasons? I mean a learned word, like 'philately' for 'collecting stamps'. I'm fairly certain there is such a term, but for the life of me I can't recall what it is, and my Google-fu proved unequal to the task.


texts: Why do written English vowels differ from other Latin-based orthographies?

texts:
Written English vowels differ from other Latin-based orthographies. Consider what the written vowels in the romance languages represent. Also, for example, consider this simple comparison between a few German and English vowels:

German
English

a = [a]
a = [e]

e = [e]
e = [i]

i = [i]
i = [aj]

Has this always been so? Is the pattern regular? When and why did the shift occur?


texts: Can I say "you lost me" as "I am lost by you"?

texts:
I learnt that "You lost me" means you are talking about something I do not understand.
So if I want to rephrase this sentence as past tense, can I say "I am lost by you"?


texts: How was "tin can phone"/"string phone" called before telephone invented?

texts: Or was anything carrying sound to remote already called phone before telephone?


texts: phrase for the role when someone deals with distractions for you

texts:
Is there a phrase for when someone else deals with distractions that would require  your attention. So that you can focus on something more urgent.

I want descriptions for the role of the person helping. not of the value of the work or of the person asking for help.


texts: Using 'caveat' as adverb to introduce a sentence

texts:
I would like to use caveat to introduce a sentence where I specify important information. For example:

You can wash mostly anything in this washing machine. Caveat, if you wash wool set the temperature under 30 degrees Celsius.

You can drink from the bottles in the fridge. Caveat, put the cap back on the soda bottles.

Is that standard English or does it sound weird?


texts: Do all words have a part of speech? The closest counterexample I can think of is yes.  The dictionary says its supposed to be an adverb but it doesn't really strike me as something that modifies a verb. Are there any words in common use that simply don't have a part of speech?  Or, alternatively, are there any parts of speech that they just don't teach in school because they're too abstract to the children learning their parts of speech?


texts: Help me make sense of this dialogue from 'The Importance of Being Earnest'

texts:
From Oscar Wilde's 1898 play, The Importance of Being Earnest:

Algernon. Oh! . . . by the way, Lane, I see from your book that on Thursday night, when Lord Shoreman and Mr. Worthing were dining with me, eight bottles of champagne are entered as having been consumed.
Lane. Yes, sir; eight bottles and a pint.
Algernon. Why is it that at a bachelor’s establishment the servants invariably drink the champagne? I ask merely for information.
Lane. I attribute it to the superior quality of the wine, sir. I have often observed that in married
households the champagne is rarely of a first-rate brand.

--
SO. This Algernon is a batchelor (a man who is not married but is living on his own). When Algernon asks why the servants prefer to drink champagne over wine, Lane answers that wine is better than champagne, which makes it more suitable for servants. But why, in the last sentence, Lane says that "in married households champagne is rarely of first-rate brand"?
This makes absolutely no sense to me. Help?
EDIT: I didn't understand that they were talking about the same thing (champagne, which Lane refers to as "the wine").


texts: In the sentence "Each time you sleep with someone, you also sleep with his past," what does "past" mean?

texts:
I saw this sentence in a website:

  Each time you sleep with someone, you also sleep with his past.

What is the 'past' mentioned here?


texts: "I have been better". Why Present Perfect?

texts: I know that it's correct but I can't wrap my head around it . Seems to me that when we're talking about the present state we should use Present Perfect only when we're describing something that is happening right now (as in we ARE in that state, f.i.:"I have lost my keys"), or has connection to now. Shouldn't we just use Past simple here, "I was better" or "I'd been better"? I know I'm wrong, but why? I can't put my finger on usage of Present Perfect here.


texts: What kind of rhetorical strategy is it when someone points out a potential sticking point in his proposition before anyone can criticize it?

texts:
E.g.:

  I know some of you might consider this question general reference, but think of all those people who will be reading it all over the world and how it will enrich our data bank.

  Of course we all know how expensive it would be to build new headquarters for our institute. But think of what is going to happen to our research center and our reputation if we don't

Edit - changed "fallacy" to "rhetorical strategy"


texts:
What's the correct word to use, is it "in" or "on" the dark side?  For example:

  Sometimes it's good to be in/on the dark side.


texts:
I have a friend who wants to title his thesis "Footsteps Sounds".
I don't think this sounds right but I can't explain why. To me it should be "Footstep Sounds".

Are both correct with different meanings? If not, why is one wrong and the the other right?


texts: Is "from where" grammatically equivalent to "from which"?

texts:
The following is an excerpt from a New York Times article of April 6.

  “Tonight, I ordered a targeted military strike on the air base in Syria from where the chemical attack was launched,” Mr. Trump said in remarks at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. “It is in this vital national security interest of the United States to prevent and deter the spread and use of deadly chemical weapons.”

Shouldn't that "from where" be either "from which" or else just "where" without "from?"


texts: Is there an English idiom for 'your silence implies your consent'?

texts:
I was asked an interesting question today, is there an English equivalent of the saying Zwijgen is instemmen, that is "since you didn't answer, then you agreed with me".

I could not come up with any good example; although I could think of a few similar, but not quite the same, including the following:

I'll take that as a 'yes' then.
I don't hear any No's.

The first is different, since you could also use it if an answer was given, but was not sufficiently clear. The second is different since it is much weaker, it is tacitly agreed that you didn't agree, but you also didn't disasgree.

Is there any idiom for your silence implies your consent?


texts: Word for someone who makes decisions based purely on business or what would be most efficient?

texts: A decision made regardless of ethical consequences.


texts: One word for a person who pretends to be nice to someone's face but makes fun of them behind their back

texts:
What is the exact word for someone who always pretends to be nice to someone's face but makes fun of them behind their back?

Even when he/she is talking to you he/she will treat you very good like a good-mannered person.

He/she very much cares about his/her image in front of everyone like a celebrity wants to show a positive image of himself/herself in front of audience. But they are not actually good from heart.

Any word except hypocrite.


texts: Word for a person who avoid accountability of his promises by denial and shaming

texts: What do you call a person who gives a promise and then denies, and shames and demonizes you for your orginal inquiry. For example a person might promise to sponsor you and then deny of giving such promise and start to shame you for inquiring about sponsorship.


texts: Word that describes knowing the etiquette for a situation and all related skills

texts:
I'm looking for a word that combines etiquette and technical skills for a given situation.  Etiquette+ as it were.

Knowing when to curtsey and how.  Knowing how to act at a dance, and how to dance.  Knowing what to call the dominatrix, and how to twist yourself into the pretzel shape she likes.


texts: Which word to use when speaker sound is not working properly

texts: I have a malfunctioned speaker, its sound does not come out normally but is like being stuck, which word(s) could I use to describe a speaker with defected sound? Thanks in advance.


texts: Use of subjunctive in Britain vs North America

texts:
Why has much UK writing abandoned the use of the subjunctive?

I see phrases such as:

  "It is important that his writing is comprehensible."

rather than,

  "It is important that his writing be comprehensible." -- (subjunctive)

By and large, most American and Canadian writing continues with the subjunctive in this kind of phrase, whereas it seems to have disappeared from British English.

