texts: Phrase meaning "welcome after", in the sense that someone understood or perceived something later than the majority

texts:
I'm looking for a phrase said to someone when they've understood or perceived something later than the majority or a group of people. For example, a group of students solve a math problem. Then, after a significant amount of time, a student yells the answer. Then students then say the phrase (welcome after).

In Norwegian, there is a phrase; "velkommen etter", said in a mildly derogatory way. It means exactly what I'm after, so I google translated it to see if what it's English equivalent was. When "welcome after" came up, I started to doubt if an English counterpart even exists. I feel like "welcome after" is simply the two words directly translated, and not the phrase's equivalent.

I saw no indication that "welcome after" is actually a phrase when googling it, which is also why I wasn't satisfied with that google translate answer.


texts: Some questions about the lyric of "so feel autumn rain"

texts:
so feel autumn rain

Can 'feel' be modified by 'so' without saying what's the feeling?

  Leaving with twilight though I was chosen

Why 'I was chosen' can be the cause of 'leaving with twilight'. You didn't chose, You were chosen. (and be chosen for what?)

  I find the dreams are to stay

Who to stay? the dreams or 'i' ?  I just don't know which is the object of 'find'.

Full lyric:

Leaving with twilight though I was chosen
To wander the way in the darkest of nights
Oh, in the summer sun how soon I came to stray
A true damnation, when I turned away

So fell autumn rain, washed away all my pain
I feel brighter somehow, lighter somehow to breathe once again
So fell autumn rain, washed my sorrows away
With the sunset behind somehow I find the dreams are to stay
So fell autumn rain

Blinded by dawning so you would take me
Further away, away from the fall
Oh, you told me I must never dream again
A true damnation, you left me the pain

So fell autumn rain, but all things must pass

So fell autumn rain, washed away all my pain
I feel brighter somehow, lighter somehow to breathe once again
So fell autumn rain, washed my sorrows away
With the sunset behind somehow I find the dreams are to stay
So fell winter


texts: To reach an exceptionally high standard in any area very able children need THE MEANS to learn


texts: Sometimes you might hear the phrase, tyranny of the dictionary Is there a way to express succinctly just what that means?


texts: "right of say" -- legal term? poor translation?

texts:
I'm looking at a political document where Country A is saying Country B has no right of say over Area C.

A cursory search did not turn up a legal term but I do not have an adequate legal dictionary on hand.

They do not mean right of way (I can tell from other contextual elements) but they could mean control. However, I get the sense that a finer nuance is intended.

The text is written by a non-native English speaker.


texts: Can I use the word "sceptical" this way?

texts:
I am sceptical about my vacation plan.

Is this the correct way to write? I wanted to express doubt about my vacation schedule. I have to tell someone that my vacation schedule has yet to be finalized and I am not sure when I will be able to go.


texts: How widespread is the usage of Senior, Junior, III in British English?

texts:
Upon asking about the Spanish equivalences of Senior, Junior and III, I got to know that these are commonly used in United States, but not that much in Britain. Talking about the United Kingdom, a user said:

  (...) I suspect that since we do not have a common solution parents avoid the situation, We did have prime ministers called Pitt the elder and Pitt the younger but that is not a current usage as far as I know.

And in fact, Wikipedia on suffix names states that:

  In the United States the most common name suffixes are senior and junior, which are written with a capital first letter ("Jr." and "Sr.") with or without an interceding comma. In Britain these are more rare, but when they are used the abbreviations are "Jnr" and "Snr", respectively.

So I wonder: how typical is to have the suffix name Senior, Junior or III in Britain? Is there a prevalence of it in any time in history?


texts: What is the difference between benison and blessing?

texts: I looked it up notably on wikidiff, but the difference is barely noticeable: both words essentially mean blessing, it seems. That's also what most dictionaries say.


texts: variations for indicating "performed payment"

texts:
If we need to say(write) that "some program procedure checks if an advance payment has been performed".
What would be the "best choice" in terms of most usable and preferable verbs for such case ("performed", "entered" or "received")?
The payment, in this case, is "almost" completed action : the payer's bank has released the funds but the executing agency hasn't received the funds as yet  Thanks.


texts: What's a word to describe an apartment when its owners are on vacation?

texts:
Please help me choose the most suitable word in this context:

  When I went on vacation, thieves climbed into my abandoned apartment.

Does 'abandoned' word fit well in this usage? My apartment does not contain junk and not dilapidated. Good one with all necessary properties. It just was temporarily without owners. Nobody lived there for a few days.

What're better and more suitable options?

derelict, deserted, forsaken, emptied, unoccupied,  outcast, something else?


texts:
I need a word to describe something like this:

Disclaimer: I'm not a Smallville fan.

A half-smile or a sappy smile.

Any suggestions?


texts: What should I respond when someone ends their sentence with ',no?'

texts:
How should I respond when someone ends their sentence with ', no?'.
I can see this going two ways:

No

yes:  yes to the no.
no:   no to the no.

Example:
Q:

your day was good, no?
A:
No, it was good

or

Yes, I didn't have a good day

Sentence

yes:  yes to the sentence
no:   no to the sentence

Example:
Q:

your day was good, no?
A:
yes, it was good

or

no, I had a bad day

(if there was a clarity, I would use it)


texts: Is there a word that means "not fitting my preferred version of reality"?

texts:
For example, suppose there's a nice guy I don't know very well. He, through a series of unfortunate events, marries an abusive cheating skank. This does not hurt my feelings, as I am not emotionally invested in the well-being of this particular nice guy. But in my preferred version of the universe, nice guys would not have to deal with such calamity.

What word conveys, rather dispassionately, that good people should have good things happen to them, and a dislike for this being untrue?


texts: "Operate" on fossil fuels vs "Run" on fossil fules

texts:
Example sentence:

  Since our obsolete power stations still run on fossil fuels, they emit
  substantial amounts of greenhouse gases.

Would it be more formal, if it is changed into the following form:

  Since our obsolete power stations still operate on fossil fuels,
  they emit substantial amounts of greenhouse gases.

Which one of the verbs sounds better in this context, or would you recommend some other verbs? I assume that to run on is a rather informal expression.


texts: Is the phrase "out of the box" an adjective or an adverb or an idiom?

texts:
Could someone explain the meaning of the phrase "out of the box"? Is it an adjective or an adverb or an idiom? Please point out its function in below sentences.

For Python fans of Google’s Cloud SQL (currently available in limited preview), the long awaited out-of-the-box support for the Django framework has arrived and is now available as an experimental feature.
Django 1.3 is not available on all Python runtimes out of the box


texts: What does 'thingy' in the context of 'Happy Thingy Birthday' refer to?

texts: Currently staying in Bali, had a birthday, staff decorated with ballons saying "Happy Thingy Birthday". Is this common in (Asian) English? What does thingy mean in this context?


texts:
When using (s), should "is" or "are" be used?

Regardless of what option(s) is decided.
or
Regardless of what option(s) are decided.


texts: What is the difference between "trans" and "inter" prefixes? For example what how does "trans-disciplinary" differ from "inter-disciplinary"?


texts: Singular or plural verb with "coupled with"

texts:
I believe that up-to-date knowledge and experience, coupled with the motivation of young people, are two assets that make their advice more pivotal.

In this question I want to say "up-to-date knowledge and experience" and "motivation of young people" are two assets. However, if I use "coupled with" I have to use singular verb is. How can I solve that?

Also, is comma ", coupled with the motivation of young people," necessary in the sentence, or I can remove that?


texts:
We were staying at the most expensive hotel in town. But, even so, there were no toilet rolls in the washroom.

I was struck by the use of 'even so' in the above sentence. Is it correct? Shouldn't it be more like: The hotel room didn't have much amenities, but, even so, it had the best view in town.


texts: What's a finite verb? It's not just the opposite of an infinitive, is it? Can I get some examples?


texts: Stepfamily, Cousins and Other Ancestries

texts:
What is the relationship between me and...

my cousin
my stepson

I found this image:

but I'm still confused what the relationship is.

Is "first cousin" and "cousin" the same?
Are there other (common) kinship terms I should know?

A graphic, no matter how crude, will benefit me the greatest (as opposed to a block of text).


texts:
I saw some scenarios that used the structure "to + V-ing", such as the following:

Looking forward to hearing.
Disposed to using few words.
I would like to apply what I learned in school to helping make more money.
This is the closest we have come to winning the league.

When can I use this structure? I'm confused about that.


texts: If a director produces awful films, which he would better spare the world--can one call it "needless cinema"? or maybe "redundant cinema"? Or (if both sound bad), which word would be more suitable to convey the notion of "which would be better spared the world"?


texts: I am confused about the meaning of this sentence with the placement of the commas

texts:
All teachers under age sixty-five, and those over age sixty-five who are not eligible for Medicare, shall be allowed to purchase medical coverage.

Does this mean:

  All teachers under age sixty-five shall be allowed to purchase medical coverage.
  Those over age sixty-five who are not eligible for Medicare shall be allowed to purchase medical coverage.

Or does it mean:

  All teachers under age sixty-five and those over age sixty-five who are not eligible for Medicare shall be allowed to purchase medical coverage.

I am being told that I cannot buy medical insurance because I am 60 and have medicare and still want to buy the insurance as a secondary policy.


texts: Is the following singular/plural inconsistency common in informal speech?

texts:
I saw a white figure inside the house. A ghost? But my uncle had
  told me they didn't exist.

Is this common in informal English? If not, what's the correct alternative?


texts: Ambiguous formulation with respect to "minimal"

texts:
To my understanding each of the following sentences

Let x be a minimal foobar containing baz.
Let x be a minimal foobar which contains baz.
Let x be a minimal foobar such that x contains baz.

can be interpreted either as "(minimal foobar) containing baz", i.e.

  x is minimal foobar and baz is in x

or  as "minimal (foobar containing baz)", i.e.

  x is foobar and baz is in x and there is no smaller foobar containing x

Would you consider one of these interpretations "standard" (in a mathematical context) and can you suggest concise alternative formulations that unambiguously refer to one of these?


texts:
The establishment of trust is quite difficult but for cartel it is comparatively easy.

What is the difference between trust and cartel?

