texts: Name for the idea that as something becomes more complex, more overhead is necessary

texts:
For example,

In software, as a project becomes larger, more documentation is necessary. And this relationship is not linear -- in fact, the amount of documentation over the size of the project will increase with the size of the project.

Similarly, as an organization becomes larger, there needs to be more structure. In a startup, you may not even need a real delineation of roles. But as the organiztation becomes larger and larger, more and more resources must be dedicated to "structural overhead." That is, stuff that doesn't "do" anything, but exists only for organization. Again, this relationship is more than linear -- the structural overhead necessary doesn't just grow proportionally with the size of the organization, but rather grows faster than proportionally.

As human's lives become more complex (just hunt and gather --> respond to emails, spend time with kids, write that report, practice the piano, etc. etc.) we also need more "structural overhead": to do lists, workflow managers, etc.

Is there a name for this general pattern, that as a system becomes more complex, the "overhead" also needs to become larger? And specifically, that this relationship is "more than linear," in the sense that the overhead necessary doesn't grow proportionally with complexity (or size), but rather grows faster than that?

EDIT: I'm receiving some answers about "diminishing marginal returns." The thing is, the marginal returns are not necessarily diminishing. In fact, it could be that we are experiencing economies of scale, and increasing marginal returns. More overhead does not equate to less efficiency, because it is possible that the extra overhead allows everyone to work more efficiently. What I'm looking for is a term like "____'s Law" that describes this.


texts: The "ask". Is this a buzzword or just bad grammar?

texts:
The ask, or my ask is used in places such as:

  My ask of you is that you fill out the true and false questions first.

Similarly, I have see the ask...

Why are people using this? I believe it is a buzzword and grammatically incorrect but we still see it.  But my issue is I can't back up why I think it is wrong, so I just need clarification if I am wrong. If I'm right, why is it incorrect?


texts: Of "was X and Y" and "was X and was Y," which is correct?

texts:
I sometimes confuse when to use "to be" when there are verbs associated with one noun. What is a difference between these two sentences given below:

  A promotional plan was launched and completed.
  A promotional plan was launched and was completed.


texts: Would you say "case-study-rich presentation" or "case study-rich presentation"?


texts:
This is a famous quote that I first encountered while watching the movie "The Usual Suspects":

"The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist."

And now I am wondering, why is past simple used here? I mean, I have no justification for whether to use past simple or present perfect. Using present perfect seems reasonable, since the action happened at a non-specific time in the past. The quote would be:

"The greatest trick the Devil has ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist."

Am I correct?


texts: Do you capitalize "second" or "third" etc, as in "William Jones the second"? I realize I could avoid the whole issue by saying "William Jones II," but still.


texts: What does 'chicken littling' mean when used as a verb?

texts:
Example - this tweet:

  ...especially given the reliance of these pundits on phony drama, false equivalence, trolling and chicken littling, and horse race gossip.

I've skimmed the wikipedia page on Henny Penny/Chicken Little. From the plot summary it is unclear to me which specific behavior by whom is meant with chicken littling, and how it refers to pundits and other public statements.

I've seen the statement recently a few times in regard to news and this is the specific context I'm interested in, if chicken littling means different things in different contexts.


texts: Just a thought: "a lot of water" --> plural?

texts:
Can we label the phrase "a lot of water" as the pluralized form of "water"?

"a lot of" = expresses that something has a large amount

plural = more than one in number

But since we still cannot count "a lot of water," is it appropriate to label this phrase as plural?


texts: How to say "the data collected from the previous month to current timstamp" in the following sentence?

texts:
"This validates the observation that historical data with at most one month gap closing up
to the current timestamp is favored."

Not sure whether the sentece above is correct or not .

I want to refer to the "data from the previous month to current timstamp"


texts: Term for a coup of the government led by corporations?

texts: Is there a word to describe a coup of the government led by corporations?


texts: How to describe a guy who is popular with girls?

texts:
Perhaps I should make it clear:
 - He naturally attracts girls.
 - He doesn't chase girls and have no intention for any relationship.
 - You just see him often together with girls.


texts: When have you officially 'started' something?

texts:
To say, I started playing Violin when I was 12 years years old: Does this imply that you have played Violin regularly since you were 12 years old?

Can you 'have still started playing Violin when you are 12 years old' if you play for 3 months, stop, and then pick up lessons again 3 years later?

What are some scenarios for 'I started doing ,  years ago' and what can change this?


texts: Is there a difference between using "of" and "for" as the preposition for "repent"?

texts:
He repented of his sin before he died.
  I sincerely repent of my sins.
  She repented of her decision to leave Iran.
  We repent for it

Oxford has a number of examples using both prepositions, including

  ‘Wonder if Janet will repent for her theft, or get caught further and further in a web of deceit.’
  ‘Miss Macleod added that her expiring brother said that he had always repented of his actions.’

A different preposition would normally change the meaning, but there's no indication in the examples that it does here. Is there a difference, or are of and for completely interchangeable?


texts: Two terms showing perceptible difference in comparison owing to triangle in the sentence

texts:
Do the following two sentences have the same or different meaning?

  I love you more than Tom.
  I love you more than Tom loves you. (Or, I love you more than Tom does you.)

My concern is that both the sentences seem to differ considerably in their meaning, particularly when three people are mentioned in the sentences. I feel unable, however, to help advanced learners of English to understand why the two sentences seem to have different meanings.

Thanks in advance.


texts: Is there a word that states--I admit I lack knowledge and understanding of what it is like to grow up or live in another culture?

texts:
Is there a word that states the following:

  I admit I lack knowledge and understanding of what it is like to grow up or live in another culture?

For example some people say white people are racist because they don't understand what it is like to grow up as a black person. Is there a word to acknowledge I understand that fact without being called a racist. I don't know what is like to be Muslim either or Asian or American Indian, ect.


texts: What is the longest possible correct sequence of punctuation marks?

texts:
How many logical, nonrepeating punctuation marks can be used in a row, in a sentence, while remaining grammatically correct?

For example,

  Julie said, "Bruno said, 'she went home (on South Beach Rd.,)' "; although, in reality, she went to work.


texts: What is the denotation of the word 'population'?

texts:
I've seen the word population most commonly used in the context of the magnitude of a community or group e.g. "The population of the United States is 320 million". I have also seen it used to simply refer to the collective e.g. "The immigrant population of X experience low levels of racism."

Which is the primary or original meaning: magnitude or collective noun?

Edit: So, etymology suggests that the collective noun is the original meaning. When did it change in popular use?


texts: When should the word "Nature" be capitalized?

texts:
This question is similar to the question "When should the word "God" be capitalized?" but somewhat trickier, because the distinction here is, I think, more subtle than the distinction between using "God" as a proper name to refer to one particular monotheistic divine being and using "god" as a reference to one divine being among many.

Sometimes when people talk about natural philosophy or physics they use the word nature in the sense that "This equation is a law of Nature.", or "This is how Nature is.", or "As scientists, we hope to understand Nature."

But, capitalization of the word Nature when used in this sense does not seem to be entirely consistent and may have political or religious connotations.

Under what circumstances should the word "Nature" be capitalized (other, of course, than at the beginning of a sentence or as the proper name of a publication)?


texts:
The English verb can is very strange for several reasons:

It drops the to on any infinitive verb forms that follow it. That is, unlike in the verb want in the sentence I want to eat, you would not include the infinitive to marker in the sentence I can eat.
Can itself has no infinitive form. A construction like I like to can understand foreign languages is not grammatical; you have to use the phrase to be able, as in, I like to be able to understand foreign languages.
Can does not conjugate. Most verbs add an s or es when they have a third person singular subject, but can does not.
You cannot add tense modifiers to can. I will can, I canned, I had canned and so on are all ungrammatical (unless you are talking about putting things in can). You have to use constructions like "I will be able to", "I could", "I had been able to", etc.

All of the other languages I know anything about do not share any of these characteristics in their corresponding verbs.

What are the historical reasons for why the verb can behaves so oddly in English?


texts: Meaning of "Do not expect troubles as they have a tendency not to disappoint"

texts:
In Think and Grow Rich Chapter 16, the author said,

  Do not expect troubles as they have a tendency not to disappoint.

Why do troubles "have a tendency not to disappoint"? Don't they "have a tendency to disappoint"?

And why would anyone expect troubles?


texts: I noticed that the final -ed has different pronunciations. What's the general rule for knowing the correct pronunciation?


texts: What is an adjective to describe what this baby is doing?

texts:
I was saving an animated gif (over 2MB in size) to my PC, but couldn't think of what to name it. After a few minutes of staring at [some adjective]baby.gif I figured I'd put it to you guys.

I was reaching for something along the lines of "profoundly contemplating", but it's in a kind of scenery-chewing sort of way. Is there a word to describe this? Obviously it's a silly gif of a baby that doesn't know what it's doing, but adults/actors do this as well. What's a good adjective to describe this kind of gesturing?


texts:
The following 2 definitions of anaphora are from the Oxford Living Dictionaries.

  1 Grammar

  The use of a word referring back to a word used earlier in a text or
  conversation, to avoid repetition, for example the pronouns he, she,
  it, and they and the verb do in I like it and so do they.

  2 Rhetoric

  The repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive
  clauses.

Why does the "grammatical anaphora" do the opposite of what the "rhetorical anaphora does"? In other words, why does the "grammatical anaphora" avoid "a carry back" (etymological meaning of 'anaphora') when rhetorically it carries back words, phrases or clauses?

  "repetition of a word or phrase in successive clauses," 1580s, from
  Latin, from Greek anaphora "reference," literally "a carrying back,"
  from anapherein "to carry back, to bring up," from ana "back" (see
  ana-) + pherein "to bear," from PIE root *bher- (1) "to carry." (Online Etymology Dictionary)


texts: Single-word for a 'middle-ish' amount? Something between 'modicum' and 'plethora'

texts:
I've tried the search here and a regular google-search, but it's possible my various queries have been either too broad or restrictive.

I'm looking for a one-word equivalent to "a fair amount".

