texts: Recede or Withdraw, which word better describe the act of physically moving away

texts:
I cannot decide which word better describe this situation: Say there is a surface and users approache it with their finger, touche it, and then recede/withdraw.

Clearly I'm interested in the physical aspect and I want it to contrast the word "approach". Dictionary definitions say both are fine, however, I got some strong feedback for and against either words from multiple readers.

For the sake of completeness, I am writing a formal text.


texts: Analysis of the Phrase "if you have questions, then I'll be available after class

texts:
I am looking for an analysis or explanation of the phrase "if you have questions, then I'll be available after class." Although this is structured like a conditional, it's not actually a semantically reasonable conditional statement. Instead of using the first clause to limit the scope of the truth of the second clause, the speaker is using the first clause to address the second clause to a subset of the audience. I've come across people using phrases structured like this frequently in casual conversation in the United States.

This doesn't seem to work with any of the definitions of "if" or "if... then... " found in OED Online, dictionary.com, or Collins.


texts: How did French “cacher” divide into English “cache” and “cachet”?

texts:
I encountered Merriam-Webster's article on cache vs cachet (while researching another word).
I understand it and other websites that broach the confusion caused by these two nouns,
but none explain the process behind the dichotomy: How did the French verb « cacher » bifurcate into these two different nouns with different meanings?

Footnote: The French verb « cacher » (in modern 2015 French) appears to match the definitions of only cache. Etymonline on cachet  cites the Old French dialectal cacher. Does this help?


texts:
Recently I came across a phrase that sounds wrong to me as a native speaker (New Zealand English), but I can't find a rule that explains whether this is correct or not.

  "The submitted build was passed."

The context of this statement is in submitting code to a build server, which runs tests on the code and the outcome is a pass or a fail.

I naturally want to correct it to "the submitted build passed", or "the submitted build has passed".

I know that "he was passed by another pedestrian" is correct, but I don't understand what about the above sentence makes me think it is incorrect.

Is this correct English? Which rule explains why it is correct or incorrect?


texts: How does a participial phrase modify a noun?

texts:
I know that participial phrases function as adjectives, but I was wondering how exactly they modify the noun.

Adjectives can modify nouns in three ways

(1) What kind
(2) Which one
(3) How many

In this sentence:

  Walking on the beach, Delores dodged jellyfish that had washed ashore

The participial phrase "walking on the beach" modifies the noun Dolores. But I'm trying to understand how exactly it modifies the noun. In my mind this phrase explains what Dolores was doing, but that doesn't fall into the framework of "what kind", "which one", or "how many".

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks


texts:
When several people work together, we call them a team.

  When companies work together, we call them a ____?

They are not a group, as that signifies a permanent relationship. What is a temporary "team" of companies called that only work together on one project? I think there is a term, but cannot remember it.


texts:
I'm aware No is what is called a "sentence word". Does that mean that on its own, it is a "complete sentence"?

Please state the reason for your answer, i.e. do not simply answer "Yes" or "No"


texts: Validity of "a million people had evacuated"

texts:
I find something wrong with the grammar below from a BBC report.

  Around a million people had evacuated from vulnerable areas in the south, though many are now heading home.

Should it not be a million people were evacuated?
How about

  Computers will ship out tomorrow.
  The ship will launch tomorrow?

Can inanimate things do things?


texts: What does 'my behavior went skyrocket' mean here?

texts:
I told a guy about how my relationship with my parents improved after I apologized for my behavior and my actions. He replied, "I also experienced something like this. My behavior and attitude towards my parents went skyrocket last month."

What does that reply mean?

Thank you.


texts: Why are place names in some old books a capital letter followed by dashes, and what is this phenomenon called?

texts:
This is something very odd I have noticed in some older books, most recently in "Crime and Punishment" by Dostoyevsky.  Place names, when not specifically essential or well-known, are made up of one letter followed by a line of underscores (i.e. "X_____").  I think I recall reading something similar in another older work, possibly by Jane Austin?

Apologies if this is a duplicate; I've searched quite extensively and can't seem to figure it out.  I don't know a name for this, so can't search easily for it.


texts:
I live in the midwest, grew up in Chicago. Here, altho there is usually a clear distinction between au like in 'auditorium' and o like in 'on', the 2 are often used interchangeably in ordinary conversation, mostly tending to o in place of au. This seems to be true in the national media also.

Some people actual pronounce all such words with a vowel that's between those 2, and if you listen carefully, most people also use this middle ground sound in most of the words with either.

I paid particular attention to this during the 90's while refining Nooalf. It seemed to hold true thru the aughts, but since I haven't been paying such close attention till now, I am not sure if it's actually spreading to other dialectical regions or if my very limited samples are evidence of a general trend.

If you want to look into this, pay particular attention to people saying 'dawn' and 'Don'.  I often watch the ABC insomniac news which is from New York.


texts: What would you call someone who enters old places, like ruins and sells the stuff he finds?

texts: What would you call someone who enters old places, like ruins, and sells the stuff he finds? I'm making a game and don't know the name for the profession.


texts: When is the "Short A" sound actually spelled with an AE?

texts:
I was reading a book on English spelling (Dictionary of the British English Spelling System, by Greg Brooks) and it mentioned that the Short A sound (æ) can be spelled using the following graphemes:

a, as in cat
i, as in timbre
ai, as in plaid
al, as in salmon
ei, as in reveille (only in British English)

It also mentions in a table that the Short A sound can be spelled with the letters ae.  But I didn't see any examples in the book.
Does anyone know of any words that have the letters "ae" used to make the Short A sound (æ)?  A single example would be really helpful - and an exhaustive list would be even better.


texts:
The extract below is an snippet of an audio script from a coursebook called Market Leader Intermediate. What I have problem with is the "have to" in continuous tense.
Why is it in that form? What is the the meaning of it?

"Um, but obviously it's high-speed Internet, it's television on demand, it's, urn, lower-cost telephone calls from the rooms, because obviously people now travel with BlackBerry and with mobile phones, so they're not actually having to use hotel telephone services - um, and these are the ways forward for hotels."


texts:
In rock-climbing, we describe an incline as "steep" (which is anything from 90 degrees to overhanging) but we don't have a good word to mean "not steep".  At least I've never heard anyone use one; instead people use convoluted phrases like "not too steep".

I looked at the “opposite for 'steep learning curve'” post, but none of those suggestions really seems to fit here.

Edit: I asked a rock-climbing English major and she said that "low-angle" and "slabby" were most often used for cliffs in the 50-90 degree range.


texts: Pronunciation of "Azure" in "Microsoft Azure"

texts: This is not a techie query. I am just unclear on how to pronounce the word "Azure" which is the brand name for Microsoft's cloud computing service.


texts:
Consider the following two sentences:

[1] The boy is coming.
[2] The boy is singing. (at the same time)

How can I join the two sentences using a participle? Can I use any of the  sentences below?

[3a] The boy comes singing.
[3b] The boy is coming while singing.
[3c] The boy is singing while coming.
[3d] The boy is coming singing.
[3e] The boy is coming, singing.


texts: "I give nothing to no-one" or "I do not give anything to anyone"

texts:
I have a bit of an issue with negations. Are the following correct?

I do not give anything to anyone //I guess this is correct
I give nothing to no-one //can I say that?

Generally, is it the same to use these two statements? e.g.:
This humour does not hurt anyone.
This humour hurts nobody. //is this acceptable?

I do not know whether there is any difference or not.


texts: An adjective brings an article with it. What's the general rule?

texts:
I often notice that the presence of an adjective causes an article to appear where, in the absence of the adjective, there would not be an article. For example: here's a quote from William Dunham's Euler the Master of Us All:

  Hiding their secrets with an embarrassing ease, the integers provide a
  worthy challenge for the greatest of mathematicians.

Is this correct, appropriate, and what's the general rule governing this?


texts:
I am writing something and I was curious, because I am not sure about the use of the preposition "on" in the following context.

"I attended lectures on the Portuguese language for two semesters at the University of Colorado" meaning, that I attended lectures about this language, and not that Portuguese was the language of instructions. Is the use of the preposition "on" in this context suitable or not? Is there another way to say this sentence?


texts: Is there an idiom to describe someone who grew from less than average to influential?

texts:
Is there a idiom or common expression to describe someone who used to be shy, unsocial, unskilled, or even perceived to be useless, who somehow transformed himself or herself to be influential and powerful?

In other words, someone who used to be "nobody" who managed to become "somebody"

For those of you who know about Pokemon, I am thinking of something along the lines of Magikarp transforming to Gyarados,  or that "mega-evolution" of that scale

 to


texts: Is there a specific word for this kind of re-sealable plastic seal?

texts:
You know those re-sealable plastic bags, where the seal is one plastic strip that you squeeze between two other, parallel plastic strips on the other surface? Like on a Ziploc™ bag, only without the zip?

Is there a common word or phrase used to describe those seals?


texts: "I wish there were," or "I wish there was," which sounds most natural?

texts:
Given the choice of these two, which sound most natural?

I wish there were something I could do for you.
I wish there was something I could do for you.

If both sound equally natural, I'd prefer the first.


texts: ''Save up to 50% of installation time'' vs. ''Save up to 50% on installation time''?

texts:
"Save up to 50% of installation time" vs. "Save up to 50% on installation time"

Using of seems incorrect to me. If you wanted to use of, it should be followed by 'your' or indeed leave out of altogether.


texts:
There is a YouTube video with the following title

  WestWorld Delores Goes Ozymandias On Man in Black Season Finale 1x10

Who doesn't know the tv show and this particular scene, here is a little background: throughout entire season Dolores was afraid and submissive toward Man in Black, but in the end she fights back saying the following:

  I'm not crying for myself. I'm cryin' for you. They say that great beasts once roamed this world. Big as mountains. Yet all that's left of them is bone and amber. Time undoes even the mightiest creatures. Just look what it's done to you. One day, you will perish. You will like with the rest of your kind in the dirt. Your dreams forgotten, your horrors faced, your muscles will turn to sand, and upon that sand a new God will walk, one that will never die, because this world doesn't belong to you or the people who came before. It belongs to someone who is yet to come.