Does the word "oligopoly" have a different meaning in comparison with both of the words above?


texts: Why “off the table” is not included in major English dictionaries while “on the table” is shown as an idiom in all of them?

texts:
I recently saw a cartoon in which President Obama in a physician’s costume followed by an elephant and a buffalo in a suit is lifting up the one end of a surgery trolley marked “Big pharma and insurance lobby” and throwing a patient woman labeled “US Public” down on the floor with the caption “Single-payer healthcare is off the table.”

I consulted English dictionaries to make sure of the meaning of “off the table,” though it is too obvious from the picture.

Interestingly, none of COD (10th ed.), OALD (2000 Press), Collins Cobuild ALD (2003 ed.), Oxford American Dictionary (1980), Webster New world Basic Dictionary of American English (1998) carries “off the table,” while they include “on the table,” “at the table,” and “under the table.”

However, Wiktionary defines it as “beyond consideration,” and Urban dictionary does as “no more discussions about it.”

I checked Google Ngram and found out that both “on the table” and “off the table” have been used from the long time ago, but the incidence ratio of the use of “off the table: 0.0000376%” is disproportionately low as compared with “on the table:0.0007989%” at the point of time, year 2000.

Do you have any idea about why “off the table” is not included in most of all reputable dictionaries I referred to, while other “at ..." "on ..." and "under the table” are included as idioms?

The only reason I can think of is that all the dictionaries I consulted were bought 10 to 15 years ago, and thus outdated.


texts:
You know when someone just repeats a cliché phrase to you? Something like "well that's the way the cookie crumbles" or "a penny saved is a penny earned" or "there's plenty of fish in the sea"?

I know there's a word for a (mostly meaningless) idiom/expression that is repeated ad nauseum. Does anyone know what I'm talking about?

I will edit this post further with clarifications if necessary.

EDIT: The word I was looking for (platitude) had meaning more along the lines of "repeated so often it has lost any meaning". Katherine Lockwood picked out the word in the comments below


texts:
Consider these sentences, please:
1) Imagine Robert Redford when he was a child - that's what John looks like.
2) Imagine Robert Redford as a child - that's what John looks like.
Question 1: Can I say that the bold clauses in 1 and 2 are modifying the noun "Robert Redford" adjectivally?
Question 2: Comparing 1 with 2, can we say that "as" in sentence 2 is not a preposition, but rather an adverbial conjunction of time? For example:
Imagine Robert Redford as he was a child - that's what John looks like.


texts: An alternative term for "Sponsoring Organization" or "Produced By..."

texts:
I'm reworking my personal/professional website, and listing projects (mostly web development.) Several of them were entirely done by myself, but many are while being employed by another entity to do so. I'd like to list those projects, since they are extremely relevant, along with what my actual contribution was, but I'm having trouble coming across a word that I would prefer to use under the listing.

"Sponsoring Organization: Company"?
"Created By: Company"?
"Produced By: Company"?

For whatever reason, none of those really sit right with me, and I was wondering if someone had a better idea.


texts: Which is more proper "rarest" or "most rare"?

texts:
In the following usage, which is the correct form for the superlative of the adjective "rare"?

"the rarest on Earth" or "the most rare on Earth"?


texts: Where does the verb go on this question? Is it even a reported question?

texts:
I understand that when I report a question, I put the subject back in front of the verb, as in:  "He asked if she was going to be late."

But I always get puzzled when it comes to reporting a question with a question. (In fact I'm not even sure this is reported speech, but I think it is, because I'm reporting my own doubts.)

My starting point is the question:

  What is the task for the afternoon class?

But now I want to ask if anyone in a group knows what the task is. Which of the following alternatives would be grammatical?

  (a) Does anyone know what is the task for the afternoon class?
  (b) Does anyone know what the task is for the afternoon class?
  (c) Does anyone know what the task for the afternoon class is?

Intuitively, I would pick (c), but I don't know if that is the correct choice, and I certainly don't know why.

Can anyone tell me which of the options is correct and why?


texts: A stiffening chill-- is "stiffening" an adjective?

texts:
In the phrase "a stiffening chill", is "stiffening" an adjective?
The dictionary says that Stiffening is a present participle of the verb stiffen, or a noun.

Thanks.


texts: Does anybody know where the phrase "lost to the ages" originates?

texts:
I think there's something fairly poetic about the origins of the phrase "lost to the ages" actually being lost to the ages, still I'd like to know where it hails from if anyone knows.

Thanks


texts: What to use when you are not exhorting a group and yourself to go, but demanding a third person to let you go? Can “Let's go! " also be used"or only “Let us go!"?


texts: What does ‘The vast majority (some 63%) of employees in the world are not engaged, “checked out”’ mean?

texts:
The Forbs magazine article titled “Unhappy employees outnumber happy ones by two to one worldwide” dealt with the latest survey on international employee satisfaction being conducted by Gallup since late 1990s. It reads:

  The vast majority, some 63% (of employees worldwide) are “not
  engaged,” meaning they are unhappy but not drastically so. In short
  they’re checked out. They sleepwalk through their days, putting
  little energy into their work. --- The highest levels of disengagement
  are in the Middle East and North Africa. ---
  I would have thought that Israel would have more happy workers but
  only 6% are engaged, 73% are checked out, and 22% hate their work.
  http://www.forbes.com/sites/susanadams/2013/10/10/unhappy-employees-outnumber-happy-ones-by-two-to-one-worldwide/

I checked up the definitions of the usage of the words, ‘checked out” in English dictionaries at hand (For instance, Collins Cobuild Advanced Learner’s English Dictionary gives four different definitions of ‘check out,” i.e., (1) pay the bill and leave, (2) find out information about sth to make sure everything is correct, (3) It’s correct and satisfactory, (4)=checkout.), but was unable to find pertinent one to the expression, “73% workers are checked out.”

What does “being checked out” mean? Are they simply checked out by time card?


texts:
For example, you could say

  Event 1 must occur prior to event 2.

But what word could be used to say

  Event 2 must occur [?] to event 1?

Can the word 'prior' be directly replaced? Or does the sentence only work if, for example, 'to' is taken from the sentence?


texts: Is there a single word that means "To commit treason"?

texts:
Is there a word I can use in place of 'committing treason' in the sentence

  "The corporal was on trial for committing treason."

so the sentence reads

  "The corporal was on trial for _____ing"


texts: What is the meaning and origin of the suffix “-son”?

texts:
A friend recently asked me the meaning of the name Madison. Although I wasn’t sure of the meaning of Madison, it prompted a discussion about the suffix ‑son, seen in a lot of names: Jefferson, Henderson, Johnson, Harrison, etc.

I suspect it comes from English, as these names seem to be English in origin, but other than that I could find no information pertaining to the suffix.

tl;dr: What is the origin and definition of the suffix ‑son?


texts: In the context of family, what is the opposite of "immediate"?

texts:
In the context of family, the term "immediate" refers to member of the family connected by birth, adoption, marriage, civil partnership, or cohabitation.

Is t here a term that refers to the rest of the family?


texts: Correct term for "solo investigator" in a research

texts:
I'm looking for a phrase that describes a condition where one and only one person is doing academic research, from proposal to paper report - as opposed to the work being done in a team. The phrase "solo investigator" comes to my mind, but I don't think it is a formal term yet.

To attack this quantum physics problem, John is appointed as the team leader in a  research group in Cambridge. Bob is one of the team members.
Their friend Adam is a solo investigator (?) tackling a similar problem in Boston.


texts: What does the presence of the perfect tense reveal about us?

texts:
Other languages might say 'the floor is clean' or 'the cat is hungry'. An English speaker might say this, or we might equally choose to say 'the floor has been cleaned' or 'the cat hasn't been fed'. [Married couples seem to use a lot of present perfect simples!]

I was wondering whether anyone has any insights into the philosophical implications of perfect tenses - particularly what their presence within our language system reveals about the psyche or culture of English speakers.

I've been wrestling with this for some time. My initial conclusion was that this tendency to describe the world as a the result of a series of past actions suggested that we were interventionists, not fully content to just let the world 'be'. Not very Buddhist!

However, I have since questioned this evaluation, and now I am wondering whether 'the floor has been cleaned' is simply an acknowledgement of change over time, something which is less explicit, though maybe implied, with 'the floor is clean'.

Why do we have this need to present the past?


texts: What are the differences and similarities between what "asocial" and "antisocial" mean?

texts:
Is an "asocial" guy hostile and destructive or is he just unwilling to interact and avoiding company of others?

Is antisocial the same thing? The dictionary says it means opposing established thoughts and laws and rules. So can it be used describe actions that are detrimental or harmful or should I use "asocial?"

Why are they different at places and why are they alike at some?


texts: Is it true that the English have many words for hill?

texts: I've heard it said that Eskimos have many words for snow and that the English have many words for hill.  If so what are they?


texts: Does this adverb prepositional phrase modify the adverb, or vice versa?

texts:
The McGraw Hill Handbook of English Grammar and Usage (pg. 42) gives "We got there late in the evening" as an example of an adverb prepositional phrase ('in the evening') modifying an adverb ('late'). This seems wrong to me. To my mind 'late in the evening' means that we have a period we call the evening--8pm to 11pm, say--and we got there at the late end of that period--say, 10.30. Which means 'late' specifies a particular part of 'in the evening'--ie., modifies it--making it an adverb to 'in the evening', not the other way around. After all, 'we got there late in the evening' doesn't necessarily mean we were 'late', in the sense of 'not on time', at all.

Whereas if we said "We got there late, in the evening" we would mean we were late, and also that it was in the evening--in which case 'late' and 'in the evening' both are adverbs to 'got'. Or we could say 'We got there in the evening--late." This has a slightly different emphasis, but 'in the evening' and 'late' are still adverbs to 'got'.

Is there some way of determining what the adverbs modify without arguing about meaning?

NB. This question is similiar, but NOT the same, as my question "Reliable test for whether PP is an adverb PP or adjective PP"

There I was asking about distinguishing adverb PPs and Adjective PPs. But here, the PP is an adverb either way, so the question of tests is irrelevant.


texts: What is the word for something that is punishable by law, but is not a crime?

texts:
What is the legal term in English for something that is punishable by law, but is not a crime (i.e. does not affect your criminal record)?

