texts: A word or phrase to describe a local setting

texts:
What is the word or phrase to describe something that occurs in a specific local setting?

If "geographically" describes a setting that can point to a particular place on the globe, what is the word or phrase that can describe a setting that is more local?

Let's say a crime is committed. We speculate that someone might be the perpetrator because he was in the vicinity. What is the word or phrase to describe the vicinity he was in?


texts: difference between "have for dinner" and "have at dinner"

texts:
Which is the difference between:

"I'm having an old friend for dinner"

"I'm having an old friend at dinner"

"Having anyone for dinner" means you're meeting someone, right?
Using "for" does not necessarily mean you're going to eat.
The sentence is said by the character Hannibal Lecter, a cannibale, at "The Silence of the lambs"'s final scene:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbJ89LFheTs
Said by Dr. Lecter, the sentence is a ambiguous:

Dr. Lecter is going to eat his "old friend".
Dr. Lecter is meeting and old friend for dinner, not eating him.

But when it's said by a non-cannibal, are correct both interpretations of "having something for dinner"?:

You're eating something for dinner (e.g. I'm having chicken with fava beans for dinner)
You're meeting someone for dinner. (e.g. I'm having friends for dinner, we'll eat pizza with a nice Chianti)


texts: Which preposition should I use (during/on the time)

texts:
Context: Teachers set their schedules in an electronic calendar by showing the time slots they can teach. And we've noticed that these time slots are very popular among students. Which preposition should I use in these sentences:
"Students are really eager to schedule lessons during/on the time (slots) you set."
"Most students book lessons during/on the time you set."
I tried to google the information, but the only explanations I find are about "on/in time". I didn't manage to find anything helpful.


texts: To be able to understand a writing system

texts:
For example, I can look at a Cyrillic text and read it aloud, but I don't know enough words in any Slavic language to understand what I'm saying most of the time.

Some might just say "read" is fine, which it is in my example case, but not for cases when the name of the writing system is also the name of a language, for example Latin, Arabic, Greek, Hebrew, etc.


texts: How did 'phat' come to be used in music as slang?

texts: most prominently things like ''phat bass line'', meaning a bassline rich in texture ie has a full sound. Appears to have originated in African American use?


texts: Is article "an" absolutely necessary before word "understanding"?

texts:
The sentence I am proofreading is

  "Good communication reduces the insecurity of employees and creates
  understanding of the measures taken."

Should the article "an" be placed before "understanding"?

Maybe a better question would be, is "understanding" considered a noun in this sentence?

This is really bothering me because the word "understanding" is used many times throughout the document I am proofreading and none of them have the article "an" before it.


texts: A word for a joke so poorly told and so unfunny that one cannot help but laugh

texts:
There is a word for this in Indonesian language: jayus.

(Maybe, it is used in Filipino and Malaysian language also.)

It is a joke that is so bad, it's funny. It is often mentioned as untranslatable. I wonder if there is any English equivalent though. (and yes, English does not have to have a word for everything but there is always a chance or we can find a close match at least.)

Lame joke is mentioned in some of the sources but it does not quite fit. Here is an explanation:

  Some argue that “lame joke” would do just fine, but not all lame jokes can make one laugh. A joke becomes a jayus when those who heard it laughed, not at the joke but at the person’s failed attempt to deliver a punch line.
  Source: ~


texts:
I'm wondering if there is a word to describe the action of continuing with a course of action, despite being aware of the inappropriateness of it, or with the certain knowledge that it will fail.

I'm not talking about simple stubbornness, and it's not arrogance. It's a simple matter of carrying on regardless.

I'll give an example:

Driving a car, entering a highway/freeway, despite knowing one does not have enough fuel to reach the next refuelling station. When this is pointed out, a simple reply of "We'll wait and see" is all that is offered.


texts: Are "only" and "just" always interchangeable?

texts:
In an English lesson, that can be edited by users, there's a dicussion about a sentence to translate.

This sentence is:

  I just eat pasta.

To mean "I only eat pasta".
My own opinion is that this sentence is very ambiguous, because it looks like "I just ate pasta".
I'm not a native, so I need advice from native users.
 What a native would use? Rather "just" in this case or "only".

The persons who think this sentence is a good sentence, argue that "only" is interchangeable with "just".

I think it's one of the exception, but is it?


texts: Should it be "didn't think it was" or "didn't think it were"?

texts: I know that scenarios contrary to fact should be in the subjunctive mood, but ones that we are uncertain of can use past tense. For example, "If I were you..." vs "I don't know if I was right." But what about the sentence "I didn't think it __ possible," assuming whatever is talked about did happen? It's not contrary to fact, but the speaker thought it was contrary to fact at the time. Both "was" and "were" sound right to me.


texts: In this sentence, should there be a comma after "at the table"?

texts:
I'm wondering if I should use a comma after "table" in this sentence that I've written. Could you please tell me if a comma is needed?

  Janet entered the room to find Bob at the table typing on his laptop.


texts: How offensive is to call a girl "Barbie doll"? Why?

texts:
I remember I had a conversation where I have told a girl she was Barbie doll. I just meant she looked beautiful like a Barbie doll: blond, and with blue eyes. Needless to say, she was really offended, and I didn't understand why at that time.

Is Barbie doll a euphemism  of a bimbo- brainless beautiful woman?


texts: Is there a verb for online-ness and offline-ness?

texts:
If I refer to the status of something as enabled and disabled, the verb is to enable and to disable.

Are there comparable single words for the status of something being online and offline? So far I've got "put online" and "take offline".


texts:
I've come across a confusing phrase.

  This former Belgian possession is the most Christian country in Africa, boasting the highest percentage of churches per head of population, with 65 percent of Rwandans professing Roman Catholicism and another 15 percent adhering to various Protestant sects. The words “per head” took on a macabre ring in 1992, when at a given signal the racist militias of “Hutu Power,” incited by state and church, fell upon their Tutsi neighbors and slaughtered them en masse.

Though having some somewhat approximate guesses, I can't make sure what the bol italic phrase above exactly mean in this context.

Should I take it literally and come up with something like "wearing a death-resembling (horrible) ring"? Or should I consider any implications or metaphors?

Actually, I can't associate "take on" with "ring" in this sentence. Hence all the confusion.


texts: What's the word to describe someone who is trying to appear dumber than they actually are?

texts:
What would describe someone who puts on a façade of stupidity, but is actually much smarter than they appear? I would say that this is the oppposite of pretentious.

I have looked all over the web and Stack and I cannot find it. I was told that I once said it and that it was a noun, and that I said it was found in a book.


texts: How do we use adverbs of frequency for something that should happen one time each ten years?

texts: DO we say "ten years once", for example? What's the correct form?


texts: A way of saying that "the advantages of a strategy go in two different directions"?

texts:
For example, a Government decides to construct a much-needed bridge. This helps the Government get into good books of people and secure their vote. Secondly, this also gives them some economic benefit.

So there are two different advantages. The benefits for the government are in two different directions.

  The advantages of this strategy go in two directions.

This one is a very crude and unsophisticated way of saying it.

I am particularly looking for a replacement of the word "advantage" and "go in two directions".

So what would be a nicer way of saying this?


texts: Defining and non-defining relative clauses with proper nouns

texts:
I've been looking at analysing a text and have been examining convention vs correct grammar and function when looking at nominal groups and proper nouns as non-defining relative clauses. As a convention we write the sentence:

My brother, John, is fun.

Analysed it is:

My brother, // John, // is fun.

I'm not sure if the commas are convention as there is a change in meaning with:

My brother John is fun.

Analysed:

My brother [[John]] is fun.

This includes John in the My brother nominal group. This is most likely how we mean it to function. I can understand the elaboration of John to My friend as non defining with the ellipsis of who is named making it a relative clause. I am unsure as to whether that is how it functions. Logically My brother is head noun, but it is interesting that a proper noun isn't defining.

Are the commas conventions and proper nouns used with commas functionally embedded?

Thanks, I've been in this rabbit hole for a few days now...


texts: Is “yet” and “ever” interchangeable in “the most pivotal contest yet / ever”

texts:
Today’s (February 7) Time magazine carries an article titled, ”Republicans ready for eighth debate,” which starts with the paragraph, “Republican presidential candidates will face off in New Hampshire Saturday night in the most pivotal contest yet, just 72 hours before polls close in New Hampshire.”

Though this may sound a primitive question, is “yet” in “the most pivotal contest yet” interchangeable with “ever.” I consulted with an English dictionary at hand, but don't get a clear idea of the difference of the usage of "-(e.g. newest) yet" and "- ever." Are they exactly same in the meaning? If not, what’s the difference?


texts:
A round of applause is a short period or burst of applause. What are the origins of the meaning of round in this phrase, and indeed the phrase itself?

Are there any other phrases that use round in the same sense? I know of round of artillery and round of golf, for instance. For these phrases we might just as easily say an artillery round or golf round, but I don't think I've ever heard the expression applause round. So, do they have different meanings?


texts: Word for referring to the arts of the carpenter

texts: You can say "sartorial" to mean "of or pertaining to tailors of their trade." Is there an equivalent for carpenters?


texts: What does the phrase “fallen off the lips” mean?

texts:
I was listening to a interview in which the following dialogue occurred:
Interviewer: “I went to a church service for years and the words ‘poor’ and ‘poverty’ never crossed the lips of anyone or any sermon”
Interviewee: “Well they might have fallen off the lips”
What is meant by the phrase fallen off the lips?


texts:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bs_Ej32IYgo&app=desktop

Hi, I'm trying to teach myself by watching Youtube videos, but sometimes I do have problems understand exactly what they're saying in their videos, and this is one of them. So, please let me know what this guy saying at 11:33 to 11:35 if you guys don't mind.
I guess he's saying, You'll notice this keeps my chine almost perfect.... something. Thank you.


texts: In English can you say something like: To feel addressed?

texts: I am puzzling how to translate an expression in Dutch to English. There is a way of saying something in German and Dutch that is literally translated to: Do you feel (as) spoken to? For example you complain about people proselyting their point of view on politics or religion, on a website that is intentionally about information exchange. Then somebody gets mad, and you want to say something like: When you get this mad about is, you probably feel offended, you probably do the same, you feel as we were speaking about you. How can I express that?


texts:
What is the word that describes the context of time to replace e.g. "in terms of time, ..."