Stock phrases such as "If I were you …" are retained, but I wonder when it will change to "If I was  you …" ?


texts:
What does “a couple” mean to you, and what does “a few” mean to you?  Is there a proper way to use these words?

It was striking to hear that “a couple” meant two (2) to someone.  My reaction was, “how/why do you make a short word longer by adding an extra syllable to just say ‘two?’”

I think Few: 2-3, Couple 4-6, Several 7+.  What are your thoughts?


texts:
Which of the following is correct?

This idea is manifest in two influential theories.
This idea is manifested in two influential theories.

What I want to say is that there is a common idea underlying both theories.


texts: the best thing to do is (to) concentrate on

texts:
The best thing to do is to concentrate on something else.

I've known in the sentence like that 'to' should be omitted. So, I wonder if the sentence is grammatical.

*The source of the information was some English test prep book. According to it, in case the subjective involves "do" and the verb is "be", the complement should be "infinitive" without 'to'.

Well, now I guess it doesn't need to omit 'to', though.


texts:
I have an interface that allows you to pull data related to a number of topics, but then also allows you to be more specific about what aspects of those topics you want information on.

For example, say a general category is "weather" and you can pull information on weather generally. One of the more specific aspects might be "Southern hemisphere weather." Additionally, there might be entries such as "weather monitoring agencies;" that is, entries that are related but not direct subcategories.

I'm looking for a verb that means "to be more specific," by selecting one of these sub- or related categories. I considered refine but that to me implies sifting or filtering, as opposed to delving deeper. Drill down is a more idiomatic approach, but sounds far too informal.


texts:
In these sentences,

"I miss having breakfast every day," he lamented.

"I miss having breakfast every day." He lamented.

is the first correct? I would say lamented is a dialogue tag, since if I use the verb said or responded instead, then it would be a dialogue tag:

"I miss having breakfast every day," he said.
"I miss having breakfast every day," he responded.


texts: Is there a single word for describing a person as unbiased in self judgement?

texts:
An example sentence might read something like:

  Tom was a [unbiased self judge] and thusly suitable for the task.

or

  Barbara's [lack of bias in self judgement] convinced her the pink elephants were in fact real.

etc.

I tried all the tricks I know to get an answer from Google's Search, but to no avail. And not that it's really worth a damn, I have a gut feeling there should be a word that fits the bill.

The subject could be described as possessing this attribute, and perhaps also as being one of these.

Any suggestions, or edits to improve this question will be as appreciated as any answers. Thanks.


texts:
I am reading a BBC article on "Why pressing ‘upload’ means losing your rights". On page 2 of that article there is a paragraph that reads:

Meanwhile, legal thinking on digital rights is slowly catching up with the absurdity of their being almost no current recourse for loss, deletion or the whims of a service provider; but its pace is massively exceeded by the rate at which material is flowing online, into the hands of businesses whose profitability rests on owning and exploiting everything you give them.

My question is what is the difference between "of their being" and "of there being", and are both acceptable and when? Both have millions of results on Google. I know their is used for possession but I don't understand how that fits in here.

Thank you


texts: To answer indirect question starting with "Whether" using "Yes" or "No"

texts:
I have a technical document with the following table:
(A comparison table of the functions that are used to search for and replace strings.)
                | Whether the search is case-sensitive
------------------------------------------------------
RegExReplace()  | It depends on the i) option.
StringReplace() | It depends on the third argument of a function call.
SubStr()        | No.
Trim()          | Yes, always.

Is it correct to use "Yes" and "No" in such a case? (The last two rows of the table.)
Since "Whether the search is case-sensitive" is indirect question (or maybe it's not even question at all?), I'm not sure that using "Yes" and "No" is permitted here.
A possible workaround is to change the column header to "If the search is case-sensitive?". It seems it will resolve the issue, but I would prefer to keep "whether".


texts:
Senator Mike Pencil announced today that the Florida State Senate passed legislation...

*Edit: It's a specific example that I don't see an answer for in another post.


texts: What is the male counterpart of a charwoman called?


texts: What is it called when something sounds correct but actually is not always true, or even bad?

texts: Sometimes the way you express things can influence or persuade the way people think. You can tell someone a false fact but say it with confidence and they will believe you. Sometimes things that sound like inspirational quotes are actually not very valid philosophies and can actually be toxic. People seem to be constructing philosophies on life about how things should be when they don't really have any foundation to them other than sounding like the moral thing to do or sounding more correct. So what is this called? I hope what I am saying makes sense.


texts: What's the short form for "as I told you before" in code review?

texts:
I'm working on a code review, I need leave a comment for the code. I'm trying to leave a comment the same as I left before it. I remember it might be "tilto" or something, but I forgot what exactly it is.

Anyone knows anything?

Thanks,
Jay Lin


texts:
This question concerns the word "antiquarian".

Is it a legitimate adjective from the word "antiquity"?

I want to say something along the lines of "antiquarian context", to mean context from antiquity; is this a legitimate usage?


texts: Should I hyphenate "rational expectations" when used as an adjective?

texts: Should a hyphen be used between "rational" and "expectations" in phrases like "rational expectations equilibrium" or "rational expectations condition" in an academic paper? The practice seems uncommon in economics so I am wondering whether an exception to the usual rule applies here.


texts: A word for the quality of being easy or good to talk to

texts:
What is a word for the quality of being easy or good to talk to?

It is more than just being a "good listener." And it is not "open-minded," in that it's not about being receptive to new ideas.

The context: In David Foster Wallace's The Pale King, there is a scene in which two colleagues - a man and woman - are chatting in a bar. The man is described thus:

"...he has the quality of being easy or good to talk to, which is an attribute for which there is no good single word in English, which is slightly odd, although so is whatever is good about talking to Drinion, since he possesses nothing that could be called charm or social grace or even evident compassion."

So this got me to thinking... what is a good word for this type of person? He's not charming or particularly affable. He's just the kind of person that you find yourself opening up to in conversation.

Somehow reassuring to see Wallace lexically stumped.


texts: What does "I Can't Get No Satisfaction" mean?

texts:
This song by The Rolling Stones, "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction".
As a non-native speaker, I always wondered what's the exact meaning of this phrase?

Is it "I'm not getting any satisfaction" (this seems to be the most widely met translation; double negation used where single negation should have been used).
Or is it "I want my satisfaction, I cannot leave without getting some" (makes much more sense to me).

Or is it something else?
I've always had troubles understanding double negation as applied to English. First I was taught it's a mistake to use double negation at all, and then I see it everywhere.


texts: Do any style guides advocate the alternating use of "he" and "she" as a gender-neutral pronoun?

texts:
I don't like the options that are usually given in the "gender-neutral pronoun" debate.  The singular they offends my prescriptivist sensibilities.  His/her constructions are clunky and look terrible.  The generic he is simple and I find Strunk and White's (3rd edition, 1979) defense of it persuasive, but many these days consider it unacceptable.  The generic she is still better to me than the singular they, but it seems retaliatory and besides has problems similar to those of the generic he.

