texts: Are there english terms for the active talker and the active listener in a conversation?

texts: This question concerns the terminology for a conversation between two people. If we froze a conversation in time there would be one person who was doing the talking and one person who was listening. Are there english terms for 'the person who at this point is talking' (at a specific point of the conversation) and 'the person who at this point is listening'? In other words, if A were the active talker and B was the active listener both participants would take on the role of A and B interchangably over time. Are there english equivilent words for A and B?


texts: What is the correct way to pronounce "Figure 8-1"?

texts:
I know that the symbol "-" can be read as hyphen or dash. While I am reading aloud "Figure 8-1" or "Section 8-1", what is the correct name for "-"?

Sometimes, I heard people read it as

  figure eight dash one
  figure eight point one

but those both sound strange to me.


texts: Are a waist coat and a dinner jacket the same article of clothing? Are they worn both in the US and UK?


texts: Etymology of *spreadsheet* / an anachronistic use

texts: Near the middle of chapter 14 of Murder Under A Blue Moon (2019, Abigail Keam) a character (Dexter) says, "It is an up-to-date spreadsheet of all your assets and liabilities."  The story is set in April-May 1933.  However, etymonline shows 1965 for the word's origin.  Can anyone provide evidence for when the word spreadsheet was first in use?


texts:
I am reading "Grammar Girl's Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing (Quick & Dirty Tips)" by Mignon Fogarty. The author explains the difference between like (a preposition) and as (a conjunction), and her rule of thumb is, when there is a verb after it, it's a conjunction.

Then she gives these examples of prepositions:

Squiggly throws like a raccoon.
It acted just like my computer.

In both of these sentences, isn't there an implied verb? ("throws like a raccoon does," "acted just like my computer does")

In which case, is making the verb implicit enough to change the role of like from conjunction to preposition?


texts: (Noun) being (noun) verb ... AND With (noun) being (noun), ...?

texts:
First time poster here. Please forgive me for violating any rules if I have. I might also be asking a stupid question.

So... I have heard 'being' used in different situations and naturely pick up from what other people say (wrongly perhaps). I am not entirely sure if sentence structures below are correct:

(Noun) being (noun) (verb) ... e.g.
English not being my first language does negatively affect my achievement in work.

With (noun) being (noun), ... e.g.
With my first language not being English, my achievement in work is negatively affected.

Please kindly point out any mistakes made. Thank you for the help :)

Edit: I wanted clarifications on constructing a sentence after +ing following the noun part. A similar question has been asked before with slightly different sentence structures.
Is it correct to use 'being' after a noun?


texts:
In a game (Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare), when a soldier (Gaz) asks his commander (Captain Price) about the "rules of engagement," he is answered "crew expendable."

As they are fighting on a ship, I have two translations in mind:

The ship crew (the enemy) are expendable; i.e. you can kill whomever you want.
The team crew are expendable; i.e. the team should fulfill their objective, even at the cost of their lives.

Which translation is right?


texts: What is the proper convention for writing onomatopoeia?

texts:
Say I'm attempting to write a sound, as in 'poof', 'thud', or 'clank'. What's the correct convention to write something like this?
Is there one, or is it a grey area as long as it's clear to the reader?


texts:
Although we are not all in physical pain or mental anguish all the time, we do exist primarily in a state of being ill at ease in the world, of being alienated, “made other.”

Hi. Would anyone possibly explain the followings kindly in elaborate?

in a state of being ill at ease in the world

  “made other.”

Could you please EXPLAIN THEM READILY(FREELY), because I can not understand them yet.

Many thanks


texts:
Question:

Is the use of the 2nd option (look below) incorrect because there is no helping verb before "looked", or are both options correct in this situation?

Context:

The characters are talking about a house that they visited a while before. They want to describe the smell and the look of the house.

Options:

Everything smelled like soap and looked like the inside of a cottage.
Everything had smelled like soap and looked like the inside of a cottage.


texts: these words almost bear the same meaning I assume, but not sure if they are exactly the same.. if not, when is it better to use each?


texts: "Published at..." or "published on d/m/y"?

texts:
I need to name a column in a table and I'm wondering what the best option is.

Should it be "Published at + date + time" or "Published on"?

I only need to store a full date and time.

From some search I did, it seems that published at is used when referencing a date in the future while published on is used to reference a full date in the past,  however it doesn't seem to be universal.

Any advice?


texts: Is there an incorrect use of "infer" in "Absalom, Absalom!"?

texts:
I was taken aback to discover the following in William Faulkner's Absalom, Absalom! on page 157 of my (Vintage International) edition:

  the magnolia-faced woman a little plumper now, a woman created of by and for darkness whom the artist Beardsley might have dressed, in a soft flowing gown designed not to infer bereavement or widowhood but to dress some interlude of slumbrous and fatal insatiation, of passionate and inexorable hunger of the flesh

(The whole sentence is, predictably, fairly long, so I've only included part of it.)

My question is about the use of the word "infer," which I've bolded above. As far as I can tell, this is an example of the classic "infer"/"imply" confusion, but I'm surprised to see it here.

So, which of the following do you reckon is correct?

I've misread or misunderstood the sentence, and this usage is standard.
This usage is incorrect in standard written English but is a standard dialectal usage (in either Faulkner's own dialect or the dialect of the narrator/characters).
This usage is nonstandard and is an error.
None of the above.

(Please feel free to retag -- I'm not sure what's appropriate here.)


texts: Is it okay to ignore "I" in certain circumstances while writing a first-person essay?

texts:
So I was writing an first-person essay, and my Taiwanese English teacher told me that one of the sentence is missing the Subject "I", however my Canadian English teacher suggests that it is okay to ignore "I" if the narrator is yourself.

So here goes the sentence:

  ....
  At first she disagreed, but after persuading her that scary movies are not real, she was convinced.
  ....

Okay, my Taiwanese teacher thinks that "persuading her" is missing the Subject, so we don't know who is doing that which is an obvious grammar error, while my Canadian teacher thinks it's okay to ignore the subject here, since the readers already know that this is a first-person essay, it should be the narrator "persuading".

Who is correct?


texts: How do I quote a person with a nickname?

texts:
How would I set up the quotations for this sentence:

"The current governor of California is Edmund G. "Jerry" Brown, a Democrat who was inaugurated January 3, 2011" (governors.library.ca.gov).

Do I replace the nickname quotations with apostrophes or keep it as is?


texts: Would 'Wedding Assets' be understood as I expect?

texts:
I looking for a category type of expression to group all those extra services and people you could book for a wedding – but I fear it's understood differently. So the term I would want to use would be "assets" – so in my understanding an "asset" could be a photographer, a clown, a band etc.

Doing a little research on the matter I got the impression that "assets" is instead actually used for stocks and bank accounts. Now I'm a bit worried, if it would be understood if I tried to use the term "assets" anyways? Or would there be a different, more suitable term for this…?

Thank you!


texts:
In this statement:

  When writing your paper, always start by asking yourself this simple question: What am I really trying to accomplish, or is this just another "paper study"?

what does "paper study" mean?


texts: How do you hyphenate 'luminous' over 2 verse lines, 'lumi-nous' or 'lumin-ous'? Help

texts: How do you hyphenate 'luminous' over two verse lines, 'lumi-nous' or 'lumin-ous'? Help.


texts: Looking for a word or phrase for realizing a failure only after a long time

texts:
There is a kind of situation that seems to occur somewhat commonly, that goes something like:

Figure out some way to handle a particular situation
do it regularly, and make a habit of it, as it seems to work OK …
… and only much later actually realize that it very much isn’t OK, that it’s been doing harm all the time, and that it’s too late to fix anything.

Does there exist any good words or phrases for this kind of situation?


texts: What does simple really mean in grammar?

texts:
Problems with explaining English grammar often reside in the terminology.
There is often a big assumption that we understand what the terms mean.
Simple is, in my opinion, one of the most important examples.
Recently I have noticed two terms, present perfect and present perfect simple.
When I looked up simple in multiple dictionaries it stated that simple meant a verb tense without an auxiliary. So now I'm confused because the perfect tense uses the auxiliary has/had. So now I'm thinking, the meaning is a verb tense without an auxiliary "to be" verb means simple, but I can't find that in writing anywhere. Being that I can't find it written anywhere and that I can find present perfect written without the "simple" term added at the end, I'm starting to think that the present perfect is in fact not simple, but I have no idea.
I think the biggest problem with grammar, is it is somewhat scientific, yet it often lacks citation. People state rules all the time without ever stating the origins of them.
Ideally, I'd like to know who came up with using the term simple in English grammar and what they actually intended that word to mean and why we seem to be using it and NOT using to talk about the present perfect. My research on Google had led to no results on these matters.

Update 5/20/2021
I believe/hope I've found the answer from Collin's Dictionary
https://www.collinsdictionary.com/us/dictionary/english/simple
"In grammar, simple tenses are ones which are formed without an auxiliary verb 'be,'"
I have visited America. (present perfect simple) UK grammar.
I have visited America. (present perfect) US grammar.
This seems to be a feature of British grammar, whereas in American grammar this is not followed. There seems to be the idea that any auxiliary verb eliminates the "simple" state (for lack of a better word) of the verb in American grammars, whereas in the UK it is only the "be" verb that eliminates the simple state.
See the term present perfect simple used here:
https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/grammar/intermediate-to-upper-intermediate/present-perfect
Note the authority of the source.
We use the present perfect simple (have or has + past participle) to talk about past actions or states which are still connected to the present.
Also, see here https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/grammar/british-grammar/present-perfect-simple-i-have-worked
and here
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/grammar/british-grammar/past-perfect-simple-or-past-simple
See the present perfect used here from a US source:
https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/grammar/verb_tenses/index.html
I hope this clears things up for a lot of English learners out there.


texts:
That's what this struggle, this isolation, this retreat is all about.

Should there be a comma after this retreat?

In the state above, it looks to me as if this struggle and this isolation are modifying this retreat, which isn't the sense of the sentence.

I was thinking that putting a comma after this retreat would make everything that follows this struggle to become enclosed in bracketing commas instead.

