texts: Too many "and"s? Is it grammatically correct?

texts:
A friend of mine (a non-native speaker of English) has asked me to check her CV and I'm afraid / ashamed to say, I'm having trouble.

Are there too many "and"s in the given sentence? It seems OK to me, but I've always heard we shouldn't use so many in one sentence. Here it is:

  I help individuals, schools and organisations to provide special needs care, care training and home audits by providing training classes, carer evaluations and other care-based educational services.

There are many sentences that look similar. Again, they all look OK to me, but this is at odds with what I learned in school. All I could find on the subject was the "Oxford comma", which doesn't seem to be the problem here.

They tend to follow this pattern:

I work with x, y and z to provide x, y and z.


texts:
I want to tell my friend that he is among the very few who can make me smile.
Here's what sounds more natural to me:
You're one of the few people who is good at it(making me smile).
Or should I say "you're one of the only people who is good at it" instead?
Thank you!


texts: What's the term describing employer-employee and similar role relations?

texts:
What do you call a word relation such as employer-employee, parent-child, teacher-student or doctor-patient, i.e. the relation between two roles that are dependent on each other? You can generally only be an employee if there is an employer, you can only be a parent if there is a child (as in offspring, not minor), etc.

For some reason, I find the term antonym too general since the term I'm looking for would be for describing a very specific relationship between roles.


texts:
Is this sentence grammatically correct?

  I had to ponder on my future at a beautiful place.


texts: Is there any difference between "in the same spirit" and "in the same fashion" in terms of their usage?

texts:
in the same way
in the same manner
in the same fashion
in the same spirit

Dictionaries give almost the same meaning, but I wonder if there is any difference (or nuance) between these four phrases? (formality, image of the word, etc.)

(I originally wanted to ask only the two phrases in the title, but I found these four similar during my research.)


texts: What is an adjective to describe someone who is the opposite of reckless other than 'cautious' or 'careful'?


texts:
How did the phrase "hear you out" or "hear me out" come about?

The phrase means "listen to whatever I have to say before you pass judgment on me," or "tell me whatever you want; I don't mind and won't pass judgment on you."

First, why is it "hear" and not "listen"?

Second, how is the "out" used in this context, and what is the purpose of the "out"?

Third, how old is this phrase?


texts: Is it fine answering "I hope it's nothing." instead "I hope it's nothing serious."?

texts:
Is there any misunderstanding at Sam's answer?

Isn't it infered that Sam means "nothing serious"?

Jenny: "I have to leave the office and go back home at once – something's happened".
Sam: "Oh... I hope it's nothing."
Jenny: "It IS something! Haven't you heard me?"


texts: Equivalent for "Crowd" in the context of machines

texts: As in M-W, the term crowd is defined as "a large number of persons especially when collected together". In this regard, concept of crowdsourcing has been introduced in the scientific and research community. So, what is the equivalent term for the collection of (artificially or physically) machines? Specifically, how one could refer to process of outsourcing a task to a set of machines?


texts: Word or phrase for hogging the left lane

texts:
Frequently on two-lane freeways, at least in the US, people drive in the left lane at exactly the same speed next to a car in the right lane, thus blocking the road.

Cars tend to back up behind these oblivious people. Is there a word or phrase for hogging the left lane?


texts: What do you call the best pupil in a class in a single word? The pupil who has the best grades. I need this word NOT to be pejorative, like nerd, geek, teacher's pet, and so on.


texts: Why are religious texts ("The" Bible, "The" Torah, "The" Qu'ran) preceded by "The"?

texts:
Although English is my first and only language, I've always wondered why religious texts are preceded by "the", although they really can just be seen as pieces of literature (I'd rather not get into religion). Say I'm reading Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, I wouldn't say,

  I've been reading the Fahrenheit 451 a lot recently.

I would say,

  I've been reading Fahrenheit 451 a lot recently.

But when I'm saying I'm reading a religious text, you have to put the in front of the religious text, otherwise it would sound incorrect (I'd say grammatically but I'm no grammar professional). It seems like putting the in front of a religious text is making it more/a higher version of a proper noun compared to other pieces of literature, if that makes any sense.

Why does this occur?

Edit: Just by the way, Fahrenheit 451 was just an example. Also, I don't mean that they included the article the in the title, I meant that why do we call it that since they're not explicitly in the title itself(i.e., written on the cover)


texts: the meaning of the phrase"practical folks"

texts:
What is the meaning of *practical folks in the following passage?

  Enjoy learning. While practical folks will say college is about getting the piece of paper that will get you the job. I hope you will see it more than that.


texts: Meaning of "taking a lot of winning over"

texts:
I'll try to give the context:

  I will be flown home [after having fled overseas and getting in
  trouble there]... My husband will take a lot of winning over, but
  sooner or later he will take me back, and forgive me.

Googling produces five to a dozen results, depending on the tense applied, and I've failed to deduce what exactly the phrase means.


texts:
I am having a hard time interpreting a specific phrase.
The phrase is "A judgement has been entered."

If a judgement was previously entered, and it was then removed. Would the "has been entered," be the correct tense, or should it be "had been entered." In other words, does "has been entered" imply that the judgement is still entered today, or could it simply just imply that it was entered at one point in the past, not necessarily today?


texts: Does the expression ‘Someone, who took his while presumed innocent, will get bail any time soon’ sound natural?

texts:
I found the line, ‘Mr. Strauss-Kahn, who took his while presumed innocent will get bail,’ in the following paragraph of New York Times article (May 17), titled ‘Hotel Keycard of I.M.F. Chief May Tell a Tale.’

Does the ending line mean that the odds are low for Strauss-Kahn, who took time in claiming his innocent to get bail? I’m not clear with the structure of this section. Is ‘take one’s while＋objective noun composition’ natural English expression? I mean don’t you need a preposition between while and presumed innocent?

“The director Roman Polanski strolled the red carpet, smiling for the cameras, apparently unworried that the French authorities would notice that he was a fugitive from justice in Los Angeles, where he had drugged, raped a 13-year-old girl. The parallel was striking, a prosecutor said Monday. Mr. Polanski, who took his version of the perp walk as a guilty man, lowered the odds that Mr. Strauss-Kahn, who took his while presumed innocent, will get bail in New York any time soon.


texts: "Cancellation", "Canceled", "Canceling" — US usage

texts:
I'm trying to figure out if there is a specific rule behind the word "cancel" that would cause "cancellation" to have two L's, but "canceled" and "canceling" to have only one (in the US).

I understand the rules are very loose when it comes to double L's in English, and I have read several posts on here talking about "canceled" and "canceling" (vs "cancelled" and "cancelling"), but my specific question is more about the spelling of "cancellation".

US English Oxford Dictionary - they do NOT mention cancelation with one "L"
Meriam Webster - they do seem to have cancelation listed with one "L"
Microsoft Word marks "cancelation" as an invalid word
Same with the spell checker in Firefox

So my question is: is there a reason or rule why in US English, "cancellation" seems to have two L's (to most dictionaries), while "canceled" and "canceling" does not?


texts: Does "Could I have hope of getting admission of your school with that score?" sound weird?


texts:
I currently have the following sentence:

  Due to variations in how screens display color, actual printed colors may vary slightly.

However, does it make sense to drop the s?

  Due to variation in how screens display color, actual printed colors may vary slightly.


texts: Proper naming for the case of omit of Relative Pronoun

texts:
In this sentence:

  Our professional designers produce high-quality custom logo designs that exhibit the image (that) our clients want to project.

I've added above (that) to the original sentence to denote the point of my concern.

I had guessed this sentence is the compound of two compartment, which are "Our professional designers produce high-quality custom logo designs that exhibit the image" and "our clients want to project (the image)".

Then I had concluded this merge falls into the case of a relative pronoun.

My question is:

Does this omit the relative pronoun?
If it does, is there any formal term that describes this grammatical phenomenon?


texts:
My article is titled, Bridge Snacks for Thought. Obviously, a play on words for "Food for Thought." Seems I should punctuate it: "Bridge Snacks" for Thought.

And, it also could be Bridge "Snacks" for Thought. Or, something else...

I should add that local bridge clubs, snacks always are served.


texts: When making an inference, do you say “making an inference on something” or “making an inference about something”?


texts:
In dictionary, Chemistry means the complex emotional or psychological interaction between people (http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/chemistry)

Seem the definition does not say that Chemistry is only used for romantic relationship. However, I often hear people uses "Chemistry" in romantic situation.

So, Is "Chemistry" used for any relationship or just for romantic relationship?

Can I say "I and my cofounder have a very good chemistry. We work together to grow our startup"?


texts: What kind of construct is 'would that that were all'?

texts:
There is a place in Bram Stoker’s Dracula where I can’t quite parse the grammar:

  8 May. — I began to fear as I wrote in this book that I was getting too
  diffuse. But now I am glad that I went into detail from the first, for
  there is something so strange about this place and all in it that I cannot
  but feel uneasy. I wish I were safe out of it, or that I had never come. It
  may be that this strange night existence is telling on me, but would that
  that were all!

I understand the meaning of the text in bold (it’s equivalent to if only that was all!), but I don’t understand the grammar being used. What kind of construct is this?


texts:
Is there any particular American dialect that does this? I have heard this kind of pronunciation on some American TV shows, mostly featuring teenage/college kids, and it appears more prevalent among female speakers. Often, the girls who feature such pronunciation also exhibit qualities of Valleyspeak in their speech and I am wondering if they are related.

Am I hearing things or is it actually an identifiable and well-known pronunciation habit? Is there any established pattern that associates it with any particular dialect?


texts: Is there an English word for being half as old as a parent?

texts:
Like when you reach 20, and your mother is 40.

Is there a phrase/word/whatever that describes this phenomenon?

Alternatively, is there a word for this with any two (unrelated) people?


texts: I will offer up a few bits of advice (???)

texts:
I think that this means simply "I'll give you a few of advice."
My question is how "offer up" and "offer" are different.
In the dictionary, "offer up" is to worship or present as an act of worship, which I don't think is this case.

Also "a few bits of advice" is commonly used? Or is this because the author who wrote this is a programmer?

