texts: Is there a term to denote writing numbers in words rather than as digits?

texts: Often when writing we would like numbers to be written out fully e.g. thirty rather than in digits e.g. 30. Is there a name for this kind of representation?


texts:
Can we say "guys" to a group of people, that group possibly including women?

Example sentence: I am looking forward to see you guys then!


texts: When did jaybirds start "going to Hell on Friday"?

texts:
I have been re-reading Faulkner´s Snopes trilogy, and came across this passage from Dilsey 1928.

  Luster went to the woodpile. The five jaybirds whirled over the house, screaming, and into the mulberries again. He watched them. He picked up a rock and threw it. "Whoo," he said. "git on back to hell, whar you belong at. Tain´t Monday, yit."

[Emphasis mine]

Luther is a young Afro-American kitchen helper, fairly irresponsible, working in a white household in Missisipi. Throughout the story he has been sneaking off to drink and avoid work.

I had never heard this expression before, and I believe it originated in the South of the United States. After doing a little searching around, I came across several usages of the expression. One was the title of a book by Havilah Babcock Jaybirds Go to Hell on Friday and Other Stories (1965).

I found another use of the expression in one passage in the Frank C. Brown Collection of North Carolina Folklore (1977) :

  "...they (jaybirds) go to hell on Friday to tell the devil about all the meanness you people done to us Negroes through the week."

And in Carl Sandburg´s Mary Lincoln: Wife and Mother.

  She told them that the jay birds go to hell every Friday night and tell the devil all wrongdoings they have seen the week just passed.

What is the origin and first usage of this expression?


texts: What is the grammatical name and functions for the following

texts:
1_.we think we can touch the stars

2_.the apple of life, which another has found,is not ours.

3_.we walked in the garden, till our friends came

4_. Life seemed fair when we were kids

5_. when old age comes with its rest


texts: Scientific Nomenclature: italics or roman in an italic environment

texts:
Scientific Nomenclature says that:

  Italics are used for bacterial and viral taxa at the level of family
  and below. All bacterial and many viral genes are italicized. Serovars
  of Salmonella enterica are not italicized

When a sentence with a viral name is in an italicized environment (in a quote, in a reference list), should it be written in italics or roman? In latex, the \emph command provides such a relative "emphasis", with respect to the surrounding sentence.


texts:
Suppose there are 3 options available to the President.  He is going to choose to wear a blue tie, a red tie, or a green tie.  Those options are "mutually exclusive", because he can only realistically wear one tie at a time.

Consider 3 other options available to the President.  He can watch television, call the secretary of defense, and/or cut his toenails.  Those are options which are "not mutually exclusive".  He can do any combination of those things at the same time.  He can do all three (not that it would be the best idea to watch television while talking to the secdef and clipping his nails!), or he can just pick one to do, or he could pick two.

Is there a better way to say "not mutually exclusive"?

If you want an example sentence:

"Mr. President, will you now watch television, call the secretary of defense, or cut your toenails?" asked Joe Biden.

"I might do two of those things at once: those choices are not mutually exclusive!" said the president.


texts:
In the following sentence, should I use "have" or "has?"

  Your generous support, trust and commitment has sustained us over the years and is more important than ever in the coming year.


texts: I'd like to know if this is a grammatically correct sentence. "I determined to go back to college."

texts: I know that I can say, I was determined to go back to college., And also that I can use a synonym, but I'd like to know if the above is correct and why/why not. I feel like one is an intent and one a decision, don't ask me why....


texts: Fashion color matching or fashion matching colors

texts:
I am working on an app that gives suggestions on how to match colors for your clothes and I am looking for a tagline for the app.

Which is better? "Fashion color matching" or "Fashion matching colors" or "Matching fashion colors"? Or is there a better choice of words? I am not a native English speaker so I don't know which formulation sounds more natural.


texts: Is "Do it faster than with any other product" correct?

texts:
I'd like to describe a procedure that take less time with a product A than any other product B or C....

Note that I don't want to say that product A is faster but just that doing something is faster with A than it is with any other product.

So is "Do it faster than with any other product" correct?


texts:
How can I remove the repeated "will be" in this sentence?

  Jack Shepard will be the Project Manager and Harry Gold will be the Superintendent onsite. Nicole Sanders will be the office administrator for this project.


texts:
What does  "by now" stand for?

Where should I put it within a sentence? starting or finishing?
Is it right if I say "By now, I won't go to Melbourne"?


texts:
The OED entry for happen notes the following:

In Middle English fel it hap meant "it happened."

A search for the phrase reveals this OED entry and nothing else relevant. It is not clear how one would use this phrase in a conversational context. For example, could it be used in a sentence like the following?

Fel it hap that the man did dege.

i.e.:

It happened that the man died.

Or, was it used as an exclamation?

The man did dege! Fel it hap!

*All "Middle-English-y" example sentences here are of my own making, and I know nothing about Middle English.
How was this phrase used? Can you provide any notable examples from medieval works?
Thanks in advance!


texts: Is there an expression to describe "thin"?

texts: Is there an expression in English for a thin old woman which corresponds to "Dry as a root" in French?


texts: Passive or Active (Infinitive construction)

texts:
The task is to open the brackets:
I don't want these rumours (to spread) around.
As far as I can see, both "to spread" and "to be spread" are possible.
What sounds more natural to you?
Does "around" influence your choice of Active/Passive?

Grammar books say we tend to use Active constructions.
e.g. I have a lot of books to read.
Exceptions to this rule are said to be:
see (It remains to be seen)
and do (There was nothing to be done about it).


texts: Question related to articles when using with main, major, and key

texts: When I see the phrase 'The main advantage of something', I know the speakers imply that there is only one advantage. However, in the two following phrases 'a key advantage of something', and 'a major advantage of something, why is the article 'a' used instead of 'the' in this case? I think 'main', 'key', and 'major' somehow indicate the uniqueness of something. Thanks for your help!


texts: Does the whole always "comprise" the parts of something, and not the other way around?

texts:
The verb "comprise" comes to me naturally to use in certain situations, at odds with a legalistic sense of correctness. It's a word often used in patents, or patent applicaitons, where some invention or device is said to "comprise" several parts.

I would say from reading (just for example) some of those patents or patent applications, that the several claims that are often made in conjunction could equally well be said to "comprise" the invention.

Is that incorrect?

The word "comprise" is to me very similar in origin and meaning to another word in English: "comprehend" -- comprender in Spanish or comprendre in French -- meaning to grasp or encompass in a certain formal sense.

If two things, or two expressions of things, are being claimed or said to be "equal" -- then it should be equally valid to claim either expression to "comprise" or to "be comprised of" the other.

Is this considered wrong?

(Also for example "to possess" and "to be possessed of" are sometimes used interchangeably as well, the latter perhaps more for real than personal property.)


texts: Word for feeling in the mood to experiment

texts:
I am looking for a word for being in a mood to experiment or try something you would not normally do for a situation.

A person might say: "I am feeling .... today, and will go another way".

I knew this word but for some reason I am totally blanking on it at the moment.
I think the word starts with the letter t.


texts: puzzled by vs puzzled at - nuance, transitivity?

texts:
"This puzzled me."

Which is equivalent -

  I was puzzled by this.

  I was puzzled at this.


texts:
Is there a traditional or common greeting for Ramadan?

People who celebrate Christmas routinely wish each other "Merry Christmas". At Hanukkah we say "Happy Hanukkah," etc. Do Moslems have a greeting for Ramadan? Do they wish each other "Happy Ramadan" or "Joyous Ramadan" or something similar?


texts: How to use comma around mathematical symbols?

texts:
I am having trouble determining the correct use of comma when specifying mathematical symbols, and the literature that I follow does not seem to be consistent. Which of the following would be correct usage of comma and why? The symbol CD refers to drag coefficient.

The enhancement of drag coefficient, CD, is partly due to the offshore flow over limited fetch.

The enhancement of drag coefficient CD is partly due to the offshore flow over limited fetch.

The enhancement of drag coefficient, CD is partly due to the offshore flow over limited fetch.

The reason for specifying both the quantity name and its mathematical symbol is because the sentence references an element in a figure.


texts:
I know that Present Perfect Progressive is have been + ing.
I've been learning since 9 o'clock;

But which tense is have been V + ed ?


texts: A word for a single piece of type of information, equivalent to a field on a form

texts:
I'm inventorying  all types of information used by the people involved in a business process, things such as client name, price, price index, adress,quantities sold, stocks etc.

If I were to do the same thing about a form I would call it inventorying the form fields.

Here, I'm looking for a single word that would mean the same thing on a whole businness process involving dozens of steps and around forty different #### of information.

What could we replace #### by ?

The alternatives, so far:

"type" of information/data seems to wide for the purpose. Numerical/text/financial/psychological are types. I feel that  "name, adress, temperature of the day, gross margin..." are too narrow to fill a whole "type".

"field" cannot be used as it for a whole business process involving tens of forms, data that stays in the background, information on spreadsheets, information transmitted through phones, snail mail, email etc. The data used
does not necessarily go on a form or a spreadsheet.

"category"  seems to fit the 6 or 7 fields that, for example, identify a client (name, surname, middle name, address, id # ...). In my mind, that would constitute a  category of information, i.e. identification  constitute a category of data.

"piece" of data/info is okay for a single entry, "John Doe" is a piece of info, "address"/"margin"/"date of entry" is not a single piece.

listing, record, catalogue, account, roll, file, tally  seem all too narrow/ too wide, too specific to a field of interest.


texts:
There are many people in history whose names are appended with such phrases, for example Alexander the Great (Kingdom of Macedon) and Suleiman the Magnificent (Ottoman Empire). My question is : are they equivalent in their own language? If not completely so, what might be the difference?

For me, it’s somehow intriguing to find the subtle differences between the appendices to the names of the emperors, and I’d be grateful if any help is provided!

: )


texts: Looking for a term to describe looking back to a certain point in time

texts:
I work on designing an application which will enable the user to post "Stories" (diary entries) for parents for their kids. The application has a feature which lets the parent post a story that dates back in time, like if you now in November post the photos from your summer trip to Paris and want to date that entry to July when the trip actually was. later looking at the diary entries for a child you can then "follow" the added time stamp link for those types of stories to see the entry in the context of other entries in that region of time.

