texts:
What is the deadline for something due “[#] days/weeks/etc. in advance”?

For example, if something is required “seven days in advance” would providing it on Friday the week before be correct or too late (or somehow early) for the following Friday?


texts: Is the use of "that when" grammatically correct?

texts:
For example:

  Henry Fayol figured out that when a worker is assigned one
  specific task of one specific subject, he execute it faster instead of
  he execute of different subjects in equal quantities of tasks.


texts: What is the meaning of 'like' in [nothing like]?

texts:
Life at college where I enrolled in the modern art course was nothing like I expected.

My understanding is 'like' in both below sentences are same meaning with the above one.

a. At last he saw something in the darkness that looked like two balls of fire.

b. There is something child-like about Marry; she always seems so innocent.

Am I correct?


texts: Usage and meaning of the word "Ragging" in India

texts:
This is my first post here on an unwelcome situation in India, described by a word, "Ragging".

Wikipedia article states that:

"Ragging is a practice similar to hazing in educational institutions. The word is mainly used in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka."

With several meanings of the word "Rag",

OED states that it also means:

A programme of stunts, parades, and other entertainments organized by students to raise money for charity1.1 A boisterous prank or practical joke.

Longman's Online Dictionary:
ragging: (British English   old-fashioned) to laugh at someone or play tricks on them [= tease]

My questions are:

Is there any other equivalent word for "Ragging" in English?
(correct me if I am wrong) "Ragging" is formed from the word "Rag".
If anyone had ever used the word "Ragging" in UK or US (in the context  related to the meaning used in India)? (its history of usage)
If the word "Ragging" is British English old-fashioned, then why this word is still being used in India?

P.S. Please edit my post for punctuation and grammatical errors, if any.


texts: Single word meaning 'filter out noise'/remove background sources

texts: As noted in the title, I am looking for a single word, preferably short, that relates to filtering out noise/unwanted things/background noises.


texts: "A larger" vs "larger" to describe the sample size of a study

texts:
I wrote a sentence: A study with a larger sample size is required to make more conclusive remarks.

Grammarly tells me it should be, "A study with larger sample size is required to make more conclusive remarks".

Is this true? My sentence sounds correct to me. If yes, why?


texts: When refering to a claim written in a book, how do you refer to it if there are two authors?

texts:
When analyzing a piece of writing, I was taught to refer to claims made by using the author's last name. For example if Donald Duck wrote the book "How to Build Boats" and I was analyzing it, I would write "According to Duck, a hammer and nails is necessary for building a boat". What if there is more than one author and it's not clear which is responsible for any given sentence? How would then?

Also how would parenthetical references look? For example if the book was written by Donald Duck and Mickey Mouse and I wanted to quote "boats need water to float" would it look like this:

  As has been observed countless times "boats need water to float" and this would be problematic in dry desserts (Duck, Mouse).

I was also taught it's bad to refer to "the paper" or the book itself since technically it's an inanimate object that is not making the claim, the authors are. For example it's bad to say

  The book argues water is necessary for a boat to float

Come to think of it I guess the rule in context dependent, for example in an instruction manual wouldn't you say "the book explains how to assemble the chair" but in an analysis of the film Blade Runner you would say "Thomson argues that the character Roy Batty has a general disrespects for eyes" instead of "The paper argues that the character Roy Batty has a general disrespect for eyes"?


texts: Is calling someone a “Poopy Head” offensive?

texts:
Recently I followed a meta discussion where one called another who was complaining about lots of different things a "ranting Poopy Head" and I was asking myself if that comment should be flagged as rude or offensive. English is not my native language. When I googled, there were unclear definitions like this in urban dictionary:

  The single most offensive thing you can call someone. It's like the atom bomb of arguments...

So I had a look into Google images, where pictures like the following showed up:

I'm still ambiguous about the meaning.  Is it meant belittled in a friendly way or is it indeed rude and offensive or does it depend on the context of the situation it grew out?


texts: What are the component words of 'Cliffpocalypsemageddonacaust'? Can this be accepted as a practical English word?

texts:
I was amused to find the unusually lengthy word, “Cliffpocalypsemageddonacaust” in Maureen Dowd’s article titled “Watch Out Below!” in December 15 NY-Times. Dowd admits she used a word invented by Jon Stewart:

  "We have reached the quivering moment of truth that Jon Stewart calls
  “Cliffpocalypsemageddonacaust.” Other metaphors have been suggested:
  “fiscal obstacle course,” “debt bomb,” “austerity bomb.” But we’re
  stuck in the year of cliffian thinking."

Comedy Central (Nov 30) carries the lede, “The Daily Show on the looming Cliffpocalypsemageddonacaust” with Jon Stewart’s comment:

  "There's an asteroid headed toward the Earth. We made it and fired it
  at ourselves. Because otherwise we would never have done the hard work
  required to protect ourselves from asteroids."

I suppose this lengthy compound word simply means Armageddon - the end of the world, and I don’t think it’s an important, practical, and long-abiding word that I ought to stock in my vocabluary. But what are the redundant components of this word?

Is the word used particularly in the context of financial cliff, or other disasters like the onslaught of asteroids?

Additionally, is “cliffian” an accepted English word?


texts: I was lucky to have had / I was lucky I had

texts:
Which one is correct, if I am talking about something that happened in the past and already ended? This is in the context of having a good friend:

  I was lucky to have had one back then

OR

  I was lucky I had one back then

Both seem right, so which one would be better in this context?

What would be the different usage for both of the above?

Thank you


texts: What do you say "to achieve more than the goal"?

texts: Given some goals on a project, what should I use to say I achieved that and a lot more than what was expected.


texts:
I was composing an answer to one of these questions (that we get all the time), and when I tried to submit it, I found that the question had been placed on hold. Rather than discard the answer that I had spent some time composing, I thought that I would re-post the question in a more general form.