Like I can say,

It is more tiring mentally than physically;
It is longer physically than "in terms of time" (perhaps modelled on "it" = "an eclair")
It is very costly both financially and "in terms of time"

Thanks in advance.


texts: Need clarify the use of word "locates" in the sentence

texts:
My English teacher asked a quiz question:

  The dancing club ___ north of this district

  a. lays

  b. lies

  c. locates

  d. lain

The answer was given as c. locates. I feel something is wrong with this answer, because I usually read sentences like "[Something] is located in/at [somewhere]", so I think locate should be used in passive form. In my opinion, lies may be able to be put here, or lays if  in were added.

Please clarify what the correct answer is.


texts: Word for "intersection of human and nature" or "human-nature relations"?

texts:
I already know that "anthropology" refers to mankind and "ecology" or something like that can refer to nature, but I was wondering if there was a fancy word that meant something along the lines of the intersection of human and nature.

There probably isn't, but this is worth a shot.

Sample: "On the topic of [word], King states that [insert long quote here]"


texts:
Is it correct English to be able to add the suffix -ee on to any verb to show the object of that verb?
Ex:

Abandonee is "one to whom something is abandoned"
Observee is "one who is observed"

I've used these in the past but what about something very obscure like one who is detected, "detectee". Are we allowed to take any verb like so and add the ending to give the verb an object?


texts:
I'm looking for a (preferably single) word for "increment or decrement to bring into range", with particular emphasis on 'bring into range'.

'Reconcile' or 'limit' are not bad as far as target (range) is concerned. The musical term 'modulation' expresses the action but doesn't quite reach the biscuit tin as far as target (range) is concerned.

Imagine a number (could represent a note in an octave) which is either too high or low to fit into a given range (the acoustic range, say, of an instrument's finger- or keyboard) and so would have to be tonally adjusted (modulated up or down by an octave) in order to be playable.

Now, taking away the musical connotations, is there another word with more general application?


texts:
I stumbled over the word overmorrow and wanted to know whether it is in use.

So I used Googles Ngram Viewer and wondered why it has not found a single reference.

Was overmorrow only used one time in the bible?


texts:
"French is my first language in which I am very articulate"

My professor challenged us to this one.
It is indeed awkward, but I can’t spot the grammatical mistake. :/


texts: What is a word that refers to both captions and subtitles?

texts:
As discussed in this article (https://video.ibm.com/blog/streaming-video-tips/closed-captioning-vs-subtitles/), "subtitles" refers to a dialogue translation that is usually in a different language than the original film, and "captions" (closed or open) are meant for people who aren't able to listen to the audio in a film, and are usually in the same language as the original film.

Does anyone know a good word that encompasses both "subtitles" and "captions"? I would like something that communicates I'm not only referring to one of the two.

I thought this question (Is "Most of the world does not distinguish captions from subtitles" true?) might help me a bit but I'm still not sure.


texts: Can 'holidays' take a singular verb form?

texts:
In the thread accompanying the question The holidays are a good time to be with family, Colin Fine writes

  The holidays is a good time..., which I don't think is idiomatic even
  in the US

I'd agree (speaking as a Brit) that this sounds at least rather unnatural.

However, adding padding seems to make this expression sound more acceptable, and examples (which need sorting out from a lot of noise) are not too uncommon on the internet.

  During the holidays is [a good time to / the time to / when ... ]

occurs, but one might say that this is a different structure, more analogous to 'The first day of the holidays is ...' or more convincingly 'Early in the holidays is ...'.

These examples (again from the internet) are more prototypical:

  ... the summer holidays is the perfect time to
  practice.

  The Christmas holidays is the favourite time of the year for many.

and I'm quite happy with these examples.

There are even examples of the 'unpadded' usage:

  The holidays is the time to take a breath, meet new people ...

  We all know that the holidays is the time where we slack off most.

I'd probably choose to rephrase these.

What is your opinion about the acceptability of these structures?


texts:
I've been trying to formulate a question for quite some time, and I haven't been able to come up with a better way to describe it. I hope it's not too confusing.

There are a number of ways to use markup languages to convey information like emphasis in text files. Stack exchange uses 'Markdown' for example. In this case, adding * (in Markdown) or <emph> (in HTML) is simply called 'markup' I suppose, but is there a name for this? That is, making something stand out in the text, be it logically like "emphasis" or explicitly like "bold" or "underline", etc. The only thing that comes to mind is to emphasize, but (to me at least) that implies stressing the word, not what you're doing with the text to achieve that result.

This has been bugging me for quite a while, I hope someone can help me out here.


texts: Can "Free" be a noun? And what does it mean?

texts:
I saw this sentence when I was studying British Culture.
"William Shakespeare composed plays that broke FREE of England's past style of plays and theatre."
I was quite confused about the meaning of "Free" in this situation. I looked up the dictionaries but couldn't find any meaning.


texts: Area in front of outdoor stage (Picture included)

texts:
What is the grassy area where people are sitting called, specifically?

I am not looking for a general term, like meadow, but for a word to describe an area that is for the purpose of accommodating people watching a show where no seats are available.

  The people were watching from ____


texts: "Sassanian" vs. "Sasanian": Which one is more accurate? With one "s" or two?

texts:
Sassanian: Webster.

Sasanian: Wikipedia.

I am really confused which one is more accurate... Even the pronunciations are different.


texts: Non-medical interpretation of birthmarks

texts:
A recent off-topic question on the worldbuilding stack here aroused my curiosity as to whether there might be a specific word that fits.
I'm looking for a word to describe "the non-medical interpretation, but mystical or religious attachment of meaning and significance to birthmarks".
The reading of tea-leaves is tasseography, the reading of entrails would be haruspicy or extispicy.
Dictionary searches around birthmarks keep leading to the word superstition.

belief that is not based on human reason or scientific knowledge, but
is connected with old ideas about magic, etc.

Cambridge.org 2021
There are many websites referencing the reading and interpretation of birthmarks, none of which name the practice uniquely with a single word or phrase.
Is there a single word that describes the practice, beyond the generic one, superstition?


texts:
What is the common phrases in BrE and AmE to say someone when he/she is beginning a journey?

I know that in BrE we can say (according to http://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/journey_1):

'Have a good journey!'
'Safe journey!'

but what should we say in AmE?

Can we ask in AmE: 'Was the journey long?' when we meet somebody at the station?

Edit: And what about a flight?
'Have a good flight!' is common for BrE and AmE?


texts:
Here is the full sentence:

  You’re from Orinda, your father’s in commercial real estate and your mother’s 10 years
  sober.


texts: Meaning of "all-new" in advertising-speak

texts:
Sometimes hyphenated, sometimes not. Most commonly heard in car commercials, eg "Introducing the all-new 2010 Cadillac SRX Crossover". I've only heard it since moving to the US so perhaps it is a North American thing.

Does the "all" actually convey any specific meaning? Am I losing anything by interpreting "the all-new 2010 model" as "the 2010 model"?


texts:
Can confusion be spelled as a plural, as in:

  The child must sort out confusions of voice-to-print while reading.

I thought confusion was "global" enough to mean "more than one."

Can it be plural?


texts: What does it mean to be "sixty-fortied"?

texts:
I came across this on an episode of Gilmore Girls (2.16 - There's the Rub), where Emily Gilmore says "I can't believe you let me get sixty-fortied!" (60-40d)

I can't find much reference to this online, just this one.


texts: Please put it on the rack above yourself

texts:
Why do we say

  Could you please put it on the rack above you?

In other words, why is there no reflexive needed here?

Can we also say "above yourself”, that is, use a reflexive pronoun?


texts:
This question is about an unlikely event.
Just like a miracle can mean an act or manifestation of God or a saint, is there a word that means a similar thing, but done by e.g. Satan, or an evil deity?
Not necessarily an evil act in itself, but of demonic origin.


texts:
My work ethic together with belief in my ability has led to progress.

Can linking phrases with together with/combined with/along with/as-well-as be seen as using conjunction-reduction so that the first "my" applies to "belief" too?

If ethic and belief were connected by "and" then certainly it would apply but the question is whether it does for the above linkers without other modifications to the sentence.


texts: Use of "very" to modify verb participles used as adjectives - correct or not and why?

texts:
I have seen several obituaries with this kind of wording: "He is very missed." It looks and sounds wrong, perhaps because "very" can modify adjectives ("He is very tall") and adverbs ("He walks very quickly") but it isn't used to modify verbs - one wouldn't say "I very miss him," so that "very" modifying a past participle sounds wrong, even though the past participle is acting as an adjective.

One might, however, say "I very much miss him", where "very" modifies the adjective "much", and "He is very much missed" sounds more correct.

But I haven't been able to find any reference which addresses this point, and automated grammar checkers say it's ok, which I find hard to believe. Is there a reference anywhere that could help?


texts: Is this a run-on sentence? Is there a better way to rewrite it?

texts:
Since Osan was Jihei's wife and Koharu was his adulteress, they represented his obligation and passion respectively.

I see three potential problems:

Run-on sentence: There are two conjunctions and three clauses in a sentence.
Ambiguous reference: The "they" obviously refers to Osan and Koharu; however one may also interprets "they" as Osan and Jihei or Jihei and Koharu when she/he ignores the gender difference.
The structure of the sentence is awkward (to me).

I am a non-native speaker. Is there a better way to rewrite this sentence?


texts:
I have already searched some questions such as
"has changed" or "had changed" or "was changed"?
"Has been changed" or "has changed"?
But I am still confused.
If there is a sentence like

My wallet is changed.
My wallet changed.

Which one is correct?
Can both be correct?


texts: What does "put stress on" mean in this sentence?

texts:
I looked up and figured out that "put stress on something" signifies that it emphasizes something.
 but I couldn't find what does "put stress on someone" means

  The next day,  I threw it in her face and told her,  "I'm not doing
  your homework anymore. it puts too much stress on me, and it keeps me
  from doing the things I love." And I never saw those girls again

This is what I read, and I don't think "it puts too much stress on me" means "it emphasized me" in this sentence.
Does it means "it stressed me out" or something?


texts: is "weren't you..." considered grammatically correct? Because expanded, it would translate to "were not you..."

texts:
Same with "wouldn't you..." because it would directly mean "would not you..."

