texts: Is there a reason for the "9" in teen slang "code 9"

texts:
Various websites that monitor teen slang have taken notice of a mostly text-based form of communication via the number nine, where code 9 or CD9 means, essentially, that parents or authority figures are watching the conversation.
A few non-reputable examples of the term defined can be found here:

https://www.kxnet.com/news/cd9-121-53x-as-a-parent-you-need-to-know-what-these-mean/

https://www.cyberdefinitions.com/definitions/CD9.html

Urban Dictionary boils the definition down:

cd9
parents are around!
if your parent are around and you dont want them to see or know what you are texting, or putting on a website like fb, you send cd9 to alert them not to say or put anything that could get you into trouble!

I'm simply wondering why the 9? How did "code 9" come to mean that parents or authority figures are watching?


texts: What's a word that means to 'intentionally withhold information'?

texts:
I was reading an online editorial a week or so ago in which its author employed an awesome word, the meaning of which was "to intentionally and deliberately withhold information [essential to the endeavor at hand, with the underlying purpose of misleading others by its omission]". Yeah, all of that in one word.

Alas, I can't seem to find the editorial online anymore, I've now I forgotten the word!


texts: Pronouns for collective nouns (British and American)

texts:
British and American English differ in the way they conjugate verbs for collective nouns: http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=877. For example, an American would probably say "China is winning" whereas a Brit would probably say "China are good."

Similarly, I think the American would say "The Chinese gymnastics team is good" and the Brit would say "The Chinese gymnastics team are good."

My question: what happens when pronouns enter into it?

Brits can say "The Chinese gymnastics team know that they are good." I think that's straightforward enough.

But what about the American equivalent? My American coworker argues for "The Chinese gymnastics team knows that they are good."

To me, this seems to create a clash between the plural "they" and two earlier cues that the subject of the sentence is singular: (1) "team" and (2) "knows." Even if "team" can work as both a plural or a singular, can it really do both in the same sentence?

My personal inclination is to write it as "The Chinese gymnastics team knows that it is good." I suggested this one to my coworker, who didn't like it. I agree that it's weird. Having three consecutive singular cue-words gives too strong a sense of the team's collective conscience, which wasn't implied at all in the British version.

Maybe this question is particular to the verb "know" and isn't (as I originally thought) generally applicable to sentences with both collective nouns and pronouns. But in any case, I'd love to get some opinions on how an American should fill in "The Chinese gymnastics team knows that [???] good."

(I've lived in Britain for 9 years, and America for 12)


texts:
While learning some new words recently, I've come across the word "consequence" which has caused me some trouble. I understand the meaning of the word but linking it with other words is a bit problematic.

I`m not sure if it could be followed by "of"

  Negative consequences of fast-developing tourism...

I don`t know if it should be followed by "for" or "to"

  Negative consequences of fast-developing toursim for/to the enviroment and local societies


texts:
Given the sentence:

  They took some pictures of me in the park.

What is the passive form of this sentence? I have tried:

I was taken pictures of in the park.

Is this correct expressions in English?


texts: Can a singular or plural verb ("is" or "are") be used when the subject is a coordination?

texts:
In the sentence:

  The dimensions and shape is/are a little different than the rest.

Should I be using 'is' or 'are', or can either be used?


texts: How to find which adjectives modify which nouns?

texts:
I've always wanted to to find the answer to such questions as the following:

Which adjectives are commonly used to describe pain?
Which nouns are commonly modified by the adjective acute?

You can certainly find the answer if you look into usage examples in the dictionary or if you poke around in a thesaurus, but the answer is not always found directly. I couldn't even find a list of bi-grams that addressed this specific construct.

Similarly, I would like to know which verbs commonly associate with which subjects and which objects and vice versa.

Where do I find such information? And should this not be in a thesaurus?


texts: Is "brush up on" technically a tri-part phrasal verb?


texts: Adjectives to describe a world where things are overvalued and overrated?

texts:
Are there any particular colloquial expressions to describe a world where things are overrated and overvalued?

For example,

  A company publishes a four-page document and calls it an Ebook.  We live in a _____


texts: What's the difference between someone's something and something of someone?

texts:
I've noticed that many people say things like:
"that's the dad of my babies"
"We're the love of each other's life"

And other people say:
"That's my babies' dad"
"We're each other's love life"

So what's the difference between those two and when to use it? Feel free to give more examples :)

Thanks!


texts: What is the meaning of "driving someone to his own cost"?

texts:
I have faced it in the text below:

  ...But something drove Pullman to his own cost; his benefactions nearly ruined him.

Richard Sennett, Respect in a world of inequality, Penguin, p.130.


texts: What is it called when you like something, but then find a better version of that thing and no longer enjoy the original thing?

texts: For example, you really love SPAM for some weird reason. Then you decide to take a trip to Spain, where you fall in love with genuine Spanish ham. Then, once you come back home, you look at a can of SPAM and you're completely disgusted.


texts: Do you capitalize commonly-lowercased titles at the beginning of a sentence?

texts:
Sometimes titles are made lowercase to achieve some desired effect.  The musical artist gnash, his song "i hate u, i love you", as well as any of the people on this page are some examples.  When starting a sentence with a name like these, should the first letter be capitalized?  For example, which of the following is correct?

gnash reached the top of the charts this week.
Gnash reached the top of the charts this week.


texts: Origin and part of speech of 'for that matter'

texts:
What is the origin of the phrase 'for that matter'?

And what part of speech does it function as?

It's obviously a modifier, but it seems to me to modify the whole sentence. In fact…If I say "He was taller than me. For that matter, he was wider too." --the sense of 'for that matter' in the second sentence depends upon the first sentence. So as a modifier 'for that matter' seems to connect two sentences. Mind you, there are a few phrases that work like that, 'on the contrary' or 'on the other hand' being examples. None of them work semantically in stand-alone sentences.


texts: Is the term "carriage return" outdated in a (near) post-typewriter world?

texts:
When we say "Return key" or "Enter key", either are clear in meaning to those with even very light keyboarding experience. But "Return" is a diminutive of "Carriage Return". Fully saying/writing "Carriage Return" may be unfamiliar to the ears of those who work with computers daily yet have never touched a typewriter.

In a computing sense "Carriage Return" (ASCII character 13) DOES mean something very different in comparison to "Line Feed" (ASCII character 10). So, for a certain audience, "Carriage Return" is meaningful. But for a broad audience, should "Carriage Return key" be avoided and "Return key" be the preferred usage?


texts: Object/Thing similar to "Spectre", but less hidden

texts:
I am using the word spectre for both of its meanings. "a ghost" or at least something hidden, and "something widely feared as a unpleasant or dangerous occurrence."

I'm racking my brains for another noun I can use; something which is also dangerous but in a more straight-forward and up-front way.

The reason is that I'm attempting to create names which people in a story may give to deadly mechanical creations. I have three different "types". The first is sneaky like a ghost but deadly(spectre) and human-sized.

The second is rather large (house-sized) and loud: you can see it coming but you can't stop it. "Juggernaut" would be the perfect word for it, but I'm debating whether that word is kind of cliche, so it may also be something along the lines of Behemoth or Collossus.

The third is the one I'm having trouble naming, probably because it has somewhat of an identity crisis. It is a mix between the first two, with the speed and slightly larger size than the spectre, but the up-front power and unstoppable force of the Juggernaut.


texts: Is "on account of I wasn't coming back" correct usage?

texts:
I sometimes encounter the phrase 'on account of' in conjunction with a simple declarative phrase, as in the example from J.D. Salinger's Catcher in the Rye: "He'd written me this note asking me to stop by and say good-by before vacation started, on account of I wasn't coming back."

Is this grammatical or technically incorrect? Could it be a regional or temporal idiosyncrasy?


texts: American English: 3-way, or 3 way ... which is the correct word usage?


texts:
I'd like to compose a phrase with a movie title, a lead actor and 'starring'.
For example the title is "Top Gun", a lead actor Tom Cruise.
In this case, which is/are correct and the most popular?

Tom Cruise starring "Top Gun"
"Top Gun" starring Tom Cruise
"Top Gun" Tom Cruise starring
.... anything else?


texts:
I am trying to document some code and this sentence sounds confusing.

  Replaces the existing item associated with the provided key
  with newItem.

I am tempted to put a comma here but I am not sure if it would be correct.

  Replaces the existing item associated with the provided key,
  with newItem.

If it's incorrect, how can I state my intention clearly?


texts:
I have a question that falls under literature, but I remember that Dante, Greek mythology, and Milton were required reading in my English courses in high school and university.

It's about an epithet that was, I think, made popular only by the book series Percy Jackson and the Olympians by Rick Riordan. In the series, the River Styx has been described and portrayed as the "River of Lost Dreams and Hopes." This, it would seem, has been picked up and applied by some people on the Net. But I can't find any other case when the Styx was previously described as such.

Of course I imagine the Styx must be a very barren and desolate place but, still, I would like to check if there are any other lines from perhaps Dante or another writer that could've inspired such a title. Or is it one writer's completely fresh and unique version, an employment of his artistic license?


texts: If both subjects are the same, can I still use a singular verb?

texts:
Is this sentence correct?

  My mother and best friend loves cooking as much as I do.

Considering that I'm referring to the same person here, would it be better if I put it this way:

  My mother and my best friend loves cooking as much as I do.


texts: Guide to alphabetizing upper case versus lower case?

texts:
Does there exist a general guide to the alphabetization of degenerate cases?
For example, which is to be listed first, "hamburger" or "Hamburger"?


texts: Term for the identification of the person speaking in a dialogue

texts:
Consider the following piece of dialogue:

  Peter: Hello, Mary! How do you do?
  Mary: Hi, Peter! Fine, and you?

What is the term for the part in bold, the specification of who is to speak a particular line?


texts:
http://www.restaurantbusinessonline.com/operations/technology/are-digital-menus-way-go
I can't understand the meaning of 2nd part in this sentence. What changes?      what has that to do with running out smth in the kitchen.