Here is the original question:

  My character loses an argument, and gives up. The line is "Willa backed down reluctantly." I'm trying to avoid the adverb 'reluctantly', but I can't think of anything.

This is really a creative writing question, not English Language & Usage, and belongs on another site. However, a canonical answer may serve as a useful duplicate, and allow us to provide some sort of assistance, rather than send people away with fleas in their ears.


texts:
When to use Universe or universe?

I'm editing a document where it is "The Creator of the universe". Is it correct?


texts: What's the difference between around the clock and 24/7?

texts: I found their definitions very similar. They both mean nonstop. Are they exactly synonymous or there are some differences?


texts: What difference does using 'had' make to those two verb tenses, and if so, what is it?

texts:
What is the difference between if I had studied and if I studied?

Can you provide an example of when one usage would be more appropriate than the other?


texts: Grammaticality of "if X then A. Otherwise if Y B"

texts:
I am explaining something that has the following structure if written in computer language:

if X
   A
else
   B

However the condition X is quite subtle, and because of this I want to recall it when I state the else statement.

Before adding this extra explanation I had an otherwise in place of my else.

I was wondering if it was proper to keep the otherwise, making the fragment read as follows:

  If [X] then [A]. Otherwise if [Y] [B]

I want to insist that [Y] is the strict opposite of [X] here.

EDIT

Even though I am not authorized to publish the exact citation, I will try to write something "equivalent":

  If x is not in X then A happens. Otherwise if x is in X then B happens.


texts: A collective name for eating related items

texts: What would be a good word that includes and covers food-consumption related items such as plates, bowls, pots, pans and utensils?  Thanks you


texts: What is the verb for bringing one's own agenda into a predetermined plan?

texts:
What verb or gerund could be used in this circumstance? I was thinking something along the lines of "affect", but I am looking for a better word.The sentence it would fit into is:

  "In Richard III, curses are used as a method of ________ (affecting) God's plan."

I'm looking for a word that carries a positive connotation and implies that the curses are being used to carry out God's plan while building onto it and swaying it in the favor of the ones who utters the curse.


texts: What is the plural form of 'apocalypse'?

texts:
It was asked facetiously on the TV show Buffy the Vampire Slayer years ago, but surprisingly I have been unable to find a definitive answer on any of the common reference sites (such as Dictionary.com), though that did inform me the word is of Greek origin, then was migrated into late Latin and further into Middle English.

Apocalypsi?

Apocalypses?

Apocalypsis?

How would the plural form be properly pronounced?


texts: Why so many curses have religious references?

texts:
In particular those of surprise or anger. For example

Bloody hell,
Oh my god,
God dammit,
Holy crap,
Jesus Christ,
F*#king hell,


texts: What is the origin and meaning of the phrase can you not? To my ear, it has an archaic tone, but searches yield entries in the urban dictionary, along with one quote from Sense and Sensibility. Its twisted syntax, potential ambiguity, and indirectness intrigue me. Part of my language heritage is from Irish American, so I also wonder if this hints at its source.


texts: If living in the countryside is rural, what do you call living by the sea?

texts:
What do you call living by the beach?

Living in the countryside is a rural lifestyle.

Living in a city is an urban lifestyle.

Living by the sea is a * lifestyle?


texts: What are the differences between "May" & "Might" / "May have" & "Might have" in strict English?

texts:
The more I learn about Modals, the more confused I get. English Modals are very unstructured or adhere to a rigorous structure & that makes foreigners hard to understand them.

According to oxforddictionaries.com

  Some people insist that you should use may (present tense) when
  talking about a current situation and might (past tense) when talking
  about an event that happened in the past. For example:

  I may go home early if I’m tired. (present tense)

  He might have visited Italy before settling in Nuremberg. (past tense, might here refers to posibility)

However, the site also states

  In practice, this distinction is rarely made today and the two words
  are generally interchangeable:

  I might go home early if I’m tired.

  He may have visited Italy before settling in Nuremberg.

  But there is a distinction between may have and might have in certain
  contexts. If the truth of a situation is still not known at the time
  of speaking or writing, either of the two is acceptable:

  By the time you read this, he may have made his decision.

  I think that comment might have offended some people.

  If the event or situation referred to did not in fact occur, it's
  better to use might have:

  The draw against Italy might have been a turning point, but it didn't
  turn out like that. (might here prefers to Ability, not Posibility)

My questions are those:

Should we always use "may" for the present & "might" for the past as suggested by this page?

That means we should never say "I may have done something", but we should say "I might have done something"
As mentioned above, people do not distinguish "may have" & "might have", both refer to the past (The past can be "present perfect", "past perfect" or "simple past". My question is:

Is there any slight difference between "may have" & "might have" in today English? For example, "I may have done this" corresponds to "Present perfect" & "I might have done this" corresponds to "Past perfect" or "simple past"?

Ex 1: The baby may have been sleeping for 2 hours (similar to Present perfect, the action lasts from the past to the present time)

Ex 2: The baby might have been sleeping for 2 hours (similar to Past perfect, the action had lasted from the past to a point in the past)

But I am not sure my thinking is right or not because noone has ever brought this up.


texts: Where should 'The' come in this sentence and where it should not?

texts:
The following is the title of a survey form

A Study on the Safety and Welfare Measures taken by the Municipality for the Scavengers

there are three 'the's in above sentence. are all the three of them necessary? or is there any 'the' that is unnecessarily used?

safety and welfare measures are specific to each municipality. so, they are  The safety and welfare measures

the municipality in the conversation belongs to my hometown. so, it is The Municipality

the scavengers work for that municipality office. so, they are the scavengers

Am I correct? please help.


texts:
Is this sentence correct?

  From early ages people like travelling.