I recently noticed a fourth option: use he and she as generic pronouns on an alternating basis.  For example, if referring to a student, use she the first time.  After completing the section of the discussion, referring to this imaginary student exclusively as she, the next paragraph or page introduces a second example student, and for this example the pronoun used is he.

The author intends that both examples be understood to refer to students of any gender, and carefully avoids gender stereotyping, such as regularly using "she" when referring to an art student and "he" when referring to a science student.  The author also never switches the pronoun in the middle of an example.

This method has its drawbacks, of course, but I'd like to know if it has been recommended by any published style guides.  If not recommended, has it been considered a viable option?

This question is different from the many others on this subject because a) I am asking about a gender-neutral option I have not seen discussed on ELU, and b) I am asking for style guides, not merely "is this acceptable?"


texts:
Different databases use different naming conventions for variable-length string datatypes. VARCHAR(n) or TEXT(n) are common naming formats for variable-length strings. Figure 3-6 shows variable-length strings on country names (COUNTRY), returning only the names of the countries and no padding out to maximum length as for fixed-length strings.

How should I understand out in the last sentence?


texts:
In the Longman Dictionary of Common Errors you read "When you ask for or give a description of someone or something, use what ... like (NOT how): 'What's your new teacher like?'

But I sometimes hear people say things like "How is your new teacher?" as a way of asking someone to describe someone or something.

To me, the response to that question could be "She's fine", not a description of the teacher's appearance or behavior, since I think of it as a question about someone's health or life condition, e.g. if they are well or happy.

What about "How's the weather?" and "What's the weather like?" ? Do you see any difference?

Is it that the former is used to ask a question about if the whether is good or bad in a specific situation, and the latter to ask about the general weather conditions in a place? So one can say "What's the weather usually like in Toronto?" and the answer would be "Dry and cold." (I'm not really sure about the weather conditions there, though!), and "How's the weather today?" followed by the response "It's sunny today".

Or do they have the same meaning?


texts:
I want to open my mail with the following sentence:

  It's great to hear that you have chosen me for the position!

But after talking with a friend he suggests that I should change the sentence to the following:

  It's great that you have selected me for the position!

What would you guys suggest?
If any more context is needed let me know so I can clarify.


texts:
Is the word "called" used appropriately? The following sentences come from motivation letters and thesis.

  I had an opportunity to attend a seminar at an agency called XYZ Group.

  I studied at a secondary school called gymnasium. (gymnasium is the sort of the secondary school students that enter at ~13 and leave at ~18.)

  This technique is also informally called The White Bear.

I can't help but feel that "called" sounds quite informal. Is it so?
If so, can I substitute it with something more formal?


texts:
What is difference between the terms "thesis" and "thesis work"? What would you use to describe the content and achievements of your thesis / thesis work.

  My thesis / thesis work has treated new concepts in general relativity.


texts:
What is the difference between "knickers" and "panties"?
I've read the difference is that "knickers" used in the UK and "panties" is used in US. Is this the only difference?


texts:
Is it appropriate to say:

  The three characters sat down in a circle.

When it means that three people sat down facing each other? Technically this formation would be a triangle, but is it appropriate usage to say that they sat in a circle, as with a larger group?

I am a student and wrote a similar sentence in a creative response draft and had it returned with the word 'circle' crossed out and 'triangle' written in its place. However, I feel my usage makes perfect sense and that correcting it to 'triangle' is a bit pedantic.

Does my word usage make sense and seem natural or should it be corrected?


texts: Is the phrase "getting on" commonly used in British English? What register would its use be in?

texts: I've collected a new phrase from my watching of British television, getting on, as in "How's he getting on?"  From various contexts, I think I've gotten the meaning down to "how's he doing?"  Anyway, I was wondering, is this phrase commonly used throughout the UK, or is specifically London argot?  Second, does its use invoke any class stereotypes? I.e., would using it in formal situation reek of informality, is it very slang-y?


texts: Can an infinitive be the object of a preposition?

texts:
"I found a place for Tom and Stacy to live."

I first thought that the prepositional phrase "for Tom and Stacy" and the infinitive "to live" were separate phrases both modifying "place".

Is it possible that "Tom and Stacy to live" is one infinitive phrase with Tom and Stacy as its subject acting as the object of the preposition for?


texts: How do I refer to a distinct number, as opposed to a percentage?

texts:
I want to say that we should use a percentage as opposed to a "hard number" (or a distinct value).

Like instead of designating a budget of $990,000 for a particular department, we should designate a budget of 14%. Is there a single word to describe this concept?

So can you fill in this sentence?

  "Instead of using a _______ for the budget, we should use a
  percentage".


texts: What does “Leave the accent behind? Your accent gives you away,” mean?

texts:
I came across an interesting web site that teaches non-native English speakers how to speak like an American. The catch of the site reads “Leave the accent behind. Your accent gives you away.”

I understand it means “Part with your local accent. Your accent gives you disadvantage.”

Dictionaries at hand carry both idioms of “leave stg. behind” and “give stg. away,” but I find none of the listed definitions that seem to be pertinent to the above particular phrase.

Can you explain what “leave something behind” and “Something gives somebody away” mean and the scope of usage of these two idioms?


texts:
I have heard the term "PR" used as a verb, but have not found this in the dictionary.  The way it was used seemed to me to be a derogatory way to imply the use of public relations techniques in a less than honest or straight forward way.

Example: "Joe from the Acme Corporation is just trying to PR you. They will never get the job done in time."

Is there an actual dictionary definition that fits this meaning and usage?

Brian


texts: Do I spell out "7+" as in "The odds ratio for a suicide attempt in adulthood ranged from 2.3 in those with one early life trauma to 29.8 in those with 7+ adverse childhood experiences" to "more than seven" or "seven or more"?


texts: A word or phrase to describe events that happen alongside major historical events

texts:
I am looking for a word or phrase that could be used to describe events that happen in at the same time as major historical events.  Examples include the darkness that occurred during the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, and the comet that appeared in the sky after the assassination of Julius Caesar.  The best I could come up with is omen, but I don't think that is correct.

EDIT: After reading a comment, I see that I failed to describe that I am looking for a word in the context of these events being perceived to be related, as if the comet was some sort of a way to show the importance of what had just happened.


texts: Fearing rejection from others and hence hesitant about it

texts:
Is there a term for the situation when we falter about making a suggestion or flinch from giving an answer or hesitating to take an action fearing ridicule of others or their rejection?

Is there a sort of a phobia for it, maybe?


texts: What is the term for a person who doesn't waste time?

texts:
What is an English word/expression/idiom for a "person who doesn't waste time"?

Especially a person who doesn't look for excuses when she/he should be doing something productive e.g. working, cleaning, cooking


texts:
Is the thesis title below ambiguous, and if so, how should it be expressed instead?

  Predicting split atoms in mountain chains with virtual beetles

I want to say that I predict shared atoms, and the method is to use virtual beetles. The atoms that I estimate and predict the split for are found in mountain chains. But, what I wonder is whether the sentence can be interpreted to mean that I'm talking about mountain chains where virtual beetles exist?