Is that the effect of adding the comma? And how are the commas currently functioning? They don't appear to be bracketing commas to me.


texts: Is it possible to do something both "cleverly" and "unknowingly" at same time?

texts:
I saw the sentence below in a New York Times article, and wonder -- is it possible?

  There is a possibility that dogs cleverly and unknowingly utilized a
  natural system meant for bonding a parent with his or her child.

(To me, "cleverly" has always suggested "actively knowing what you're doing" -- so seeing it used with "unknowingly" strikes me as bizarre, and I wonder if I'm missing something about "cleverly.")


texts: What would you call an operation you can undo?

texts:
Designers should favour allowing users to undo a delete operation over confirming it (e.g. GMail lets you undo e-mail deletion instead of asking if you are sure).

What would you call such operation in general? I have used an undoable operation term but then I realized that undoable really means an operation that can not be done.

I have came up with cancellable operation then but I feel it is not the same. Now it looks like the operation has already been started and can be interrupted by cancelling it - which is not true.

So - what would you call an operation you can undo?


texts:
In technical writing, when explaining how a clock displays time, what word is best to describe what it does?

For example, does the clock 'read', 'say', 'display', etc.

The clock reads 7:00.
The clock says 7:00.
The clock displays 7:00.
The clock shows 7:00.


texts: Where did the phrase "used to" come from?

texts:
Why does "used to" mean "accustomed to"?
Why is "used to" used to indicate a recurring past event? In

  I used to be used to using it.

there are three meanings of "use". I ask about the etymologies of the two bolded meanings.


texts: What's the correct (or best) way to express "from [date] to [date]"?

texts:
I ran across this text:

  From October 17-20, 2016, we will be attending the electric appliances convention, in Spain.

Meaning that we will be attending the convention between October 17th and October 20th (inclusive).

My questions are:

Is it correct to write "From October 17-20" to express the aforementioned meaning?
Would it be incorrect to write "On October 17-20"? (A native speaker told me that it would be, because "on" can only be used when referring to a single day and is not suitable for a range).
Would it be correct to write "During October 17-20", and if so, is it considered preferable to "from"?


texts: Why is it that score is used in singular when referring to several groups of 20?

texts:
If I'm not mistaken, score can mean "a group or set twenty".

What I don't understand is why you say for example "Four score and seven years ago...", instead of saying "four scores" (since there are four groups of twenty years).


texts: I tend to write, "say whatever they want", but I'm always tempted to write "say what ever they want". Is it acceptable to split the word in this context?


texts:
What exactly does this expression mean ?

"its not you or her."

I heard this sentence from a native English speaker and I don't want to explain more! I hope this sentence itself would be sufficient for you to help me! :)

Thank you!


texts: What is an adjective for words that rhyme or sound similar?

texts:
You may say "node rhymes with toad", or "the words load and toad rhyme", but what about the relation of rhyming?

  The relation between "node" and "load" is purely ____ - they just sound similar.

"Rhymic" fails all spell checks. I went with "rhythmic", but I don't think it's quite right...


texts: What is the usage difference for the words monochrome (as an adjective) and monochromatic? Various dictionaries seem to have nearly identical definitions for the two words.


texts: Is it right to use "How much certain are you?" instead of "How certain are you?", in order to emphasize that I want a quasi-quantitative answer?


texts:
I found this interesting topics being discussed here. I also had some time back asked similar questions in the other forum. Here is the sentence -

  Although his (Nirmal) detainment (in prison) lasted only a day or two, the experience had a profoundly unsettling effect on Nirmal, following as it did on his rejection by Nilimas's (Nirmal's wife) family and his separation from his own.

I understood the explanation from other replies, and would have applied same explanation to my quoted sentences as well, but the "on" after "as it did" and the "following" before "as it did", makes thing a but different in this case. Can you please explain this also?

Thanking you in advance.


texts: What is the function of "this"in (My father made this farm what it is )

texts:
What is the function of "this" in the following sentence:

  My father made this farm what it is

Is it a determiner? When do I use it as a complementizer?


texts:
While looking up synonyms of the word 'so-called', I stumbled upon 'itular', of which I've never heard, and for which I can't seem to find additional (digital) sources. The dictionary itself gives a misspelling.

My first hunch was that it's a misspelling of 'titular', but, based on the synonyms, they seem to have different definitions.

Does anyone recognize the word, or can anyone provide a definition and/or an etymology of the word?


texts: What are the words that can't exist without their prefix or suffix?

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  What do you call words that look like a negation but are not?

I found these poor orphaned words that only exist through the life-giving quality of their affix:

feckless, ruthless, unruly, inept, dishevelled, dismayed, disgruntled

I'm sure there are more. They have the familiar appearance of antonyms... Antonyms to something that doesn't exist. It's as if they've lost their positive attitude.

Do these words have a common name?

How did they get this way? They all have standard english affixes with known meaning, so it seems like they should be able to stand on their own. Were the original words lost?

Is there a list of these recognized words somewhere?


texts: How are bracket ellipsis [...] used in quotations?

texts:
I see this type of syntax often, but I do not know how, when or where they should be used.

  "It is the case that [...] the inconvenience is altogether imaginary."

Is it okay to use if I need to insert a quotation into an essay, but the quote is long and I want to omit the irrelevant parts? Am I allowed to use the syntax multiple times per quotation ?


texts: How do you make the possessive form with "He and I"-style subjects?

texts:
Despite being a native speaker of American English, I cannot find a construction that sounds natural when trying to form a possessive from coordinated subjects including a first person pronoun, like "He and I" or "My brother and I." If it's "You and I," I can just use "our." But what is the proper way to form a possessive in these other instances?

The cat which belongs to my brother and me ran away.

? My brother and I's cat ran away.
* My brother's and my cat ran away.
*/? Me and my brother's cat ran away.

Oddly enough, the one which sounds the most natural to me (and which I hear most often in natural speech, is the last: "me and my brother's." My hypothesis is that this is used to avoid the issue with the first-person possessive form, but that could very well be wrong.
However, I'm not sure this is the best answer, either, as it introduces some pretty bad ambiguity in some places.

A person who is a friend to both my brother and me got married yesterday.

*/? Me and my brother's friend got married yesterday.

I think you can see the obvious problem.
What is the proper way to possessivize coordinated first-/third-person subjects?
Edit: I would much prefer an answer which does not require rephrasing the entire sentence.


texts: What's the difference between 'single-hand' and 'single-handed'? And why? Is meaning of 'single-hand' a subset of 'single-handed'?


texts:
Given the example (from a British novel, The Secret Intensity of Everyday Life)

  Well what did I expect who said it would be easy? I will not let this defeat me. I will persist.

Is the first sentence a complete sentence? If yes, then does who take a role of relative pronoun? Can it be separated from the antecedent, I?

Or are these two sentences and the writer intentionally omits a punctuation mark
to get the protagonist’s rapid thinking across?


texts: What's the difference between "roe" and "caviar"?

texts: What's the difference between "roe" and "caviar". Wikipedia has two different articles, however, the difference is not explain in the either one.


texts: Are the expressions "pissed" and "pissed off" inappropriate?

texts:
I've seen people go quiet when they hear one of them.
I also remember hearing it bleeped on television.
Are they inappropriate?  To what extent?  What audience could or should not hear it?


texts: What does “You should have been christened Eve” mean?

texts:
In the new novel of Jeffery Archer, “False Impression,” there is the following conversation between the heroine, Anna Petrescu who has snatched Van Gogh’s self-portrait away from a murderer banker, Bryce Fenston, and is trying to sell it to Nakamura, a Japanese business leader and well-known art collectors on behalf of the proper British proprietor, Arabella Wentworth:

“Artist?”
“Van Gogh.”
“Title?”
“Self-portrait with Bandaged Ear.”
“With a famous Japanese print reproduced on the wall behind the artist, if I remember correctly,” said Nakamura.
“Geisha in a Landscape,” said Anna, “demonstrating Van Gogh’s fascination with Japanese culture.”
“You should have been christened Eve,” said Nakamura.
"Now it's my turn." Anna looked surprised.
"I presume that it has to be the Wentworth Self-portrait purchased by the fifth earl?"

I don’t know what “You should have been christened Eve,” means. I came across the phrase, christened Eve, for the first time. Can you tell me what it means?


texts:
In the following sentence,

  Before going out, I phoned Sarah.

Is it correct and whether I must have written HAD PHONED instead of PHONED?


texts: Use of "this" or "these" when speaking of something invariable and something variable at the same time

texts:
Hello everyone and thanks in advance for your help.

I've come across this sentence while correcting a document for my workplace:

"All these data and relationships have been gathered"

I've been wondering if "All these" or "All this" is appropriate.
Since "data" is invariable I would instinctively use "this", however since we are talking about "data and relationships" I'm quite confused.

I hope this enough detail to make you understand my dilema.


texts: ”We're looking forward to helping you find X” vs “We look forward to help you find X” etc

texts:
I’m trying to link the following items into a single sentence:

we
look forward to
help you
find X

So for example, here are some ways I was thinking of doing that:

We look forward to help you find X.
We’re looking forward to help you find X.
We’re looking forward to helping you find X.

Well, you get the gist. I'm just unsure how to approach this issue.


texts: Better/shorter formulation for "teaching time"

texts:
I have a label Teaching time that reflects the time-slot of the day or week a lecture would be taught on. For example, morning, afternoon, evening, weekend...

Is there any better (shorter) British English formulation to describe this?


texts:
The noise had ceased, and everything was quiet.  Then she sat down on the side of her bed, and, feeling faint--she was subject to spells--("I told you that when I came, didn't
I, Rosie?"  "Yes'm, indeed she did!")--she put her head down on her
pillow and--

(From 'Circular Staircase' by Mary Rinehart.)