Ozymandias it's the title of a poem by P. B. Shelley and here are the lines which bear some resemblance with Dolores's words:

  My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings; Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair! Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
  Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare
  The lone and level sands stretch far away.

Is it possible that the author of the video mistakenly used "Ozymandias" in the title? Or is there a meaning in "going Ozymandias" expression?


texts: Why are evidence and defense spelled with "c" and "s" respectively?

texts: Is there a standard rule for the choice of the letter, or, does it have something to do with how the words evolved from the root words to the current words in the specific case? (This is referring to American English versions of the words, although I wouldn't mind the British answer as well)


texts: Did 'lawyer' have a broader meaning in Shakespeare's time?

texts:
In Act 4, Scene 2 of Shakespeare's Henry VI, Part 2, Dick the butcher, one of Jack Cade's rebels, shouts:

  The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers.

The rebels bring in the clerk of Chartham, who "can read and write and cast account" (i.e. add up accounts). Jack Cade calls the man's capabilities "monstrous" (i.e. unnatural, in the sense that illiteracy was natural). After the clerk also confesses that he can write his name instead of signing documents with a cross, the rebels decide to hang him. (This was obviously long before the emergence of Stack Exchange.)

But a clerk is not a lawyer. In Act 4, Scene 7, there is another tirade against literacy, when Jack Cade says to Lord Saye (for example):

  thou hast most traitorously corrupted the youth of the realm in
  erecting a grammar school: (...)

So it seems that Jack Cade's ire is directed against literate people in general rather than lawyers in particular. Hence my question whether "lawyer" had a broader meaning—i.e. literate people in general—than today. If not, I will assume that Dick the butcher's "lawyers" stands for literate people in general.

I consulted several glossaries of Shakespearian or Early Modern English (Skeat & Mayhew's old A Glossary of Tudor and Stewart Words, C.T. Onions' Shakespeare Glossary as revised by Eagleson, and the more recent Crystal & Crystal), but they don't mention the term "lawyer".


texts: How does the parenthetical "that is" function?

texts:
It's the last sentence of an article in The Economist.

  Some of the powerful elders might have faded from the scene. Mr Xi and Li Keqiang might then have a freer hand to promote their own people, and perhaps more daring ones. If, that is, they manage to keep control until then.

I know the whole sentence means "it is possible only if they manage to keep control" or "it's impossible unless they manage to keep control". But I don't understand how it functions.

Question 1: What does "that" refer? Or is it just an empty word refering to nothing?

And I also have a question about the reference of "it" in "It is not until 3am that they returned home." I think "it" refers to the fact that "they returned home", and the sentence can be restructured as "the fact that they returned home is not true until 3am." Though it sounds wierd, but it helped me to understand how "it" functions. But some people tell me "it" doesn't refer to anything in that sentence, and I shouldn't comprehend it that way.

Question 2: Am I really wrong in the understanding of "it" in that sentence? If so, how do you think I should understand it?

Supplement:

So everybody thinks that is is short for that is to say? But I really think it would be anything but that is to say. Before I asked this question I tried to comprehend it that way, and here came an absolute logical error: since that is to say usually connect two sentences expressing a similar meaning, the two sentences should be in the same type of pattern. That is to say, if the previous sentence is a statement, then the following one should be a statement as well, despite all the clause and parenthesis. But the sentence I quoted is just a conditional clause, and its previous sentence (sorry for not having quoted it earlier) is a statement.


texts:
Why is "women pronounced as wimin?

What is the reason for the first syllable having /ɪ/?

What is the reason for the second syllable having /ɪ/?


texts: How do you say if something is as hard as something else?

texts:
Today I wanted to say that buying a car for me is as hard as choosing a dish in a restaurant and I actually meant that I am picky on buying a car just like my eating habit. But I stuck in the middle of my talk and couldn't choose the right word. Now my question is if the following sentence is correct and how a native English speaker would say that:

  I am as picky in buying a car as I am in eating


texts: what is the difference between inter and trans prefixes

texts: Is there a difference in meaning when one says, inter-generational organisation and trans-generational organisation


texts: When a UK person says "Cheers" to me, what's the appropriate response?

texts: I've been working with UK clientele for several years (I'm American), and I always fumble whenever somebody ends a call with "Cheers".  What do I say then?  Same deal with British coworkers who sometimes will say "Cheers" when I hold the door for them.  My American reflex is to say "Cheers" back, but it always sounds/feels super awkward.  What do I do in response to "Cheers"?


texts: Did English ever have a word for 'yes' for negative questions?

texts:
The Germans have doch and the French have si as a word that means "yes" in response to a negative question, such as:

  Don't you want some ice-cream?
  Yes [I do]!

In English, we only have yes (as far as I know) and further clarification is required in order to be unambiguous.

Did we ever have such a word in English and, if so, what happened to it? If not, given the French and Germanic influences on English, any idea why not?


texts: Name of this lyrical device comparing oneself to something that's described by the same word, but in another sense of the word?

texts:
Warning: The examples contain some offensive words, but I believe that is not against the rules here?
Lately I've been listening a lot to a certain hip-hop album, in which almost every track uses a certain lyrical device a lot. Instead of trying to describe it further than I already do in the title, I'll go straight to examples.

I've got bars for days, like a custody cell.

Source. The rapper is talking about two different types of bars. First his raps, then the physical bars of a jail cell.

Every fucking album is banging like a Tinder-match

Source. He says his albums are "banging" as in musically pleasing, but in the sense of the Tinder-match, the word means sexual intercourse.

I jam like a bullet stuck in the barrel

Source. When he says he jams, he means musically, while the bullet is physically jammed in the barrel.

My woman puts on the rubber faster than a pit stop

Source. In the first sense he means a condom, in the second sense he means rubber tyres on a Formula 1 car.

I'm harder to hit than a porcupine pussy.

Source. In the first sense he means "hit" as in some sort of attack or aggressive action, in the second sense he means sexual intercourse.

I stay in the hood like Kenny

Source. In his own case, he means his neighbourhood, as in the slang term "hood". In the latter sense he is talking about hood as the part of a jacket that covers the head, referring to the fictional character from South Park who always wears a hood.

I think that amount of examples (there are countless more from the album, and from other rappers as well) is enough to convey what I mean.
What is the name of this lyrical device? I believe it is somewhat common in Hip Hop, and has been for decades. Does it have a name outside of Hip Hop as well, perhaps in poetry or literature?


texts:
First I want to be clear, I'm from the Westminster system, we use the British English in my country of origin, and so I have had a hard time with adapting to American English usage in both writing and speaking. So I was writing an abstract for a paper I'm working on, and I asked my husband to edit it, and we had an argument over my use of moot.

  In "Do Television Presidential Debates help inform voters" James B.
  Lemert (1993) notes that there are arguments supporting and opposing
  this moot.

Growing up doing debate and watching the high school debate challenge on television, the use of the word moot as a noun is prevalent and normal. I'm not saying that this is right or wrong, but what I really want to know, if this was ever a practice that has since changed to using the term "moot point" over "moot".

So an example would be:

  Regarding the moot, "Corporal punishment should be banned in schools",
  my colleagues and I will prove the affirmative.

Another example in practice:
https://youtu.be/_sZ2hnifAKs?t=11m29s

While I came across a previous discussion on the use of the phrase "the point is moot", it was not helpful in exploring the history or additional usage.

"The point is moot"

I understand that the word is used as an adjective but I learnt "moot" as a noun that can be used as an adjective. What's even more annoying to me, right now, is that the term "moot point" was introduced to my vocabulary through American culture.

Full disclosure, I'm a dyslexic adult who is very conscious of the difference between what I know to be true and what is a simple mechanical mistake. So while I'm struggling personally to grapple with an error, I would like to be reaffirmed that this is a learned error, because of changes in the English language usage.

Help!


texts: Please explain to me the meaning of these phrases

texts:
I have highlighted the words that I couldn't understand. Please explain to me what they mean.

1 Put returns between paragraphs.

2 Butler can be an explosive player, but as a batman struggles under the more forensic examination of the longer format.

3 Astros can't string hits together in 4-0 loss to Indians or it's tough to string a couple hits together

4 Economical turns of phrase at his command


texts: I need to translate "tutor" to a language where the same spelling is a false cognate.  It would help me be creative to look at a few synonyms.  But all I've come up with is "private teacher" which brings more problems, because "private" is hard to express in the target language (Latin American Spanish, if you're curious).


texts: Proper phrasing of (anti)(animal cruelty) to avoid ambiguity

texts:
I came across this tweet, and found the construction a bit funny.

  Liberal MP Nathaniel Erskine-Smith is up on a motion to amend his omnibus anti-animal cruelty bill.

On first read, I parsed it as an omnibus, anti-animal, cruelty bill, which is obviously not the intent.

What's the proper way to write this to avoid ambiguity?


texts: Is the word 'pineapple' considered a portmanteau?

texts:
This recently viral silly song got me thinking...how do you describe a word that is created by attached two other words together without any blending involved?

For example:

  Pine + Apple = Pineapple


texts: "beef cacky" and "cheese cacky" as physical descriptions

texts:
Can "beef cacky" or "cheese cacky" be used to describe the physique of a person?
I don't know where does this come from, but I found a reference here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fH2Pg0W3lok&feature=player_detailpage#t=80s


texts: Can you say "When to use simple and progressive" or do you have to say "When to use simple and when to use progressive"?

texts: My question is do you need to include the "when to use" after and?


texts: Proper sentence structure and word usage when using the word, "imbue."

texts: I wrote, "Imbuing a love of reading in youth is a high calling," to a friend and then questioned my usage of the word, "imbue." Does anyone think the way I used it was incorrect in terms of structure? Would,"Imbuing youth with a love reading is a high calling," a better choice?


texts:
Is the phrase:

  Nobody's perfect but I could stand corrected...

proper grammar?