I mean all the lesser (than crime) violations of the law, such as

parking where is it forbidden
not wearing seat belts
crossing the street on a red light
drinking alcohol in public (in jurisdictions where is it punishable but not a crime)
not registering your place of residence (in jurisdictions where such registration is compulsory)

Any violations for which you can be punished by law, but once convicted, can still legally answer the question "Do you have a clean criminal record?" with "Yes", and doesn't prevent you becoming a member of parliament, taking certain jobs which require a clean criminal record, etc.

Is there such a single legal term which unmistakably means only these "non-crime" actions punishable by law, and is not a broad term which just means any action punishable by law, be it crime and non-crime?

The word in Polish language is "wykroczenie", but online dictionaries translate it as "offence". However the definition of "offence" is any breach of a law, so it is not the correct word.

I am looking for the word which would be formally used in the legal code.

Do the US/British/Australian laws even have such a distinction between crime and non-crime offences? I think there must be some, because I don't think a parking violation would go on your criminal record.


texts:
I am looking for something to describe a video production being over exagerated with cliches that don't match reality

  John created a promotional video on Sally winning her first women's boxing match. The video has inspirational music playing in the background and in the video John narrates it by saying the  hopes of a nation is on Sally and she is and one of the greatest fighters of her generation. John created a over-theatrized prodcution.


texts: I have seen a lot in common use of the abbreviations i.e. and e.g. but I'm not pretty sure when and how to use these abbreviations.


texts:
What is the difference between University vs college vs academy vs institute vs community college?
What are degrees people can get (in order)?
What are the other type of schools? (e.g primary school, kindergarten)?


texts: Does "I would not recommend to my worst enemy" make sense?

texts: Does "I would not recommend this place to my worst enemy" make sense? Shouldn't it be either "I would recommend this place to my worst enemy" or "I would not even recommend this place to my worst enemy"?


texts:
Kindly explain what does the word metal mean here?

  Web Operations Weekly. A weekly newsletter on Web operations, infrastructure, performance, and tooling, from the browser down to the metal.
  https://github.com/vredniy/awesome-newsletters

I am not even sure how to make a research. I guess it's some kind of metaphor here.


texts: Is "Happy born day" grammatically correct?

texts:
I have seen some people writing:

  I wish you a happy born day/date.

And I felt it is wrong but wanted to cross check.


texts: Can "memorable" and "easy to remember" be interchanged?

texts:
This is the definition of memorable in the dictionary https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=define%3Amemorable

  memorable: worth remembering or easily remembered, especially because
  of being special or unusual.

Ex: this victory was one of the most memorable of his career

Can I change the above sentence to this victory was one of the easiest to remember of his career?

Ex2: This story is memorable

Can I change it to This story is easy to remember?


texts: What does "selected for" mean in this sentence?

texts:
The sentence is: "Dreams were selected for during evolution to help us survive."
When I was translating it, I couldn't understand the use of 'for' here. Would the sentence mean the same without it?


texts: Is there a word that means both opening and closing a door?

texts:
As in,

  Please do not __ this door after midnight.

Operate? Move?


texts: Best word or phrasing to describe the link between an object and a process

texts:
I'm trying to describe a relationship between an object and a process.  Once the object crosses a certain point, a process takes place 100% of the time.

An example: whether a person jumps or is pushed off a building they fall.  Gravity does not care how the person became airborne.

What is the phrase or word to describe gravity's relationship with how the person became airborne?

It doesn't care.  There's no relationship. It just does.

Help!


texts: What is the mistake in the follow expression "he looked several things"?

texts: I want to know what is the mistake in that expression, I think the mistake is the missing of the connector after the verb "looked" but I'm not sure


texts: English words for specific positive integers (e.g. dozen, score, gross, myriad)

texts:
Dozen = 12
Score = 20
Gross = 144
Grand = 1000
Myriad = 10,000
Googol = 10¹⁰⁰
Googolplex = 10Googol

Indian English: Lakh = 100,000 and Crore = 10,000,000.

Ignoring all the numbers already listed on Wikipedia (thousands, millions, billions, etc.; milliards, billiards, etc.; one, two, three, four, etc.), what other English words are there for specific positive integers?


texts: "No less than" when referring to non-quantities

texts:
I came across this answer to the question "Which of the following best summarizes the main points of the argument?" In an LSAT practice test:

  Balanced reporting requires impartially revealing injustices where they occur no less than fairly presenting the views of each party in a conflict.

I am having moderate difficulty parsing this sentence. Before the "no less than" the sentence is a pretty clear declaration. After the "no less than" the sentence is a readable sentence fragment. But it isn't really a quantity, so I am having trouble understanding the meaning of the entire sentence.

If it instead said:

  Balanced reporting requires impartially revealing injustices where they occur no less than 5 times in a given week.

Even though this thought, guideline, or rubric might be questionable, the sentence itself makes sense.

So what is the meaning of the sentence in question?


texts:
Imagine, a beautiful woman is sitting at a bar. A man keeps staring at her. Is there an idiom that the woman would use to ask the man to stop staring at her?

I know they usually say keep your eyes to yourself. But in my language, we have an idiom for that situation which literally translates to "make your eyes like a monk's eyes! ".

Is there an idiom like that in English?


texts: I've noticed recently that where in England we say "couldn't care less" in the US the negative is avoided and the phrase becomes "could care less". This is rather jarring because of the contradictory semantics. Can anyone confirm this observation, and shed any light on the difference of usage (if it indeed exists)?


texts: A word for a machine that can generate every possible combination

texts:
Let's say we have a machine whose sole purpose is to generate every possible combination from sets/columns of values.

Examples:

Single column.
Column 1 values: 1, 2, 3

Generated output:
1
2
3

Double column.
Column 1 values: 1, 2, 3
Column 2 values: 1, 2, 3

Generated output:
11
21
31
12
22
32
13
23
33

What could we call such a device?


texts: What does 'What I have come to know as' mean?

texts:
Here is a little excerpt:

But after looking at the research, this is what I've come to know as a
symptom for the deeper problem, which runs much more deeply, it's the
root cause of this distraction.

Can I translate this into, I have learned that this is a symptom for the deeper problem.
When can I/should I use 'what I've come to know as...'?


texts: How to convey to someone that food is losing heat?

texts:
The story is that I want someone to come earlier to the dining table as food is hot now but in ten minutes it would not be.

How in American English can I say to someone to come early, as food on the table is getting cold or losing heat?


texts: Should “two weeks vacation” be written “two weeks’ vacation” with a possessive apostrophe?

texts:
I’ve always understood that the phrase two weeks usually turns into two weeks’ when used as a modifier as in

I’m giving my two weeks’ notice.
I get two weeks’ vacation. (“two weeks’ holiday” for Brits)

with an apostrophe on the word weeks’, indicating that the vacation “belongs” to the weeks.

One way to explain this is the phrase “two weeks of vacation” being contracted to “two weeks’ vacation” – the vacation is “of” the weeks; that is, it is possessed by them.

But I’ve seen a lot of people omit the apostrophe in casual writing, and thinking about it, it seems plausible that the noun vacation would be plainly modified by the adjectival phrase two weeks.

But on the other hand, shouldn’t adjectival phrases be hypenated, namely two-weeks vacation?  Yet that seems wrong, too: the hyphenate should be singular, two-week vacation (like two-tone shoes) because preceding adjectives are not declined for number.

Why is the singular of “week” used in “two-week business trip”? touches on this (and references a good Wikipedia page on noun adjuncts) but doesn’t explain why the plural must be possessive in this case.

Explanation on when the possessive should be used instead of an attributive noun suggests that two weeks might be adverbial rather than adjectival, and thus resists being used attributively. But that still doesn’t quite explain this particular muddle of pluralization, possession, and attribution.

Given all this, why should “two weeks vacation” be written “two weeks’ vacation” with a possessive apostrophe?


texts:
In parliament a three line whip is said to be applied when a party seeks to ensure every MP turns up and votes the party line.

But why the term "three line" whip? And is there such a thing as a one or two line whip?


texts: What is a word that means someone who hates their own race?

texts: I'm seeking a word that means you hate your race for whatever reason, but you don't hate yourself for being a part of it, because it wasn't up to you to choose to be so.


texts: Why is the word "misadventure" not "misventure"?

texts:
I came across a news article mentioning a coroner's diagnosis of death as "death by misadventure". And I wondered what the word misadventure actually meant.
Here's the dictionary definition :

misadventure [ˌmɪsədˈvɛntʃə] n

an unlucky event; misfortune

(Law) Law accidental death not due to crime or negligence

This surprised me, as I would have expected it to essentially mean "an adventure that went wrong". That doesn't seem to be the case. It seems to mean "an incident that went wrong". So wouldn't it make more sense for the word to be mis-venture?
Why is this not the case?


texts: A verb that means “to prove someone is guilty of a crime”

texts:
Preface: I don't think there is a single-word (verb) that expresses the concept I am asking for, in which case I'd settle for the least ambiguous and most common phrase or idiom that describes the following situation.

Context
I was reading a short story from a private student of mine when I came across this line:

  Lucy realized she had the proof to frame Robert [for the murders].

To frame someone is to arrange or plant evidence in such a way that an innocent person appears to be guilty in the eyes of the law. My student's sentence would be fine if Robert were innocent of the crime, or if there was no evidence that linked Robert to the murders but somehow Lucy managed to plant false evidence which resulted in his arrest.

But in my student's story, Robert isn't innocent. He did commit the two murders and the evidence Lucy found was not planted, nor false, but led to the police arresting him for the two murders.

I suggested the following solutions:

Lucy realized she found the proof that nailed Robert for the murders
Lucy realized she found the proof to incriminate Robert.
Lucy realized she found the evidence which proved Robert's guilt.
Lucy found the smoking gun that proved Robert's guilt.

Sentences 1 and 2 are fine within the plot of the story but taken out of context,   they could still suggest Robert was set up by Lucy, i.e. he was innocent. Sentences 3 and 4 are, I think, the least ambiguous. My student liked the expression “smoking gun” but added:

  A smoking gun is not a verb, I still have to say Lucy found the smoking gun which incriminated Robert.