It definitely wouldn't be 'letters' or some 'magical things'.


texts:
Recently I've heard couple of interesting idioms one of which was "Make yourself scarce or I'll polish your mug".
So, I was wondering is it really used like that?
I've heard of "Make yourself scarce" before, but "I'll polish your mug" is the first time I heard it.
Does it sounds natural? Can I actually use it? Or will it be just funny if I say it?


texts: How to tell the difference of meaning of "anxiety"

texts:
I found out that the word, "anxiety" has two different meaning.
 One is feeling of worry. Another is eagerness.
 I think the two meanings of "anxiety" are completely different
 If someone says, he has anxiety and so on, how can I tell the difference?


texts:
Is there some word or phrase which gets the idea of "able to be accommodated" across without using the (apparently nonexistent) word "accommodatable"?

I am going for the idea of "able to be made to happen."


texts: What is meant by the phrase "which is to say"?

texts:
When someone says

... X which is to say Y ...

is there an implication that X is mistaken or false?  In this construction is Y generally the opposite of X?
Some random examples from the NY Times:

"When you are unemployed, which is to
say when you are underfed, harassed,
bored and miserable" (source)
"But corruption levels are around the global average, which is to say, corruption is rife" (source)
"There are journalists who cover the world of ideas, which is to say they report on the lives and work of people who have them" (source)


texts: About the word 'finewirer' and researching obscure words

texts:
I can't seem to find anywhere where I can look up reliably the meaning and etymology of this word: finewirer. A quick search on Google gives you uses of this word in texts such as Terry Pratchett's The Color of Magic:

  Brilliant constellations shone down on the Discworld. One by one the traders shuttered their shops. One by one the ganefs, thieves, finewirers, whores, illusionists, backsliders and second-story men awoke and breakfasted. Wizards went about their polydimensional affairs. Tonight saw the conjunction of two powerful planets, and already the air over the Magical Quarter was hazy with early spells.

Or Nick Kyme's Sherlock Holmes: The Legacy of Deeds:

  Fearing she might be a finewirer, I recoiled and took a firm grip of my wallet, but upon seeing her and the obvious distress she was in, I realised my error.

Eric Partridge's A Dictionary of the Underworld: British and American returns the following definition:

  Long-fingered thieves expert in emptying ladies' pockets

And I can see now how the meaning of the word is obvious, given that one of the entries for wirer is, according to the 5th edition of the American Heritage Dictionary:

  A trapper who uses wire traps to snare game.

It seems like Victorian slang. However, I cannot find anything about the history of the word; how it came to be, and where and when it was used.

Apart from this word, how do you go about researching terms like this one?


texts: May I capitalize "more" in the phrase: Learn more.?

texts: As part of some instructions, the text concludes with the phrase "Learn more." This phrase is also a link. In some cases, I have been asked to make 'more' capitalized. I don't think this is correct as it is not a noun or at the beginning of a sentence. Any clarity of this would be helpful.


texts:
In a movie, when adults adore children, they used to ask question instead of a simple sentence. For instance, normally one would say

  You're so sweet.

But they said

  Oh, aren't you sweet?

which is weird. When would someone ask a question for such constructions?


texts: "To be headed for" and "To be headed over to"

texts:
Can these expressions be used just about interchangeably for all but the most formal prose, or is there a subtle difference to them?

E.g.

He is headed over to the garage.

He is headed for the garage.


texts:
I have written school reports for several years and recently, a colleague has said a verb like recommend or suggest must be followed by that and the second verb conjugated to the pronoun it refers to.
For example, I wrote, 'I recommend he run for at least 2 hours a day'. However, I have now been told it must be, ' I recommend that he runs for at least 2 hours a day'. Another one is below.

Which is correct? I suggest he practise for the upcoming test OR I suggest that he practises for the upcoming test?
Can someone please shed some light on this for me.
Thank you in anticipation that both forms are correct.


texts:
I was told that "not on purpose" cannot be used in the middle of a sentence. For example:

  I was showering and, not on purpose, I participated in the #icebucketchallenge.

I am aware of the fact that there are more elegant expressions such as unwillingly, unwittingly etc etc but my question is: is the above correct? Am I allowed to use "not on purpose" in such a way?

I know there is no language police but there are, seemingly, rules. I posted a sentence in a forum with this expression and I was told it is incorrect to use it this way.


texts: What is the difference between "minimum" and "minimal"?

texts:
I am not a native speaker, but for me
 "the minimum angle" and "the optimal solution"
sound correct, but only because I hear and read them more often.

Why are "the minimal angle" and "the optimum solution" not used as often or wrong?  Are there rules?


texts: Real past conditional with a single event and its conclusion in the past

texts:
If they dispatched the parcel yesterday, Jim will receive it next
  Friday. But if they dispatched it last week, then

  A: Jim will have received it yesterday.
  B: Jim received it yesterday.

Are A and B both grammatical? Do they differ in meaning? Is there other forms to express the intended meaning of associating a real (not counterfactual) past event with its past conclusion?

Edit:

Max suggested the use of ‘should  have’, but is that the only valid usage? I’ll provide some more examples with comments below:

  Have you talked to Jim recently? Did he go to confront the neighbours
  when he was having issue with their noise last week? I told him not to
  because they’re violent people. If he went there:

  A: They assaulted him.
  B: They have assaulted him.
  C: They would have assaulted him.
  D: They should have assaulted him.
  E: They could have / might have assaulted him. (variation in modality)
  F: They will have assaulted him..
  G: Something else.

Another example:

  Did Jim pay the fine when I told him to last week? If he didn’t:

  A: They charged him extra fees.
  B: They have charged him extra fees.
  C: They would have charged him extra fees.
  D: They should have charged him extra fees.
  E: They could have / might have charged him extra fees.
  F: They will have charged him extra fees.
  G: Something else.

Comments:

Simple past and present perfect: I can find examples in different corpora and online sources where simple past is used:

  If she lied, she perjured herself.

But this usage seems to imply high certainty or automatic association. What if we want to express lesser certainty?

The perfect tense is possibly just a variation (adding an existential sense):

  If she lied, she has perjured herself.

‘Should have’: is also used commonly:

  If you have paid your dues, you should have received a membership card.

But because ‘should have’ is also overloaded for recommendation, its usage sounds confusing and funny on the ear in the two examples above. (Unless you do mean to use it for recommendation maybe).

‘Will have’: The usage pattern of the future perfect does cover past actions, but I’m not sure about it’s usage in real past conditionals. Can’t find any examples.

‘Would have / could have / might have’: sound perfectly legal with variation in meaning of course, is there any issue with using them?


texts: King James era third person singular present tense verbs ended in -th or -eth. How was the related past tense formed? Just read a para in a work of Jane Austen fan fiction wherein all the verbs were in past tense except for the allusion "my cup runneth over," jarringly present and unparallel.


texts: Meaning of "I have often seen Essex cheese quick enough"

texts:
John Heywood (c. 1497–1580) once wrote:

  I never saw Banbury cheese thick enough
  But I have often seen Essex cheese quick enough. 1 2

The first line alludes to how a Banbury cheese was very slender after you took off the rind.

What does the second line of this epigram mean?

I've come up with some grammatical possibilities, but the funny ones are implausible and the plausible ones don't seem to be funny.

I have often seen the Earl of Essex suddenly quit the premises — This would be funny, but as Essex was only 15 when Heywood died, and as the phrase "cheese it" is first cited 1812, this can't possibly be right.
I have often observed Essex cheese [i.e., a variety of cheese produced in Essex] to be full of living beings [e.g. maggots].
I have often spotted Essex cheese quickly enough to eat some of it.

There's also a possibility that "Essex cheese" is a noun phrase referring to something that isn't cheese, in the same way as a "Cotswold lion" is a sheep; in which case Heywood could have meant

I can detect quickly when I am being cheated.

Anyone know for sure, or have a more evidence-based guess?


texts: Is ‘anything in a skirt” a popular idiom? Does it have special overtones?

texts:
I came across the words, ‘anything in a skirt” in the following sentence of Jeffery Archer’s “The Fourth Estate”:- Page 202.

  “(Captain Armstrong is entitled to a car and driver) if the brigadier
  wants his daughter’s photo on the front page of Der Telegraph when she
  visits Berlin next month.” “Why should he want that?” said Armstrong.
  “My bet is that he can’t get her married off him in England.” said
  Sally. “And I’ve discovered, anything in a skirt is jumped on over
  here.”

As I was unfamiliar with the word, ‘anything in a skirt” I consulted Cambridge, Oxford, and Merriam Webster English Dictionary. None of them carries this word.
However, with the example of the usage of this word on Google search, I was easily able to guess what it means:

  My husband is a flirt and sleeps with anything in skirt! He sleeps
  with girls; women and I have been embarrassed by his frequent affairs
  with my maids. -

www.nairaland.com/.../husband-flirt-sleeps-anything-

Google Ngram shows that this phrase started to be in use around 1915, and its usage started to sharply rise in 1990s.

Can I use “anything in a skirt“ as a plain alternative to “female” in conversation, particularly with women? Does it have any derogatory nuance or obscene tone, or just is as neutral as ‘women’?

It’s intriguing that the author let a young lady utter this phrase.


texts: Concept difference between prejudiced and puritanical

texts:
When I read the translation of the word puritanical in my language I thought it has a positive meaning but reading the English description I felt it more like prejudiced,  which side does this word take? Positive or negative meaning?

The example in the dictionary was:

  His puritanical parents saw any kind of pleasure as the road to
  damnation.

This reflects to me the meaning for the word prejudiced the most, but from the translation in Persian I got someone more spiritual, not more strict.


texts:
Suppose you have a sentence which concludes with the eye dialect somethin' for the word something.  Where does the period go?  Which is correct?

  This is really somethin'.

  This is really somethin.'

It seems to me that the apostrophe is part of the word, and hence attaches to it as opposed to the sentence.  Thus, I'd put the period after the apostrophe.  The second construction looks like an error, with mismatched quotes.


texts: Just wondering whether the comma after 'woman' is correct in the title. The meaning of the sentence is: 'I am not a king, nor is this woman a queen.' The reason I don't simply write it that way is because it's a line for a poem. Thanks.


texts: How do I express a drastic change in mindset?

texts:
If I previously thought something, but an experience caused me to change  my mindset completely, what would be a good way to express that in writing?

I've already said that it "rewrote every preset notion I had", but what is another way of putting this?