If the goal is to communicate "would you not" or "were you not," is this a legitimate structure?

Example: Weren't you planning on going to the store? -> were not you planning on going to the store?


texts: Successive contractibles: Example - "It's not" versus "It isn't"

texts:
My apologies if this has been asked before.

Consider a simple model sentence like

  It is not good.

Is it better to contract the first pair of words as

  It's not good.

Or the second pair as

  It isn't good.


texts:
Is there a word that entails the meaning of "I set it to zero"?

Note how this may not necessarily mean you reset something, as its default value may be something other than zero.


texts: How to translate "Je fais marcher le carburateur"?

texts:
What would be a good translation of "je fais marcher le carburateur" in English.

It is an expression to say that you are thinking intensively, using your brain a lot.


texts: Data of similar characteristics vs. Data with similar characteristics

texts:
I have the following sentence that I don't know which preposition is the correct one.

  Diversification implies a trade-off between selecting data of
  relevance to user intent and diversifying data with/of similar
  characteristics.

A quick search on Google for "data with similar characteristics" returns 417,000 results while "data of similar characteristics" returns 265,000 results. However, I think "of" is the correct one in this case since it can emphasize the "similar characteristics" part.


texts: A word that means "to become one's name"

texts:
I'm looking for a word which indicates that a person has adopted a quality suggested by their name, e.g. a person named Grace who is indeed graceful, or perhaps someone named Shepherd who has become a shepherd.

I have a strong notion that I once learned such a word, but I have forgotten it and have never re-discovered it.


texts:
I’m writing a dissertation on network security. I’m unsure which of the following to use:

...89.9%, which is 57 million users.
...89.9%, which are 57 million users.

Technically it should be are because it refers to a plural amount of people, but it doesn’t sound right to me considering that 57 million is in a sense one group.


texts:
What is the meaning of "the crawling of the walls"?

  I can practically feel the presence of disease: the crawling of the walls, the energy tension— like the nesting of a thousand insects.


texts: Is it correct to say maple tree, or would maple be both correct and enough to mean a tree (not just its fruit)?


texts:
There's a slightly obscure, slang meaning in tech circles of the word "pegged" as it relates to a computer's CPU. When it is fully utilised for a duration (at least several seconds), you can say that "the CPU is pegged".

Does anyone know the history or etymology of this usage of "pegged"?


texts: initialism for names starting with a digraph

texts:
What is the rule of initialism for names starting with digraph that is usually considered as a single letter?

For instance, some non-Latin single letter transcribes to a digraph (e.g., Russian: Yu in Юрий->Yuri, Chinese: Zh in Zhang, etc.). Should I use the first letter or the whole string corresponding the single letter?


texts: 'I would be grateful if you ...' or 'I will be grateful ...'?

texts: What is the difference between "I would be really grateful" and "I will be really grateful"? In particular, which one should be followed  with "could"? I mean like this "I would be really grateful if you could answer" or  "I will be really grateful if you could answer": which one should I use?


texts: There was a time when traveller's cheques were emitted and sold by the banks in England and by Thomas Cook. However the cheques emitted by American banks/American Express were named traveler's cheque, with a single L. I have always wondered why. My English dictionary only has traveller with two Ls.


texts: What is the etymology of the word 'afforestation'?

texts:
I can get the definition of 'afforestation' from Google, but not how this word was created in the first place. Also, the affix is not clear to me.

Does anyone know anything about it? Please explain it to me.


texts:
The following sometimes happens in the development of English language.

A phrase from a foreign language is imported into English. English speakers find the phrase useful, but long and cumbersome. They deal with it by dropping a part of it, and so reducing it to what seems to them to be a more manageable length. The dropped part is, however, essential to the meaning that the phrase has in the language of its origin; the shortened form of the phrase thus has a very different meaning in that language, or, sometimes, no meaning at all. In English, the shortened form of the phrase nevertheless continues to be used with the same meaning as the original, full-length one; that becomes established as its meaning in English.

Caffè latte thus became latte (even though in Italian that is a word for [unadorned] milk), chef de cuisine became chef (which is, in French, a term for somebody who heads an organisation of any kind, including those that have nothing to do with food preparation), maître d'hôtel became maître d' (literally 'master of', an incomplete expression), and obiter dicta became dicta.

Is there a term for this kind of a phenomenon? Note that the question is specifically about this shortening of foreign phrases, not about the broader phenomenon of foreign words acquiring in English different meanings from the ones they have in their languages of origin.


texts: Why is it called "christening" instead of "baptism" when it is for a baby?

texts:
I was just about to write and print a small poster for a month-old baby as he is about to be baptized soon. I wanted to put a "Happy Baptism [name]" when I felt the urge to double-check because it didn't sound right. And it turns out, "baptism" is not the right description of the event but "Christening".
What is the etymology of why this split occurred between the event for a baby and the similar event for an older child / adult?
The following entries on the Online Etymology Dictionary say that the terms are equivalent, but don't say how the terms are used differently at different ages.

Christen (v.)
c. 1200, from Old English cristnian "to baptize," literally "to make Christian," from cristen "Christian" (see Christian). General meaning of "to name" is attested from mid-15c. Related: Christened; christening.
- etymonline
baptize (v.)
c. 1300, from Old French batisier (11c.), from Latin baptizare, from Greek baptizein "immerse, dip in water," also figuratively, "be over one's head" (in debt, etc.), "to be soaked (in wine);" in Greek Christian usage, "baptize;" from baptein "to dip, steep, dye, color," from PIE root **gwabh*- "to dip, sink." Christian baptism originally consisted in full immersion. Related: Baptized; baptizing.


texts:
Is there a single word that means "said as if offended"?  As in:

  "Who owns the beater Dodge parked by the back door?"
  "Beater?" a bearded man said in a wounded tone.

Is there a more concise way to say "said in a wounded tone"?


texts:
In an episode of How I Met Your Mother, Marshall addresses the following sentence to Kim Kardashian: "You're right, super hot lady who my wife keeps telling me why you're famous but I keep forgetting."

This sentences sounds technically "incorrect" - usually when there's a relative pronoun like "who", the antecedent is not restated. E.g., we'd say "lady who is famous" rather than "lady who she is famous." But in Marshall's sentence it seems like there's an overabundance of subjects.

I myself probably use similar sentences regularly, simply because in English it seems that there is no good alternative. Is there a better way of stating Marshall's sentence? Any insights into this type of usage?


texts: What's the word for words that roll off the tongue?

texts: I'm looking for a single word for words that are fun/easy/pleasant to say—words that roll off the tongue, so to speak.


texts:
I'm not a native speaker so it might just be me finding this strange, but why is the auto in grand theft auto at the end?

Shouldn't it be grand auto theft or something like this?

I thought the expression described the crime of stealing cars?


texts: Is it proper to use "it's" as an abbreviation for "it has"?

texts:
A recent story in the New York Times quotes somebody as writing:

  I want the board to hear from Uber employees that it’s [sic] made the
  wrong decision ...

The [sic] here implies that this usage is incorrect. However, it's can be a contraction of both it is or it has, and expanding it out as the latter seems fine to me:

  I want the board to hear from Uber employees that it has made the
  wrong decision ...

Is the NYT being hypercorrect?


texts: "Split in half" vs. "split in two" — which one is correct?

texts: Does the "in" imply multiplication, in which case split in half is correct, or is it division? It sounds like the latter to me, but I've heard it used both ways.


texts:
Is it correct to say "know your place" to someone that is being rude to an elder person or someone important?
And are there other phrases that can be used?


texts: Is this sentence correct: "I want you to accept me just like I do to you"

texts: I know I can simply say it as "I want you to accept me just like I accept you". However, I want to know how can I say the same sentence using ellipsis.


texts: To what extent is hardly a negative adverb?

texts:
The American Heritage Dictionary notes about adverbs like hardly that

  they are not truly negative in meaning.  The sentence Mary hardly laughed means that Mary did laugh a little, not that she kept from laughing altogether, and therefore does not express a negative proposition.

However, they are similar to negative adverbs in that they combine with any and at all, as in “I hardly saw him at all.”

With this in mind, which sentence below would be correct?

  A) Putin is hardly popular among Germans, but so is the prospect of a scrap with Russia on Ukraine’s behalf.

  B) Putin is hardly popular among Germans, but neither is the prospect of a scrap with Russia on Ukraine’s behalf.

[Source for (A):  ‘Was Ukraine Betrayed at Geneva?’ by Rajan Menon, http://nationalinterest.org/commentary/was-ukraine-betrayed-geneva-10306?page=1]

I would say (B), since the idea could be paraphrased as follows:  Putin is not popular, but neither is war with Russia.  But would this be true for any compound sentence where the first clause contains hardly?  Or would it depend on whether hardly is indicating a truly negative quality or a minimally positive one?


texts:
I’m having trouble convincing a client that the following phrase is correct:

  Price is per couple and subject to 10% service charge and applicable government tax.

My client doesn’t believe the sentence (or it appears, any sentence for that matter) should have the word “and” appear multiple times. His suggested edit is:

  Price is per couple, subject to 10% service charge and applicable government tax.”

Would love it if you could help clear this up for us and shed some light on the best way to phrase this sentence (without splitting it into two).


texts: Is the sentence "You have been short-listed for next phase of the interview." correct?

texts: I want to communicate to a candidate that he has been shortlisted. Should I say that "You have been short-listed" or "You are short-listed"?


texts: "all in one" - how else can this be said?

texts:
How else could this be said?