I want to say:

  No one is perfect, but if they or I make a mistake, I can take it if they tell me I am wrong.

Are there different or better ways of saying this?


texts: Which one of these is correct sentence if there are any?

texts:
We're having a discussion about which of these three sentences is the correct one. The context is about chocolates. That's what's going to be sticked in mouth.

So, here are the sentences.

1) Tag someone you would stick it in their mouth.

2) Tag someone whose mouth you'd like to stick it in.

3) Tag someone in whose mouth you'd like to stick it in.

I've added the picture that triggered the discussion.


texts: What is the name for a word or name that is used to replace another that is forbidden?

texts:
For example, a king may forbid people from using the previous king's name. People loyal to the old king may name their children some alternate name that secretly refers to the forbidden name. A specific example (I can't find a source, but did read this) is that the name Marion is a stand-in for Charles Edward Stuart (Bonnie Prince Charlie, full name Charles Edward Louis John Casimir Sylvester Severino Maria Stuart).

I am looking for the name of the (single) word that defines the "replacement" word.


texts: Are commas needed to set off the word "then" in the following sentence?

texts: What, then, could be more wonderful than to have a faithful friend?


texts: Where to look up more general terms for a word?

texts:
A few minutes ago, I was in need (for coding purposes) of finding a more general term for notions such as city, village, town, etc. Now, whereas I could just try a few options (e.g. locality? municipality?), look up their meanings in the dictionary, and go with one, it got me wondering about the problem in more general.

So are there any systematic ways to look up such words? I haven't noticed anything like this in thesauri (or maybe I just haven't been paying attention).

Is any such database of hierarchies of meanings even known to exist and be freely available?

(as to the tags of this post: feel free to correct those; I'm not at all sure yet how tags work in this stack exchange)


texts:
The paragraph below began with the past tense but soon switched to present tense (highlighted in bold). I am trying to learn tense consistency. I don't know why such switch is allowed. It's very confusing for me to learn to keep a consistent tense =(

  In Banjuh, the capital of Gambia, I met with a group of Gambians. They
  told me how for centuries the history of Africa has been preserved. In
  the older villages of the back country, there are old men called
  griots, who are in effect living archives. Such men memorize
  and, on special occasions, recite the cumulative histories of
  clans or families or villages as those histories have long been
  told. Since my forefather had said his name was Kin-tay (properly
  spelled Kinte), and since the Kinte clan was known in Gambia, the
  group of Gambians would see what they could do to help me. I was back
  in New York when a registered letter arrived from Gambia.

  Word had been passed in the back country, and a griot of the Kinte
  clan had, indeed, been found. His name, the letter said, was Kebba
  Kanga Fofana. I returned to Gambia and organized a safari to locate
  him.


texts: What do you call someone who refuses to acknowledge their wrongdoing?

texts:
There is a person in my current daily life who never admits his wrongs. He is always quick to blame others first and always believes that he is not wrong. Even when he is proven wrong, he still believes he shouldn't be sorry and isn't wrong.

Is there a single-word adjective to describe this behavior? If not, a better way to describe this person would also make do.

While stubborn and irresponsible fit, I feel like they don't tell the whole story. By this, I mean if I were to say to others that he is very stubborn and irresponsible, it is not implicitly implied that he blames others and never acknowledges his own fault.

Edit: I believe my question is different because the person will also never acknowledge their wrongdoing. On top of blaming others, even after it has been proven to be their fault, they will not admit wrong doing. So aside from blaming others, they refuse to acknowledge the possibility that they have committed a mistake.


texts: Is "gravity" pronounced /'græ.vɪ.ti/ or /'græv.ɪ.ti/? I had always assumed that it was the former, but the latter is shown in most dictionaries. Is there variation between accents?


texts: English text book - phrase to be used in an example dialogue

texts:
I'm in the middle of writing a dialogue for an English text book - a short excerpt from the dialogue is as follows:

Coach:     Your form is not bad, but you have to work on your strength.
Athlete:  Could you explain (that) in more detail?
Coach:     You need more core strength to stay well balanced throughout your swing.

The questions are,

Does "Could you explain in more detail" sound too formal / not formal enough / unnatural or otherwise at all? The target audience live in an extremely hierarchical society, and it's quite hard to find a middle ground to satisfy both the student's wants and needs (re: needing to break away from social norms
in their home country in order to understand cultural differences in language)
Can you think of any other alternative phrases to politely but not overly formally ask for a more detailed explanation?

Appreciate your help and input in advance! :)


texts: Looking for a word that has the meaning of "to work on something with doubled, extra effort"

texts:
Is there a word -- preferably a verb -- which has this meaning: "to work on something with doubled, extra effort"?

Ideally it should also express being desperate, not caring about the costs, willing to sacrifice absolutely anything to reach the goal.


texts: There’s antiques, knickknacks, and many more at the thrift store. Or should it be, There will be an abundance of items this Saturday at the thrift store.


texts: Adjective to describe activities that enhance or require fine motor skills

texts:
Looking for an adjective for defining the activities that enhance or require fine motor skills (neurosurgery, jewelry-making).

I expected it to be related to the word craftsmanship, but according to the sources that I used, the word "crafty", that is the only cognate in the form of an adjective, has a different meaning.


texts: How do you say 100ths of the euro? cents/ centimes

texts:
Does it depend one he country how to say amounts in euros?

25.90
 twenty-five euro(s), ninety cents
 twenty-five euro(s), ninety centimes
 twenty-five euro(s), ninety

and with no euro,
 .70
   seventy cents/ euro cents?

Thanks for any insight.


texts: How to use hyphens appropriately when listing multiple hyphenated terms?

texts:
If multiple hyphenated terms share the same latter half, and I wish to list them without repeating that latter half, how should the hyphens be placed?

For example:

  I will be investigating control issues in ground-based, water-based, and air-based robots.

If I do not want to repeat based, could I write:

  I will be investigating control issues in ground-, water-, and air-based robots.

Is it correct to just leave a hyphen dangling after ground and water?

If not, how should it be written? I know the original sentence doesn't sound too bad, but I really just want to know the punctuation rule (or the convention in American English if there is no rule).


texts: What does the expression "you got to be cruel to be kind" mean?

texts: I don't see how if someone does something cruel to the other person,it could be considered as being the kind thing to do as well.Some examples would be a big help.


texts: What's the word for horse-headed human? (Opposite of a centaur)

texts:
Centaur - horse body, additional human torso, human head.

Minotaur - human body, bovine head.

I'm looking for a word for a creature with the head/neck of a horse and the body of a normal human. I keep thinking of constructions like "equitaur" or "minoquus", but nothing validating comes up when I search for them.

Any ideas? Something crafted anew would be fine, as long as it's sensible.


texts: Should the surname 'de Menezes' be capitalised on beginning a sentence?

texts:
Wikipedia (Keir Starmer's entry, the UK Labour Party Leader) has the following :

Within the first few months of his tenure, Starmer upheld the decision not to prosecute the officers who had killed Jean-Charles de Menezes in a High Court appeal lodged by the family.

de Menezes was shot dead by police in 2005 after he was mistaken for a suicide bomber.

I would have expected 'de Menezes' to be capitalised to 'De Menezes' at the beginning of a sentence.
Am I wrong ?


texts: Word choice for a comparison of different amounts

texts:
I'm currently struggling to clearly state the following situation:

Background: Let's assume I have two newspaper articles A and B. Let's say I want to count how often a specific word (for instance bird) occurs in A and in B.
For instance, the word bird appears 5 times in article A, but only 3 times in article B. I'm trying to express that bird occurs 3 times in both (so at a minimum of 3 times in each article) and that bird appears 2 times (2=5-3) more in article A than in article B.
Let's assume that bird is only a special case and that I'm actually looking for animal names and want to count the number of word occurences for different words as well. I intentionally don't want to refer to the articles A and B by name, because bird may be more frequent in article A, but dog might appear more often in article B.

My current wording is:

  For each animal, we count how often it occurs in both articles and how often it occurs more in one article than in the other.

Questions:

Does ''how often it occurs in both articles'' really mean that it occurs individually in article A and in article B? Or can this wording be confused with in total, like summing up the occurances in both articles?
Is there a better way to express ''how often it occurs more in one article than in the other''. I dislike ''occurs more'' and ''than in the other''. Does anyone have an alternative formulation for this sentence?

I hope my question fits on this site as word choice and usage. I doesn't seem to fit to Writers.SE.

Edit based on the comments: Sorry, I was unable to properly explain the context. I do have a machine learning background and I was trying to generalize a bag-of-words model in my explanation. I do have a fixed vocabulary of words and try to count their appearances in two different articles. It is possible that a word from the vocabulary doesn't occur in any of the two articles. Try to think of the for each animal as an iteration over all words in the vocabulary.


texts: I'm a bit confused with the meme "I'm tired of living through these historical events" referring to the traumatic experience living during a pandemic. Isn't it supposed to be "historic"?


texts: Using future perfect with an adverb of the past

texts:
the sentence states

  Now some of you won't have been to Park Hill before , so let me
  explain about our facility

would you please explain how the writer used future perfect with " before "


texts:
As intransitive verbs, I mean not phrasal verbs used transitively and transitive verbs with to infinitive

For example :

  I attempt to climb the tree

Is it correct to surmise that intransitive verbs take an object preceded by a preposition?

For example :

  She smiled at me, we can only guess at the cause of global warming or news appeared in print media.

Is my comprehension about transitive verbs correct?


texts: Word for a shop which sells materials used in making clothing

texts:
What generic word/phrase can I use for materials like zipper, buttons, threads and needles, etc which are used in making clothes?

I want to use this word to describe a shop which sells these things.


texts:
I would like to know what's the meaning of "be blowed" in the following text:

  'I'm going to smoke' Jenkins said; 'be blowed to Bertie dear.' (Mrs. Smythe had once addressed her husband in the office as 'Bertie dear', and thereforth that had been his name among the staff.) Richard made no answer. When a minute later Jenkins, discreetly directing his puffs to the open window, asked him for the titles of one or two of Zola's novels in English, and their price, he gave the required information without turning round and in a preoccupied tone.