Or if the kitchen runs out of something, “we’re never more than five minutes away from making those changes.”


texts: What is the synonym to ‘semi thick’ body? When someone describes their body shape as semi thick, what does he mean? Thank you.


texts: What is a term or idiom for "blah blah blah" talk?

texts:
I am looking for a term or and idiomatic expression  to convey the concept of  "empty, irrelevant" talk. I am thinking about those situations in which people want to express their ideas on facts about politics, economics,  religions etc, but they have no real information about what they are talking about so they often repeat phrases they heard on TV programmes or comment using set phrases like: "that's the way things are".

  He is always commenting on the US election campaign but what he says is just....(the expression I am looking for)


texts: Meaning of "Students in all majors" versus "Students of all majors"

texts:
I would like to know the difference between these sentences:

I want to send an email to students of all majors
I want to send an email to students in all majors

How did of/in change the meaning of these sentences?

I've checked the link: “in” versus “of”.


texts: Name for that sound you make with pursed lips

texts:
I tried searching, but couldn't find anything. What's that sound called, the one you make when you purse your lips and make that kissing kind of sound? I guess people make the sound in different contexts, but for example:

Person 1 does all sorts of complicated things to accomplish a task, Person 2 does it easily. Upon seeing Person 2's method, Person 1 may make this sound.

If there are any Kannadigas, in Kannada it's called lochhguttodu.


texts: Definite article or not in "the low sampling frequency"

texts:
I do not mention what is the sampling frequency but I know that it is low.
Should I use the article "the" or not in the following?
1
This can be highly error prone because of narrow bandlimited channel and low sampling frequencies of their signals.
or
2
This can be highly error prone because of the narrow bandlimited channel and the low sampling frequencies of their signals.


texts: What do you call someone who is banned by law to leave their country? and What is the verb for banning somebody this way?

texts: There are many occasions that law might ban someone from leaving a country. For example, in Iran, if a man's wife requests her dowry and the man refuses to pay and hides himself, she can use legal provisions to ban him from leaving the country. What is the verb in English to describe to ban someone from leaving a country via law because of a crime, etc. and what is called someone who has been given imposed this ban?


texts: Does the phrase "if that's fine with you" require a question mark?

texts:
Say I have the sentence:

  I suggest we do an interview at 12 pm, if that's fine with you.

Is this sentence a direct question which requires a question mark, or should I keep it the way it is?


texts: Is it correct to avoid starting sentences with subordinating conjunctions in technical writing?

texts:
I work on a team where everyone has decided that it is incorrect to start a sentence with a subordinating conjunction period. For example they will change the sentence:
Based on the system-wide risk assessment, the societal risk for the Lateral is low.
to
The societal risk for the Lateral is low based on the system-wide risk assessment.
They believe that in technical writing (oil and gas) it is incorrect to start a sentence with words like 'if', 'during' 'due to' etc. Is this correct, or preferred?


texts: What is the word for 'not good at expressing words / thoughts / emotions in person'?

texts:
Kind of like:

not good at expressing oneself


texts: What's the difference between 'fallacy' and 'misnomer'?


texts: How to compress 'odd/even number of times'?

texts:
If A occurs exactly two times, one could say "A occurs twice."
If A occurs exactly three times, one could say "A occurs thrice." etc.

Not being a native English speaker, I don't know how to properly name these words that compress the expression for "number of occurences", however, I've found articles online that have expanded their realm of existence beyond the numerals of 1, 2 and 3, such as "septence" for 7, etc.

I wonder if there are 'compression words' like this for "odd" and "even number of times". I would find these words extremely useful. There are words like that in Czech, I am however unable to find their English equivalents. Do they exist?


texts: Does the apostrophe in names of diseases drop when the disease name is part of a foundation name?

texts: Many diseases are named after the doctor who identified the diseases and therefore have names like Hodgkin's Disease or Parkinson's Disease.  But when a fund or foundation is created to raise money for research on the disease, should the apostrophe remain?  In other words, should it be Parkinson's Foundation or Parkinsons Foundation?  If the apostrophe is dropped, is it dropped out of necessity?


texts:
I saw this line on a TV show:

"He was like rich, successful, handsome.I hated that guy."

What's the difference between this one and

"He was rich, successful, handsome.I hated that guy."

Is there any grammatical explanation for this? Or it's just another colloquial English?

Full context:

"Oh, yeah, Robin was spending New Year's with her boyfriend, Derek."

"Derek."

"He was like rich, successful, handsome."

"I hated that guy."

I heard this line from the TV show "How I Met Your Mother" Season 1,Episode 11


texts: When is "he is on the" + verb allowed as a sentence?

texts:
Why are these sentences correct:

"He is on the move", 8 million hits on google
"He is on the run", 3 million hits

but not these?:

"He is on the walk", 3 hits (1 with this construct)
"He is on the talk", 1 hit (0 with this construct)

When is it allowed to use the "on the" + verb grammatical construct?

Notes

The last word in these sentences is not actually a verb, it is a noun created from a verb (or possibly vice-versa). The question is stated this way to be concise. A suggestion for improvement that is more correct is welcome.
Edit 1: added this note, examples, more thoughts.

Some Thoughts

The hits on 'walk' gives this sentence about a dog, which seems meaningful enough to me: "once he is on the walk, he doesn't attempt to bite the lead".
The first two examples refer to a abstract sort of 'move' or 'run'. A more concrete form of the construct is also possible and maybe more common. E.g. "he is on the call" could colloquially refer to a very specific conference call. However, one of the only two google hits (NSFW, so no link) is about the abstract 'call': "... while he is on the call with his boss". So the concrete form is not common either.
Vice-versa, the construct is clearly incorrect for verbs that cannot be used as a noun, e.g. "he is on the buy", "he is on the write".

More Examples

Common examples gathered from the comments:

non-slang: go, mend, march, rise, decline, increase, decrease, boil, prowl
slang: make, take, dole, prowl, nod?, hop?
fighting/sports: attack, rebound

Not quite examples:

fly: you cannot 'be on the fly' right?
nod?, hop?, train: these nouns aren't based on the verbs right?

More Questions

Why are there so few of these verb-like nouns that can be used in such a sentence?
Why are relatively many of them slang?

More Thoughts

Most of the sentences have a similar meaning when the -ing form of the verb is used. "He is on the take" ~ "He is taking [bribes]". But usually only figuratively, and it is the opposite for "on the dole". Maybe the 'on the' form is used when the 'ing' form already has another meaning: "he is running" vs. "he is on the run" (vs. "he runs").
The construct is much more common in Dutch, where it is usually the best way to translate the -ing form, so maybe it is a Germanism?


texts: Are there any rules for which verbs should be used when talking about sports?

texts:
For a lot of sports such as tennis, basketball etc., the verb play can be used. When it comes to other sports such as judo, powerlifting or even swimming using the verb play feels a little strange to me.

In this case, what do you think the most suitable word to use would be and is there a specific reason why the word play just doesn't seem to fit?


texts: Correct usage of "The" within this sentence

texts:
A client has requested that I put a notice in the form of

ALL THE PRODUCTS ARE FOR RESEARCH USE ONLY

on a web page.  However, the word "THE" in the sentence appears unnecessary in my opinion.

Is this phrase correct as is?  Would it be better phrased as

ALL OUR PRODUCTS ARE FOR RESEARCH USE ONLY.


texts: What's the name of this sound/collection of sounds?

texts: What is it called when one expresses "Yes", "No", or "I Don't Know" without using words - just humming their response?  You know, when someone responds with a low note than a high note for Yes or "Ah-huh!"; a low note and a slightly lower note for No or "Nuh-uh"; or a low note, a high note, and a low note for I don't know.


texts: Can 'the magazine' be used with plural agreement to refer to the editor and staff collectively?

texts:
If I am referring to a magazine as an entity comprising its editor and staff, is it correct to say, 'The magazine are keen for submissions' or 'The magazine is keen for submissions'?

(I'm correcting an Australian English text, where they use The magazine are... when referring to the corporate entity.)


texts:
I was studying about the uses of that where I stumbled upon this common mistake pertinent to the use of 'that'.

For e.g:

  The goalkeeper blocked two penalty kicks in the second half, and that  made his team win the match.

This usage of that is wrong as 'that' can't refer to an action, such as blocking penalty kicks.

But the same resource says that the following example is correct.

Cicero lampooned Mark Antony in a series of orations, the Philippics and Antony later used that as the excuse to execute him.

The site mentions that here 'that' refers to ' a series' and not the lampooning.

Query #1. Can 'which' (which is also used to refer to a whole clause or sentence) be used in the first sentence?

Query #2. Though the writer says that in the Cicero's example, 'that' is referring to ' a series' but it appears to me that 'that' is referring to the 'lampooning'. How can we correctly resolve such problems (in such questions)?

The site referred to as the resource here is :https://magoosh.com/gmat/2013/gmat-sentence-correction-the-many-uses-of-that/


texts: I'm trying to find the word that best describes the feeling when you feel like you're experiencing the same thing someone else has actually experienced?


texts: How do I use colons and punctuation in this sentence?

texts:
Should I use a colon before a list? Which of the following is correct?

I’ll never forget that night when I sat staring at my laptop when it suddenly hit me: This is what I wanted to do. This is something that I would never get tired of: solving problems, finding patterns, and bringing order out of chaos.

I’ll never forget that night when I sat staring at my laptop when it suddenly hit me: This is what I wanted to do. This is something that I would never get tired of. Solving problems, finding patterns, bringing order out of chaos.

I’ll never forget that night when I sat staring at my laptop when it suddenly hit me: This is what I wanted to do. This is something that I would never get tired of. Solving problems. Finding patterns. Bringing order out of chaos.

If the first variation is the correct one, should I capitalize 'solving'?
Also, should I capitalize the word after the first colon ('this')?
If I should make other changes, please suggest them.


texts: What does "in forming a human being" mean?

texts:
I just want to understand what the speaker meant in this sentence.

  I think there is nothing more important in forming a human being than your family.


texts: How to calculate number of syllables in a word using only the IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) spelling?

texts:
I want to write an algorithm to calculate the number of syllables in a word. This process is an automated one that will be run on an entire dictionary so manually counting the number of breaths, chin movements etc. as mentioned in other questions won't scale. I also don't want to visit a website like howmanysyllables to input the word because I don't want to depend on a non free and open source system.