A small (or even tiny, miniscule, barely notable) amount = "Modicum"
A large (or lavish, excessive, or wasteful) amount = "Plethora"

It seems like there should be a word in between those. All I've been able to come up with are "enough", which doesn't really feel right, and variations of the same phrase - "A reasonable/suitable/fair/adequate/decent/middling amount".

For context:
"He put a fair amount of thought into it"

OK, so 'plethora' wouldn't word there either, but something above 'modicum'. I may wind up just having to restructure the sentence, and that will probably be easier, but it's annoying me. Getting all up in my borderline OCD or something.

Thanks in advance.


texts: Is the "or not" in "whether or not" optional?

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  “Whether or not” vs. “whether”

I am not sure about the usage of whether. My confusion over it is whether or not is optional.   Suppose I have the following sentence:

  The results of the pathological test will definitely show whether the frail patient has an infection or not.

Is or not compulsory to make this sentence more appropriate, or is it optional?


texts: How do you describe, in English, a set of different ethnic groups in one word?

texts:
I am from Holland. In Dutch, we have the word "Volk" to describe the masses of people formed by a group with genetic, cultural, and ideological bonds and similarities. So in Dutch "Volk" is the proper original noun for "ethnic group" just as in English the proper original noun is "folk" (and not "people", since "people" is latinate).

Now in Holland we use the words "Volken" or "Volkeren" to describe the plural of the word "Volk", so they describe a set of several different ethnic groups. We use the word "Volks" when we use it as an adjective, both in the singular and plural forms. As a singular term, it would translate into English as "folkish".

However I am searching for the translation of the adjective used as a plural. In English, a plural is mostly created with an "s" after the singular, so that would make "folks". However, where "folks" in English can be used to define just a group of people, "Volken" or "Volkeren" as nouns in Dutch would never mean just a group of people, just as the Dutch adjective "Volks" used in the plural never would. It would always mean a set of different ethnic groups.

So now I am searching for one single word that, as in Dutch, describes "a set of different ethnic groups" like the word "Volks" without running the risk that folks think I am just talking about "a set of people". There is a large difference between the definitions of "a set of different ethnic groups" and "a set of people", and I need to make a headline in which I have only room for one word to communicate the correct meaning.

I should be able to use it in the translation of the Dutch sentence

  "En het vrije volks verbond leeft voort...."

which in English would be

  "And the free XXXX federation lives on...."

where XXXX is the word I am searching for.


texts: What accent did 'kewl' (cool) originate from

texts:
I've been hearing 'kewl' for a long time excessively on social media (mostly used by Americans).
I wondered what accent it came from. I searched, but only found the following information about it:

Kewl - /kjuːl/ (adjective): non-standard spelling of cool (fashionably attractive or impressive)

Origin: 1990s representing an affected or exaggerated pronunciation of cool - Lexico

Generally restricted to the colloquial meaning of popular, and therefore this spelling is useful to distinguish this word from the standard meaning of cool. With this particular meaning it has been adopted into other languages - Wikitionary

I also searched vowels in American accents and dialects, but didn't find any helpful information.

Youtube

So what accent did it originate from? Is there any accent which turns /uː/ to /juː/?


texts:
Take the following sentence:
"The success of the 1987 television show and 1990 film fueled the sales of everything from toys to toothbrushes to video games."
The following feels better:
"The success of the 1987 television show and 1990 film fueled the sales of everything from toys, to toothbrushes, to video games."
However, I'm not sure if this really qualifies as a list, or whether the serial comma serves any purpose. Is this simply a matter of style?


texts: What is the best word to use in place of "unique, but due to your setup", without attributing blame?

texts:
At work, we believe one of our customers experiences problems with our product due to their infrastructure. Their network is very busy and requests often time out.

We suspect that this is the cause of the problem and we've attempted to remedy it blind. We can't reproduce the issue using our own network, but have put features in place to fix the issue, if indeed that is the issue.

What we're struggling to find is a word that's suitable to describe this to the customer.

  "We've been unable to reproduce the problem, but have put some fixes in place to help rectify what we think it may be. Your situation appears to be unique, due to your setup"

My manager has a single word on the tip of his tongue that best fits the part in bold. Do you have any suggestions? We're looking for a word that doesn't blame the customer, yet indicates that it's unique to them and unique to their setup. Some words that don't quite fit the criteria:

special
unique
isolated
anomalous
abnormal


texts:
What do you call the practice of using (overly) complex words specific to a subject? I am thinking of scientific or academic fields where the common terminology used in the field is very unapproachable to someone not in the field. The situation I am imagining is when one professor gives a lecture using field specific language and the topic seems very difficult to approach to the lay person. On the other hand, another professor may give a lecture conveying the same information using terminology and phrasing easily understood by outsiders.

Is there a word to describe this difference in style practice?


texts: Is there an English word that means literally 'of the same material'?

texts:
and also has homo- or con- in it? It also needs to be a general word that can be used in, for example, a fiction literary story that has nothing to do with science: an imaginary thing, a word somehow like homogeneous or homologous. I need to say that something is “of the same material” as something else. If I had the word and could fill in the blank, my sentence should be:

  X is _____ to Y

meaning X is made of the exact same material as Y.


texts: Which preposition should be used after the noun 'skill'?

texts:
Which one of the following three sentences is correct:

"I have good knowledge and skill on the technologies you mentioned."
"I have good knowledge and skill at the technologies you mentioned."
"I have good knowledge and skill in the technologies you mentioned."
"I have good knowledge and skill with the technologies you mentioned."?

I checked some dictionaries, but I didn't find examples specific to the context I'm looking for.
And one more thing. Should I use 'skill' or 'skills' for that sentence?

Thanks.


texts: Difference between "somewhere" and "anywhere"

texts:
Do you live anywhere near him?
  Do you live somewhere near him?

Is there any difference between these two sentences?


texts:
We help you verify, validate and monitor your
  systems live, 24/7, with our human resources who are rich in experience, commitment, dedication, flexibility and with high analytical skills...

Could you help me check if the words I used in this statement make sense?  Is human resources a thingie noun that I should use which with instead of who?


texts: Is there a word (or shorter/clearer phrase) for "incorrect implication/suggestion"?

texts:
Example sentences:

I don't drink bleach very often.
Why does one plus one equal three?

The first sentence seems to suggest that I do drink bleach occasionally, even though from a strictly logically perspective, "never" drinking bleach meets the criteria of "not very often" too.

The second sentence can't be answered because it presumes that 1+1=3.

Maybe the two sentences don't have the same sort of problem, but in either case, I'm wondering if there is a word for describing these sort of misleading statements.


texts: What is the word for someone who is hard working

texts: I mean like someone who is very driven and even when working together who always push someone and pays more attention to whatever they do and never give up untill they get what they want.


texts: Is there an English word for "a name you legally gave yourself"?

texts:
Let's say that a woman known since birth as Alice Smith changes her name to Mary Jones.  Alice Smith would be her "birthname"; is there a word for Mary Jones meaning "a name she gave herself"?

I see that there is a word "autonym," but it does not appear to  have that meaning:
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/autonym

Note that I'm not looking for "married name," which would apply to a name acquired through marriage.

It could of course be the case that a person legally changes just their first name (not a nickname but a completely different name), but keeps the last name.  What would that first name be called?

UPDATE: Lots of good answers here, getting at various nuances.  In the particular case I am asking about, the name was legally changed, so many of the answers (like "pseudonym") probably wouldn't work.  Sorry I wasn't clearer when I said that she "changes her name."


texts:
The OED has made a public appeal for help in tracing the history of some English words, including:

  bimble

  verb earlier than 1983

  The word bimble, meaning ‘to move at a leisurely pace’, is sometimes said to have originated amongst British soldiers serving in the Falklands, and much of our early evidence supports this. However, one of our correspondents, who grew up in the north-east of England in the mid-20th century, says he remembers the word bimble from his childhood there. We’re looking for earlier evidence of the word to uncover the real story: is bimble a military coinage of recent vintage, or a north-eastern English dialect term with a longer history?

  Here is the earliest example currently in OED for the verb bimble:

    1983 R. McGowan & J. Hands Don’t cry for Me, Sergeant Major iv. 81 When the Marines moved at a slower pace they were ‘bimbling’.

  Can you help us trace the origins of this word?


texts: How many people dance vs how many people do dance

texts:
I get confused with this question. I want to ask some questions about a tradtional party.
This party is something like an event, people gather together and wear specific clothes.
Is it correct to ask "how many people dance at the party?" Or it necessarily needs "do"


texts: 'On' vs 'at' are there any principles that advise using one instead of the other when expressing the location of something?

texts:
The building is located on the corner of Bank and Butler.

Vs.

The building is located at the corner of Bank and Butler.

Is there any reason why one is more appropriate than the other?


texts:
I have the following sentence and I need your help:
"The buildings have a combined storage that serves (for) both space heating and domestic hot water."
Is 'for' necessary in this sentence?
I'd appreciate every comment and would be thankful for your help.


texts: Difference between "knowledge" and "know-how"

texts:
Is there any difference between these two?

Do (suppose) technical knowledge and technical know-how convey different meaning?


texts: What does “exercise their desire out of them” mean?

texts:
“I’m not sure whether they hibernate or not,” Hagrid told the shivering class in the windy pumpkin patch next lesson. “Thought we’d jus’ try an’ see if they fancied a kip … we’ll jus’ settle ‘em down in these boxes….”

  There were now only ten skrewts left; apparently their desire to kill one another had not been exercised out of them.(Harry Potter 4 [US Version]: p.41) [Bold font is mine]

N.B.: Hagrid is a Care of Magical Creatures teacher. The skrewt is a dangerous magical creature.

I can’t understand 'exercise' in the above citation.

There seems to be three major definitions of ‘exercise’ (verb).
1. use power / right / quality;
2. do physical activity;
3. be anxious

I’m thinking No.1 is likely. I tried finding ‘be exercised out of’ on the Net.