Note: As an ESL person, most cases, meaning of what native speakers say presumably can be understood like this question. But the nuance of them is not clear especially in the case that speakers want to express their secondary intention indirectly. This sentence came from a programming book. Usually, coding book does not use such expression as "offer up". Also, there are many Jargons used by only computer science people. So, I wondered the possibility of the other meanings than dictionary meanings. Also, suddenly I thought that "a bits of advice" might be a tweak too for fun because the author used exaggeration in the "offer up".


texts: A questions about correlative comparatives

texts:
Which of the following sentences is correct? Or are both correct?

The more you pick at your wound, the worse it gets.
The more you pick at your wound, the worse it will get.

I've looked on many websites but have become so uncertain. I'm a native speaker but find myself in a quandary about this simple sentence. My first gut feeling was #2. The will future in the second part sounded right to me. But now I'm confused. I'd appreciate any help on this one.


texts: What does it mean when someone says "Oi" as a response to a greeting?

texts: I’ve had a few interactions with people from countries other than my own, and when I greet them, oftentimes they’re response is just "Oi." What does that mean in this context? Where is it typically used (country) and is it a new thing, or has it been around for a long time, and I’m only just catching on...?


texts: What does one mean when he says "Every me, every you"?


texts: What is an alternative word to "journey" for a shorter travelling time?

texts: I want to ask someone that how was his journey  but the drive is too short to be considered as journey. What other word I can use instead of it?


texts: Is it possible for a new irregular verb to appear in English language?

texts:
Consider these verbs in past tense:

  faxed, emailed, googled

they are all regular verbs made out of new nouns.
Are there any new irregular verbs that I'm not aware of?


texts: Can we say "you can [not go] to school" or does it automatically become a negative sentence?

texts:
"You can [not go] to school."

Can this sentence mean that you can stay here and not go, or does it automatically become a negative sentence if I say it like this?


texts: Is "How do you ... ?" a polite question to ask the right way to do things?

texts: Sometimes I feel uncomfortable to say "How do you spell xxx ?". It sounds like asking his or her own way of spelling a word implicating that I am not necessarily expecting the correct answer. Is "How do you ... ?" a polite question to ask the right way to do things ?


texts: Can I say "I want to make something useful, to more people the better."

texts:
I want to make something useful, to more people the better.
Or. I want to make something useful. To more people, the better.

I not sure how this sounds to a native English speaker. There are a lot of things that aren't grammatical but still widely used because they have been used so often that they are now idiomatic.

I have always heard people say "I want to help people, the more the better." Something like that. The more people to whom my product is useful, the better. I am pretty sure this last sentence is grammatical.


texts: Consider this sentence :"Obesity is a surplus fat deposited in the adipose tissues"   I am wondering if " surplus fat" is correct or "surplus of fat" . "surplus" can be noun as well as adj so I think both styles are correct. Am I in a right track ?


texts: Users wrists or user's wrists - addressing all wrists of users

texts:
I am launching new wearable software company with motto: Get your service on users wrists and I am not sure if it should be users or user's.

By the motto, I want to tell that you can get your service to wrists of all your users. What is the correct way to write this?

Also, company name is WearSoft - is it valid for UK or USA or there is some hidden meaning which make this name inappropriate?

Thank, Jan


texts: Conveying a message in a club advertisement

texts:
There has been a dispute between my colleague and I between the use of a phrase in our club advertisement. We are a chemistry interest group and sometimes, I feel that new students may feel that the chemistry we do in the club may be difficult etc. Thus, I would like to add in the club advertisement that the chemistry we learn about is "simple-to-understand". However, my colleague says that the word "simple" puts people off as it makes people think that the chemistry we learn about is too simplistic and boring. This is making me extremely annoyed. So I would like to ask about the effect of the phrase "simple-to-understand" on the reader? Does it make the sentence better or worse, in the eyes of the new student?

Note: The target audience is an incoming batch of new students to the school. This advertisement's purpose is to help the club attract new members. The whole sentence is "... members are able to learn interesting and simple-to-understand chemistry outside of the school syllabus".


texts:
I wonder what the connotation of 'to impel' is. And whether I use it properly in my application for a research job.

(1) In my motivation letter I write: "After graduating summa cum laude, the fun and thrill of research impelled me to a PhD."
(2) In my research proposal I write: "This is bothering me for a long time, and it should bother others, to the point it impels me to demystify this conundrum of definitions."

After an initial search I judged 'impel' has a dramatic connotation, e.g. "financial difficulties impelled him to desperate measures". But searching further, I found equally many examples where it does not have a dramatic connotation. I know I could reformulate, e.g. 'drove me to a PhD' or 'motivated me to commence a PhD'. However, I like the terseness of the single word 'impel'.

Your thoughts?


texts: How to avoid repeating "her" three times in one short sentence?

texts:
Habib’s talent reminds her family of her late grandmother on her
  father’s side.

It seems like I shouldn't remove any yet it doesn't look good this way.


texts: Can present perfect tense be used with the adverb "earlier"?

texts:
I would like to know if the present perfect construction can be used in the two following sentences that employ the adverb earlier:

As I have said earlier, I don't like her at all.
I have been to your place earlier, but I didn't see anything.


texts: For the linguists among us: I like loud singing vs I like singing loudly

texts:
Can you explain why using "loud" as either an adjective or an adverb changes the meaning of the sentence. Is it just an English convention, or is there something deeper going on?

I like loud singing = I like turning the volume up on my stereo

I like singing loudly = I break wine glasses when I sing in the shower


texts:
Is the sentence "How much were your shares diluted?" correct?

Should it be "How much were your shares diluted to"?


texts: Could the word "artist" be used to refer to a writer?

texts:
According to the dictionary, artist could be a painter, singer, dancer, or actor.

But I think maybe writers could be considered artists as well.  What's your opinion?

I'm writing a composition about art and artists, and I'm not sure if a writer is appropriate as an example.


texts: Difference Between "Plot" and "Storyline"

texts:
What is the difference in story writing between a "plot," and a "storyline"?

Merriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (11th Edition) says a story line is:

  the plot of a story or drama

Collin's COBUILD Dictionary says:

  The storyline of a book, film, or play is its story and the way in which it develops. N-COUNT = plot.

Does this mean that a storyline is just the same as a plot?
Thank you,
-h.


texts: Are there restrictions to what can serve as a subject to "need?"

texts:
Basically, I wonder if there are restrictions on what can serve as a subject to the verb need. The sentence that started this comes from a recent EL&U question:

  Successfully doing this needs a deep understanding of coding.

The subject of the sentence is formed by a gerund, doing, which refers to a task or action. It makes sense. However, I would never say this myself. A person may need something, but an occasion requires something. The gerund feels better placed with a different verb:

  Successfully doing this requires a deep understanding of coding.

On reflection, I suspect that need, as a verb, may be restricted to taking people or things as subjects:

  The boss needs someone who has a deep understanding of coding.

Merriam-Webster wasn't useful for tracking this distinction. The Oxford English Dictionary quotations feature personal nouns, pronouns, objects, or impersonal pronouns as subjects. I notice the specification of person and thing in this definition:

  8.a. To require (a person) to do something; to require (a thing) to do or be something.

However, this isn't restrictive. It's possible that gerund subjects for need are valid in some cases, or that other subdefinitions accommodate the usage. I appreciate any help figuring out what formal or informal expectations influence what can serve as a subject to need.


texts:
When something bad happens, sometimes you'll hear Oh, dear! or Oh, dear me!

Why is this? Is it a shorter version of another phrase that makes sense in these situations?


texts: 'If they "would have" recognised this, they would have saved themselves trouble? Correct?

texts:
I heard an American speaking on the BBC World at One news this lunchtime,  about the Greek debt. He was arguing that the character of a lot of Greece's debt is quite different to that of other debtor nations and that if comparable accounting methods were used they would be able to claim a debt level of less than 20% of GDP. (This is quite a radical opinion and not one accepted by the IMF, incidentally.)

He then made a statement the syntax of which made me sit up from eating my lunch. He said If they would have recognised this it would have saved them a lot of trouble. Personally I would have said If they had recognised this, it would have.... But then I thought that maybe because he was using an if clause, then it justified would.

Do others have views on this?


texts: What is the / is there any meaningful difference between the two spellings 'naive' and 'naïve'?

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  Should you always use the accent in foreign words like “résumé”?
  “Whereäs” as an alternative spelling of “whereas”
  Is it spelt “naïve” or “naive”?

Merriam-Webster lists both spellings without any comment on validity / usage. The second variant seems to be the French original, and the other the "anglified" version.

Is there even a slight, maybe stylistic, difference?


texts: Which is the correct form: "Parameter set", "parameters set", or "parameters' set"?

texts:
I have sets of parameters like (1, 2, 3, 5) or (3.14, 2.73, 1.44, 1.73). They are named, but I do not think it makes any difference. Which  form is the correct one to call one general case or example of such things?

Parameter set.
Parameters set.
Parameters' set.

I would opt for choice 2. but I am not really sure. That would impose the plural so maybe choice 1 is correct.  Choice 3 sounds really off to me in English, but that would be the direct calque from my native language.


texts:
Is there an expression for the following:

A: Let's go for lunch.
B: Okay.
A: I am coming in a few minutes.
B: Okay, but be a little bit faster

Do native speakers say this? Or is there a better expression or words construction for this?


texts:
In the sentence "one in ten people hate..." which is the correct way to refer to 1/10:

"One in ten" or "One-in-ten"

I'm not too sure if the hyphens are entirely necessary here. I have however seen news articles that use hyphens with this phrase and some that don't, which leaves me unsure whether the hyphens are needed or not.


texts:
In civil cases, in the Queen’s Bench Division, there is a right to a jury under section 69 of the
  Supreme Court Act 1981 if:
  ...
  3. any question or issue of a kind prescribed is raised [but none has yet been so
  prescribed].

Would someone please explain clause 3? I tried substituting of a kind but I still don't perceive it.
Also, what's the meaning of prescribed here? What's being prescribed?
I guess that 'raised' is the verb for 'any question or issue'?