To get around tricky words like "Wednesday", I thought it would be easier to use the IPA transcription of words instead. I have the IPA transcription for all words in my downloaded dictionary but to my dismay I discovered there seems to be no surefire method of counting syllables.

Consider these two transcriptions to IPA:

pronunciation: pɹəˌnʌn.siˈeɪ.ʃən
conscientious: ˌkɒnʃiˈɛnʃəs

For the IPA word "pronunciation", lower apostrophe, upper apostrophe and period can be used to tell where the syllable breaks occur. The IPA word for "conscientious" only seems to strictly indicate a single break. You could say the "ʃ" indicates a syllable break but I worry this isn't the case for all words.

Is there a list of rules that define syllable breaks in US English for IPA transcriptions?


texts: Word to describe a 'homemade' way to fix something.

texts:
I am an artist and making some work, instead of buying some expensive equipment to monitor sound, im just wrapping a microphone in gaffa tape.

Is there a word to describe this kind of thing? Not homemade...not DIY...

Thanks! x


texts:
I want to ask a question so that I can get the answer which gives the position of the President. So the answer I want to get is:

  Barack Hussein Obama is the 44th President of the United States.

or

  44th.

or simply

  44.

How can I properly ask this question?


texts: How to explain the difference between "affect" and "effect"?

texts: I don't know how to explain the difference between effect and affect to someone. I've tried explaining that effect is a noun, and affect is a verb, that to affect is to make a change, and effect is the change that was made, but these explanations haven't made sense. (They're 17 and very intelligent, so please don't be rude.) Could you please suggest other ways of explaining this?


texts: Is there a linguistic term for "word pairs" where the masculine term is positive but its feminine equivalent is not?

texts:
The feminine form usually has a neutral to negative range of meanings.

e.g.

master  (“a man who controls things”) x mistress (“a woman who is having sex with a married man”)
governor (“the chief executive of a state” x governess (“a woman employed in a private household to educate the children”)

Other examples:

bachelor (of Arts, etc) x spinster
dog (“you old dog!”) x bitch

The term I'm looking for refers to “pairs of words” and
I’m not looking for “male chauvinism”, “gender discrimination”, “androcentrism”, “sexism”, misogynism or any word related to sociology.


texts:
What is the difference between alternately and alternatively? I've seen both words being used, but which one is grammatically correct?

He could do X. Or alternately, he could do Y.
He could do X. Or alternatively, he could do Y.


texts: What word am I looking for (similar to "subset")

texts:
If...

(A) is a subset of (A)
(A,B) is a subset of (A,B,C)
(B,A) is not a subset of (A,B,C) because order matters.
(B,C) is not a subset of (A,B,C) because I only want to compare the front of each set.

Now subset is the second cousin of the word I'm actually looking for. Which word would best fit here?

Maybe:

is a prefix of
begins

... but they seem awkward. Bonus points if there's a common term with an accepted Mathematical meaning (I'm not sure if some term exists).


texts: Is "went out like stink, died like a pig" just an unfortunate choice of words?

texts:
The CBC commentator Byron MacDonald said the following after a Chinese swimmer started out very fast and inevitably slowed down during sprint (the whole story):

  The little 14-year-old from China dropped the ball, baby. Too excited,
  went out like stink, died like a pig. Thanks for that.

Many native speakers argue that it is quite normal for a sports commentator to say that. Is it offensive in any way?

To be specific, I have no problem interpreting "die" as slow down, but do "like stink" and "like a pig" have negative connotations? Or do they simply mean very rapid and very slow?


texts: On the evolution of the meaning of "few"

texts:
Was the word "few" used exclusively to refer to groups of eight people (or things) at some point of time?

There is a well-known verse in the New Testament which implies the plausibility of such a situation: namely, 1 Peter 3:20. This is what we read therein:

  Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God
  waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein
  few, that is, eight souls were saved by water.

What do you people know about this?


texts: Use is or are with the plural "statistics"?

texts:
I have the following sentence:

  "Statistics is my passion and I am always eager to accept new
  challenges"

I am not sure about the statistics and the is.

Is this correct? Because statistics is plural and so do I have to use are? Or should I use just

  statistic is my passion

in this context, so singular version of statistics?


texts: Capitalization of bpm/BPM meaning beats per minute

texts:
The Oxford English Dictionary defines "bpm" as an abbreviation of "beats per minute" and gives the example:

  a pulse rate of 40 bpm

Is there an explanation for the curious feature that this abbreviation is set in lowercase?


texts: What is the origin and history of the word "motherf---er"?

texts:
I'm not a native English speaker, but I would like to know how and why people started using mother fucker.  Today it seems it has lost its meaning because people use it all the time, but was there a time in history when mother fucker meant something different?

I know we see it in the movies sometimes, but did people call each other mother fuckers 100 years ago?  How about 500 years ago? what about 1000 years ago?

And why don't we have father fuckers?  Is mother fucker only used on guys?


texts: What is the difference between "I want" and "I do want"?

texts:
Reading some books and posts I noticed that there are some semantice differences between constructions described in the title of this post.
Could someone help me to find out what are the real difference and in which situations are better to use appropriate constructions?

I would be very grateful to hear the correct answer.


texts:
Nowadays (in the States, anyway) to make love means only "to engage in sexual intercourse with both parties willing" (or perhaps also the similar "to engage in sexual fondling with both parties willing"). In the mid- and late 1960s, when the slogan "make love, not war" was popular (among a certain class of people), what did to make love mean in the States (not only in that slogan)?

Did it have the same (sexual) meaning?
Did it have the now-obsolete meaning of "to woo"?
Did it have both meanings, so was ambiguous?
Did it have no popular meaning at all (so that, in the slogan, it'd be viewed simply as the counterpart to to make war and thus as meaning something like "to foster agape")?
Or what?


texts: What is the difference between "in times of" and "in time of"

texts:
All the two phrases, "in time of" and " in times of" are in use on the Internet. But I can not distinguish between them correctly.  Here are some examples I have come across:

  How did Hawkwood make money in times of peace?  New Concept English, Vol 3, Lesson 14.
  A Prayer In Time of Trouble, www.iocc.org/pdffiles/prayeradslick.pdf.

Can anyone tell me the differences between the two phrases?


texts: Can we use "workaround to this" instead of "solution to this"?

texts:
While searching for the meaning I got this:

  Workaround - a method for overcoming a problem or limitation in a program or system.

Which means almost the same as "solution".
So, can we use "workaround to this" instead of "solution to this" in a sentence?

For example,

This issue is getting more complicated. I want a workaround to this.
Math is not real fun unless you have the workaround to these equations.

Is it okay to use this combination in a sentence? Does it hold a different meaning?
And what are the other precautions?


texts: Original use of kosher in the English lanuage

texts:
Recently I saw a post on the meta.rpg.se site that asked When is editing your answer not kosher?, and it got me thinking. Why is the word Kosher used, instead of, for example, Halal, Permissible, or even just Okay? They would all have the same meaning, more or less. When did kosher first enter the English language, and how has it been popularised to being used in the context above?

The definition on Etymonline is:

  "ritually fit or pure" (especially of food), 1851, from Yiddish kosher, from Heb. kasher "fit, proper, lawful," from base of kasher "was suitable, proper." Generalized sense of "correct, legitimate" is from 1896.

It seems a fair leap from 'ritually fit or pure' to the common usage, which almost connotes something being 'socially' acceptable as opposed to 'religiously' acceptable or even acceptable by fixed standards (in contrast to the freeform 'social' standards).

Can anyone help me here?


texts:
Recently on IRC I said this:

  I do not believe in proving the correctness of already constructed programs. I believe in formally deriving programs so that they be correct.

And I got almost instantly corrected:

  DijkstraGroupie: So that they are correct, you mean.

Checking on Wikipedia, I found the following:

  I want you to give this money to him so that he have enough for lunch. (the conjunction "so that" takes a subjunctive in formal English)

What usage is correct, in this case?


texts: What is another phrase for the cliche "twists and turns"?

texts:
I am writing a creative writing piece in which I have used the cliche "twists and turns". I need another phrase that I could use so that it does not sound boring. The sentence is,

  'The bluff rises above the river that twists and turns beneath, trying to find a way out of the maze of mountains.'


texts: What is the origin of the phrase "Leave your Mark"?

texts:
All I could manage to find on Google was this link:

  The phrase was originally used in archery – to “make your mark” was to hit the target with your arrow.

Is there a more in-depth description or perhaps a different origin?


texts:
In enwiki.org, this example is provided for showing inversion after a Participle phrases:

Lurking in the corner stood a chicken with an ax, ready to take on the
farmer in a fight to the death.

In another pamphlet I found these examples for demonstrating the same topic:

(Having been) annoyed by his students was our teacher Mr. Matters.
Walking around the trees was my friend Alice who is Asian.

Are these sentences grammatical? Isn't it the case that these examples are causing dangling modifiers?


texts: What’s the difference between "Are you going" and "Will you go"?

texts:
What’s the difference between these two alternatives:

Are you going to England this summer?
Will you go to England this summer?


texts: Nano Recommendations delivers editorially relevant videos to your webpages.


texts: Is there a word for “carefully planning your future” or “treading carefully”?

texts: I want a small word, if possible. Words from other languages or old English will also suffice. Can someone help me with this?


texts: past tense in adverbial phrases that does not mean past time

texts:
There are times when we use past tense to refer to future, like in the following sentences:

We'd manage the funds until he came of age.
You'd get helpers until you got older.

The background behind these two sentences was that a retail tycoon had a serious car accident and was in a coma. The first sentence was uttered when the tycoon's wife and partner were talking about who was going to inherit his shares if he had died. The wife answered their son, a teenager at that time, would.

My question is: why do we use past tense in came and got while in fact the tycoon's son was only a teenager at that time? Does it have to do with sequence of tenses?