  As a May 1, just over 3 million 30 cent options had already been exercised out of the total of 744 million originally issued. [Bold font is mine]

But I can’t find any examples which have ‘desire’ as an object of the ‘exercise’. So, at one point, I thought it meant ‘physical exercise of skrewts couldn’t remove their desire out of their bodies by applying No.2 meaning.

Would you tell me the true meaning of “their desire to kill one another had not been exercised out of them”?


texts: Difference between "latent" and "underlying"

texts:
I'm not an English native speaker and I tend to use "latent" and "underlying" as if they were synonyms.

Are they actually synonyms, or is there a difference between them ?

For example, in a scientific context, what would be the difference between a "latent variable" and an "underlying variable", a "latent metric" and an "underlying metric" ...


texts: What do you call a photo like your passport or ID photo?

texts:
"Headshot" sounds too informal. I'm referring to the serious photo that we take for passport or ID card. What's the best word to describe it?  I need to a term to describe the type of photo but I'm not using them for passport.

Photo ID? Facial Photo?


texts:
No replacement parts will be installed to your car.
No replacement parts will be installed on your car.
No replacement parts will be installed onto your car.

Which one of these is correct? I'm not sure when to use install to/on/onto


texts: Would you use the word "swum" these days? I mean, grammatically, it is the past participle of the verb "to swim", but it seems to me that no one uses it anymore. If it's the case, how would You describe the fact that You have already performed an act of swimming today? With "swum" it would be like this: "I've already swum today"


texts: "Also" and "as well" for conversational context

texts: "Also" and "as well" seem to be quite similar in meaning, but I'd like to know shades in its meaning and usage, especially for everyday conversational language. What one will sound more natural and less formal?


texts: Phrase for events/experiences that don't seem significant when you retrospect

texts:
The question popped up in my mind when I got a vacation after almost 3 years and I had a chance to retrospect. In a broad sense, I have the following classification of experiences:
The cherished memories, the significant events:

The times spent with the fast friends
Excursions in Nature
Books and travel

(Now) Insignificant, barely recallable events:

Visiting plush restaurants and hanging out with people who were sort of 'temporary'
Unpleasant situations at the workplace
Worrying about petty problems and outcomes

What phrases can I use to tersely describe these two sets of experiences e.g: Suppose I try to pen down what I have written above (the types of experiences):
When I retrospect the past 3 decades of my life, I had two sets of experiences - |phrase for set-1, the ones that are sort of 'permanent'| and |phrase for set-2, they came as per the changes in the age but haven't lasted longer to become a memory or make a difference|.

I apologize if the question sounds vague but haven't been able to pen my thoughts precisely


texts:
When plausible means "appear to be correct" or "superficially pleasing", I want to know if it is positive or negative because this decides which of the following is correct.

Conclusions of the theory are plausible and inexact.
Conclusions of the theory are plausible but inexact.


texts:
Looked up the definition of "epistemic."

The definition is "of or relating to knowledge or knowing."

...Which seems rather vague to me. I'm not sure what "of or relating to" means, exactly. Please explain?


texts: How would you refer to the generic color of a carton/cardboard box?

texts:
How would you refer to a color of a standard brown carton box?
I mean, a one, that we normally use day to day for moving or storing stuff, etc.

Is it brown or yellow? Dark-yellow or light-brown?Hmmm... I doubt it.

The cartons may be indeed darker or lighter colored, but I wonder if there is any unique term in English, generically (and definitely) stating it's color.

UPDATE #1
It is not about just color names, but about the color of a carton.

UPDATE #2
I noticed that almost all answers below offer just the name of the color. Asking the question I was looking for a fixed expression to distunguish between these light-brown cartons and the white ones.

Here's my case: I have a bunch tiny stuff and what to distribute it among cartons of different form-factors, colors and shades. Then I want to document all storage objects into a database. I need to print out descriptive labels to stick to each storage object. For example, white cartons can be easily labeled as "White carton #5". So I need a similar universal fixed expression to distinguish cardbox-plain-brown cartons. The shades do not really matter - just a fixed expression please. If you say: "Hey dude, don't waste our time, just label'em as brown" - so be it!


texts: What do you call a sentence that is not narrative or non-narrative?

texts:
I am not sure if I framed the question right. I will explain, say I have two sentences that describe services provided by a company as below:

We provide good quality of service.
1-year warranty on all moving parts.

As per my understanding, the first sentence is narrative and first-person point of view. However the second sentence is different, it is not narrative as per my limited understanding. So I looked up if its non-narrative. But as per information found online Non-narrative writing is almost always written from the third-person point of view would opt for "he," "she" and "they" statements.

So if the second sentence is not narrative and non-narrative, what you call such sentences that do not use I,We,He or She kind of statements?


texts: What does it mean to "crash up the gears"?

texts:
What does the phrase in capital letters means in this context?

  Stress is a survival mechanism. When danger appears, it can get you
  out of trouble quickly. Your body CRASHES UP THE GEARS and throws all
  its resources into getting you moving.


texts: It's well known the expression "to ring a bell". "This doesn't ring a bell", "This rings a bell" are commonplace sayings. Is it grammatically correct though to say "this rings me a bell", or "this should ring you a bell"?


texts:
What is the rule determinating whether or not we need to capitalize them?
Sometimes I see "Math" ; "Physics" in the middle of a sentence, and sometimes lower case is used.


texts: What does "emphasizer vs. adjunct" mean?

texts:
"I do not really get to do much topical material."

A scholarly  paper gives that sentence, and it then comments: "Really" performs the function of emphasizer vs. adjunct.

What does it  mean by "emphasizer vs. adjunct"?

Thank you


texts:
My daughter is learning if-sentences in school right now.They learned that the rule for type I sentences is "if-clause: Simple Present, main clause: will-future or (Modal + infinitive)"

How does the following sentence fit into that rule:

  If you heat ice, it melts.

By the rule it should be:

  If you heat ice, it will melt.

Why is there "melts" used instead? What rule is applicable?

BTW: I would be sorry, if I triggered a duplicate...


texts: polite questions vs. direct questions: real life reactions

texts:
In English courses (especially business), we learn to use polite questions. So we know that you shouldn't say "excuse me... where's the nearest supermarket, please?" but rather "excuse me... do you happen to know where the nearest supermarket is?" (or a similar variation).

However, most people I know (non-native speakers) who go to English speaking countries come back saying it's all nonsense. Just ask your questions directly (never forgetting your pleases and thank yous, naturally), and that's all there is to it.

I'm inclined to believe that this idea is influenced by the native speakers excusing the foreigners from proper language use, but is it really?

In short, is it rude to ask direct questions to people you don't know? Are polite questions seen as wordy and unnecessary? Does the idea of rude and polite question change from setting to setting (say, talking to someone on the street or at a café and talking to someone at work or at college)?

I'm particularly interested in both UK and US reactions to the afore-mentioned direct and polite questions, although I won't mind getting insights from other English-speaking countries.

Edit:
My doubts relate mostly to whether these structures are in fact used. I've had students tell me they do not need to learn such structures because they never hear them used (UK and USA) and because no one seems to be bothered by them not using them (they believe all they need is to say 'please').

If these structures are in fact used, is the person that doesn't use them seen as being rude? Or are they right, and there's really no point in learning them?


texts: Can Annex be used to describe splitting up?

texts:
My two kids are arguing at the dinner table. Driving my wife, me, and their grandfather mad. The living room has a 'room' sort of attached to it, but no door, just a window into it. It's accessible via the kitchen. We call it the 'back room' . I say maybe we should annex them in the back room and then get crucified by my wife and her dad for improper use of annex as it means to join and not to split. I get that, but I felt/feel that using annex in the context I described was OK.

If you have a group of people and within that group there is a smaller group of people you want to separate but keep close, (i.e. two annoying kids), is it fair use of English to say we should annex them?


texts:
I saw a comment of someone referring to tom-and-tanya-foolery as the gender-inclusive version of tomfoolery. I was completely unaware of tomfoolery having any gendered connotation at all.

Is this a common term, and does the word tomfoolery have a gendered origin?


texts:
Can the word "register" be used as in the following sentence? In the brackets is not a part of the sentence.

  The machine registers your name (on the machine itself).

I reviewed few dictionaries and seeing a very little possibility that this use is valid, but I just wanted to confirm here.

Thank you in advance.


texts: Starting a poem or novel with the article "the"?

texts:
Can I use the without specifying what object I am talking about? For example, it is well known I can use the if I specify what the object is that I am talking about.

  "The boy sitting next to me is annoying."

However, I would like to know if I can still use "The" when the object is only known to the narrator or the person I am describing. For example:

  "The sea was beautiful. I shall forever remember the azure sky under
  which it sat the day I sat by the beach and I met this strange girl with
  blue hair. Let me tell you a story about..."

Also under which conditions can you use "the" exactly? Most grammar articles are super general and only say it's when the specific object is known, but by whom? There are so many edge cases that such a statement isn't useful.


texts: Can "some couldn't know" be used to console somebody?

texts:
A : "Hey pal, I don't think I can go on anymore. I feel people around me are much greater than me. I feel I'm useless and nobody cares about me."
B : "Don't worry. It's okay. Some couldn't know." (= there are some who couldn't understand the true value of you)

Does it make sense? I guess it's fine since "how could they know" in Rebel Rebel by David Bowie has a similar meaning.


texts: What does "John I believe Sally said Bill believed Sue saw" mean?

texts:
What does the sentence:

"John I believe Sally said Bill believed Sue saw."

mean?

It is cited in a textbook as an example of a grammatical but uncommon sentence.