Source: P153, How the Law Works, Gary Slapper


texts: Is there a verb for making (appreciative/agreement/attentive) sounds during conversation?

texts:
Is there a verb for giving feedback to someone with non-word sounds during conversation, including not specifically using filler words, in order to indicate attentiveness, agreement or appreciation, etc.?

I have searched for this word in all kinds of places and understood it to be a form of vocal (non-verbal) communication and as a subset of paralanguage. However, none of it helped finding a verb.


texts: It's used to be pretty frequent in movies where I think the person after accomplishing a big task would want to convey to the viewers that "I am awesome and a hot-shot". It starts with bringing your fingers (curled towards the palm) close to your mouth and blowing air on the nails and then wiping something off the left side of chest with your fingers(or nails?). Does there exist a concise phrase I could write instead of describing the whole act? If this on topic, what was the origin of this gesture?


texts: "Compass" as in "compass their ends" -- meaning in context

texts:
Anatomy of the sentence:

  Bad men need nothing more to compass their ends, than that good men should look on and do nothing

I know this is the origin of "all that is necessary for evil to triumph, is that good men do nothing", and I know exactly what the latter sentence means. The thing is I don't know how it is relate with the sentence in the title. Can anyone decompose and explain it, especially for the phrase "compass their ends" and the structure "A need nothing more to do than B should do"? Just a simple explanation would be appreciated.


texts:
Can we use depot in this form: depotted books or depot books?
(I’m not sure about the past participle of this word.)
Or should it be used only as a “place” where books are supposed to be
stored, a depot of books?


texts: What are the origins of the regional pronoun “yinz” of southwestern Pennsylvania?

texts:
A common informal word used in southwestern Pennsylvania and the forefront example of what is commonly known as "Pittsburghese" is the word yinz, pronounced /jɪnz/ in IPA.
Alternatively it is less commonly used in long form, youins, pronounced /ju.ɪnz/.
To use it in a sentence would be similar to the y’all used by southerners when addressing or questioning an unnamed or understood group of people informally in a sentence.

Are yinz comin’ out to our place before we head to the Steelers game?
Are y’all coming to the speedway for the NASCAR race?

As a native of Pittsburgh, we proudly use this word in conversation despite the seeming confusion and disdain that outsiders seem to have for this word.  Two separate friends, one from Boston and one from Brooklyn, both criticize me when I use the word as well as other common regional differences like “this task needs finished” or “I left the warsh rag by the sink”.  They say it makes me sound unintelligent and that I should teach myself to lose regional diction for the sake of my career.
I was often curious about the origins of the word.  With southwestern Pennsylvania being an old melting pot of the original English, Scottish, and Irish settlers and the Italian, Polish and Slovak immigrants coming to work in the steel mills, I have heard from Italians that it came from the Polish, while the Polish claim it was from the Italians (I am mostly Italian and Polish by blood so I have both cultures in my family).  Others still claim it was a derivation of African-American slang that everybody picked up because all of these different peoples worked closely in the same factories and mills.
Is there an official analysis on the origins of this word, or is a mystery to be lost in cultural history?


texts:
First question: My name is Anh D. Pham, but I go by “Andy”. If I want to include my nickname, where should I put the nickname portion?

  Anh D. “Andy” Pham
  Anh “Andy” D. Pham

Second question: I think it’s normal to use a middle initial. However, I have two middle names, not just one.  Would it look weird to use two middle initials?  For example, like one of these two:

  Anh D. M. Pham
  Anh D.M. Pham


texts:
Suppose a sentence such as

  Let X := a and Y := b, that is X is foo and Y is bar ..

Is this correct english? I try to first a give a formal mathematical definition of X and Y, and then repeat the same in an informal way. I would use "that is" to link the second sentence to the first one.


texts: punctuation if dash introduces question-sentences

texts:
He worried--why X; what will happen if Y?
It seems that this construction expresses the idea best, but it creates a few punctuation questions.
Should the first semicolon be question-mark? Is there also a past-present tense shift issue in the above?
Should W in why and what be capitalized? (typically one doesn't capitalize after dash but here dash introduces two sentences)
Here are some variations that illustrate the issue with 2 sentences that follow emdash and are supposed to connected to the clause before the emdash.

He worried--why X? What will happen if Y?
He worried--why X? what will happen if Y?  (incorrect: can't have smallcase following '?')
He worried--Why X? What will happen if Y?  (incorrect: can't have capitalcase following '--')
He worried--why X; what will happen if Y?  (this can perhaps be a good way to express connecting the 2 sentences to the dash)
He worried--why X; What will happen if Y?  (incorrect: can't have capital following semicolon)

Some have suggested using ':' instead of dash '--'. It's perhaps a more convenient option as rules regarding capitalization are more clearly defined for ':' but it doesn't fit in the context of where this expression is needed.

He worried: Why X; What will happen if Y?  (this is perfectly acceptable. One can certainly capitalize right after colon if it begins a sentence. However as said earlier, this is ':' doesn't fit the context)


texts: Where does the phrase "cool your jets" come from?

texts: When was it first used and in what context?


texts: What's the reason behind using "innings" more frequently than "inning"?

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  Where did the singular “innings” come from?

Is there any difference between inning and innings? I think both can be used interchangeably.

But I haven't seen inning frequently used by any news channel or English newspaper. Is there any particular reason behind using innings more frequently than inning?


texts: What does 'measuring cast' mean? (1660, UK)

texts:
Source: 'Things Necessary to be Continually had in Remembrance', by Sir Matthew Hale (1609-1676)

  If in criminals it be a measuring cast, to incline to mercy and acquittal.

How do you decide  the lexical class (ie: part of speech) of the bolded, which I do not comprehend because I cannot disambiguate them?

'measuring' can be:
2. an adjective modifying the noun 'cast', or
3.  a common noun preceding and modified by the adjective 'cast'.

PS: I encountered the above on p 20 of The Rule of Law (London, Pengiun, 2010) by Tom Bingham.


texts: Why can "dividing a pizza into 4" be different from "dividing 1 into 4"?

texts:
Thank you for a question and answers at Divide two into four and Divide two by four

However, can anybody explain why "dividing a pizza into 4" is different from "dividing 1 into 4"? 1 pizza and number 1 would be same one piece of object. As soon as if we add "pizza" after a or "1", It would be completely backward or flipped over. So it really does not make any sense to me. I would like to know the logic behind it. So for instance, when a teacher is explaining "1/4 as dividing 4 into 1" in math class, as soon as he add a word "pizza" as an example, it would become "dividing a pizza into 4". It would be very confusing.
I wonder why such a confusing expression / grammar was created. Who started to use such a confusing mathematical notation, assuming " mathematical notation" was created after regular expression. I want to know the history behind it.
Or maybe I should ask you this way, which expression is wrong? Both cannot be correct when sequence and positions are the same. From point of view of "into", mathematical expression seems to be wrong.But for instance, one day a mathematician started to use the expression "divide A into B" which is B/A even though general world expression was A/B when he invented the expression. Why did he do it? "Dividing A into B" made more sense to him? Most of you are brainwashed so I am pretty sure what I am saying may not make any sense to you but there must be a reason to flip over somehow. So I want to know why he flipped it over. For an example again, in C language world "=" is not equal. Equal is "==". "=" is casting a value on the right to a value on the left. So "divide A into B" had to be B/A somehow. Simply"divide A by B" was A/B but when he wanted to say "divide A ??? B" for B/A but the ??? was "into" somehow.

I still need an answer. Nobody has not answered my question yet.
I am asking you about an issue of coexistence of conflicted definition.


texts: Idiom/phrase for "example picked purposefully"

texts:
For example, when one is talking about a chemistry equation and they use values one wouldn't see in real life to illustrate a point better, or give a specific example that requires extra steps that likely won't be required in the usual cases, what would they include to say this is an example that wouldn't(or less likely to) exist in real life, but it is picked as it illustrates the point better ?

A general idiom/phrase for unarbitrary as in the example was picked with care, it isn't arbitrary would work as well.

Thanks in advance.


texts:
What adjectives can be used to characterize jeopardy, as used in the phrase "in [some adjective] jeopardy"?

This is not a homework problem


texts:
Example:

  "Don't make a sound!" he _______ed, trying to be as loud as he could without being too noticeable.


texts:
It is simple enough to refer to the object of a trial (in the general sense, e.g. test driving a car) as the tried, but what is the best term to use for the agent of the trial?

"Trier", although ostensibly cromulent, sounds very unnatural to me. "Investigator" sounds metaphorical outside of scientific contexts. There must be a better alternative.


texts: Why do we use "in" in the phrase "in front of"?

texts:
I just realized I can't quite make out why we use the word "in." The meaning of front is generally a surface, a side - not a space you can be "in," so how did that happen? Is it an artifact of an older meaning of "front"? Was "front" also once the name of the space in front of something?

After all, "in the front" does refer to a space (I exclude "at" because "at" by nature converts an object to a location), yet particularly refers to an interior (real or abstract) space. But all you do is drop "the" and now it's an external reference. Curious.

It's so hard to Google this or search it on here because so many questions use the phrase in asking about word choices, order, etc.


texts: How should I understand "turn" in this context?

texts:
The following line is from a song, so I suppose it could have omissions or use non-standard English:

  A man can be turned by a pretty face.

I'm not entirely sure the word used is actually "turned", but various lyrics websites seem to confirm it.

So, what exactly does this refer to? Physically turning around? Changing in a specific way? Attracted?


texts: What to call mother-in-law after divorce?

texts: After my divorce, do I still call my mother-in-law "mother"? We are not on that good terms at the moment. To her I am the enemy, even though I did not file for divorce. She would still be the grandma of my children and I don't want to complicate things for my children.


texts: Should "guess what" be a question or command?

texts: In other words: should it be “Guess what?” or “Guess what!”? Or does the correct usage depend on the context and intent of the speaker?


texts: English Word that evokes the idea of a collective buying

texts: I am looking for and english word that evokes the idea of the power of buying things together (something like power in numbers).


texts: Are there any examples of cross-language redundancy (e.g. "kielbasa sausage")?

texts:
I am amused by expressions that combine the same word in two different languages, for example:

Kielbasa sausage: kielbasa is Polish for sausage.
Chorizo sausage: chorizo is Spanish for sausage.
Queso cheese: queso is Spanish for cheese.
Carne asada steak: carne asada is Spanish for grilled meat, therefore you could just say grilled steak instead.