Our package is all in one
Our package is all under one roof

How many variations of this expression are there?


texts: Pool or billiards in 1890s American South?

texts: Which term is more likely to have been used in Georgia around 1893? I found a British website which explains the origin of the modern game known as American pool (http://www.tradgames.org.uk/games/Pool.htm.) They say that all the predecessor of all modern "pocket billiards" games was American fifteen-ball pool or "sixty-one pool." They also say that "continuous" pool (the same as fifteen-ball pool but with a different scoring system) replaced fifteen-ball pool as the championship game in 1888. What I am not sure of, however, is if the generic term for these games was "billiards," "pool," or something else in the 1890s American South.


texts: comma to set off two verbs/phrases with different prepositions

texts:
If I write a sentence that makes use of two verbs each relying on a different preposition, is it advisable to add commas to structure the sentence and to guide the reader, or is it not necessary (or even detrimental) to do so?

An example:

  It has now become clear that Mister Smith had knowledge of, and in fact drew upon, Mister Brown's book.

What about phrases such as the following:

  This seems to be the backbone to, and the original contribution of, Mister Brown's book.


texts:
In software development there is the phrase "cut a release," which means "to create a final package of software ready for distribution" and may include the distribution itself. I've used it for years without thought, but suddenly realized it's not an obvious phrase at all. So, where did the phrase come from?

The oldest usage I can find is 1989's "Project Athena's Release Engineering Tricks": "We currently have to handcraft a kernel and boot-blocks to fit, each time we cut a release."

Digging through the entire set of verb definitions for "cut" in the online Oxford English Dictionary, I can find near-hits, but no direct connections.  There are no entries for the phrase "cut a release. My best findings were:

"To severe, divide (a connection, association, etc.)" - Perhaps in the sense of removing a version of the source code from it's development process.

"To record; to make (a record)." - This is audio specific, but maybe it drifted? Example usage included "cut a disk"

"To sever oneself, free oneself, escape." - This is in the context of "cut loose," and I can see the idea of software "escaping."

"...perform, or accomplish (something). Chiefly in to cut it: to succeed, to deal with something effectively; to meet an expected or required standard in the performance of a task, to measure up." - This is a draft addition. Releasing software is often a task to be dealt with or to succeed at.


texts: "Owe" and "own" sound similar but have nearly opposite meanings

texts:
You can own a beer, or you can owe someone a beer. These are approximately opposite statements of your wealth (in beer).
I can see some references that both are "From Middle English owen, from Old English āgan" (owe, own) but that doesn't really explain how the modern words came to be as they are.
Since "owe" and "own" share a common root or origin, how did they come to have such a distinction?


texts:
I stumbled upon the word "impolitic". The original text deals with Chinese philosophy and would probably be more of a distraction than a help. I did my best to clarify the question through searches. Below is what I found:

  Impolitic appeared 400 years ago as an antonym of "politic," a word that basically means "shrewd," "sagacious," or "tactful." "Politic" came to us via Middle French from Latin politicus. The Latin word, in turn, came from a Greek word based on politēs, meaning "citizen." "Impolitic" has often been used to refer to action or policy on the part of public figures that is politically unwise-from British statesman Edmund Burke's judicious "the most ... impolitick of all things, unequal taxation" (1797) to People journalist James Kunen's ironic "The author of these impolitic remarks has risen to the very pinnacle of politics" (1988).Webster Dictionary

Although that seems like a wealth of information, it left me with too many interpretations. Some of these would include:

  tactless, ill advised, unbecoming of a citizen.

May I use it in all of these senses? Are some of these common? I would be greatuful for examples.

The dictionary itself gave a quote that seemed to support "ill advised " . "Impolitic remarks",on the other hand, poits to tactless.

  Indeed, Mr. Darcy, it is very ungenerous in you to mention all that you knew to my disadvantage in Hertfodshire---and, give me leave to say, very impolitic too--for it is provoking me to retaliate... Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 31

EDIT:

the examples have been extremely helpful. It seems the typical inpolitic move is politically ill advised and tactless. Would it be wrong to use the word for a political deed that was ill advised, but not tactless?


texts:
I want to describe my business and want to refer to it in a sentence.

I am trying to say:

  "In 2015 we established a business (that is) named X".

Intuitively, the "that is" part is redundant, and makes the sentence more cumbersome. But I cannot think of a reason why we should be able to drop the verb.

Is the version without the "that is" part grammatically correct? How can it be explained?


texts: Word or phrase: To convince others to do wrong

texts:
I'm looking for a word or phrase that describes somebody who convinces other people to do wrong.
"Coercion" comes close, but I'm looking for something that doesn't imply a threat.
"Ducking" is a prison-slang term for when a prisoner gets the guards to do things for them.  I would be happy with this except that it's very specific.
"Brainwashing" is almost halfway close, but not really.
Real-life examples are rather grim, such as a person who convinces another to be a suicide-bomber, or perhaps racism in general.

I'm a racist because I was _____ed
Watch out for Henry, he's a ______

I would be particularly happy with an answer if the word/phrase was meant to be used as an insult.


texts:
What do you call a meal where people serve themselves or food that is arranged on a table?

Thank you


texts:
I made an analysis on these four sentences, I would like to know if I am correct regarding the answers.
 This is how the question goes;

Comment on the highlighted group of words

The fact that Lionel writes fast cannot be true.
Jonny became happy that they were finally leaving.
Everybody expected we would win the match.
The house, if care is not taken, will be demolished.

These were the answers that I provided accordingly

Adjective clause functioning as subject
Adverb clause
Nominal clause
Non defining clause


texts:
"The pain kept increasing."

I was looking for a substitute of "increasing" that expresses the idea that pain didn't subside and instead intensified.

I have overused these words (increasing, worsening, getting worse, intensifying...); so, I'm looking for some other words to capture the expression.


texts: Is "may the force be equal to mass times acceleration" proper English?

texts:
There is a meme going around in which a game-show contestant is given the phrase:

  May the force …

And they finish the phrase with:

  … be equal to mass times acceleration.

My question is whether the sentence

  May the force be equal to mass times acceleration

is grammatically correct. Would a member of the 'grammar police' point out that this is wrong? i.e., Would it be proper to show a third geek complain about this sentence? And if so, what would they say?

I have a suspicion that the word "may" cannot be used for a statement that is always true. However, maybe there are other problems with it that I am not aware of, as it just feels wrong to me.

Edit: Explanation of the Meme.
The phrase "May the Force be with you" is a well known phrase in geek culture, from the Movie Star Wars.  However, in that instance "May" is used to express a wish, and it's possible that the force will not be with someone.  In the context of physics however, that equation can be assumed to always be true. It is a "given".


texts: On the usage of the prepositions for the word "Globalization"

texts:
I'm a bit confused with the usage of the prepositions for the word globalization.

Should I say:

  In order to achieve globalization of digitization...

or

  In order to achieve globalization for digitization...

or

  In order to achieve globalization on digitization...

or something more applicable?

PS: I'm developing a facebook app that's like Branchout. However, instead of finding jobs, networking professionally, and recruiting employees, this app is about meeting new people - it is a combination of a dating site, Branchout, an internet forum and anything you can think of that have to do with interacting with strangers. It connects people together in different ways. (As the application is still under development, I can't tell you about the key ingredient that digitizes people's lives. Just bear in mind that this is the digitization I am talking about.)


texts:
(Yes my name is Stephen)

Over the last few years, I've noticed almost everyone pronounces "Stephen" not as "Steven", but as "Stefan".  Before about 2012, I very rarely heard "Stephen" pronounced "Stefan".  Now, it feels ubiquitous.  New acquaintances, uber/lyft drivers, landlords, etc. use "Stefan" the moment they see the 'ph'

I keep wondering when this shift occurred, and if Stephen King has to constantly correct people when they see his name.

My working theory - Steph Curry has something to do with this.

Edit: I found this which explains why the 'ph' is pronounced as a 'v'.  I'm really wondering why I've had to correct almost every new person I meet.

Edit 2

Currently, I'm living in a big southern (South Eastern US) city.  When I've traveled outside of the south, I've been routinely called "Stefan", its only been the last 5 or 6 years that I've been routinely called "Stefan" in the south.

At least in the south "Stephen" and "Stefan" are two distinct names, and "Stephen" (pronounced "Steven") is the overwhelming favorite in the southern US.


texts: What exactly constitutes a verb in English, and is it the same thing as a predicate?

texts:
In the following sentence:

  John McAdam and Thomas Teleford made important advances in road construction during the early 1800s.

Why is "made advances" not the verb? Are predicate and verb the same thing?


texts: What is an adjective to describe something that creates questions and thought

texts:
Words like "questionable" don't fit because they relay the wrong information. Using "questionable" could state that the noun itself is out of place when I want the reader to interpret that the noun is being described.

"Don't create _______ movie scenes if you're unable to answer them later."
or
"Don't create television scenes that produce questions if you're unable to answer them later."


texts:
Is this sentence correct (especially the usage of whom)?

  In addition, it might jump to a random vertex in the graph, whom the
  current vertex is not necessarily connected to, with a certain
  probability.


texts: What does the killing in "Killing Eve" mean?

texts:
There is a TV show named "Killing Eve" and its Chinese translation basically means Eve is killed or to kill Eve. But I wonder whether killing can be an adjective here to describe the state or action of Eve. And it means Eve is killing others.
1. Eve is killed. / To kill Eve.
2. Eve is killing other people.
Which one is right? Thanks a lot.


texts:
I found on englishplus (accessed on 23 Dec 2012) that the phrase 'kind of animal' refers to a category of animal.

  If you are using an expression like kind of, sort of, type of, or variety of, then you are putting the person or thing you describe into a category. Therefore, such expressions should not apply to one specific individual of the type.

    Incorrect: He is the kind of leader we need.
     (You are referring to a specific person in the subject and to a category in the predicate.)

    Correct: He is like the kind of leader we need.
      (You are referring to a category, and he is an example of someone in the category.)

The confusion I have is that I feel now it is inappropriate to say “Spot is a kind of dog” (where Spot is a proper noun and the name of a certain dog). Instead, one should say “Spot belongs to a kind of dog” or “Spot is of a kind of dog”.  The idea that “Spot is a kind of dog” is incorrect follows from “He is like the kind of leader we need” being said correct by the above reference.

Then, I referred to the OALD. Its first sense for the noun form is:  “a group of people or things that are the same in some way...”.  To me it seems to validate the explanation at englishplus.com. But then it gives the following examples, among others:

  The school is the first of its kind ...
  They sell all kinds of things.