Source: Manning, Christopher D., and Hinrich Schütze. Foundations of statistical natural language processing. Cambridge: MIT press, 1999. p. 10.


texts: Does “I’m available” mean “I’m single” (not married or not had a girlfriend or a boyfriend yet) when someone asks about your relationship status?


texts: Is it "That's the family that is moving in..." or "That's (they're?) the family who is (are?) moving in..."?

texts: I know that 'who' refers to people and 'that' refers to things. But what about when the thing IS people, such as a family? Would I say, "That's the family that is moving in next door soon.", or "That's (they're?) the family who is (are?) moving in next door soon."?


texts: "Incremental" growth as growth by a minimum unit

texts:
I always thought that the literal meaning of "incremental growth" was growth by one, or by some minimum unit, that "to increment by one" would be redundant, and that other usages (for addition by things greater than one) were just colloquial.  But OED and other dictionaries I'm looking at all favor the definition that I thought was imprecise.  It's only OED's fourth meaning that even connotes the smallness of an increase; the others seem to allow an increase of any size.

Am I going crazy?  I needed that word. Does English have some other word for something growing or increasing by 1?


texts: Tenses - using the word "had" in a sentence

texts:
Is this passage grammatically correct:
Graham had once called him a coward. It came out one night after they had both been drinking. The next day his friend apologised profusely, but Austin knew that he was right.
Should there be another "had" in the third sentence between "friend" and "apologised"?
Thanks!


texts:
The sentence in concern is :
We agreed that Coco and Rocky are not the same dog.
Shouldn't it be: We agreed that Coco and Rocky is not the same dog. ? According to my Word grammar editor, is is the correct form of the verb there. It doesn't sound right, though.


texts: Is there any difference in meaning, usage or frequency between the words "conal" and "conical" within a mathematical context, i.e. when talking about cones?


texts:
I have seen a few tips regarding the placement of periods before or after the closing parenthesis, but none of them solves my issue. A general rule of thumb-if the words inside the parentheses form a complete sentence, then period before closing it, otherwise period after closing it. However I am writing a sentence in the introduction part of a paper and the following options seem to be there

<,> denote the generalised inner product (see Section IV).
<,> denote the generalised inner product (see Section IV.)
<,> denote the generalised inner product (see Section IV.).

Which one among them is correct? A double period seems superfluous while placing it either inside or outside seem not to do justice to the whole sentence. Are there different conventions for British, American or Australian systems?


texts: "I don't have internet" vs. "I don't have the internet"?

texts:
When there is no WI-Fi or internet connection, people usually say

  I don't have internet.

However, I heard someone saying

  I don't have the internet.

which sounds funny to me. I would assume both are correct, but is the former more natural than the latter?


texts: Can modal verbs in the perfect tense, i.e. may/might/could have done, refer to the future?

texts:
I think the pattern 'modal + have + past participle' refers to the present or the past. Can it refer to the future as well? Are all of the following sentences correct:

He may have arrived yesterday.
He may have arrived now.
He may have arrived tomorrow.


texts: "Company's engineer" - What does it mean in this context?

texts:
What is company's engineer in this context? Does it refer to the stakeholders?

If aircraft maker Boeing is trying to win a contract from United Airlines, it will emphasize different qualities when it talks to the company's engineers, purchasing people, chief financial officer, and CEO — since each United participant will consider different matters during the purchase process.
[Market your Way to Growth: 8 Ways to Win, Kotler & Kotler, pub Wiley 2012]


texts: What does Donald Trump’s “go-to argument” mean?

texts:
There was the following passage in the New York Times’ (January 16) article that came under the headline, “Donald Trump’s Existential Pickle.”

  The ranks of talk show hosts, journalists, pundits and political
  consultants are especially robust with losers, including Ana Navarro,
  Bill Maher, Howard Stern and Karl Rove, who’s not just a “loser” but
  “dopey” and a “total fool,” as Trump tweeted. -- And his go-to
  arguments for why someone is a loser, a dope or a dummy is that he or
  she has made erroneous predictions or been repudiated by the ratings,
  the marketplace, the audience. A television personality is a loser if
  not all that many viewers tune in.
  http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/17/opinion/sunday/donald-trumps-existential-pickle.html?action=click&pgtype=

I took his "go-to arguments” as vitriolic or aggressive argument to disparage other candidates at first, but when I checked both Cambridge and Merriam-Webster English Dictionary, my interpretation didn’t fit to any of the following definitions – trustworthy or helpful person / sources /service - they gave:

  Cambridge Online Dictionary:
  Used to describe the best person to deal with a particular problem or do a particular thing or the best place to get a particular thing or service.

Examples:

He was the company's go-to guy for new ideas.

He is the go-to politician for all federal matters in the state.For 20 years,

Wild Mountain was the go-to store for outdoor enthusiasts.

Merriam-Webster English Dictionary:
Always helpful: producing desired results or information when needed.

Is "go to argument" to sell himself as a go-to guy to whom all Americans entrust their country as their leader? What does “go-to argument” mean? Do any other politicians have the "go-to argument" pattern as Mr. Trump has?


texts:
Both the prefix means the same thing eccentric - outer center vs external - outer
all in all they means the same then what is the difference here?


texts: An adjective for "one who doesn't understand or appreciate the importance of something"

texts:
There is an adjective in my mother tongue (Turkish), "kıymet bilmez"...

We use it to describe the people who don't understand or appreciate the good things, the good opportunities etc. which they have. They take everything for granted.

Is there some common adjective in English to describe such a man or woman...

Best regards...


texts:
I see people write middle of next week as "mid week" or should it be "mid next week?"
What is the simple and correct way to write " the middle of next week".

May I write - "I will send the package before the middle of next week" as "I will send the package before mid next week"?


texts: Which is more common, using “who . . . is” or “whom . . . are”?

texts:
Which of these would you say?

  The married couple who the police caught is on drugs.

or

  The married couple whom the police caught are on drugs.

Why?


texts:
I frequently see statements in the form of this one:

  As a skilled computer programmer, this new language is crap.

I think that’s ungrammatical, but can’t explain why. I think it’s because the part before the comma doesn’t correctly attach to the second part.

I would rewrite it,

  As a skilled computer programmer, I find this new language to be crap.

Because I think the first part has to attach to “I” or the verb “find”, which is done by the subject “I.”

Please educate me and others.


texts: Why does child sometimes become a two-syllable word?

texts:
I have noticed, mostly in American English, that people sometimes say "child" as a two syllable word : Chi-ald. I wish i could represent this using phonetic symbols, but I'm bad at that, so please bear with me.

But I have almost never heard the 2-syllable child in phrases like: "child abuse" or "child safety".

"He's just a chi-ald"
"That's child abuse!"

Am i wrong? Have i completely made this up in my imagination? Or does this actually ring a bell? If it does, is there a pattern or a justification to it?


texts: Terminology for a word containing a prefix/suffix or neither

texts:
Does terminology exist for discriminating between words which do/don't contain a prefix/suffix?

How could I describe this difference in the synonyms 'discontinue' and 'stop'? Here, 'dis' is a prefix and 'stop' contains no affix.

More fundamentally, is there a term for words which do not contain other words/affixes as substrings?

I am also curious if a word contains an affix vs another word as a substring, if these are different concepts.


texts: What does the phrases "bedraggled remnant" and "but otherwise" mean? What does the sentence mean?

texts:
In the quote:

  The Hoover administration had deployed tanks and tear gas to drive a bedraggled remnant of World War I veterans (the Bonus Marchers) from Washington but otherwise appeared incapable of responding to the crisis.

How do we understand the phrase "bedraggled remnant"? Is it a set phrase? Or it just means that those veterans are dirty or wet?
What is the logic in this sentence? Is it the tanks and tear gas that made those veterans bedraggled? Or is it the economic crisis
that made them bedraggled?
What is emphasized here with the phrase "but otherwise"? What does the author intend to convey to the readers?


texts: 'Cheddar goes "good" with burgers?' Can "go" be seen as a verb of the senses?

texts:
I know that the adverb modifies a verb except for in some limited cases such as verbs of the senses or copula.

"It tastes good.", not "It tastes well."
"It looks good.", not "It looks well."
"It seems good.", not "It seems well."
"It appears good.", not "It appears well."

Etc
However, I have noticed that at times it seems that go can substitute for some verbs of the senses such as in…

"That color goes good with your complexion." (looks)
"Cheddar cheese goes good with burgers." (tastes)

In spite of an answer to a similar question, I am not satisfied.
I did an Ngram search, and it appears that "well" is vastly preferred over "good"; however, Google.Books does seem to indicate that “good” has usage with go when discussing “looks” or “taste”, although it is not often seen in print.
I have searched through 3 pages of the 9th print edition of OALD, and cannot find support for the idea: however…
Can Go substitute for some verbs of the senses, and so take an adjective rather than an adverb?
Is there some kind of an explanation to describe the (mis)usage, or is just a matter of “correctness”?


texts: When can I use "while" instead of "when"?

texts:
I have been learning English for a long time, but still don't understand about the when/while difference and their usage.

When can I use "while"?


texts: Is it "policy(ies)" or policy(s)" for an optional, parenthetical plural suffix?

texts: When writing a noun that shows a parenthetical plural suffix option, which is acceptable, "policy(ies)" or policy(s)"?


texts: Using a different tense in the same sentence in dependent clauses?

texts:
God froze in time and lay quietly, heedless of the music of the
birds as they sing.

I am wondering if the present can be used here, because sing is tied to the phrase "music of the bird" and not the dependent clause "froze in time and lay quietly". Also, can we use the present "sing" to stress that "God" is immortal?
You would usually use "sang", but I am wondering if "sing" is appropriate here.


texts: What are the rules about using 'half of' with plural nouns?

texts:
Here are some sentences with 'half of' and plural nouns that I consider to be well-formed:

  Half of all films are a waste of celluloid.
  Half of users surveyed said they preferred the old product.
  Half of the women here are your ex-girlfriends.
  Half of Americans are uninsured.

Here are some sentences with 'half of' and plural nouns that don't feel well-formed to me:

  Half of people are women.
  Half of books are hardback.
  Half of dogs are neutered.
  Half of fruits are citrus.

To me, the above require 'all' before the noun or some other form of modification to sound correct or at least less awkward. (In fact, part of my problem is deciding whether these sentences sound wrong because of grammar or semantics.)