I'm wondering if I can find a good recognizable and catchy term to describe this feature (chronological stamp of a post). Initially I've called it "Time jumps", so that an entry can be "Time jumped" and a user can "Time jump" to see entries in the same chronological context.

However a senior designer was not sure about "Time jump" being a good term. So therefore I want to see with you fine people here if you can think of any term that could be a good candidate for describing the semantics of such a feature.

I post this here since I feel it has more to do with terminology and use of the English language rather than user experience which is why I've chosen not to post this on UX.SE.


texts: Is there a specific word for this kind of comparison?

texts:
"Michael Jordan was to basketball what Messi is to football."
What is the best noun to describe this kind of comparison?
I feel as though I've come across a more specific word than 'metaphor' or 'analogy' in the past, but, I can't think of what it is.


texts:
The word rarely turns up  outside that context.

and

  The word rarely turns up outside of that context.

Which one is correct and why?


texts: What articles can I use with "maximum/minimum [noun]"?

texts:
There's a short piece of text whose heading is as follows:

  Maximum variability and openness

The variability and openness should refer to the features of an application.

Which article should/could I use before maximum — zero, definite, indefinite?

I'm a little bit confused by the many examples found through googling.

Edit: I'm sorry I didn't include more context in my original question. I thought it would be enough. What follows is the actual text of the paragraph:

  Customize the [product name] yourself for it to meet all of the diverse requirements of the users in your company. The openness of the [product name] is based on its ability to integrate an array of individual activities managed by special, tailored pieces of software that you use to perform activities in your company.

As for the negative connotations of variability when talking about software, I must say I was a bit confused at first, but then I checked my dictionary to find out it's a false friend in my native language. Good to know!

I suppose the producer wants to stress the... it's on the tip of my tongue... versatility or universality of their application. No, those aren't the right words. I guess it's the infinite customizability that matters here most. How about variedness, diversity, diverseness, heterogeneity or multifariousness then? I'm sorry if this is a bit off-topic. Should I make it another question?


texts:
The use of "that of" I'm referring to has the following usage:

  My work is similar to that of Jack.

Is there a single word to represent the "that of" part?

Note we have "thereof" for "of that" and "whereof" for "of which".


texts:
Is it correct to say that if a person fails to satisfy one of his or her needs then that person frustrates that need?

As I am not a native English speaker, I need to apologize for being unclear. I am going to rephrase it as follows.
If I manage to satisfy a certain need then, unless I am wrong, we can say that I have satisfied my need (for example I can satisfy my psychological need to belong by being accepted in a peer group). If I fail to satisfy this need (for example because I have been rejected by other peer group members), what is it more appropriate to say? That I have got my need frustrated, dissatisfied, or what?


texts: "He likes it tomorrow" / "We leave for Hawaii tomorrow" - Why is the first sentence bad?

texts:
The following sentences sound right to me:

The package arrives tomorrow. (The package is going to arrive tomorrow)
We leave for Hawaii tomorrow. (We are going to leave for Hawaii tomorrow)

But the following sound wrong to me:

We watch The Avengers tomorrow. (We are going to watch The Avengers tomorrow)
He likes it tomorrow. (He is going to like it tomorrow)
The house is demolished next week. (The house is going to be demolished next week)

I don't understand why the second group sounds wrong. Is it because there is an object or adjective?
Is there a rule for when the present simple could be changed to indicate future time with only an adverb or preposition phrase?


texts:
What does this sentence mean?
Does it mean I don't blame you?
"I don't know" means "I'm not sure"?
What does "as" mean in this sentence?
I'm sorry for the confusion.
It is from "Stuart Little - E. B. White".
The text is as follows：
"Ah," said Stuart, "summers are wonderful, aren't they, Katharine?"
"Yes, and last summer was the most wonderful summer I have ever had in all my life."
"I can imagine," replied Stuart. "You're sure you wouldn't want to sell that little pillow?"
Katharine shook her head.
"Don't know as I blame you," replied Stuart, quietly. "Summertime is important. It's like a shaft of sunlight."


texts: What grammatical structure is used here and what does the sentence mean?

texts:
This is an excerpt from The Invisible Man by H.G. Wells. I can’t understand the italicized part. The excerpt follows:

  His irritability, though it might have been comprehensible to an urban brain-worker, was an amazing thing to these quiet Sussex villagers. The frantic gesticulations they surprised now and then, the headlong pace after nightfall that swept him upon them round quiet corners, the inhuman bludgeoning of all tentative advances of curiosity, the taste for twilight that led to the closing of doors, the pulling down of blinds, the extinction of candles and lamps—
  who could agree with such goings on?


texts:
I understand that "visceral" with respect to a reaction or feeling is a very intense one. But I haven't found an authoritative source that describes a visceral reaction as being an exclusively bad one. Examples:

Visceral = bad?

Seeing an intruder in your home.
Be suddenly and intensely repulsed by someone's comment.

Visceral = good?

Being moved to tears after an unexpected photo of something good.
Figuratively having your wind knocked out in a "love at first sight" situation.

Sorry my examples may not be as good as they could be. Does visceral mean just a bad feeling or can it mean a good feeling in your gut too?


texts: Technical term describing the weight of a ship

texts:
There are plenty of terms for describing the size of a ship.  However, most of them are either measures of cargo capacity, or measures of volume.  To make things more confusing, most of the volume measures use weight-sounding names such as "ton".

If I were to pick up a ship and place it on a scale, what is the technical term I would use to describe the number I got?  Given that seafaring has its own specialized vocabulary, I'm pretty sure I'd get laughed at if I said "the Seawise Giant weighs x million pounds".


texts: What's the noun for "off-key" or "out of tune"?

texts:
The answer isn't off-keyness, although I wish it were.

I am interested in the secondary meaning of something being off-key, in the sense that it is irregular or incongruous, for example: "An off-key remark" and "His remark was off-key"

Oxford Dictionaries provides this example:

  You try to console her, but it feels a bit off-key: after all you’ve
  heard only 70% of what she’s said.

In Italian, the adjective off-key is translated by stonato, which means something is out of tune (tone = tono) and intonato.

  He sang on-key/in tune = Lui era intonato
  He sang off-key/out of tune = Lui era stonato

I need a noun that fits the sentence below:

  A) The phrase "I transported my friend to the airport" sounds off-key, if we swap the verb, transport with "took" the _____ no longer occurs.

The Italian noun form is stonatura, below is an example of how it is used and my translation:

  Quel gilet viola è una stonatura intollerabile
   B) That purple waistcoat (AmEng vest) is an unbearable ____

What noun can fill both gaps, i.e. A and B?

EDIT

Dissonance fits perfectly in example A, but much less so in B. The problem is a visual _____, because the speaker is complaining about the colour. Perhaps the purple is jarring per se or it clashes with the shirt. What noun describes this visual disharmony?

Is there a better noun than dissonance and discordance as suggested by @Mitch and @Third News to complete sentence B?


texts: What does the phrase "prospects were beginning to chirp back" mean in this sentence?

texts:
What does the last sentence mean?

"But I slowly started to notice a change. Clients were increasingly respondent to my emails. Even prospects were beginning to chirp back more times than not".

Source
I found one definition in Urban dictionary, but it doesn't seem appropriate:

"to holler back to someone using a nextel, making it make a "chirping" noise".

Then I tried to look for "chirp" definition in Merriam Webster:

: to make a short high-pitched sound
: to say (something) in a cheerful and lively way


texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  Punctuation of direct speech, edge cases

  Schwimmer promised Ciccaroni “nothing would happen to any teacher of mine under my watch,” and told him not to bring any pepper spray onto school grounds.

I am having a real hard time trying to figure out if there should there be a comma in the above sentence. Can anyone please explain why there should or should not be a comma ?


texts: Which English dialects have 2nd person plural?

texts:
"Y'all" is the famous southern US form of the 2nd person plural.  The Brooklyn / Italian-American "youse" might be another.

While the existence and usage of "y'all" has been addressed somewhat thoroughly here: What is the proper usage of "Y'all" in southern American dialects , I've found nothing else on EL&U regarding 2nd person plural forms in other English dialects.

I know there was a dual form in Old English (Dual (grammatical number)) does that survive in any of the dialects in the Danelaw?  Do Scots / Gaelic / Welsh / Australian / other dialects retain any type of 2nd person plural / dual in modern usage?


texts: What is the difference between "jaunt" and "excursion", "trip" and "outing"? Can we say "secretive outing" or "secretive absence"?

texts:
I found the following sentence in today's New York Times. Apparently, secretive jaunt of New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg sounds to carry some speculations. And for a foreign English learner like me, jaunt seems to be a 'less well-worn' word (Is this expression right?). What is the difference of meaning among jaunt, excursion, outing, trip, and journey?

  Mayoral Sign-Out Sheet? Secretive Jaunts Spur a Thought: Angered by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg's refusal to say where he was during the December blizzard, lawmakers may consider requiring mayors to acknowledge absences.


texts: What does 'Whitman's poet' in the passage?

texts:
I think 's  generally indicates possession, but in the following passage, the usage evades me. Does it mean 'Whitman's poetry' or 'a poet like Whitman'?

  Long before Walt Whitman wrote Leaves of Grass, poets had addressed
  themselves to fame. Horace, Petrarch, Shakespeare, Milton, and Keats
  all hoped that poetic greatness would grant them a kind of earthly
  immortality. Whitman held a similar faith that for centuries the world
  would value his poems. But to this ancient desire to live forever on
  the page, he added a new sense of fame. Readers would not simply
  attend to the poet’s work; they would be attracted to the greatness of
  his personality. They would see in his poems a vibrant cultural
  performance, an individual springing from the book with tremendous
  charisma and appeal. Out of the political rallies and electoral
  parades that marked Jacksonian America, Whitman defined poetic fame in
  relation to the crowd. Other poets might look for their inspiration
  from the goddess of poetry. Whitman’s poet sought the approval of
  his contemporaries. In the instability of American democracy, fame
  would be dependent on celebrity, on the degree to which the people
  rejoiced in the poet and his work.