This phenomenon is not limited to English. In Spanish you often find not only redundancy but also contradiction:

bluyín: transliteration of blue jeans. A pair of blue jeans is called un bluyín.

bluyín azul: blue blue jeans .
bluyín negro: black blue jeans (black jeans).
bluyín blanco: white blue jeans (white jeans).

bistec: transliteration of beef steak.

bistec de res: beef beef steak.
bistec de cerdo: pork beef steak (pork chop).
and my favorite, bistec de pollo: chicken beef steak.

Do you have any other examples that include at least one English word?


texts: What's the difference between "truculent" and "aggressive"?

texts: If you don't mind, please compare them also to "belligerent" and "bellicose".


texts: Why doesn't "wish" have the letter "n" in it?

texts:
The English word "wish" is akin to the German word "wünschen", the reconstructed Proto-Germanic word being "wunskijanan" (according to Wiktionary). What happened to the letter n in the middle of the word? I see that the Old Norse word also didn't have it: "œskja", but for some reason the Faroese, Swedish and Danish ones do. Isn't Faroese a direct descendant of Old Norse?

Have there been analogous en losses in English? Does the process have a name? Or was it a random event?


texts: What is the word for something that is frowned upon based on cultural atmosphere

texts:
I think it starts with a “t”.

Sample sentence:

  It is considered ________ to discuss your paycheck.


texts: What is a single word for the action of causing a single small item to fall out from a sheaf of papers, as by shaking?

texts:
The single word would replace "pinching, fanning and shaking out", perhaps as:

  He ________ the pages, and the note or the stamp or the pen fell out.

"Riffled" misses, imo, as it suggests the pages of a book, though the process of grasping a book by its binding and shaking... heck, I don't know a word for that either!

The word (i.e. ______) could be done with an untidy stack as long as one could pinch the stack sufficiently


texts: Why do close cousins like terrific and terrible have totally different meanings?

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  Origins of the word “terrible”

Two examples spring to mind immediately, the first being that in the title:

terrible (bad) and terrific (good)

The other was:

awful (bad) and awesome (good).

That last one is particularly vexing to me. Surely if something with "some" awe is good, something that's "full" of awe would be better, no?


texts:
What are the roots of the creeping usage of "there's" for both singular and plural predicates? (This seems to be more common in spoken English.) I have 2 theories.  Perhaps it is because spoken communication our society is becoming less formal by the day. Or perhaps it is a reflection of speakers of other languages having increasing contact with native English speakers.  I am aware of German  "es gibt" and Spanish  "hay" constructions. Please comment.

3/06/14
I ran a couple of Google Ngrams and was surprised to find a greater rise in the use of "there's" in English fiction than in general English language books, since the turn of the century.  This would seem to support my contention that informality is behind the shift.


texts:
This might be a dumb question and I'm not sure if I should move this to ELL but I would like to know what words/phrases we could use - preferably a single word - for work progress that is behind schedule / on schedule / or ahead of schedule.
Not being a native speaker, all I can think of are the following ones:

The project is lagging behind.
The project is on track.
The project is ahead of our schedule.

What else could we use in place of the bolded phrases? (Hope they are grammatically right. :D)


texts: What's a word or phrase that means "get together with people informally to play music"?

texts: What’s a word, phrase, or expression that means to get together with people informally to play music?  Something that doesn’t imply any particular style — could be Jazz, Rock, Classical, Rap, etc.


texts: How to call natural listeners for other people's desire to talk

texts:
... or in other words, what is the complement of "talkative"? Like in

  She has a couple of good friends that trust in her, who share their private issues with her and who phone her whenever they have something to talk about. She is ...


texts:
I first saw "bewildered fear" in a book by Bertrand Russell:

  And in a more or less analogous way any questioning of what has been taken for granted destroys the feeling of standing on solid ground, and produces a condition of bewildered fear.

More instances can be found on the web, including this one from Alfred Kinsey:

  The history of medicine proves that in so far as man seeks to know himself and face his whole nature, he has become free from bewildered fear, despondent shame, or arrant hypocrisy.

How could fear be bewildered?!


texts: A word that can be used to reference both a meat and a non meat food item

texts:
We are an Asian take-away food/restaurant that caters to vegans and non-vegans alike.

In an effort to be more "vegan friendly" our menu has become confusing and I need a way to bring it back into line. The problem I am having is finding a word that can substitute for a meat and a non-meat filling.

For example, we have a garlic pepper stir fry which simply reads:

  stir fried vegetables in a garlic and pepper sauce

On the original menu we had:

  stir fried vegetables with your choice of chicken, beef, pork, or mixed seafood in a garlic pepper sauce

I didn't like it because it was too awkward. So it became:

  stir fried vegetables with your choice of meat in a garlic pepper sauce

But when we started becoming more popular with the vegan crowd I just took all references to meat out and added an area that detailed  "all the dishes come with your choice of chicken, beef, pork or mixed seafood," however, people don't see this and generally ask, "there's no meat in the dish?"

I then point to the coloured middle section of the form and start explaining.

What I would like to do is have something that indicates there is a meat in the dish, but without using the word meat. Something that preferably includes vegans and vegan choices (although we don't offer faux meats at all).

What I'm thinking is something more along the lines:

  stir fried vegetables and X in a garlic pepper sauce

Where X can mean any of what you would or wouldn't put in.

The only two I have come up with have been "filling" or "protein", as in "your choice of filling". Neither of which I am happy with, although I am leaning towards "filling"


texts: Is the sentence "How dare you have shot me?" correct?

texts:
I was watching a TV series with a foreign dub and came across the following subtitles:

"How dare you have shot me?"

Even though I'm not a native English speaker, I'd like to believe that I am relatively proficient in English. That being said, I couldn't help but feel like the sentence sounded extremely weird to me and it made me wonder if it is correct.


texts:
When I first learn about the present form of 'be', I was told that:

  Use 'are' with plural noun.

And when I first studies articles, I was told that:

  Use 'a' / 'an' with single noun.

So I guess this sentence is grammatically wrong:

  'Secret ballots are an important sign of a fair election.'

Any explanation?


texts:
Which of these forms is better: list of tasks or tasks' list? Another question is whether I should use an apostrophe or not (tasks's list vs tasks list).

Other phrases which are similar to this, but aren't quite what I'm looking for, are list of projects and task's action (one task this time).

Maybe the answer is obvious, but English is not my native language so I need to understand it.


texts: How does the pronunciation of 'the' vary in British English?

texts: In the months leading up to the UK Referendum, I've heard the phrase "the E.U." thousands of times, and I've noticed that nearly all media-speakers pronounce it as /ðəʔiːjuː/.  My memory, and my old dictionary that uses the IPA, tells me that most Brits used to say /ði.iːjuː/ - that is, /ðə/ becomes /ði/ before a vowel.  Is this a recent change?


texts: What does the phrase "strictly so called" mean here?

texts: "His course of lectures on this subject was divided into four parts. The first contained Natural Theology; in which he considered the proofs of the being and attributes of God, and those principles of the human mind upon which religion is founded. The second comprehended Ethics, strictly so called, and consisted chiefly of the doctrines which he afterwards published in his Theory of Moral Sentiments." (Cited in Nicholas Phillipson, Adam Smith: An Enlightened Life.)


texts:
Most native speakers are used to "dis-" as a prefix having a negative or opposite connotation (disengaged, dissatisfied, disinterested). However, in rare cases, "dis-" is actually an amplifying prefix, most notably in "disgruntled" and "disheveled".

Do these distinct families of "dis-" prefixed words have some common root? What's the reason for the two nearly opposite meanings?


texts: I'm trying to write an email to professor because I found a mistake on his book. Should I start the email with just "Dear professor, There seems to be some problems in ..." and end the email as "best wishes" or "with best regards" or "yours sincerely"?


texts: Why is "chore" pronounced differently from the "chore" in "choreography"?

texts: How come the word "chore" is pronounced like it is, when the word "choreography", which has the same initial letter combination, is pronounced differently? Is there a phonetical rule to explain this?


texts: What's an idiom that advises against being results-oriented?

texts:
What's a common idiom that advises against being results-oriented? It should essentially mean "focus on the journey, not the destination". In a cliché fairy tale, this idiom could be the moral of the story.

This comic kind of describes the idiom I'm looking for.


texts: Term to describe the different means used to make purchases

texts:
I'm looking for a word/term to describe the group of different means used to purchase something:

Cash
Debit/credit card
Voucher card
Paypal account
Check
Bank transfer


texts: Confused by when to use -ent and -ence (e.g innocent, innocence, eloquent, eloquence, patient, patience ...etc)

texts:
Is there a rule or guideline that can help to know the right tense to use at any given situation?

I'm currently learning by memorising phrases like Be Patient, Have patience but it is limiting.


texts:
What's the correct order:

  Lessons are not currently being offered.

or

  Lessons are currently not being offered.


texts: History/connection/origin of using names as verbs/nouns?

texts:
There are a good few words in English that come from names:

To jimmy a lock is to break it.
To jack someone is to rob them.
To peter out is to become tired.
A john is a bathroom, or one who buys the services of a lady of the evening.

Is there any connection between how they formed or a common history among them? As an aside, does it happen in other languages?


texts: What does the west wind signify to New Yorkers?

texts:
The New Yorker carries the archives of entertaining old articles. Among them there was a short piece titled “The street and into the grill” written by E.B. White and published in October 1950. A man approaches and take out a reception desk girl from her office:

  “They entered the restaurant. The wind was still west, ruffling
  the edges of the cookies. --When they went down the elevator and out
  and turned in to the old, hard, beat-up pavement of Fifth Avenue and
  headed south toward Forty-fifth Street where the pigeons were, the air
  was as clean as your grandfather’s howitzer. The wind was still
  west.”
  http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1950/10/14/across-the-street-and-into-the-grill

In Japan, north wind means mid-winter. It should be the north wind that let the travelor fasten down buttons of his overcoat in 'The Sun and the North wind,' while the east wind heralds the arrival of spring season. What does west wind imply to New Yorkers and north-east Americans? Is it still cold mid-winter?


texts: What is a word or a phrase for a person who runs computer simulations?

texts:
I am looking for a word or a phrase that would refer to the person / agent / entity (not-necessarily human) who controls and can arbitrarily manipulate a computer simulation.