I'd appreciate either:

To be told my second set of examples are actually fine (preferably with links to similar examples).
A clear rule for when one can use 'half of' with a plural noun. It can't be just about modification if the 'Half of Americans' sentence is well-formed.


texts:
I try to avoid possessives in formal writing, but in some cases the brevity is necessary. With a plural possessive construction such as

  the players' gloves

is it ambiguous grammatically whether this refers to either (a) a single pair of gloves owned by all of the players, or (b) the individual pair of gloves owned by each player?

Hopefully the reader would understand the meaning to be the latter, but it always nags me that there could be a misunderstanding here.


texts: Can anyone kindly help by saying what the two words the speaker uses are after 'environmental' at 13:58 of this video clip?

texts:
Please use the link below to access the video content related to my question.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4OBcRHX1Bc


texts: A case of optional “that”: “check the” vs. “check that the”

texts:
Consider the following use case:

Please check the username and password are correct.
Please check that the username and password are correct.

In this case, I would say that that is required because it feels more natural to me and so the flow is better. However, is the lack of that wrong in this case?

The question boils down to: when is that optional? See here. A quick summary:

That is optional if the pronoun is the object.
That is required if the pronoun is the subject.

I think that we fall into the second case: that is required because the relative pronoun is the subject. But I'm not sure if I'm interpreting these rules correctly. Can someone please advise?


texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  Why do so many people get this wrong? “How are you? / I'm well.”

How would you answer the question "How are you?"

  I'm well.

or

  I'm good.

I notice that in American English, the latter is normally used, but I feel that the former is grammatically correct.

Same goes for questions like "How did it go?" Can one answer "It went well," or "It went good."

Which is correct?


texts:
I have a sentence which I am very confused about which one is correct:

"Currently they are also the market leader in digital marketing of The Netherlands."

Other possibilities:

"Currently they are also the market leader in digital marketing in The Netherlands."

"Currently they are also the market leader of digital marketing in The Netherlands."

Kind regards


texts: Meaning of "limbic system on two legs with waterfalls"

texts:
"it made me a limbic system on two legs with waterfalls pouring out from my  armpits"

Source : http://yourbrainonporn.com/what-are-the-symptoms-of-excessive-porn-use

lymbic system on LEGS? pouring from armpit? Is this sentence doesn't make sense or i just don't understand it?


texts:
Does anyone know the history of the word jellyfish and how it was defined and popularized?

OED lists a usage in 1707, but that is referring to a gelatinous vertebrate fish.

They start showing uses as we know it today (albeit hyphenated) around 1841.

The reason for asking is that from a scientific perspective, it is a poorly-defined, non-taxonomic category. Some animals clearly should be called jellyfish, but lots of other things (siphonophores, comb jellies, even salps) are lumped in there where they may not belong.

Related, Latin languages use medusa (or similar) for English "jellyfish". What are some other common names in other languages?


texts: Is the meme, "all your base are belong to us" correct for any time period?

texts:
Surely many people have heard, “all your base are belong to us”. It is a popular internet meme from 2000.

The Wikipedia page calls it “broken English”, but it seems as if some translations of The Bible use the same construction, as evident in this question:

  Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. —II Corinthians 5:17

If “all things are become new” is correct, then could “all your base are belong to us” also be correct? Do both of these follow the same form?


texts: I saw the sentence "Jake thinks his sister very smart" on a grammar worksheet. However, I have never seen this form of sentence before, nor are there any instances of "S + think + O + O.C" on Google. Which comes to the question: Is it grammatical?


texts: Single word, or good words/phrase for "confusingly asked question where meaning changes."

texts:
I'm gonna simplify and clarify this question, since it has proved popular:

Look at this SO QA ..
Where an ellipsis exists, is there a term for the missing text?

Observe that at first it appears AA was being asked.  People answered this at length.  Then after some clarification it would appear BB was being asked.   Other people answered this at length.  Finally it appeared CC was being asked.

The same sort of thing also happens particularly in business - it's thought that the client wants A but after some work on A everyone realises they really meant B .. and so on. (See my earlier over-long edit of this question for an example.)

What's the best term for this particular type of snafu?

There's kind of a taxonomy of fuck-ups in communications, in business, in rhetoric, in discussion: as DB mentions below, "spec creep" is an excellent example of something that would be in such a taxonomy!

What's the best phrase or perhaps single-word here?


texts: "...his parents' dream of *him* achieving a Cambridge degree." What is the function of "him" here?

texts:
I have a problem analysing this sentence from the point of finite/nonfinite clauses, clause elements and their functions:

  He does not want to destroy his parents' dream of him achieving a Cambridge degree.

I am especially interested in the: dream of him achieving a Cambridge degree.

I know that 'achieving a Cambridge degree' is a non-finite -ing participle clause. However what is its function? And what is the function of 'of him'? Is it a postmodification?


texts:
Because it lacks the legitimacy and accountability that come with election and the power that
  derives from the sword and the purse, the Supreme Court’s authority rests on public acceptance of its
  status as a nonpartisan arbiter of the law.

I hazard that "purse" refers to monetary influence and that 'sword' = might and main? But why 'sword'?

Source: P301, America on Trial, Alan Dershowitz


texts: "Could not happen" vs. "could have not happened"

texts:
Which one is correct?

  These changes could have not happened without outstanding help
  kindly provided by the queen.

  These changes could not happen without outstanding help kindly
  provided by the queen.

The changes happened last year and thus the process of changing is done.


texts:
Does "to adjust a red to a blue" mean to change the color of an object from blue to red"?

Context:

‘So when the 1960s came along, I was feeling split, schizophrenic; the war, what was happening to America, the brutality of the world. What kind of a man am I, sitting at home, reading magazines, going into a frustrated fury about everything – and then going home to adjust a red to a blue?’
Philip Guston interviewed by Jerry Talmer, ‘Creation is for Beauty Parlors’ The New York Post, April 9, 1977

http://www.frieze.com/issue/article/view_from_the_bridge5/


texts:
Which sentence in each group is correct? Are they both acceptable?

1)

I can't tell if you are joking or being serious.

I can't tell if you are joking or if you are being serious.

2)

Is it better to regret believing in someone's lie or doubting someone's truth?

Is it better to regret believing in someone's lie or to regret doubting someone's truth?

I have been browsing through various related threads in order to clear up the issue, but for some reason I keep thinking that the first sentence in each group doesn't sound quite right. A friend of mine claims they are both correct in each case and that the first sentences are preferred for brevity. Is he right?


texts: What is the origin of the term "fresh fish"?

texts:
I'd only ever encountered this term in more modern movies and literature—typically in a prison setting—referring to new, and therefore more vulnerable, inmates. Recently, however, I noticed its use in The Red Badge of Courage:

  Still, he could not put a whole faith in veterans' tales, for recruits were their prey. They talked much of smoke, fire, and blood, but he could not tell how much might be lies. They persistently yelled, "Fresh fish!" at him, and were in no wise to be trusted.

This instance led me to wonder, just how old is this usage exactly? Does anyone have information on its usage before Red Badge (1895) or its origin?


texts: What is the "material holding" in a company'?

texts:
I am working on a text and it confuses my mind. I do understand the meaning and yet can not be sure about it. It says:

  The arbitrator holds shares, either directly or indirectly, which by reason of number or denomination constitute a material holding in one of the parties or an affiliate of the parties that is publicly listed.

Is there any other word for material holding, or is it the same thing with 'to material influence on a company' ?


texts:
Was the semi-colon used correctly in this sentence?

  In my opinion, anyone can apply this mindset to change unhealthy habits into good ones; and in return, turn his or her life around.


texts:
I want to use a slang term to make a sentence rhyme, but I want it known that I know how to spell it correctly.

For example:

  Tennessee is where I wanna be.


texts: What is a relish tray versus a veggie tray?

texts: I have heard both of the terms "relish tray" and "veggie tray" used somewhat interchangeably. It seems as though there is some overlap between the two based on some simple Google Images searches (relish tray and veggie tray), though they do appear to be somewhat distinct. I am left wondering what the real difference is between the two - as well as appropriate (and inappropriate) uses for each.


texts:
Consider the following sentence

  At present, I'm making do with what I have

Though it tells you what I'm trying to convey, something feels funny about the phrase "making do". Is it grammatically wrong? Will I have to rephrase the sentence to read as

  At present, I've to make do with what I have

PS: Googling "making do" isn't helping either as the results that are showing up are related to "make do"


texts: What do you call someone who comes up with excuses, so they don't have to do something that they said they will?

texts: For example, when someone "pinky promises" something and then when they have to do what they promised they don't want to do they come up with excuses, for example they'll say "I never said it promises a time of when I will do it". What are words to call a person like this, basically someone who doesn't keep their word, but I need other works.


texts: Referring to a character by a trait rather than name/title/pronoun

texts: This is really driving me insane. What is it called when instead of referring to a character by their name, title, or pronoun you use a short description. For example, "the cruel man spoke", "the junkie laughed", "the older sister followed". They aren't really kennings or epithets, but it's similar.


texts: Origins of the sports idiom "playing 500", meaning same number of wins/losses

texts:
In sports, people often say that a team is "playing 500", meaning that they have the same number of wins and losses for that season.

Why not say "fifty fifty" or "half and half" or "50 percent"? Why half of one thousand (presumably the point...but why one thousand, what is the significance)?


texts:
What's the best way to say it?

"I like to ride bicycles" is correct but pretty lame sounding...

Is "I bicycle" correct? Or is it too obscure to be good usage?


texts: Why is mutton used for both sheep meat and goat meat?

texts:
The meat of an adult sheep is called mutton.

The meat of an adult goat is called chevon or mutton.