(1) seems to match with the theory that kind is a group.
(2) seems to suggest that kind is not a category but perhaps a common noun – since it is 'sell'able.

In the kind of animal phrase, I assume that of animal is a prepositional phrase acting as a qualifier of the noun kind used to select the kind required. Therefore to say that I am referring to a category of animals, I use the phrase kind of animal and then to show that T is an animal of this category, I say: “T is an animal of a {kind of animal}”  (ie, T is an animal of a kind of animal). Now, I have never come across such a sentence in my life. Please help me understand the source of the confusion and the correct usage of the word kind, whether as an idiom or by proper grammar.


texts: Which one is correct in a sentence: "Thanks, name" or "Thanks name,"

texts:
Which one is correct in formal email writing? In Google, I could not find the complete sentence which includes name.

  Thanks David, for letting me know.
  or
  Thanks, David for letting me know.


texts: More formal synonym of "bullshit artist"?

texts:
I need more formal ways to express three related terms: bullshit artist, BS-ing, and the art of BS-ing.

Edit -- providing some context:

The type of BS I need to talk about is the kind that inflates the success of a program.  So, I found the following verbs relevant to the situation, by looking at synonyms of exaggerate: magnify, distort, misrepresent, falsify, stretch, embroider, boast, hyperbolize, and the best of all: lay it on thick.

Somehow I would like to capture the artistry aspect.

I will be speaking in public and I have to use formal language; it would be good if I could be subtle, too (but still get the idea across).


texts: nervous to be standing up here vs nervous standing up here

texts:
I'm so nervous to be standing up here.

  I'm so nervous standing up here.

Is there any difference between these two sentences or do they imply the same thing and you can simply omit the 'to be' part?
Just in case the context is where you're standing in front of a lot of people and you're nervous!
Thanks in advance.


texts: A increases B vs. A leads to an increase in B

texts:
I am not very sure about the differences in the tone and the implication between the following:
i) Printed books increased literacy.
ii) Printed books lead to an increase in literacy.
Are they different in that: "i)" points out a direct cause whereas "ii)" shows merely a positive connection but allowing other direct causes for the increase?
Regards,
Leon


texts: Looking for a word that describes a little known but nevertheless influential person, group, etc

texts:
Heard an old joke about someone trying to namedrop.  The person they were talking to didn't know who they were talking about, so they said, "Well, they really are very famous, even though most people don't know who they are."

But there's a kernel of truth in that old joke, namely that someone not all that well known can still be very influential, though they are by definition not very famous.  Further, certain people really like the idea of knowing people like this, since it makes them feel like they are "in the know".  I'm not talking about conspiracy theories, like the Head of the Bilderbergers or Masons or something.  I mean, perhaps there is some fashion designer that fashion designers are all copying, or some music mogul who pretty much decides what the next pop music style is going to be.  And then the internet is rife with urban legends of people who can build up a product's brand through anonymous viral marketing.

Is there a single word for people, organizations, what have you, that fit this description?


texts: How do I handle articles with parenthetical statements?

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
“a/an” preceding a parenthetical statement

If I were to use a (normal) parenthetical statement, the article would not cause problems. If I were to use a (unusual) parenthetical statement, the article seems incorrect.
How should I proceed? Is one of these options correct:

This is a (unusual) statement
This is an (unusual) statement
This is a(n unusual) statement

The last seems most appropriate to me but I suspect that is due to me and not the appropriateness of the sentence.


texts: Is there a specific name for the line commonly drawn under arithmetic problems?

texts:
Basic problems are often written as:

 3
-2
--      <-- Is there a name for this?
 1


texts: What's another word for "perfect analogy" / "non-analogy"?

texts:
Is there a word to mean an analogy so perfect that it is no longer considered an analogy?

For example, what may be a suitable word in the sentence below? :

  ...The analogy eventually breaks down, as all analogies must. If it
  didn't it wouldn't be called an analogy, it would be called a
  _______ .


texts: Can closings be made up or must one of the common ones be used?

texts: There are common closings such as "respectfully", "Best Regards", "Yours truly" etc. but if you have reason to make your own is that allowed or is it more of a formality that is set in stone to used a prescribed one? For example if one is writing an e-mail or letter to people they will be playing soccer with, can they end with "See you on the soccer field"? Also how should the grammar be treated? The first three examples I gave are followed with a comma but if I can use my own made up sentence would it follow the normal rules of grammar (e.g. See you on the soccer field.)?


texts: Which determiner to use with degrees: “a” or “my/his/her/your”?

texts:
Examples:

She has a PhD in biophysics.
She has her PhD in biophysics.

And:

He has a black belt in judo.
He has his black belt in judo.


texts: What is the meaning of 'to be recessed 0.2mm in area shown' in a drawing


texts: Comma rules - found a lot of special rules, but not general ones

texts:
I have read a lot on proper punctuation:
grammar.ccc.comnet.edu
grammarbook.com
And some more...
Now I remember my English teacher warning me that in English, you should use a lot less commas then in Hungarian (my mother tongue). The English writers rarely use commas, but they use a lot shorter sentences too - she would say.

So, I've been banging my head against the wall over this sentence:

  It is like the logic of the Rubic's cube where the sides consist of different colours and each and every small square is part of a system that should be evaluated as a whole.

I'd be inclined to add commas like this:

  It is like the logic of the Rubic's cube, where the sides consist of different colours, and each and every small square is part of a system that should be evaluated as a whole.

I'm pretty sure about the first one, though it doesn't really fit any of the 11 or 16 or XYZ number of rules on the sites I have checked. (Not elements in a series, not independent clauses, not introductory element, not parent element, not a list of adjectives. They do not fit, like I have said, any of the mentioned cases in the sites I have checked.

Still, without a comma, I find it a bit too long and maybe even confusing.

So, three questions:

In this sentence, should I use commas? Where?
Is there a general rule, or a good site I should turn to for reference?
If in doubt, do I go for better readability with probably unnecessary commas, or should I just do it without commas and sacrifice readability?

Thanks! Hope this is not totally off-topic here.


texts:
If I call my mother when I am done shopping in the morning, I might tell her "I am coming home" if she is at home, but "I am going home" if she is not.

That afternoon at home, discussing the day's events with my father, I could say "I had already planned to come home after shopping," or "I had already planned to go home after shopping."

Which is preferred, and why?


texts: Multiple meanings of "I hope that you will prove them wrong"

texts:
I were recently told that the sentence "I hope that you will prove them wrong" should have two or more meanings 'in-sentence', but not how and this is bugging me!

I can only make sense of this 'out-of-sentence', by making demands to the previous sentence, either making "that" point to a previous statement "I hope that! You will prove them wrong" or by making the action "you will" point to a previous statement "I hope that you will! Prove them wrong"

(The multiple meaning could also be from dual meanings of words too, like bat->animal and baseballbat. I don't see how this would apply though)

Can you see more ways of interpreting this sentence?


texts:
Three Laws of Thermodynamics (paraphrased): First Law:  You can't get
  anything without working for it. Second Law: The most you can
  accomplish by work is to break even. Third Law:  You can't break even.

I stumbled across the above joke (from the webmaster's viewpoint, but see jwpat7's comment) and it made me wonder if "paraphrasing an equation" can be used in a more formal context. The construction I have in mind is

  First, I consider the relation between mass and energy, which, paraphrasing, says that ...

Is this construct acceptable?

In the second quote, relation stands for mathematical relation in specific reference to an equation. A more accurate example is the following

  First, I consider the equation relating mass to energy, which, paraphrasing, says that ...

Bonus question: which or that?


texts:
What is another word for "ugly side"?
How do I say "X reveals the ugly side of Y" in another way?
Edit: Sorry, I should've made this clearer.
I wanted another word for "ugly side" but without the "side" if you get what I mean.
For example: "This reveals the ugly side of his ideal"
I was thinking of using 'ugliness' instead of 'ugly side' but I wanted to know if there were better options.


texts: Prepositional phrase as adjective or adverb phrase?

texts:
Please if any one could help
Thank you in advance
Circle the adverb or adjective phrase in each sentence, then tell what kind it is.
My question is : Which is the preposition phrase in the question below doing the function of adverb or adjective phrase ?
Many of the viewers responded to the poll.
I suggested (( to the poll )) = ADV phrase modifying the verb responded, but as you see one book mentioned it can be the focus on ( Many ) = pronoun and here ( of the viewers ) can tell who are those viewers ? = those who are responded to the poll and not other ones. So, perhaps it is understood on this way or on the way I mentioned first.


texts:
A colleague asked me this question, and I couldn't come up with an answer that satisfied him, so I'm wondering if anyone can help:

Why does a man with a short temper become a short-tempered man?
In other words, why do you need the -ed at the end?

Are there any special rules for this?


texts: What does the term "delicate genius" refer to?

texts:
Do a Google search for delicate genius and you will get many results, none seem to be a definition though.

I was referred to as a delicate genius today after making a mistake at work. I am not a lawyer or a doctor. I was not sure what was intended by the phrase, I thought it was because I usually pay a lot of attention to details to avoid such mistakes as the one I made today.


texts:
Does the first bold sentence mean: "replacing feelings of decency and compassion for other lustful feelings..."
Does the second bold part mean " prior to hanging from the shower head"
What does "Significance" mean here?

Context:

Taking prurience over the boundaries of decency and compassion, authentic scene-of-crime photographs abound, with titles like, The back of the head of a woman who was killed by a blow with a piece of timber, Victim of asphyxia by hanging and – most horribly pathetic – The body of a young female inside a bath tub with hands tied, prior to suspension from the shower unit. There is abundant information about matters such as Suicide by self-cutting and self-stabbing, Examination and Significance of ‘tied up’ bodies...

Sian Ede (Art and Science)


texts:
According to a grammar book called Grammar in Use

  Before a noun we include to be when the nouns tells us what the
  subject is, but often leave it out when we give our opinion...We leave
  out to be in formal English.

For example :

  He walked into what seemed to be cave. ( not ... what seemed a cave.)

  She seems (to be) a very efficient salesperson.

  The job turned out (to be) far easier.