A Man From North, Arnold Bennett, 1911.


texts:
Is it correct to say "This is too many "without a subject just like "This is too much"phrase?

The context might be a class growing in the number of its students this year.


texts: What word can be used for work done after some event (i.e. the opposite of preparation)?

texts:
Let's say there is some work event in an office work/IT setting, e.g. a meeting/workshop/brainstorm session/you-name-it. Some tasks are done in advance to prepare for this event - i.e. they are done in preparation of this event/meeting.

Then, after the actual event happens there are some more tasks to be done - e.g. documentation/organizational tasks/communication/...

What word could be used to describe these sort of tasks, performed after the fact?

Cleanup doesn't quite fit the bill because it is rather misleading on what is actually done.
Debrief fits rather well, but there is only one person involved - i.e. there is no-one to actually debrief...


texts: What do you call users of your software?

texts:
Often when I have to greet all the people using my different software collectively I'm not sure which word to use for them. For example I can't say

  Overroot wishes all its users a Happy New Year!!!

Because Overroot is a company which makes software and users are associated with software not the company so saying all 'its' users would be incorrect I think.

Overroot wishes all its customers/clients also seems incorrect because my software is free so no-one has to pay for them and therefore no one is really a customer or a client.

What do I call the people using the software that I make under the name of Overroot company?

Edit: I don't want to wish the users of a specific software but anyone who uses any software produced by Overroot.


texts:
Naturalism, on this understanding, is the view that there is nothing outside the natural world, so conceived.

What does "so conceived" mean exactly here?


texts: Does "to pursue this research as a joint collaboration" sound natural?

texts:
I have just finished to describe a research project and I would like to mention that I have received money to conduct this research. Does the following sentence sound natural to native speakers?

  I have received a three-year grant to pursue this research as a joint
  collaboration between the University of City-1 and the University of
  City-2.


texts:
Couldn't find much on this particular stylistic method, but I was wondering: how would one emphasize only part of a word in an informal novel-like case?

"It wasn't new in any way—just newer."
"It wasn't new in any way—just new-er."

I understand that this is likely to be a stylistic choice, but is simply italicizing the "-er" in "newer" and hoping the reader is able to differentiate it as the emphasis good enough? Or is using a hyphen more or less necessary in this case?


texts: What is it called when the last word of a sentence is also used as the first word of the next sentence?

texts:
For example in the rhyme "Miss Susie" the end of each verse is linked to the next. Would these just be called puns? Or is there a more specific name when they are used in this way.
Example:

Miss Susie had a steamboat,
the steamboat had a bell.
Miss Susie went to heaven
and the steamboat went to Hell–
-
O, operator,
please give me number nine...

The first verse ends with "Hell" which is merged into "Hello" in the next.


texts: Can someone please explain to me, how does the sentence "The smallest x into which y can be divided" makes sense. Is it more correct to say "The smallest x which y can divide into."?


texts: Correct punctuation to introduce a supporting quote

texts:
What is the correct way to punctuate the end of a sentence before a quote that directly supports the statement? I assume either a colon or a semicolon, but I have no idea which is correct.

For example:

  Waldo is a better hide-and-seek player than Clem; "Waldo was
  the winner of the past ten annual hiding awards" (Where's Waldo 13).

  Waldo is a better hide-and-seek player than Clem:  "Waldo was
  the winner of the past ten annual hiding awards" (Where's Waldo 13).

(Excuse the silly example, but I didn't have a better one.)


texts: Can we use 'for' and 'since' in a single sentence?

texts:
Please see the following sentence:

  He has been on frequent furlough for last four months since  his
  father's death.

Is this correct?


texts: What is the proper structure for the sentence "Whose dog does this ball belong to?"

texts: As I understand, keeping prepositions from the end of a sentence is a cardinal rule with no exceptions.  However, "To whose dog does this ball belong?" does not seem correct to me at all.  How should this sentence be structured?


texts: How did "to lie" (i.e lie about something) and "to lie" (i.e. lie down) end up being spelled the same way?

texts:
I'm hoping to find out the history of how "to lie" as in say something dishonest and "to lie" as in rest horizontally end up being spelled the same way.

To lie (lie, lied, lied): a false statement made with deliberate intent to deceive; an intentional untruth; a falsehood.

To lie (lie, lay, lain): to be in a horizontal, recumbent, or prostrate position, as on a bed or the ground; recline.

I looked it up on etymonline, but they didn't provide much insight into that question. It says one is from early 12thC and the other late 12thC. I'm not well versed in Latin, so besides being able to tell that the roots are different in spelling, I couldn't make much from just looking at the roots, either.

If there's such a significant time gap, does that mean one decided to intentionally let the spelling clash? Or was the person coming up with the word unaware of the other? What happened back then?

Unless there's some clear reason (i.e. there's a meaningful connection between the two that I'm not seeing) why would one want the spelling to clash? I'm, of course, assuming nobody would intentionally want the spelling to clash. It would seem like they are way too common of words to end up clashing coincidentally. (At least from a 21stC perspective, but may be they weren't back in 12thC)

Does anyone have insight into what is the history behind their spelling clash? Or can you tell by looking at the Latin roots, something that's non-obvious to me?


texts: Which of these sentences is correct (for vs. to)?

texts:
Which one is correct:

It is a prerequisite to most courses
It is a prerequisite for most courses


texts: Is "Inversely Proportional" the right term here?

texts:
The effort required to design something is inversely proportional
to the simplicity of the result.
-Roy T. Fielding, http://roy.gbiv.com/untangled/2008/rest-apis-must-be-hypertext-driven

In the context of the article, it is obvious that Mr. Fielding is trying to say that the effort required to design simple things is greater than the effort required to design things that are complex.
Wouldn't "inversely proportional" indicate that if something takes more effort to design, it would be less simple though?
Wouldn't it make much more sense to say:
"The effort required to design something is directly proportional to the simplicity of the result."
or
"The effort required to design something is inversely proportional to the complexity of the result."


texts:
Please settle a debate for me. Here is the sentence in question:

  Excessive, incorrect, use of the word "like" is unbelievably irritating.

The criticism is against the comma following the word "incorrect". The defense was made that it is parenthetical apposition. Wikipedia says that apposition's are "normally noun phrases", is it ever acceptable for them to be non-noun phrases? If so, is this an example of that?

Would you judge this sentence as Poor or Acceptable?


texts: How to use the verb "to be" with both singular and plural

texts:
I just wrote the following sentence:

  Saying "Walkers cheese and chive crisps" is up there with thinking mushy peas were guacamole.

I am wondering whether I should or could have written:

  Saying "Walkers cheese and chive crisps" is up there with thinking mushy peas was guacamole.

I know sticklers say that the verb "to be" does not have a subject and object, but instead has two subjects, so they insist on "it is I", not "it's me". I think insisting on "it is I" is nonsense, but nevertheless a consequence of that is that the number of both subjects should be the same. Certainly, both these examples sound right to me, yet both sound wrong. Have I broken grammar?

Some cultural background for non-Brits: a Labour (left-wing) politician in the UK was mocked for mistaking mushy peas (a fairly working-class and northern food) for guacamole (a much more middle-class food). My sentence above was a below-the-line comment mocking a journalist who styles himself as populist, but is actually pretty middle-class himself. Walkers cheese and onion crisps are a popular favour of a popular brand of crisps (chips) in the UK. Cheese and chive would be a flavour of a more up-market brand that a more middle-class person (like the journalist) might choose.


texts: Usage of expression "Little says __ like __"

texts:
I came upon the following sentence when reading this article on Erdogan.

  The president’s portrait stares down on Recep Tayyip Erdogan University in his family’s hometown of Rize, on Turkey’s Black Sea coast. Little says “personality cult” like naming an institution after a leader while he’s still alive.

I believe "personality cult" here refers to cult of personality. I do not see what the words "little says" mean in this context - is it sarcasm ?
What effect is the writer to trying to produce?


texts:
An aquiline nose (also called a Roman nose or hook nose):

  is a human nose with a prominent bridge, giving it the appearance of being curved or slightly bent. The word aquiline comes from the Latin word aquilinus ("eagle-like"), an allusion to the curved beak of an eagle.

(Wikipedia)

Why is an aquiline nose also called "Roman" nose?

Do the two definitions refer to the same kind of nose or are there differences between them?


texts: USSR stands for Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. The adjective "Soviet" is formed from the noun "Soviet" which in Russian means "Council". (That was roughly the idea behind the revolution and USSR formation that the workers and peasants should rule the state by means of "councils"). So why was some analogous word not created in English? Like "Councillous" or something. Is there some explanation or this "just happened"?


texts: Present perfect with since interpretations

texts:
I have a couple of present perfect + since examples below.

  I have studied two books since 9.15.
  We have taught at this school since 1965.
  They have been at the hotel since last Tuesday.

Sometimes the meaning is clear and sometimes it's not.

  Am I still studying more? How is it clear?
  Are they still teaching?
  Is clear if they are still at hotel?

I would like some explanation for these questions on what do they mean and why do they mean that?


texts: Can I use the "there is" construction for art exhibitions, instead of using the word "hold"?

texts:
As a sightseeing suggestion to my out-of-town friend, I want to say there's an exhibition he might be interested in checking out.

Option 1 below sounds too formal to me, so I'd like to know if Options 2 to 4 are grammatically OK.

A kimono exhibition is held at MoMA.
MoMA is having a kimono exhibition.
They are having a kimono exhibition at MoMA.
There is a kimono exhibition at MoMA.

Thank you in advance for your input.


texts: What is a single word for the things that can be heard from a particular place?

texts: A view is the things that can be seen from a particular place. What's the auditory equivalent? Shorter words preferred.


texts: Does "invidious" come implicit with malice or consideration? Or is it just absent of care?

texts:
"Invidious" (the often misunderstood) is known to involve harmful or threatening effects — at least insomuch as one party feels "resentful" or similarly about the situation.