  In the English-speaking islands of the Caribbean, and in some parts of Asia, particularly Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and India, the word “mutton” is often used to describe both goat and sheep meat, despite its more specific meaning (limited to the meat of adult sheep) in the UK, US, Australia and several other English speaking countries.
  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goat_meat

Questions:

Why mutton is used for goat meat in some Asian countries (and Caribbean)? Is this a semantic extension? What is the origin of this usage?
Is mutton ever used for goat meat in North America?
What word is common for goat meat in North America? For example:
"goat meat" or "chevon"? (You can talk about UK, NZ, AU etc. also)

(Though, goat meat itself is not that common in North America comparing to other parts of the world)


texts:
MS Word likes to correct "subpoint"  to "sub point"

Is there anything grammatically wrong with "subpoint"?


texts: What is the term for someone who has always exercised restraint in behaving a certain way but a change in lifestyle allowed the behavior to surface?

texts:
Here is my sentence that I need help completing:

He was always emotionally and verbally abusive towards my mom but it never got physical until June of 2014 (that I’m aware of). The alarming increase in not just the quantity of booze he consumed but the amount of time he spent consuming it is _________________.

I am trying to say that he probably always wanted to hit her but never did because he could restrain himself, however, the increase in alcohol is what lowered his inhibitions thereby allowing his emotional abuse to graduate to physical violence.

Is the best way to say it the way that it's written above? I feel like the term is RIGHT THERE but I can't seem to grab it!

Thanks for any insight. I just found this site and am officially OBSESSED.


texts: In "set of reasons that" what does *that* modify?

texts:
Suppose that there is a survey of people asking them their reasons for thinking or behaving a certain way. While analyzing the survey results, a researcher may discuss all the different reasons the respondents put forth, and compare reasons that were shared by multiple people. The researcher then writes:

  There is a common set of reasons that are compelling.

But I have a quibble with this: the sentence starts out with the singular subject set (thus the matching there is), but surprises the reader by making that modify reasons instead of set, as clearly indicated through the use of are instead of is that would match the singular set.

Are my instincts correct? If so, what rule of grammar is this violating?

Bonus: please suggest a good title. It's hard to come up with a title when I don't know the answer, yet. I realized that "Sentence grammaticality" is not a good title, but I don't know if the current one is an improvement.


texts: What does "aprob" mean, in this quote from Beckett

texts:
Playwright and author Samuel Beckett made the following statement in regards to his short play "Breath", commissioned by one Kenneth Tynan.

  "My contribution to the Tynan circus is a forty second piece entitled
  BREATH … It is simply light coming up and going down on a stage
  littered with miscellaneous unidentifiable muck, sychronised with
  sound of breath, once in and out, the whole (ha!) begun and ended by
  the same tiny vagitus-rattle. I realized when too late to repent that
  it is not unconnected with

  On entre, on crie
  Et c’est la vie.
  On crie, on sort,
  Et c‘est la mort.

  If this fails to titillate I hand in my aprob"

When I first read this, I presumed that the closing statement "aprob" was some writerly or theater-land slang for a commission or approval. However, on searching, all the results are circular and point back to this quote. It was originally given in an autobiography of Beckett, which does not define the term.

I cannot find any reference to it as an abbreviation, contraction or acronym. Apparently it is Romanian for "approval" which is a possibility, but it barely makes sense. I find it hard to believe that a writer of Beckett's stature would be using Romanian or made-up words in his correspondence. What does it mean?


texts: I have seen fist bump mentioned in some books, and would like to know what it means.


texts: Help finding a word that means "made tangible"

texts:
I know there is a word for this, but I can't figure it out. I think it sounds like "mortalized". It means "brought into existence" in a tangible way.

For example, the Iliad and the Odyssey were just stories before Homer wrote them down. He _______ them.

Thank you so much!

It's not anything like "published". It specifically refers to something that was previously an oral tradition or unwritten, and finally someone _____ them.


texts:
I am calling this person something that is the exact opposite for what he actually is.

I call this person "traditional" using a sort of ironic(?) address because he is in fact a modernist reformer rather than traditionalist.

Is this a misuse of the word "ironic" or does it fit? Overall, I use it humorously.


texts:
Where does this "throwing" action come from when talking about hosting a party?

Throwing usually has to do with hurling something, usually an object (but it could be an emotion: throwing a tantrum). But one also uses the verb when talking about hosting a party: throw a party.

Where does this come from? Did people in the old days host parties by throwing objects?


texts: What is the correct term to describe "An animal with the ability to fly"?

texts:
After searching I couldn't find anything, with the closest depiction being a pilot.

"___ animals have a different form of locomotion to aquatic or terrestrial animals."


texts: What is the most precise antonym of "innate"?

texts:
I want to say that something is extremely challenging for both intrinsic and extrinsic reasons - for example, doing research on something happening on Neptune (intrinsic - Neptune is harder to observe) that is also politically charged (extrinsic - the politics get in the way of objectivity but are external to the thing itself).

I can say that, of course - I just did. But what if I wanted to use 'innate' (for its innate in-bornness) rather than 'intrinsic'? What is its antiword, if it exists? Perhaps some Latin way to say 'not inborn'?

Edit: I'm really specifically into reasons here, not skills or behaviours. An acquired vs. innate skill and a learned vs. innate behaviour are all well and good, but I don't think they are as good a fit for reasons.


texts: What is the meaning of "if not upended"?

texts:
White House officials had expected to deliberated for several days over how to respond to North Korea's proposal for direct talks between the countries, which South Koreans officials had first conveyed by telephone this week. But Mr. Kim's offer of a leader-to-leader meeting accelerated, if not upended, the administration's plans.North Korea Asks for Direct Nuclear Talks, and Trump Agrees

Hi,
I would like to know the meaning of "if not upended".
I looked up the word, upend in a dictionary, and it says:

  Set or turn (something) on its end or upside down.Oxford

But still I do not understand it. Please help me.


texts:
I recently described my room as being spick and span and I realized I had no idea what that really meant.

It occurred to me that it might stem from a derogatory term (spick), so I thought I'd ask here to make sure there wasn't some racist historical origin. What is its origin?


texts: "My and my sister, Anna Smith's records" or "My and my sister's, Anna Smith, records."

texts:
I'm writing a request letter to my and my sister's high school but I don't how to properly say it.

I, Rebecca Smith, would like to request a copy of my and my sister, Anna Smith's Transcript of Records.

or

I,Rebecca Smith, would like to request a copy of my and my sister's, Anna Smith, Transcript of Records.

if both are wrong, please tell me a better sentence and also, if something is wrong in this question, you can correct it.
Thank you very much


texts: What is the word for "All Being" (similar to omnipotent for all powerful)

texts:
I'm looking for a word for "All Being" to describe deity existing, always existing, and existing for eternity.

Other words often used to describe deity include:

omnipotent—all powerful
omnipresent—present everywhere at the same time
omniscient—all knowing

None of these words describe a being/deity that has always existed and will always exist. A being that exists because he/she exists; i.e., needs nothing/nobody else to define his/her existence.

Does such a word exist?


texts:
Can I say: "He took a savory bite" to describe how he acted when he bit the hamburger.

I say no teacher says yes. Have I lost my mind? Help!

He took a savory bite of a cheeseburger.

to me a cheeseburger can be savory but can the action also be savory?
thanks


texts: What is a good alternative for "Date" when talking about range of years?

texts:
I need to design a table where one of the columns is the range of years. The range of years denote when someone was working in a specific city. For example,

Date       Location
---------  --------
1990-1992  London
1992-1996  Boston

"Date" looks odd to me because the column values do not appear to be dates but rather year ranges.

Is there a better word for the column header? A few things that came to mind were, "Duration", "Years", "When", etc. but I don't know if there is a standard word for this that is suitable for this.


texts:
In the following sentence using the word "that" is correct or it is better to remove it?

  I did not think the motion of water that would follow certain physical relationships


texts: How to avoid many "of"s in one sentence?

texts:
I am not a native English speaker and frequently face a problem (especially in my research) of avoiding many "of"s in my sentence. Here are some examples:

  Optimization of control of guaranteed search of moving object on plane

and

  This thesis is dedicated to construction of algorithms for control (as well as optimal control) of guaranteed search of moving object on plane.

In Armenian and Russian you can have as many "of"s as you wish and it sounds OK, but in English it is kind of awkward to me.

For those, who understand Russian and Armenian, below are the original sentences:

Armenian

  Ատենախոսությունը նվիրված է հարթության վրա շարժվող օբյեկտի երաշխավորված փնտրման ղեկավարման, ինչպես նաև օպտիմալ ղեկավարման ալգորիթմների կառուցման խնդիրներին:

Russian

  Диссертация посящена задачам построения алгоритмов управления, а также, оптимального управления гарантированным поиском подвижного обьекта на плоскости.

Thanks in advance.


texts: What do you call an old-fashioned poster pole?

texts:
I am searching for the right name for those old-fashioned, very wide poster/add poles. Here's one, e.g.:

They are often shown in movie depictions of the Victorian era, with an umbrella-like roof.

It seems too wide to be called a pole and it's not a typical billboard or poster wall, because it's circular. I'm guessing there must be some word that was used (or still is) to address this object.

I searched Wikipedia entries on advertisement and poster history, thinking it might be mentioned somewhere, but I couldn't find anything.


texts: Is it grammatically correct to use "at" twice in a sentence, referring to a time and a place?

texts:
For instance, over email I often write something along the lines of the following:

  I'll arrive at 221B Baker Street at 11:45 PM.

Is this grammatically correct? Can any improvements be made from a stylistic standpoint?


texts: Confusion Regarding Naming of Operator Types

texts:
I'm working on a program and need to separate operators into a class of unary and binary, but also into relational, arithmetic, logical, and bitwise.

I'm struggling with the naming of these two types.

What do I call relational, arithmetic, bitwise, and logical?
I see that this relates to the function of an operator. Perhaps "function type"

What do I call unary, and binary?
I see that unary and binary relate to the amount of operands an operator can take. Perhaps "operand type"

I'm not satisfied with just "operator type" because you can have a unary logical operator, and a binary relational one; it's not specific enough. They seem to specify different things about the operator and I can't exactly find the right word choice for this.

Thank you!


texts:
I'm trying to translate this sentence: (said in a TV studio inside a movie: Ice castles - 1978 if it could help)

"Did you see his face when they missed that film cue?"