This article is from the preface of Walt Whitman and the Culture of American Celebrity by David Haven Blake.


texts:
Which is the correct form for a company name:
 1. Digital technologies for logistics LLC
 2. Digital technologies in logistics LLC
 3. Logistics digital technologies LLC?


texts: Term for a person who is fond of stationery items

texts: Is there any term for a person who is fond of collecting stationery items (pens,books,etc)? If yes, then what is it?


texts: Trapezium/trapezoid — why are the US/UK definitions swapped around?

texts:
These are the US definitions...

Trapezoid — a 4-sided flat shape with straight sides that has a pair of opposite sides parallel.

Trapezium — a 4-sided flat shape with straight sides and NO parallel sides.

The meanings of the two words are exactly reversed between the US and British interpretations.

I don't know how relevant this is, but in general the -oid suffix (humanoid, android, asteroid) means "similar to (but not actually)", whereas -ium (consortium, auditorium, emporium) is a "noun-forming" suffix, sometimes having the sense of bigger or more complicated.

The British definitions therefore seem more "logical" to me - our trapezoid is superficially "like" a trapezium (it has four sides), but it's not actually the same (no sides are parallel). It's also tempting to think Brits were using the words first.

Is there any explanation for how this US/UK difference came about?


texts: What is the meaning and usage of the word "dense"?

texts:
I often come across people saying to each other:

  I don't want to be too dense here, but…

What does the term dense imply in such contexts?


texts: Question Regarding Punctuation and Quotation Mark

texts:
I'm struggling to recall the answers to the questions below. Any assistance would be wonderful!
Thanks!

Does the comma go inside or outside the quotation mark in the sentence below?

I submitted my article to the academic journal "News Today," where it's currently undergoing the peer review process.

Does the period go inside or outside the quotation mark in the sentence below?

I submitted my article to the academic journal "News Today."


texts: Is there a word for one who finds violence acceptable, but not to the extent of killing?

texts:
Lately, I've been playing the game Metal Gear Solid, which is a game focused on espionage. In the game, the way that I prefer to play is such that the playable character is fine with harming the enemy; for example incapacitating them with hand to hand combat, using a tranquilizer gun on them, or holding them up at gun point, but not fine with murdering them.
Is there a word that exists to describe an opinion that violence is fine to accomplish a task, but not murder? For one to be pacifist necessitates that one is against all forms of violence, including that which does not end the life another, so that didn't quite fit.


texts:
I came across the phrase off you go which has been frequently used in many movies.

Especially, the movie John Carter impressed me with this phrase.
What does it mean in different scenarios/cases?


texts: Is there a connection between "pork barrel" and "gravy train"?

texts:
Have these two phrases evolved independently, and how much do their meanings overlap?

Pork barrelling (as in "pork barrel politics") is pretty clear in its meaning, but how about gravy train?

Where did it come from, and what is its exact/ original meaning?


texts: Is it "the humanities" or just "humanities"?

texts:
I.e., would I use "I hate the humanities" or "I hate humanities"?

On that note, would the complementary statement be "I love the sciences" or "I love science"?

"I love sciences" just sounds wrong, but "I hate humanity" means something totally different.

Hmm...

No offense intended; I'm just using my source of confusion as an example.


texts: "In the last 3 months" vs "in the past 3 months"

texts: What's the difference between in the last 3 months and in the past 3 months if there is any?


texts: "time" for instants or durations in science

texts:
I am trying to describe the evolution of a motion which is composed of smooth parts called "free flights" and instantaneous impacts. For example, consider a bouncing ball: its motion is a succession of free flights, separated with impacts (when the ball touches the ground).

I would like to refer to two time-related quantities: the duration of free flights, and the dates of impacts. The word "time" can refer to a length of time, or an instant (a date). To raise the ambiguity, I have chosen the following terminology:

"free-flight durations" describes a length of time between two impacts;
"impact times" describes the date of impact.

Is this correct and would "impact instants" or "impact dates" be better? I am open to other suggestions too, but I want to avoid "period" which I am already using to qualify repetitiveness.


texts: Where are "No" and "So" acceptable abbreviations for "North" and "South"

texts:
Driving around New York City on I-287 in Westchester County, the signs used to say

  No White Plains

for North White Plains. See, for example, this picture from this webpage.
They've recently replaced these signs with ones that say "North White Plains", probably because they confused tourists.

You also see signs "No Brunswick" and "So Brunswick" for North Brunswick and South Brunswick in New Jersey, southeast of NYC.

My understanding was that N. and S. were the standard abbreviations for "North" and "South". Where are "No." and "So." used? Is it just New York City and its suburbs, or is the usage more widespread than that?


texts: Is it correct to say "The carpenter will bring a hammer and be able to use it."

texts:
I'm sorry about the title - I'm not sure which rules of grammar apply to this question.

I'm trying to decide the correctness of the following sentences.

  1) The carpenter will bring a hammer and be able to use it.
  2) The carpenter will bring a hammer and will be able to use it.

Sentence 1) looks like it could be parsed incorrectly as:

  The carpenter will bring [a hammer] and the carpenter will bring [be
  able to use it].

Sentence 2) could suffer from a similar parsing error.

Is either sentence grammatically correct, in that the sentence parses to the following?

  The carpenter will bring a hammer and the carpenter will be able to use the hammer.


texts: Is there a politer way of asking: Would you like?

texts:
Is there a politer or more formal way of asking: Would you like … ?

As when offering something (a glass of wine for instance), to someone of higher category. When extreme etiquette is required.


texts:
Does the phrase “It's all relative” mean that everything is quantifiable in terms of individual perception or opinion?
In other words, we all have different opinions or viewpoints with regard to a topic or subject. Examples, to me, would be:

I think it's cold out; he thinks it's actually quite mild.
I think Martha is fairly attractive; he thinks she's quite homely.
I think that The Beatles were the greatest rock band in history; he thinks the Rolling Stones are.
She thinks Obama's budget plan will save millions of dollars in the long run; he doesn't.

Am I on track here?


texts: Is there a term to say yes to something without being committed to it?

texts:
I feel that this would be reeeally, really useful. A term that wraps up this sentence nicely would be swell:

'Yes, though as of during now till then if I think of a logically sound reason why
the thing I just agreed to is actually kinda dumb, I would like the option to not
do/attend said thing at any time, without it looking irresponsible'.

Because if there's not a term to describe all that. Then there needs to be.


texts: Word for a task that is necessary, tiresome, and accustomed to?

texts:
I'm looking for a word that describes a task or act that you recognise and are accustomed to, but a "familiar task" had a positive colouring which doesn't quite capture what I'm aiming for.

In context, I want the word for a morning ritual which a girl has gone through her entire life, but takes no pleasure in doing so. Specifically, a cold and piercing morning shower to refresh herself.

  "For a while, she confides in the familiar, mellow warmth of her bedsheets, but she knows she must get up. Her first choice is the shower, a ___________ that she knows she must do."


texts: What is "Your response is uncalled for"?

texts:
I had a heated email conversation with one of the vendors,  I gave him nicely when he unnecessarily mentioned something. He responded likewise. Your response was uncalled for.

Can you please explain me what it means?


texts: What's the meaning of "I+verb+not+object1+the less, but+object2+more"?

texts:
What's the meaning  of:

  I verb not object 1 the less, but object 2 more.

Example:

  I love not man the less, but Nature more..

I've searched Google about the meaning of it, but unfortunately didn't find a solution. Could someone guide me how to search for such unknown meanings and reach them on my own?!


texts: What is the origin in a strong Scouse accent of the phoneme /x/ or sometimes /kx/?

texts:
What is the origin in a strong Scouse accent of the phoneme /k/ in all positions of a word except the beginning being realised as /x/ or sometimes /kx/?

Has this charateristic been taken from a different language?


texts: Proper capitalization of commonly used acronyms and initialisms

texts:
I was always under impression, that acronyms ought to be written all caps. However reading BBC News site very often I see some of the common acronyms written as proper names (first cap). For example "Nato" instead of "NATO".

I know that BBC is quite strict in proper English usage, so what would be the reason behind this?


texts:
Contract states

  Upon the death of the stockholder his interest shall pass to the
  oldest son or oldest daughter.

I am the oldest daughter and have a younger brother. Who gets the interest?


texts: Is "take many people, for instance, who + Verb" grammatically correct?

texts:
This sentence is taken from a sample essay but since I only see this sentence in speaking, I do not know if this is a complete sentence or not.

"Take many people, for instance, who have been working under severe condition so as to save up for something they would otherwise be unable to afford."
Thank you in advance.


texts:
I use the word intersectable quite a lot in my software documenation. I use it to describe an item, typically of some geometric shape, which can be the subject of tests for intersection (with other geometry). This is to distinguish such items from those which are not to be tested and thus not able to intersect (not intersectable).

There is probably another valid usage to describe geometry which cannot be intersected for some other (for example mathematical) reason.

Word 2010 doesn't recognise the word and an Internet search for the word only results in the definitions for intersect, with no mention of intersectable.

So, is intersectable a valid word?


texts: Is there a word for this military situation

texts:
I envision a scenario where a government, or some other entity, creating armies and sending them into the field. Some event or situation comes up, and the government is now completely bereft of any capacity to provide for the armies in the ways that governments do: materiel, intelligence, coordination, or even orders.

The government's solution - not to disband the units - but in a final communique to order the armies to provide for themselves. These armies are still armies, but they have no top-level management. They are conceptually "orphaned" or - something.

One might say "the (army|division|unit) was ____" or "When the _____ occurred" "when we had the ____".

I'm flexible.

Your suggestions are appreciated.


texts:
I had a task on an English exam to match phrasal verbs with their definitions. I matched:

  "look up a word" - "search"
  "look for the clues" - "try to find something"

but according to my teacher, it should've been matched the other way around. I think the way I matched them is not wrong, especally because it's phrased that way in many online dictionaries. Not to mention that the definition of search is to try to find something so it makes even less sense.

My mark depends on this so I would like to know if my teacher is wrong about the answer and also what is the correct answer. Thanks.


texts: Since when is capital of a country used to denote government actions?

texts:
Nowadays, we commonly use capitals (I refer to the cities) to denote a action taken by a government. e.g.

  "New Delhi decided to pass the food bill."

Here New Delhi refers to the Indian Government.

So since when has this trend started?