Isn't it better to say:

  Since early ages people have liked travelling.


texts: What would you call a list of parts in a single word

texts:
What is a single word to describe a list of parts, tools, and instructions to be assembled later to form an object.
Examples:
Bag of parts/tools/instructions for a DIY crib
A group of parameters to be sent as an object with both properties and methods to describe how to build out the object (software-factory pattern,IOC)
List of car parts/schematics/assembly instructions to be assembled in the factory.

To clarify, I am looking for a general term that could apply to any or all of the scenarios above.


texts:
Both legal beagle and legal eagle are informal terms for a smart, eagle-eyed attorney or lawyer. Someone who is a stickler for the rules, and who thrives on the minutiae of the law.

Oxford Dictionaries provide a glut of examples but little in the way of history.

  ‘The entire affair will drag on for months and it could be that the legal eagles will be the only ones to do well out of it.’
  ‘The legal beagles would have to iron out the details.’

Merriam-Webster  dates the first written instance of legal eagle in 1869 but fails to list the beagle variant among its pages.

The Dictionary of American Slang defines the canine version simply as

  “A lawyer, esp a clever and aggressive one”

I thought Snoopy, Charlie Brown's pet dog in Peanuts, might be the inspiration for said term, Wiki says

  Although Snoopy's legal cases are mostly imaginary, if a Peanuts character needs an attorney, Snoopy will be that character's attorney in real life. For instance, the beagle first takes on his attorney alter ego in the strip from January 12, 1972, part of a storyline in which Peppermint Patty tries to eliminate the school's dresscode policy.

January 18, 1972

But I was wrong,  Wiktionary lists a quotation containing the term legal beagle as far back as December 24, 1921.

  For our part we are quite willing to pass the immortelles to Outerbridge Horsey, Banker Stillman's legal beagle.
  Implement & Tractor, volume 36, page 21

Was there, perhaps, another famous detective beagle?

Certainly, the two terms seem to be interchangeable and are both examples of rhyming reduplication, more common examples are: teeny-weeny, razzle-dazzle, mumbo jumbo, and wishy-washy.

Questions
1. Is the beagle variant a play on words, a mondegreen or an eggcorn?
2. What are the connotations of these terms? Can they be used negatively or are they usually positive?
3. Did another famous detective beagle, or hound, inspire the coinage of legal beagle?


texts:
As far as I know, dead as an adjective is simply the opposite of alive, or living.
Which means that there is no element of level when describing a dead person.
And yet I came across this phrases very dead too often when I hear the live game commentaries on Youtube. Plus, as I'm reading a book named A history of everyone who has ever lived, I see these sentences.

  In a hole in the ground, a man lay extremely dead. He was either
  left in this tomb by his family or perished right there, with no idea
  that he was one of the more important people in millions of years.

What are these two phrases very dead and extremely dead supposed to mean?


texts: Pronunciation of Bank, Tank, etc.: Bay-nk, Ray-nk or Baen-k or Raen-k?

texts:
What is the standard US pronunciation for words such as the following:

Bank
Rank

At least in my dialect of US English (Inland Northern), the following seem like close transcriptions:

Bank: bay-nk /beingk/
Rank: ray-nk /reingk/

However, in dictionaries that I am referencing (Japanese dictionaries of English), the vowel is given as /ae/, as in the following:

Bat: /baet/
Rat: /raet/


texts: How to parse this sentence by Joyce's in A Portrait of the Artist?

texts:
Joyce's sparing use of commas sometimes makes sentences difficult to parse for me, e.g.

  The gossip of his fellowstudents which strove to render the flat life of the college significant at any cost loved to think of him as a young fenian.33 His nurse had taught him Irish and shaped his rude imagination by the broken lights of Irish myth.

I personally "hear" commas (pauses) being in two positions:

  The gossip of his fellowstudents**,** which strove to render the flat life of the college significant at any cost**,** loved to think of him as a young fenian.33

However for the next sentence that follows the above in the book, I can't seem to figure out any configuration that makes sense:

  He stood towards this myth upon which no individual mind had ever drawn out a line of beauty and to its unwieldy tales that divided themsleves as they moved down the cycles34 in the same attitude as towards the Roman catholic religion, the attitude of a dullwitted loyal serf.

  34. the cycles: the great Irish epic tales belong to a number of groupings or cycles – the Ulster Cycle, the Fenian Cycle, the Cycle of the Kings, the Mythological Cycle.

Can someone add commas or other notations, or even split the sentence into multiple sentences, to help me understand its meaning?

My attempt starts like this:

  He [embodied] this myth**,** upon which no individual mind had ever drawn out**:** [1] a line of beauty and [2] to its unwieldy tales [...]

But that doesn't seem to be right, the second of two items starting with a preposition.


texts: Confusion about usage of "who" in a relative clause

texts:
I'm confused about two particular examples where "who" is used as a relative pronoun:

Example-1:
...people who I have no idea who are.
...people who I have no idea who they are.

Example-2:
...people who we have no idea what their intentions are.

What is the correct phrasing for these two examples? Also, is it okay to drop "who"?
I've seen instances of example-1 on various webpages; in fact, a quick google search for "who I have no idea who they are" gave 97,200 hits. So, is it acceptable in colloquial usage regardless of whether it is grammatically correct or not?

Thanks.


texts: A word to describe a person who has gone astray

texts:
What is a person who has gone astray called?

This basically refers to the person who is not following the path to success but has gone astray . For instance these lines from the psalm of life depict a person who has gone astray :
"A forlorn and shipwrecked brother "


texts:
"Although I cannot claim any experience or substantial knowledge in the area of language pedagogy, I do recognize how essential it is."
 And
"the applied, pedagogical side outstrips the theoretical side in terms of intrinsic importance, numbers of practitioners, and the securing of institutional tolerance. "
"I see the effectiveness of pedagogical applications as an important empirical test for linguistic theories. My suspicion is that, in the long run, cognitive grammar will not fare badly in this regard."


texts: Is there a word for "concerned" that does not imply "worrying"?

texts:
Is there a word that can be used in place of concerned, but that doesn't imply that something is wrong, or that the individual is worried?