Some sentences later there are few more times the word "cue" appears, which are:

"Raven, we've got to pick up the cue after that third spot, thank you".
"Am I going to have that cue right for tonight?"

From the last two sentences I'd be tempted to translate this as "signal" but I can't get the meaning of "missing the film signal".

What would be the actual meaning of film cue?  Thanks in advance!


texts:
1.New applicants are registered to the database and will soon be informed.
My answer:
It is new applicants that are registered to the database and will soon be informed.
2.Discovering the truth so early in the story was surprising.
My answer:
1. It was surprising to discover the truth so early in the story.
2.What was surprising was discovering the truth so early in the story.


texts: What's the difference between the words "plate" and "dish"?

texts: I'm confused about the words dish and plate. Could someone please explain the difference?


texts: Word that means "describing a group of people based on the action of an individual"

texts: I don't know how to better describe my question, but I have an example that may clarify. The word I'm looking for can be used for example to say "this person is xxx" when that person says "All Muslims are terrorists" because a couple people did terrorist acts.


texts: A word in between "lesser" and "greater"

texts:
In many game systems (particularly fantasy or role-playing games), relative qualities or power levels are denoted by naming things using "lesser" or "greater". For example, in Dungeons and Dragons 3.5, there are weapon augmentation crystals, that might be named

Least crystal of Arcane Steel
Lesser crystal of Arcane Steel
Greater crystal of Arcane Steel

etc.

It seems odd to me that there is a "least", a "lesser", and a "greater", but nothing in the middle. It makes sense that a "lesser" object is lesser than the "greater" one, and vice versa, but it seems strange to not have something in the middle. Of course one could argue that the one in the middle needs no such qualifier, but I was wondering - is there a word that can stand alongside words such as "lesser" and "greater" to denote that something is the "regular" version?

I thought of "common", but that strays into ideas of rarity, which is slightly different.


texts: Word for someone who pays attention to details

texts:
I know I've seen a word that describes a person who has a high perception of details (for example, seeing specific information in a log file), but I can't recall it now.

Insights?


texts: Is there an English word or phrase that means "intending to help and hurting instead?"

texts:
Consider the case where a professor is erasing a board and one of the teaching assistant tries to help him by erasing part of the board.

Unfortunately, while trying to pick up the eraser, the teaching assistant bumps into the professor and they both drop their erasers.

An outside observer sees this and says the TA is ______, rather than helping.

The missing word or phrase would capture the good intentions but also express the fact that the intended help had the opposite of the intended effect.

In Mandarin Chinese, the phrase 帮倒忙 comes to mind, but the Google translation "disservice" does not quite capture it.


texts:
How can I express the action of incorrectly puncturing a vein or missing it?

Can I just say "mispuncture"?


texts:
You're one to talk.

This expression usually means that the speaker thinks the listener shouldn't be talking in the given situation. So it's sarcasm.

Sometimes, you can make it more sarcastic by adding 'a fine':

  You're a fine one to talk.

Could either be used literally to mean that the speaker thinks the listener should be talking in the given situation?

If not, how can you make it express the literal meaning? Perhaps by adding 'the'?

  You're the one to talk.


texts: A sentence question from the book The Grapes of Wrath

texts:
In chapter 10, Tom Joad explains a personal meaning of what preaching is to the preacher Casy and I don't understand it.

  ”That's preachin'. Doin' good to a fella that's down an' can't smack ya in the puss for it. No, you ain't no preacher. But don't you blow no cornets aroun' here".

Could someone explain what this means?


texts: Is there a word to collectively refer to "the things on the office table"

texts: For example, "Confectionaries" is to refer to all kinds of candy. I'm looking for a word to describe all sorts of things one might find on the office table (pen, paper, paper clips etc)


texts: If A is a prerequisite for B, what is a noun describing B in relation to A?

texts:
I would like to find a noun that describes the thing enabled by the prerequisite. It should be able to work in the sentence "B is a(n) ___ for/of A", in which A and B are both skills.

For instance (this may be debatable, but for the sake of example), perhaps walking(A) is a prerequisite for running(B). Then running is a(n) ____ for/of walking.

I almost went with "result", but that didn't work well in this situation because being able to do A doesn't necessarily imply being able to do B.


texts: Origin of "run" in "run short/out of /low" on something

texts:
Where does the usage of "run" come from in expressions in which you are saying that something is finishing like:  run short of or run low on something?

I checked the  etymology online dictionary which says:

  To run short "exhaust one's supply" is from 1752; to run out of in the same sense is from 1713.

but I don't understand why the verb "run" is used.  What is the origin of this idiomatic usage?


texts: What Indian words appear in cricket's vocabulary?

texts: One of the things I find surprising is that India seems to have had little influence on the vocabulary of cricket. Notwithstanding India being arguably the world's greatest cricketing nation, I can't immediately think of any examples of cricket jargon which come out of India. Can anyone else?


texts: Single word for describing someone who suffers from a kind of speech impairment

texts: I'm looking for a single word for describing someone who always speaks words incorrectly so that nobody but ones who are familiar with his disorder may understand him. I'm not sure if there is a word for this I hope there is. Thanks


texts:
How could I politely push someone to do something? Is urge an appropriate word in this sentence?

  I will really appreciate if I could receive the results earlier, could you please help me urge them to give me the results?

May I use the word urge in this sentence? Other comments about this sentence are welcome.


texts:
As an instance, in "On Land and Sea With Caesar" by R. F. Wells it is written:

  "Go to sleep again. You'll feel better by and by and then I'll tell you all about it." "
  No, tell me now," insisted Titus. " I feel tired, awfully tired and
  weak, but I can listen to such news as that." " What was the last you
  remember about the battle? " inquired Julius.

After reading some dictionaries, I observed that "by and by" means:

After a while; soon. (The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition.)
presently or eventually (Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged.)

But, I'm not able to precisely understand whether, in contexts like above, "by and by" is used to indicate (1) an event that will happen soon, a great encouragement full of optimism, or (2) an event that will happen in a distant future, eventually.

As far as I understand, in the case (2) one can still read an encouragement, but with an involved meaning of resignation.

So, in what sense is "by and by" commonly or properly used, (1) or (2)? Please, explain in reference to contexts like the afore-quoted?


texts: Is there a word for writing and not looking at it (while writing)?

texts: "Writing while looking at something else" -- your hand is still moving, your writing is still legible, but your eyes are elsewhere, such as reading from the source material being copied.


texts: In "type of guy" constructions, do you use hyphens or not? For example

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  To hyphenate or not?

"Did you see this silly poll? It says that if I were a superhero, I would be Captain America."

"Really? I don't know; I see you as more of a Thor-kind-of-guy."

Or should that be, "I see you as more of a Thor kind-of-guy?

Or simply, "I see you as more of a Thor kind of guy"?
Which form is best?


texts: What do you call it when everything satisfies one condition or the other?

texts:
When something can be A or B but not both, A and B are mutually exclusive. As sets, A and B would be disjoint.

When everything must be A or B—that is, a thing may be A or B or both, but not neither—what are A and B called? A and B need not be mutually exclusive, but not-A and not-B definitely are.

Here are some examples.

  Somebody took cookies from the cookie jar! It could have been Sally or Timmy, but let's not forget that they might be in cahoots; it being Sally or Timmy is [as described above], after all.

  If you want to get technical, heads and tails results on a coin are not [as described above], because you missed the very tiny chance that the coin lands on its side.

  Clearly, a signed graph cannot at once have a blocknode and two disjoint odd circuits—the two conditions are mutually exclusive. Ideally, they are also [as described above], but as we will show, this is not the case.

To be clear, I'm not looking for mathematical terminology, but something a fluent English speaker could recognize.


texts:
In high school debate, we have resolutions or topics. This year, our topic is, "Just governments ought to require employers to provide a living wage." In order to form arguments, debaters have to specify whether the topic refers to one government or multiple governments when it says "Just governments ought to".

Some debaters say that because the topic specifies governments plural, it requires debaters to talk about multiple governments. However, there has been discussion that Bare Plurals, or plural nouns that have no number or temporal feature in front of it mandate that it be treated as a psuedo-singular noun. Therefore, under the bare plural interpretation, debaters would only be required to talk about one government.

My question is: which interpretation is correct; the plural interpretation or bare plural interpretation? What are arguments for both? Are there grammar experts that concur on one interpretation or another?


texts: Usage of radiator as a device for engine cooling

texts:
The word radiator is

  a hollow metal device for heating rooms. Radiators are usually connected by pipes through which hot water is sent

But it also has the meaning of

  a device for cooling the engine of a vehicle or an aircraft

which is the exact opposite.

Etymology says

  1836, "any thing that radiates," agent noun in Latin form from radiate. Meaning "heater" is from 1851; sense of "cooling device in internal combustion engine" is 1900.

But I can't see why radiator is used for a cooling device, too. What is the reason?

Interestingly, since 1900 the use of radiator is massively increased:


texts: Are there any English idioms to describe “futile benevolence?”

texts:
We have a word, “宋襄の仁” meaning “futile benevolence.” The word comes from a historic episode from ancient China.

In Spring and Autumn era (BC 8C) in China, when Song Country fought Chu Country, Muyi, Prince of Song besought his father, King Xiang to attack the enemy before the enemy completes deployment of their army, King Xiang rejected his son’s advice because it’s unfair to attack people when they are in trouble.

King Xian lost the war and Song was conquered by Chu. Hence the word, “宋襄の仁 – Sojo-no-jin - King Song Xiang's benevolence” passes as the futile benevolence or stupid generosity in our country, and possibly in China.

Are there any English phrases or idioms that are derived from similar episodes in which excessive or inconsiderate benevolence / generosity turns out to be a great disaster?


texts: Isn't it redundant to say "becoming increasingly (adjective)"? I know this is a common construction, but it seems to me that increasingly already includes the idea that it is already (adjective) but it will be more so over time.  If it is "becoming (adjective)" then it is not (adjective) yet, and so the level cannot grow and the word increasingly would not apply.  Therefore, it seems that "become" and "increasingly" are words that should not go together. Comments are welcome.


texts:
I was reading a poetry. One of its line is:

"these voices need a pen before they turn extinct"

Now I wonder if it should be "turn extinct" or just "extinct"?


texts: Is this the elided form of "the way I wrote it is that I wrote very correctly."

texts:
The way I wrote it, I wrote it very correctly.