So, how should I express the sentence so it can be understood that my method is virtual beetles, and not small robotic insects?


texts: "Subpage" vs "sub page" vs is it even a word?

texts:
I would go with subpage, but the corrector on stackexchange thinks it's a mistake and shows a red underline. You can try it yourself. Click on "Ask Question" link and type subpage in a sentence to the body textarea.

Why is that? I don't understand. Is subpage a word? Because according to this:

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/subpage
or
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/spellcheck/british/?q=subpage
or
http://thesaurus.com/browse/subpage?s=t

It's not even a word!
I don't understand it at all. I and millions are using this term everyday.
Could somebody, please, explain that to me?

Btw. Microsoft is using "subpage" word for Office products instead of "sub page":
http://office.microsoft.com/en-in/onenote-help/about-pages-and-subpages-HP001112525.aspx


texts:
To slide in and out or to slip in and out: which of the following is correct and why?

This way, you can easily slide the bag organizer in and out [of your
handbag]
This way, you can easily slip the bag organizer in and out [of your
handbag]

Used in another sentence

We've found hardware can damage the inside of your bag when the organizer is slipped in and out
We've found hardware can damage the inside of your bag when the organizer is slid in and out


texts: Word for sensation "eyes becoming black when stand up"

texts:
There is a feeling or sensation when you stand up suddenly and you feel giddy and your eyes turn black. That's how we say in our native language. The sensation is like everything disappears and you don't see anything even though your eyes are open. You only see black...
Is there a word for that sensation (eyes becoming black)?

I searched a lot but didn't find anything. Could you help me please?

Thanks a lot.


texts: Should I prefer "asker" or "questioner" for a person who asked a question?

texts:
Should I prefer asker or questioner for a person who asked a question?

Another question and answer on this site give a link that asker is quite legitimate. On the other hand I wonder whether questioner can be used for any person who asks a question rather than an interrogator.

P.S. The context can be taken as referring to the people who ask questions on this site.


texts: What does "corp." mean in the context of MLA citation?

texts: From this webpage it has a section to enter the information about the author that is labeled "Last / corp." What is corp? Is it short for the corporation, as in the one publishing the article?


texts: What is a word that describes the start or opening of a conversation?

texts:
What is a word that describes the start or opening of a conversation either with a friend, a stranger, in a formal situation like a business meeting or in a court?

I am looking for something with a meaning along the lines of an ice-breaker, perhaps?


texts: Is the usage of "more frequently" or "more often" correct in this scenario?

texts: If I think that an event does not take place at all but the event does take place once, is the other person correct in saying that the event takes place more often / more frequently than I think?


texts: I know "usen't" is not used in everyday English but how about an exam, an essay or a formal letter? Is it right to use "usen't" instead of "didn't use to".


texts:
The word sapiosexual describes one who is attracted to intelligence.  And while it's formed from Latin roots (sapiens + sexual), it appears to be a very new word.

Google Ngram has no record of the word prior to 2008 (the most recent search available).

The Online Etymology Dictionary doesn't know about it.

Wiktionary offers half a dozen quotes, the earliest one from a usenet post in 2005, and all others post-2010.

What is the earliest known usage of this word?


texts: I'm looking for idiom(s) which depicts 'someone is desperately searching for something good out of obvious disaster'

texts: Something like, someone is trying hard to justify something evil.


texts:
In the following book page, I have both paragraphs (which is a block of the same type of text) and some special paragraphs which are statements forming a special praying sentence.

Here is the original page, and a marked form of it:

How can I call each item in the marked picture: snippet, paragraph, section or element? Is there a better term that can describe them both?

Understanding the meaning of the above text is not that important as this is not a regular book but one like the bible. That is why I marked the text with blue circles. This allows me to demonstrate the types of text that we have in this book, which is two: one is paragraphs or big Siddur sections like the text in the big circles, and the other contains a Siddur paragraph/section that contains a bunch of smaller elements. Each element is a different section as you can see from the special outline.

What I'm looking for is a word that will describe each element that is atomic. Each circle is the atomic element.


texts:
What does "domestication" mean here? Does it connote "to limit"?
Where is the "paradox" that the writer talks about? (Of course there is a paradox at the heart of this belief)

context:

  But while they may scorn such relativist discussions, scientists are not talking about the domestication of Beauty. For them real Beauty is altogether a more profound entity and is aligned with Truth, the truth of a unified Reality waiting to be revealed. Of course there is a paradox at the heart of this belief. Scientists are examining the material world of real things working in particular ways. But even if they start out simply making observations, whether of stars, fishes or brain cells, they cannot resist looking for patterns, which leads to the positing of empirically or logically provable hypotheses. If these start out on the level of ‘just supposing’, in the most rigorous practice the Popperian system is brought into play, attempting by replicable experiment to disprove them until there is sufficient evidence remaining which cannot be disproved, and which, therefore, may point to the right answer for the time being. Scientists know that while breakthroughs are hailed, paradigms shift. And yet, even if their task is to observe change itself, as in dynamic systems or as a consequence of entropy or environmental breakdown; moreover, even while many will claim to have no religious affiliations and to be robustly atheist or agnostic, the majority express a faith in the notion of an absolute knowledge which demands a high order of visionary thinking.
  Art and Science By Sîan Ede


texts: What is the word for a person who twists your words around into something negative...?

texts:
Here is some more info...

This individual has a drug problem... people close to him have concluded that he is suffering from some form of personality disorder, thus, he is self medicating with illicit drugs. having a conversation with him feels like I'm constantly trying to tip toe on eggshells so I don't set him off by saying the "wrong thing". However, no matter how hard I try to compliment him, tell him how much I can empathize with him, etc. He ALWAYS twists my words into something they are obviously not... making me the horrible person and him the victim.
Not to mention his milquetoast and "it's everyone else's fault for his problems,  he is perfect " personality.

I AM LOOKING FOR A WORD THAT IS NEGATIVE OR EVEN POSSIBLY A MEDICAL TERM FOR SUCH BEHAVIOR.
AS IN, "I can't continue to have any further contact with him, due to his _________  tendencies. It's making me crazy!"


texts: No and double inversion within question tags

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  How to reply to question tags

I'm a Dutch native speaker so forgive my English mistakes (that's why I am here).

In Dutch it is normal to have a following example conversation:

  Person A: You don't want this thing?
  Person B: No

Meaning: person B does not want it.
But since the answer is negative, if taken literally it would mean B wants the thing.

The answer 'yes' has a similar problem:

  Person A: You don't want this thing?
  Person B: Yes

Meaning: person B wants it, but giving a confirmation for the question in fact means the opposite.

What is the 'semantic' meaning in English?


texts: A word for something that is deeper, more compelling than what is obvious or visible

texts:
Is there a word to describe the quality of something that is deeper, more substantial, or more compelling than what is obvious or originally thought?

I am thinking of something abstract, like a thought or something philosophical like Ursula K. Le Guin's definition of communication.


texts: I am preparing a number of charts to show demographic trends. Is there a word meaning to represent an event with a graph?


texts: What are some better ways to say "just for confirming"

texts:
I want to confirm with my supervisor in an email regarding something that was mentioned at a meeting. What should I use instead of "just for confirming, ..."?