Are there any historical examples in literature?


texts: Someone who is annoyed at the  coverage of her scandalous story in a news broadcasting tv programme (like bbc or cnn) is having a argument with director of the news network channel as to why she run the story.she says" it is sitting very high on her(the director) half hour".


texts:
What is the antonym of 'virtual machine'?

A virtual machine (VM) is a piece of software pretending to be a piece of hardware. There can be virtual servers, virtual desktops...

I googled around a bit and did not find anything.

I am creating a list that has Servers, Desktops and Virtual Machines; where Servers & Desktops are understood to only include non-VMs, I need to add two more items to the list

Severs VM & (virtual machine antonym)
Desktop VM & (virtual machine antonym)

I need a word to replace "(virtual machine antonym)" I was thinking "Hard" but not sure that is appropriate.

The Audience is IT Professionals.


texts: Why is "were" used in the highlighted relative clause?

texts:
Thank you for taking interest in this question. I have attached below the context of the clause in question to help your understanding.

A full version of the question would be: Why were, instead of are/would be/would have been/had been/can be, is used here; is it for grammatical accuracy or is it because  only were can carry certain subtlety that other alternatives cannot?

  For a vaccine to get from phase I to phase III trials in just ten
  months, as rvsv-zebov did, was unheard of at the time—a startling
  example of what urgency and organisation can do. Now a repeat
  performance, ideally taken at an even faster tempo, is the sum of the
  world’s desire. In the middle of April more people are dying of
  covid-19 every three days than died of Ebola in west Africa over three
  years. A vaccine would not just save lives; it would change the course
  of the pandemic in two separate, if related, ways. It would protect
  those who were vaccinated from getting sick; and by reducing the
  number of susceptible people it would prevent the virus from
  spreading, thus also protecting the unvaccinated.


texts: alternative for 'in practice' or 'in reality'

texts:
I am looking for a more punchy way to say 'in practice,'  ie what happens in the 'real world'.  I've looked at In reality, In practice, In the real world. Any ideas?

thanks


texts: Is it true that Cockney English is disappearing? And being replaced with "Jafaican"?

texts: I read a couple of comments to that effect on this Youtube video, which is basically a man ranting in Cockney from the movie Football Factory (2004).   The comments bemoan American ignorance about the actual frequency of Cockney speakers, and suggest that it's all but disappeared amongst the working class except in a few areas.  Saddening, if true.  Is it?  (I'm not looking for a thesis, just "man-on-the-street" type opinions.)


texts:
If a sentence contains the word "and" at a place where it needs to continue on the next line, should the "and" be put at the end of that line or at the beginning of the next line?

  Capturing a Performance Monitor log and
  comparing it with baseline performance throughput [...]

or

  Capturing a Performance Monitor log
  and comparing it with baseline performance throughput [...]


texts: Is there a word for lowering the importance of something by summarizing it?

texts:
Often times someone will tell a long winded story, and then someone will reply with something like "So basically you just had a bad day."

Another, I think better example is when someone will talk a lot about existentialism, and then someone else will reply with "So basically 'to be or not to be, that is the question.'"

Or another example, someone will talk about Cuban-American relations after the cold war, and someone will reply with "So basically America plugged their ears and pretended Cuba didn't exist."

I don't think the word 'oversimplify' is good enough, because it can actually increase the importance of something. For example "So basically if you don't recycle, everyone will die of global warming."


texts: To commemorate the 2,000th question on the English Language & Usage stack, I would like to actually know the origin of that word, and whether it originated for the negativity of the "end of the world" or otherwise.


texts:
Do we use in or on when we want to talk about some action or event that takes place in/on the street?

  This car has been parked [in/on] our street for a week now.
  There's nobody [in/on] the street.
  Let's go play [in/on] the street.
  There was an accident [in/on] their street yesterday.
  I guess I lost my necklace [in/on] the street.

And so on.


texts: Do native speakers ever use the expression "problems crop up"?

texts: I would like to ask you if the expression "problems crop up" is ever used by native speakers or if it's some kind of an archaism. Whilst being quite a nice expression, I have never heard it before.


texts: When describing a detail of an ex, is it correct to use past or present tense?

texts:
To start, would it be correct to say

  "My ex-girlfriend used to eat at Red Lobster."

or

  "My ex-girlfriend eats at Red Lobster."

Another example:

  "My ex-girlfriend used to be into karate."

or

  "My ex-girlfriend is into karate."

With these examples it feels like the past tense makes sense, but here's why this question came up:

  "My ex-girlfriend was tall."

or

  "My ex-girlfriend is tall."

Technically it's not possible for a person to change height, so one may argue that it should be "is tall," but looking at the red lobster example, it should be "was tall."


texts:
In my current understanding, after the phrase "so that" should be the purpose of the action/incident preceding to "so that". For example:

  Darwinism must die so that evolution may live.

However I came across the following sentence in which "so that" is used to connect an action and the direction of the action.

  To obtain sufficient reflected light, install so that there are no obstacles in the optical path.

Is this use of the "so that" phrase also correct and common?


texts:
I’m confused regarding the use of “with” and “of”.

Should I use “array with objects” or “array of objects”?

Why?


texts: Is ‘celebvocate’ gaining currency in English?

texts:
I saw the word, “celebvocate” in “Editor’s Pick” section in today’s (July 14) Washington Post which comes under the caption, “When ‘celebvocates’ come to D.C.” and followed by the lead copy:

  “Here are a few of the recent visitors seeking to leverage their fame with Congress or the president."

I also saw quite a lot of “celebvocates” in the clips in Google Search, for an example:

  Thursday's celebvocate: NFL linebacker Brendon Ayanbadejo Occasion:
  Announcing his upcoming role as guest editor ... Bob Schieffer on Face
  the Nation this morning to talk about Jason Collins' coming out and
  what it means for the future of ...”

I understand “celebvocate” is simply a compound of ‘Celebrity’ and “advocate.” However, Google Ngram shows no incidence of “celebvocates” on its record, and Spellchecker keeps demanding correction of this word, when I’m making proof-check of this post now.

Is “celebvocate” gaining popularity to be perceived as an acceptable word? It seems the word being used predominantly by Washigton Post, which I think is one of influential media in U.S. When did it come into currency?


texts: "In the figure below" or "in the below figure"?

texts:
I frequently encounter this in technical documents and I am wondering which one is correct.

  In the figure below

or

  In the below figure


texts: Is a person connected to a life support machine, or is the life support machine connected to them?

texts: I don't know whether it matters either way but I would like to get it right: do you say that a person is connected to a life support machine or that the life support machine is connected to the person?


texts: What is the technical name for the birth and death dates that follow a person's name?

texts:
There has been discussion here as to the proper way to indicate a birth-death range for a person still alive.

I would like to know what the the grammatical name of these dates.

For example, in the following sentence:

  Albert Einstein (1879–1955) invented the theory of relativity.

What is the technical name for the string "(1879–1955)" ?


texts:
When I looked up the word hail in Longman Online Dictionary and Oxford Advanced Dictionary Online, I saw it has been marked as transitive verb. I also noticed by someone's note that a verb followed by a preposition is not be categorized as transitive verb. For example in:

  I came to his home

=> come is still intransitive verb.

So could you point out to me the role of as in the example below:

  The conference was hailed as a great success.


texts: Did English use to have capitalization rules similar to German's current rules?

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  Capitalisation of nouns in English in the 17th and 18th centuries

I was looking up an article of the constitution of the United States of America, and I noticed in the exact transcription that almost every noun is capitalized.

  All Bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives; but the Senate may propose or concur with amendments as on other Bills.

  No State shall enter into any Treaty, Alliance, or Confederation; grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal; coin Money; emit Bills of Credit; make any Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts; pass any Bill of Attainder, ex post facto Law, or Law impairing the Obligation of Contracts, or grant any Title of Nobility.

The emphasis is mine, but the capitalization is present in the original text.

Many of these nouns seem like they would not be capitalized today, especially, Thing. Did English once have capitalization rules like German has today, or is this 18th-century legalese?


texts: "Created" is to "creator", and "updated" to "editor", as "deleted" is to what agent noun?

texts:
I'm modeling a database and I have these three fields (among others):

created_by,
updated_by, and
deleted_by.

I'm using author as an alias for "created_by", and editor as an alias for "updated_by". What choices do I have as an alias for "deleted_by"?


texts: Adjective for the likes of someone who consistently has a hard time finishing what s/he has started?

texts:
What adjective would you suggest for the like of someone who consistently has a hard time finishing what s/he has started?

I thought of the word "distracted", but I don't feel it's sufficient to describe the full story.


texts: What's a word that describes a person who reminds you of the good things they did for you

texts:
I don't know if such a word exists in the English language. In the Bisaya language of the Visayas region in the Philippines where I belong, there is a verb that describes exactly that. I can't find the English translation of it. I can't even spell it correctly which means I can't find it in the Bisaya dictionary. I don't even know the root word of it is. The word is "moyboy" or "boyboy" or whatever. It's used like this:

  Person A: "Gipa-eskwela tikaw. Ako gabayad sa imohang mga tuition.
  Unya dili ko nimo togtan pahulam og kwarta?

  I took you to school. I
  paid all your tuitions and you wouldn't let me borrow money?

  Person B: "Ayaw ko boyboyi.

  Don't __ me

  Namoyboy si Person A ni Person B

  Person A is "doing the action on"
  Person B

  Mamoyboy si Person A kung dili pahulmon og kwarta.

  Person A "does the
  action" each time he borrows money.

So if there's an actual word that is similar in English, I'd like to know what it is. :)


texts:
If you can start a campfire, you will 50% succeed in survival.

Can someone say if the sentence above is gramatically correct or not?


texts: My dictionary lists the word 'signal' as an adjective, apart from its usual usage as a noun. Could someone provide me with examples for such a usage? Also, how popular is such an adjective?


texts:
I need a concise verb for "to treat in a unified manner". Alternatively, an alternative short adverb for "in a unified manner" is useful as well. Here is the context:

  With this new abstract theory, we can treat several phenomena in a unified manner.


texts:
Suppose I want to use words like idli, dosa, dal, sambhar...which are generic dishes- like one would say pancakes in English, should it be in italics?

What about names of special ingredients?

Thanks in advance.


texts: What adjective means "accurately representitive of reality"?

texts:
I need a word that describes the quality how well a board game simulates reality.