Thank you


texts: Whether the word 'me'or 'myself' is correct?

texts:
Should I use me or myself in this:

Happy teachers  day to all of us … and a special mention to those previously/  currently in the teaching profession….
Fattubhen, nishrin Bhen, Mehzabeen, Masuma Bhen and Dipti.

Also … myself.

In case I have forgotten anyone, please accept a sorry for that and special wish for you.


texts: Showing possession when the noun is defined by a word in parentheses

texts:
Document Title: Plaintiff's Interrogatories to Defendant

There are multiple plaintiffs.  We typically define the plaintiff as, "Plaintiffs (Smith) want to object...etc." and this particular plaintiff is a couple.  So many options, but which is right?
"Plaintiffs (Smith)'s Interrogatories", Plaintiff's (Smith) Interrogatories"
"Plaintiff (Smith)'s Int...", "Plaintiffs' (Smith) Int..."


texts: A word for: Taking a godlike concept and bringing it down to earth

texts:
There is this beautiful woman I always wanted, and who looked so beautiful and pure, like a goddess, and then we dated and she lost all this glory and she became just another girl.

What do you call the process that my concept of her went through?

Share your most beautiful words!


texts: Specific vocabulary for making someone laugh by rubbing their underarm with finger

texts: To make someone laugh, we sometime rub his underarm with our fingers in a way that makes him feel restless and then  he starts laughing. My question is: What is the specific vocabulary in the English language for the aforesaid rubbing?


texts: "Said the person who..." or "Said by the person who..." which one is correct?

texts:
Question in title.

Example:

"I am rich", said the person who is not rich.

or

"I am rich", said by the person who is not rich.

which one is correct?


texts: prepositional phrases strong enough to bring 'the' before the nouns they modify?

texts:
I was wondering if prepositional phrases alone were strong enough to bring the relative pronoun the before the nouns that they modify.
Upon reading (2) do you feel the people is restricted or specified with the because they are already mentioned before? Or, the sentence (2) standing alone, do you feel the people has the because of in Japan?

People in Japan speak Japanese.

The people in Japan speak Japanese.

Also, do you think my paraphrases are correct (is it wrong to use that are here)?

People in Japan speak Japanese. = People [that are] in Japan speak Japanese. = Probably many but not necessarily all the people [that are] in Japan speak Japanese.

The people in Japan speak Japanese. = The people [that are] in Japan speak Japanese. = All the people [that are] in Japan speak Japanese.


texts:
what should I write
The complicated political situation will affect/effect our timeline?
Please help me.


texts: What is the difference between "thee" and "thou"?

texts: What is the difference between thee and thou and how are they used?


texts: How to describe humanities students in one word

texts: In several languages, there is a specific, usually rather derogatory word for students of the humanities. Would it be necessary to stick to 'arts students' or 'humanities students' to point out these students in English, or is it possible to describe this in a more direct and short manner? If there is such a noun, either in official or in popular vocabulary, would it be possible to also make this into a adjective - such as 'arts students' and that is such an 'artsy' thing to do but then specifically for the humanities.


texts: If I swallow part of an animal, am I not entitled to say "I swallowed an animal"?

texts:
As the question implies, if you swallow part of an animal do you think it mean it can be can be considered "swallowing an animal"? My argument was that part of an animal doesn't mean the whole animal.

Here is the link


texts: Adjective for a period of time that feels much longer than it actually is

texts:
Is there a word for describing a period of time that feels much longer than it actually is?

To fill in the blanks below for example

  Only few days have passed but it feels like months. How ___ .

  The time we spent on the island has been ___ . It is as if we'd lived there for years.

  Reading the source code is quite a ___ task.


texts: What is the difference between these two?  Is one more relevant to technology having an impact on the human condition?


texts: Does a word meaning "Created Recklessly for Temporary Use" exist?

texts:
Imagine you are surviving in the wilderness traveling in a wandering manner. You've found this landscape that is wonderfully abundant in food and basking in a very favorable climate. Therefore, you decide that this is your new residence.

Night is approaching, so you haphazardly piece together a makeshift shelter to make for a more enjoyable living experience while you get your act together.

This shelter is only temporary. After you've become familiar with the land and have gathered finer resources, you will begin creating a proper home complete with securities, amenities, and furnishings.

The word I am looking for is an adjective meaning something similar to "created recklessly for temporary use."

  The shelter you were building on your first night was a(n) ________
  abode.

The words and phrases "ad-hoc", "off the cuff", "on the run" came to my mind, but none of those are understood to mean what I am trying to communicate (in fact, two of them are not even close). If you think of a word with a meaning that you believe to be similar to what I am searching for, I'd love to hear from you!

Thank you.


texts:
Macmillan  Dictionary gives two definitions of drunch which derive from the combination of two different sets of words:

  1 - a meal that combines lunch and dinner.

  Let's eat early and have drunch this afternoon.

  2 - a drink plus lunch.

  In Barcelona there are some places offering an all you can eat drunch buffet including a drink such as bloody mary, cava or gin tonic.

while  the following source appears to support the idea that  drunch is more a combination of drinking and having lunch  rather than a meal that combines lunch and dinner together, along the lines of the more established term brunch:

  Drunch is a blend of the words “drinking” and “lunch. ” It is primarily used as a noun in place of the word “lunch.” An example is “Let’s get drunch.”  It means to get drinks at lunch. However, the meaning has shifted over time. Drunch can now mean: to consume excessive quantities of alcohol at lunch, or to get drunk at lunch. An example of this usage would be: “We got so drunch, yesterday.” This definition often leads to a folk etymology, where people see the word as a blend of “drunk” and “lunch.”

(neologisms.rice.edu)

Given that the two definitions are quite different and inviting someone  to drunch may sound as inviting them to a round of drinks, I’d like to know:

Is there an established usage of drunch in one the two senses explained above or should it be used carefully to avoid possible  unpleasant misunderstandings?
when and by whom was the term coined? Was it from one of the realities such as Masterchef, for instance?


texts:
How do you use 'Hope ' in a  sentence where you want the person to know that someone is in hope that he would help him.
Is this sentence correct-
He is holding on hope against you.

Pls clarify.
Thanks


texts: I've noticed that there are many companies whose names contain an ampersand.  A quick Google search for "& Sons, Inc", or something similar, should yield countless examples.  Though it's not common to see it used in a formal letter or bulletin, etc, it seems that the name of a company is formal indeed, and many of those do contain "&".  Does this mean that ampersands can be used as formal, or that a company name is not really formal?


texts: How to use conjunction in an object clause?

texts:
Is it OK to use comma space followed by "whereas" in an object clause like the following sentence?

  Experiments showed that H and K cells
  were highly sensitive to sugar, whereas P cells were insensitive
  to sugar.

Thanks.


texts:
What are the nuances in the changed meaning behind the two following sentences when only the last sentence is changed into the other?

  1) I have to kill her before she kills me. But, what should I do?

  vs

  2) I have to kill her before she kills me. But, how?


texts: Why do people use the slang “what’s your twenty?”to ask for location but not other code like ‘ten’ or else?

texts: I know from the Wikipedia that the slang “what’s your twenty”comes from the term ‘10-20’ of CB slang. But I don’t understand why people used the code ‘10-20’ but not something like ‘5-15’?


texts: Prepositional phrase as an adverb of manner

texts:
I have this sentence from a vocabulary book "The 1000 most common SAT words" <He adhered to the dictates of his religion without question.>
The question is whether the prepositional phrase acting as the adverb of manner should have  preposition + article + singular countable noun structure because the head noun in a noun phrase question is a singular countable noun. So the sentence would write <He adhered to the dictates of his religion without a question.>
Am I right?


texts: What you call an animal whose main food is fruits?

texts:
Yesterday, I watched a show on Animal Planet in which they were showing a type of bat called flying bat which lives only on fruits.

I referred a dictionary but I am not happy with the word herbivore. Herbivore eats leaves, vegetables, fruits or all food item which are not meat. The only word that I can think is fruit-eating animals. But I think like Herbivore, and carnivore there should be word for fruit eating animals.

Any help will be appreciated.


texts: Is "she was peeled an orange (by me)" unacceptable in English?

texts:
Is "she was peeled an orange (by me)"  unacceptable in English when 'she' is interpreted as an intended recipient?

I found Kay (1996: 11-12) claims that "I'll peel you an orange" has two possible interpretations.

https://home.uni-leipzig.de/muellerg/kay96.pdf

[Interpretation 1] 'You' is treated as an intended recipient.

[Interpretation 2] 'You' is a kind of 'pleasee.' The sentence can be used, according to Kay, when I'll peel an orange in order to answer your desire to know whether my injured hand has regained its dexterity.

In his discussion, Kay contends that '*Madge was peeled an orange (adroitly) (by me).' is unacceptable in English. But this paper is more than 20 years old now.

I'd like to know this passive is still unacceptable both Interpretation 1 and 2.


texts:
I wrote this sentence:

  In both cases, execution is asynchronous, and results in the execution of the command or event handler on the program’s one thread at the next opportunity.

I was told that I need to change it to "and it results", because the lack of subject makes the sentence hard to understand. I thought it should be obvious that the subject of "results" is the first "execution", but is that correct?

I should probably replace the first "execution" with "invocation" to avoid the repetition, but do I need an "it" before "results"?


texts: What is a word for shocking and aggressive? Like, "He looks shockingly, aggressively muscular." A similar thought I'm trying to describe may be something which is stunning and predatory. Additionally, I the particular connotation I feel is positive, or at least a kind of admiration for the thing/person who is shocking and aggressive.


texts: "There is too much savings": ungrammatical?

texts:
"There is too much savings" sounds wrong to me. Is "There are too much savings" right? I did a search in Google for "There is too much savings" and came up with 24,500 results. "There are too much savings" came up with four. "There are too many savings" wouldn't work since "savings" is referred to in this case as a plural amount as a whole.

An example sentence is

  In the case that there is too much savings at the minimum savings rate relative to desired investment, the unused amount is carried over to the next period.


texts: What's the difference between spend on and spend in?

texts:
Most time I used spend on in the case like:
I spent 5 hours on learning Python everyday.

But, I happened to see a sentence: I spent a lot time in researching the problem. So I am curious about the difference between them?