Example sentences:

"If Nick Bostrom's simulation hypothesis is correct, the _____ could make simulation changes, which, to us, would appear as strange or mysterious events."
"The sims continued with their days without realizing that their lives could be instantly changed by the _____'s decisions."
"The ____ controlled the rules, parameters, and external events of the simulation of a network of cities and their inhabitants."

Criteria:

Connotation: neutral/objective
Register or level of speech: formal/academic but not necessarily
Part of speech: noun

Similar words:

Simulator: Refers to the machine or software that computes the simulation, I'm looking for a word that refers to the person/agent that chooses what to simulate and what manipulations/changes to make.
Player/Modeler/Scientist: Implies that the purpose of the simulation is known: a video game, a mathematical study, or a scientific experiment. I'm looking for a general word that does not imply a specific purpose.
Deity/God: The simulated people might call the person/agent that, but I'm looking for a word/phrase that is objective/perspective-independent.
Simulant/Simulacrum: May refer to the simulation but not to the person/agent that controls it.


texts:
When nothing means something:

  In morpheme-based morphology, a null morpheme is a morpheme that is realized by a phonologically null affix (an empty string of phonological segments). In simpler terms, a null morpheme is an "invisible" affix. [Wikipedia]

Wikipedia says that examples in English include hiatus and co-operation. I didn't quite get how they have null morphemes. (Well, it is invisible, how am I supposed to see?)

I know that hiatus is the slight pause between two vowels coming together but not in the same syllable. Hiatus itself contains hiatus also. So, is that slight pause a null morpheme? But why do we need to explain with a null morpheme?

Another odd example in English is the invisible notion of singularity and plurality:

sheep = sheep + -Ø = ROOT ("sheep") + SINGULAR
sheep = sheep + -Ø = ROOT ("sheep") + PLURAL

I know that the plural form sheep was leveled with the singular in Old English. But why is the need of null morpheme here?

Can you please shed a light on this? Also, is null morpheme a well-accepted concept?


texts: Passive verb that means "to falsely declare someone to be a liar"?

texts:
I am looking for a single verb that means "to declare (one) a liar" or "to accuse (one) of being a liar" - a verb that can take an agent. For example, I could replace "was declared a lair" in the following sentence with the passive form of this verb:

  She gave a convincing testimony, but was declared a liar by the prosecutor.

It needs to have a negative connotation, like the verb "to allege". In other words, the agent is falsely accusing the subject of being a liar.

Any ideas?


texts: Non-medical or slang synonyms for female reproductive organs

texts:
I am basically writing an intercourse scene between two characters in a medieval-like setting, so the tone of the book is slightly medieval as well. Now, while I have found plenty of synonyms for the male body parts, I'm having difficulties with the female ones. For some reason, all synonyms in the English language for "vagina" sound rather off-putting.

I cannot use "vulva" because it sounds too clinical (same with "vagina"). "Womb" makes me think of motherhood (which is the last thing I want to come to the readers' minds while reading these scenes) or animals. "Gash" sounds like it would be better used to describe flesh wounds. "Hole" sounds very ominous and generic. Other words like "pussy" or "c*nt" are too slang-ish, even offensive. And euphemism like "love cave" or "Cupid's hole" or anything along those lines sound very childish and even humorous. I was considering "slit" for a while but even that brings slang to mind. I was even considering some sort of milder euphemisms, such as "the wetness between her thighs" but they have already been used in other similar works so I'd rather not.

Just to clarify, I don't need a synonym for a particular part of the female genitalia, just for it as a whole.
Any suggestions?


texts: Good synonym for "professional" that includes skilled amateurs

texts:
I sometimes want to stress a technique as something that would be described as professional.  In my aviation scenario, I wanted to describe how keeping radio communication parsimonious and brief is just being professional.  (Because you don't want to tie up the frequency for others who are waiting to communicate)

I was unsatisfied with the word choice, however, because I think it's a virtue one should strive for regardless of any world in which pilots are paid to fly. (i.e. professionals and potentially equally-skilled amateurs)  Is there any word that would be useful in such a scenario that implies the same sense of attention to detail and dispassionate pride for a craft?


texts:
Both side part right/part wrong to me; which one is preferred:

A)
Note, though, that Don Quixote's “olde” Spanish/English has been preserved in
order to retain its intended comic effect

B)
Note, though, that Don Quixote's “olde” Spanish/English have been preserved in
order to retain their intended comic effect


texts: "To be on first-name terms" in American English

texts:
Several dictionaries - Merriam-Webster, Collins, Cambridge et al. - say that "to be on first-name terms" is British English. What is it called in American English when two people decide to call each other by their first name? And how would it be phrased if one asks someone else "to be on first-name terms"?

I'm translating a scene from a movie. We're in the mid-1800s. A young man asks a young lady if they can be on first names


texts:
I just read the following sentence from a German native speaker:

  We have to do this coordinated.

I am also German native speaker, so this sentence sounds like a straight translation of

  Wir müssen dies koordiniert machen.

to me. However, in German, the word "koordiniert" can be both, adverb as well as adjective. I think, this is not true to its English translation "coordinated". Should not it read

  We have to do this in a coordinated way.

or are both variants gramatically allowed? Can someone explain why/why not, am I right or am I wrong, please?


texts: Difference between 'debase' and 'degrade'

texts:
What does debase mean? Is there any difference between the words debase and  degrade?

Collins Dictionary says this about debase:

  To debase something means to reduce its value or quality. [formal] Politicians have debased the meaning of the word 'freedom'. [VERB noun] 'He said parliament and the process of democracy had been debased. [VERB noun]

and this about degrade:

  Something that degrades someone causes people to have less respect for them.  ...the notion that pornography degrades women. [VERB noun] When I asked him if he had ever taken bribes he said he wouldn't degrade himself like that. [VERB pronoun-reflexive]

So, according to these definitions, we degrade someone and we debase something. Is that correct?


texts: "as they may be", "as it may be" meaning and use cases

texts: "Belated as they may be", "expensive as they may be". Can someone please explain the structure of these sentence as to what exactly does "as they may be" mean and how it is used ?


texts: Usage of "since" in "Since the last release, we have integrated feature X"

texts:
Does the following sentence imply that X is included in the last release or not?

  Since the last release, we have integrated feature X.


texts: Present continuous tense with the time element "everyday"

texts: Is it grammatical to use the present continuous when "everyday" is the time element involved, as in "I'm studying English everyday."?


texts: the right answer is go \ to go\goes\going

texts:
I'd prefer to go to the face-painting stall.
I'd prefer goes to the face-painting stall.
I'd prefer go to the face-painting stall.


texts: "During the proof search" vs "during searching the proof"

texts:
I am writing an academic paper and use "during searching the proof" in my paper.
But my friend suggested me to use "during the proof search".
I also feel "during the proof search" is better than "during searching the proof",
but I cannot understand the reason for my feeling.
Could you give me some suggestions? Thanks in advance!


texts: English language has different verbs for different species of animals making sound, many are onomatopoeias.  But is there a general verb that can be applied to an unnamed animal?  e.g., can I say "I heard an animal cry" (replace cry with the appropriate verb) when I can't tell what animal is making this sound?


texts:
I come across many kinds of English mistakes that fall under the heading of misused idioms and expressions. Here's one I came across completely at random from a gaming forum post.

  ...the game should have lots of "meat and potatoes" and it doesn't.
  http://us.battle.net/d3/en/forum/topic/17902110041

In the few sentences I can easily tell that the author is a little sloppy with language all around. The context of the thread was about some game designers departing from their motto and not building a lot of depth into recent titles. The motto refer's to "Bushnell's Law" and that "All the best games are easy to learn and difficult to master." The focus here is not about just covering the basic or essential parts.

So it's pretty apparent to me that just the word meat alone was intended rather than meat and potatoes. The substituted expression changes the meaning although it still makes a certain amount of sense which is probably a big reason for the confusion and why it's sometimes difficult to prove that the usage was "wrong".

I have investigated this many times before. Is there a name for this type of error? I am aware of the concept of malapropism but I don't believe that fits here. And beyond this question if you had any pointers to references on this topic that would be great.

EDIT

While I think I can make a case for the distinction in meaning I see, my purpose was not to split hairs that way. Apparently I chose an example that was a little too grey. Before writing my question I spent a great deal of time pouring over dictionaries to convince myself there was a distinct difference in meaning.

The difference in meaning though was not the point of my question and I thought I had adequately pointed that out. I have no desire to be pedantic about this, it is simply an interesting topic of linguistics that I have tried to explore and I thought that example was interesting enough to use.

EDIT #2

  meat and potatoes: ordinary but fundamental things; basic ingredients. (Google)

The sense of meat that I had in mind may have come from the Bible. It did not seem to me to be obscure to hear it with the meaning of depth, weight, substance.

  1 And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, as unto babes in Christ. 2 I fed you with milk, not with meat; for ye were not yet able to bear it: nay, not even now are ye able; (1 Corinthians 3:1-2 American Standard Version)

EDIT #3

After studying the subject and several dictionaries I still believe these do not share identical meanings. It's particularly evident in the adjective forms.

  meat and potatoes [https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/meat_and_potatoes]
  n.  : 2. (US, informal) The essential part or parts of something.
  adj.: 1. normal, average, typical, unexceptional, or nondescript in description

  meat [https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/meat]
  n.  : 8. (colloquial) The best or most substantial part of something. [from 16th c.]
  We recruited him right from the meat of our competitor.

  meaty [https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/meaty]
  adj.: 4. Substantial.