Questions

If “to frame” someone is to plant evidence that ‘proves’ an innocent person is guilty, is there a verb that means: to find evidence that unequivocally  proves a person is guilty?
Perhaps there is an obscure legal term hidden in OED, or maybe an obsolete expression, which escapes me. Here is my student's sentence with the blank space.

  Lucy realized she had the proof to _________ Robert

But I am open to other suggestions and solutions so long as its clear that the evidence shows us that Robert is guilty.

Am I right to ascertain sentences 1 and 2 are possibly ambiguous? And finally, are there other alternatives to the ones I suggested?


texts:
Is there a term for when a person does a job so poorly that you go out of your way to do your job better?

All I can come up with is reverse inspiration, but I can imagine some long German word that would combine these together in an awesome way.

Edit: Note that the job is not necessarily the same, so the term 'covering' does not really answer the question.  The objective is not external recognition, such that 'outshine' is a consequence of doing a better job rather than the objective.

Edit 2: The question does not stem from someone making mistakes so much as being highly unmotivated to do the job well.  A poor choice of words initially it would seem.  To rephrase the question:

"Is there a term for when a person is so lazy at doing their job that you go out of your way to do your job better?"

The accepted answer 'compensate' effectively addresses this question.


texts: What is the name for a description which is not true but is common place?

texts:
A standard electrocardiogram is called a '12-lead ecg' even though it only actually uses 10 leads. Is there a name for such a phrase?

(I know there is a reason behind the example I have given, but in your answer please can you assume there isn't a reason and it is just badly named)


texts: Practice of splitting a web article in many chunks

texts:
Some sites have the (execrable) custom of splitting a web article in many small chunks. Example: the article starting at
https://es.goodtimepost.com/niagara-falls/
is divided in 38 chunks. In each chunk, a image, between 30 and 110 words and six publicity links.
Somebody has invented a name for this practice?


texts:
A job description I am re-writing contains the words "facilitate the enjoyment of all visitors to the gallery."

To me this says that the visitors are being enjoyed, not the gallery.

Should it actually say "facilitate enjoyment of the gallery by visitors" or alternatively, "facilitate visitors' enjoyment of the gallery"?


texts:
My question is something to do with non-defining relative clauses..

  One online friend of Breck's claimed the teenager had been groomed
  by Daynes, who he described as a 'control freak'

So is the non-defining part of the sentence about Breck or Daynes?
Is Breck described as a control freak or Daynes..

If the relative clause defines Daynes, how can we rewrite the same relative clause but this time implying Breck is described as a freak


texts: Is there a word for the next upcoming event chronologically?

texts: If we have a bunch of events coming up in the future, and I want to refer to the next one coming up (chronologically) - is there a word I can use ?


texts: Word or phrase which indicates some shared knowledge

texts:
I'm looking for a noun which is kind of word or phrase that is used to indicate the existence of some unspoken knowledge that the speaker has.

For example:

  Her use of the the word "pincushion" was a deliberate ___________ intended to let him know that she knew his secret identity, without alerting those she suspected to be listening in.

I've a feeling this word begins with an S and has 3 or 4 syllables, but am drawing a long blank in my memory...


texts:
I have a sentence.
I looked up the word "available" . It is ADJ.
So this sentence below have structure :
 be + adj + N + adj (isn't sufficient detail available)

  "There isn't sufficient detail available for all sectors to make a  fair comparison"

I'm so confused about the word "available" position. What the role of this word.


texts: What do Brits means when they say "perving around"?

texts: A friend mentioned her British girlfriend talking about drinking and "perving around the pool." What are the possible meanings for this? I gather from my friend's story that this Brit wasn't a pervert, as the word might imply, but was it an ironic usage? Anyone from the U.K. want to chime in?


texts: Is there a term denoting the writing of words using numbers instead of letters?

texts:
Sometimes, more in some languages than in others, a word is spelled using one or more numbers instead of letters. Is there a term for this?

The only example I can think of in English is se7en (seven).

Therefore,

  The number se7en was not spelled entirely with letters; it was written in
  ______.


texts: Meaning of the phrase "squeeze water from a stone"

texts:
What does the phrase "(to) squeeze water from a stone" mean?

  Have you ever squeezed water from a stone?


texts: Should a prepositional phrase beginning with “of” that follows a plural noun be singular or plural?

texts: Which of these is correct? “Types of citrus fruit” or “types of citrus fruits”? I suspect it is the first example, but I would really like to know what the grammar rule governing these situations actually reads. What determines whether the object of a preposition should be singular or plural when it modifies a plural noun? Any help would be appreciated. Thank you.


texts: What are constructions like 'open-minded' grammatically? If you say they're paticiples I ask of which verb ('to open-mind' or 'to mind'? With which meaning then? Is there a meaning of 'to mind' like 'to provide a mind', 'to equip with a mind' or 'to have a mind'?). Or is it possible to form participles out of nouns with adjectives, too ('an open mind')?


texts: Pronunciation of Third Reich and Heinrich Himmler

texts:
I just saw a British made documentary about Heinrich Himmler with mostly native English speakers being interviewed. What struck me was that everyone (?) pronounced Third Reich with a "hard" C (=k) while they pronounced Heinrich Himmler's name with a soft C (in other words, the pronunciation was reasonably near how Germans would have pronounced it).

Until now I have always thought that native English speakers simply couldn't pronounce -eich as it should be pronounced but obviously that's not true so why do they always mispronounce "Third Reich"?

The people in this program were professors, PhDs and similar so well educated and should be aware of how "reich" should be pronounced.


texts: "In the next ten minutes" vs. "for the next ten minutes"

texts:
I am planning to do it in the next ten minutes.
  I am planning to do it for the next ten minutes.

Do the two sentences mean the same thing? I am sure using for is correct, but I want to know whether using in changes the meaning.


texts: Is there a better name for this than "emphatic and"?

texts:
In semi-poetic writing, I have had occasion to deviate from the standard prose list practice (interpose commas or semicolons between items, with an "and" preceding the final item), by utilizing a second or third and to separate three or four items.  That is,

  Bob likes beer, wine and liquor.

The variant would be:

  Bob likes beer and wine and liquor.

Now, the usage is obviously nonstandard and should be avoided in formal writing, but for those instances where poetic variation may be justified.

What is it called?

"Emphatic And" is the best I can coin on my own, but I wonder if there is a more established name for this variation.


texts:
Yet few colleges and universities have taken sufficient account...

Does the sentence above imply a negative/opposite meaning? e.g:

  Few colleges and universities haven't taken sufficient account...


texts: "Knave upon the Cross" and lines by Edward Bulwer-Lytton origin

texts:
My great-grandfather included the lines below in an entry in his Civil War diary dated 4/17/1863 to note the 6th Corps of the Army of the Potomac added a white cross to their hats. I believe it's by Edward Bulwer-Lytton. Does anyone know the origin of these lines pre-Civil War?

"In ancient days, and no great loss,
They hung a knave upon the cross.
How differently they now behave,
They hang the cross upon the knave."


texts: verbs and commas surrounding "as well as"

texts:
is "provides" correct?, and what about commas before or after "as well as" in this sentence
"Narrated in the third person omniscient, the narrator depicts a panoramic view of the natural landscape as well as provides an objective view of the main character’s thoughts".


texts: Is there a female equivalent of "prince" in the sense of "sovereign"?

texts:
A "prince" could mean heir to the throne, but I'm speaking of "prince" in the same way that Machiavelli did: as a ruler of a princedom.

1) Is there a word for a female ruler of a princedom? Certainly it's not "princess", is it?

2) If not, are there any examples of a female ruler being refered to as "prince"?


texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  “Would have had to have been” vs “would have had to be” for past event conditions

What's the difference in meaning between these phrases?

  would've had to jump
  would've had to have jumped

As far as I understand, they both describe an unreal situation in the past, but I can't figure out the difference.


texts:
What does "whilst the music may have been turned up sound-system-loud" mean in the following sentence? Does it mean "although it could have been a party with very loud music, it was a silent party"?

Context:

  The point was, though, that whilst the music may have been turned up
  sound-system-loud, this was a silent rave in which participants each
  listened to their favourite dance tracks on their own private iPods.


texts: Which future tense for holidays or doctor appointments?

texts:
Although I know the general rules when to apply which tense, I'm often confused and do not really know which one to use. I can find pros and cons for each tense.

Two examples: In terms of spending vacation/holidays and having a doctor appointment, which tense is most natural? When is it OK to go with another tense?

I am especially unsure about the will-future. I've seen/heard something like "I will see the doctor at 4PM". This sounds like a fixed arrangement / schedule, but arguments for will-future are "spontaneous decision", "promise", or "opinion/hope". Is this incorrect use of non-natives? If not, what is the reasoning for saying it like that?

Additionally to this question, is my general understanding (see below) correct? Did I miss any arguments pro/con a particular tense and which one?

So, here's how I understand it:

If I've already booked a flight or have made an appointment, respectively, it's a (personal) arrangement, thus present continuous:

  Next month, we're spending our vacation/holidays in Canada.
  I'm seeing the doctor tonight.

Technically, vacation/holidays and doctor appointments are scheduled, thus present tense. On the other hand, I think I haven't seen any uses of present tense in that case. Is the key difference between an arrangement that I made myself and a schedule made by someone else? That is, I chose myself to do my vacation at this time as opposed to someone else scheduled my vacation.
I would use present tense, though, when I give the exact time as I give the exact schedule. Or is present tense wrong altogether1?:

  We spend our vacation/holidays in Canada from September, 1st to the 12th.
  I see the doctor at 6 o'clock.

If I haven't taken any actions but it's decided, it's my/our intention, thus going-to-future:

  Next year, we're going to spend our vacation/holidays in Canada.
  I'm going to see the doctor soon.

If I/we haven't made any decision, let alone take any actions, it's a prediction/opinion/hope, thus will-future:

  (I think,) We will spend our next vacation/holidays in Canada.
  (I think,) I will go to the doctor.

Another reason for will-future is when I make a promise, or a spontaneous decision:

  Yes, we will spend our next vacation/holidays in Canada.
  Yes, I will go to the doctor.