And apparently we cannot omit to be  if linking verb is followed by a verb as follows :

  The television seems to be working okay now.

I couldn't find many references regarding this question on the internet so I'd like to ask  that do we have to omit to be especially in formal writing even if it is followed by a noun phrase? or is it a strict rule always true?

And can we omit to be before a verb or noun phrase in casual writing as follows ? How do they sound?

The television seems working okay now.

He walked into what seemed cave.


texts: A Verb for a Child Conducting a Conversation between Toys

texts:
I feel like there is a word (more specific than conducting) for this, and that I might even have known it at one point. The word, of course, doesn't have to be limited to this one situation with a child and toys, but it seemed to be the easiest way to get across the idea.

  She ___ the dolls talking about their day.

etc.

Thanks!


texts: Expression indicating lack of regard for someone of higher social status

texts:
I am looking for an expression to use in an argument to indicate a lack of regard for the qualifications of an opponent. (This would be used in the context of wishing to be judged solely on the merits of my argument, but this is not required in the expression I am searching for.)

I seem to recall something in a poem (or perhaps even a piece of prose drama) — something like “…care/fear not for prince or (?)…”. It would probably be 19th century or earlier. However googling for it is hopeless because of prince, and it may be gentleman or something else, anyway.

Ring a bell with anyone?


texts: A word for someone who never had a mate because he/she has a high standard


texts: Ask about Past simple and past continuous tense

texts:
Which one I should choose for this sentence: As soon as we walked into the room, we (were hearing/heard)_____ a noise. Someone (used/was using)______ my computer.

I think I will choose "heard" & "was using" because the act of hearing happened in the middle of the act of using computer.

Please help, thank you very much!


texts: Single word to differentiate animal that likes everyone vs. "one-person dog"

texts: What is the English word that means "likes everyone" (as opposed to being attached to one person)?


texts:
Is it correct to have a comma before the closing quotation marks in a case like the following?

  “The combination of wet weather and time of day make this a dangerous stretch of road. Drivers have to take extra care in these conditions,” Officer Neville Plodd said.


texts: I need one single word that is synonymous to "bold display of power/might/hold/domination in some place" .It would be much appreciated if someone can provide me a noun otherwise a verb will also do it.


texts: Direct object and indirect object in the sentence "Bill promised Mary to fix her car."

texts:
In the following sentence

  Bill promised Mary to fix her car.

Maybe I can write this sentence like this:

  Bill promised Mary (for Bill) to fix her car.

Bill is the subject of the verb fix, and also the verb promised. So, promised will have two objects: Mary and the clause (for Bill) to fix her car, one is the direct object and the other is the indirect object.

Which is the direct object and Which is the indirect object? Why? (By the way, I don't know if it is right to analyse this sentence in this way.)


texts: When/by whom was the computing use of "agnostic" to mean independent coined?

texts:
Agnostic, as a term to refer to a particular philosophy with respect to spirituality and mysticism, was coined by Thomas Huxley; Wikipedia gives the date as 1869 while Wiktionary says 1870, but the point is that it's from the the latter half of the nineteenth century.

Wiktionary also gives as a meaning

  (computing) A software component (or other entity) that is unaware or noncommittal regarding the specific nature of the components with which it interacts

about which this site already has a couple of questions (Odd use of agnostic, Another word for agnostic when used to suggest independence through a lack of concern).

However, neither this site nor Wiktionary, nor any other source I could find with a Google search, indicate when or by whom this usage was coined. The fact that this use has its origins in computing suggests a certain timeframe, to be sure, but I am curious about the specific origins.


texts: Word that describes a repeating pattern across orders of magnitude of scale

texts:
What word describes the notion of a simple pattern repeating itself across a multitude of scales?

For example, consider Gravity. The forces of gravity are present at the quantum scale (atoms attract each other). By combining these particles, we can go all the way to a cosmic scale, and the forces of gravity are ever-present amongst planets, galaxies, galactic clusters and onwards.

Richard Feynman described this notion beautifully when he said "Nature uses only the longest threads to weave her patterns, so that each small piece of her fabric reveals the organization of the entire tapestry."

Is there a word (or phrase) that describes the italicized part?


texts: Article Usage in Standard American English

texts:
Here is the text:

"This is a 29-year-old Arn Anderson, who looks much older than that. It seems the stress of keeping the crowds entertained every night got to him and aged him much quicker than the average person."

According to the rules, in the last phrase, it should be "an average person" because the meaning is any average person. Why did they use the?


texts: How to shorten If SVO+prep. A, then SVO+prep. B.?

texts:
How to shorten the following sentence?

  If the teacher brings a gift for Adam, then the teacher brings a gift for Barbara.

This sentence does not make much sense. My question is if there is a formula (like ·so does it·) to shorten "If SVO+prep. A, then SVO+prep. B."


texts:
I thought that "fuck" was quite vulgar and offensive. However it's used by a nine year old main character in a book aimed at children and young teenagers.

[...] even though he told him to fuck off [...]
'Fuck off, Mr. Fox.'
It never seemed to stop him [...]

So, has "fuck" become a mild swear word appropriate in children's literature?


texts:
If Hong Bo wants his new product to be successful worldwide, he must
  get out there and really peddle it.

What does “get out there” mean in this context?


texts: What is the difference between /ɚ/ (farmer /ˈfɑːr.mɚ/) & /ɝ/ (bird /bɝːd/)?

texts:
Ok, look at this vowel diagram of English language, you will see /ə/ & /ɜ/ are the central vowel. Both has the middle of the tongue raising in the middle of the mouth, except that /ə/ has to raise a bit higher than /ɜ/.

Now if we have /r/ right after these vowel, then the tip and the blade of the tongue must be curved up, but not touching the roof of the mouth.

So, for the /ɚ/ (farmer /ˈfɑːr.mɚ/) & /ɝ/ (bird /bɝːd/), I think we have to do like the following, but please correct me if I am wrong:

So, basically, /ɚ/ & /ɝ/ have the same position of articulation, except that  the central of the tongue of the /ɚ/ is just a little bit higher than /ɝ/ as showed in the 2 above pictures.

Note that: since we got /r/, so the tip and the blade of the tongue must be curved up.

So, do I get anything wrong here?


texts: What is the term for someone who causes/allows themselves to experience a similar pain to someone else as a way of empathizing with them or making it up to them? For example a person witnesses the assault of another person, and allows the assaulted person to attack them without resistance; as a way of making it right for the initially assaulted person? I believe there is a medical term for this, but I am not sure.


texts: The ability to speak eloquently and at length/knowledgeably

texts:
Years ago, I had read, and then looked up the word for this, but I have since forgotten it, cannot find it, and not being able to recall this word has driven me crazy since.

It's a rarely used or seen word that describes a person who has the ability to, or maybe it was an adjective for just the quailty of ones' speech to be eloquent, spoken with ease and at length and knowledgeably, or at least perceived as knowledgeable/educated on any given topic, via the quality of their speech.

The "at length" part I think was key to include since the word meant more than just being articulate or eloquent in general, it also described the ability to convey a depth of knowledge, whether truly possessed or not.

Something like "the author had the ability to speak _____-ly, and enrapture the audience," or, "the author was _____, able to keep the crowd utterly captivated"

Kind of like a verbosity, but in a good/convincing/skillful way.

It's not a compound word or phrase. It's not / I've searched the thesauruses for erudite / eloquent / articulate / well-spoken / persuasive / verbose / compelling / impassioned / insightful / perspicacious / trenchant... none of them really hit it on the head.

(I think the word was in a Grantland or TheRinger article, FWIT...) Maybe I'm mistakenly conflating the content of the article with another memory of some other word, I sure hope not.

Thanks for any thoughts!


texts:
I would like to use ignorably as the adverb of ignorable but I am not sure whether this is correct. I did not find ignorably in any online dictionary.

To give the context: Normally, you cannot ignore a thrown exception in programming: You are forced to handle it if you want to make you program work correctly. I have a method that does something similar to throwing an exception but you are not forced to handle it immediately. So my question is whether the following sentence is possible: An exception was thrown ignorably.


texts: "Since she had given up smoking, ..." or "Since she gave up smoking, ..."?

texts:
Since she had given up smoking, she has been looking good.

or

  Since she gave up smoking, she has been looking good.

Shouldn't it be "had given up"?


texts: Sequence of tenses in "When they do X, they do Y" structure

texts:
I got corrected when I said:

  When people heard the term "accounting graduate", they usually say "Do you work at a bank?".

I was told to use "hear" instead of "heard". In this situation, why is "heard" wrong? I thought the rule was that if the main clause (They say "Y") is in the present tense, the subordinate clause (When people heard) can be of any clause.

Thanks.


texts:
Why is Einstein pronounced with a s instead of sh, while the ei is pronounced ine?

This looks inconsistent.


texts:
I found the following sentence here:

  Consulting experts, whether in the flesh or through their published
  work, is a normal and expected part of doing research.

The part I am having a problem with is whether in the flesh. I think it means whether in person(?).

Is that good usage? I mean can I use it in spoken English? Will I sound ridiculous if I do so?


texts: Why is salt being referred to as “sodium”?

texts:
Why is salt referred to as "sodium" in nutrition facts (like on products) and similar documents in some parts of the world? Why is that nutrition facts labels in some parts of the world list salt while others list sodium (and some use "sodium/salt")?
Nutrition facts tables in some parts of the world use (their translation of) the word salt (also some English speaking areas), although there are cases of using sodium or even salt/sodium. For example, see these EU labels with  German/French/GB English/Italian and German/English/French/Spanish/Italian/Dutch terms; and this Hungarian label.
So there is the linguistic part: is it just lax wording?
And the less linguistic part: Are they referring to different things each time?
Some research:

salt: a white crystalline substance that gives seawater its characteristic taste and is used for seasoning or preserving food.
table salt: salt suitable for sprinkling on food at meals.
sodium: the chemical element of atomic number 11, a soft silver-white reactive metal of the alkali metal group.
google


texts: In 'one-way communication' is 'communication' a countable or uncountable noun usage?

texts:
I was wondering whether 'communication' in the phrase (collocation) 'one-way communication' is a countable or uncountable usage. I've seen both usages (e.g. The Guardian leaning more towards uncountable while The New York Times is more towards countable), but I'm not sure which practice one should follow.
To be on the safe side, I always add the word 'process' at the end. For example:

Customer engagement is not a one-way communication process

But I sometimes feel the wording can be a bit redundant. So any thoughts?


texts:
Is there any word or phrase denoting the sound of typing on the keyboard?
I made my research, through which I found two words from Quora — a Q&A site; those two words are: "clicking" and "tac tac." But at there, a user, namely Victoria A. Mouritzen adviced against accepting these two words, as she says in her answer:

“I almost scrolled past this, I really did: But then I realized how good of a question it really is.
Reading some of the other answers, mostly describing the typing sound as 'clicking', or another describing it as a
characteristic 'tac tac', I think that neither of those fit quite as well as I want them to."