Thanks in advance.


texts: Is there a politically correct way to speak about reproductive health, justice, etc., which doesn't unnecessarily gender the issue?

texts:
Most cisgender women, some intersex people of different variations, most transgender men, some AFAB non-binary people, and most people who are assigned females on the whole are usually the ones who need access to things such as abortion, birth control, etc., but the language that we use in English with regard to the people who need these things are, in my estimation, too often unnecessarily gendered as "feminine" or "female".

This is problematic because not every person who needs these types of procedures or treatments is a woman or a girl, so how can we, without being too wordy, or sounding like too much of a pedant or anything de-gender the issues of abortion and access thereof, birth control and the like?


texts: What is the difference between 2 sentences (punctuation)

texts:
Please explain the main difference between these two sentences:

1) My brother who lives in Christchurch is an electrician.
2) My brother, who lives in Christchurch, is an electrician.

In which case does the author of the sentence have one brother, and in which there can be several?


texts: Is there an apostrophe in a master's degree?

texts: The question asks it all really. When referring to a master's degree, do you use an apostrophe or not? That is, is it "a master's" or "a masters"?


texts:
So, imagine that you wanted to suggest something to a friend of yours, like watching TV or go to the movies.
You would say "How about watching TV?" or "What about going to the movies?"
But what if you wanted that person to express his or her opinion on something you wanted to do?
For example, imagine you wanted to write a letter to someone, and you asked for someone's opinion on that. How would you ask that? Can you say, for example: "How about I wrote her a letter?" or "How about I write her a letter?"? I don't think that "How about writing her a letter?" means the same, because, for me, it just doesn't feel that the person who is practicing the action (me) is explicit enough. I feel like "How about writing her a letter?" doesn't trasmit that I am the one supposed to write it. So, my question is: Can I use "How about I wrote her a letter?" or "How about I write her a letter?" or "How about me writing her a letter?" and if it is correct to say those sentences, is there any difference in their meanings?


texts: Words for not keeping up with supposed pace

texts:
I was wondering if there are some words that describe the characteristic of some person that does not keep up with some supposed pace.

For example, in orchestra performance by a team, one performer playing his instrument always lags behind by a certain amount of time.

Another example, unlike other students, a student seldom ask questions in classes. But he asks a lot of questions after classes. The reason is that he needs more time to think in classes than other students, so not able to keep up with the paces of the classes and not to say to ask questions (although I don't think it is a bad thing).


texts: What word has the greatest morpheme to syllable ratio?

texts:
I am curious how tightly packed morphemes can be in English words. Do any of you happen to know which English word has the most morphemes per syllable, or know how to find out?

These are the best I've found so far:

  fourths (3 morphemes, one syllable)

  firsts, fifths, sixths, eighths, ninths (same)

And a similar question: which word has the fewest morphemes per syllable?

I haven't thought about this one as much, but this was the best I could think of off the top of my head:

  anthropomorphism (3 morphemes, 6 syllables)


texts: Sequence of tenses involving a parenthetical clause?

texts:
In the following sentence, is it necessary to use the past in the parentheses? Is it a sequence of tenses at all?

You might create a table in a database using SDC as a model (if it met
all of your needs), and then connect that database with services for
sharing via the web.


texts: I seem vaguely to recall that a long time ago, servicing was something a bull did to a heifer or a boar to a sow. But it seems to be creeping in to general usage as a synonym for serving. Has anyone else noticed this, and, if so, could they shed any light onto why this should be?


texts:
To begin, I have already checked several dictionaries for definitions, such as the one below, from Oxford Living Dictionaries.

secede verb [no object] Withdraw formally from membership of a federal union, an alliance, or a political or religious organization.
'the kingdom of Belgium seceded from the Netherlands in 1830'
‘The only way to prevent this would be to secede from the Union.’
‘If Vermont or Southern California were to secede, a lot of us would join them.’
‘Conversely, a claim of a right to secede from a repressive dictatorship may be regarded as legitimate.’

I found this line in an article today, and wonder whether I am simply missing the intended meaning of the usage. The sentence is from is Trump applauded North Korea's leader after floating the possibility of a 'major, major' conflict in the region, an article on the Business Insider website.
"As the youngest son of Kim Jong Il — the previous leader who died from a heart attack in 2011 — Jong Un seceded his father's place after being heralded as "a great person born of heaven," according to North Korea's state-run media."
Can someone explain whether or not the word 'seceded' is used correctly here? If it is used correctly, an explanation would be very much appreciated.


texts: In soccer, is there "a goal" or "goals" at each end of the pitch?

texts:
Being a non-native speaker, I don't quite have a good feel for this. Is it usually referred to in singular or plural?

For example, is it "We painted the goal white" or "We painted the goals white", when referring to just one side of the pitch?

P.S. I think I know why I was unsure: Russian for "goal" behaves the same as "scissors" does in English, i.e. it has no singular.


texts:
How to describe some thing valuable that could be gained from an unexpected place? I heard a Persian Idiom that could be appropriate for this case:

  a treasure in a ruin.

Is there any equivalent idiom or phrase for that?


texts:
I'm creating a service with two tiers - one for individuals, and one for businesses. Advertising material will be split into two sections of information, which will be titled "For individuals", and "For businesses".

The problem is that I need another synonym to describe individuals, as "individuals" to me sounds too formal and not appealing enough, and the problem gets worse (and a bit philosophical) when going down the list of synonyms:

Compound words would be fine, I'm just looking for whatever sounds best. It may even be that "individual" is the best word in this context, which I'm happy to accept if no better words come along.


texts:
I am writing a résumé. I want to specify that I started my education in 2009 and as of now I am at the 4th grade (in other words, still learning), so how should I specify that in résumé:

2009 - present
2009 till now

Any suggestions?


texts: How did the practice of identifying an object after using a pronoun evolve?

texts:
While watching Barclay's Premier League matches on the Fox Soccer Channel, the announcers often identify an object by name immediately after using a pronoun.  For example, in a match occuring right now, I heard:

  They are dangerous, Liverpool.
  He was clever, Suarez.

Is there a term to describe this structure?  Also, how did it evolve?  I've gotten used to it and can appreciate the clarity it provides for a listener, but I wonder why they bother using the pronoun at all.


texts: Why is "How are you" but not "How is You" correct?

texts:
My English is not very good. I just want to ask this simple question:

"These are","this is", "those are", "that is" means "are" is used for plural, but when asking to someone how is he, why people use "are': "how are you" instead of "how is you"?


texts: How to call certain kinds of tall shoes that women use to wear?

texts:
Because their strange features, even in my own language I find it difficult to decide by what name to call the shoes shown in the image below.

I'm not looking for a technical term, but for a cute and funny name whose meaning, in the right context, elicits a positeve sense of hilarity.

Some terms to which I thought are stilts and * ballasts.

Stilts and ballasts can function as funny words in my language, thus my question is: In the aforementioned sense, do they function in the English language? Or, perhaps, are there more appropriate or even slang terms?


texts: Inverse proportions, but the other way around

texts:
The title sucks, I know... Anyway:

As part of a game I'm making, one of the buildings decreases the time it takes to build other things. Like so:

At level 0: Full time
At level 1: Full time / 2
At level 2: Full time / 3
At level 3: Full time / 4
...

So basically, the construction time is inversely proportional to this buildling's level. But so far my sentence to describe this effect is:

  This building reduces construction times by a factor proportional to its level.

Is this correct? Is there a better way to phrase this? By my understanding this means that the factor (the denominator of the fraction) is proportional to the level, is this correct? Does "level + 1" count as proportional?


texts: Scientist who studies electromagnetism/electromagnetics?

texts: What do you call a scientist who specializes in electromagnetism/electromagnetics? I don't even know if there is a specific word for this, but am curious to know. The only thing I can come up with is "electromagnetic specialist" or something like that; but that isn't a very "scientific" word.


texts: Why is it "BTC wallet's password" instead of "the password of a BTC wallet"?

texts:
The company, for security reasons, would not want a single one of its
  employees to have access to the company BTC wallet's password. Any
  transaction would have to meet the approval of more than one employee.

In this sentence, why is it "BTC wallet's password"? Why isn't it "the password of a BTC wallet"?


texts: Exclamation marks in the middle of a sentence

texts:
Would this usage of exclamation mark be correct?

  I want to — honest! — give you a slap!

Yes, I know, it's a quite bad example, but I wonder if this usage of an exclamation inside a sentence is correct. If not, is there any situation where an exclamation mark would be acceptable in a sentence?

I'll give you another example:

  He said he ate a thousand (!) fishes.

Is this correct?


texts: Is this sentence correct "This is her real raw face without making-up"?

texts:
is "real raw face" term common in everyday English conversation?

or is there any other term that can express the similar meaning?


texts: What is a word that describes someone who hurts people without meaning to?

texts: What is a word that describes a person who hurts people without meaning to (as in not intentionally)?


texts: A word for a relationship in which one thing (or state) must exist in order for another thing (or state) to exist

texts:
I can't think of the word to fill this blank:

  More importantly, now we've got ourselves an "organic" roadmap—that is, one that follows the natural order of our concerns, rather than a logical order such as ____.

Though unrelated to my context, an example of such an ordering would be:

a bride and groom
a wedding
a wedding cake

A wedding cake wouldn't exist without a wedding, which in turn wouldn't exist without its bride and groom. (I'm sorry, the real example is technical and complex, and I can't think of a better example at 3 in the morning.)

I want to say predecession but that's not a real word. Does anyone know the word I'm looking for?


texts: What does "crystal ball" mean in the context?

texts:
I just asked a question on Stackoverflow. They closed it because it needed a "crystal ball" to answer such questions.

My concept of "crystal ball" makes me interpret it as that we need some magic to be able to answer. Somehow, I don't feel it is right.

I searched "crystal ball" online, but failed to find any special meaning associated with it. I suspect that it might be related to some popular culture I'm not aware of, so I decide to ask for help here.


texts: A word for a person who gets bored easily with something after actively seeking it

texts:
Is there any word available for a person who gets bored easily with something they liked? May be a guy who wishes for expensive stuff but once received he finds it rather monotonous!!