1In respect to arranged future events. I know that, for instance, the sentence "I will do that when I see the doctor" is correct. But that's another story.


texts:
For example "That's an unusual perspective into how it works.", meaning a point of view, an understanding of it.

Maybe some other preposition instead of "into"?


texts: “Quainted the auto supplier has hit share of potholes.” Did I hear right? What does it mean?

texts:
I’ve been practicing listening of English language news on FEN for years, and heard the latest (March 24) Wall Street Journal Barron’s magazine news as follows:

  “Visteon is maneuvering to be a key player in this fast growing
  cockpit electronics market. Quainted the auto supplier has hit share
  of potholes since being spun out from Ford 14 years ago, But this
  week’s Barron’s says Visteon is back on track now, as it shifts away
  from lower margin businesses , and toward lucrative high growth areas.”

I think I heard “Quainted the auto supplier has hit ---,” but I don’t understand what “quainted” means here. OALED defines ‘quaint’ only as an adjective meaning "attractive in an unusual, or old-fashoned way." And if it is adjective, why there is “the” between ‘quainted’ and “auto supplier”?

Did I hear wrong? If I’m wrong, what would the right word that sounds like ‘quainted” be?


texts: Is there a word for laughing when faced with a hopeless situation?

texts: A word for the unexpected reaction of laughing in a situation of complete hopelessness or laughing with sad undertones


texts: Associated Press Style with Monetary Ranges (Your Interpretation)

texts:
The AP Stylebook's FAQ accepts "a 30 to 35 percent a year increase" and "a 10-20 percent a year increase in revenues", one with the word "to" in the numerical range, and one with a hyphen. They also permit a hyphen or the word "to" in these: $20,000 to $25,000 and $20,000-$25,000.

Based on this information (and without recasting, please), would you consider the following examples to be correct per AP Style, and in general?

•It was a $10 million to $15 million a year industry.

•The percentages represented a $40,000 to $45,000 a year increase in sales.

Alternatively, based on AP's supported examples, do you think that hyphens can be used, too?

•It was a $10 million-$15 million a year industry.

•The percentages represented a $40,000-$45,000 a year increase in sales.


texts:
I am writing an essay in which someone underestimates something because they think it is beneath them. Then, they realize it was actually very good, so I was a noun to convey the meaning of not underestimating the potential of something?

I really liked "don't judge a book by its cover," but I need a noun, and I feel that is too cliche. I want to sound more thoughtful.

Sample sentence:

At first, I thought it was beneath me. However, after days of work, I learned having "the quality of not underestimating the potential of this experience" was essential for life.


texts: I'm looking for a word that means the study or practice of the efficient use of space, something ending -omics. I used to know it but I've got ergonomics stuck in my brain and that's not quite right.


texts: Should we not use abbreviations at all in academic writing?

texts:
I submitted a paper to a computer science conference, and the reviewer mentioned that I should correct grammar/writing issues throughout the paper.
Some of the things he/she mentioned:
don't -> do not
can't -> cannot
it's hard -> it is hard
So are abbreviations not welcomed in academic writing? If yes, then should I also change all aren't/isn't to are not/is not?


texts:
I am kind of stuck between these two questions. Can you help me determine which is the right choice? I answered b and a respectively, however, I don't feel confident on my answers.
1.
a. I hurriedly placed the books, which I had brought back from the library, on the bedside table.
b. Hurriedly, I placed the books on the bedside table which I had brought home from the library.
c. I brought back from the library books I hurriedly placed on the bedside table.
d. I hurriedly placed the books on the bedside table which I had brought home from the library.
2.
a. Nurses do a necessary job: doing what the doctors tell them to cure the patients and making them feel better.
b. Nurses do a necessary job, and doing what the doctor tell them to cure the patients and making them feel better is their business.
c. Nurses do a necessary job. They do what the doctors tell them, to cure the patients and to make them feel better.
d.It is the nurses’ job to do what the doctor tells them to cure the patients and make them feel better, and their job is necessary.


texts: Words to describe a submarine arriving in port

texts: What verb should be used to describe a submarine arrival at a port or dock?  A boat moors, a plane lands, a submarine...


texts:
I'd like to know whether this sentence is correct or not:
"I put my hopes and dreams too high."

Or are there any alternative phrases saying that someone expected more and therefore he/she is disappointed.

Thank you for your help.


texts:
I wonder whether the below sentence makes sense.

I'm finding very hard to make it a habit to do things I'm reluctant that are considered good.

What I want to say is
1) I'm finding very hard to make it a habit to do things that are considered good.
2) Those good things are something I'm not very interested or I'm reluctant to work on (e.g. doing regular exercise, eating healthy, reading more books, being more social, etc).

I'd like to say it in a single sentence, without breaking into two sentences. Thank you in advance for your help!


texts: What is the tense of "I would have been happy to..."?

texts:
I would have been happy to let you use the money, if you would give me a date to leave.

Is this a past present tense?  I need to explain this statement I made, correctly.


texts: What does the idiom don't cut yourself on that edge mean? I have seen it being used on multiple occasions, but could not find anything on the web that explains this idiom.


texts: Does this sentence sound strange to your ears? - "Not anyone can be a poet."

texts:
Thank you so much for checking out my question!

I am currently trying to be a teacher of English in Japan and reviewing the basic grammars
of English.
And I hit a wall. I cannot explain what is wrong with the sentence as follows:

  "Not anyone can be a poet."

I usually write "Not everyone can be a poet." to express the same meaning.
However, even though something seems to be very wrong with the sentence above, I am unable to nail down what is actually wrong...

Can someone please kindly enlighten me with this issue in terms of grammar and usage?

Thank you so much for your time!!


texts: "Bon/bonne chance!": spelling and loanword specifics?

texts:
The adjective bon crossed over the Channel "in phrases such as bon apétit (1860), literally "good appetite;" bon-ton (1744) "good style;" bon mot." (Online Etymology Dictionary) Also with bon, bon-accord, bon(-)vivant, bon voyage etc.

The OED1(NED) refers to the "bon, bone, BOON q.v." form. Then the boon (būn) entry says used especially with originally French phrases. So you had bone (and bonne as a variant), like in bone chere, and bone fortune. Yet after the 16th, the NED explains the form was mostly dropped.

Books yields ngrams for both bon/bonne chance; the former, similar to the earlier phrases (i.e. bon voyage), and the latter, spelled like in the source language and sometimes appearing in quotation marks in the output. The pronunciation of bon can vary (bɒn, bɔn, bɔːn), and overlap that of the noun bonne (/bɔn/, i.e. the maid).

Do you write bon chance or bonne chance? Does the modern OED carry/reference/distinguish either? Is it sufficiently in use to say?
Is bon chance a partial borrowing, a semantic calque, an example of phono-semantic matching in loanword translation? How does borrowing generally deal with the peculiarities of the source language, such as grammatical gender?


texts:
With only a handful of commands, the SQL data statements look deceptively simple.
  In my opinion, many of the available SQL books help to foster this notion by only
  skimming the surface of what is possible with the language. However, if you are going
  to work with SQL, it behooves you to understand fully the capabilities of the language
  and how different features can be combined to produce powerful results. I feel that this
  is the only book that provides detailed coverage of the SQL language without the added
  benefit of doubling as a “door stop” (you know, those 1,250-page “complete references”
  that tend to gather dust on people’s cubicle shelves).

What is exactly doubling as a door stop supposed to mean? Does it mean that you are going to use that big reference book, if you purchased one instead of this one that you're reading, as a second door stop because the book is useless and because your door stop is not good enough to hold your door ajar?


texts:
Is weightage an English word?

We use it a lot in India, but I couldn't find it in my Oxford Dictionary.


texts: A general word for for playground toys/rides/apparatus

texts:
When my children return home from the park, I like to ask them

  Which _____ did you play on?

usually filling the blank with "things" for lack of a better word.

a ride might work for a see-saw or a merry-go-round (carousel) - basically anything that moves, but that won't work for a slide and certainly not for monkey bars etc.

(This question has been asked about amusement parks, but I believe that "rides" is appropriate for most things found there).


texts: Grammatical number of compound subjects with indefinite pronouns

texts:
Nobody from the Police Department and nobody from the Fire Department is/are going to the rescue.

Which verb agreement is grammatical or preferable for other reasons?

Similar examples:

  Everyone that you know and everyone that you don't know is/are going to be there.
  Anything you read and anything you hear affects/affect you.

I have read that if parts of a compound subject are joined together by the conjunction and, then one should use a plural verb. But in these examples with indefinite pronouns, I feel like a singular verb should be used.

Another rule on verb agreement with compound subjects: When using or, either/or, or neither/nor, the compound subject might be singular or plural. Generally, if all elements are singular, then the compound subject should be treated as singular.

But again it doesn't cover use of indefinite pronouns with and.


texts:
According to Urban Dictionary the other sense of faggot means "stupid or a loser"--is that correct? And what's the meaning of "playing to the camera"?

  P1: guy has the mannerisms of a faggot

  and not the gay kind of faggot

  P2: the way he keeps looking at and playing to the camera

  douche chills

The comments are made based on this video.


texts:
What is the word for something/somebody very popular giving its/his/her place/popularity to something/somebody new and more popular? For instance,

In 1990s CDs were the most popular source of music while in 2010s they ..... digital audios.

Is the word to step back OK for this context?


texts: usage of "get the sense of" in a sentence

texts:
What does this sentence actually means? this is from the book Born to Run:

  Imagine Anderson Cooper vanishing on assignment for CNN, and you get the sense of the search that was launched for Bierce. But no trace was ever found.


texts: How does one correctly use hyphens in the following contexts?

texts:
I read a few articles from APA Style Blog's "Hyphenation Station" series (https://blog.apastyle.org/apastyle/hyphenation/), and I'm using these tips to guide my writing.

I was wondering if anyone on this forum could help me alleviate some confusion with DIY (craft and baking) article hyphenations.