For instance, the following sentence:

  A concerned parent will ask a child what happened during school that day.

means that the parent is worrying about the child, and may be afraid something had happened at school. Is there a different adjective to describe the parent that shows that they are asking because they are interested in what happened during the day, not worried.


texts: What are the equivalent idioms for "trim the foot to fit the shoe"?

texts: Say you have a beautiful shoe but its size is too small for your foot, what would you do to wear it? We Vietnamese people would recommend you to "trim the foot to fit the shoe". How would English people say on the act of doing everything to keep the wrong thing?


texts: What does V.C. mean in this passage from Sherlock Holmes?

texts:
I’d like to ask about the sentence from The Blanched Soldier by Conan Doyle.

  He was Colonel Emsworth's only son—Emsworth the Crimean V.C.—and he
  had the fighting blood in him,

Can anyone tell me what this abbreviated V. C. represents? I couldn’t find a looks-relevant definition in my dictionary.  Is this “victory commander”, since it’s about army and war? Is the “victory commander” a fixed English expression in the first place? Is there any other options that seem to fit here? Thanks.


texts: How do I replace the phrase "As of when..."?

texts:
I don't think this phrase is incorrect, but it seems awkward and I can't figure out what to replace it with! The sentence I am using is:

  As of when the man and woman take him in, his reaction in the face of danger is to curl into a fetal position.

When he was taken in and always before hand, he curled up into a small ball as a "defense".

My point in the sentence is to compare his reaction to danger before and after his major change. Being taken in by the man and woman gives a time reference in the novel in which he begins to change.

What can I replace 'As of when' with?


texts: Mixed tenses in a sentence : had to + simple past

texts:
So a story that is told primarily in simple past has the following sentence:

He had to shake him out of his trance and pointed at the battle.

Should 'pointed' follow the same tense as 'shake' and hence be 'point' or is it fine to mix in the simple past after the past perfect, in the sense of not being connected to that tense anymore ?


texts: "I was no longer working for X" vs. "I no longer worked for X"

texts:
I'm a student learning English and recently helped a friend of mine write an important email in English. The text I gave him contained the following part:

I am sorry for not replying to your email, but I was no longer working for X and did not regularly check my email box at X. When I saw and read your email, I supposed you did not need my advice anymore, as a considerable amount of time had elapsed. I apologize for not replying.

(Here X substitutes the name of the company my friend had left.)
The friend changed "was no longer working" to "no longer worked," saying I had made an obvious error, and I'm pondering as to whether he is right.
On the one hand, I've been taught that the main criterion to choose between the simple tense and the continuous tense is whether the sentence is about a regular action or, on the contrary, about someone being in the very process of doing something. This criterion seems to indicate that my friend is right. He left the company a couple of weeks before the email seeking his advice landed in his email box at that company.
But, on the other hand, I chose the continuous tense in that sentence instinctively, and I know from experience that my quick intuitive choices are usually correct. Perhaps I had seen similar phrases in books or articles. I've read a lot of them, and this really helps me write my own texts. I didn't even think as to which tense to choose - I expressed the idea as my subconscious mind dictated it. Curious, I've just typed the exact phrase "was no longer working for" in Google and got really many search results. Furthermore, I've just recalled reading an article about a message all residents of New Zealand received from their government in relation to the coronavirus, and that message contained the following sentence:

You must only be in physical contact with those you are living with.

Here the continuous tense is chosen, just like in my original text.
My question: Whose variant is better and why?


texts:
"This area is monitored constantly" vs. "this area is constantly monitored"

Which is grammatically correct?


texts: A noun which means a flaw in achieving something

texts:
It's a single word. My explanation might be vague but I'll try my best to explain.

Basically, a person trying to achieve a goal but his _______ hinder him from attaining the said. It's sort of defect or problem (something they lack) which inevitably leads to failure.


texts:
As a unit admin I’m often typing award certificates. The last line of the award citation usually goes something like this:

  Private Joan Smith actions reflect great credit upon herself, the 120th Jumping Jacks Company, the 13th fighter Battalion and the United States Army.

It was recently pointed out to me that this is correct:

  Private Joan Smith actions reflect great credit upon her, the 120th Jumping Jacks Company, the 13th fighter Battalion and the United States Army.

The first way is what I’m used to seeing and it looks right to me, but has always sounded awkward when reciting it. When I say the other way out loud it sounds better, but both seem to work. Which is correct?


texts: Salary comes from salt, but where does salt come from?

texts:
OK, this was a trick question. :-) The first part of the question is about etymology but my real question is about vocabulary. I would like to know the name of the place where sea salt is harvested. Is there a specific name for it in English?

I have found salt pan - alluding to the technique of boiling sea water in a pan to collect the salt at the end - or salt (evaporation) pond.

In Portuguese we have the single word "salina" to define such place.


texts: How to pronounce paths of links/URLs properly?

texts:
I have been watching Linus Tech Tips for a while now and am confused about their pronunciation of links/URLs. When they make an advertisement, they vary between two different pronunciations. Let me show you using the example of foo.com/bar:

foo dot com slash bar
foo dot com forward(s) slash bar

I am not sure whether they say it with or without s since it always melts with the s of the slash

My question now is: Is there a difference between these pronunciations or do they both mean exactly the same thing?


texts: 'summarized' and 'traveling' are not British English?

texts:
I wrote 2 sentences:

  The distances from A to B via different routes are summarized in Table 1.

  When traveling from A to B, note the signs.

One person from UK told me 'summarized' and 'traveling' are not British English.

I am in USA learning English. Are there really British words for 'summarized' and 'traveling'?

Thanks.


texts:
The dictionary definition is

  ten times as great or as much

I believe that this is a misnomer. The word seems to describe a process of folding something ten times; for example, a piece of paper. If you fold a piece of paper ten times you will get 210 or 1024 different rectangles.