"Abstract" is probably the opposite of the word I need. E.g. Othello is an abstract game.

"Battleship" is less abstract, but still has abstraction.

"The Great War at Sea" series of games goes much much further, trying to provide a more detailed simulation of the real world. I need an adjective to describe such a board game.

"Realistic" doesn't seem to have the implied meaning I need, as I think if readers hear "The Great War at Sea is a realistic game" readers aren't going to conclude that it is a complex representation of sea battles.

Is there a term that has a similar meaning to "realistic", but emphasizing the quality of simulating reality to a highly detailed level?


texts: Do certain contrasting conjunctions + certain contrasting adverbs = redundancy?

texts:
For example, would the following sentence with either ‘rather’ or ‘instead’ included in the middle (or, for that matter, with ‘instead’ alone at the end) be redundant.  If a redundancy, would it rise (sink?) to the unacceptable variety?:

"You would ask him about the economy, whereas/although/while I would (rather/instead) ask him about the war."

Also, would it make any difference (re redundancy) if the main and subordinate clauses were reversed and the contrasting adverb was in the main clause instead of the subordinate one?
"Although/while you would ask him about the economy, I would (rather/instead) ask him about the war."

Thanks


texts: Lt. Columbo's "It didn't take me until July"

texts:
Heard the following exchange in the Columbo episode An Exercise in Fatality:

  Lt. Columbo: You removed the bulb on the phone in the living room so
  the line wouldn't light up (...).

  Milo Janus: Guesswork, supposition, more cigar ashes. What you need is
  proof. That what you need -- proof.

  Lt. Columbo: It didn't take me 'til July, but I got the proof.

Never heard this exact expression before - and a cursory Google search did not yield any useful hits re. its origin or contemporary usage.

What's the origin of the expression - and is it something that a contemporary US English speaker would easily understand?

Can we use something other than "July" (another month of the year, day of the week etc.) to convey the same meaning?


texts: Is it correct to use "insultive" in place of "insulting"

texts:
So I was watching a video on youtube (https://youtu.be/hfXXbmTpkrw?t=377) where the "host" of the show (I don't know if you can call him that) is commentating on a video of a famous youtube personality being offensive to one of his fans. He uses this sentence:

  (the "host" of the show): He's being incredibly insultive to the guy.

Now, why didn't he use the adjective insulting to refer to the guy, as in:

  He's just being incredibly insulting to the guy.

Mind you, I wasn't able to find a definition of the word "insultive" in many well-known dictionaries online such as, Cambridge, Collins, Or Webster, but some lesser known dictionaries provid a definition, stating that it's synonymous with insulting.

Also https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/insultive says about it:

  This word (insultive) is about 0.01% as common as insulting and does not appear in most dictionaries.

I also did an Ngram look-up which confirmed the above.

is the use of "insultive" totally and utterly wrong? should it be avoided?


texts: Crass as it may be I have to find a suitable alternative to "circle jerk" which describes a situation in which everyone agrees about some subject but still love getting worked up about it and feed off each other's passion.  I have heard of "echo chamber" but it doesn't work for me.


texts: What is it called when you write what someone is saying?

texts:
Imagine you're sitting in the corner, writing down a conversation that is occurring in the middle of the room. What are you doing?

"Copying down" is what I'm using, but it seems like there should be a better word.


texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  Present perfect tense versus past tense

Here is the example:

  I haven't spoken any English for more than 3 years.

vs.

  I didn't speak any English over the past 3 years.

Which sentence sounds more natural and appropriate? Are there any grammatical problems here?


texts: What role is the word "apple" playing in the sentence "I ate the apple pie." Is apple an adjective? Or are apple and pie treated together as one noun. Is this true of all words used like this? Can "foot" be used as an adjective if I refer to someone as "that foot guy?" Thanks!


texts: Usage of commas in a non-restrictive clause

texts:
I am wondering about the usage of commas in the following sentence.

  I have given, in English, multiple seminars.

I am not sure if nonrestrictive is the correct term, but I believe that "in English" is a nonrestrictive clause. If we remove "in English", the sentence simply becomes: "I have given multiple seminars.", which still makes sense. However, something still feels off about the given sentence.


texts: Word for placebo action meant to fill time or alleviate anxiety

texts:
I'm looking for a word or short phrase that adequately describes those useless actions we all perform despite knowing the futility of said actions. I've tried to order the following examples roughly descending in suitability to my purpose with most appropriate first.

Repeatedly pressing the 'Walk' button at a pedestrian controlled crosswalk or a hallway's elevator call button when an elevator is taking a little longer than usual to arrive.
Tapping or shaking a wristwatch that has obviously stopped as if the action will miraculously get the watch to show the correct time.
Rattling a locked door after it has been determined that it is locked as if subsequent attempts will magically allow access.
Wandering around waving a cell phone in the air when it's perfectly obvious that no signal can be found as if the process will inexplicably transcend the laws of electromagnetism.

These actions fill time and/or alleviate anxiety. I was thinking of 'busy work' but that seems to be more descriptive of a workplace environment.

An accurate word or phrase that describes the above would not describe the following.

Hitting or shaking a mechanism that refuses to perform the action it was designed to do. (e.g. vending machine, computer,
A baseball player throwing his bat after striking out.

These actions are born out of frustration and anger. They could be described as a vent. That's not what I'm looking for.


texts: Translation of Merkel Speech in Auschwitz

texts:
German chancellor Angela Merkel said at the Auschwitz commemoration:

"Es ist eine Schande, dass Menschen in Deutschland angepöbelt, bedroht oder angegriffen werden, wenn sie sich irgendwie als Juden zu erkennen geben oder auch wenn sie für den Staat Israel Partei ergreifen."
http://www.bundesregierung.de/Content/DE/Rede/2015/01/2015-01-26-merkel-auschwitz.html

This was translated by Euronews as:

“It’s a shame when people in Germany are mobbed, threatened or attacked when they say they are Jewish or when they speak out for the State of Israel.” http://www.euronews.com/2015/01/26/merkel-speech-opens-auschwitz-anniversary-events/

I'm not sure but it seems to me that even though the direct translation of the word "Schande" is "shame", the use of the phrase "it's a shame" is incorrect. When you say "it's a shame", it means "too bad, oh well.." whereas I believe that she meant to hold the people who do that responsible for their behavior. I would have translated it as "It's a disgrace" or "It is shameful". Would that be the correct translation or is the phrase "It's a shame" acceptable in this context?


texts:
When somebody wants to enthusiastically praise something or someone a common phrase used is to "extol the virtues of ..."".

There are two antonym senses I am after

A passionate critique of the problems with something
A sober discussion of the negative aspects of something

What phrases are similar to "extol the virtues ..." when applied to the above two negative cases.

The first sense being an equally passionate critique of something/someone and the second being a more dispassionate discussion, more sober.

It seems to me these senses are required if one wants to say something like

In relation to x I can at length extol its virtues and provide a cautionary note as to its disadvantages. Passionate critiques can also be found in many sources.


texts:
"Sexual inactivity or inexperience, whether voluntary or not, should not be exoticized, ridiculed, or necessarily considered a concern for everyone. More research is needed on reasons for sexual inactivity and how mating market dynamics might be evolving due to online dating, shifting expectations in romantic and sexual relationships, and changing values, lifestyles, and labor market trends," said Dr. Peter Ueda, an expert in epidemiology and public health and leader of the research project.
Does "everyone" refer to the aforesaid group or to the general public?
Sexual inactivity in Japan


texts: How to say: "After cartoons are over" or "After she's done watching cartoons" or how?

texts:
Imagine this situation: a wife asks her husband to read some stories to their daughter. The husband replies:
"She is watching cartoons now. I’ll read stories to her after the cartoons are over"

or "I'll read stories to her as soon as she's done watching cartoons"

or "I'll read stories to her after cartoons"

or how?


texts: Is there a term or a word specifically applying to favoritism towards foreigners than local citizens?

texts:
I am looking for some kind of term that relates to say,
opposite of nepotism??? im not sure.
or opposite of ethnic nepotism.
but the situation is that " person X is From Y and will prioritize someone from any other country or region but place Y, in fact there is more favouritism to people of place A, B, C... etc BUT LOCAL CITIZENS OF PLACE Y ARE PUT BEHIND THEM.


texts: "I think ..." or "In my opinion..." or "From my point of view..."

texts: If I want to express my opinion about something, what's the most correct form? What are the differences? What is more formal and what more colloquial? For example, in Italian, nobody says In my opinion..., but My opinion is...


texts: What is this word for a person more knowledgable than an aficionado?

texts: A friend told me a new word for a person with a higher more sophisticated knowledge than an aficionado. It sounds like "koount ah shent ie". My best guess of the spelling is "countashenti", but that has not led me to the correct word. What is the correct spelling?


texts: I need help with quotations and punctuation

texts:
How do I punctuate when using quotes?

  “There were more?” Asked Wendy.

or;

  "There were more," asked Wendy?

  "He was amazing!" Exclaimed Billy.

or;

  "He was amazing," exclaimed Billy!


texts: Word meaning the outcome is different to that intended

texts:
A friend has said that there is a word meaning the outcome is something very different from that originally envisaged. For example:

  The Australian government introduced a "First time home owner" bonus. Where if you were buying your first house you would get a lump sum cash. Of course everyone selling a house in that price backet put the price up by the same amount as the lump sum and first time buyers didn't benefit at all.

Does anyone know if there is a word meaning this and what it is?


texts: Can "what" be a plural interrogative pronoun?

texts:
I searched Google Books for "what make you".

https://www.google.co.jp/?gws_rd=ssl#q=%22what+make+you%22&tbm=bks&start=70

Here are some examples:

  God answered and said "Jesus held everything in his hands and he was human, he held the heaven and the earth, the earth destroyed itself three times and Jesus still had compassion for it, so what make you so worthy to bring this news to me?" (The Next Level by Qweon Lee Drayton-Washington http://www.fictiondb.com/author/qweon-lee-drayton-washington~the-next-level~454899~b.htm)

.

  Meanwhile, Baker was now holding a sawed off shotgun under the counter just in case Danny needed him for reinforcement. "What make you think that I would help you? Did you helped me when I went up?" Daniel boasted. (The Bridge Back: Sisters, Cousins, Foes and Lovers by Betty Ann http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Bridge-Back-Sisters-Cousins-ebook/dp/B0059HL63O)

Link to context

.