By that I mean if we are talking about a counterfactual situation using the auxiliary "would", then the second verb has to be "came" and "got" respectively. Instead, if we replace would with will in those two sentences, then we will have to say

We will manage the funds until he comes of age.
You will get helpers until you get older.

Or do you have other explanation for the uses of came and got? Thanks a lot in advance.


texts: Word For When You've Been Forced to No Longer Trust Something or Someone

texts:
Often, I encounter situations (particularly with software or electronics, though occasionally with people) where bugs or strange events happen that cause me to lose trust in said software maintaining the integrity of my data, or said technology being reliable 'in the clutch' (or even scenarios where a person or business entity change a predictable, relied-on pattern of behavior, belief or expectation).

Sometimes I feel so strongly about the broken trust, that I feel forced to stop trusting (even if such events leading to the distrust were unintentional). I may still use said software, but I continue to do so very cautiously at that point.

The word I believe I'm looking for is similar to 'ized' words, in that it describes a state of 'forced distrust' assigned to myself, not the state or act of the object/person breaking the trust (e.g. "I've been/become xxxxxxxized by such-and-such...").

I often want to use the word 'disenfranchised' to describe such a state, but I'm not sure that's 100% suitable to the various contexts or the concept of lost trust (even though whatever trust I had was likely unfounded anyway, simply because, at least in the context of software, that trust is simply the lack of distrust due to having not yet experienced any bugs/issues that have built up a negative rapport with said software and what I expect it to do without fail).

So what's the word I'm looking for, if such a single word exists?


texts:
I was confused about this question:
Eating garlic has long been regarded as a means of warding off malaise, and scientific research has shown that it does have some therapeutic values.

why means should be used here, instead of mean?


texts: the difference or not between 'incentive' and 'inducement'

texts:
I have a speech in a play that goes:

  " . . . I wouldn't leave mine a penny, and I'd tell him so - too much
  of an inducement for an overdose!"

My character is speaking about her doctor.  I feel that the correct word is 'incentive' but my fellow cast members disagree - what do others feel?


texts: Are there words for people who are attracted to a specific gender?

texts:
Is there a word for a person (any male or female) who is attracted to a male?
Is there a word for a person (any male or female) who is attracted to a female?


texts: is there a word which describes someone who confidently believes it's better to not dwell on some things?

texts:
I.e. maybe they have questioned something in the past, realized it was fruitless, and now take the stance that even asking or thinking about the question is not worth their time, because they believe it's impossible to know.

For instance, does free will exist? Does God exist, etc.

The term agnostic is close for the god question, but that word I believe conveys more of uncertainty of the answer rather than confidence in knowing that the question is not even worth thinking about.


texts: Gerund or infinitive / Difference in meaning

texts:
In my classes, the subject of gerunds and infinitives comes up.  Students find this a confusing and frustrating subject.  They accept that one can say "I like watching movies," or "I like to watch movies," but they will usually ask, "Which one should I use?"  This question makes sense.  I have seen most teachers answer this by saying "It doesn't matter, they both mean th same thing.  Pick one that you like and use it."

I feel that there is a difference and that as native English speakers we intuitively know the difference and will choose the expression that conveys our meaning.

Sometimes, I feel that this choice is language mirroring.  If someone asks you "What do you like doing," you will probably answer with the gerund, "I like watching."  If they ask "What do you like to do," you will probably answer "I like to watch."

However, if you say to someone "Tell me about your interests," the person is free to answer, and some will give the gerund version and others will give the infinitive version.

My feeling is that infinitives express potential and gerunds express active things.  If you say "I like to watch TV." it means that this is something you like but don't really do it that much.  If you say "I like watching TV." it is probably something you do a lot.  On the flip side, you could also interpret "I like watching TV." as you like the activity but it doesn't mean you do it.  "I like mountain climbing," doesn't necessarily mean that I do it, have done it, or will do it.

What are your thoughts on this matter?


texts: I seem to be confused about the rules for near rhymes. Specifically are 'slate' and 'pursuit' near rhymes? They seem to me to be so (the vowel sound is different) yet all the references I've checked don't crosslink the two.


texts: What is the right way of abbreviating expressions like "A of B"?

texts:
Would it be...

  AOB
  AoB
  AB

or something else?

e.g. "Centre of Gravity" --> [COG/CoG/CG]


texts: I recently came across a US phrase, Indian file.  This is utterly unheard of in the UK, and probably outside North America; at least I’ve certainly never heard of it.  The phrase would be expressed in British English as single file.  Why is it called Indian file in the US?  I’m guessing the phrase has something to do with the prevalence of Amerindians, but I can’t see any obvious etymology.


texts: Is the suffix "-ette" used for referring to a female?

texts:
I recently came across the word scooterette in an Indian newspaper. I wondered if this is an Indian coinage; a quick search on Google showed me it's almost purely Indian. I could not find a reliable dictionary reference, but this article says these scooterettes are scooters manufactured specifically for women.

What is the reason this suffix "-ette" is used to refer to a female? Are there other nouns which become feminine by this addition? Or is this just some neologist's portmanteau of scooter and dudette?


texts: Which flavor of English (British vs. American) first had standard modern spellings?

texts:
Which flavor, British English or American English, first standardised its modern spellings?

I'm mostly interested in the direction of alteration; for example, was the u dropped from colour or was the u added to color? I'm interested in a general answer rather than an answer to this specific example, though.

The history of dictionary releases seems to indicate that British was standardised first:

British, 1604: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Table_Alphabeticall (perhaps too Olde English?)
British, 1755: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Dictionary_of_the_English_Language
American, 1828: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Webster%27s_Dictionary

However, I'm not certain that any of those three dictionaries represents a modern enough standard to be considered the first real standard of English for either dialect.

Clearly both languages have evolved since their initial standardisation, but which set of spellings was standardised first?

Edit: To clarify, I'm interested in the chronology rather than repute or popularity. Which dialect had its modern (by which I mean contemporary, present-day) spellings published or released in a dictionary first?


texts: How does the "reverse syntax" in Middle English work?

texts:
I was reading the Romance of Tristan and I came across the passage:

"Therefore did Tristan claim justice and the right of battle and therefore was he careful to fail in nothing of the homage he owed King Mark, his lord."

I see these kinds of grammar reversals a lot in older English, like:

"Quickly did he go..."
"Smart is he who..."

I'm not sure if those above examples are correct, but how does this kind of grammar work and does it denote something differently than if it was reversed? Also, if possible, does this kind of structure have a name that I can use to further research it (or specific materials to learn Middle English syntax in
 general), since I've been trying in vain so far to look it up.


texts: Is the signature of a letter a subject or an object?

texts:
I want to sign a letter jokingly not by name, but by a personal pronoun. Is the signature a subject or an object? I feel like using object pronoun (me) sounds better, but why? The signature looks more like a subject to me.

Example:

  Best regards,
  I

or

  Best regards,
  me

And for more people signing the letter, following the rules from Which is correct, "you and I" or "you and me"?:

  Looking forward to your answer,
  John and I

or

  Looking forward to your answer,
  John and me

ADDED:

Based on the @wjandrea's comment under Peter Shors's answer, can the ellipsis

  (This is) me (signing that letter)

be used as an explanation why the default pronoun is the objective case?


texts: What one word would describe the following word groupings?

texts:
There is a leader, like Narendra Modi, who is very fond of using things like,

the ‘5 Es’ of Economy, Environment, Energy, Empathy, Equity
the '3 D's' India offers, Democracy, Demography, Demand

I am hunting for a word to describe such word groupings and use it in a sentence like:

  Narendra Modi, famous for his ____ , enthralled the audience at Madison Square with his speech.

Edit: Based on WS2 and Hugh's answers, I believe the best phrase to describe such things would be alliterative mnemonics .


texts:
Take the following sentence:

"He has blue eyes"

Does "blue eyes" act as an object or a complemet?

Would the answer be different in a sentence such as:


texts: "No longer could I wait": Valid construction?

texts:
A lack of capital and experience had always kept me from pursuing this dream, but no longer could I wait.

I'm unsure whether or not the no longer could I wait fragment is correct. I have just written an essay for college application, and I'm hoping that someone may give their thoughts.


texts: Am I using the semi-colon in this paragraph correctly?

texts:
I'm writing a short intro for my portfolio. Am I using the semi-colon in the right place, and does it make sense?

  Hey, I'm Andy. A 25 year old designer and developer; creator of eye
  catching designs and developer of smart web app solutions.


texts:
Can someone kindly explain to me which is correct, and why? I have done some research on this issue and I'm not sure of the name of the construct that I am looking for.

"After washing the dishes, the woman scolds her child for abandoning his homework."

"After having washed the dishes, the woman scolds her child for having abdondoned his homework."

Let's say my intention is that the scolding is happening in the present tense. What is the name of the grammatical issue here? Is "after washing the dishes" ever correct? As in, the word "after" implies that something has already been done. Does the second clause have to agree with the first in this regard?

I'm getting confused.

Apologies if this has been dealt with elsewhere, I am an amateur on this site and couldn't find anything in a preliminary search.


texts: What is the origin of the phrase "join the club/welcome to the club"?

texts:
I recently was having a conversation with an acquaintance in Russian, and she used the phrase "welcome to the club" as it would literally translate into Russian. Confused, I asked, "This is surely an Americanism", as the phrase was precisely the same, translated 100% literally word for word.

She was adamant that the phrase was not only completely normal in Russian, but that it wasn't even taken from the English language!

What research I've performed in Google has yielded nothing definitive beyond confirming the existence of the phrase (I likewise searched for information in Russian, coming to a similar dead end).

Is the origin of this phrase known? Can we at least isolate it to a specific country?

Thank you!


texts: Is there an adjective meaning "having the same name as another work"?

texts:
Is there an adjective to describe a work that has the same name as another work?  The two works in question may or may not be related.

For instance, instead of writing

  The movie The Nutty Judge is based on William Shakespeare's play of the same title.

I would like to write something like:

  The movie The Nutty Judge is based on William Shakespeare's same-titled play.