Edit: I want to send an email starting with "just for confirming, do we need to examine the generated code, and ..." But instead of "just confirming," which I think is too informal, what other phrases can I use? Thanks


texts: What is the early modern equivalent of ' I think '

texts:
Would the term 'I think' be used in this era?
I'm looking at translation for a piece of art,
I'm wanting to translate flippant/meaningless language from today (things people say drunk, tweets etc.) into early modern english- or the type of language used in shakespeare.
If anyone has any knowledge in this field I would greatly appreciate your help!!


texts: Word stress in the phrase: I just got here

texts:
I give some context for my question:

Question: Have you been waiting long?

Answer: I just got here. [aɪ dʒʌst ɡɑt hɪər]

When I pronounce the phrase "I just got here" I hear some stress on the word "got", but I might be wrong. I'm not a native speaker. As a native speaker which words would you stress more when you pronounce "I just got here" in the context above.


texts: about the usage of "since" in present perfect tense

texts:
Recently I was told that when since is used in a present perfect tense sentence, the time point after it should be specific.

He further points out that the sentence "The restaurant has been here since my dad was alive" is wrong.

Is it true?

Any opinions or advice are welcome

Thanks in advance


texts: A non-clinical name for the ball on the outside of the ankle (the malleolus)?

texts: The bony prominence on either side of the ankle are called the inner and outer malleolus. That term is however too technical to be used in the story I'm writing. Does the English language have any other terms for them?


texts: What's the meaning of "Wanted on Voyage"?

texts: I'm a Japanese learner of English. A Bear Called Paddington is one of my favourite books, but what's the meaning of "Wanted on Voyage" on the side of the Paddington's suitcase?


texts: What do you call the tendency to oversimplify an issue?

texts:
I have noticed that there is a tendency in many people, and certainly in groups as a whole, to avoid, ignore, or trivialize complex and difficult issues by placing focus on issues that are similar and consequently much easier to discuss.

Sometimes this may be intentional, but I believe is generally a subconscious response to not being able to grasp complexity.

Usually, this results in a discussion that is inaccurate and does not adequately address the issue at hand.

In the various social or psychological studies, is there a term for this phenomenon?  Alternatively, are there any informal terms or phrases that reference or could be used to describe it?


texts: Word for "when somebody does something without realizing it"

texts:
I can't think of this word.  It's when somebody is doing something but they don't realize they are doing it.

For example: Suppose you're a girl and you are falling in love with a guy. When he laughs, you think hes so cute and you love it, but he doesn't realize that you love it. Or maybe the way he kisses your forehead, and he doesn't realize you go crazy over that.

I'm not looking for oblivious.


texts: Is "all of shudders" a valid expression?

texts:
A google search didn't come up with a single good example, but would it be okay to say something like:

He was all of shudders.


texts:
Is there a word, or a term, for a person who owns a large amount of land? "large" in the sense of "enough that the person would need to employ people not in his family to cultivate it".

This would be a sort of an English equivalent of "Kulak" in (post-1917 vernacular) Russian or "Latifundista" in Castillian.

Note: The word or term must specifically exclude small land-owners, people who cultivate their own land.


texts:
In Australian English there has always been a distinction between "pissed" (intoxicated) and "pissed off" (angry, irritated).

I've noticed a trend towards the American usage where "he was really pissed" is now much more likely to mean the latter.

I'm aware of the futility of resisting the natural evolution of language, particulary the juggernaut of American language imperialism via films and TV, but it seems a shame that "I did it because I was pissed" is now ambiguous.

Is this a trend in other English speaking countries where the Australian usage was common?


texts: How to explain why do we use, e.g. "1" video but "0" videos?

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  Correct plural form of a zero quantified noun

It's getting really complicated when you have to explicate to a student a bunch of habitual "Whys"!

For example, how do I explain, why do we say: "1 video but 0 videos?".

It's understood, if we say 2 videos but when we refer to '0' why is it also plural?


texts: Can "to escape" also mean "to go on holiday"?

texts:
The Macmillan Dictionary s.v. "escape (verb)" says that "to escape" can also mean

  to go away on holiday

in informal contexts, e.g. "We're hoping to escape to the Algarve in May". I can't find this meaning in any other dictionary at my disposal. Is it actually used in this sense?


texts: What is the opposite of "interesting" in "This person is interesting"?

texts:
During a conversation yesterday, I couldn't come up with the opposite of interesting.

  "Initially she was very interesting,
  and I enjoyed her company. However, a
  few months later, she became [BUM]
  not interesting."

Not interesting is what I came up with. What is the opposite of interesting that I should have used?


texts:
Context:
Imagine a sequence of indices greater than 1. The sequence must follow these rules:

1.) Index 2 cannot be surrounded by two indices 3.

...

(I know this may be written in much more simple way, but the structure should remain the same.)

The question: in the beginning of the first rule, should there be any article before the word "Index" (like: The index 2... / An index 2...) or is it also correct without any article?

Is "Index 2" in this context definite or not? (there may be more indices 2 in the sequence and the rule should apply to all of them)


texts: "During the war David was a pilot in the RAF." This sentence looks OK to me, but would there be any reason for or against putting a comma after "war"?


texts: Word for a police man getting money from someone forcefully

texts:
My wife bought a puppet from a roadside salesman. She noticed a policeman taking away the money from the salesman forcefully.

Is there an appropriate word for the policeman's behaviour? Bribe is not the word because the salesman was not trying to bribe here. Words like rob, steal, loot come to my mind. But I want to know if there is a better fit.

Update: The way the incident was perceived by my wife (and the original intention in my question) is that the policeman did this for his personal gain and was not doing it as a part of his duty.


texts:
Both come from Latin.

The noun amicus(friend) from amo(I love)

The verb affor(to address) from ad + for(to speak to)

I am pretty sure etymologically amiable should be much more warm, pleasant and friendly. Amiable should be closer to friendly. While Affable should be closer to easy to talk with.

Nonetheless a Semantic change/drift might have occured.

What is the difference in nuance of amiable and affable?

A possible answer to my question could be given by Jim's comment.

If so I would need a confirmation of whether amiability(amiableness) is the active/intent desire to please while affability(affableness) is the passive condition of actually pleasing regardless of any will to do so.


texts:
I'm referring to a very long sentence while explaining it, and I end up saying:
The adjective used in the first part of the sentence...; The second part of the sentence uses...; As for the third part of the sentence...

Is there a nice way to be less repetitive, while saying the same?


texts: What is a better word for 'condescending' (whose meaning has changed)?

texts:
In the course of my work I have to report on the way I have conducted myself with regard to people who may be of limited capacity or who have learning disabilities. I am required to indicate in my reports how I have treated people in difficult circumstances and, on occasion, in situations of conflict.

In doing so, I need to express the old meaning (the original Middle English meaning) of 'condescend' which now has the meaning (Google Dictionary) 'having or showing an attitude of patronizing superiority'.

The old meaning [Oxford Dictionary of English 2nd Ed] is  'to defer' or, literally, 'to give way'.