  "Don't be different," we are counseled, "go along with the crowd. What make you think you have an inside track denied to the rest of us? (Speaking of Christianity:Practical Compassion, Social Justice and Other Wonders by Robert McAfee Brown http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/481424.Speaking_of_Christianity)

.

  What make you think you are going to have a son, and why are you talking like
  you're not coming back, Isaiah?" Orabell said, hugging him tightly.
  (Our Time Has Come by Sylvester Stephens
  http://www.amazon.com/Our-Time-Come-Sylvester-Stephens/dp/1593090269)

Are these sentences using "what make you" grammatically correct?


texts: Singular/plural in "no X since" vs "no Xs since"

texts:
I commented against an earlier question “No A or B” vs. “Neither A nor B” that in contexts such as The system has had no error since 2013 native speakers would invariably use the plural errors.

As I see it, the two extremes for singular/plural usage here can be typified by, for example,...

  1a: I've had no food since Monday.
   1b: I've had no friends since leaving school.

...where my first thought was we use singular food because it's a mass noun. I may be wrong, but I'm guessing that's what underpins my increasing aversion to the singular noun forms in...

  2a: I've had no trouble since switching to Linux (at this end of the list, plural seems unlikely to me)
   2b: I've had no difficulty since switching
   2c: I've had no problem since switching
   2d: I've had no error since switching (at this end, only plural works for error, setback, issue, etc.)

(The example is totally made up - I'm actually having all sorts of problems with Ubuntu Linux! :)

But that "mass noun" principle doesn't seem to help when I consider...

  3: I've had no boss since becoming self-employed (where I strongly prefer the singular)

What's going on here? Am I wrong about the "mass noun" distinction in the first place? Is there something else involved that makes #3 a special case?


texts: Chaste and virgin - adjectives associated with feminine gender alone

texts: Do the adjectives chaste and virgin associated only with feminine gender? Can they be extended to masculine gender or any other corresponding adjectives associated with masculine gender?


texts: Comma needed after "hour" in a 2-hour 15-minute traffic delay

texts:
Do you feel these are correct with the hyphens and absence of commas?

a 2-hour 15-minute traffic delay
(Instead of: a 2-hour, 15-minute traffic delay)

a 7-pound 11-ounce newborn
(Instead of: a 7-pound, 11-ounce newborn)

a 6-foot 8-inch basketball player
(Instead of: a 6-foot, 8-inch basketball player)

a 2-year 5-month 17-day project
(Look OK without commas?)

The project lasted 2 years 5 months 17 days. (Good without commas?)

If "and" is used, is it OK to forgo the commas as well?

The project lasted 2 years 5 months and 17 days.

Do all examples above look to be correctly punctuated without the commas? I don't think the commas aid readability in the slightest. Do you agree?

Thank you.


texts: How do I call a person who's having a 1 on 1 conversation with me

texts:
Participant sounds like one of many people in a group conversation.
I want to know the equivalent of that word in a 1 on 1 conversation.


texts: A word for a book or list of people that you need to contact

texts:
I have to remember to contact Sarah sometime this week about the party, so I add her to my person-listy-thing.

I think there may be a (somewhat archaic?) concise term for this along the lines of 'datebook'. Thoughts?

EDIT: To clarify, this is a to-do list but with contacts' names; not simply a list of contacts.


texts: When to use "in theory" vs "theoretically"?

texts:
Which form is more correct or more readable for writing a scientific article:

In theory D is constant when q tends to infinity.

or

Theoretically D is constant when q tends to infinity.

Thanks


texts: Term for"getting out of a business deal"

texts:
Is there a legal/business term for "getting out of a [business] deal"?
The context is say somebody has done everything he/she was supposed to do, and handed over all his/her responsibilities to someone else. That person now wants to write or say something like "I'm done, I'm out of this deal/business/enterprise". Is there a better or more technical way to express that?


texts: What does “cantilever” stand for in the line, “baseball environment obsessed with the cantilever between pitcher and hitter?

texts:
In the New York Times’ (August 5) article titled, “How A-Rod doesn’t add up,” Doug Glanville, ex-outfielder for the Philadelphia Phillies, Chicago Cubs and Texas Rangers tells:
http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/08/05/how-a-rod-doesnt-add-up/?hp

  “Performance-enhancing drugs thrive in a baseball environment obsessed
  with the cantilever between pitcher and hitter, opportunity and
  failure, the home run and the glove man, the quantitative and the
  qualitative. With all of this balance, numbers often tip the scale,
  and when it’s in a player’s interest to use numbers to gain value, he
  will do so, especially if his contract depends on it.”

I was drawn to the usage of ‘cantilever’ in the phrase, “obsessed with the cantilever between pitcher and hitter, opportunity and failure ...”

I understand ‘cantilever’ is a projecting beam or structure supported at only one end like a porch supported by steel cantilevers, and it is used figuratively in the above message, but my poor imagination doesn’t go any further.

What does “cantilever between A and B" in opposing position mean? Does it have something to do with conflicting balance, or competing tactics? Could you paraphrase “cantilever” in a plain word?


texts:
When did the word "bad" become a noun? I assume it was when the cliche "my bad" was invented. When/where did this originate? Are there any other uses of "bad" as a noun?

I'm specifically interested in the use of "bad" as in "my bad", which seems to mean a specific culpable action on the part of the speaker/writer. This seems distinct from the more abstract uses of "bad" given in the first answer below.


texts: A word similar to "shame" that has a positive connotation

texts:
I am looking for a word to express the feeling that you have when you don't want to weigh on someone but still have to ask for a favor out of need.
For example, consider the following sentence.

He felt ashamed asking for a favor.

"Ashamed" has a negative connotation. Looking for a word that implies virtue (modesty, humility, down-to-earthness)


texts:
I am wondering about the right word to explain the people, are who involved in the robotics realm.

I've seen both Roboticist and Robotician within the technical literature. But I have no idea about their potential difference and the probable underlying criterion for right utilization of each one.

Is anybody able to clear the case?


texts: What do we call those who discriminate against fat people?

texts:
Homophobia describes dislike or prejudice against homosexual people.

Xenophobia describes an intense or irrational dislike or fear of people from other countries.

What about those who discriminate against fat people? In my country, I hear people discriminate, attack and devalue them all the time.

What do we call them?


texts: Editing quotations with square brackets and italics at the same time

texts:
I have the following sentence from the Time Magazine, which I use as an example sentence on a flashcard:

  At its best, Losers is a sluggish, stream-of-concupiscence exposition
  of what Sartre called nausea.

I want to make clear that the complete title of the book is Beautiful Losers and that the author is Leonard Cohen. I also want to italicise the book title. The result would be as follows:

  At its best, [Beautiful] Losers [by Leonard Cohen] is a sluggish,
  stream-of-concupiscence exposition of what Sartre called nausea.

The combination of italics and square brackets looks a bit awkward to me. Would [Beautiful] Losers be a prefered way in English (I'm not even sure how to do it properly in my native language)? Or do you generally avoid mixing italics with square brackets in this case?


texts:
I'm learning such difficult part of English grammar as Articles.
So far I've already studied that articles are a mess and full of contadictions.
Right now I'm learning this topic from several sources one of which is "Oxford English Grammar Course Advanced" by Michael Swan and Catherine Walter.
In Section 10 we can read:

... common English use of no article in generalisations ... :
Life is a dream.

A bit later:

We can generalise about people or things by mentioning one example, with a/an:
A woman without a man is like a fish without a bicycle. (old feminist joke)
A baby deer can stand as soon as it is born.

Question one: why is there a contradiction between statements "no article in generalisations" and "we can generalise with a/an"?
If we can, why doesn't anybody say "A life is a dream"?
Next, Longman Dictionary says that

'The' used before a singular noun when you are referring to a particular type of thing or person in a general way
The tiger is without doubt the most magnificent of the big cats.
The computer has changed everyone’s lives in so many ways.
complicated dances like the tango

In other sources, I read that the names of sports and sport events are usually preceded by 'the' article.
Also, inventions like 'microscope', 'telephone', 'radio', etc. also preceded by 'the' article.
Okay. But question two: why tiger is used with the article?
Up to this point, I have several examples and I don't even know why some nouns are used with a/an article, some with the article and some without any article.
If I apply all these rules at the time, it would seem that I can use any article for generalization or omit an article. But native English speakers don't do it. For some reason nobody says The life is a dream or A life is a dream, but many people say Life is a dream.
Question three: what is the definite rule of generalizations?


texts:
I've run into a road block at the end of my essay about stereotyping, where I write "...no matter how I feel labeling that individual—or vice versa." My essay featured scenarios in which both I stereotyped an individual and the same individual stereotyped me (in short). However, I realized that this quote doesn't have the same intended effect, since the placement of "vice versa" is more than a little confusing.

What I'm wondering is whether there is a more efficient, cleaner way of saying "...no matter how I feel labeling that individual or how I feel about him labeling me."

This could be applied to other scenarios in speech, when simply dropping "and vice versa" after a statement may seem natural but is actually very difficult to comprehend.

Any suggestions?


texts:
I don't know the exact terms used to describe this situation but I'm wondering whether there is a clearly "correct" way of phrasing this sentence. I know both versions are grammatically correct, but is one obviously better or preferred than the other and, if so, why? My assumption is that "replacement of the Compliance Review Tracker (CRT) system" is the subject, and therefore it should come first (as in B). But is this totally a stylistic choice and not necessarily "better" than choice A? Something about A sounds weak but I'm not sure what the grammatical rule is here.

A) A critical eBusiness project for MRC is the replacement of the agency's legacy Compliance Review Tracker (CRT) system, currently built in Visual Basic.

B) Replacement of the legacy Compliance Review Tracker (CRT) system, currently built in Visual Basic, is a critical eBusiness project for MRC.


texts:
And because I was the person to clean up all the glass bottles, then I
  would find the wads of cash on the floor. So it was good. I’d get my
  wages, I’d get tips, and then I would get my own personal tips
  from finding money on the floor.

  From (http://www.elllo.org/english/1301/T1350-amy-money-floor.htm)

The speaker is talking about her experience working on the floor of a nightclub.