The adjective "homonymous" is roughly correct but I haven't seen this used in real life.  (I have seen "eponymous" being used erroneously in this context, though.)


texts: I have been looking at IPA recently and I was wondering if there are any sounds that can theoretically be created by humans but do not exist or have not existed in any known languages. Or maybe a sound that is unique to one language or is very rare nonetheless. This has been bugging me for ages now and I will really appreciate any responses on the subject.


texts:
Basically, pirates would use the term À l’abordage! as a battle cry when boarding enemy ships like described in the phrase’s Wiktionary entry.

Is there a English translation for this, or is it an expression that has no direct English equivalent and should be used in its French form?


texts:
"I am hungry to die" doesn't mean that I am dying because of hunger, rather, "I want to die a lot."

How about "I am thirsty to die?" Does this mean "I am dying because of thirst?"

I want to know the real meaning of this expression.


texts: Using the figure of fire in describing your fear of something

texts:
What's the right way of using the figure of fire in describing how you are afraid of something?

  those algebra tests that I was scared of like of fire

  those algebra tests that I was scared of as of fire

  those algebra tests that I was scared of as fire

  those algebra tests that I was scared of like fire


texts:
Morph as a verb is a recent coinage, but as  as Google Books clearly shows, its usage  literally shot up from the start and has increased constantly.

  Morph: as a noun, in biology, 1955; as a verb, in cinematic special effects, c. 1987, short for metamorphosis. (Etymonline)

also, from Vocabulary.com,  morph :

  As a verb, it has only been around since the 1980s, when computers allowed animators to make things change shape in an apparently seamlessly way.

It appears from the above source that the verbal form was coined by a screenwriter or a videogame developer in the ‘80s, which, given the increasing popularity of the term, was probably a very successful one.

I couldn’t find more details about its origin, so can anyone help pin down when and by whom this verbal form first used, given the relative short history of the expression?


texts: "You must come from time" meaning in sci-fi movie "In Time" (2011)

texts:
This is a sci-fi movie, read this part to understand:

  [first lines] Will Salas: [voice over] ... We’re genetically
  engineered to stop ageing at twenty five. The trouble is, we live only
  one more year, unless we can get more time. Time is now the currency.
  We earn it and spend it. The rich can live forever and the rest of us?
  I just wanna wake up with more time on my hand than hours in the day.

Then, quote for my question:

  [at the poker table in a casino]

  Philippe Weis: I don’t believe we’ve had the pleasure of your company
  before, Mr…?

  Will Salas: Salas. Will Salas.

  Philippe Weis: Philippe Weis. You must come from time.

  Will Salas: You could say I’m gambling my inheritance.

  Philippe Weis: You don’t have a guard, Mr. Salas?

( http://www.moviequotesandmore.com/in-time-movie-quotes/ )

What does "You must come from time" mean?


texts:
Are the two sayings proper English?

  "Alls I know"

and

  "All I know"

Alls I know just sounds bad to me, but while people agree, no one can tell me if it is right or wrong.


texts: Is there any difference between Present Perfect and Present Perfect Continuous?

texts:
I have studied "present perfect" and "present perfect continuous" for a week. I know forms, verb and helping verb I should use when I write them.

For me, they have nearly same definition because I can use them interchangeably in Thai language. (My native language)

For example, the sentences

  I have learned English language in the past few weeks.
  I have been learning English language in the past few weeks.

have no difference in meaning to me. They both mean "I began learning the English language in the past and I am still learning it"

Can I use them interchangeably in English? Or is there any difference between them? For example, when should I use present perfect but not present perfect continuous?


texts: Is it OK to use "after a moment," "not long after," and "before long" interchangeably?

texts:
I write stories, and I often find myself writing "after a moment," in too many parts.

  On their table was a smoked salmon, grilled meat,
  a plate of sushi, mussels, some salad, a basket with bread, and two
  bottles of Italian wine. The group seemed to be in some kind of
  celebration.

  After a moment, a girl approached the table, holding a huge birthday cake with twenty candles on it.

So in this case I wanted to change after a moment for not long after. Would the meaning be pretty much the same? How about before long?


texts: Phrase for spending time away from your family or home doing something with friends

texts:
Is there a word or phrase that describes the time you take off from your home or family to do an activity for your own pleasure, but not alone, such as a beer at the pub with old friends, going to the movies with a neighbor?

"Own time" would suggest spending time on your own, which is not exactly what I'm looking for.


texts: I'd say "I get in the plane", but apparently this language tries hard not to make sense.


texts: Is there an AmE/BrE difference whether "by date X" means by the beginning or ending of this date?

texts:
A job application in England wants applications to arrive by the 30th.  I understand this to mean by the end of the 30th (in London time).  The accepted answer to this question appears to indicate the same.  However, it is now clear that the English who posted this meant by the beginning of the 30th, meaning the end of the 29th.  This surprised not only myself, but also a Canadian colleague.   This happened at two independent instances.

Is there a difference between American/Canadian English and British English in what is colloquially meant with by the 30th, by Friday, etc.?

(The related question Does "notified by [date]" include the end date? does not address whether there is an American/British English difference)


texts: Is it common anywhere to say "scat" when one sneezes?

texts:
I use the phrase "SCAT" when I sneeze, and sometimes when someone in my presence sneezes.

I have lived in different parts of the US and don't know where I picked up this expression. Has anyone heard of this practice before, or is it common anywhere?


texts: "Today's assumption" or "todays assumption" — which is valid grammar?

texts:
We (non native English-speakers) are writing a paper and are wondering if the following construct is valid English:

  Yesterday's assumption is no longer valid.

Specifically the apostrophe after yesterday (and likewise in today and tomorrow) brings up some debate.

Can anyone give a clear answer whether this is proper English?


texts: Do I use a semicolon before 'and' in a complex list?

texts:
I am listing things in a sentence which includes commas between the internal parts. Do I finish with an 'and' at the end of it? For example:

  I arrange interviews through phone and film; co-ordinate the editorial
  team’s travel; and I write blog posts, articles,
  and reviews of local London events.

It would be great if I knew the definitive answer, or any tips on how to restructure this.


texts: What is the name for a word that is both singular and plural?

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  Is there a term for words that have identical singular and plural forms?

Oddly enough for a computing tutor, I encounter the need for this term fairly often.

I'm of course referring to words like 'sheep' or 'fish', which can be either singular or plural depending on the context.


texts: Punctuating a vertical list that is introduced by a question

texts:
I have searched online but can't find anything definitive on which of the following is preferable:

  Incorrect. What could you infer from these quotes:

  'most of the dogs jump on the meat'
  'Old Talon stares at his meat'

vs.

  Incorrect. What could you infer from these quotes?

  'most of the dogs jump on the meat'
  'Old Talon stares at his meat'


texts: What's the difference between "another" and "other"?

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  “My another account” vs. “my other account”

Sometime it's vague for me when to use other vs another. For example,

  You need to buy other book
  You need to buy another book.

What's the difference between them, and when to use other or another?


texts: At a casino gambling table, to buy-in means to convert cash into chips, but what about its antonym, what's the word for to convert/exchage playing chips to/for chips that could be exchanged to cash at the cashier? Is it cashout?


texts: Meaning of "Painting the old world red" in Canterville Ghost

texts:
I was reading Wilde's written The Canterville Ghost, when I came across this idiom. This is a little excerpt from the text:

  "My Lord," answered the Minister, "I will take the furniture and the ghost at a valuation. I have come from a modern country, where we have everything that money can buy; and with all our spry young fellows painting the Old World red, and carrying off your best actors and prima-donnas, I reckon that if there were such a thing as a ghost in Europe, we'd have it at home in a very short time in one of our public museums, or on the road as a show."

Any guess on what could be the possible meaning of the idiom painting the old world red?

Thanks in advance!


texts: Is there a term for outdoor adventure activities like camping, hiking, trekking?

texts:
Outdoor adventure activities seems like a mouthful, so I was wondering if there was a more appropriate term for such activities in the language?

Wikipedia suggests 'Outdoor Recreation' but that implies these to be leisure based activities and doesn't account for people like me for whom it is a serious passion or pursuit.

What would be some alternative terms that encompass these activities? One that comes to mind is 'wilderness adventures'.


texts: What does "like being drowned in Skittles" mean?

texts:
From here: http://www.loper-os.org/?p=568

  Using Squeak is “like being drowned in Skittles.” I understand that it is a monumentally great thing if one is able to see past that, but I suspect that most prospective users cannot do so.

I searched for an explanation, but I can't seem to find one. Does it mean that you're getting "too much" good stuff? So much that it's actually a disadvantage?


texts: Ambiguity from the placement of a prepositional phrase

texts:
Consider:

  The executive director presented to the board her final recommendations on fundraising and the dissemination of those funds.

This does not read well and moving to the board would be a natural thing to do,

  The executive director presented her final recommendations on fundraising to the board.

if it wasn't for the last part:

  The executive director presented her final recommendations on fundraising and the dissemination of those funds to the board.

This, I presume, would introduce an ambiguity (are the funds disseminated to the board?)

Is there a solution?

Context (near "Final Gardner recommendations published").


texts:
In an exam paper, there was a picture of an air stewardess in the aeroplane serving passengers. One of my pupils wrote the following:

  The air stewardess works on an aeroplane.

Shouldn't it be the air stewardess works in an aeroplane?


texts: Comma in "Don't you wish your girlfriend was grammatically correct like me?"

texts:
I saw this:
"Don't you wish your girlfriend was grammatically correct like me?"

I'm wondering should it be:
"Don't you wish your girlfriend was grammatically correct, like me?"


texts: Word/phrase/idiom for something which is no longer under technical development

texts:
I am looking for a word which describes 'technically complete' in a single word.

An example usage of such a word in a phrase is: 'This product is now X but not yet commercialized'


texts: Is there a name in English language for the feeling of being happy something bad happened to someone else rather than you?

texts:
Is there a word in English language to express the feeling of being happy that something bad happened to someone else rather than you?

I can maybe describe it best as the opposite of survivor's guilt, but I am really struggling to find the right term...