For the adjective form I find these synonyms for meaty: interesting, thought-provoking, three-dimensional, stimulating; substantial, satisfying, meaningful, deep, profound (Google)

Forgive that I'm belaboring this point. The fact that there is so much potential for the meanings to bleed together is one of the reasons I'm interested in this class of words.


texts: In CGEL page no.126 "I already knew how to do it."[Tr included within Tsit]..., if Tr is internal part within Tsit so this shows imperfective aspect.., is this right or wrong? And also 1) I knew how to do it and 2) I already knew how to do it. Is any difference in these aspect sentences with or without adverb "already"?


texts: What is the difference between "raise" and "rise"?

texts: What is the difference between raise and rise? When and how should I use each one?


texts:
In the following context neuroscientist Susan Greenfield is talking about two kinds of experiments that are bold below. My questions are that

Is the first experiment an imaginative experiment that she is wishing to be possible in the future?
Does "such studies show" (the italic part to the end of the paragraph) refer to the the first experiment or the second?
Does anyone has any idea what "a second assembly will not form because the first is acting as a rival." means or what it is referring to?

Context:

I suggest that there is no magic ingredient in the brain that mediates consciousness. A critical factor could be the number of neurons that are corralled at any one time and it is the extent of these assemblies that will determine consciousness. The most valuable approach would lie in brain imaging in conscious volunteer subjects as they were undergoing different tests that one could predict would modify their neuronal assemblies in certain ways. But at the moment the time and space resolution, although awesome in what has been developed over the past ten years, is still not sufficient. At the moment, only voltage-sensitive dyes showing up areas of activity in response to an epicentre can be used – and then only in experimental animals. By virtue of the fine temporal resolution available from their use, such studies show, for example, that a second assembly will not form because the first is acting as a rival. That is the kind of precision, the sort of timing we are going to need to characterize how neuronal assemblies relate to consciousness.


texts: Difference between "Do something to somebody" and "Do something for somebody.

texts:
Can someone please explain the difference between "Do something to somebody" and "Do something for somebody."
it seems to me that to do something to somebody carries a negative meaning, while to do something for someone always means something positive.
Appreciate all comments.


texts: Any idioms opposite to "what's the catch/here's the catch"?

texts:
I'm just wondering if there is any idioms that has the meaning opposite to "what's the catch", to describe a situation that has at a least one advantage/benefit etc despite all kinds of difficulties.

Can anyone help with this? Thank you!!


texts:
My colleague and I are working on our style used in communications, and we have a question around whether it's acceptable to use "you're" or if we should always write "you are".

Our style guide says:

  Our tone is conversational, honest, thoughtful, but never familiar or using slang terms

The specific example we're looking at would be in an email from an IT department of a company to employees with instructions on installing a new system. We want a sub-heading at the end to conclude the message.

And so the heading would read either:

You're ready to use [product name]!
You are ready to use [product name]!

Which better meets the requirements of our style guide? Is you're too familiar? Slangy? Is you are too stilted to be conversational? Does it convey thoughtfulness? Could one form be more appropriate than another in different circumstances?

There has been discussion on using contractions in formal writing (of which this question has been tagged as a duplicate), but I feel our style guideline is more nuanced than just "formal".


texts:
In D. H. Lawrence one can find a lot of unusual constructions.

Here's the one (from his essay on Herman Melville's Moby Dick):

  He was a mystic who raved because the old ideal guns shot havoc. The guns of the 'noble spirit'. Of 'ideal love'.

What does 'shot havoc' mean, especially in this context?

Any help would be appreciated.


texts: what you call a person who creates exam paper

texts: I need to know a single word for a person who creates exams/question papers


texts:
Consider the following excerpt:

  For several generations, my father's family has owned a cottage on California's North Coast, in Mendocino County.  Valley Inn is the name it was given, which is unfortunate, as it neither lies in or near a valley nor operates (has ever operated) as an inn.

The structure of the last independent clause of the second sentence seems to be

  It neither [VERB 1] nor [VERB 2] or [VERB 3],

where [VERB 1] is "lies . . ." [VERB 2] is "operates," and [VERB 3] is "has ever operated."

My claim is that the author has left out, but implied, an "or" between "operates" and "has ever operated."  (In addition, the author has placed "has ever operated" in parentheses.)

So I read the excerpted sentence above as logically equivalent to

  . . . neither lies in or near a valley nor operates or has ever operated as an inn.

Is it grammatical to embed a "[VERB 2] or [VERB 3]" expression within a "neither [VERB 1] nor [VERB X]" expression, to make

  neither [VERB 1] nor ([VERB 2] or [VERB 3])?

I'm looking for an explanation in addition to a "yes or no" answer.

One might also comment on whether the sentence uses good style.

In addition, consider this adjustment:

  . . . neither lies in or near a valley nor operates (indeed, has ever operated) as an inn.


texts:
Why do we use have instead of has with doesn't like in the following sentence:

He doesn't have(not has) to go there.

Please explain the grammatical reason behind it.

Thanks


texts:
Today a coworker wrote the following sentence:

  How are you think to handle this problem ?

I cannot explain why but this sentence doesn't sound good, maybe because he used a verb - think - followed by an infinitive - to handle.
Does this sentence seem natural for a english native speaker ?


texts: Why do so many female-specific words and phrases reference cats?

texts:
It seems that many (often pejorative) terms that are typically used to refer to women refer themselves to cats:

When a woman insults people for petty reasons, she's described as catty, whereas a man who exhibits the same behavior would most likely not be described that way. (For what it's worth, the Urban Dictionary entry for "catty" says it can be used for both males and females, but in practice, it seems to be used almost exclusively for females. For example, Wiktionary defines it as "with subtle hostility in an effort to hurt, annoy or upset, particularly among women [emphasis mine]" and lists "bitchy," another feminine term, as a synonym.)

When two women get into a fight, it's called a catfight (even though literal cat fights are most common between unneutered males.)

When an older woman romantically or sexually pursues a younger man, she's called a cougar.

Is there a reason that terms that reference cats are more likely to be used to refer to women? The only other connections I can find that exist solely between women and cats are the "crazy cat lady" stereotype (which is sometimes used metaphorically to refer to any single woman past a certain age, even if she doesn't own any cats, so it could very well be added to the above list of terms) and the cat goddesses that were worshiped in ancient Egypt (which don't seem a likely source of so many negative terms, since they were viewed in a positive light).

Does anyone have any insight into the origin of these terms? Was there some initial figure of speech linking women and cats that all the other terms derived themselves from, or did various women-as-cats terms develop separately from each other for some other reason?


texts: What is the meaning of "we can't all come and go by bubble"

texts:
I'm a ESL student, and today I saw a shirt with this quote "we can't all come and go by bubble"

I tried to google but see no result.

Hope anyone can help me, thanks !


texts: Tense for an event that occurs as you read it

texts:
I came across this sentence today in a wait screen for a twitter client:

Did you know that this wait is actually Twitter's fault, not ours?

Is "Did" correct usage in this case? I didn't know it earlier, but I became aware of it as I read it. Hence this seems logically correct. But a

Do you know that this wait is actually Twitter's fault…?"

sounds more natural in this case. What tense would be correct in this case?


texts:
This is from an interview with Britt Robertson (American actress).

Q: You're the oldest of seven kids. What's that like?
It's hard. You know, they're all much younger than me and they're growing. Every time I see them, they've grown six inches. They're changing so drastically and I miss all of that. Just them as people, I miss being around to see them grow, but the great thing about being away is you learn to appreciate your family when you do see them. Every time I'm home, I'm trying to make the most of it.

Unlike the present simple tense, which is not necessarily related to the present time, the present perfect and present continuous are said to be related to the present time.
But in the sentences marked above, the present perfect (have grown) and the present progressive (am trying) are not related to the present time.
Is the relation between the present perfect/progressive and the present time merely coincidental?


texts:
Sales appear to be down in October compared to August and September.
  The picture comes from a business that has sales activity only on
  days when the financial markets are open. Because of the way that
  weekends and holidays fell in 2003, October had fewer trading days
  than August and September.

I'm a little bit confused by the last sentence. I understand the meaning which is: "The number of weekends and holiday days fell...". Is the last sentence written properly? Would you write it too or it does not simply sound right to you?


texts: Is is possible to say "Admit to something being something else"?

texts:
I was wondering if anyone could help me figure out whether the sentence below is grammatically correct or not. (is it okay to say admit to something being something else?)

"The Prime Minister admits to the education system being in a bad condition"

Thanks in advance.


texts:
In the sentence "What is it that makes us happy?", is 'what' the subject or the subject complement?
Does 'that' refer back to 'it' or to 'What'?


texts:
Please explain how we replace the first sentence with the second one.  I do not understand the rule. Could we use "with + noun"  for any situation in this kind of context?

  Thursday will be colder, but we will have less rain.
  Thursday will be colder, but with less rain.

Thank you very much.


texts:
I am working on a school project about extinction events. I found the following on Wikipedia:

  The rebound of life's diversity with the sustained re-flooding of continental shelves at the onset of the Silurian saw increased biodiversity within the surviving orders.

What's the subject of "saw"? Is it "The rebound"? And if so, how can rebound - the return into sth normal, see something?

Also, isn't using sustained and re-flooding in the same sentence pleonasm?

I did not intend to be sarcastic or anything, I'm genuinely curious about all of this.


texts: What is the difference between "intertwine" and "interweave"?

texts:
I'm not a native speaker and I came across with two different words with (as far as I understand) similar meanings. I wonder, what is difference between words "intertwine" and "interweave"?

Edit: It looks like the difference between the twining and weaving is something like this:

Weaving:

Twining:

Again, according to what I researched, they look like they are different ways of engagements. However, I wonder is there any difference between "interweave" and "intertwine"?

Do they have anything to do with these ways of engagements?

Twining image by Ian Sauer, Carolina Wandering blog


texts: What is dealing with an uncomfortable/unacceptable situation called?

texts: What is it called when someone isn't okay with a situation but learns to just deal with it? Is there even a word for that?


texts: What is an Anglepoise lamp called in America?

texts: What word do Americans use to refer an Anglepoise lamp?


texts: "as if she had been" or "as if she were"?

texts:
I saw the following sentence in Vanity Fair, and have been wondering
whether 'as if she were' is a better choice than 'as if she had been'.