I think "own" and "personal" are pretty much the same. Is "personal" redundant here? How does it contribute to the meaning of the sentence?


texts: Any idiom for a person who has solution of every single problem

texts:
i am looking for a single word request or a relatable idiom for a person who has solution of every single problem.. in hindi we call them "jugadu".

I am not really looking for something like "Jack of all trades" or omniscient.. may be a more specific term.


texts: Does "Romantic" have to do with Roman Empire or Romania?

texts:
I was reading the biography of Mihai Eminescu, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mihai_Eminescu, and in the first line it said that this guy was a romantic poet.

I didn't know what a romantic poet meant...was that he was a famed gentle lover? Then I scrolled down and it dawned on me this guy was from Romania...

When I clicked on romantic, however, it directed me to the page about some European enlightenment movement.

What does romantic mean in this context? Is Wikipedia directing me to the wrong link?


texts: "To be pound of something": Correct meaning and usage

texts:
I came across an email mentioning : "We are pound to announce that .. (some good announcement)". Initially I thought it was a spelling mistake and they meant "proud" and not "pound". However, when I Googled, I saw many webpages having similar usage of "pound".

I understand the meaning of "pound" as a verb is to strike or to hit. However, I don't understand what's the meaning to this phrase: "to be pound of something".

What does it mean exactly? (and whether it's a correct usage at all)


texts:
In the area of which I live, there is a certain word we use to describe somebody that is naughty, or bad, in a joking/lighthearted manner. I do not know how to spell the word, and every attempt to find it on Google led to no accurate results.

The word sounds like 'Nixee' with a hard e at the end. It might be spelled Nixy or Nixie.

We live in the middle of Pennsylvania Dutch and Amish country. The word is exceedingly common around these parts and was interested in the history.

My question is what is the history of the word 'Nixy' and is it commonplace among other parts of the United States?


texts: ‘Within 25 ft. of’ or ‘within 25 ft. from’?

texts:
There is a sign at Harvard (shown below) that says:

  Thank you for not smoking within 25 feet from this building

That ‘from’ sounds odd to me. Is ‘within [distance] from [thing]’ used? If so, how—and does it differ from ‘within [distance] of [thing]’?


texts: What is the correct usage of "bring" and "take"?

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  “Bring” vs. “take” in American English

I used to have what I thought was a good grasp on using the words 'bring' and 'take' until I moved to the south. Now all I seem to hear is 'bring' - whether it is in the context of 'to me', 'to you', or to somewhere else with me. For example,

  Shall I bring it to work tomorrow?

I always thought that if I was not presently in the place that the item would end up, then I would use the word 'take'. Or does it depend on the location of the person to whom you are talking?


texts:
Here's the sentence
"Not a wrong in this world but had him as its champion ; not a cause of liberty or reform but gained his support."

The statement falls in a paragraph of introduction of a character(in a biography).

Now I understand the use in "What is it but the lack of knowledge of the English grammar" - meaning it's nothing other than "the lack of...".

But I'm seeing something like the above literally for the first time.

Thanks


texts:
Which one of the following sentences sounds natural?

(1) Do you think I will have a chance to talk to her at the party?
(2) Do you think I could have a chance to talk to her at the party?


texts: What do you say when you talk over phone but you can't quite hear what other person says?

texts:
I bought my first phone in my life and I now sometimes get calls from friends and co workers. Sometimes the signal of phone doesn't work well and I can't hear them.

What do I say when there is silence or noises?

So far I have thought of the following:

* Sorry I didn't hear you, can you repeat that?
* What was that, I didn't hear you?
* Oh what was that, I didn't hear you?
* I didn't hear you, can you repeat that?
* Can you repeat that?
* Sorry I didn't hear you?
* Sorry?

What else can I say?


texts:
What is the history of the word thread in the context of "email thread"? You can also say "thread of a conversation". How old is that usage?

Some of my colleagues say "email string" and it drives me crazy. Am I being overly pedantic in thinking that sounds stupid?


texts:
Are both of these sentences grammatical?

  It was starting raining.
  He was contemplating creating a problem.


texts: What does "as poor a piece of journey-work" mean?

texts:
Could someone please explain the bold term to me in layman's terms:

  The gentleman's spiritual intercourse seemed to me as poor a piece of journey-work as ever this world saw.


texts:
In this sentence, is "Understand it though I do" grammatically correct?

  Understand it though I do, the logic of such a conception I could not explain even if I tried to.

If so, in what ways can though be used similarly?


texts:
I don't know if this is a real word, but when I was in high school my teacher had a Word-a-Day vocabulary calendar. She read us a word one day with a definition of "To contemplate one's navel for cosmic significance" or something similar. I forget the word, and have not found it since.

Seems like I remember the word starting with an 'O'.

Does this word exist? What is it?


texts:
Is there any difference in meaning between

  check that newSnap != m_snap and invoke onSnapEnter only then.

and

  check that newSnap != m_snap and invoke onSnapEnter only in that case.

?

Which is the correct way of expressing that the checked condition must fulfil, and not merely predate the invocation?


texts:
I was recently involved in a discussion on headphones, and realized I came short on a word for 'Audio' that could be used in the same way the word 'optically' is used for 'Optics'.

For example, I could say, "Lens A is optically superior to Lens B".

Is there such an equivalent word for 'audio'?


texts:
I ran into a gap in my diction recently. Does an adverb for genre exist? I'm trying to say the following but with adverb form:

  The two songs differed by genre.

However, this doesn't seem quite right:

  The two songs were genrely different.

I'm assuming such a word doesn't exist and this is just another downfall of the limited specificity of the English language.

I should add that I want to strictly talk about music when using this unknown word, so anything that doesn't have the root genre would defeat the purpose.


texts: A person who is trying to impress somebody

texts:
What do we call a person who is trying to impress somebody (not necessarily to gain any advantage). For example, he buys them expensive products, always talking in a sweet manner etc.

To describe an act of such a person, I want to say the following sentence.

  Well, I think he is just being ____________.

Is "Pretentious" a suitable word to fill in the blank in above sentence? What are other choices of word?


texts: Is there a difference between the pronunciation of a teenager, and the pronunciation of an adult?

texts:
In my travels in the USA (on Long Island), I noted that the pronunciation used by a teenager sounds different from the pronunciation used by an adult.

Does such difference exist, or is it just my impression?


texts: Is there a more formal word or phrase for mover and shaker? Single word is preferred.


texts:
When I talk about Subway or Tim Horton's, should I say it is a store, a shop, a restaurant, or a branch? For example,

  XXXX University has both shops on campus.

In the above, both means Subway and Tim Horton's.


texts: Is "Mr. Last Name + First Name" correct in formal writing?

texts:
I'm translating a formal letter to English.
With my previous knowledge of English, I translated names from Singapore and China using the format "Mr. First name + Last Name".
For example:
(1)
The order in Chinese: Wang (last name) Lili (first name)
Translated: Mr. Lili Wang
(2)
The order in Singaporean-format: Koh (last name) Sing (first name)
Translated: Mr. Sing Koh
However, my colleague stated that I have made mistakes in arranging the order of last and first names and insisted I go with "Mr. Last name + First name" for all names in the letter.
I understand in Singapore, it seems people always put last name first (though I'm also unsure of the use), but is my colleague correct? I also wonder if the order varies in different cultures (ex. Singapore v. England)?
Thank you in advance!


texts:
I've seen a lot of inversions in many daily conversations. As it occurs to me that using inversions would make the sentence confusing, I assume that using them is not that appropriate in spoken English. But the truth is, I can see many of them in daily life and actually they are quite acceptable. At this point, I'd like to know which inversions are "acceptable." And why people use those particular inversions in conversations.

Inversions such as, for example:

Up we go.
There he comes.
After a hurricane comes a rainbow.
Proceed, should you need to.
Never can you do it.

Thanks.


texts: How should the end of a quotation be punctuated?

texts:
I was reading a book where the dialogues of the actors were written in paragraphs. The dialogues, were broken down by the author into pieces of sentences, and between the pieces, the author inserted his thoughts/facts/humour, and then proceeded with the dialogue. For example,

He continued, “Just after the Independence,” and rose from his chair.

Should this have been typed as ”, instead of ,”?

Or take a second example,

He said, “I am a good boy.”

This is how it is generally written. But it seems to me that there should be another fullstop at the end of the sentence to mark the end of He said, “———”. sentence.

How should inverted commas be closed?


texts:
When I try to fast-forward through a program that I am watching through my cable company's "On Demand" feature, an error message displays:

  fast forward and other functionality may not be available...

Why is functionality used instead of function?


texts:
I'm studying for the GRE, and there was this one question (sentence completion) where I had to choose between selecting "clarion call" or "rallying cry" as the answer. What is the distinction between those two? Is there something I'm missing?

EDIT:

The context:

  Scathing, lyrical and hilarious by turns, Finding a Form by William H. Gass sounds a ___ against the steady encroachment of the banal and lazy into the fields of fiction.


texts:
once again I'm trying to translate to my native language a sentence from the movie Ice Castles (1978). First of all, some context in a nutshell:

There's a famous trainer (girl voice in the audio clip) who saw a young girl performing in a sectional competition and got impressed by her, so she decided to train her. To do it she leans on an anchor (in a TV studio) she knows, who will help her to attract media interest on the young skater. The man is telling in this clip to the trainer that he managed to get the latter in a show called "Christmas in America" and lists some other famous skaters who will be in it, while saying this.

I report the dialogue here:

Trainer: I can't believe it. It's set?

Anchor: An expanded version of the essay series to be made part of "Christmas in America".

Trainer: And Alexis is in?

Anchor: They bought it all. And only one turndown from the top five.

Trainer: Annette?

Anchor: The only one that doesn't think she needs exposure. Bobbie Braker, Sally Richards, the Canadian champion, Wen-An Sun from Taiwan, and the best... ( pause ) the French have been heard from. Ceceil Monchet, number two in the world.

Audio clip here.

I'm interested in understanding what does " [...] and the best... the French have been heard from" mean. Does it mean that she's the best the French have ever had, or just literally, the french have been listened, or even something else?


texts:
Which is the right thing to say?