The word is used in the 1611 King James bible : 'condescend to those of low estate' where the 17th century translators have used it to express a Greek verb συναπαγομια, sunapagomai , literally 'to be led by', (sun and pagomai) which appears to bear the same meaning as that conveyed by the Middle English definition of 'condescend'.

What word other than 'condescend' - whose meaning appears to have modified - can I use to convey the attitude of deliberately restricting one own's speech, mannerism and deportment in order to accommodate the capacities of someone who is naturally more limited in their mental and psychological ability ?


texts: Rule governing of and apostrophe in the same sentence

texts:
A paragraph on the Wikipedia page on Gerolamo Cardano begins thus:

  The title of a work of Cardano's, published in 1552 ...

I believe this to be the correct usage, although I wonder if

  The title of a work of Cardano, published in 1552 ...

is also correct.

Can someone clarify?


texts: What is the shorter way of saying - "I am sharing my understanding, in a hope to get corrected"?

texts: I am looking for a concise way of saying or writing, "I am sharing my understanding about blah, in a hope to get corrected". The phrase "IMHO" expresses part of the idea, but does not necessarily imply that the speaker is seeking correction.


texts: Word choice for "solution" in a specific context

texts:
I can’t find the appropriate term to express something that one can try in order to fix a problem, but that is not guaranteed to work and might even lead to wasting resources.

The word “solution” seems inappropriate since it entails that what I will try is going to work. It has a positive connotation I believe.

Here is an example sentence with a context for the word I am looking for:

  Methodology X was done in order to avoid wasting resources on unfruitful (insert a replacement for the word “solutions” here).

In this example, even the word “unfruitful” seems a bit awkward to use in a formal context.

I am looking for a word preferably used in scientific journals and other academic publications.


texts: Correct use of lie or lay in the following context

texts:
I based my final year project around web technologies where my strengths lie.

OR

I based my final year project around web technologies where my strengths lay.


texts: which one should be used in this sentence — by or with?

texts: In the sentence " Her speech was punctuated with bursts of applause." why can't I use "by" instead of "with"?


texts: Is teetotaler still an acceptable term for someone advocating alcohol abstinence? If not, what is a better word to use?


texts: Is "faff" well understood outside Britain?

texts:
Google says "faff" is just British English. Is it well understood in other English speaking regions? If not, is there an international alternative?

faff

BRITISH informal

verb: faff; 3rd person present: faffs; past tense: faffed; past participle: faffed; gerund or present participle: faffing

spend time in ineffectual activity.
"we can't faff around forever"

noun: faff

a great deal of ineffectual activity.
"there was the usual faff of getting back to the plane"


texts:
I was wondering is it okay to use "bridge" as verb as follows:

  Throughout the article, we bridge A to B and concentrate on the most important application to C.

I treated A,B and C as something.


texts: Word for different office/work "cultures"

texts:
I am looking for a word to describe differences between two groups of professional fields.

Our small company is having a competition for best outside-of-work pictures. There are about 10 people in the San Diego, CA office, comprised of graphic designers and wordsmiths for creating brochures and such, and 10 people in the Central Oregon office that are mostly programmers/EDI developers.

I was thinking we will see big difference in the type of pictures submitted between the two offices because of the ______ (cultural?/demographic?/??) difference between the two professional fields.

What is a good word for that?

I suppose you can guess I am not on the wordsmith side :)


texts: Are commas necessary/helpful for this prepositional phrase?

texts:
Consider these sentences:

1) "To date, only one HIV vaccine trial (RV144) has successfully elicited a protective immune response, and in this trial protection was weak and short-lived."

2) "To date, only one HIV vaccine trial (RV144) has successfully elicited a protective immune response, and, in this trial, protection was weak and short-lived."

I am confident that the second option (and maybe both) would be correct, but I hate the look of having a comma right after "and" and around such a short prepositional phrase. Do you think the commas are helpful here or make the sentence cumbersome?


texts: What part of speech is "back" in "put the book back on the table"?

texts:
Put the book back on the table.

I'm having trouble. I think it is a preposition.


texts:
If you go to his house after half an hour, you will see (that) he is swimming in the swimming pool.

If you go to his house after half an hour, you will see (that) he will be swimming in the swimming pool.

Which one is correct? Generally, Does the tense of the main verb (will see) decide which tense (is/will swimming) is used in a "that-clause"?


texts:
Regarding terminology used by CEGL as referenced in this question, can anyone explain the difference between addressee-new and discourse-new?

My understanding of addressee-new is that this refers to something being spoken of which has not previously been told to the person being spoken to.

My understanding of discourse-new is that this refers to something which has not yet been introduced into the discourse.

How are they different? The only idea I can come up with is that the "discourse" must be about something. If I consider that "subject" to have any kind of objective reality, I can imagine new things happening to it, but wouldn't they then be subject-new?


texts: “…not less controversy in it but more." vs "…not less but more controversy in it." Are both correct?

texts:
I can think of two variants of this sentence, which are intended to have the same meaning:

There was not less controversy in it but more.
There was not less but more controversy in it.

In the adduced sentences, it refers to science .
I'm not sure which of them is correct.


texts: Single or Plural? “The length(s) of A and B was/were measured”

texts:
Which sentence (or sentences) is/are correct?

1) The length of A and B was measured

2) The length of A and B were measured

3) The lengths of A and B were measured

(Suppose both A and B are two separate lines)


texts: Is it correct to say "conscientious of the fact"

texts:
I'm writing out an e-mail blast and part of the sentence is

  I’d like to send this e-mail out as a reminder to everyone to be
  conscientious of the fact that if there are changes to be made to...

Is that accurate to say conscientious of the fact?


texts: How Would You Describe Someone With No Limbs?

texts:
Certain characters in certain media have no limbs.  That is to say, they have a head, a body, hands and feet, but lack the parts attaching those various bits of their body.  A good visual example would be the video game character Rayman.

"Disembodied" and "Limbless" are both good words for such a character, but the former is a bit too extreme, and the latter might be mistaken as a lack of arm AND hand, or a lack of leg AND foot.

Is there a word to describe this kind of character and their relation to their body/body parts?


texts: What is the antonym of "to get used to"?

texts:
I am looking for an antonym of the phrase "to get used to" in the sense of doing beginning (or in this case finishing) to do something oneself.

The only one i can think of is "to get out of the habit of".

In Russian there is a word "отвыкать", that has that meaning, but i wonder if there is a phrase or a word that has that exact sense.


texts:
In Season Two Episode One of Happy Valley, the mentor constable explains to the new recruit how helpful it is to have a good relationship with the receptionist, Joyce:

  Oh, and get well in with Joyce, she knows everybody and everything, and she'll never see you fast.

What is "see you fast"?

What I tried: idioms.thefreedictionary.com (both see and fast pages).

The story takes place in West Yorkshire.

I wonder if it has something to do with fasting as in going without food.


texts: How do I say that I went down and came back up the water while drowning?

texts:
When a person is drowning and he is fighting for his life, he goes down and comes back up to catch some breath with difficulty, until his energy goes to zero or gives up. How do you describe that phenomenon? Is there a word to describe that activity?