  The Lady Blanche avoided her as if she had been an infectious disease.

This sounds as if the woman the Lady Blanched avoided was no longer similar to an infectous disease at the time of the avoidance. But it would seem to make more sense if the avoidance and the similarity to an infectious disease occurred at the same time.

What do you think?


texts:
Therefore, classic ontology denies any full reality to change, which is conceived as only accidental and not essential

In the above sentence, which is the object(or complement) of the 'deny'? what is the 'to change' to modify? what is the 'which' substitutes?


texts: Origin and meaning of the American 1960s slang phrase, "bread is"

texts: I am trying to answer a question from a library patron who remembers the entire phrase, "bread is" that she and her friends used in the 1960s.  She accepts that "bread" was used for money or "dough," another slang word.  However she remembers use of the entire phrase, "bread is."


texts: "Integrity" vs. "honesty"—what's the difference?

texts:
In what situations would you say that someone "has integrity" as opposed to "behaves with honesty"?

For instance, if an employee is meticulous about reporting his hours, does he have integrity or is he honest? (He's probably both—but which one fits better?)


texts:
Page 744 of Garner's fourth reads

Prudent = exhibiting prudence <the detective’s prudent withholding of judgment on the killing proved brilliant in the end>.
Prudential = relating to, considered from the point of view of, or dictated by prudence <the senator opposed the policy on both moral
and prudential grounds>.

However I still cannot see any clear difference between them.


texts: What transitive verbs can act intransitively?

texts:
How can we judge a transitive verb to be used correctly when it's in intransitive form in a sentence?

For example, are these uses of transitive verbs correct?

I drink.
He answered.
They will give.


texts: What is the meaning of a quote by Walt Whitman as follows

texts:
I am trying to make sense of the following which I assume is a reference to the conflict with the American Indians. Specifically, what do the pronouns "they" and "it" respectively refer to in the following quotation?

  What is any Nation, after all — and what is a human being; — but a struggle between conflicting, paradoxical, opposing elements — and they themselves and their most violent contests, important parts of that One Identity, and of its development?

Walt Whitman 1875 copied from a wall in a Texas museum


texts:
What is the difference between transfer and transmit ;
E.g
Anyone who transports, transfers, transmits or receives illegal money commits an offense.


texts: Spelling or Saying Words Differently to Create a Rhyme

texts:
What is the name for wordplay in which a word is spoken or spelled differently to make a rhyme? For example:

  I'm running this shit you should try tacklin',
  Lil Wayne in one word immaculin [immaculate]

  -Rick Ross ft. T-Pain, Lil Wayne, and Kanye West, "Maybach Music 2"


texts: Is talking without moving facial muscles or lips a type of dialect or a physiological problem?

texts: I have met two people who strikingly speak this way in SW Virginia, my adopted home. It is astounding to watch them speak without using any facial (including lip) muscles, but in one case I could not understand a word. This is not the wealthy lockjaw posh affected speech, but a mumbling way of speaking with a southern accent. I am curious if this is just another fascinating Appalachian dialect or if they are suffering from a physiological condition.


texts:
At Marina Polliack's jewelry stand, Bennett was making in-roads.

I am not sure how to understand in-roads. The sentence appears here http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/02/09/us-israel-election-russians-insight-idUSKBN0LD0FE20150209

Oxford Dictionaries' definitions don't really seem to apply (my emphasis):

  (usually make inroads in/into/on) An instance of something being encroached on or reduced by something else:
  the firm is beginning to make inroads into the UK market
  serious inroads had now been made into my pitiful cash reserves
  A hostile attack; a raid:
  the inroads and cross-border raiding of the Grahams


texts:
Jack stood at the door, numb with pain.

Am I right in putting a comma before the word numb?
It's not a comma splice because 'numb with pain' is not an independent clause. Without the comma, there is the irritating possibility of misreading the sentence as [door numb] like [red door].

Thanks


texts: 'Fight + Object' Vs 'fight + preposition + object'

texts:
Often the verb fight is used  without a preposition before its object, and sometimes with the preposition against!

  "...fought the invaders of his homeland". (M-W Dictionary)

  He fought the disease for three years.

  He fought against racism. (Cambridge Dictionary)

Are both the usages equally acceptable, or is there any special rule as to when to use a preposition?


texts:
In Arthur Conan Doyle's "The Hound of Baskervilles" I've run into an idiom I still cannot quite wrap my head around. In the course of a discussion with Dr. Watson, Sherlock Holmes says:

  There is a delightful freshness about you, Watson, which makes it a pleasure to exercise  any small powers which I possess at
  your expense. A gentleman goes forth on a showery and miry day. He
  returns immaculate in the evening with the gloss still on his hat and
  his boots. He has been a fixture therefore all day.

According to the dictionary, a fixture is

something (such as a light, toilet, sink, etc.) that is attached to a house or building and that is not removed when the house or building is sold
a person or thing that has been part of something or involved in something for a long time

None of the above makes any sense in the context to me, so what is the meaning of that last phrase?

Update: stirred in the right direction by Ricky, I understood that the author employed the word fixture metaphorically, associating Watson with a house fixture, thus exaggerating the fact that Watson hasn't moved from the only place he'd been on that day.


texts: Complication about using present perfect tense with other tenses

texts:
Since English is my foreign language, I always run into some unforeseen complication when describing daily activities I have just done in my daily journal. That is, I often use present perfect sentences with present, present perfect continuous, and past simple sentences in order to be specific about the time frame as much as possible. This mixture always confuses me and made me feel less confident when I want to be specific about the time frame.  So I would like to know if these sample texts are grammatically correct and sound natural:

I have cleared the table, since the food was so dry that I could
not finish it. [Present Perfect + Past Simple]
I have changed my pants, because the weather has been getting hotter this morning.
[Present Perfect + Present Perfect Continuous]
I decided to take this course, because it is important for my future career. [Past
Simple + Present Simple]
I decided to take this course, because it was important for my future career. [Past Simple + Past Simple]

Any advice is appreciated.


texts: What exactly did Mr. Peggoty and the Yarmouth boatmen do by "putting off?"

texts:
The following is an excerpt from Dickens' David Copperfield Chapter XXIII when Steerforth was explaining to Copperfield what a proctor is:

  You shall go there one day, and find them blundering through half the nautical terms in Young's Dictionary, apropos of the "Nancy" having run down the "Sarah Jane", or Mr. Peggotty and the Yarmouth boatmen having put off in a gale of wind with an anchor and cable to the "Nelson" Indiaman in distress;

I wonder what exactly was Mr. Peggoty and the Yarmouth boatmen's action: refusing to help "Nelson" or helped 'Nelson" in spite of the dangers? What exactly does "put off" mean here?

Thanks.


texts: Would it be correct to say "thank you to everyone"?

texts: Would it be correct to say "Thank you to everyone"? It seems like there would be two direct objects to the verb "thank".


texts: Is a model a client of her agency or a worker?

texts:
I want to write the following sentence:

Paul Saint knew that he was going to have to fight this through with the fresh face model that all the top designers his agency dealt with were clamouring for. Kenny was going to be a tough client.

My question, if Paul Saint runs a modelling agency where Kenny is being pitched to the designers and advertisers, does she work for him or him for her? And in that scenario, is she a client? Or what other designation is more suitable to describe her?


texts: Adding vs Contrasting: meaning of the required linker

texts:
I have a complicated text, but I built three sentences with the main idea. I'd like to use one of the linking words below for the last sentence, depending on the meaning.

  We chose a reliable tea maker, but it may still not be working. Should we consider tea as very important, we can make it ourselves (without the automatic machine). LINKER, if that is not even possible, there are other options, such as buying in the nearest coffeehouse tea.

What option would be best for the linker?

In addition
However

The overall goal is to ensure that tea is available. The italics show the three main ideas in the text. The "not being possible" is contrasting to "being possible". However, the idea of having other "tea-making" options is an added layer of trust (of tea availability). The real question is not about the linker itself, but the meaning of it. Am I adding information, or showing a contrasting idea?

I know we can omit the linker and just use "If that is not possible...", but I'm curious about this. More than the specific word to use, I'm interested in the correct meaning.

EDIT: I tried to illustrate my situation with a practical example, merely for clarification.

The old version of the sentences was:

  We prepared ourselves so that "some stuff" is probably available, but it may not be the case. If "some stuff" is very important, we can create it ourselves. LINKER, if that is not even possible, there are other "stuff-making" options, such as: ...


texts: what is the difference between must and must be?

texts:
I do not know which answer is correct?
(I suppose the first one shows how likely it is that he is doing that activity right now)

A: He does not answer his phone!

B: He must be driving  or He must drive


texts: How to use current standards to write a 'per procurationem' letter

texts:
After reading the Wikipedia article about procuration, I'm still confused.

Here's what I want to know:

What does the author mean by "the phrase per procurationem is ambiguous if used with undeclinable English names"?
If I sign a letter on behalf of someone, is this protocol acceptable?

  Sincerely,
  Secretary's Signature
  p.p. Account Owner's Name

  The author implies this method is debatable. What's the debate?


texts: ("Rid" or "Free") a place ("of" or "from") plastic bottles

texts:
Which is correct?

Free Hong Kong from plastic bottles
Free Hong Kong of plastic bottles
Rid Hong Kong from plastic bottles
Rid Hong Kong of plastic bottles


texts: What are parts of writing like "statement", "assertion", "argument", "hypothesis", etc collectively called?

texts:
Consider the following made up paragraph

Suppose I give you a word, any word. Would you be able to make sense of it? Is it even possible to make sense of a word without surrounding context? I do not think it is. But seeing that sentences, paragraphs, and even books are all made up of individual words, it's hard to believe that anything else should make sense. It doesn't make sense. I think we should all come together to abolish words and all language.

With my very incomplete and disorganized knowledge, here is how I'd label parts of this paragraph.