  Put the thermometer in the armpit.
  Put the thermometer under the armpit.
  Put the thermometer under the arm.


texts: One word for person who work on two computers

texts:
I am looking for a funny word that corresponds to "AMBIDEXTROUS" (Person who can write equally well with either hand) in meaning but actually refers to the situation of a developer working on two PC simultaneously.

Is there any word out there yet?

Sample sentence:
That guy is seriously able to work and type simultaneously on both computers. He is "Techie-Ambidextrous" (< Need to replace this)


texts:
I have heard it for the first time and when I looked it up on dictionaries, definitions say it means " to have had a long and fulfilling life or career". I think it is more a British slang.If I don't remember wrongly,  in the business context I heard it was used more like in the sense of " I am doing well" when someone mentioned how successful his new start-up company was.

I'd like to ask if it can be used for short time occasions or it  is always used to refer to a lifetime success.

For example, you organized your friend's wedding ceremony which may last one week and if someone asks " how is it going" by referring to the ceremony and everybody thinks the ceremony was perfect , can you say " I have had a good innings " in the sense " we are doing well" to refer to the ceremony.

Can someone who is 30 and  has a very good career say " I have had a good innings" ?

And is it common in the USA?


texts: Should I use "or" or "nor" in the following case?

texts:
I wasn't forcing myself to say anything, or/nor trying to be funny.

"Or" sounds more grammatically correct to me. But "nor" has more Google results. So I'm confused.


texts:
Does broidered rhyme with whirred?
https://www.rhymezone.com/r/rhyme.cgi?Word=whirred&typeofrhyme=perfect&org1=syl&org2=l&org3=y
Rhymezone says it doesn't rhyme, but another dictionary says it does rhyme:
https://www.rhymer.com/broidered.html
Shouldn't broidered rhyme with whirred? And could you explain why it doesn't?


texts: The correct location of the gap in a relative clause

texts:
On page 1037 of the Cambridge Grammar:

In [2iii] and [2iv] above is shown a gap "in object position".
In fact, this is where all the grammars that I know of would put the gap. If the gap corresponds to an object of a verb -- as here -- or of a preposition, all the grammars that I know of put it after the verb or the preposition.
But I wonder why it has to be.
If you look at [2ii], which is used instead of the gap in [2iii] or [2iv], and that which is also acting as an object there. But it isn't placed after gave me but is placed at the start of the relative clause.
Since the gap you can't see anyway, I wonder why the gap cannot be placed right before my, as follows:

I accepted the advice [that ____ my neighbour gave me].
I accepted the advice [____ my neighbour gave me].

This way, I think the structure of the relative clause might be more coherently explained and understood.
Also, does anyone know of a grammar that places the gap like this?


texts:
What is the meaning of the word fruit fly in the context of a business/technology conversation?

Example: This technology is a fruit fly which is good and bad!


texts:
I was watching the TV show "White Collar" (episode: Parting Shots).

The FBI arrests a man who transferred money illegally into his own account.

Below is a comment made by an FBI agent:

  We made the window for Forensics to track the bank transfer.
  Money's been recovered.

What does We made the window mean?
Does that mean We created an opportunity?

Thank you in advance for your help!

Note: The episode's transcript can be found at:
http://www.springfieldspringfield.co.uk/view_episode_scripts.php?tv-show=white-collar&episode=s04e04


texts: Can I say "speakers were amplifying their laughter"?

texts:
Is it correct to use speakers were amplifying their laughter? For example:

  At the beginning Jack and Jill were just laughing between themselves.
  But five minutes later they came up to the counter and began to laugh
  into the cashier's microphone. Now all the speakers in that eatery
  were amplifying their laughter.


texts: What do you call a place which is temporarily closed because it's a holiday?

texts:
When it's holiday and some company/firm/business place is temporarily closed, How do you express that?
For example:

Bob: I'm going to the Apple Store on Queens Road tomorrow, care to join me?
Alice: I think that Apple Store is ____ tomorrow.

I don't know if using closed here is quite right, because it's temporary and I'd like to say it's only because of the holiday. So I'm looking for a more precise word to express "temporarily closed because of the holiday".
Update: In my native language (Persian), We have a single word to describe a place which is temporarily closed just because it's a holiday. It's different than "closed" because they can be "closed" for various reasons but when you use that word it means they are particularly closed because of the holiday. I was hoping to find an equivalent in English.


texts: Subject-verb inversion when subject isn't clear

texts:
I just felt like writing the following sentence:

n^k distinct configurations has a 2dfa(k).

It's natural formulation would be "a 2dfa(k) has n^k distinct configurations", but its after 2AM, and I guess I felt fancy. My question is, is the above sentence in blockquote alright?
My suspicion arose due to "n^k distinct configurations" not having any syntactical indication that it is not the subject, and "2dfa(k)" instead is. Maybe, I thought, one should avoid subject-verb inversions even more in such sentences.


texts: What punctuation should I use in the following case?

texts:
Eri thought if there were little people living in it, they would be experiencing earthquakes all the time. Or maybe, they would have been so used to the movement that they'd no longer feel it. They'd just go on with their little lives[...] eating their little meals,
  going to their little jobs, and spending time with their little
  families.

What kind of punctuation should I use in the example above? At first I thought I had to use a comma. But I think I'm no longer sure.


texts:
In British English, at least, it's quite common to hear that something will be done 'in short order'.  For example,

He's going to finish that paperwork in short order.

or:

He'll be leaving the office in short order.

It basically means 'shortly', perhaps with the implication of hastily.  Does anyone know the etymology of this phrase?


texts: Word for "realizing something after an explanation"

texts: For instance, if I wrote "word" with poor handwriting, and you couldn't tell what it was, but then I told you that it said "word", and you replied, "Ah, I see how it could say word." Is there a word describing this type of after-the-fact realization?


texts: Can ‘nickel and dime’ be used for the object not related with money?

texts:
There was the following sentence in the pretty old article of Daily Finance titled “How to avoid getting nickel and dimed with fee:

“These days, it seems as if everyone's trying to squeeze every penny out of us. From banks to colleges, American consumers are being nickeled and dimed like never before. Here are some of the biggest offenders, and your best defense against them.”

OALD at hand defines hyphenated ‘nickel-and-dime’ as an adjective (Ame. informal)
‘involving only a small amount of money; not important.’

Oxford Online Dictionary defines hyphenated ‘nickel-and-dime’ as an adjective meaning ‘of little importance,’ and as a verb meaning ‘harass someone by charging for many trivial items or services.’

Cambridge Online Dictionary defines ‘nickel and dime’ as an adjective meaning ‘something that is not important, usually because it does not involve much money.”

Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary defines hyphenated ‘nickel-and-dime’ as an adjective meaning ‘involving or offering only a small amount of money.’

Though it seems the usage is more often associated with money, can ‘nickel-and-dime’ be used as a verb for the object that has nothing to do with money, in such a way as ‘Indulgence in alcohol nickel-and-dimed his health’ or ‘Rapidly ageing population with declining birth rate nickel and dimes the strength of the country’?

Which is more common to use the word, with hyphen, or without hyphen?


texts: Does this "look out for" and "look in for" make sense?

texts:
He looks out for all the possible support he can gain from the
  villagers, and at the same time looks in for inner courage that
  will prepares him for the worst result. (He wants to be elected by
  fellow villagers)

I know “look out for” as a phrase only means ‘to be aware of something/one’s existence. Here I use “look out for” to refer to “search for something in the outside world”, and “look in for”, to mean “discover something within oneself”.

Will the readers understand the "out" as an adverbs to modify "look for" without setting sight on "look out" as an idiom? Does "look in for" make sense?


texts:
I don't understand the third sentence in the following paragraph .Please explain to me.

"Some days she broods; some days she forgets. She is only human herself. At odd moments, Heinrich gently reminds her of that datum. He points out a tic in her German or a run in her stocking. They laugh together."


texts:
Perhaps this is more of a Linguistics question, so I apologize if this is not posted in the right place.

Why is it that these words in English sound so different?

earth   = /ɜrθ/     “urth”
hearth = /hɑrθ/   “harth”
heart   = /hɑrt/    “hart”
hear     = /hir/      “heer”
ear        = /ir/        “eer”
heath   = /hiθ/     “heeth”

Looking at the first two examples, the only difference is the preceding h, which makes me think that’s the reason for the change. The second and third together sound the same, despite the removal of the trailing h, which supports that — for now. Then the last three examples sound still different from those already mentioned; however, the differences in spelling are not consistent.

My assumption is that there is some linguistic property of both the h and the rt, which I will describe like this:

A trailing rt (not simply r or t) will have an effect — let’s call it “Effect A” — on the sound of ea.
A leading h will have an effect — let’s call it “Effect B” — on the sound of ear, but only if already modified by Effect A.

If this is more or less correct, what are these two Effects A and B, and what are they called?  And if this is not more or less correct, please tell me what is.

An alternative thought is that this really has nothing to do with phonology and instead more to do with orthography, and that the difference is just because someone at some point decided to transcribe a given word in one particular way instead of in some other way, such as through vs. threw (or even the non-standard thru).

Any evidence to support either possibility, or supporting some alternative I haven’t thought of here, would be appreciated.


texts:
This question seems a bit rudimentary, but it's hard to find exactly what I'm looking for so I apologize if similar questions have been asked. I read/edit a lot of reports, and I'll see something like,
"The patient reported at the session that she feels depressed."
I never quite know what to make of something like this. The "report" is something that happened in the past, but when the patient made the report, she would presumably say, "I feel depressed." So it sounds OK, but if I try to run other examples in my head, they don't always seem to work. Imagine if yesterday you and I spoke and I told you I was hungry. Today, recounting that conversation, I might say, "Yesterday, I told you I was hungry" even though what I told you was "I AM hungry"; but "yesterday, I told you I am hungry" would never seem correct.
Then I also think about how "The patient reported that she has been feeling depressed" or "had been feeling depressed" could also work, and it truly baffles me how to articulate a rule for this kind of writing.


texts: Meaning of “someone who can smell an expense account at forty paces”

texts:
What does "the ones who can smell an expense account at forty paces" mean?

The sentence comes from this excerpt.

  ‘Nope. You would have been far too busy looking at the tall blonde girls with the endless legs and the big hair, the ones who can smell an expense account at forty paces. And anyway, I wouldn’t have been here. I would have been serving the drinks over there. One of the invisibles.’