I don't understand how the definition of this word came to be and how is it different from the phrase ten times?


texts: Comma Usage in a List of Locations in Same Region

texts:
We know that in City/State pairs you use a comma. But how would you punctuate a list of cities in the same country/region?

For example, saying:

  He visited Trenton, New Jersey and Springfield, New Jersey.

sounds clunky. Would the following be accurate?

  He visited Trenton and Springfield, New Jersey

Would it be considered ambiguous?


texts:
I expect someone lives there in
  secret, only coming in and out at
  night, with a dark lantern. We shall
  probably discover a gang of desperate
  criminals and get a reward. It's all
  rot to say a house would be empty
  all those years unless there was some
  mystery.

rot
verb /rɒt//rɑːt/ [I or T] (-tt-)
Definition:
to (cause to) decay
  The fruit had been left to rot on the trees.
  Rain has got in and rotted (away) the woodwork.
  the smell of rotting fruit

Doesn't make sense.


texts: Word for thought process debilitating productivity

texts: Is there a word that describes being stuck in thought and being unable to satiate or quench the thought process. I'm looking for a word or phrase that describes being somewhat debilitated by a thinking pattern that prevents productivity or progressing to a new though or activity.


texts: "Selfish" could mean anything from taking the last cookie to killing someone for the last cookie. Is there a harsher word for selfish that emphasises that it's wrong and/or hurtful?


texts:
"The rest is history" is an easy enough idiom to parse. It means that the remainder of a story is so well known that it belongs to that part of the past which gets to be history: it doesn't need to be told. (It unfortunately does not mean that the later part of the story, the "rest", happened in the past, aka history, and the first, earlier part did not.) People use the phrase when telling the lesser known origin story of a well known tale. (The Free Dictionary attests to this meaning.)

Except that is not how people use it, at least in my experience. Most people using the phrase aren't telling a story whose end is dubbed history, or even known by the listeners. Instead people use this phrase to avoid telling the boring part. They tell the part that is interesting or relevant and then circumvent the boring bit by calling it history. I don't want to tell the rest, so let's end here and say you all know the rest.

Now this could just be considered shorthand or euphemism, but, assuming this is a common use of the phrase (and feel free, of course, to disagree), is this usage sufficient to redefine (or append) the definition?

Cambridge Dictionary of American Idioms:

  The rest is history
  everyone knows what happened next The Beatles toured the US, made records, had zillions of groupies, and the rest is history.


texts:
How do you pronounce Git?
Because I don't live in a country that uses English, I haven't heard it yet.
In my country, some people use [ɡɪt] and others use [d͡ʒɪt].
Which is the one that most people use?


texts: "If you think it's hard to meet new people, try picking up the wrong golf ball."

texts:
What does the following Jack Lemmon quote mean:

  If you think it's hard to meet new people, try picking up the wrong golf ball.

I guess picking up the wrong golf ball must be an idiom but I couldn't find its meaning online. What does it mean? Does it have anything to do with the game itself and the rules for hitting the wrong ball?


texts: Could someone please give me a helping hand to explain or paraphrase the expressions in bold?

texts:
The expressions in bold below are incomprehensible to me. Could you please paraphrase or explain them so that they could be easily understood.

  Blockquote The literature on the Roosevelt era is immense. Virtually every major participant has written his or her memoirs, scholars have filled library shelves with analytic studies, and the nation’s most prolific writers have addressed the New Deal, the Second World War, and the outsize personalities who dominated American life in the 1930s and ’40s. Biographies of Franklin Roosevelt are only slightly less numerous than those of Washington or Lincoln, and there is little that has not been said, somewhere, about the
   president. These works are easily accessible to the student of history, yet are seldom consulted by the general public. In recent years, biographies of lesser figures—Truman, MacArthur, Eisenhower, the numerous Kennedys—have shaped popular perceptions of the period. Rummaging through the life of Eleanor Roosevelt has become a cottage industry. As a result, Roosevelt himself has become a mythic figure, looming indistinctly out of the mist of the past.

Could you please explain further about what the word "somewhere" and the phrases "looming indistinctly" and "a cottage industry" actually mean here?

Eleanor Roosevelt, president Franklin Roosevelt's wife, was one of the First Ladies of the US. "Cottage industry", according to investopedia (http://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/cottage-industry.asp), refers to a small-scale industry often operated out of a home, rather than out of a factory. But I don't think it will bring any genuine products out by just rummaging through Eleanor Rooselvelt's life. What does the author intend to tell the readers?

Thank you!


texts: A formal synonym/expression for "saying that"

texts:
I need a more formal expression for "saying that" here.  I couldn't find another formal  expression

  Saying that rape culture is an environment where emotional and physical violence against women is the norm is, in a way, normalizing and excusing sexist behaviors and beliefs.


texts: Better word for "tuition" for summer camp

texts:
I am looking for a word (in American English) to use to describe the payment rendered to a summer camp. The closest word I can think of is the word "tuition" which (in AmE) refers to payment to a school, but that word doesn't seem to be used much for summer camp.
From Google's edition of the Oxford dictionary, I see that this word originally comes from a meaning of "custody, care" in late Middle English (and before that French and Latin) which would seem to be a good fit for my use, it seems that people are not familiar with this usage as they (incorrectly) believe this word is related to the word "teach".
Is there another word that can be used here that is more likely people will understand? For now I have just been trying to avoid using any word, but that causes some sentences to be difficult to read.
Two example sentences:

[WORD] for this program is $3,900 (with a $150 early-bird discount if you register before December 31, 2020). This amount is divided between the registration fee ($750 through December 31st, $900 after that) which is due immediately upon registration, and the remaining [WORD] ($3,000) which may be paid completely by March 1, 2021, or in three monthly installments of $1,000 by March 1st, April 1st, and May 1st.


texts:
I'm trying to write something and I'm trying to say "..but this is written by an insufficient lad.." but it sounds weird.