First Sentence: supposition, question. Entire sentence is a proposition.
Second Sentence: rhetorical question, statement.
Third Sentence: observation, deduction
Fourth Sentence: assertion
Fifth Sentence: appeal
The entire paragraph: argument

We know grammar is made up of word classes/parts of speech  which are nouns, verbs, etc. These are the labels we give to individual words.
But we can also give labels to entire sentences, clauses, and paragraphs. Is there a collective term to refer to these just like we have parts of speech for labels of words?
Bonus question: is there also a term analogous to grammar? grammar is to parts of speech like X is to Y. Where Y is the answer to main question, and Y to this bonus question.


texts: Active verb to express proactivity when one is being given a responsibility

texts:
Say a person was granted a responsibility role after working hard.
The person accepts the role with gratitude and pride, almost as if it was natural to achieve the role.
However the decision of assigning the role is not taken by the person, but their superiors, and the person had the chance of refusing the role if they wanted.

In this situation, I can't find a way to stress the fact that the person took the promotion with "proactivity".
Verbs such as "being promoted" or "being granted a role" are in passive form and sound like the person had no choice but to accept, or as if the role was just a promotion instead of a challenge.
On the other hand, saying that the person "accepted the role" or "took on the role" leaves out the shade of "promotion" that the other forms retain.

Sample phrase, with an "incorrect" verb taken from above:

"Mere days after his trial, Jonathan was promoted to team leader."

How would you express the phrase in the most expressive way?


texts: Single word that depicts the fear of being secretly photographed/surveyed without consent

texts:
I am looking for a single word that depicts the fear of cameras/video recording devices (spy cameras or surveillance cameras, for example).

To provide additional context, I am writing a short story on "Threats faced by Women", in which a character is afraid of being constantly photographed/surveyed without her consent.

Example sentence:

  Sravani's ________phobic, incessantly frightful about being secretly photographed in Trial Rooms at Clothing Stores.

I searched within ELU and elsewhere. But I could not find a word that matches my requirement accurately.


texts: What is the term for whether a question can be answered or not?

texts: Or I guess the "answerability" of a question.


texts: Verb meaning to be earlier (than expected)

texts:
Given the sentence:

  As the policy timeline continues to _________, we expect the industry
  to pick up momentum.

This phrase is used a lot in my writing and I have already exhausted some of the more obvious choices like "accelerate." I also thought "advance" might work here, but I don't think it conveys the earlier than expected implication.


texts: What does `never argue with a fool, people may not know the difference` mean?

texts: I think it means that it is not obvious to other people who the fool is, so the mere act of entering an argument with a fool is an automatic loss. Not sure this is the true meaning of the idiom though.


texts: Pronoun "something" in negative sentences

texts:
I haven't found any information about a grammar rule that describes the possibility of somebody/something in negative sentences. My example is:
"Something is not right."
Please give me a reference to the rules explaining why we should use 'something' but not 'anything' in this sentence. Thank you in advance!
UPD.
Checked but not found on:
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/
https://www.myenglishteacher.eu/blog/something-anything/
https://www.ecenglish.com/learnenglish/lessons/anything-nothing-something-everything
https://forum.wordreference.com/threads/something-anything-affirmative-and-negative.2339383/
https://www.perfect-english-grammar.com/something-anything-nothing-everything.html
https://www.ef.com/ca/english-resources/english-grammar/indefinite-pronouns/
https://www.really-learn-english.com/which-one-is-correct-something-or-anything.html
https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-difference-between-something-and-anything


texts: When did Greenwich begin to be pronounced as "Gren-ich"?

texts:
I just read an interesting question here on Greenwich Mean Time.

I'm interested to know when Greenwich received its peculiar pronunciation. Has it always been pronounced as "GREN-ich" (/ˈɡrɛnɪtʃ/), and is it just a simple contraction or something more?

I'm from Northern England and would say that GREN-ich is used nationally and globally, but I agree with Wikipedia that I've heard it pronounced GRIN-ich in London.


texts:
Would you please tell me whether the following fragment is grammatically correct?

  ...led me to be qualified in various science Olympiads. For instance, I ranked 21st among...

I know that "qualification in" is correct, for example "we are looking for graduates with qualification in maths". But what about "be qualified in"?


texts: Question re: proper usage of to + infinitive construction

texts:
I have recently been asked about the grammatical accuracy of the sentence "My mother bought the book for me to study English." This sentence is meant to convey that the writer's mother bought him/her the aforementioned book, and that the book is meant for the purpose of studying English.
It looked correct at first glance but after thinking about it for a little while I began to get a feeling that there's some ambiguity in the construction of the sentence.  I'd really appreciate it if someone better versed  in grammar than I am could explain to me whether or not the sentence in question is correct for the intended meaning.
Thank you in advance.


texts: Is there a term for ascribing acts of the human mind to non-human objects, and when is it appropriate to do this?

texts:
Nota bene: English isn't my native language, so when I say acts of the human mind, I attempt to generalize things such as making assumptions, drawing conclusions and (to some extent) to reject.

To me it seems this isn't identical to anthropomorphism, but close to it, or a subset of it. In the Swedish Wikipedia article on anthropomorphism they make a distinction between an entity looking like a human being ("physical anthropomorphism") and having a "human-like spiritual life" ("psychological anthropomorphism"). The latter comes even closer, but to me, it still isn't quite there because of the ambiguity in the notion of someone or something having a "spiritual life".

An example: in one of my school courses, students were criticized by the teacher for including statements such as

  Ultimately, our article draws the conclusion that X and Y is Z.

in their articles; the error being that such a statement communicates that the article itself is capable of drawing conclusions as if it were human, or otherwise capable of thinking and reasoning.

Another example: sometimes when writing computer programs, I write things like

  the function assumes that the argument n is an integer

in the comments; with this I'm implying (to myself, at any rate!) that if you call the function with a value for n that is anything but an integer, any return values are "bogus" and/or the program stops working correctly. But can a function assume things? In my opinion, not really. On a different note, if anyone else needs to read my code, I'd have to at least further specify what happens when n isn't an integer, but more importantly (to the subject at hand) choose a more proper wording than "the function assumes this and that".

The Swedish noun själsliv (a compound of själ and liv) used in the aforementioned Wikipedia article translates to "spiritual life" according to Google Translate, but a more literal translation is "soul-life", or perhaps "mind-life", and with the latter I think it's reasonable to call this "psychological anthropomorphism".

I notice there's some overlap with Can a non-human “reason” in the sense of inferring. One of the examples from that question entry is

  The folk singer's soothing music breathed peacefulness into the cafe.

Now, the music itself can't breathe, obviously, but few English speakers would not interpret this as a metaphor. But when it comes to functions and articles assuming things or drawing conclusions, is it ever "OK", even in an informal sense?


texts:
Offer: when someone offers to sell something
Bid: when someone offers to buy something

So both offers and bids are in fact "offers". But I am looking for a word that cannot be confusing with the specific meaning of offer.
May be a market action, or something.


texts: What's the best word for saying that you... "follow a cause"?

texts:
I want to write a sentence similar to "In favor of open-source technologies", but really don't know which word would be the best at the beginning.

I've thought about "Advocate of open-source technologies", but according to Google, "Advocate: a person who publicly supports or recommends a particular cause or policy", so I think that wouldn't be a good one, as I understand it's more oriented to people defending open-source technologies at conferences, media or so.

What other choices do I have?


texts: What is the Plutonian equivalent of geocentric?

texts:
A satellite going around the earth is in geocentric orbit.

The Earth is in a heliocentric orbit about the sun.

Something going around Mars is areocentric.

What about the moons of Pluto? Pluto-centric?

References used for research:

Wikipedia’s List of Orbits page
Johns Hopkins Propulsion Laboratory’s New Horizons website


texts: Are the two words synonyms? Is it grammatically correct to say "you have two choices, this or that?" Isn't that one choice? Should it not be "you have one choice, this or that" or "you have two options, this or that?". For two choices, don't you need a minimum of three options?


texts: Meryl Streep is a ______? (as a big compliment)

texts:
It's a specific word or small phrase that I can't remember, and it's killing me.

It was probably an Oscars ceremony, and someone boldly introduced her as a “xxxx”.  It was the highest of compliments, like calling someone "impeccable", but was such a great big compliment that it makes one blush even if not the one being given the accolade.

NOT:

living legend
crown jewel
cherished rare commodity
... monolith of greatness

That's all I've got.  Any ideas?


texts:
I read the following sentence in Nature:

  The second test of cocaine seeking was a cue-induced reinstatement test conducted 5 min after the last of the extinction sessions.

Would it be correct to add the preposition at before the "5 min" bit? In the Journal of Nuclear Medicine, I've seen another sentence that did just that:

  The amount of intact [111In-DOTA-Ala1]SS14 detected in the mouse circulation at 5 min after the injection of PA increased impressively—from less than 2% to 86%

And there are many similar sentences that sometimes use an at, and sometimes not:

  Tonic formalin pain is substantially reduced by brief spinal anesthesia given 5 min before, but not 5 min after the formalin injection

  The amount of intact [111In-DOTA-Ala1]SS14 detected in the mouse circulation at 5 min after the injection of PA increased

I am really confused when to use or omit at with time specifications.


texts: I am writing a document where I need to describe a decision I'm making that is beneficial both to my finances and to furthering my career. I'm more partial to using two -ly adverbs to match the rhythm of the rest of the document. The first is obvious: financially. I am struggling with the second: an adverb to describe my career. Professionally came to mind, but that sounds a bit too stiff, and I would like to place the emphasis on the learning opportunity. Is there a more apt word? Or should I drop the -ly words altogether and try others?


texts: Is there a phrase about those movie stars who are just good-looking but mediocre acting and those maybe not so good-looking (compare with those good-looking ones) but amazing skilled acting movie stars? Something like, 'teenager eye candy'? Is there any specific words or phrase for these two?


texts:
In the sentence

  He is gone

Is 'is' a a helping verb, as if to say "he has gone". Or is "gone" a complement meaning not present?


texts:
When I type "Students is the type of people you are looking for".
Instead of "type of people", it may be something like: "somewhat", "the way to go", etc..
I have my grammar-extension complaining that I should use "are". So I wonder is it really wrong?
Could you provide some examples of using plurals with "is"? (it is difficult to search)