EDIT: There was a suggestion that my question is a duplicate of this one.
However, they are different in the way that in my question there is no sadistic component to it, or gloating at the misfortune of others. The focus of my question lies in the fact that you feel happy bad thing  happened to the other person and not you. That's why I described it as the opposite of survivor's guilt.


texts: What is the meaning of “work behinds off”?

texts:
The following sentence is an excerpt from a video uploaded by the magazine TIME on YouTube, whose title is “TIME Person Of The Year: Joe Biden And Kamala Harris.” The sentence mentioned below focuses on problems about black people.

Part of what I think settles some of these question is to work your behinds off for a more just America.

I do not know the meaning of the phrasal verb “work behinds off”. I had never seen the phrase before and tried to seek any information about it on the Internet, but I couldn’t.
Would you mind telling me the meaning of the phrase?


texts:
I want to know about the grammar of omitting pronouns. I've searched for it some times but I didn't find a proper answer.

Actually I want to write in my profile about my education, I want to write "I major in Physics and minor in Biology" but I don't want to use the pronoun "I". Is it grammatically correct to just write "Major in Physics, Minor in Biology"? and whether it is not, how should I express it?


texts: Word that describes one thing is because of the other thing and vice-versa

texts:
There is a word that describes one thing is because of the other thing and vice-versa ie. the ocean is blue because the sky is blue, the sky is blue because the ocean is blue. Can anyone tell me what it is?

The word -------- means: the sky is blue because the ocean is blue, the ocean is blue because the sky is blue.


texts: What is the polite way to ask a client what he wants?

texts:
If I answer a phone call from an english speaking client of my company, what is the polite way to ask why he is calling/what he wants? It seems impolite to me to just ask "what do you want?". Is there a better phrase for this?

edit, some additional context: When I ask "How can I help you?" The client sometimes asks to be connected to my manager, but my manager wants me to tell him what a client wants, before I connect the client to him. I am searching for phrases to ask for that.


texts: Should 'AA Battery' be written with 'an' or 'a'?

texts: As we say "I need a double A battery" and write the battery as 'AA Battery', should we use 'a AA battery' or 'an AA battery' when writing about this object? Thought it was interesting and would like people's opinions on it :)


texts: Looking for a better word in the sentence

texts:
"We encourage our employees to keep flexible hours and don't require them to track their time."

I think that the word 'require' is misplaced here.
It can probably be replaced by 'ask'.

Can I add any better word here?


texts: What is correct between the two sentences?

texts:
Consider these two versions:

You can live peacefully without your wants, but your life can be miserable with all your wants within your reach.

You can live peacefully without your wants, but your life can be miserable with all your wants are within your reach.

I am confused whether to include the linking verb are.


texts: A word meaning the general belief of a specific time period

texts:
I remember learning this in art history class but for the life of me I can't remember. The word is synonymous with common sense. Like the belief or thought was so widely believed that it was believed to be a given fact but only in that time period.
For example, it was once common sense for people to have slaves.
My searches in the thesaurus return results with words meaning "sound judgement" or of that nature which is what I'm not looking for. Im looking for a word that's more objective, almost clinical?


texts: ‘Dembele Cannot Have Said Much To The Referee’ - grammatically correct?

texts:
The title is from an article in BeSoccer.com:

Dembele cannot have said much to the referee
"I don't know what Dembele may have said to the referee but I don't think it's a long sentence because it's hard to hear him speak Spanish."

Is the sentence in the title correct? If yes, what would be the tense of the sentence?
What would be the difference between that sentence and this one:
“Dembele could not say much to the referee”?


texts: Usage of " 's " in is Franco a friend of Jamie's?

texts:
What is the difference between "is Franco a friend of Jamie's?" and "is Franco a friend of Jamie?"?
Are both correct?
What is more appropriate?


texts:
A: DV8’s real name is Steven Pyles. Unfortunate name.

I heard this line from CSI episode.
I thought Steven is very common name.
So, is Pyles strange first name in the US?
Or, is "Steven Pyles" unusual combination?

(I searched this name on Google and there is one chief names Steven Pyles though.)


texts:
I am writing a text in which I frequently refer to states and governments as actors. (They negotiate, decide, have preferences etc.). This make me wonder about the correct use of relative pronouns.

From what I've learned (I'm not a native speaker), "who" is reserved for persons and "which" for things. But does the former only include natural persons or also "person-like things", that is collective actors such as states and firms?

Here is an example:

  The added leeway for national
  regulation improved the bargaining power of some states, [who|which]
  could now walk away from the bargaining table.


texts: Origin of "sitting there like Lord Fermoy"

texts: What is the origin of sitting there like Lord Fermoy? This had been a stock phrase in our family.


texts: Pronunciation of letter y: asylum vs syrup

texts:
I want someone to clarify if there is a rule about how to pronounce the letter Y

I've read in another stackexchange post that when it is in a Greek-origin word it is pronounced as uh e.g. analysis, paralysis.

However in another Greek-origin word, asylum, it is pronounced as i while the in the latin word syrup it is pronounced as /i/.


texts: Some help with prepositions in my Thesis Title

texts:
I'm not quite sure if this is the correct StackExchange. I'm working on the title for my Master-Thesis (CS) and the prepostions look a little bit weird to me.
My title would be:

New approaches for/to Min-Error Triangulations for Sea Surface Reconstruction

For me the "to" would feel strange, but if it should be "for", I would like to circumvent the second "for". My idea for that would be

New approaches for Min-Error Triangulations applied to Sea Surface Reconstruction

but that also sounds off to me.
Any help  would be appreciated


texts:
I wonder if I can use however like in this sentence:

  The lecture however does cover a lot of information, still doesn't
  explain the main subject.

Sounds a bit awkward to me, but it still seems that I've met something like this somewhere. What do you think?


texts: Difference between "I am really sorry" and "I really am sorry"

texts:
I know they are slightly different, but I can't tell how.

I've read about the usage of the word "really" in a negative sentence. But it didn't tell me about how the position of the word "really" can affect the meaning in a positive sentence.

I've heard sentences I'm confused about:

I am really sorry
I really am sorry

And these are the ones I've made up myself (I don't know if this kind of sentence exists):

She can be really persuasive
She really can be persuasive

How do I tell them apart (the grammatical structure)? Are they different in meaning too? How?


texts: Are there any anonymous adjectives with "kaleidoscopic"

texts:
I find myself enchanted by the term "kaleidoscopic". The word intrigues me with its unexplained beauty.

I've therefore begun to look for some other words that evoke the same sense of "unexplained beauty". "Phantasmagoric" is a word I found that's fairly analogous in some respect, though as yet I have no clue how it is used.

Consider:
1. Everything is "kaleidoscopic" through the lens of a kaleidoscope.
2. Gaze into and operate a kaleidoscope; you can reinvent a "kaleidoscopic" world with your bare hands.

However, the given sentences may be wrong (idiomatically or grammatically). Feel free to rephrase them if you think they wrong. Also I'd like to know what are your concepts of the word "kaleidoscopic", figuratively.


texts:
Did I see "a opossum" or "an opossum"?  It's pronounced "possum" (at least insofar as my experience) but looks really awkward written "a opossum".

That is all.


texts:
I have recently stumbled upon the following sentences:

  Randomly found 115 years worth of change. Almost put it in the meter.

As seen here

Does it mean he found an old coin or a lot of them?

Can ... years worth of... describe age of an item?


texts:
What does "paint-by-numbers" in

"Because this drama is paint-by-numbers ..."

mean?

Context: https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2016/oct/19/chance-review-hugh-laurie-hulu ( 2nd paragraph )


texts:
I wonder which is correct:
The added value obtained per ha is increased by 2.7 times with irrigation
or
The added value obtained per ha is increased 2.7 times with irrigation


texts:
When I was learning English back in school (in the nineties), there were pupils and teachers. Now there seem to be students and professors, where a "professor" can be anyone who happens to teach people in a school environment.

Maybe this strikes me as odd because of the fact that both "Student" and "Professor" are used in German, too. However, "Student" refers to someone at studying at a university, and "Professor" strictly is reserved for someone who has earned a habilitation or has been appointed to a professorship (possibly honoris causa).

Has that strict use ever been the prevalent case with English?
Is it the difference between AE and BE usage?
Or is it just to euphemism-creep?


texts: What single, unambiguous word(s) could I use to distinguish a user-instance of a survey from the reference to the survey itself?

texts:
For reference, I have first checked other questions/answers including: Questionee? Inquiree? Interrogatee? (and it's listed "possible duplicates") but those are in reference to the user rather than the survey associated to the user.

Breaking it down, a survey by itself is just a template used for retrieving individual responses. Once the survey has been copied and served individually, it has become an instance of that survey. "Response" and "instance" are too ambiguous for referring to an individual survey specifically. "Surveyee", "inquiree", "interrogatee" and "questionee" are more specific but they refer to the person/user/subject who started/completed any number of surveys and not their unique set of answers for one in particular. If I have a pile of unassigned surveys and a pile of assigned surveys, I would refer to a random selection from each pile as "a survey" and "this person's survey" respectfully. It is the latter I wish to identify as a single, unambiguous noun.

All I have been satisfied using thus far in my (web) project is 'survey-instance' (hyphenated for URL compatibility) but I cannot shake the thought there is a better, single-word descriptor.


texts: Use of plurals for singular organisations

texts:
In spoken and written British English (perhaps more commonly the former), people tend to use plurals for singular organisations. For instance, "Liverpool are on top of the table", or "The Treasury are aware of the severity of the economic crisis".

Is this correct English? Or merely colloquial and local to the UK and Ireland?


texts: What is simple word for "process instance"?

texts:
In BPM (business process management) "process" means a definition of process, a model and a specific process (created using that definition) is called "process instance".
Eg. "Sending Invoice to Customer" is a process, "Sending Feb 2017 invoice to ACME Inc." is a process instance.

What could be better and simpler terms, so that people non experienced with BPM can quickly understand that one is basically "used as a template" to create another?


texts: What do you call a collection of coordinated servers?

texts:
A "network" is any collection of server machines that are physically connected and/or can see each other.