So there are at least two 'parties' involved:

one that performs the action, or represents the situation
another that is "aroused" to, or "incurs" the "resentment or anger"

So my question is whether Party #1 does their acts, represents the situation with malice?  Meaning: 'by design'.  Does "invidiousness" come implicit with design for the results of the actions?  Or is this intentionality then another word (e.g. "malice")

Alternatively, does 'invidiousness' come minimally with consideration?  Does Party #1 comprehend the capacity of their action(s) to incite resentfulness in Party #2?

My focus has come to the part of the definition that says "likely."  An "invidious" action is one that is "likely" to cause resentment, etc.  The OED may advance this dimension of the word even further:

  Of a charge, complaint, report, etc.: Tending or fitted to excite
  odium, unpopularity, or ill feeling against some one.

(emphasis mine)

In either the case of a 'tendency' or a 'fitting' it would seem that the actor (#1) has, minimally, a consideration as to the invidious effect, namely "odium, unpopularity, or ill feeling against some one."

The coup de grace question: must invidiousness be absent of Care?  Can Party #1 act invidiously and still have compassion for Party #2?

At risk of involving too much thought about the metaphysics of intent - many of the comment center around intent and unintended consequences (unto Party #2).


texts: A word to describe not caring (socially and publically) about other people's feelings

texts:
What is the word to describe someone who does not care about other people socially and publicly, that is a word or phrase which could describe behaviors such as littering, cutting in a line, talking on a phone in a theater, or arbitrarily and capriciously changing lanes when driving.

I googled and found some options: selfish, thoughtless, and antisocial.

However, in my opinion (which may not be accurate) selfish and thoughtless are not necessarily "socially and publicly". Antisocial seems to describe more a mental state rather than a behavior, not to mention that it may be too strong because it also implies arbitrary and capricious killing, robbing, stealing, and other crimes.


texts: When is it okay not to put a comma, where the rule may normally apply?

texts:
In this sentence:

  I will forward the log, when it is complete.

Is it permissible to remove the comma?

  I will forward the log when it is complete.

I thought sentences that are plain and can "stand on their own" (whatever that means) can get away without the comma.

When may I not use a comma, where perhaps I might in other cases at all times?  When does the usage become "bad grammar"?


texts: The answer is B, but I am confused on why D does not work. Is this just a case where its proper to have a pronoun? If so, how does this rule work and when is it appropriate? Doesn't this sentence, for example, operate the same way: "The Spanish Flu can cause death." Isn't this sentence better like it is than "The Spanish Flu can cause one's death."


texts:
When sentences commence with more than one introductory adverbial phrase--each of which is independently modifying the finite verb of the main clause--is it acceptable to leave out the conjunction?

Here's an example sentence:

"If you honestly read every page, if you do every exercise, if you follow every principle, you will go through an intellectual experience that will effect a radical change in you." -- from'How to Start Building a Better Vocabulary'

All three introductory adverbials are 'in coordination', in so far as they're all functioning the same way--all modifying 'will go'. But since there are three coordinated 'introductors', shouldn't there be an 'and' injected in between the second and third ones (between 'exercise' and 'if'), indicating that is a standard list? Is the author making an error here?

Thanks in advance for responses.


texts: Term for "final accounting for an employee"?

texts: What do you call the process undertaken when an employee has concluded their employment with some employer, of what amounts of money the employee is due, and what they need to return or reimburse, on all accounts and for all purposes, including overtime, mandatory and voluntary deductions, previously advanced sums etc.?


texts: state the reach of something against something as doing something

texts:
I encountered this sentence while translating a lawsuit and now I'm quite confused about what it intends to say:

Court stated the reach of the per se rule against tie-ins under 1 of the Sherman Act as extending to all defendants with "sufficient economic power with respect to the tying product to appreciably restrain free competition in the market for the tied product . . . ."
(Source: https://bulk.resource.org/courts.gov/c/US/433/433.US.36.76-15.html)

I know that this is a legal issue, maybe some of you don't understand the sentence totally, so I'm not going to ask about the meaning of the whole sentence, I'm asking about the meaning of this structure: "state the reach of ....against ....as extending to...." . I'm totally not sure what it means (especially, I'm not sure what "as extending ..." means in this context)

I need you help badly.

And please reword your answer into plain english because I'm neither a native speaker nor living in any english-speaking country.

Thank you.


texts: Is 'in a week or three' correct English?

texts:
The other day I had an argument with a fellow translator of English about the correctness of the expression 'in a week or three', which, in her opinion, is incorrect and may even be described as 'Dunglish'.

My gut feeling tells me there's nothing wrong with it, and any advice from native speakers of English would be highly appreciated.


texts: a phrase to describe a greedy scoundrel, or to name that behaviour

texts:
Imagine the following conversation:

B: What's the price?
A: It's fifteen each.
B: Okay, I'll buy it.
A: Too late, now it's twenty each.
B: Why? Because I can afford fifteen?
A: Exactly.

How would you describe A or A's method? A is a scoundrel, his method greedy. Is there a better word for it, or a more precise one?

Such a conversation is not new at all. Perhaps some famous writer made use of it in one of his or her novels, and I can take the name of the character who is a seller.

I am debating a slightly more complicated bargain strategy than the previous example:

B: What's the price?
A: It's fifteen each.
B: Okay, I'll buy a dozen.
A: You can only buy one at this price, the next will be twenty.
B: Why? Because I can afford fifteen?
A: Exactly.
   And I'll keep raising the price to test your bottom line.

As you can imagine, this strategy, or its variants, are employed by some e-commerce websites. It cannot go without a name, but I am not yet in the industry to know its name, and I didn't find it when I googled it. Since I am not specifically addressing e-commerce, I may as well improvise one for the convenience of debate.

Edit: in the end I used the term "Lowball technique" as suggested by the chosen answer.


texts: Is Chrome's "this webpage is not found" correct?

texts:
Chrome's webpage not found page (I'm running 39.0.2171.13 beta), says "this wepage is not found":

This seems wrong to me. I would say, "this webpage could not be found". "Is not found" seems to each page is always in one of two states, found or not found, and this one is in the latter, which is a fairly strange, if not completely incorrect way of thinking about things.

Is this actually wrong, or am I just used to seeing the alternate phrase from other browsers?


texts: Is it right to say "How much do I owe you"?

texts:
When going to work today, I stopped to buy a bottle of water in a supermarket held by an anglophone from Nigeria. When it was time to ask him how much is the price of the bottle of water, as a good francophone I asked him : "How much do I owe you ?". And he started laughing. And I'm still wondering why. Isn't it correct ? I know I could say something like "how much is the price of..." or "how much do I give you..." but isn't it also correct to use the verb to owe ?

Best,

Edouard.


texts: increment/decrement: is there a neutral noun like "crement"?

texts:
If a value (e.g. in mathematics or information science) can either decrease or increase let's say by one, does there exist a neutral expression based on increment and decrement which covers both cases?

Here's an example:

The number of players may only increase or decrease exactly by one.

Here's my phantasy English sentence:

The negative player crement is -1. The positive player crement is +1.

I could use the word "change", but what I am really looking for is a noun which precisely describes that the changes are always equidistant, i.e. of the same kind and value.


texts:
I read that the definite article is pronounced differently depending on the word that follows it.
Which is the exact pronunciation of the?


texts: Usage of "she" instead of "he" for inclusiveness

texts:
Ten to five years ago I was reading MSDN Magazine, and in a few articles I stumbled upon sentences like "The user should... She needs to...", with "she" referring to the user. Unfortunately I can't find anymore the original quotes, but this was the gist of them. Now, English is not my native language (French is), and I wondered then why was the author using "she" where I would have used "he" or (even then) "they".
I know there are related questions here, but I don't think mine is exactly a duplicate. What I'm really asking here is whether "she" may have been considered in the recent past a more inclusive pronoun than "he".
It seems that - at least according to SE Code of Conduct - singular "they" is nowadays an acceptable default when nothing is known about someone's gender preference. My intuition is that a few years ago using "she" may have been a - maybe American English - attempt for inclusiveness, but I'd really like to hear the opinion of native speakers on this feeling of mine.


texts: "They are..." vs. "these are" when answering the question "What are these...?"

texts: When asked, "What are these called in English?" or similar, should we use just the right pronoun or can we also answer with the right demonstrative pronoun? For example, which is grammatical or preferred: "They are chopsticks" or "These are chopsticks"?


texts: Is there an Idiom where a person praises another to get his work done?

texts:
Is there a Idiom where a person praises another to get his work done ?

This usually happens in my work environment. Few execs praise my work just to dump it over me and get their job done.

-- Proposed edit:

Is there an idiom where a person praises another for getting his work done?

The following is what usually happens in my work environment: A few execs praise my work, and call the job done. Just in time for an exec to dump some more trash on me, to get his own work done.


texts: Better way of describing something that's a "self-fulfilling prophecy"

texts:
In standard (American) English, what would a one- (or possibly two) word way to describe the expression, self-fulfilling prophecy1?

Searching through Google and the dictionary, I could only come up with ouroboric or cyclic, but both of those seem a bit... off.

Given the example found on the Wikipedia page for self-fulfilling prophecy2:

  This specific form of self-fulfilling prophecy is very common as it
  can take on many forms. This type would imply that the expectancy for
  a party to act a certain way based on race, religion, gender and much
  more, would eventually lead to said party imitating the
  stereotype.

The ideal usage would be something along the lines of, I understand you believe your views on racial stereotypes are realistic, but it's a very [insert word here] viewpoint.

Would self-fulfilling work by itself?

edit (pasting a comment in here):

  In the example I'm aiming to point out that somebody's
  viewpoint may (may is the keyword here) be realistic, but all the
  realism does is cause more of the same bad behavior... if that makes
  sense.


texts: Is it correct to say "Can I enter if don't have a ticket"?

texts:
Is it correct to say "Can I come in if don't have a ticket"?

or,

Which is more common in ordinary life:

A.  Can I enter if don't have a ticket?

B.  Can I enter if I don't have a ticket?


texts:
I am reading a book "Second hand" by Michael Zadoorian in which a boy visits his ex girlfriend in the hospital as she attempted suicide. There is a sentence which creates some difficulty to me: "They are going to be letting me out next week". I don't understand why the author used the verb to be in "to be letting me out". Is this correct?  I thing it should be "they are going to let me out next week."