Example:

  Chris bought that watch for $200, however he is not using it, he is
  such a ______ person.


texts: What does "vampiric" mean in this context?

texts:
In Sam Harris's blog he writes

  Most of us have been around this block often enough to know that many
  “former atheists”—like Francis Collins—spent so long on the brink of
  faith, and yearned for its emotional consolations with such vampiric
  intensity, that the slightest breeze would send them spinning into the
  abyss.

I pride myself in usually being able to understand Mr Harris's writings, but the word "vampiric" was new to me (indeed, the spell checker underscores it in red here on english.SE).  Looking it up in a dictionary, it is defined (naturally enough) as "pertaining to vampires."
But that hardly helps give it meaning to me in the present context.


texts: I have heard the phrase "most awarded (car) in history" in many commercials for automobiles lately, and I wonder if it is being used correctly? Clearly, the advertiser means "the car that has received the most awards", but what I hear is "the car that is given as an award most often".  I suspect that the first is technically grammatically correct, but it grates on my ear.


texts: Are there any common phrases in the English language that use metric units of measurement?

texts: We've got things like 'inch closer' or 'miss by miles' but nothing common that uses the metric system as far as I know.


texts: Can we use the abbreviation "etc" without a period/full stop?

texts:
Throughout Practical English Usage 3rd Edition (Swan, 2005), the author writes etc in a manner I can't help but wonder if it's a typo.

  Much/far/a lot etc more money
  Many/far/a lot etc more opportunities

Throughout the book, he does not put a period (full stop) after "etc" and he never uses commas in combination with "etc".

I'm taking notes by writing the book verbatim on to notebooks, and I've been finding other grammatical mistakes. It's a little disconcerting when trying to use the book as a reference source. I'm hoping you guys can help me figure out if this is just another.

What punctuation should be used with this abbreviation?


texts:
I came across this expression while I was reading "Asgard Stories". This is a dialogue between Heimdall, guardian of Bifrost, the "trembling bridge", and Odin. Because of his good work, Odin says very nice things about him.

  It is well for us that we have such a faithful guardian of the
  "trembling bridge"; if it were not for you, Heimdall, our enemies
  might long ago have taken Asgard by storm. You are so watchful, you
  can hear the grass grow in the fields, and the wool gather on the
  backs of the sheep, and you need less sleep than a bird. I myself
  stand in great wisdom, in order to take care of such faithful servants, and to drive back such wicked enemies!

I can't really understand it. I don't know if this is en idiom or not. If you could tell me another way of saying it or something like that, I'd appreciate it.


texts: Someone who likes to taste everything, like food and drink. But I don't mean a glutton


texts:
There's been a nice bit of totty on TV over the holiday period; that is attractive women.

  girls or women collectively regarded as sexually desirable:

But what is the etymology of the word?

It's often used in "posh totty".  Was it originally an upper-class term?


texts:
Which of the following punctuations is more appropriate?

  Strict liability serves to uphold the rights of individuals: in this case, the rights of the neighbor to the security of his property.

or

  Strict liability serves to uphold the rights of individuals; in this case, the rights of the neighbor to the security of his property.


texts: Is there an English word to describe when a sound "protrudes"?

texts:
I was going to go with "protrude" but I'm getting told it is not used in this sense and it wouldn't be understood.

It's to describe the situation where the TV is on but you are doing something else and not paying attention, so the sound is like a white noise to you. Then there is something important being said and you realize that suddenly you're hearing what's being said too, even though you didn't consciously make an effort to start listening. So the sensation is as if the sound emerged out of the white noise.

Best alternative I found is "suddenly becomes prominent", which I don't really like. Is there any other way to describe this?


texts: Does it make sense to write "Therefore, the proposition statement of this essay is flawed"


texts: Is "considering taking" grammatically correct?

texts:
I've seen the following sentence in a newspaper. Is it grammatical?

  He's considering taking early retirement.

Taking = present progressive was used near another present progressive?


texts: "Classic symptoms" or "classical symptoms"?

texts:
According to Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary, both 'classic' and 'classical' mean very typical in a sense. However, in Longman Dictionary of contemporary English and Oxford Collocations Dictionary only 'classic' collocates with 'symptoms'. So, are these two sentences perfectly correct?
1- She displayed the classic symptoms of depression.
2- She displayed the classical symptoms of depression.
If not, why? Is it a matter of collocations? Is it a matter of common usage?
Thank you in advance for your help.


texts:
What is the meaning of the phrase a wisp in the ether? Here is the whole paragraph:

  But Descartes believed Galen's explanation for humans as similar to
  sheep could not be reconciled with the notion that humans were created
  in God's image. He thought the mind stood separate from the physical
  body as a wisp in the ether that could act on the body.


texts:
Which of these sentences look better?

In addition, if the vertices that have outedges to this vertex are more central it will also be more central.

or

In addition, if the vertices that have outedges to this vertex are more central it will be more central either.


texts: What word or phrase relates to 'being able to see through manipulation?'

texts:
I am looking for a word where people are able to see the hidden meanings and subliminal manipulation in the media. Is there any word, phrase or idiom that might suit the narrative I'm trying to summarise? I don't want my project to be titled 'seeing through manipulation' if that helps.

This is for an art and design project, rather than a paper. The word doesn't have to be too academic but should have a certain flair to it. I hope that makes any sense. I'm sorry I'm really poor in explaining this!

Sample sentence [project title] (from comment below by OP):

  'How to _____________ [See Through Subliminal Manipulation] in Advertising'


texts: What does the phrase "pet horror" mean in the following sentence?

texts:
I can still remember the faces when I suggested a method of dealing with what most teachers of English considered one of their pet horrors , extended reading. The room was full of tired teachers, and many were quite cynical about the offer to work together to create a new and dynamic approach to the place of stories in the classroom.

Does it mean that the teachers are terrified by extended reading, yet this course remains their pet so that they still have to teach in spite of their dislike?


texts: Including a title starting with an article in a sentence

texts: I would like to know if I'm to include a title starting with an article in a sentence, for example "A Midsummer Night's Dream", is it correct to say "In the A Midsummer Night's Dream play" or should the sentence be "In the Midsummer Night's Dream play" with the article removed? I intend to keep this particular sentence structure and no quotation marks for the title if possible.


texts: Grammar rules for ending a sentence with "is had"

texts:
I am searching for documentation that explains whether or not the specific grammar used in the following sentences is technically correct.

1)  "Lunch is had."

2)  "We are not going to go to the swimming pool until lunch is had."

Any explanations and corresponding references would be greatly appreciated!


texts:
I'm wondering about the word "temporal." The definitions I've read are as follows:
adjective
adjective: temporal

  relating to worldly as opposed to spiritual affairs; secular.
  synonyms:  secular, nonspiritual, worldly, profane, material, mundane, earthly, terrestrial;
  antonyms:  spiritual
  of or relating to time.
  synonyms:  secular, nonspiritual, worldly, profane, material, mundane, earthly, terrestrial;
  antonyms:  spiritual
  GRAMMAR
  relating to or denoting time or tense.

Is it fair to say that I can use this word in place of the word time? For instance, "parsing temporal data" meaning "parsing time related data." The data I'm referring to here is Hour, Minute, Second, Day, Week, etc. It has nothing to do with wordly/secular things.


texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  Where does the use of “why” as an interjection come from?

This is a common English phrase that I'm sure everyone has heard before.

However, I find it puzzling that the phrase begins with "why" but isn't a question and doesn't end with a question mark.

If there is any story or explanation behind this, I would love to know.


texts: Is the expression "how many" grammatically correct in the case below?

texts:
Please refer to the following dialogue. The words “how many” in Person B’s reply seem incorrect to me.  Are they correct? Shouldn’t these be rectified to “the number of robocalls” or something?

A: There’s no silver bullet, unfortunately. It’s pretty well impossible to stop getting robocalls completely.
B: But there are various ways to reduce how many you receive. A good way to start is to sign up with the National Do Not Call
Registry. You can register your landline or mobile phone with them for
no charge.


texts: Is there a term or idiom for a relationship that took a very long time to consummate?

texts:
I am looking for a term or expression to describe people who clearly have very strong feelings for each other but, for reasons beyond their control, were unable to be together for a long time.

I feel unrequited love isn't the right term as neither side rejects the other.


texts:
I'm looking for a term to refer to an alien species that may evolve differently and have some unique and radical features, but still shares some of the most basic features of earth species.  I'm looking for a certain degree of specificity for scientifically accurate discussions.

The most obvious term I'm sure anyone would think of is 'humanoid', but this is far too restrictive.  The odds of any alien species evolving to look so human as to be considered 'humanoid' is quite unlikely.  Actually the odds of an 'earth-like' species is unlikely too, but still I want a word that leaves open a much large category of species.  What I want to exclude with such a word is species that are so utterly alien as to be difficult to grasp for humans at all.  Thus I want to refer to species that could be vastly different, but imply at least enough similarity to something from earth to be comprehended by humans.

At a minimum this means carbon-based, but carbon-based is still a very wide window.  I'd like to imply some aspects shared by most earth species likely exist, not necessarily requiring all of them.  Aspects like multi-cellular bodies with specialized organs, possessing of genetics encoded in some DNA-like manner, Some form of genetic exchange like sexual-reproduction (not requiring traditional male and female), brain-like structure for thinking and driving decision-making (not necessarily sapience or high intellect) etc.  Put another way, anything that could realistically be seen evolving from creatures that were very similar to earth's primitive early multi-cellular organisms, even if that evolution went in a very different fashion from earth.

Is there any good word or phrase to communicate this concept beyond earth-like.  The phrase earth-like I fear may be a little too restrictive itself, implying perhaps too close a similarity to current living earth creatures and ecosystems and thus not leaving open a little more room for novelty in creature design while keeping to the basic structure.


texts: Meaning of "thousand-fold" in this sentence

texts:
What does "a thousand-fold" mean in this sentence?

  I protest, added my uncle Toby, looking up, as he protested it, towards the top of the ceiling,—that  was I her brother, Trim, a thousand-fold, she could not make more constant or more tender inquiries after my sufferings—though now no more.