In particular, for each bullet point, I'm not sure which of the two bolded options is correct:

"Place the X-Acto-knife-cut squares to the side" or "Place the X-Acto knife cut squares to the side" (At least to me, it seems like a hyphen is not needed because there wouldn't be any confusion between "X-Acto knife cut and X-Acto-knife-cut in the context)
"Using dual-toned material is optional" or "Using dual toned material is optional" (A hyphen might be warranted in this situation for the same reason listed above)
"Your triple-layered dessert is now complete" or "Your triple layered dessert is now complete" (Not sure if a hyphen is needed, because the sentence indicates one dessert is ready)
"I recommend this machine for its material-handling capabilities" or "I recommend this machine for its material handling capabilities" (I think a hyphen would make this statement clearer)
"You don't need large-format material cutting and printing" or "You don't need large format material cutting and printing" (I think a hyphen would be useful for clarity, but when I Google large-format, I don't see a hyphen used in the vast majority of the results)

Any help would be VERY much appreciated!

Thanks,
A.


texts: What is the meaning of "liquidate" and is it appropriate to use it as a substitute for "kill"?

texts:
Recently, there is a lengthy discussion around "liquidate" word in another SE question and its meaning. I'm wondering is it correct to use "liquidate" instead of "kill" in that particular situation (i.e. referring to some terrorist acts and killing innocent people)? If its meaning is equivalent to "kill" how prevalent is using this word among native English speakers? I appreciate any recommendation or suggestion.

Some of those discussions are mentioned here for reference:

  "liquidate" word seems "unnecessarily insensitive (and esoteric) way to refer to the tragic deaths of humans".
  Also "liquidate" word may bring this image up: "Liquidated in this context also brings up imagery of liquefaction... an equally disturbing image when applied to people"
  Some other opinion: " It's a word used in James Bond and similar fictions, also e.g. when describing mafia murders, also e.g. killing political opponents (sometimes en masse), or e.g. genocide, a synonym for "assassinate"; perhaps it even comes across as dispassionate somehow, i.e. professional extra-legal killing."
  The one that bring "liquidate" up to that question defend his/her choice as: "From the Oxford American Dictionarey: LIQUIDATE (V): TO ELIMINATE, ESPECIALLY BY VIOLENT MEANS; KILL."
  Someone mentioned it is common word for referring to genocide or mass murdering: "if you read history about "death squads" for example, or political infighting, genocide ... it's used twice in Wikipedia's article on Stalin, for example. Perhaps it was originally a euphemism, like "eliminate"."


texts: Why do we say "I'm at home", but "I'm at the gym" instead of "I'm at gym"?

texts:
I was speaking to some ELL and they asked me the above question and I wasn't able to give a good answer.

What's the reason we need to prefix gym with "the", but not do the same for places like home, or school, or work?


texts:
Luis arrived in the United States in June 2002.
  He started school on August 29th.

Why June is used with 'in' and August is used with 'on'?


texts: what is the word that describes someone who keeps their real personality secret?

texts: I knew a word for this a while ago. It sounded French or Italian and may have begun with im or em or something. It basically describes somebody who gives off one type of personality and keeps their own secret or I guess just someone who keeps their own personality secret. Anyone know what I'm talking about?


texts:
The term early bird is well known. What's a similarly well known thing that is earlier than an early bird?

Edit: the worm, of course! But I'm particularly looking for an improvement on the bird, something that pips the bird to the post.


texts:
Looking for word(s) that can describe a person's job title

  John's job is to go to companies evaluate their current process workflow and to implement changes to improve this workflow to be optimal . Since companies workflow need to change all the time to stay optimal John revisits his clients and analyze the workflow for improvements and develops systems to implement those changes.

  When John wife's ask him what his job is, he says he is a ...

  John put's on his resume and business card that his job title is ..

&

  Peter works on the production assembly line of the Tesla Model 3. His job is to analyze the production line, find improvements and implement those changes to the assembly line so that the assembly line produces more cars per hour.

  Peter's job title is ...

Words I thought of but don't fit

Developer - Closest I can think of but it means creating something when I want a word that is closer to convey the total of analyze,  optimize , change and improve together not just the creating part

Reengineer - This almost mean redoing it and it might not have to be redone if it is already optimal.

Process Engineer - The word engineer gets overused today and I want to try stay away from it

I am also not closed to the idea of it being a foreign language word(s)


texts: How did 'despite' semantically shift to signify 'without being affected by something'?

texts:
The quotes below substantiate that 'spite' in 'despite' or in 'in spite of' connotes 'scorn, contempt'. How did these meanings shift to the 'despite' meaning?

I quote Etymonline on despite (n., prep.)

  c. 1300, despit (n.) "contemptuous challenge, defiance; act designed to insult or humiliate someone;" mid-14c., [1.] "scorn, contempt,"
  from Old French despit (12c., Modern French dépit),
  from Latin despectus "a looking down on, scorn, contempt,"        from past participle of despicere "look down on, scorn,"
  from de "down" (see de-)
  + spicere/specere "to look at" (from PIE root *spek- "to observe").

  The prepositional sense "notwithstanding" (early 15c.) is short for in despite of "in defiance or contempt of" (c. 1300), a loan-translation of Anglo-French en despit de "in contempt of."

Lexico Dictionaries defines the prep. 'despite':

  [2.] Without being affected by

Merriam-Webster defines 'in spite of':

  [3.] in defiance or contempt of : without being prevented by

What semantic notions underlie meaning 1, 2, 3 above?
Isn't 'scorn, contempt' a polar opposite of 'without being affected by [something]'? E.g. vegans scorn human meat consumption that many of them protest. So vegans are undoubtedly affected by human meat consumption, or else they wouldn't protest!


texts:
Can you tell me the meaning of this sentence?
"Its diplomatic and moral authority shapes southern Africa, for worse as well as better"


texts:
Here is part of a story. I cannot understand some of it.

  Mama tried to remind them what Thanksgiving was really about, but every time she did,
  Papa would interrupt. "You'll have to excuse me, my dear," he'd say. "It's time to water
  The Giant (The Giant is a pumpkin's name)."

I can't understand the sentence, "you'll have to excuse me, my dear,"

Why is "you'll have to" in front of "excuse me"?


texts: Is this use of the word essential correct?

texts:
Is this a correct use of essential:

  According to penguins, in order to save the world, limiting fish intake is thought essential.


texts:
The model assumes such and such.
The hypothesis assumes such and such.

In scientific writing, I commonly see similar phrases indicating the construction or use of a model with an assumption. It is so common that it seems to me practically accepted, yet this guide points out that a model cannot assume anything.
It must be the writer. Similarly, the guide (see under ASSUMES) states that a hypothesis cannot assume anything, it is the author that does so.
For the model to be able to  assume sounds to me to create a "personification" of the model, which is a valid literary device. While generally to be avoided, perhaps this is an acceptable style even if aiming to write well? One could plead that otherwise the sentences could become much longer and clunkier if every time we had to note that it was the authors who assumes in the use of construction of the model such and such.
Is such personification acceptable or would it be considered poor form?
Update:
Since there seem to be answers advocating both ways, perhaps this APA guideline can help us push a little deeper. It seems to say do not use anthropomorphisms in technical writing, except "when they make sense."

Remember that anthropomorphism is about whether it makes sense for that object to take that action.  Theories, models, tables, data, results, etc., can take some actions that make sense for these nouns.
Theories, results, and so on, can show, present, or indicate (see APA, 2010, p. 69):

The results showed a relationship between time spent in the intervention program and student standardized test scores.
The table presents information on the demographics of this study.
These data demonstrated that increasing awareness of diabetes indicators can help patients reduce their risk of being diagnosed.
The theory indicates that societies work much like ecological systems, with different groups playing different and necessary roles in the larger system.

For me, this confuses the situation, given that whether it makes sense for that object to take that action sounds slippery. I can see how one could be very lenient or not in dispatching their judgment.  For model and hypothesis, it does clearly state that these words are acceptable exceptions that "make sense." Do you have any better guidance?


texts: Omitting "is" in sentences (when occurring after "that", "this", and "it")

texts:
I recently added some friends to Facebook that live in a small town in Texas. The reason I point this out is that I believe it might be a regional thing.

Many people in that area omit the word "is" in sentences. Here is an example:

They sent an image and then included this in chat:

  "Just ran across this. It a good pic of [whatever was in the picture]."

I expect to see "is" before "a good pic".

And again, another picture and description:

  "This my youngest daughter and her husband."

I expect to see "is" after the word "this".

This is very common with this person, as they also sent this message:

  "[Person's name] getting old enough to make [their] own decisions. I know what it like to be a child in middle of divorce."

I expect to see "is" after the person's name as well as after "what it" (or at least the contraction "it's").

Also, they linked to a meme image originally posted by a radio station in Phoenix, AZ that had the following text:

  "It's not what's under the Christmas tree that matters, it's who around it."

I would expect to see another "is" (the first one being part of the contraction) after the word "who". Or, even another contraction (who's).

I supply all of these examples to demonstrate the omission. It seems very common to the area. I don't think this is the same situation as this question.

I have lived my entire life (over 40 years) without ever seeing this before. I grew up in the US South (GA - Atlanta area) and I have lived in Arkansas, Arizona, and San Francisco. I point that out to communicate my exposure to local language and usage.

Can anyone shed some light on this? Is this very common, or is it specific to a specific region?


texts:
What does beggars belief mean, in general and in this sentence?

  It beggars belief that removing the tag was so urgent that you couldn't wait for a response more than 40 minutes before removing it.


texts: Adjective for person with learning disability?

texts:
I'm looking for an adjective to describe a person with a learning disability. I've thought of using "learning disabled", but I don't like the sound of it. I've also thought of using "learningly disabled", but that sounds even stranger and spellcheck seems to think that "learningly" is not a word.
Example:

  The notion that ________ persons simply need to try harder is despicable.

I could just use "disabled", but I'd rather specify what kind of disability (you wouldn't tell a double amputee to try harder, for example). I'd also rather not change the wording to "persons with learning disabilities"; it's too cumbersome. Any ideas? Alternatively, is there a word that can be used without an adjective to describe the learning disabled? I'm using first person plural, so "the learning disabled" won't work.

Edit:

By "learning disability", I mean something like dysgraphia or dyscalcula. I'm not referring to serious developmental or physical disabilities. I also don't mean  people just who learn "differently". Everyone learns a little bit differently; people with LDs often learn just fine, but we have trouble demonstrating that learning, at least in my experience (I have dysgraphia). Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong. For a more detailed defenition, see this website.


texts: "Have you ever been to ... when ..." versus "Did you ever go to ... when ... ?"

texts:
Here are two sentences patterns:

  Have you ever been to the opera when you lived in Milan?

and

  Did you ever go to the opera when you lived in Milan?