I was wondering what's the noun form of "insufficient" ?


texts:
Given the two following phrases:

  Dollar for dollar, all donations will be matched this holiday.

and

  Private donors are offering a dollar-for-dollar match for your holiday gift.

Is that hyphenation correct? I'm going from my gut; what's the rule here?


texts:
My question arises because mathematics textbooks are usually littered with exercises, to which the verb 'read' doesn't apply well.
If I say, "I have read Apostol's Calculus," would I be unintentionally equivocating about whether or not I have completed the exercises in the book as well?
I am unsure about 'complete' as an alternative, as I feel it connotes the end of a task; also, it doesn't seem fitting if you were in the process of reading a math text ("I am completing Apostol's Calculus").
How about 'to work through'?


texts: Confusion from “men” , “the men”, and “the woman” in a same sentence

texts:
I was confused when I came across a sentence in  “The Body Politic” in New York Times (June 28). The emphasized one.

  The legal dos and don’ts suggest that the law of the father has been partly overthrown, even if the naughtiness remains hidden, away from the glare of the outside world. The club is something of a playground, a place where women and men teasingly, raucously switch traditional roles. Yet there’s a serious undertow to their interactions because the women pay men for a sexual pantomime that the men live off of. (The plot also involves Dallas’s plans to open a bigger club in which he’s promised Mike equity, a pledge that keeps Mike dancing and distracted from his own dreams.) From the way that Mr. Soderbergh shoots the opener, the lights shining into the camera and your eyes (you may flash on “All That Jazz”), it’s clear everyone is playing a role, including you.

In this sentence, “the men” are strippers who live off of sexual pantomime. And “the women” are clients who pay for their sexual pantomime, right?

Why not say “the women pay the men for a sexual pantomime that the men live off of”?

Actually, I don't know why this can be an undertow to their interactions. Since they have already switched traditional roles in that club, it is only natural to see female clients pay male strippers for sexual pantomime. Can that be an undertow?


texts:
I know the expression "every cloud has a silver lining".
I know its meaning, I know its origin, I know the meaning of individual words.

What I do not understand and failed to find an explanation for, is why would someone starts talking about a lining inside clouds. I assume the silver part is merely an analogy to the grey color of the clouds, yet if it is a lining, there is no reason for it to be visible on the outside. But what about the lining? In my understanding as well as the dictionary's (M.W.) a lining is what covers the inside of something.

How does that apply to clouds? Is it like pretending clouds are hollow? Is this about a sort of imaginary hidden treasure? I know the expression is not about a real physical lining, let alone silver made. But still, does a native English speaker understand easily how a cloud could have a lining or is the expression just taken as it is, without trying to parse it? Could someone please tell me what I am missing?

Stating the obvious, English is not my mother tongue.

Reply regarding an alleged duplication: my question is strictly about the possibility of a literal meaning to the expression, not its origin in a regular sense. I made it clear I knew both the origin story (Milton) and meaning (bright side).


texts: Is there anything that cannot be called a thing?

texts:
I understand the contradiction in my title and this post is exactly about that.

Considering the definitions of a noun by Oxford and by Cambridge, an idea is very possibly a thing. My question is whether anything is not a thing? I have seen the definitions of a thing at Oxford and other places but these are confusing to me.

My question is two-fold:

Is 'thing' a word we use to describe anything that we can imagine and is possible? (Both by definition and in casual social settings)
Is the fact that the word 'thing' is part of the words everything and anything make every possible concept a thing?

They are kind of the same question but I would appreciate a slightly different outlook to answer each. Thanks!

Note: To be clear, I am asking about the actual definitions of these words and the usage of the word 'thing'. Please read the tags.

Edit: So far, the closest I have got to answers are:

Concepts that involve more than a singular unit of itself cannot seem to be called a thing. A thing can be a collection of things however (eg. keyboards are not a thing but are things. As are the keys that compose them. Individually, they are a thing though.)
We usually call solid instances things but this is not a rule at all. (eg. the sun, a bottle of water, an empty ballon vs. a filled balloon, etc...)
Scale seems to matter. Something we might call a thing from afar might not be a thing up close (eg. the sun, a city, a person, reflections, etc...)
What's next?


texts: About the construction "It is ... that..."

texts:
A reviewer at a journal where I submitted an article writes:

There are too many instances of the awkward construction “It is … that….”

I'd be very grateful if you could explain to me why this construction is awkward.


texts: Is it normal to use ‘the second’ without a preposition in expressing ‘as soon as” or ‘no later than’?

texts:
I saw the following sentence in Time magazine’s (December 3) article titled “Betraying physical book: A book lover’s e-dilemma:

  “When electronic books first came out, I embraced them wholeheartedly.
  In fact, I was one of the first to buy Amazon’s Kindle electronic book
  reader the second it was available.”

Is “the second” used adverbially? What is the function of ‘the second’ as a part of speech in this instance? Is it common to drop a preposition (in or at) before ‘the second (minute, moment, or instant)’ in expressing simultaneity?


texts:
I am trying to construct 'alternate text' for a photograph I am submitting for evaluation. The photo is in the 'cityscape' category and depicts the harbour at dawn with cranes that are normally busy - but not are still in the early morn.

The phrase that came to mind was

  The Harbour Cranes lay dormant at sunrise in the Townsville Port. '

However, I'm unsure as to whether the 'lay dormant' phrase is correct. It elicits a sense of non movement over am extended period of time whereas I'm trying to express a sense of rest and impending awakening.

Any help with this will be appreciated.


texts: Etymology of "well" in "treat people well"

texts: I wrote treat people well. In trying to feel more deeply about this, I wondered where the word well came from in this context. Why was this word chosen to explain and convey so much?


texts: What is the meaning of "self-conscious"?

texts:
What is the meaning of "Self-conscious"?