Now consider some subset of those servers that are configured to coordinate with each other. One might be an authentication server, another a database server, and two are application servers that rely on the first two for SSO, application data and maybe shared inter-application data.

To the end-user there is one "thing" offering multiple services. What single word or phrase is the name of this thing?

For example, "The [coordinated subnet] provides the chat service."


texts: What's the origin of the idiom "to cut your teeth on something"?

texts: I understand that it means to acquire a new skill, but what does it refer to? It makes me cringe every time I read it!


texts:
Is there an elegant one-word english term for datums made of a combination of (meeting) time (span or point) and place?

Naturally you could say "time and place of ...", but when you speek of a meeting, you normally want to refer to them both at a time.


texts: What is the definition and origin of "imba"?

texts:
I often hear the phrase, "That is imba" in the video gaming community. It seems to refer to something powerful or unskillful:

Hunters are so imba.
Grenade launchers are imba!

But I have also noticed that it is often used tongue-in-cheek or sarcastically to mock people complaining about something being altered in the game:

"Waa... they nerfed my class! Now that other class is imba!" QQ more, please.

What does "imba" mean and where did the term come from? Is it used outside of gaming? My first encounters with it related to Starcraft which has a well known Korean professional gaming league. Is "imba" a loan?


texts: Under scrutiny in this sentence, is it correct?

texts:
Original text:

Some people think governments should take measures regarding the healthy lifestyle of individuals. Other think it must be managed by individuals.

Paraphrasing:

Although it's sometimes thought that the healthy lifestyle of each person ought to under scrutiny by governments, other people believe that it's compulsory to manage on their own.

Question:

Should I use under scrutiny to replace measures? I looked up to synonyms but I could not find a better one to describe it better.

Also, is it scrutiny a negative word to use?

Thanks in advance!


texts: Is there a word for when you hear ordinary sounds as being a part of or having the "feel" of music you were listening to?

texts:
I'm trying to find the word for when solitary notes or ordinary sounds invoke the "feel" of some music you were listening to after the music has ended. For instance, if you hear someone play an E♭ by itself on a piano it doesn't contain any particular "feel" (eg. it may not make you sad, or happy, or invoke any particular emotion). However, if you listen to an entire song in the key of E♭, then stop, then play a solo E♭ it may sound as if the note has taken on the "mood" of the song (eg. it might sound sad if you had just been listening to a sad song and E♭ was in the key that the song was in).

More importantly, I'm looking for the word (it might be the same) for when this particular form of bias effects "normal" sounds. eg. you play a song in the key of E♭, and then pick up a glass of water and hear ice clinking, if the note of the ice happens to be in the same key as the song you were playing the ice may then "sound" like the song and invoke the same feeling.

I've heard several people talk about percieving things this way, but I've never known anyone to have a word for it.


texts: "replaced with an empty string" vs "replaced with the empty string" - which is correct?

texts:
I would think that the latter is correct because there can be only one empty string, that is "", or equivalent ''. Yet the former reads somewhat more natural to me.
I came to think about articles with respect to empty string when I was writing the following snippet of python code:

internal_linkMarkupStart = "[[" # to be replaced with @
internal_linkMarkupEnd = "]]" # to be replaced with an empty string

Whereas the results of Ngrams point to an empty string being the correct one, I'm hesitant to regard them as conclusive due to their scarcity (with the empty string yielded only one result). I find analysing posts on Stackoverflow of not much use, as many users with high reputation earned it primarily not through their command of English.


texts: Shift vs Shuffle usage for marking a changement in position

texts:
I'm not a native English speaker, and I have a big doubt with the usage in everyday language when I'm changing something's position.

I was used to know that "shuffle" means put in a randorm order, while "shift" was used to signify a known change, for example:
"I'm shuffling the deck of card"
"I'll shift Alexandre's seat from table 31 to table 7"

However, I met someone from Australia which said that "shift" was almost never used in these cases in English language. Is that a specificity of this country, or a global "common rule"?


texts:
I heard this in this movie:

  I lost my chems.

What does it mean?

Tried via Google. But, found nothing about it.


texts:
While reading Scott Aaronson's Quantum Computing Since Democritus, I came across this passage:

  But what if you want to apply quantum mechanics to the whole
  universe, including yourself? The answer, in the epistemic-type interpretations, is simply that you don’t ask that sort of question! Incidentally, that was Bohr’s all-time favorite philosophical move, his WWF
  piledriver: “You’re not allowed to ask such a question!”

While I can mostly infer what is meant here from context, to what does 'WWF piledriver' refer in this paragraph?

(Searching the web suggests something wrestling-related, but very little other than that, and there seems to be no pro-wrestling SE.)


texts: When using "remember" in the middle of sentence

texts:
I've searched for situations similar to mine but so far haven't found anything adequate. I'm editing a manuscript right now that has the sentence: I’m in college remember and I need this job at the moment.

I've tried using dashes before and after the word remember. I've tried commas. I've tried breaking it up into two different sentences. I'm thinking about a semicolon after remember and deleting the word "and". But I can't figure out which one looks or sounds best and/or is grammatically/technically correct.

Thoughts?


texts: Adjective meaning "dependent on warfare or plunder"

texts:
I'm struggling to remember a word I've seen only once before that characterizes something (such as an economy) as being dependent upon or driven by resources gained through conquest.

The context in which I noticed it said something along the lines of "The Roman empire was doomed to collapse, in part, because of its ___ economy".


texts: New Yorker's Possessive of Title in Quote Marks

texts:
The New Yorker does possessive of titles in quotes like this (even if it's a movie title, they use quotes):

“Saturday Night Live” ’s cast

“Jeopardy!” ’s host Alex Trebek

“What’s Going On?” ’s lyrics

They use a space after the ending quote mark and then follow it with an apostrophe plus "s," as shown in the three examples above.

My question is, if we have a title that already ends in "s" inside the quotes, would we still, per New Yorker style, add the apostrophe plus "s" after "The Sopranos" below (as shown)?

“The Sopranos” ’s David Chase...


texts:
I get a bit confused about the meaning of the preposition by in 'by the other side' in the context below. Could you help to explain it for me in detail?

The Rat got hold of an oar and shoved it under the Mole's arm;then he did the same by the other side of him and, hauled him out...
— The Wind in the Willows, Kenneth Grahame (1859–1932), pub 1908

In addition, I have searched the meaning of by in Longman's dictionary and it comes out with many different meaning. My problem is I am not sure which meaning it should be in the situation of my case.


texts: Is Usonian(n) obsolete outside of Wright architecture?

texts:
Lexico's definition of Usonian presents it as a perfectly normal synonym for American:

Relating to the United States.
‘the Usonian city’
‘Only in freedom can we build the Usonian city.’
A native or inhabitant of the United States.
‘we love life, we Usonians’
‘She is one of the second generation Usonians who moved back with her own family eight years ago.’
‘Forty per cent of Usonians speak Spanish as a native language, not to mention the many who speak it as a second language.’

Wiktionary defines Usonian similarly to Lexico, with no indication that the sense of "American" is obsolete, or even particularly formal or literary.
This seemed suspicious, as the first and only time I had heard the term "Usonia" was in association with the idealistic vision of Frank Lloyd Wright. Indeed, when I googled "usonia OR usonian -wright", basically all the results were some companies named Usonia or related to housing. The one exception I found was a single Reddit post:

I’m trying to find a video that I watched a while ago that was about the differences in British and Usonian English, I believe that the speaker was never shown and had a British accent. At one point he talks about biscuits, scones, and cookies where he remarked that British people exclaim "oh my god, biscuits and gravy‽".

(The use of the interrobang suggests the author is more willing to dabble in quirky language than most people.)
If it is obsolete, when did it become obsolete? Was there ever a time it was used as an ordinary, neutral term for American?


texts: Pawn and peon ... do they have the same origin and original meaning?

texts:
This is something I've been wondering a while and it may be owed to the fact that on occasion when you see a movie or documentary with subtitles turned on, the spoken word that I would recognize as "pawn" is being spelled "peon" in the subtitles.

Now do a search for pawn peon on this site. Turns out that even on this site someone was using the two words seemingly in an interchangeable fashion.

Wiktionary gives two explanations for the meaning of pawn (quote):

(chess) The most common chess piece, or a similar piece in a similar game. In chess each side has eight; moves are only forward, and attacks are only forward diagonally or en passant.
(colloquial) Someone who is being manipulated or used to some end, usually not the end that individual would prefer.

Though a pawn of the gods, her departure is the precipitating cause of the Trojan War.

There is no mention of peon on that page, yet the three explanations for the meaning of peon given on its page - also in the sense pawn is used in chess - are relatively close. But whereas pawn is traced back to French, peon is traced back to Spanish according to those web pages. Both being Romance languages, this does of course not rule out a common origin.

So what I am wondering is: is it mere misunderstanding and/or error when someone spells the spoken word "pawn" as "peon" or are the words sharing the same origin and original meaning?


texts: Hope is good to .. "chase swallows with the salt"

texts:
From Virginibus Puerisque by Stevenson:

  Hope is the boy, a blind, headlong, pleasant fellow, good to chase
  swallows with the salt; Faith is the grave, experienced, yet smiling
  man.

I did some googling, but nothing meaningful seems to come up. I have two vague guesses about either birds being chased and caught somehow using salt, very strange, or some alcoholic drinks being supplemented with salt, but how might that relate to Hope is beyond my grasp.

P.S. Could it mean to "chase things in life that have flavour (salt) in them" ? To chase delights, in other words.


texts: Disambiguation of "fluff" vs. chiefly AmEng "lint" vs. chiefly BrEng "bobbles" vs. "pills" for French "peluches"

texts:
Robert & Collins French and English Dictionary, Ed. 1985 gives:

  lint: (US: fluff) peluches nfpl

  peluche (=bouloche): bit of fluff; fluff Collins French-English Dictionary

Now, these are the definitions of lint, fluff, bobbles, and peluches sourced from WordReference English French - French English Dictionary:

  lint:

  (fabric fibres) (on a garment sur un vêtement)   peluches nfpl : John picked some lint out of his pocket and threw it away. WordReference

  fluff:

  (dustball, lint) (esp. on a garment sur un vêtement surtout) peluches nfpl

  (on the floor par terre)  mouton, mouton de poussière nm

  (on the floor par terre)  chaton nm

  Karen swept some fluff out from under the sofa.