What is the difference between them? How can we say, which is right sentence?


texts: Which of these phrases is better : "point out to a" vs "point out a"?

texts:
Which one of the above phrases is better suited generally and to the given examples? I'm leaning towards "point out to a" but I don't want to complicate the sentence if it is not necessary

Example 1: She pointed out (to) a box.

Example 2: It doesn't point out (to) a particular place.

Please suggest if some other words are better suited to the examples. I know some such as refer to are better


texts: Terms for different types of soil (pictures included)

texts:
As a non-native speaker, I'm struggling to describe environments comprehensibly and detailedly.

The following picture shows typical ground in a forest, and I would most likely call it earth or soil.

But how would one describe the following coarse, stony ground that can occur in certain similar surroundings — forestland, that is, even though less densely covered.

This question is not necessarily limited to this type of ground. I'm looking for terms to enhance the variety with which I can describe land.


texts:
In a multi-story building when we go to ground floor from an upper floor, what word is used? Downstairs? Any other word?

For example, when I go to the ground floor by elevator, should I say, "I am going downstairs?"


texts: Finding the right transition from a song lyric

texts:
I am writing an essay about my interest in the band Queen's songs. I want to start the essay with a lyric from one of their songs and slowly transition to how it makes me feel. For example,

"Mama..Just killed a man" Queen would sing and I would be plunged into a whole new world.

The boldened portion just doesn't sound right to me. Any suggestions on how to improve it are appreciated.


texts: Can I omit the verb in the second part of this sentence, after the colons?

texts:
Is this sentence grammatically correct? I mean, can I omit the verb in the second part after the colon?

  Differently from other works, they consider all information usually available in social media collections: both user-provided information such as textual content (titles, descriptions and tags) and automatic generated content (creation time and geo-coordinates).


texts: Does apologizing entail recognizing being at fault?

texts:
Consider this example:

  I'm sorry if you got the impression that I meant to insult you. That was not my intention.

Would it be correct to say that the above person apologized?

All the dictionaries I have checked defined "to apologize" as admitting one's fault. However, in the above example, the person is not conceding he is making a mistake; he is merely clarifying his intent and, well, apologizing if he hurt the other person's feelings. Yet, based on my understanding of the verb, it would be adequate to say that the person apologized.

So, does apologizing really require being at fault?


texts: What does "strategic defence review" means?

texts:
In phrase "strategic defence review" which one is correct?

review on strategic defence
startegic review about defence

Thanks


texts:
I was talking to a friend from Texas. When I said that my tea was somewhat strong and that the second infusion would probably be better, he did not pick up on it.

When I called it a brew, he said that it sounded better.

So, would you call the act of pouring hot water over leaves a brew, an infusion, or something different? Are there differences between UK / US English?


texts: What is a word for writing that reveals the author's dialect and/or ideology

texts:
I am reading an article that is highly ideological, and I am supposed to write a critique of it. I say that it is ideological not because it tries to enforce an opinion, but rather because I can tell from the authors' use of language and dialect what their opinions are (i.e. they use words that are common among certain subcultures and would never be used by members of different cultural/ideological groups). What would should I use to describe writing that is so strongly dialect-based?

Example sentence: "The author's writing was highly ____, I could easily tell what their political, religious, and social views were by analyzing their word choices and dialect."


texts:
I wonder if the following sentences make sense or have any difference:

I am more efficient with single-tasking than multi-tasking.

I am more efficient in single-tasking than multi-tasking.

I work more efficiently with single-tasking than multi-tasking

Which one actually is better? Thanks!


texts: Inverted conditional sentence using 'can' and 'will'

texts:
On this page in Wikipedia!, it states for first conditional sentences:

  The condition can also be expressed using the modal verb should. This form can be used to   make an
  inverted condition clause without a conjunction:
  If you should make a mistake, ... (equivalent to "If you make a mistake")
  Should you make a mistake, ... (inverted form again equivalent to the above).
  Otherwise, the condition clause in a first conditional pattern is not normally formed with
  a modal verb, other than can.

On English Stack Exchange many people write about should replacing if.
For example on this page called 'A special use of “should”?' the sentence
'Wilkinson is contesting the release, and threatened to sue should it be released.'
is given as an example. But are there usage for other modal verbs in an inverted
conditional sentence such as can and will, as opposed to the more commonly used should, had and were?

We know the following four pairs are equivalent:

If you feel hungry, ...(usual condition clause)
Should you feel hungry, ... (inverted form)

If she were here, ...(usual condition clause)
Were she here, ...(inverted form)

If you shot, ...(usual condition clause)
Were you to shoot, ... (inverted form)

If he had written, ...(usual condition clause)
Had he written, ... (inverted form)

But is this pair equivalent?
1). If she can be here, ... (usual condition clause)
    Can she be here, ...(inverted form)

And what if you use it in the second part of a sentence?
2). Only with good teaching practices can you make the biggest impact in the classroom.
3). Only with more practice will you become better at it.


texts: Is there a word for the new date of a postponement?

texts:
Is there a word to describe the new date of a postponement?

I was in conversation with someone and I said to her:

  "The show was postponed, and I'm worried I won't be able to make it to the ?reponement."

I looked at her and we both said, "that's not a word".


texts: What is the appropriate question tag for sentences such as “I was born to be a doctor”?

texts:
What is the appropriate question tag for sentences such as:

  I was born to be a doctor, __?


texts: "Angela was reading to Frank and I" vs. "...to Frank and me." Which is correct?

texts:
I stated the following:

  Angela was reading to Frank and I.

Someone corrected me, stating

  "Frank and me"

Which is right?


texts: Better way to say " We will " we will now hear report from ....."

texts: In a meeting where you are going to be asking for a lot of reports from individuals, are there other options, then just repeating "we will hear report from....., over and over


texts:
In work environment, we frequently encounter the words "deployment" and "release" in technical context. I often hear them used interchangeably also. It is mainly related to "Release and Deployment Management".

For example, Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) defines the aim of Release and Deployment Management as:

  ITIL Release and Deployment Management aims to plan, schedule and control the movement of releases to test and live environments. The primary goal of Release Management and Deployment Management is to ensure that the integrity of the live environment is protected and that the correct components are released.

  Source: http://wiki.en.it-processmaps.com/index.php/Release_and_Deployment_Management

Additionally, I found the below technical definitions but these are not the only usages:

  release:
  1. Making a version of software available to the public.
  2. A software version which has been made available to the public.
  Source: http://www.computeruser.com/dictionary

  deploy: To install, test and implement a computer system or application.
  Source: http://www.webopedia.com/

Wikipedia's "software deployment" article mentions below but it looks like the below definitions can not be applied to all kind of deployments in an IT environment:

  Software deployment is all of the activities that make a software system available for use.

  The release activity follows from the completed development process. It includes all the operations to prepare a system for assembly and transfer to the customer site. Therefore, it must determine the resources required to operate at the customer site and collect information for carrying out subsequent activities of deployment process.

Questions:

What is the difference between "deployment" and "release"? (This question asks a general difference in a technical context but to be more specific, it can be related to a "code change".)
Can we use these words interchangeably?

For example, Can we use both sentences below and can they have the same meaning?

  I will release the change to production.
  I will deploy the change to production.

ITIL also defines one of the Role/Sub-Process as Release Deployment.

So, is "release" used as a noun mainly in this context?
Are releases always deployed?
Can we release a release?

Note: I would like to get answers from real life experiences about the usage of these terminologies in work environments and release management processes.

 Note2: Great subjective questions invite sharing experiences over opinions. Certainly experiences inform opinions, but the best subjective questions unabashedly and unashamedly prioritize sharing actual experiences over random opinions.
Source: http://blog.stackoverflow.com/2010/09/good-subjective-bad-subjective/


texts: When did commas start appearing after conjunctions?

texts:
It seems to me that it's only lately (last 15 years?) that I've seen commas after "but", "and", and "or" in reputable sources (NY Times, etc.).  I'm pretty certain this was anathema many decades ago.  Was there some reason for a change?  When did it happen?

Or is this a recency illusion, and it's really been a practice for a long time?


texts: Politically correct substitutes for (fe)male and (wo)man

texts:
In the English language, the pairs man/woman and male/female both look as if one gender or sex was considered a special case for it is denoted by putting an arbitrary prefix (wo-, fe-) before the default case (man, male).

It has been asked before whether this is actually the case etymologically, and the answer was “partially” (woman < wif+man). However, since *werman or *wereman is antiquated, what possible substitutes are there for the pair man/woman or either part thereof when you want to distinguish by gender (so cannot use person, people or human) without the implied sexism of marked and unmarked words?

The ones I can think of as a non-native speaker are either too formal, like gent/lady, or too informal, e.g. guy/gal and lad/lass, or otherwise inadequate for the general case, e.g. boy/girl. Using a French loan word man/fem(me) or a contraction/neologism man/*wom is problematic because man is also still used in a generic sense (mankind etc.), which cannot be replaced by human easily.

Likewise, which alternatives are there for male/female used as either nouns or adjectives?

I would assume masculine/feminine was a possible and preferable alternative, though available as adjectives only. The contraction or neologism male/*fele shows nice symmetry, especially with man/*fem as introduced above, but it’s artificial, and so is *mascule/*femine.


texts: Space before computer storage abbreviations

texts:
Forgive me if this has already been asked, I could not find it via search.

My question is this: what is the proper way to append computer storage abbreviations to a number? For example, a 500 gigabyte hard disk drive will usually be spelled as "500GB" on web sites, with no space, but occasionally I see "500 GB", with a space between the number and the unit. Putting a space between the number and the abbreviation makes more sense to me, but since even Apple does not put a space between them, I am not sure. Which is the proper way?


texts: a grammatically wrong sentence in a book

texts:
The passage below is from Beefy's Cricket Tales By Ian Botham.