Moreover, she gave an option to describe the sound of keyboard typing figuratively, either in a simile or metaphor:

Have you considered describing the sound in a simile or metaphor?

“Her fingers danced skillfully over the plastic keys, the keys singing out like a chorus of doors on a faulty latch.”

So here, I ask that is it okay to describe such sound as "clicking" or "tac tac"? Or should I agree with the answer of Victoria here?


texts: What is (are) the best action verb(s) for a rule and program?

texts:
I have a code that has business objects such as "rule", "rule set" and "program". A program has got one of more rule sets, and each rule set has zero or more rules. A program is a client-reward program which gives rewards to clients if they do the actions that are specified by the rules of the rule sets. Each rule set gives a reward when all of its rules are done, and the whole program is considered done when all rule sets are done.

I use the word "done" here because my question is, in your opinion, what word(s) would fit the best to say that a rule, a rule set and a program is "done"? Fulfilled? Completed? Achieved? Done?


texts: What does “I’m like, c’mon guys. I’m the president of the United States.” imply?

texts:
The Washington Post (April 14) reported President Obama's off-the-cuff remark during a meeting with donors in Chicago held on April 13th under the title: "Obama riffs with donors: Where are the cool phones, and did you hear about the emir?"

In this remark, he said:

  I'm like, c'mon guys. I'm the president of the United States.

What does this phrase mean? A dictionary at hand tells me c’mon means "come on."

Is he boasting of his being president? Or he is bitching on absence of advanced communication gadgets available at the site? The copy in question reads:

  The president, in an unscripted moment with donors in Chicago, was talking about the need to innovate in technology.

  "The Oval Office, I always thought I was going to have really cool phones and stuff," he said during a small fundraising event at a Chicago restaurant. "I'm like, c'mon guys, I'm the president of the United States. Where's the fancy buttons and stuff and the big screen comes up? It doesn't happen."


texts:
I read the news about Hefner's death and want to understand why past perfect used in the sentence I've marked in bold and caps down below:

  "But others pointed out that while Hefner launched his brand and his lifestyle off the back of that first Playboy issue in December 1953, Monroe was embarrassed by the shoot that appeared in it - and feared for her future career. She HAD AGREED to pose nude as a young woman, short on acting work and desperate for money. She received $50 in modeling fees."


texts: How should I capitalize "Keep On Running/Keep On Moving" and "Walk On Down"?

texts: These are the song titles by Spencer Davis Group/Deep Purple and Aerosmith accordingly, I know that if a preposition is a part of a phrasal verb it is capitalized, but everywhere I look, I see "Keep on Moving" (I'm guessing by the logic of importance of words) and so on, what is the correct variant here?


texts:
Is this a comma splice?   What makes a sentence a comma splice?

  Being left at the altar on her wedding
  day, Pamela became furious.


texts: Gaining a skill after some amount of time (while not actively practicing the skill)

texts:
This weekend I decided to master a song I recorded. The last time I spent time mastering a recording was well over a month ago. Before, I had no idea how to use an equalizer - I looked up a bunch of videos and tutorials, but after a few hours stopped trying because it was taking too long to figure out.

When I went to master the song today, I just started flying through the equalization process for each track like I had been doing it for years (and the quality of the sound was improved, so I must have been doing something right). I have no clue how I 'just knew' what to do, considering that I've never actually done anything like it before, with the exception of the 3 hours I spent on it a month ago.

Is there a word or expression for suddenly knowing how to do what you didn't before? Presumably, some amount of time has passed between the first attempt and subsequent attempts.

This is similar to gaining insight into a problem after sleeping on it, but with a practicable skill.


texts: What is a term or expression for a very imaginative person?

texts: Someone who has a lot of ideas and different (efficient/productive) approaches in dealing with various situations. Someone who always comes up with some/another different, unexpected way for doing/approaching things/situations. Often with interesting and/or beneficial results. I am not looking for a "dreamer". Though, this imaginative person may often, easily, "switch" between realistic and fictional topics (and mix them together as well.)


texts: What exactly does "*popular* science" mean, and what other words are there to denote things at the boundaries of "popular science"

texts:
people often make the distinction between "popular" science, and science published in specialist journal articles. If you go to the extremes, then the distinction is clear: A documentary by David Attonborough on wildlife is clearly popular science, and a journal article in Nature about "Mechanisms for the Decrease of Brain Serotonin" is clearly not.

But somewhere in the middle, the boundary starts to blur, and I am looking for words to more accurately talk about this "middle ground" between popular science writing and science writing for scientists.

For example, what I have in mind is that a book like "The selfish gene" by Richard Dawkins, is readable by a general audience and has become quite popular among interested non-scientists (does not contain specialist jargon, or complex math that requires long preparatory study), but nevertheless, Dawkins introduced original ideas and an original perspective on genetics and evolution. Even experienced evolutionary biologists could learn from reading his book.
Another example (but a different type) is "Thinking fast and slow" by Kahnman & Tversky. This book is readable by a general audience, but it is also not very far from a kind of introductory textbook on behavioral economics.

My question is: I'm looking for words that allow you to refer to these kinds of books that are not hardcore science journal articles, but also not really purely popular science. Any words that are related to this are welcome, even if they don't exactly capture these examples.


texts: Difference between 'etiquette' and 'protocol' and 'decorum'?

texts:
can someone tell me the difference between 'etiquette' and 'protocol and decorum''?
On Oxford Dictionary they appear as synonyms to each other. There were definitive  explanations of how they differ from one another online either. Can someone explain elaborately  how the words differ? (ELI5 if possible).


texts: Colloquial expression for "compliment" that carries negative feeling

texts:
What is the colloquial/casual/conversational form of the word "compliment" in this context:

A: I hate John.
B: Why? He's like a genius.
A: Exactly! He's such a teacher's pet. He's always gotta answer all the questions and Ms. Johnson is always complimenting him.

Here in Japan the phrase "Ms. Johnson is always complimenting him" carries a negative nuance. And this dialogue does not sound natural to me at all. School kids do not use the word compliment in this context as Japanese kids do.


texts: expect, anticipate , or look forword to life

texts:
I want to express a sentence "expecting your life"

It's the feeling you eagerly want to see your lover and can't wait.
It's the feeling you get up happily because you know that something will make you happy today.
It' the feeling you live full of curiosity and great mood.

Which word should I choose?
expect, anticipate , or look forword to ?

Or is there anonther word or sentence get close to these feeling??
Thank you


texts:
I am considering a social media account for updates that are personal, chatty, opinionated, and specific to my geographic location. That is to say, not career-oriented or professional.

I need a term that describes this idea. I will use it to qualify my normal account name. The term needs to be short (say 6 letters or less). I am drawn to 'hyperlocal' but it is too long.

I'm happy to entertain poetic ideas (e.g. 'garden', 'backyard', etc).


texts: Is the use of a comma appropriate here, and can there be a clause after a comma without a subject?

texts:
I am sure that this is very simple, but apparently it is not for me. Hopefully someone can help.
i am proofing a book in CMOS. Often the writer extends a sentence by using a comma before a second clause without a subject:

The courts want to make sure that justice is done, and sometimes are disappointed by the slow pace of change. Is this correct? If so, why?

Thanks very much.


texts:
While I was reading a grammar book I came upon this sentence:

  '...but it has changed because the pronoun in front of it has
  changed...'.

Why does the author use 'has' rather than 'is'?
Note: perhaps this is an elementary question, but I don't know the answer.


texts: Alternatives for the phrase "have disputed the use of"

texts:
Here is a random quote from the internet:

  American policy makers and the general public have disputed the use of aggressive interrogation methods for military intelligence.

What would be some alternatives for the phrase have disputed the use of?

Is the phrase very "high" english? The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines dispute as

  to say or show that (something) may not be true, correct, or legal

I understand it conveys a negative connotation but I find it some how ambiguous word.


texts: Recently I've found myself wondering if the sentence "Let's see if it's any plausible." is correct. I've asked a few native speakers and received an array of opinions ranging from 'absolute trash' to 'perfect usage', but nobody was able to give me definitive answer other than "It doesn't sound just right.". The way I see it "Let's see if it's any plausible." means as much as "Let's see if it's plausible at all.", which doesn't look incorrect, though. How wrong am I? I'd appreciate your view on the matter.


texts: Plural or singular verb when subject is separated by a comma?

texts:
In a sentence when subject is separated by a comma, we use there plural verb or singular verb? There are no conjunction like and, as well as in between. Like I have one sentence as :

  Too much cricket, too many teams to lead have/has left Dhoni jaded.

Here Dhoni is the name of a person.

I think have would sound more appropriate in this context as here comma denote and implicitly.  But I am not sure. Please clear up my confusion about it.


texts:
Is there a rule governing when it is acceptable to position two infinitives in a row?

E.g.: The witness plans to refuse to testify.


texts: What's the difference between an -ing noun and a real noun

texts:
Some verbs have corresponding nouns. Also, an '-ing' can be added to create a new noun.
For example:

Develop is a verb.
Development is a noun.
Developing is also a noun.

So are the sentences given below both right?