I know self-conscious means worrying about how other people think about you. For example, I'm very self-conscious about my appearance.
But, in the next following example, I cannot how people are self-conscious in that kind of context. Can you help me?

  When we hear that someone we care about has lost a job, started chemo, or is going through a divorce, our first impulse is usually “I should reach out.” Then right after that impulse doubts often flood our
  mind. “What if I say the wrong thing?” “What if talking about it makes her feel self-conscious?” “What if I’m overstepping?” Once raised, these doubts are followed by excuses like “He has so many friends and
  we’re not that close.” Or “She must be so busy. I don’t want to bother her.” We put off calling or offering help until we feel guilty that we didn’t do it sooner…and then it feels too late."


texts: Is there a name for someone who owes a debt?

texts: I'm currently writing fiction about a firm that collects debt from citizens who owe money to various places, such as banks, or government agencies (involving government loans or unpaid taxes). Is there a word to describe someone who owes a debt, specifically money, or does it vary depending on where the money is owed to? If a person who collects debt is a debt collector, perhaps a debt collectee?


texts: What is a word for the most basic form of a term?

texts:
The English language contains very descriptive and "involved" words, I was wondering what we would call the opposite of those.

For example, words like "push" or "hot" can't be simplified further without losing their meaning. What do you call a term in its most basic form?

Example:

  scorching may imply a very high level of heat or hot.
  heat or hot are basic terms that don't imply any enhancement (How hot, how much heat).


texts: Is there an English word for "removing stem from a cilantro" (coriander)

texts: My native language has a word for that process hence I am curious to find out if English has one.  I searched for it on the Internet without success.  Apart from "removing stem", I found "removing leaves" from cilantro.


texts:
The young daughter of a friend of mine said, "I think 'suit yourself' comes from a lazy tailor," which cracked us up.  It also got me wondering.

I did the obligatory google search and came up with lots of discussions as to its meaning (even though the search was on 'history of..' or 'origins of...').  Even on our lovely Stack Exchange we have a great discussion about meaning.

Anyone know where/how it originated?  If not, I'm going to endorse the 'lazy tailor' story just because it tickles my funny bone.


texts:
I'm currently in the process of designing an app for the smartphone, but I'm running into a linguistic issue. In the app you're supposed to be able to keep track of what you did on a day, and see how much energy that costs you. I've got the following three screens:

Register activities
Total
Today

The screen "Register activities" allows you to log what activities you did that day. "Total" will show how much energy you used up, and "Today" shows the activities you registered that day.

My problem is that, though "Total" and "Today" are simple and straight-forward words, "Register activities" is far from. Therefore I'm looking for a single word that bears the same meaning. Ideally this word would also be easily translatable, though that's not a requirement.


texts:
In the example below, should I use melancholically or melancholic? Are either fine to use?

"the music begins playing melancholically/melancholic over the dancefloor."

Thanks for any input, much appreciated :)


texts: Polite alternatives to “Whatever you say”

texts:
I wish to convey that “I will comply with your request, because I have to, although I am extremely offended that you made such a request.’ in a  more concise (or passive aggressive) phrase. How?

I am aiming for something diplomatic, witty and or clever rather than sarcastic.


texts: What is my 1st cousin twice removed 4 great grandfather to me?

texts:
My first cousin twice removed married my great-great aunt, so what is my first cousin twice removed’s four-times-great-grandfather to me?

Do we share common ancestors?


texts: What preposition do we use with the adjective 'telling' when it means 'revealing'?

texts:
Example I:

  "How telling this is [of/about] the way international
  students continue to be perceived by their American peers on U.S.
  campuses?"

Example II:

  "Public opinion is telling [of/about] its culture."

What preposition should be used with telling in sentences of this kind — of, about, or neither?


texts: The phrase "damn straight" is now used as a way to emphatically agree with a statement, but where does it come from, and what did it mean originally?


texts: how to quote dialogue exchange in my essay?

texts:
If I want to quote the following dialogues in my essay, what should I do? Thank you!
"What about?" he said.
"I forget," she said. "Something real sad on television."
"What was it?" he said.
"It's all kind of mixed up in my mind," said Hazel.
"Forget sad things," said George.
"I always do," said Hazel.
"That's my girl," said George.


texts:
English grammar has been confusing me for a long time, so I want to ask some questions about the past and how you use it. I'm more interested in information about British English.

When and how do you use, for example:
haven't felt,
hadn't felt,
felt,
wasn't feeling,
has been feeling,
used to feel.

and what's the difference between them?

I kind of understand the difference, but not sure if I do it correctly.


texts: What is the correct pronoun for this sentence "Erica went to get them from the bakery" or is it already correct?


texts:
Is there such an expression like cheat somebody into doing something or cheat somebody to do something?

If not, is there a good replacement?


texts: A Noun which describes an ignorant person accusing a well-informed opponent of ignorance?

texts:
I am looking for a word which describes a blatantly ignorant person (not knowing much about certain topic) who in a debate accuses of ignorance his opponent, who knows more about the topic of discussion. The person accusing does so out of his ignorance and prepotency, sometimes to hide his lack of knowledge or believing he is well informed and not understanding at all the arguments of the "well informed" opponent.

Is there a word for this?

I thought I read it once somewhere and now I can't find it. It was supposed to be a unused or archaic word. Maybe I just imagined its existence?
Bigoted, fatuous and philistine don't satisfy the definition I am looking for.


texts:
A colleague recently pointed out that my usage of "resp." in English is incorrect, and is in fact an artefact of my native language. In Czech, it abbreviates "respektive" and is used to express

  [Text claiming X, making assumption Y]. Unless it is the case that Y' --- then X' instead.

more compactly as

  [Text claiming X, making assumption Y], resp. X' when Y'.