This is the context of the sentence:

  I grab her hand and open the curled fingers. I place it in her palm. Luckily, it is practically nothing. A swizzle stick. Granted, a very old cool swizzle stick, a wooden one advertising "City ice Cubes" with a little character on it with an ice-block head. But it is still a swizzle stick nonetheless. And nothing for her to get all huffy about. Theresa looks at me and smiles, the one she was smiling before she forgot that she wasn't supposed to be smiling at me. "Thanks, J. You know, you really don't have to keep coming here every day. I think they are going to be letting me out next week."


texts:
Address:
#FloorUnit - #UnitNumber

Example:
#123 - #123

What is standard name of the "-" in between FloorUnit and UnitNumber? Make sense.


texts: Word or Phrase for the small protuberance found opposite the handle on a tea strainer?

texts:
As seen in the following images :

Here: Link

The bumpy thing aiding the strainer in hanging on to a teacup here: Link

Does this part of the anatomy of a tea strainer (and other similar items which need to hang from the lips of larger items) actually have a name by which it can be referred?


texts: Which is more correct and/or common "Happy Median" or "Happy Medium"? Any history on the two would also be interesting.


texts: Is it "combinations between" or "combinations of" in the following context?

texts:
Which preposition should be used with combinations in the following sentence?

  We should consider all possible combinations between/of different
  versions of A on the one hand, and different versions of B on the other.

Generally, "combination of" seems to be way more popular.

Google Ngram Viewer

But in the above context, we have different versions on each side of the combination, which is why I think maybe "combination between" is a better choice. So, notice please that the expressions on the one hand and on the other are crucial to the context and thus to my question.


texts: I need a word or phrase to describe the sensation people experience when they hear nails scratching on a chalkboard.  I don't want to describe the noise , just the sensation.


texts: Single auxilliary verb before conjunction "and" vs. two auxilliary verbs around it

texts:
Which one of these statements is correct or more appropriate or recommended?

Alice is an artist and is very popular for her work.
Alice is an artist and she is very popular for her work.
Alice is an artist and very popular for her work.

How about these?

I have read the document and have corrected the mistakes in it.
I have read the document and I have corrected the mistakes in it.
I have read the document and corrected mistakes in it.

How about these?

I have read the document and have found it interesting.
I have read the document and I found it interesting.
I have read the document and found it interesting.

All those statements seem valid to me. But I am not a native English speaker. So I want to understand if all those statements are really valid both from grammatical point of view as well as from the point of view of popular usage, and if any one form is preferred to the others.


texts: When using complete sentences in parenthetical e.g. or i.e. situations, should the first word be capitalized?

texts:
In a bulleted list of very technical sentences, where each bulleted item has one or two parenthetical examples or restatements which are complete sentences, should the first letter of each e.g. or i.e. sentence be capitalized or not?

Example:

Here is my technical sentence. (e.g., Should the first word of this e.g. be capitalized like this?)
Here is another technical sentence.  (i.e., this really isn't a i.e. different example to highlight whether the first word should or should not be capitalized after a parenthetical i.e.)


texts: Can I transform this sentence like this?

texts:
This is the original sentence:
"The guests reached the wedding party last night though it rained heavily."
I transformed it to:
"It rained heavily last night;however, the guests reached the wedding party."
Is this correct?


texts: What's the difference between "note" (noun), "notation" and "annotation"?

texts:
I'm confused by those three words, especially between "notation" and "annotation". When choose one over else? And why?

I did a search, find this - Is there a difference between “note-taking” & “notation”?, but, it's not what I'm looking for.

Thanks!


texts: A word that means 'hateful but indispensable'

texts: Is there a single adjective meaning 'hateful but indispensable' or something close? (Not "love-hate"). British or American would be OK.


texts: Word for something happening after it is mentioned

texts:
When something happens when it, or something related to it, was previously mentioned. It doesn't necessarily have to be wished.

It is almost similar to "speaking of the devil".

My friend talked about her high school reunion and I told her that I haven't seen my high school friends since I graduated. The next day, I bumped into my high school friend at a mutual friend's party.


texts: "Any" followed by singular or plural countable nouns?

texts: This question has troubled me for ages despite my several attempts of looking it up in dictionaries or usage books. Do we say, "Do you have any ideas" or "Do you have any idea"? I do see an example where "any" means "it doesn't matter who/which/what", therefore "You can borrow any book you like." Also, does it matter between using it in questions and negatives?


texts:
All students should be wearing the same uniforms, so they don't have to feel embarrassed for their clothes.

Should it be "for" or "about"?


texts: An equivalent of "Your Honor" for a Congresswoman?

texts:
I am writing to a Congresswoman and would like to use a honorific similar to "Your honor." I think 'your honor' is only used in judiciary vocabulary.

Are honorifics used in formal American English?


texts: Are these two sentences gramatically correct?

texts:
(1) We sat on the corner of the restaurant talking how blessed we were for having a new house.

(2) We sat on the corner of the restaurant and talking how blessed we were for having a new house.

I somehow think that the sentences above are not correct or meaningful. Yet it's beyond me. Any correction is welcome.

Many thanks!


texts: Difference between "function" and "operation"

texts:
Which one of the following is correct?

  Instructions given by the Vice Principal on behalf of the Principal for smooth function of the school must be followed by all staff members.

or

  Instructions given by the Vice Principal on behalf of the Principal for smooth operation of the school must be followed by all staff members.


texts: "Development of technology" vs. "technology development"

texts:
I was wondering which form is the correct one, "technology development" or "the development of technology".

For example:

  The pace of technology development affected me in several ways.
  The pace of development of technology affected me in several ways.

In the second example I try to emphasize the speed of development more.


texts:
Hopefully you are fine!

When we say about someone is an "enemy of something", it means that he or she is an enemy of that something and is against it.

But, here are two passages where it is difficult to perceive this meaning.

The first is:

  He was, however, a vigorous defender of a conception of natural
  science that served in his mind as the antidote to vain and fruitless
  philosophical investigation. In clarifying this new distinction
  between science and philosophy, and especially in fighting vigorously
  for it in public campaigns directed against the perceived enemies of
  fanaticism and superstition, Voltaire pointed modern philosophy down
  several paths that it subsequently followed.

The second is:

  This apparent victory in the Newton Wars of the 1730s and 1740s
  allowed Voltaire's new philosophical identity to solidify. Especially
  crucial was the way that it allowed Voltaire's outlaw status, which he
  had never fully repudiated, to be rehabilitated in the public mind as
  a necessary and heroic defense of philosophical truth against the
  enemies of error and prejudice. From this perspective, Voltaire's
  critical stance could be reintegrated into traditional Old Regime
  society as a new kind of legitimate intellectual martyrdom.

Both passages are from an article on Voltaire.

Apparently, it seems that, in the first passage, the perceived enemies of
 fanaticism and superstition are those traditionalists who Voltaire fought against. So, it is something like the perceived warriors of fanaticism and superstition who were enemies of Enlightenment. In other words, "fanaticism" and "superstition" are in fact properties of the "enemies".

The same is the case in the second passage.

I want your view on it. As I was not able to find any such meaning in the online dictionaries, I want confirmation or correction of my perception of the meaning of "enemies" in the aforementioned two passages.


texts: A word meaning "to set equal to one" in a mathematical application?

texts:
How do I describe the process of setting something equal to 1 in a mathematical application?

I often deal with numbers and figures that are set equal to zero when certain conditions are met, and the word for this (that we use, at least) is "zeroise". Is there such a word for the same process, except where we are setting numbers equal to one?

I would like to think that it is "unionise" but the idea of unionising labourers seems to be too strong here.

Any other suggestions?


texts: Terminology for Statistics: top 1/2 percent as a '-tile'

texts:
The top 25% is the top quartile.
The top 10% is the top decile.
The top 1% is the top percentile.

Is there a term for the equivalent for the top 0.5%, i.e. 1-in-200?


texts:
The context here is programming, so I'm not sure if anyone could understand.

I have a function that takes in two parameters. The first parameter is an enum while the second parameter is a list (of enum). What the function does is to search through the list to see if any of the enum matches the first enum parameter.

I'm trying to come up with appropriate names for the two parameters. Initially, I named the first parameter matchWith and the second parameter matchAgainst. Then I looked at it and felt that something is definitely wrong with these names.

I have read this, which would make the second parameter into candidates, but would still left me clueless how to name the first parameter.

What are some suitable choices for my case?


texts:
I came across a question in my book of whose answer I did not find satisfactory. Please help me

Q) Improve the bracketed part of the sentence.

The guest stood quietly for (few moments).

The answer given is:
“Few moments” will be replaced with “a few moments”.

My question is:
Is Using “few moments”, i.e. without improvement, not assumed correct?


texts:
Is there an adjective that can sum up "better than expected"?

For example: "Progress was better than expected." Is there a single word I can use to describe what the progress was like? I'm looking more for in the context of progress that went beyond initial expectations.  I saw some suggestions online like "fantastic, amazing, wonderful", but those to me don't symbolize "beyond expected", but more like "beyond great".


texts:
I just use "wong" as if I am saying "wrong" without the "r". For example "You are wong. try again" However, this word is moderated in roblox chat several times.

Merriam Webster and other dictionaries define wong as an obsolete term meaning field, meadow.

Is there some other meaning of this word?


texts: What is the problem that gets worse after you try to solve it?

texts:
Example sentence - This problem is a _____ which gets complicated every time you try to solve it.

Is there such a word that represents a problem which will become worse if/when one tries to solve it?

Note - After seeing the comments and answers I'd like to add that this is not a can of worms or Pandora's box because it doesn't create a new problem but just worsens.