  Both Nasser and Duncan Fletcher were sticklers for good timekeeping,
  so you made sure you were not late. On this particular occasion, I
  wasn't late but as I approached the bus it started moving away. I ran
  and caught up with it, banged on the door and got it to stop and let
  me on. Nasser had been under pressure during the trip and he often
  used rows with people to let off steam.

I think the bold faced part seems grammatically wrong and don't make any sense.
It would be better the bold typed part to be “he is often used to rows with people to let off steam”.
Am I right or do you have any more suggestions?


texts:
For example the word "religion" is defined as :

The belief in and worship of a superhuman controlling power, especially a personal God or gods

And also:

1.1 A particular system of faith and worship

1.2 A pursuit or interest followed with great devotion

The latter definitions seem to be broader.  So a 'religion' that does not worship a super human controlling power (1), does not match the first definition, but does the others (1.1 & 1.2). Also, a 'religion' that matches the definition in 1.2, may not match the definition in 1.1.

If the definitions are independent, then the meaning of the word is dependent on the authors intent and context.  However, if the meanings are dependent then any of the definitions being satisfied would classify something as a religion.

For example, is it incorrect for an author to say the Buddhism is not a religion, clarifying that the definition (1) is being used?  Is something a religion only if it meets i) all of the definitions, ii) one of the definitions (chosen by the author) or iii) at least 1 one of the definitions (chosen by the author).

Is it correct for an author to decide the level of restriction of a words definition?


texts: Is “O.K.” less serious affirmation than “All right”?

texts:
I was interested in the usage of “O.K” and “All right” in the following conversation of a man ordering food delivery to a wrong number and a man who unfortunately received the wrong number call in the fiction titled “The Lost Order” appearing in New Yorker Jan. 7th issue:

  “Not the lemon chicken. “I don’t want the lemon. What I want –“

  “O.K. I knew.”

  “Last time, you delivered the wrong thing –"

  “Lemon chicken -"   “Garlic chicken –"

  “O.K. –"

  “Don’t just say ‘O.K.” and then bring me the wrong order. O.K., O.K.,
  O.K. Don’t just say ‘O.K.’

  He starts dictating his address. I have no pencil in hand.
  “O.K.,” I say “I mean: all right.”

  I’ve lost track of whether it was the lemon chicken or the garlic he
  wanted.

I was under impression that “O.K” is an exact alternative of “All right.” I checked OALD for confirmation, and it defines “O.K” as (1) Yes, all right. (2) used to attract sb’s attention or introduce a comment. (3) used to check that somebody agrees with or understand you.

However, the above conversation looks as though “O.K.” is less ‘serious’ or affirmative than “All right,” because the receiver of the wrong call rephrases “O.K.” with “All right’’ for clarification.

Are there a meaningful difference of nuance or degree of affirmation between “O.K.” and “All right”?


texts: What is the meaning of: little gel software wonks

texts:
A sentence from the novel Leviathan Wakes:

  Surveillance equipment, communication arrays, serious-as-fuck servers with their own little gel software wonks already built in.

I am trying to translate that expression: "little gel software wonks".

I cannot make sense of it.


texts:
I'm wondering if the phrase "Who's who" as in "a who's who of the community" should be "Who's whom" on the basis that if you rephrase to a question and remove the apostrophe you get "Who is who?" which is poor English, so should be "Who is whom?" (since you would respond to it phrased as a question with, for example "He is him(self)".

Which is technically correct, "Who's who" or "Who's whom".

I'm pretty sure it should not be "Whose who" because that would be possessive. Ignore that who and whom are generally interchangeable in modern common usage, I want to be technically correct about it if possible, though I fear it may just be one of those statements which makes no sense but we use anyway.


texts: which words in a title should capitalized?

texts: are there any concrete rules  that say wich words(parts of speech) in a title should start  with a  capital ? what would be a correct capitalization for the title of this question ?


texts: There was a deadline to submit an application. But I could not submit due to holiday in our institute and again unavilability of official staffs after the holidays. So I would like to write a letter expressing all these problem in a very short sentense. For example "I could not attend the meeting due to some unavoaidable circumstances."


texts: How to say "There's no more ice cream left" using the form "The ice cream is..."

texts:
In my native language I'd say "the ice cream is finished", but that sounds weird in English.
The ice cream is over? Gone?
All of these sound incorrect.
Using a dictionary to translate the verb from my language gives me "come to an end". But no one says "The ice cream came to an end" either! :)


texts: "Need just [verb]" vs. "need to just [verb]"

texts:
I wonder if it's okay to use these interchangeably:

  You need just accept it.
  You need to just accept it.


texts:
I was looking for a word that means “do some work quickly and improvised”, and found kludge. Is this the right word?

And, if it is okay, what is the correct usage? Can I use the word in a formal or informal conversation (or written)?


texts: A word for: a person you bounce ideas off

texts: Or I should say in this forum: From whom one bounces ideas. Weaker than a co-author or collaborator. Not a confidant (no element of privacy or secrecy). Friend is too broad. Suggestions?


texts: Word that can both mean "selection" and "adjustment"?

texts:
There is a kind of similarity between "selection" and "adjustment":
When we have 5 options, and we "select" one option, we are "narrowing down out of 5 options, which one we will get in the end"

But when we have an existing object, say a house, and we "adjust" the house to be different, we are also "narrowing down out of all possible houses that could result from all possible adjustments, which one we will get in the end"

Is there a word that captures both of these connotations?

Sample sentence:

I have ___en the final version of the design. I first chose one out of the 5 basic designs, and then adjusted it according to our needs". Another: "I have ____en a design, but I'm not sure yet whether its the right one. I chose one out of the 5 basic designs, and adjusted it somewhat, but not sure if it should be adjusted more.

Edit: people still seem confused as to what exactly adjustment and selection have to do with each other: they are both ways of narrowing down to get to one out of a larger set of possibillities. With selection you choose one out of "pre-existing" set of possibillities, but with adjustment you narrow it down to one out of a set of possibilities (namely all possible outcomes that result from some kind of adjustment to a pre-existing object).

So the common characteristic is "narrowing down to one out of a set of possibillities"


texts: Why are so many important verbs irregular?

texts:
In many languages, including English, the most important verbs are irregular. Examples include:

to be
to do
to get
to go
to have
to make

The same applies (roughly) to many other languages I know about (Dutch, German, French, Spanish, Swedish) and presumably to many other languages too.

Is there any reason why these everyday verbs tend to be irregular?


texts:
In Legally Blond the musical they use the phrase:

MARGOT: Dear Elle, He's a lucky guy. I'm like gonna cry, I got tears coming out of my nose!
Mad Props! He's the campus catch, You're a perfect match,
Cause you both got such great taste in clothes, Of course he will propose!

I see it used in a congratulatory sense, "mad props to you for doing X".
My intuition tells me that this is about "giving someone their propers" - but that makes no sense in this context to me. (As in, I don't have enough information to categorise that.) I'd never heard that used in a sentence before - and it smells of a social obligation.
My question is: How do I understand when to use the phrase 'mad props'?


texts: Anti followed by phrase, usage of hyphen

texts:
See this headline

  Anti-police brutality march declared illegal, broken up

I felt they should have written anti police-brutality or anti-police-brutality. Which one is more proper?

Edit: It is funny that they have now changed the headline! Did they see this thread :)


texts: Yod dropping - Why is there a distinction in the pronunciations of "sewn" and "hewn"?

texts: "Sewn" is pronounced /sōn/, whereas "hewn" is pronounced /hyo͞on/. Is there a reason for the difference in their pronunciations despite their spellings and origins being similar?


texts: Which one is more British: "car hire" or "rent a car"?

texts: I am wondering which one is more commonly used in the United Kingdom: car hire or rent a car?


texts: Why are there so few English words that begin with the letter X?

texts:
If one reads a lot of children's books, it is obvious that X is a real thorn in the side for those authors looking to have each letter of the alphabet represented in their books.  Most of them either cop out with X-ray, or they make up fake words.

My copy of the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary has only 3 pages devoted to X and with the possible of exception of xeric¹ and X-ray, none of the words would be recognized as  common.

Why are there so few common words in English that begin with the letter X?

¹ xeric may not actually be that common since it is not recognized by the spellchecker in my browser


texts:
Quote from grammar book:-

  By the end of the first year a baby will have already acquired some social skills.

Why is a comma not used before "a baby"?

  In terms of movement, an infant will be able to reach a sitting position unassisted and pull himself up to stand.

Why is a comma used after movement?

Any help??


texts: "You’re gonna make the same if you do as good a job" meaning

texts:
For one of the question trump was asked. what do you think about women's equality ?

then he says

"You’re gonna make the same if you do as good a job"

I couldn't understand the meaning. Can someone explain me ?


texts:
I rather like the phrase "amenable to suggestion"

You can attach it to things easily:

  My political views, amenable to suggestion, ...

But I'm afraid it may be redundant. According to this definition:

  (of a person) open and responsive to suggestion; easily persuaded or
  controlled.

  (of a thing) capable of being acted upon in a particular
  way; susceptible to.

I think it should be fine because "amenable" only involves suggestion when describing people. But according to this definition:

  open or susceptible to suggestion; likely to listen, cooperate, etc.

it does involve suggestion.

In a formal context is "amenable to suggestion" too redundant? Is it redundant at all?

Thanks in advance!


texts: Is "He's looking this way! Get away before he sees you!" correct?

texts: Is the sentence correct, or would I need to reword it as "He's starting to look this way! Get away before he sees you!" In my first sentence, the person is in the process of turning his head to look at the other person, but in another sentence such as "I am looking at the painting" the object has already entered the person's vision and he is not turning his head.


texts: Use of 'my' with School or college is correct. Is it good to use with gym, coaching center.


texts: was there a word "hat" to go with what and that?

texts:
I know there are
th wh and h triplets in English for
here, hither, hence and used to be for hen (when, then) so was wondering for what and that.

Thanks


texts: Is it proper to say "Turn right right here"?

texts: I was accused of being grammatically incorrect for saying "Turn right right here" and I was wondering if it is truly ungrammatical or if it is merely awkwardly worded.


texts: Correct Wording: Esteem of/from your colleagues

texts:
In regards to being shown admiration from others, how should the following be worded?

.. .esteem from your colleagues

or

... esteem of your colleagues