Is it the elided form of this sentence below?

  The way I wrote it is that I wrote it very correctly.

I am not a native speaker, so I have to add that second sentence sounds a little off to my ear, but not entirely.


texts: Can "retrospectively" be used in this manner?

texts:
The following is the paragraph which the word "retrospectively" is used. I meant to say something like " the government has learnt from the past events, and as a result, have implemented these measures. " Can the word "Retrospectively" be used to represent what I am trying to convey ?

  This recent Avian Flu outbreak will definitely bring to mind a similar
  scenario that occurred five years ago. In 2009, the Swine Flu outbreak
  resulted in 120,000 people being infected and 648 deaths in our
  country. The government has retrospectively implemented measures
  to further enhance our readiness to combat such disease outbreaks
  occurring in the country.


texts: Specific words for narrow and fat ends of eggs?

texts:
Does the English language have specific words for narrow and fat ends of eggs?

What are they called?


texts: Is using "Studies indicate." after stating a fact grammatically correct?

texts:
I occasionally hear people talk about some kind of (usually statistical) fact, and then follow that up with the sentence "Studies indicate." For instance: "Violence often begins at home. Studies indicate!"

Is the second sentence gramatically correct? It seems like an odd way to phrase it, yet I hear it every once in a while. Is it simply an implied version of "That is what studies indicate." or is there more to it? Are there other constructs like this?


texts: What does "rummun" mean in this sentence?

texts: "They have had a bitter quarrel I think" said he and bit into the bagel. "They're rummuns" said he chewing it.


texts: What does it mean if someone is a "minefield of information"

texts:
What does it mean if someone says that "you're a minefield of information" - after you gave them some useful information.
Perhaps they meant "mine of information"?
What do both those phrases mean?


texts: When do we use the article "a" before "people"?

texts:
I read a sentence in a chapter named "The Last Lesson" which was:

That, we must guard it among us and never forget it, because when a people are enslaved, as long as they hold fast to their language, it is as if they had the key to their
prison.

I ponder over why the article "a" has been used before "people" which is a plural noun.


texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  Are there any simple rules for article usage (“a” vs “the” vs none)

Which is correct?

Everyone knows what a proton is.
Everyone knows what the proton is.
Everyone knows what proton is.


texts:
What is the meaning of "rolling" or "rolling rate" here?

This chart shows a rolling 12-month rate of installs by country/region.


texts: What is it called when an academic discipline is given human attributes as if it has its own agency?

texts:
Okay, so I'm fairly certain that there's a specific name for this that isn't anthropomorphism or personification, but instead some kind of logical fallacy or something similar... Consider:

"Political science desires to be referred to as a hard science."
"Sociology has learned a lot from psychology."
"Biology saves lives."

At first I thought this was the pathetic fallacy, but I think that's incorrect now after looking at the specific situation more clearly.

Any help much appreciated!


texts: Logic behind the word "only" (paragraph comprehension)

texts:
I am getting confused about the first paragraph from this article.

  In the discourse on international relations, we routinely
  differentiate between various categories of states and label them
  according to certain criteria that we consider relevant for our
  understanding of the dynamics of international politics. Sometimes
  these criteria are purely factual, but mostly they have an evaluative,
  even moralizing, overtone. For example, the denotation of a state as a
  coastal state, inland state, nuclear state, or nuclear-power state is
  both factual and informative. Arguably, labels like "Great Power", "small
  state", or "developing state" combine factual with evaluative elements.
  But most state labels have a predominantly evaluative character.
  Labels such as "failed or failing state", "semisovereign state",
  "democratic state", "rogue state", or "outlaw state" are largely contested
  and accepted only by those who share the evaluative assumptions which
  form the basis of such a marker.

I can understand the first sentence, but I cannot comprehend what the italic part is trying to convey. First it says most state labels have an evaluative character, but then it says those evaluative labels are accepted only by certain people, which in my understanding, it means those evaluative labels are not commonly accepted. This makes the paragraph seems contradictory to me.

Is my understanding of only wrong, or there is something else I am missing?


texts: Use of "any more than" to relate two different situations

texts:
In the following quote by Billy Sunday “Going to church doesn’t make you a Christian any more than going to a garage makes you an automobile.” can anyone pls explain/elaborate the usage and meaning of "any more than".

Thank you.


texts: How can I improve myself in English writing and speaking skill?

texts: I want to be a story writer. So, I need to write the English language without grammatical errors. But, I don't know how to be fluent in English. I am currently doing my honors in English Literature. Please, show me the right way. Thanks


texts: Is the position of "still" and usage of a parenthetical element grammatically correct?

texts:
Earlier today I was commenting on something and typed:

  This, to me, smells as incomplete still.

I quickly change it to:

  This still smells as incomplete to me.

As a native in English I rely mostly on intuition to determine if something is correct. And when I read over my comment, I found the former hard to understand, and so made be doubt if it is grammatically correct. I'm rather fond of parenthetical elements and so believe that both positions of "to me" are grammatically correct.

However I can't find how "still" is being used grammatically in either sentence. And so I can't tell if the former is correct or incorrect.


texts:
So I am looking up the meaning of 'contrive' in google using:

define contrive

And it says:

Verb
1. Create or bring about (an object or a situation) by deliberate use of skill and artifice.
2. Manage to do something foolish or create an undesirable situation.

However when I typed define contrived, I get:

Adjective
1. Deliberately created rather than arising naturally or spontaneously.
2. Giving a sense of artificiality.

I assume contrived is a different word altogether. But can it also be used as the past tense of contrive?


texts: What is the difference between "clearance" and "sale"?

texts:
I want to understand the difference between clearance and sale. So are these words synonyms or not? E.g.

  Receive 60–90% off CookiesKids Clearance from Cookie's Kids.
  Receive 50–85% off After Holiday Sale Items from Woodwind & Brasswind.


texts: What's the difference in meaning between "evidence" and "proof"?

texts:
What's the difference between "evidence" and "proof"? I've noticed that the word "evidence" is often used in English as if it meant proof. For example,

  ...there is evidence of human existence in Saudi Arabia dating back
  20,000 years

It looks like in this sentence there is no place for any doubts that humans existed in Saudi Arabia 20 000 years ago. If so, then the word "evidence" here, as far as I understand, can be replaced with the word "proof". Or is it like there are some nuances here that I, as a non-native speaker of English, am not seeing?


texts: Which definition of "atheism" is the proper usage?

texts:
This seems to be a creeping problem in that two competing definitions are being used for the term "atheism" that aren't necessarily compatible with one another.

One the one hand we have what appears to be the classical definition of "atheism" which describes it as the solid position that there is no God by describing at as the "belief that there is/are no God(s)"

Support: Stanford

On the other hand there are some selected groups (and many atheists that you ask on the internet will tell you) that the term is the "absence or lack of belief in God(s)."

Support: Wikipedia

Which definition is the proper usage? Are these competing definitions untenable and contradictory or can they be inclusively used as the Wikipedia article suggests?

What are some of the implications of "lack of belief" definition? Under that definition would babies be atheists? What about animals? Could inanimate objects technically be described as "atheistic?"


texts:
If today were April 30 (actually it is), what does 'later this month' mean?
If today were April 15, what does 'later this month' mean?
If today were April 1, what does 'later this month' mean?

ADD:

If today is Monday, when I say 'this Friday', I would mean the coming Friday. So, I thought 'this' might have some meaning relevant to some future.

For question 1, I thought the answer could be later half of May, couldn't it?


texts: Word for software less harmful than malware

texts:
Is there a word for software less harmful than malware? In particular,

The software provides functionality you need, and actually it is you
who download and install it.
However, it steals your data and uploads it for its own use.


texts: "I hadn't waited long until he showed up." "Until" instead of "before" sounds strange, but why?

texts:
I hadn't waited long before he showed up.

is a common expression, but

  I hadn't waited long until he showed up.

sounds strange.
I wonder why.
Is something grammatically wrong?


texts: "only once did she give way to emotions". Why is "did" used before "she", although it is not an interrogative statement?


texts:
Can we say:

His mother forbade his going out at midnight.

In some countries, women's wearing tiny skirts is totally forbidden!

But I don't mind (my) smoking here. here can we add "my"?

Somebody told me forbid+act so we can't say like that is that true?

Thanks very much!


texts: You have no idea, (...): "do you" or "don't you"?

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  Question tags — “did you” vs. “didn’t you”

Which one is correct?

option 1:

  You have no idea, don't you?

or, option 2:

  You have no idea, do you?


texts:
Hi i'm a english learner. Can you tell me what the difference is between
Calm and calm down
Slow and slow down
Heat and heat up
Cool and cool down
Speed and speed up
Warm and warm up

I have no idea why people add a preposition after a verb when i think that the meaning of a verb is enough to express what i mean.
I think the above questions seem to have the same role.
But i can't figure out what it is.
Please explain about it
Thank you so much :D


texts: How did "heart" come to refer to the shape?

texts:
When and why was this first called a heart?

As far as I can tell, the biological heart does not appear to bear it much resemblance.


texts:
The following sentence is taken from pag. 79 of The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language

He quickly spent the money given him by his uncle.

Is it grammatical? Would it still be so after adding prep. to? why?

He quickly spent the money given TO him by his uncle.


texts: Difference between meter and rhythm in poetry

texts: What is the difference between meter and rhythm in poetry? The explanations found from googling were highly confusing.


texts: Unsure whether to use "enquire" or "inquire"

texts: I have read the post Enquire and inquire. It was illuminating, but I am unsure which version to use. I am an American, but am writing to a woman in England. It is a formal business letter, and the context is: "I am writing to enquire..." Is this appropriate, as I believe it fits the criteria mentioned in the other post, or should I use inquire?