Example: Magic leaves protecting a fruit by enclosing it. Every time a leaf is touched, all the leaves close together further, that is more tight than before.


texts:
I would like ask Native English person.
Which one is natural?

Welcome Guide JAPAN

JAPAN Welcome Guide

Welcome JAPAN Guide


texts: Meaning of the sentence "the body was found murdered by John"

texts:
Which of the two versions
Mr.S. was found murdered, by John
Mr.S. was found, murdered by John
means that John found the body and which one means that John was the murderer?


texts: Why should I use the words "entire group of boys" instead of "entire boys". I know the first one is correct but can't explain why other than it sounds right. I need to explain why as part of a paper.


texts: Conditional: if verb be + adjective, is it referred to the past?

texts:
Sentences:

Terms of a competition (2018): nothing.

Terms of a competition (2019): If the athlete is awarded, he will not be considered for future competitions.

For example: if I was awarded in 2018 and the terms of the competition are new. Do I have to expect not to be considered for that competition? because is If the athlete is awarded referred to something that happened in the past or in the future? If I was awarded in the past, is the new condition true?


texts: What's the origin of using "toboggan" to mean a knit cap?

texts:
I'd always know the word "toboggan" to mean a sled. In the last couple years I've met people who insisted on calling their winter knit caps "toboggans." All of these people happened to be from either Kentucky or Tennessee.  Wikipedia mentions that

  In the United States south and midwest, especially Appalachia, it is often called a "toboggan".

but there's no info about origin. When and where did this usage come from?


texts: Can "our" be used with "singular subject"?

texts:
I doubt that this sentence is correct.

  Tutorials Point (I) Pvt. Ltd provides no guarantee regarding the accuracy, timeliness or completeness of our website or its contents including this tutorial.

I asked the writer/author and he said the sentence is correct.

I think he should have used its and not our. Am I right or wrong? If someone knows why please explain why our is correct and give more examples.


texts: Is there an idiom or set phrase for "all you need to do is just doing it"?

texts:
Usually, in order to do something, we need to be well-prepared for it. For example, if you want to cook a dinner, you have to go to the market, choose fresh food, bring it home, season it. After that, you are now ready to cook. So, if you have someone else done all that stuff for you, then your only job now is just cooking. Is there an idiom or set phrase for this? I think just saying "just cook" is so simple.

My initial intention is to use it for cooking only, but general idioms are welcomed.


texts:
I want to know if my friend finish to organized his new apartment.

Is the sentence below sounds good?

  Did you finish to organize your new apartment?

Thank you!


texts: difference between "this very" and "this particular"

texts:
It grew to my attention lately that I've read multiple authors using the expression "this very" like:

I will be writing on this very blog
I recommend going to this very restaurant

What's the value of using "very" on these sentences and what is the difference if we replaced "very" with "particular" ?

Note: My native language is Arabic.


texts: "Dave saying that really pissed me off" 2 subjects?

texts:
So I was teaching and came up with a sentence like this. I'm British and it seems like something I could imagine saying but the grammar seems weird and the students didn't like.

I'm NOT TALKING ABOUT POSSESSIVES BEFORE A GERUND which has been answered here.

Are sentences like this possible? If so what is going here?

1.. Him saying that annoyed me.

You doing that caused so many problems.


texts: What is the word called once you go from ignorance to knowledgeable and still doing that negative action even though you know the truth

texts: Example: coffee with milk. Coffee in it natural form is healthy, but when adding sugar and milk it become unhealthy. But the person still going to drink it knowing the truth.


texts: Should the preposition 'by' be used before all the gerunds if there are more than one?

texts:
Is this grammatically and syntactically correct?

  … by a) studying and b) helping

– or should it be:

  … a) by studying and b) by helping


texts: Do I have to repeat the same subject after "and" when introducing a new verb?

texts:
I’ve got a question about how to write this sentence with and:

  You don’t need and you mustn’t forget

Versus:

  You don’t need and mustn’t forget.

Which of those is well written? Is it necessary to place a repeated you after the verb the way I did in the first version?  Or can I omit it the way I did in the second?

I’m confused because in Spanish we say:

  Tú no necesitas y no debes olvidar.

It sounds good that way; we don’t add the personal pronoun tú again after the conjunction y.


texts: Is the suffix "-ize" particularly productive in the morphological domain of nouns ending in "-nym"?

texts:
On a recent question asking if acronymize is a word, a comment caught my attention:

  Why bother to acronymize? If I'm going to take such liberties, I might as well just acronym the text.

This really got me thinking. I am quite certain I've never used either verb. But I am just as certain that if I had to verb acronym, and do it quick, my brain would not so much as consider to acronym. There's just something about it that doesn't quite feel right. To acronymize, on the other hand, sounds perfectly natural. So not only would I go with the latter, but I'd do so without giving it a second thought. On complete autopilot. Instinctively.

Why would that be? That instinct has to come from somewhere.

My first and only guess right now is that -nym is the perpetrator here. That it outright attracts the -ize rather than the null morpheme. Just like -(o)log- attracts -ical over -ic, that kind of thing. But is that really true, or is there something else at work here?

And as a bonus question: are there other morphological domains in which -ize is especially productive? For a suffix that common, I suppose it's not too unlikely that someone actually went to the trouble of compiling a handy list of them all.


texts: What is the subject of a participial phrase?

texts:
But the hand which I now saw, clearly enough, in the yellow light of a
mid-London morning, lying half shut on the bedclothes, was lean,
corded, knuckly, of a dusky pallor and thickly shaded with a swart
growth of hair.

This is from the classic novel Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. I wonder what was lying half shut on the bedclothes. Was it a hand or speaker itself?


texts:
So I've seen this expression in a sentence which seems to be a career. Can anyone tell me what does it mean?

  Poya was in his earlier days a culture devourer. He once went to a record store and bought a box of Beethoven’s symphonies


texts: What does the usage of "under" in this context mean?

texts:
What does under mean here, how do you define it?

From a biography:

  Shum graduated from Arroyo Grande High School in 2000. He started
  dancing with his high school dance company team and continued his
  career in San Francisco under several different studios.


texts: What word means people who blindly follow the routine?

texts: What’s the word for people who act mindlessly,  accepting and  following the routine they have been told to follow by either society or government or something?


texts: Why is "tion" pronounced as "shun" but not "chun"?

texts:
I know English spelling never follows English pronunciation and I also know that English spelling is very irregular but there are reasons for such irregularities. This question is only asking about the reason.
The suffix tion is pronounced as /ʃən/ (shun) and not /tʃən/ (chun).
According to an answer by user Kosmonaut to a question "What rules of English allow the first t in “patient” to make an sh sound?":

The reason something pronounced [ʃ] ("sh") would ever get the spelling "ti" is because of palatalization. Basically, the "io" diphthong contains a palatal consonant [j] ("y" sound), which, in certain cases, pulls the place of articulation of other consonants towards it (e.g. t->ʃ).

That answer also says

"Tuesday": /tjuzdeɪ/ ("Tyoozday") comes out as [tʃuzdeɪ] ("Choozday").*

Now there is some confusion, if io (as in "tion") contains /j/ and the palatalization of /t/ and /j/ (y) yields /tʃ/ (ch), then why is "tion" pronounced as /ʃən/ but not /tʃən/?
Also "question" is pronounced with /tʃ/. "Nature", "posture", "perpetual" etc also have /tʃ/ and I am sure it is the result of palatalization.


texts: How to use articles with scientific words, such as mass, force, impulse, field and others?

texts: How are articles used with scientific quantities, such as mass, force, impulse, field and others?


texts: Word for the skill of asking good questions

texts:
I'm looking for a word like curious or inquisitive. But those are traits and they seem more... naturally born.

I'm looking for the name of a learned skill that means that you're good at asking the right questions and analyzing things.

A sample sentence would be:

  We wanted her on our case competition team because she was good at _____.


texts: Adjacent means side-by-side. What's the word for behind-one-another?

texts:
Example: rows 9 and 10 in the theatre are ??? rows.

Alternatively: rows 9 an 10 are ???-ly adjacent (while seats B and C are laterally adjacent).

There are words like subsequent, consecutive, etc., which have a somewhat temporal flavour, or at the very least hint at a sequential context (both are cognates of sequor, after all). But what's a good word choice for a strictly spatial context: an object behind/in front of another?

Clarification: I am a quasi-native speaker specifically curious as to why such a word seems so elusive, and equally as interested whether such a word exists in other languages. If there's no such thing, I'll accept that as an answer too.


texts:
I have been seeing a lot of "finite clauses" recently, all used in different ways. So I am here trying to clarify all the ways finite clauses can be used (or most of them).

I know a few finite clauses, like relative and content, but I don't know how much more there are.

Also, as a side question, I am wondering how the subordinate clause is acting here if you say
 "I will decide when we should go to the movies tomorrow"

Is the clause nominal, or a content clause, even though it starts with when? Also, is it even okay to call these clauses nominal (adverbial or adjectivial, too)?


texts: What to call someone who always says "nothing" on most things you ask?

texts: I am referring to the kind of person, when you ask him something he will say "nothing" all the time. When you ask them the question again or why they responded like this, they say "forget it" or "because it's an irrelevant question" (even though it really is not a relevant question to you.) They only respond like that on questions, not constantly on everything you say throughout the conversation, though.


texts:
I was once told that it's incorrect to begin a sentence, "regardless, . . . ."  Instead, one must specify "regardless of" something.

E.g., "Regardless, they should not have skipped out on the check" should be "Regardless of the bad service, they should not have skipped out on the check."

Does it matter whether the preceding sentences explain the "regardless" issue?  E.g., if there are three sentences explaining why the service was bad, it is then ok to write "Regardless, they should not have skipped out on the check", the assumption being that it's clear in context what the "regardless" is addressing?


texts: What does "intake" of central intake mean?

texts:
I was at the Employment and Social Services office and they gave me a leaflet that contains a list of useful numbers to call. One of the numbers is for Central Intake. It is for homeless individuals and families who are in need of emergency shelter.