  ⓘ Le pull que j'ai acheté la semaine dernière commence déjà à faire des peluches (The sweater that I bought last week is already pilling) WordReference

  bobble:

  n. UK, informal (fabric: pill) (tissu) peluche nf; (familier) bouloche nf

  bobble vi UK, informal (fabric: pill) (tissu) pelucher⇒ vi; boulocher⇒ vi; faire des peluches loc v

  My brand new jumper (BrEng)/sweater is already bobbling (BrEng)/pilling after just one wash.

  Mon pull tout neuf est déjà en train de pelucher après un seul lavage.

  peluche:

  nf (morceau de fibre d'un vêtement) bobble n

  Après plusieurs passages à la machine, mon pull avait plein de peluches.

  After several washes, my jumper (BrEng)/sweater was covered in bobbles (BrEng)/pills. WordReference

And so, how do the terms lint (Chiefly AmEng), fluff, and pills/bobbles (BrEng) for French peluches differ from each other?


texts: Why do people omit the definite article?

texts:
I'm used to always hearing or seeing a definite article before certain nouns.  Yet on certain occasions the article is totally omitted, and it bothers me.  I'm wondering what the justification for omitting the article is, especially when the definite article would seem to be required, or if it is just bad English either on the part of the individual in question or more likely by tradition.

The most frequent place I hear this is at the doctor or dentist's office. In every one I have ever visited, the receptionist or assistant always says things like "Doctor will see you shortly" instead of "The doctor will see you shortly."

The wikipedia article linked above says this: "A definite article indicates that its noun is a particular one (or ones) identifiable to the listener".  In the case of a clinical setting, I know who the doctor is, especially if this is not my first visit.  The people in the office know the doctor even better than I, so it would seem to be inappropriate to omit the article. Even the indefinite article would be incorrect. It further says, under "Zero article":  "In languages having a definite article, the lack of an article specifically indicates that the noun is indefinite."  Since the noun is not indefinite, why are they omitting the article?

Another place I see the article omitted is with the word "bar".  Bartenders apparently don't say "I tend the bar" they say "I tend bar".  Unless a bartender works in multiple bars, it would seem like an article would be required.  Furthermore, "the bar" can mean any bar a person goes to, so even in a case like this question, it seems like the word "the" should be in the sentence.  The only thing I can think of in this case is maybe the speaker doesn't want to confuse the listener into thinking they work in the legal field.

Is this just a bad habit, a historical corruption or tradition, or is there really a valid reason (or perhaps more than one) for these omissions?


texts: Is it mandatory to use a comma before a coordinating conjunction uniting the two independent clauses in a compound sentence?

texts:
My friend and I had an argument about whether this sentence required a comma:

  I understand where you're coming from but I disagree.

My friend insisted that there should be a comma before "but":

  I understand where you're coming from, but I disagree.

From my point of view, while grammatically correct, the addition of a comma is not necessary.

When I looked online for sources to answer our disagreement, I found no authoritative sources and many sources were contradicting one another. Some argued, like I believe, that it's not necessary because the addition of comma is of no value in that context (i.e. the addition of comma doesn't make the sentence easier to read) but others said it was mandatory.

So, which is it? Is a comma necessary before a conjunction?


texts:
I was wondering whether 'updation' is correct English or not.

Sample sentence: I was involved in the updation of the website.


texts: "To be a part of something bigger than oneself" word ideas

texts:
I'm searching for a word that sums up the feeling of being a small part of a larger/cosmic interconnectedness. Not in a way that diminishes the importance of the individual, but rather one that highlights the beauty of global community.

Any and all suggestions (even if they don't align perfectly with my definition) are greatly appreciated!

This is for a list of possible name I'm compiling for a new charitable foundation.


texts:
Can one use the word intuition for the following scenario:-

  Tester: (Checks output file) I think A->1 (A is being mapped to 1), because I am seeing a pattern in the input and output files that was shared by the client.

  Developer: But client hasn't pointed that out(to make that changes), you seem to be right though. It's still better to ask the client than making changes
         going by your 'intuition'.

Is developer right here using the word, 'intuition'. I googled the meaning and it said

It is based without a consious reasoning

But one can clearly see Tester is making a consious reasoning.

So if intuition is the not the suitable word, do you have something else to suggest? If not please tell how it is right.


texts: What is the difference between "anticipate" and "expect"?

texts:
My understanding is the following:

  I anticipate everyone will come here by 10.

= "I hope it's gonna happen, but I'm not so sure about the result".

  I expect everyone will come here by 10.

= "I do believe it's gonna happen, because I've made sure with everyone ahead. Just like it's the time we will rally up here for sure."

Is this distinction correct?


texts: how to pronounce Xiphoidalgia in English

texts:
how to pronounce XIPHOIDALGIA in the English language due to a
damaged Xiphoid Process in the human body


texts:
There's this expression shown in Oxford:

have — going for one
Used to indicate how much someone has in their favour or to their advantage.
Why did she do it? She had so much going for her

In this expression, the pronoun coming after for always refers to the subject.
In the following 11 examples of the Oxford Dictionary, there's no example of a reflexive pronoun after for. Plus, the title of the expression has one instead of oneself.
So, I take it that you cannot have a reflexive pronoun come after for.
But then, there are numerous counterexamples of a reflexive pronoun coming after for in news articles and books:

...she was using blackorwhite thinking when she told herself that she had nothing going for herself... (book 1)
I'm not making any excuses for her but for a woman with so much going for herself Trevonne has low self esteem. (book 2)
One thing she had going for herself though was drive. (book 3)
Plus she had a lot going for herself. She was intelligent, funny, caring, ... (book 4)
Tonya makes it clear that skating was the only thing Harding had going for herself. (news article 1)
Even her attempt to have something going for herself outside the house, some kind of passion and hobby, got painted as tone deaf and self-indulgent... (news article 2)

So I wonder whether a reflexive pronoun in this expression is admissible.


texts:
I am seeking a feminine equivalent to mate. Lets say I am walking in a hallway and bump into a male college; I would say something along the lines of

  Sorry, mate/lad/pal.

However when I bump into a female, I just say "Sorry" which I feel is a bit lacking.

Is there a feminine equivalent to mate?


texts: What do you call a person who loves to sit in front of the computer?

texts:
Be it surfing the net, doing work, playing games, what do you call such person who loves to stick in front of the computer?

I know of some word like netizen and cybernaut but mostly they are referring to someone who is Internet-obsessed.


texts: Word Or Expression For "This is background information you should know first"

texts:
I'm trying to write something at work that's broken into sections. One sub-section is just about background information that aids in understanding the subsequent sections to follow. I could label it "Background Information", but I was wondering if there's a better word or expression?

I've had "precursor" and "preamble" suggested to me, but I'm not sure those convey the sense of being about information useful to understanding what comes next. "Synopsis" was also suggested to me, but this too doesn't seem to fit.


texts: Word for "good person who does something bad for the good of the people"?

texts:
Would there be a specific word or phrase that basically means a good person that does something bad for the good of the people?

I don't really know if that makes sense to anyone but me, but I would definitely appreciate some help!


texts: What does the preposition "on" mean in these sentences

texts:
"You got me on that one"

"He blindsided me on that one"

"You can correct me on that one"

"Trust me on that one"

"Choke me on that one"

In these sentences, what on earth does the "on" mean? I mean, with what intention do native speakers use "on" in those situations. I've already look up the preposition "on" on several dictionaries but couldn't find any usage that I think fits into one of those.


texts:
Imagine my house is on the left side of the road, and if there is a bus halt on the left side of the road and a vegetable stall on the right side of the road, when I talk about the bus halt, should I use "in front of" or "opposite?"

What I feel is that I should use in front of since opposite can be definitely used for the vegetable stall since the vegetable stall is facing my house.


texts: Word for something sad and funny at the same time

texts:
What's a word for conflicting emotions that are felt at the same time? For example, loneliness, sadness, happiness, being content but also feeling as if something isn't right?

To sum up: What's a word for something that is sad and funny at the same time?


texts: Word for people formally flanking a path

texts:
What is the word for the formation of people flanking a path as part of a formal occasion?  It is usually full of military men in formal uniform.  I believe it happens after some ceremonies where men in uniform hold out weapons above the heads of people walking through.
e.g. "The procession moved quickly down the middle of the X."


texts: What is the correct way to ask 'Do you know what I mean?' after you attempt to explain a thought?

texts:
I have recently started graduate school and a fellow student asks 'Do you know what I mean?' after nearly every statement they make.

I find it excruciatingly annoying, but I soon realized that I do the same thing by asking 'Does that make sense?' or something similar (though not nearly as frequently).

I now realize I might sound annoying to others if not condescending.  I am looking for a correct and polite way to ask someone if they understood what I said and if I was clear in articulating.  Does that make sense (joke)?

Really, I am looking for a way to give the person I am communicating with an easy and comfortable avenue to say 'You are not making sense' or 'I don't understand what you are saying' without giving the impression of 'I said it, is your puny mind capable of understanding what I said?'.


texts:
I am writing up a document for an art exhibit and have found myself a bit confused.

The piece in question is a lidded jar with a stand and handle. The sentence in question is as follows:

  Worthy of particular attention are the lidded jars with stand and handle pictured here.

Each jar has one stand and one handle. Is it proper to say "lidded jars with stand and handle," or does this seem to imply an amorphous collection of jars that share a stand and handle? I hesitate to say "lidded jars with stands and handles," as this would imply that multiple stands and handles are attached to each jar.


texts: In general, EFL students are taught the two main ways of pronouncing the determiner "either" are the British [ˈaɪðə] and the American [ˈiːðər] varieties. However, I've repeatedly heard from specific North American individuals (face-to-face and on TV) another pronunciation: [ˈaɪðər]. My specific question here is: does that phenomenon take place because of some dialectical/idiolectical/sociolectical background? Thanks!