"Trim" is the name of the person that Toby is talking to; "she" refers to a woman whom Toby has fallen in love with and who has been asking him about an injury that he used to have. He is saying that she couldn't have cared more for his well being even if he had been her brother; but I don't get what "a thousand-fold" means in this sentence. Can someone rephrase?

The text is from the novel Tristram Shandy.


texts: Is "in common" a noun? Some dictionaries say adjective, but some (Longman) have a 2nd definition for "in common" as a noun.


texts: what is a word denoting the ability to put one's self in any category of people in a situation?

texts:
I ran across a great word a few years ago but I neglected to write it down and am hoping someone here will know it.

The word meant the ability to put one's self in or empathize with any category of people represented in a situation, esp. when the category in which one might reside is unknown or ambiguous.  Thus, the word would be appropriate if one's belonging to a category might change (becoming a paraplegic, owing lots on student loans) but not if categories are unlikely to change (eye color, adult height, wealth).  It was used in the context of social policy and people's ability to imagine themselves in any of the categories of people handled by the policy, to ensure that the policy was fair.  It had connotations of even-handedness, fairness, and empathy; i.e., being aware that "But for the grace of God, that could be me".  I'm not sure if it was an adjective or a noun.

A sample sentence:  "Sen. Blorp was conspicuously lacking in >>word<<, as he disparaged the difficulty of making end-of-life decisions for a family member in a persistent vegetative state."

The word is not: empathy, equipoise, even-handed, fair, equitable.  It is at least one step more obscure than these.

I feel like this description is lacking; perhaps questions will help me clarify it.


texts:
I'm looking for a simplistic manner to say

  To reverse a little, ...

or

  To go back to an earlier statement, ...

A single word conjunctive adverb would be best, similar to furthermore or however


texts: What is it that allows a person to determine that a black person is speaking?

texts: What allows people to know if a black person is talking, even if they are speaking standard English? They aren't using a separate dialect, nor have an accent, yet it's easy to know if they are black. I know some black people speak very well and it's impossible to know their shade. I tried researching, but only found this  referencing a dialect, from  "www.psychologytoday.com."


texts: Is there a word for "exactly the most one can handle without being overwhelming"?

texts: Overwhelming means more than can be handled. Underwhelming often means less than can be handled or expected. Is there a word to mean exactly the upper limit of what one can handle without becoming overwhelming? Something akin to of upper-but-not-overwhelming.


texts: How is NB being used here - "This way there is no whole NB to getting rice from the plant"

texts:
I got this reply in a discussion about cooking rice and why packet rice is better.
NB is Nota Bene from Italian and is "Note Well" in English, but how is "Note Well" being used here.
Can someone tell me the Modern English equivalent of this?
Is it "This way there is no need to note well how to get rice from the plant", which do not seem so convincing to me!


texts: Which is the correct sentence using the word 'Let'?

texts:
In the following two sentences, I think that the first one is more precisely  correct:

(1) Let G be a graph with n vertices, and S be the set of all subgraphs of G.

(2) Let G be a graph with n vertices, and let S be the set of all subgraphs of G.


texts: phrase for being prepared for a potential challenge

texts:
There is a phrase in Malay that goes "prepare an umbrella before the rain", meaning one must be prudent and proactive of future challenges by making all the preparations necessary. I would like the English equivalent of such a phrase.

Thanks in advance, and apologies if this has been asked before! (I checked as much as I could)

EDIT: What I'm looking for is the act of preparing a solution to a specified problem before the problem happens. So anticipating rain, one prepares an umbrella.


texts: usage of "is all" in a sentence from Hemingway

texts:
In this passage from "For whom the bell Tolls"

"He looked down the hill slope again and he thought, I hate to leave it, is all. I hate to leave it very much and I hope I have done some good in it."

I don't understand the "is all" part. (English is not my native language)


texts:
Open the door, will you?
  Open the door, won't you?

As I know the first one is the right one, but last week I came across with the second one, so I am really confused now.


texts: Word that means 'speak comfortingly/reassuringly'?

texts:
Is there an English word that means "to speak in a manner intended to comfort or reassure"? For example:

  "Oh, honey, what's wrong?" her mother ____ed.

I keep wanting to say it is "croon", but Wiktionary insists that "croon" means "sing", and Thesaurus.com seems to agree based on what it considers acceptable synonyms.

"Cosset" is also in the neighborhood, but doesn't seem to imply speaking. "Console" is even closer, but doesn't really fit asking a question in such manner a la the above example.

(An answer with references that agrees with my intuition and can demonstrate that my sources are wrong is also acceptable.)

Edit: To clarify, an ideal answer would be a word that describes tone, such as "shout", "whisper", "hiss", etc., rather than a word that describes intent such as "placate", "assuage", etc. (the latter of which would otherwise be good answers).


texts: If I change the position of "To win the award" in this sentence, can I make this sentence right?

texts:
To win the award, hard work is needed by Ed.

The sentence above is wrong, right? Though I don't clearly know about the reason why it is wrong. If I change the position of "To win the award", make the sentence become this one:
"Hard work is needed by Ed to win the award."
Is it better now? Or is it still wrong and strange?
Thank you for your answer!


texts: Is this sentence a valid example of a double negative

texts:
Me and my friend were talking about grades and I said

  Grades don't mean shit.

and we had some more debate and now we are arguing whether that sentence is a example of a sentence with double negatives in it !


texts:
I am wondering whether the following sentence contains a double negative:

  Contrary to popular belief, home values don’t depend on material alone but rather the efficiency of those materials in combination with the installation from manufacturers.

Does "contrary to" constitute one negative and "don't" another, and taken together do they constitute a double negative?


texts: What is the origin of the word "Blackmail"?

texts:
How did the word blackmail originate?

The words 'black' and 'mail' (if you split it out) have no relation to the meaning of the combined word. How was the word choice made?

Also, how has the term's meaning evolved from its original sense, and when did those changes occur?


texts: Find a word(noun) whose initial is "R" and whose thesaurus is "question"

texts:
There are many words that express confusion and uncertainty about something,
for example: question/doubt/haze ...

But I can't find a similar word starting with the letter "R". I have been looking for it a whole day, however, the result is disappointing.


texts:
When someone discriminates based on race we call that person a racist. When someone discriminates based on one sex we call that person a sexist. What about when someone discriminates based on sexual orientation, country of origin, species, or age? Are there words to describe a person like that?

Also, is there a general term to describe those words?


texts: Difference between "already know" and "have already known"

texts:
I've been thinking that the phrase "already know" is different from the phrase "have already known".

Already know: I know something clearly at this point of saying (present)
Have already known: I've known something so far. (present perfect)

I may be confused in the explanation.

I don't know when we can use each of these phrases properly.

Thanks and best regards,


texts: Why is "no" used in a phrase like "this is no big deal" instead of "not"?

texts:
The following is the full sentence:

  One could argue, convincingly, that this is no big deal and that I'm just a whiner.


texts: The name of the rhetorical device of reporting the use of vulgar language without quoting it?

texts:
A company of soldiers, of which our protagonist, Don, is a member, has set up a temporary camp from which they will launch some raids on some enemy positions. Of Don, we read that

  The company headquarters runner sought him out and awakened him—by standing well clear and giving the hammock rope a sharp tap. Don came instantly awake, a knife in his hand. "Easy!", cautioned the runner. "The Old Man wants to see you." Don made a rhetorical and most ungracious suggestion as to what the captain could do about it and slid silently to his feet.

The author intended this to be read by young people whom he did not want to encourage to use coarse language, but he must have intended it to be understood that such language was used on this occasion.

Is there a name for that?


texts: When should I use "requirements of safety" or safety requirements?

texts:
I am confused, when we should use "OF" and when we should not.
Example:

production guidelines or guidelines of production?
safety requirements or requirements of safety?

Why do we use "angle of attack" and not "attack angle"?


texts: When should I use "SARS-COV2" or "COVID-19"?

texts:
I am writing a formal paper that deals with the broad national implications of the COVID-19 pandemic in my country, and I am stumped as to how to refer to the virus (the pathogen) and the disease (the visible symptoms). During this whole time I was under the assumption that "COVID-19" and "SARS-COV2" were like "HIV" and "AIDS" respectively, i.e. COVID-19 was the virus and SARS-COV2 was the visible symptoms. However, I just went to read the WHO's official documents, and I only ended up more confused than before.
According to WHO's official guidelines on naming the disease, apparently neither is true. Instead, I'm supposed to use only "COVID-19" to avoid associations with the old 2003 SARS, and when I have to refer to the virus or the symptoms specifically, I'm supposed to use something like "the virus responsible for COVID-19" or "the symptoms of COVID-19".
What is the correct nomenclature to refer to the virus and the symptoms of COVID-19?


texts: The use of "don't" for "doesn't" in 19th century England

texts:
I've noticed the use of "don't" in place of "doesn't" in upper class dialogue in Georgette Heyer's historical romances, which take place around the regency of George IV (1811-1820). For example, the following appeared in Friday's Child (2008):

  ‘He don’t keep devilish good company,’ Mr Ringwood said stolidly.

I saw the same construct in The Moonstone (1868) by Wilkie Collins:

  "It don't want a word, sir, from you."

While not correct in current usage, it appears that these phrases were correct at the time.

There are plenty of other posts about "don't" vs. "doesn't", but they seem to be about current usage, not historical usage. For example, this post refers to the use of "don't" in place of "doesn't" as non-standard English.

I would like to know when and where (and ideally why) "don't" was considered correct in place of "doesn't" and how/when it was supplanted.


texts: Why is "great" pronounced as "grate", but spelled with "ea"?

texts:
Great is one of the few common English words in which "ea" is pronounced /eɪ/ (ay).  Why is this pronunciation associated with this spelling?