Does central here means it's an office that has power or control over other parts? What about intake, what does it mean?

I couldn't find an appropriate definition from the dictionaries.


texts: Which object is modified by the infinitive in this sentence?

texts:
The sentence is like this:

  Governments must ensure that their major cities receive the financial
  support they need in order to thrive.

I'm not sure about the to thrive. Does this sentence mean:

(1) To make the major cities thrive, governments need to support them financially.

Or

(2) To make the governments themselves thrive, governments need to support major cities financially.

In other word, which one is modified by to thrive? Is it Governments or cities and why? Does anyone have ideas about this?


texts: Why is the word 'hash' associated with the '#' character?

texts: The '#' symbol has many names, but hash is the one that confuses me. I know the etymology of the word 'hash', but how did it become associated with that character?


texts:
A private student's story contained the cited line below, which sounded awkward and strange.

  “I was on camping with my family”

I know you can “go on holiday”, but you can't “go on camping”. However,  if a person can “be on holiday”, can they also “be on camping”? I don't think so, unless it is slang. Is it? Is it colloquial? Suffice to say I have never spent a single minute under a tent in my entire life and anything to do with Scouts and Girl Guides has always left me utterly indifferent.

So which is the most idiomatic? Are any of suggested edits incorrect? Why? Is there perhaps a better alternative?

I was camping with my family
I was on a camping holiday with my family
I went camping with my family
I was away camping with my family

Bonus question

I wonder, why do we say ‘on holiday’ or ‘on vacation’ but not ‘on camping’?


texts: Which is correct: "lying gang of scum", or "gang of lying scum"?

texts:
The subject of politics arose in the pub this afternoon (as it should not, really, but there you are), and the question of whether it was correct to describe a particular party as a "lying gang of scum", or a "gang of lying scum" came to the fore quickly (as it will, in discussions of politics).

Could anyone suggest which is correct, or (if both) which is preferable?


texts:
The first sentence on this page: https://www.wired.com/2015/02/powerspy-phone-tracking/ says SMARTPHONE USERS MIGHT balk at letting a random app like Candy Crush or Shazam track their every move via GPS., now I wonder why there is no to before the word track, e.g.: SMARTPHONE USERS MIGHT balk at letting a random app like Candy Crush or Shazam to track their every move via GPS. Could you someone please clarify if adding to before the word track is still correct English? If that is wrong, could someone help me understand why?

Thanks!


texts: Article 'a' altering the meaning of a phrase

texts:
Recently, at work, I had an argument with a colleague on the use of article 'a' in the sentence: "Active i is just 'a' little more than a smaller and cheaper Activa."

In the sentence, he meant that 'Activa i is nothing but a smaller and cheaper version of Activa'. He insists that adding 'just a' to the original sentence has changed the meaning.

I disagree: To me none of the two sentences convey the intended meaning.

Please help me sort out the confusion.


texts: Is 'equivocate' a euphemism for 'lie' or can it not be about lying?

texts:
I can almost remember the first time I had ever heard/saw the word 'equivocate', probably in some junior-high vocabulary lesson. Like with many latinate neologisms, at first blush it sounds weak and meaningless, its constituent parts don't combine directly to the given definition.

But my memory of the definition was that the teacher (or authority, or my memory of those) said it meant 'to lie, to present a falsehood'. The word sounds like a euphemism to me, an obscurantism, instead of baldly stating 'a lie'.

But now many years later and many uses and hearings of it, I find that the dictionary rendering is essentially 'to be ambiguous with the intention of misleading'. And that is definitely not 'lying'; it's close, and it's related, but it is not the same.

So now, I want to really know, which is it? Is it 'lying by willfully misleading with ambiguous language' or is it 'willfully misleading with ambiguous language, but can also be used for "lying"' or just 'willfully misleading, not lying per se, you'd have to do something extra to be considered lying'.


texts: Is there a single word meaning "something which stops something"?

texts: A trigger is something which causes something to start, e.g. caffeine and stress can be triggers for palpitations. Is there an opposite noun, a single word meaning "something which causes something to stop?" E.g. "Exercise can be a [thing which stops/mitigates/reduces] palpitations."


texts: Is the correct pronunciation of an English word mutable according to popular usage? I don’t want to mispronounce words the way I hear them used because people ignore the correct spelling ie ibuprofen vs Ibeeprofen.


texts: What does "The beggared turn up" mean here

texts:
The failure by the National Union of Namibian Workers (NUNW) to fill the Windhoek Youth complex to capacity during the May Day celebrations has raised eye-brows with curious questions arising concerning its influence and its ability to mobilise the workers.

The beggared turn up at the youth complex also saw the head of state, President Hage Geingob snubbing the event altogether and his speech had to be delivered by the Swapo secretary general, Sophia Shaaningwa.


texts: Can we use "it" for referring to people sometimes?

texts:
When I'm answering someone asking me about someone else, "Is that him?", can I answer like

  Yes, it's him.

or

  Yes, he is him.


texts: Confusion about book title capitalization

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  Which words in a title should be capitalized?

Why are some book titles written with all letters in all words capitalized, while others choose to capitalize some words in the title? I mean, for example, when it comes to publication, what is the difference between "THINKING IN JAVA" and "Thinking in Java"?


texts: Synonyms for the idea of "magic in the air", or something intangible?

texts:
I'm looking for a more descriptive choice of words to evoke the sense of "magic in the air", or "something in the water", something intangible, hard to place, etc, to describe a phenomenon that is ostensibly unexplainable or unplaceable, so the best explanation is attributing it to some supernatural power.

  The community's unmistakably rural feel is not due to [something intangible]; it can be explained by zoning and minimum lot size regulations.

So far, the best word that gets at what I'm trying to say is "alchemy" or something along those lines: witchcraft, black magic, etc. Are there any idioms that capture this idea as well? I'm seeking either single words, or multiple word phrases. I understand that the words I've floated so far span a range of connotations; I'd welcome suggestions covering a spectrum of positive to negative connotations.

Any insight on this type of construction would be appreciated. Especially examples of similar ideas expressed in literature or common speech.


texts: I wonder if "behavior" is countable. Is it? Can we say "He showed lots of unacceptable behaviors"?


texts: singular or plural, is/are some price you have to pay

texts:
everyone, what should I use in the sentence below? Should I use "are" to agree with the subject, which are two matters, or should I use "is" to agree with the object "price", which is an uncountable noun?

If you want to be famous, except for a loss of privacy, picking up bad habits and addiction to fame is/are often also some price you have to pay.


texts: Word to describe when, where or how privacy is kept, trust is maintained, and integrity matters

texts:
Here is a list of scenarios on why honest people would need privacy and anonymity.

My marketing research tells me that the word "anonymity" is too closely related to hacking, and "privacy" reminds people of stealthy operations or unsavory deeds.

I think that privacy is needed for testing the expression of ideas, or maturing them with feedback... not to mention all the other scenarios listed on that page.

What is a good word or phrase to describe privacy in a honest or positive light?  I want to avoid any negative connotation implied with most synonyms provided.

The word can be a noun, adjective, or phrase.  I'm just trying to escape the negative connotations of privacy and enter into some other branch of thinking

Use Case

I'm developing a product that combines the seemingly conflicting use cases of anonymity and accountability, and putting them into practice as an iOS or Android app.  I need to name the app, create relevant marketing material and education, and to convey the sense of trust and safety that I'm envisioning.

There is a difference in implied meaning with the words anonymity, trust and privacy within "IT Security / Techies / Nerds" circles, vs what is seen by conspiracy theorists (not target audience), vs average joe.

The latter is my target audience.  I'm a nerd.


texts: Then the [noun] will vs. the [noun] will then

texts:
I was just writing something and came across these two alternations of saying this, and was curious what the difference between them is, and if one of them is technically incorrect.

After a quick google and search here didn't yield any obvious answers, I'm asking all of you!

... then the contestant will attempt to ....

vs

... the contestant will then attempt to ...


texts: Is "to hide gold" used with meaning of "to hide one's talents or money"?

texts: In Brazil, the expression "to hide the gold" (Portuguese: "esconder o ouro") is used to express that someone is hiding his/her own talents or wealth, for modesty or because he/she doesn't want to be bothered because of those talents or wealth. Is the same expression used in English with the same meaning? If not, which's an equivalent expression?


texts: Shortest correct sentence in English- use of contractions

texts:
I often hear people saying that "I am" is the shortest sentence in the English language.  I know that there are also discussions about sentences using the imperative mood such as "Go." that would be shorter, but my question is this:

Why would we (the people saying "I am" is a full sentence) not accept "I'm" as a complete sentence?  Is there some unwritten rule about contractions that says "I'm" wouldn't be correct?


texts: What kind of elliptical construction would the following interpretation fall into and what are some similar examples?

texts:
Here is the sentence construction:

As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of
God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being
built up.

I want to argue that the phrase "rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious" is implied in the second part of the sentence. In other words I want to argue for an elliptical construction like this:

As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of
God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones (rejected
by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious) are being built
up.

What kind of elliptical construction would this be and what are some other examples of it? If it is not an elliptical construction, what kind of construction is it?


texts:
Why don't we use  " 's "(possessive S)  in the first sentence as in the second one?

  I have the same color eyes as my father.
  My personality is very similar to my father's.

Can we use "my father's" for the first sentence and "my father" for second one?

Or

  She was born on the same day as me.
  Her ideas are quite similar to mine.

Why in the first sentence do we use object pronoun, but possessive pronoun in the second one.


texts: Was "Do not you want to know..." correct 200 years ago, and is now incorrect?

texts:
"Do not you want to know who has taken it?'' cried his wife impatiently.
-Pride and Prejudice (1813)

According to one of the answers in
Is "Don't you know? " the same as "Do not you know?"?, "Do not you want to know..." is "ungrammatical; you is not heavy enough to shift past not". 200 years does not seem to be that long. When did this happen?
I do not like contractions, so I would like to use "Do not you.." but all the sources say I should use "Do you not..." instead. I am just curious how "Do not you..." became incorrect within 200 years.