  They thought that Tom would bring a big development for this small town.
  They thought that Tom would bring a big developing for this small town.


texts: Is it redundant to use "currently" and "at the moment" in the same sentence?

texts:
For example:

  We're currently overbooked at the moment.


texts: When to use “make” versus when to use “do”

texts: I have trouble choosing between make and do in a sentence. Could someone please explain them to me?


texts:
Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing; for whatever he does, that the Son does likewise. For the Father loves the Son, and shows him all that he himself is doing; and greater works than these will he show him, that you may marvel.
  — Gospel of John

In the bolded line, does it means 'because whenever he does things, he does for his son to mimic easily'?

The Bible has so many conjunctive fors.
I wonder if every conjunctive for should be understood in the sense of because or is there another meaning in conjunctive for?


texts: is "predatory capitalism" a correct word?

texts:
Jean Ziegler invented the German word Raubtierkapitalismus for huge companies without ethics and morality. For example Amazon, Google and Facebook.

What are similar words in English? Best would be a list, where I can choose from. I am not looking for historic terms. I am addressing the current issues (2018) with monopolies and capitalism.

I am mainly interested in words for technology enterprises (e.g. privacy violations), but also for traditional companies.

Found nothing in dict.leo.org for my question.


texts: Why is using the definite article with certain demonyms used as prospective evidence of racial discomfort?

texts:
For a certain kind of person, using a construction with "the" and a demonym is hopelessly archaic, indicative of some sort of racial discomfort on the part of the speaker. For example, to say, "I am friendly with the Blacks" instead of, "I am friendly with Blacks" is often a point of comedy for some, suggestive that the speaker in actuality has a strained or unfamiliar relationship with that particular ethnic group.  As of this question's writing, a Donald Trump, a United States presidential candidate, is widely in the news, and is, to my perception, widely mocked for his continued use of such constructions.

But why should this be so? Consider: "I am friendly with the Amish" and "I am friendly with the Jews". The latter does sound a bit more strange to my ear, but neither sounds that off-key.  My question is, is there some sort of rationale or rule at what point a demonym must depart from "the" to not sound socially awkward? Is the strained quality of such constructions, which I can recognize, merely a social recognition—that is, I am recognizing that it is marked only through learned social cues—or is there in fact a deeper logic to this awkwardness?


texts:
On tonight's news there was considerable coverage of the potentially tragic case of Becky Watts, a young teenager who has been missing for over a week.

A spokesman for the Bristol police made the announcement that the man and woman who had been arrested two days ago on suspicion of her kidnap, had now been further arrested on suspicion of her murder. (So far no body has been discovered and one must assume that the reason the police have done this is to strengthen their case with the magistrates to allow them to hold the couple without charge beyond the normal time limit, for further questioning.)

From a language point of view I have concerns as to whether it is possible to further arrest a person.  The ODO definition of arrest is seize someone by legal authority and take them into custody. Given that the couple concerned were already in custody I fail to see how they could have been further arrested.

What other term do contributors think might have been used instead?


texts: Looking for the name of a type of jacket

texts:
I know this likely isn't the proper format for this, but I figured I'd try anyway. I'm looking for the name of an article of clothing most similar to the jacket-esque article worn in the picture.

The closest I've come is a cloth poncho, but that calls up a VERY different image in my head--which I'm betting will be the case for my readers as well. Any suggestions or nudges in the right direction would be greatly appreciated.


texts:
There is a title for a chapter in a book I'm reading, that reads "SHOULD I DO IT WHILE I'M SICK?". I was wondering, how would this be capitalized using the formatting suggested by the Chicago Manual of Style? I'm mostly just confused about the 'do' and the 'it'.

Thank you very much!


texts:
I am about to coin the word 'conundrous' because I needed it (and I think it deserves a place in the dictionary)!

I would like comments on what you think about that (in the context of a serious article, or I wouldn't have to ask), but the question is as stated — if you can supply one or more adjectives that are synonymous with such an adjective, that's the answer for me. :)

If there are none, I will be happy to accept close synonyms — the Merriam-Webster definition (of the noun) is here: conundrum

I'm after the "difficult problem" (but not the "pun") synonymity. It's used to describe a word from an ancient text which is seemingly not in the dictionaries; hard to find information about.

There's enigmatic, but it's just a mystery for the moment; it's not something that is by definition mysterious.

There's elusive, but I think that carries the connotation of forever escaping one's reach.


texts: they would've got away with/would've gotten away with it

texts:
Which is right:

They would’ve got away with it.
They would’ve gotten away with it.

I am interested in what we would say in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, not in the United States of America.


texts: Should I capitalize the phrase that has its abbreviation following?

texts:
I am doing a technical and scientific writing. I have been confused by this for a long time. Basically, there are two case.

A well-known phrase with its abbreviation. e.g. Global Positioning System (GPS).
Should I write "Global Positioning System (GPS)" or "global positioning system (GPS)"?
A self-coined phrase with its abbreviation. e.g. Augmented Filter Subsystem (AFS). Should I write it as "Augmented Filter Subsystem (AFS)" or "augemented filter subsystem (AFS)"?

Does it really matter? I am trying to do the best that I can. Which one is more conventional?


texts: Can the passive "to be amazed" be active?

texts:
I'm trying to find a way to write a sentence with active language where a character is amazed by something without making the something the subject of the sentence. For example:

  "Adam opened the door and was amazed to see Sarah."

Is there some way to craft this sentence where Adam amazes or something? Though, if Adam amazes then he's the one doing the amazing and Sarah would be amazed. I'm trying to find a way for Adam to be the one who is amazed, but with a different word that I can use in the active voice.

  "Adam opens the door and X to see Sarah,"

Where X is the word I'm looking for. Help!


texts:
Our Professor said that : "A, an and the can all be used to indicate that a noun refers to the whole class which individual countable nouns belong"

which I didn't quite understood. doest that mean I can use a for example with the plural noun people if I'm talking about people in general? or what exactly?


texts:
So, I want to title a talk.

Which of these is the right usage and why?

"Web Development Paradigms and Djangoic approach to solve them"

OR

"Web Development Paradigms and Djangoic approach to solving them"


texts: Word meaning "far greater than required or necessary"

texts: Looking for a word that means 'far more than necessary. Like if I needed 5 apples, but got 25, my gain or success would be described as...X. I think I may have heard 'overt' used like this in the past, but not sure. Not exactly like 'major increase', and basically the opposite of 'marginal'. Thank you guys!


texts:
Why not take the elevator? climbing the stairs will fatigue you.

I wonder what is the subject of the clause?
In addition:
Are these the same?

I try not to make errors.
I do not try to make errors.

Moreover, when usually do you prefer to use the following structure(S) like above?
VERB+NOT+ TO VERB


texts: "A friend of his" type expression for abstract entities

texts:
Like many non-native speakers, formulations like "a friend of his" strike me as counter-intuitive, but I'm trying to adapt. Now I have a strange situation: I want to apply it to abstract entities. The sentence would be:

  "What can we do with assignments and hierarchies of theirs?"

(I use assignments because I'm trying to avoid repetition. In the real text it's "blabla transmogrifying assignments").

I think this sounds awkward, and I can't recall ever having read anything like that. Is it possible that this type of construction is only valid for people? Or maybe it's a slightly different meaning of "of", and there's no possessive aspect to my usage of "of"?

I'm aware of Why do you say "friend of mine" instead of "friend of me"?
and
Is "a friend of his" a used phrase? but all the examples had a person as the possessing subject.


texts: Is there a name for this specific category of humor?

texts:
I've attempted a few searches, but the terminology escapes me. Is there a simple term or phrase that defines this type of humor? I don't think it's redirected comedy but suspect the word "literal" may appear in the phrase.

Airplane - the movie:

"You better tell the captain we've got to land as soon as we can. This woman has to be gotten to a hospital."

"A hospital? What is it?"

"It's a big building with patients, but that's not important right now. Tell the captain I must speak to him."

"Excuse me sir. There's been a little problem in the cockpit."

"The cockpit? What is it?"

"It's a little room at the front of the plane, where the pilot sits but that's not important right now."

Last Man Standing Season 2 Episode 16:

Mandy (and the other women in the household are observing the new soccer coach):

"I was just an innocent native girl collecting shells in a white cotton dress that billows in every warm breeze. And then things get nasty."

Kyle enters the room unobserved by Mandy.

Vanessa: "...Kyle"

Mandy: "No, he's not there."

Shortly after that, Kyle presents Mandy with a personalized mini-license tag with her name on it, showing her one with Karl on it.

Mandy: "That says Karl."
Kyle:  "Yeah, but I'll know."
Mandy: "Are you mad?" (Referring to her fantasy with another man)
Kyle: "Sort of. I mean, Kyle's a pretty common name."

Today's Meaning of Lila comic strip


texts:
In the expression a "winner-take-all society", I'm interested in the status of the verb: is it an infinitive or an imperative? As a related question, would it look odd to an anglophone if I wrote "a-winner-takes-all society" ? I would be quite grateful if, as a bonus, a user told me the origin of this metaphor: poker or some other game perhaps?

Edit I now realize, following Kosmonaut's comment, that there are several similar constructions in English: a know-it-all, a ne'er-do-well. And interestingly also  in French: "un vaurien" and in German "Ein Taugenichts".


texts:
I am citing the play All My Sons in an essay I am writing.

I don't want to have a lot of unnecessary content in my quotes and I am not too familiar with quoting plays, so I want to ask how I should omit lines when quoting a play.

P.S. I'm not sure if this is the right place to ask this, so it would be great if you could refer me to the best site for these kind of questions.


texts: What's a word that describes this facial expression?

texts:
Is there such a word? Find this one hard to describe:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77ZtOG6o6to&feature=youtu.be&t=6s

Edit: Hey guys I hope it's less unclear now with an added video. Please consider reopening.


texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  Shortest complete sentence in English

I seem to remember (back in the day) being taught sentences must have an object and an action and that the shortest possible was something like "do it.".

Can someone please formalise this and explain whether simply "no." is valid?


texts:
What is right?

1) "well know"  or "well-know"

2) "non central"  or "non-central"

There some general rule?


texts: What do we call when we speak a few good words about someone and saying why we admire that person on an occasion like birthday

texts: We are in a birthday party  and a group of friends want to speak about the relationship they share with the birthday boy.They talk why they admire him and about the virtues of that birthday boy.what do we call it?