As an aside, I remember from researching for my answer to a previous question that a Middle English spelling of great was grete.  Was it ever pronounced that way?


texts: Adding "an" or not, when describing different medical conditions - are there rules?

texts:
First off, I'll admit that attempting to codify the use of "a" & "the" could easily drive a person insane. I hope you'll forgive me for asking such a question.
However, I've got a specific situation for which I hope some solid rules can be found.
I have an ESL student who's studying to be a Japanese/English medical interpreter.
I can't seem to figure out a set of rules for when to add "a/an" to a medical condition, and when not to.
At first I thought I had it figured out, as follows:
If it's a single occurrence of the condition and/or if it's in a specific part of the body, then use a/an:

A knee ache
An aneurysm
A tumor

However, if it's systemic or can't be pinned down to a fairly specific part of the body, then don't use an article:

Cancer
Diabetes
Heartburn

But this system breaks down when I consider that we say "chest pain", although it's a single condition that's specific to an area, while at the same time saying "tonsillitis" which is singular and in a very specific area.
I think (or hope) I'm missing a useful delimiter, here. Can anyone think of one??


texts:
I'm working on a page that shows a card that has not yet been activated, but I need something shorter to describe the card state. "Disabled" would not be applicable because the card can be in a disabled state. This applies to a new card that needs to be activated in order to start using it.

Any help would be appreciated.


texts: Why is 'Blair House' used without 'the' when 'White House' must be used with 'the'?

texts:
The White House needs the definite article:

But Blair House doesn't need the definite article as shown on their website:

  We invite you to visit Blair House through the pages of this book and experience --through its photos and text -- America's welcome and hospitality that is extended to world leaders and to all who pass through its doors.

Why?


texts:
A dictionary says that foxy can be used to refer to a sexy woman.
Can I also use this word for a sexy man?


texts: "polished surfaces reflect brutal efficiency" meaning?

texts:
This is the description of the location "The Ebony Barracks" in Act 3 of Path of Exile. I wasn't too sure whether to ask it here or in Gaming.SE since it is English related.

What is the meaning of the description, especially in regards to the lore in-game?


texts:
Have there been any studies done into the similarity between individual latin letters? I'm hoping for something (preferably with letters in Arial font) where a letter has been given and the chance of other letters being confused with it is the result. Absolutely ideally the result would be something like this, where columns are the letter presented and rows are the letter returned (numbers completely made up):

<> A <> B <> C

A -.-- 0.43 0.32

B 0.43 -.-- 0.44

C 0.33 0.23 -.--

I've tried looking myself and am wondering if I'm looking for the wrong thing. Any help would be appreciated, thanks!


texts: Is there a name for when a prefix changes its meaning due to being strongly associated to a single word?

texts:
The prefix "crypto-" originally meant "hidden".  Now, due to its association with "cryptography", the prefix has shifted to mean something more like "secure" when used in new words, e.g. "cryptocurrency".  This may be mainly due to the relatively few number of words in common usage that use the "crypto-" prefix with its original meaning.

Another example of this is "hyper-".  Originally it just meant "over", but now it's often just a short form of "hyperactive", the word it's probably most often associated with.  Because of this, the prefix now has a connotation of "out-of-control" or "high energy".  "Hypersensitive" (at least to me) sounds a lot stronger than "oversensitive".

Is there a term for this phenomenon?  If so, I'd be interested in what other prefixes/suffixes changed their meaning like this.


texts: Question on using "," in non compound sentences

texts:
Kindly consider below sentence :

  We are bound by the laws, not by the intent of our legislators.

I've read that a "," is used when joining two clauses. So when I look at above sentence my first feel is it can be a compound sentence.  But the phrase after "," has no subject or verb, so it must be just a prepositional phrase. May I know why they are using "," when it is clearly not a compound sentence ?


texts: What does this quote from "The adventures of Sherlock Holmes" mean?

texts:
A man should keep his little brain attic stocked with all the furniture that he is likely to use, and the rest he can put away in the lumber-room of his library, where he can get it if he wants it.

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, Arthur Conan Doyle


texts:
I have a question on comparisons.

I said no error first, and that was wrong. I don't see an error with B or D or
A. Is it C "being"? Should it be switched to be?


texts: Is is more appropriate to salute the organization, or the members of the organization?

texts:
I am writing a thank-you letter for a scholarship I received from the AFCEA – Bethesda Chapter. I am not sure how to write the salutation though. Two alternatives I have considered are:

  Dear AFCEA Bethesda Chapter:

and

  Dear members of the AFCEA Bethesda Chapter:

I am not sure which, if either, would be the most appropriate, or if there is a better option I am not seeing.

How should I write the salutation for my letter?

Further research examining past thank-you letters has been inconclusive. Many of them use extremely informal salutations, and there are as many different salutations as letters. You can see them here, if you really want to.


texts: Should I use divide or subdivide in this context?

texts:
I want to write something about an app for bus tracking.

  As a community-driven system, the application's users are subdivided
  into three groups: inactive users (not riding the bus), bus riders,
  and waiting for the bus.


texts: Expressing appreciation to a third party in an email

texts:
I am replying an email to my project supervisor who has arranged a co-marker for my project. I am replying to the supervisor alone but I would like to express in the email my appreciation to the co-marker as well.
In my mother tongue I would say something like 'Please tell her my gratitude for becoming the co-marker of my project'. This is just to show my gratitude for the third party not involved in the email communication, but I am not expecting the supervisor really to laboriously tell the co-marker. Is there a nicer or perhaps more formal way of expressing this?
If there is a better way to express my appreciation in English please suggest it as well :) Thank you in advance.


texts: Term for self-serving behavior disguised as altruism?

texts:
Once when I was having a hard time a guy said to me, "I'm sorry you're having a hard time, I'll pray for you," in a way that made it clear that he was glad I was having a hard time because it gave him the opportunity to pray for me and feel good about himself.

I am interested in this phenomenon but also the much more general (probably universal) phenomenon of human beings finding justification for things they want to do, often by lying to themselves about the utility of the behavior to other people.

The best single word I can think of for this is contrived, but it is not close to precise. Similarly, dissembling, insincere, and so on don't really cut it.

I also looked at this list of cognitive biases but was unable to find one that expressed this idea.

Is there a single word for this? If not, a short phrase?


texts: Using singular or plural verb after "Not only does it.."

texts: In the sentence, "Not only does it present associates with a unique opportunity but large bonus as well.", would I put "present" or "presents"?


texts: What does "liabilities" mean in this context?

texts:
From CNBC's article "Will AI spark a wave of job losses in banking? This what the experts think". (Emphasis mine)

  "There's a lot of liabilities," said panelist Matthew Blume, director for client technology in ASEAN at financial services provider Thomson Reuters. AI systems, he said, could easily be gamed.

What does "liabilities" meaning in this context?


texts: "Available" is to "availability" as "required" is to what noun?

texts:
If I want to know if an item is available, I can check for its availability.

What do I check for if I want to know if an item is required?


texts: What's the difference between "conjoined" and "connected"?

texts:
In "An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding", Hume says1:

  All events seem entirely loose and separate. One event follows another; but we never can observe any tie between them. They seem conjoined, but never connected.

In this sentence he distinctly distinguishes "connected" from "conjoined". What is the difference in this context between the two?


texts: When do I collect my money '...as I pass Go'?

texts:
I was playing Junior Monopoly yesterday. The, er, grown-ups disagreed (!) over precisely when you collect your £2 pocket money.

On the board itself the instruction is "...Collect £2 pocket money as you pass Go".

The rule leaflet says "Every time you pass GO, collect £2".

My question is this.  In Junior Monopoly, when a player lands on GO (i.e. does not 'pass' GO but stops on the GO square) do they collect £2, or do they collect their two pounds only once they have passed GO (i.e. on their next turn).

Note that this question relates to JUNIOR Monopoly.  The adult version is very clear on this subject.  Although the adult version has a similar instruction on the board ("Collect £200 as you pass Go"), the adult rules say players be given £200 by the banker (i.e. do not have to 'claim the money') every time their token "...either lands on or passes over GO, while going in the direction of the Arrow".  The Junior version requires players to keep more alert to their financial entitlements!


texts: What was the original usage of the term "haptic"?

texts:
Haptic is a term which is  probably  becoming more and more popular because of  the recent introduction into the  mass market of smart devices (phones, watches etc.) with heptic characteristics.
Haptic refers to:

a technology that uses touch to control and interact with computers. A user may apply a sense of touch through vibrations, motion or force.

Haptic technology is used mainly in creating virtual objects, controlling virtual objects or in the improvement of the remote control of machines and devices.

Haptic devices can measure reactive forces and bulk forces applied by a user.

(Technopedia)
Haptic entered the English language towards the end of the 19th century but its usage has increased only in recent decades (Ngram) in technological contexts.

"pertaining to the sense of touch," 1890, from Greek haptikos "able to come into contact with," from haptein "to fasten". (Etymonline)

My question:
In what fields was the term originally used (medical, scientific or else)? that is,   how come that this "greek" term was borrowed at the turn of the 19th century?
Is the term now used also outside tech contexts?


texts: Can you use a past tense lexical verb in a main clause to refer to a future time?

texts:
This paper titled "TENSE AND TIME IN ENGLISH VERB CLUSTERS OF THE PRIMARY PATTERN" by V. H. Dudman (1983) seems to say the following sentence is possible English (page 27):

  (6) According to our original plan, the conference began next Monday, but now it begins tomorrow.

Is this sentence really possible English?

If not, how come this paper has been quoted in some other papers as well?
If so, is this sentence well-formed and/or natural English as well?


texts: Is there a short word or slang for "matchmaker"?

texts:
I'm trying to find an appropriate name for kind of a dating website. The purpose of the website is to match between people, hence the description - matchmaker. However this word isn't catchy enough.

Any suggestions for some catchy, appealing and "cute" word?


texts:
Not sure if this is the right place to ask, but here we go... I'm looking for a word for a device that I can only describe from memory. I'm not sure what it's called or even what it was used for, but it's very distinct.

The object in question is some sort of pipe that can blow wind. You have two handles that you need to push against each other in order to create the wind, and the device itself is small and can be used by one person. It's a very old-fashioned device I've only ever seen in old cartoons, and I think it was used to free up chimneys or to blow air on a fireplace to make the fire stronger or something.

What is this device called? I tried finding it on Google, but I didn't have any luck there.