I am trying to write a story, and it is quite difficult for me at the moment to describe that environment.


texts: what is the difference between of and from

texts:
Can any one help me to configure what is the difference between "with 10 days of" and "within 10 days from"

Thanking you in anticipation


texts:
It is common to simply use 'dirty' as the adverb here, ex: He talks dirty.

Other resources say that the adverb is dirtily! I do not believe I've ever heard this used... is it correct?


texts: Misusing 'hone' to express subtly different idea that combines 'hone' and 'home in'

texts:
This question is similar, but I'm looking for something subtly different.

Suppose you have a philosophy describing a way of thinking and acting. Acting on this philosophy requires work: your mind will slip out of engaging it in if you don't keep up a practice of keeping to it. Over time, you also get better at understanding this philosophy and at keeping to it.

I'm inclined to say one "hones to" the philosophy. I realize this is a slight abuse of the meaning of "hone" and conflates it with "home in". I also have no interest here in whether to say "home in" or "hone in" in the usual context, because I want to say something different from what is meant by "home in".

I'm trying to express these ideas simultaneously with "hone to" or "hone toward":

you get close to acting based on the philosophy (you are "homing in" on what it describes)
you need to "hone your skill" at following the philosophy
you are trying to keep close to what the philosophy describes rather than drifting

Is there some already existing word or expression which captures this idea? I have thus far not found anything.

Alternatives I considered include "follow", which I dislike because it sounds passive, and "track to", using the meaning of track here as it is used in sailing terminology (c.f. "jibe"). I'd also prefer to stick with Germanic words because I like how they sound in this context, but I'm open to alternatives.


texts: What is the origin and scope of usage of the phrase "Voodoo That You Do So Well"?

texts: I heard it in the couple movies and podcasts, and was able to trace it to the Cole Porter song "You Do Something to Me" from 1929. I think it's where it came from, but I just want to be sure. Also, how popular it is among native speakers/Americans, and what group of people using it the most? Age, race, gender, type of a person if possible.


texts: What line do they refer to in the idiomatic expression "on the line"?

texts:
The idiomatic expression on the line has two main meanings according to the American Heritage Dictionary:

  Ready or available for immediate payment. (A related expression is Cash on the line)

  So as to be risked; in jeopardy: "Careers were on the line once again" (Seymour M. Hersh). Related expressions are: Lay it on the line and Put (something) on the line

According to Etymonline:

  The  oldest sense of the word is "rope, cord, thread"; from this the senses "path", "continuous mark" were derived.

Looking at Ngram it appears that the three expressions cited above have been used especially since the 30's.
There are different hypothesis  regarding the origin and meaning of the idiomatic usage of "line", but none of them appear convincing.

This recent unanswered question asked specifically for the origin of the expression "cash on the line".

Questions:

1) What is the origin of the expression "on the line"?

2) Are the two idiomatic meaning related or do they derive from a distinct meanings and usages of the term "line"?

In other words, what "line/s" does the expression "on the line" actually refer to?.


texts: "If it was so, it might be; and if it were so, it would be..." What does this mean?

texts:
I'm translating a book, which involves logic and quoted the sentence from Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking Glass:
"If it was so, it might be; and if it were so, it would be; but as it isn't, it ain't. That's logic."
The Carroll's book can be found here:
http://sabian.org/looking_glass4.php

I cannot even make out a clue what this sentence means, let alone translating. It seems I never come across any modal verbs or tenses used like this.


texts: Is the word escamotage which is found in English dictionaries etymologically related to the word scam?


texts: what does operator-dependent mean in medical term?

texts:
I am writing paper on liver transplantation.

And one of the term I came across is operator-dependent. Can someone help me understand it please?

I got the definition below from this site. I still need better definition so I understand it better.

  adj. a characteristic of esoteric forms of faith healing that cannot be verified scientifically because the healing process depends largely on the special skills of the practitioner that preclude systemic investigation.

In sentence.

  The measurement of portal vein flow has typically been
  accomplished with a Doppler effect-based ultrasound [2-3].
  But, with this technique a precise flow measurement at the
  portal vein is considered as one of the difficult tasks due to its
  operator-dependent nature


texts: Specific word for man who has an ungentlemanly attitude towards a romantic partner

texts:
I'm trying to remember a very specific (old-fashioned but not completely uncommon term) for a man who behaves in an ungentlemanly way towards a romantic partner --for example, a young man who boasts crudely to his friends about his liaison with a young woman who had asked him to keep it a secret.

The word is not lout or churl or chauvinist.  The connotations are of someone who is ungrateful and immature --someone who is unappreciative of the sexual favors they are receiving.

Sample Sentence:  I didn't mean to be a _____ when I insulted the breakfast you brought me in bed this morning.


texts: Which one uses two prepositions correctly? "information about and history of Thailand" or "information about Thailand and history of Thailand."

texts:
Example

  I need basic information about and history of Thailand.

or

  I need basic information about Thailand and history of Thailand.

Which one is the best sentence?

I apologize if my examples are not good enough.


texts: Should a proper name consisting of valid words be always capitalized?

texts:
Assuming "Information retrieval" is an official term describing a research domain, should it be capitalized in the middle of a sentence? that is, what is/are the correct form/s:

I am interested in information retrieval.
I am interested in Information retrieval.
I am interested in Information Retrieval.


texts: Difference between "the same....as" and "the same ......that"

texts:
I have the same book as you have.

  I have the same book that you have.

In Korea, we learn that the same...as and the same...that have different meanings. Teachers or grammar books say that the first example sentence means the book is not the same one but the same kind of that book or one of the same books in the bookstores, while the second means the book is the very book you have.

Swan, however, explains in his book Practical English Usage that there is no difference in meaning between the two cases.

Who is correct?


texts: Can I use "let ... alone" to mean "even though/if"?

texts:
I am composing a poem and have something like this

  Even if/though it is thousand miles far, we can still share the one.

in mind, which I want to express it more poetically as

  Let thousand miles alone,
  Can we still share the one.

It kinda makes sense to me.  But I am not sure whether it also makes the same sense to others.  Is this use of the phrase let alone correct?

Note that I am aware of two questions regarding the phrase let alone here, but neither of them addresses my issue.


texts: "Upon receiving..." or "When receiving..."

texts:
What is the proper word to use in the following sentences:

Example 1:

"When receiving a package, check the mailing address to ensure..."
"Upon receiving a package, check the mailing address to ensure..."

Example 2:

"Then, when receiving a package, check the mailing address to ensure..."
"Then, upon receiving a package, check the mailing address to ensure..."

What are the rules associated with when I should use "Upon" vs "When" in similar sentences to the example?


texts: Do British speakers sometimes omit schwa sound?

texts:
I notice that British speakers omit schwa sound in a diphthong with r sound.
For example: hair > he, more > mo
Please make it sure.


texts: Suitable English idiom for the Chinese idiom "Three years old fixes eighty" (三歲定八十)

texts:
The Chinese saying "Three years old fixes eighty" (三歲定八十) means roughly: From the character and personality traits revealed by a three year old, one can infer that he will have similar traits as an eighty year old. So e.g. if a three year old does something crafty or sneaky, the parent might use this idiom to mean (usually half-jokingly) that he will be just as crafty or sneaky when he is eighty.

Is there an English idiom that closely corresponds to this Chinese idiom?

(Briefly Googling, one blogger claims that Wordsworth's "The Child is father of the Man" is suitable, but I am not sure if this is really what Wordsworth meant, and even if it were, this idiom seems to be rarely if ever used. )


texts:
Why can we use the following statement when we mean future events?

  What time do you get there?

Or should we rather say:

  What time will you get there?

Is there a difference?


texts: Part of speech: "each" in "they each gave me a kiss"

texts:
Which part of speech is "each" in this sentence?

  They each gave me a kiss.

Some thoughts:

The dictionary says "each" can be an adjective, pronoun or adverb.

Adverb?  That sounds plausible by analogy from:

  They together gave me some money.

But the dictionary's examples for adverbial usage are only things like "ten cents each."  So maybe not.

Adjective?  The dictionary says:

  usage: When the adjective each follows a plural subject, the verb agrees with the subject: The houses each have central heating.

But does that mean "each" is modifying "They"?  That sounds weird.

Pronoun?  According to this view, "They" and "each" would form an apposition.  This "apposition" theory may get support from something like:

  They could none of them say anything useful.

if you are (a) inclined to see an apposition of "they : none of them" because "none" is not a dictionary adverb and (b) big on consistent treatment of similar structures.

In sum, the question is on standard treatment by traditional grammar of "They each."  (I am adding this remark here after receiving some answers that were very valuable but not a reference to traditional grammar on the exact typographic form "They each.")

Please give me your source or authority for the answer if at all possible.


texts: Usage of the word "moan" in Keats's poems

texts:
In John Keats's poem La Belle Dame sans Merci, he writes, "She looked at me as she did love,/ And made sweet moan." Keats seems to use the word "moan" in a similar sense in the third stanza of Ode to Psyche: "Nor virgin-choir to make delicious moan/ Upon the midnight hours." In the fourth stanza, Keats again uses the phrase make moan. I noticed that in other poems, Keats employs the word "moan" in the typical sense. For instance, in thirty-third stanza of The Eve of St. Agnes, he describes Madeline uttering a "soft moan" as she gains consciousness. This usage seems more or less descriptive.

I was surprised that the very stanza where I found this example also had a reference to the song "La belle dame sans mercy." I read that Keats wrote The Eve of Saint Agnes before La Belle Dame sans Merci, so I know that he is not referencing himself. But I find it odd that Keats would use the phrase "make moan" in more than one of his poems. Perhaps this is a Spenserian usage, because Spenser's Faerie Queene deeply influenced Keats, and Keats deliberately  used archaic words like Paynim to mean a (usually Muslim) non-Christian or wight to mean "person" (as did many poets, but Keats seemed particularly connected to Spenser).

Some online forums such as this one attach a sexual meaning to the word "moan." While these websites aren't authorities on Keats or English usage, I have to admit that the word "moan" certainly suggests sexual activity, just as other questions about "moan" on English Stack Exchange.

Another website claims that the phrase "made sweet moan" is just for poetic assonance. I will post the other two links as a comment because this is my first question, and I lack the reputation needed to embed more than two links.

I doubt that Keats intended the word to be sexual - it makes little sense in the context of "virgin-choir" or the overall mood of these poems. I was just wondering if there was an obscure or archaic usage of "moan" that would make sense in context. Thank you!


texts: What's an idiom/word for "complaining despite having it good"?

texts:
I am writing a blog post where I complain about something others may see as a favorable situation: I am getting too many unannounced phone calls with job offers. They come during work hours and interrupt my concentration, though.

So, in my post, I am asking recruiters to shoot me an e-mail first. I am trying to be polite there, so I'd like to say a more elegant version of "I know I'm complaining despite having it good, but..."

I have heard the term "First World Problems" in this context, but that don't fit exactly here.

What's a nice word or idiom to describe this situation?


texts: Is "With [noun], [subject] [verb]" acceptable instead of "[subject] [verb] with [noun]"?

texts: As an example, is "With grace, she danced." instead of "She danced with grace" proper? It seems to me that "with grace" is an adverb phrase, similar to "gracefully", so it should be able to be used in the same way. ("Gracefully, she danced.") Somehow, it doesn't seem right to me though.


texts:
A fellow on a social site suddenly starts asking me where I am from and what my interests are. I want to tell him that I am not interested in a random conversation and that I'll only answer if he's looking for any certain information.
Now, is there a better phrase or word for random conversation? Something that means, sudden useless or pointless talk. I want a more subtle but powerful word.


texts: "Could you Please provide me the details............................"?

texts: When we write a business email and want some information from the mail recipient, then which is the most professional way to ask for information. Does using "Please" in a sentence makes it look bad?


texts:
I'm making a website that has search results, and I hide some of them

I want to show the user that some are hidden

Which one should I say?

Showing first 25 results only

or

Showing 25 first results only

edit: I've seen questions like this What is the rule for adjective order?

But I was wondering what to do when you have 2 adjectives of the same kind. Or Perhaps "first" and "25" are not of the same type?


texts: Manuals of Style and Typography for British and American English

texts:
I would like to know which manuals of style and typography are the most common ones for British and American English. I am interested in the basic manuals and the manuals for technical scientists (physicists, chemists, mathematicians, programmers and engineers).

I would be very much obliged if you can recommend me any manuals, both books and websites.


texts: Did you ever hear(see, do, anything else) vs. Have you ever(seen, done, and so on) heard?

texts:
What's correct? If both, what is the difference between these questions?

An example from The Valley of Fear by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle:

  MacDonald turned over the letter which Holmes had handed him. «Posted in
  Camberwell – that doesn't help us much.  Name, you say, is assumed.  Not much to go on, certainly.
     «Twice.»
     «And how?»
     «In notes to Camberwell postoffice.»
     «Did you ever trouble to see who called for them?»
     «No.»
     The inspector looked surprised and a little shocked.  «Why not?»
     «Because I always keep faith. I had promised when he first wrote that I would not try to
  trace him.»
     «You think there is someone behind him?»
     «I know there is.»
     «This professor that I've heard you mention?»
     «Exactly!»

and

  «Well, Mr.  Holmes, I admit that what you say is interesting: it's more than interesting –
  it's just wonderful.  But let us have it a little clearer if you can. Is it forgery, coining, burglary
  – where does the money come from?»
     «Have you ever read of Jonathan Wild?»
     «Well, the name has a familiar sound.  Someone in a novel, was he not? I don't take
  much stock of detectives in novels – chaps that do things and never let you see how they do
  them.  That's just inspiration: not business.»


texts: When is the construction "I myself" suitable?

texts:
A previous question, How to call attention to "I" without "I myself" or the pretentious "Even I"?, suggested that the "I myself" construction is often used for emphasis, with one answer correctly pointing out that it is grammatically correct.

I find this completely redundant. When is it suitable to use "I myself"?