Is there some correct English alternative, ideally just as short? Some examples:

To address a woman in writing, use 'Ms.' . Unless you know she is married, then use 'Mrs.' instead. --> To address a woman in writing, use 'Ms.', resp. 'Mrs.' if you know she is married.
We define f(x) as 1/x for x different from 0 and set f(x)=7 for x=0. --> We define f(x) as 1/x (resp. 7 for x=0).
For odd n we define a(n) as 10. For even n we define a(n) as 666. --> For odd (resp. even) n we define a(n) as 10 (resp. 666).


texts: Is it grammatically incorrect to not change past continuous to past perfect cont. in reported speech?

texts:
"When Bill called me I was discussing the outcome of the project
with Jessie," said Daniel.
Daniel said he was discussing the outcome of the project with Jessie
when Bill called him.

Is this correct?


texts:
Is this a double negation? Is it still grammatically correct? If not, what is a better form?

  He cannot go outside (legally, not physically), because he is under house arrest.

The meaning is that he is limited from going outside in a legal sense, but not in a physical sense.


texts: Should "Applied Cryptography" be capitalized? Is it a proper noun?

texts:
I'm trying to write a cover letter for a fairly prestigious job, and I'm aiming for (arguably too much) perfection in my cover letter. I don't want to be turned away only because the hiring people though I was too careless with my punctuation and capitalization.

My sentence goes as follows:

  I hope to one day go on to complete a Masters degree in Computer Science with a focus in Applied Cryptography.

I've never been great with the technical rules of the English language, despite being a native speaker.


texts:
I want to get this phrase cleared:

  in compliance with

Is this equal to "adhering to"?

  People should live in compliance with government rules.

Is this sentence is correct? My idea of the sentence is that people should live according to rules.


texts:
Why not "messager"? Or "messenge"?

E.g. Why don't we say:

  Send me a messenge on instant messager.


texts: What a mockery of a country we belong to

texts: Can I use this sentence to express "we live in weird country"


texts:
Is "please to remind" a valid construction?

One of my collegues (not native english speaker) always uses this contruction:

please to remind
please to confirm
please to take note
please to contact me

To me (not native english speaker) it sounds gramatically incorrect, but I wonder whether it is a formal construction I maybe just don't know.


texts: A way of describing the lesbian parent that is not pregnant?

texts:
A friend of mine is in a long term relationship with her female partner. After deciding they wanted a family, my friend's girlfriend got pregnant.

Normally when talking about a couple expecting a baby you would use phrases like

  An expectant mother or Mother-to-be (i.e., the woman is pregnant)

or

  An expectant father or Father-to-be (i.e., the man's partner is pregnant)

According to my friend, having used the traditional phrases so far has led to people saying things like "But you're not even showing!" or "Well, I don't think you should be drinking!" etc... She's taken to humorously calling herself the Father-to-be instead which has got me wondering.

How would you convey the message that although somebody is a mother-to-be, they are not the ones that are pregnant?


texts: Ruining something for someone else (spoils of war?)

texts:
Lately I've been thinking of a saying that describes the following:

  Ruining something for someone else, for the sole purpose of it not being useful any more to the other party, even though you do not need it yourself in any way.

I thought that "spoils of war" / "warspoils" was a saying / "proverb" that was used for the above description, but apparently it's not really what I thought it was.

So my question is twofold:

What exactly does "spoils of war" mean?
Is there a certain saying/proverb that "matches" my description?


texts: What does the word 'collect' mean here in the sentence?

texts:
Good afternoon,
With regards to your request we would like to inform you that Europcar staff will collect the vehicle at requested hour.
An extra cost of 20,000€+vat will apply.
We remain at your disposal.
With kind regards,

I thought that the word 'collect' here means 'to prepare' according to the sentence, but the teacher said the word here literally means 'to gather something', what does the word mean. Is it possible that it means the staff collect the cars for the customers to use at the requested point, they once prepared the cars and left them for use?


texts: Question about the meaning of a sentence

texts:
The London civil servants of the 1960s and ’70s who all but ignored
  profitability as they issued directives across British Petroleum’s bloated corporate network were replaced by highly motivated managers who were rewarded for cutting costs, reducing
  risk and making money.

I need to translate this sentence into Portuguese but I'm struggling a bit to grasp its meaning. I'd appreciate if someone could help with it. From what I understood, the London civil servant hardly knew anything about the concept of "profitability" but they were still issuing directives...Is that "directive" just a normal procedure for any "civil servant" or is there any other meaning attached? I put the whole sentence so that you could understand the whole context, but what I'm really struggling to understand is the part in bold.

So, even though they did not know much about profitability, they were still issuing directives, is that right?

Thank you in advance.


texts: What is the difference between none of these, none of them and either of these?

texts:
What is the difference between none of these none of them and either of these? And are they grammatical correct?
  Here is the context. There are two links and both of links are not working for me. And I wanna tell somone this. So which option can I use in above three?


texts: What's the original meaning of "rocket man"?

texts:
Recent President Trump usage of the expression rocket man has called to mind the famous Elton John's  homonymous  song from the early '70s.

It appears that only the ODO, among the main dictionaries, gives a detailed definition of rocket man:

  1) A soldier responsible for firing rockets. Now chiefly historical.
  2) Chiefly Science Fiction. A person who pilots a rocket, especially into space.
  3) An expert in rocket science; a person who designs or builds rockets.

The dictionary also says that the origin is from the mid 18th century and that the earliest use was found in The London Magazine.

Checking with Google Books, the expression appears to be from the mid-'40s, where there is a considerable spike in usage, apparently higher than those of later decades.

Trump usage and the meaning in Elton John's song refer to the third  and second  meaning cited above, but what about the first, original meaning?
I could not find 18th century usages that refers to the first definition.

Questions:

is the original meaning of "rocket man" the one suggested by the above dictionary and does it date back from the mid-1700?
what made the expression popular in the mid-40s? Is it connected to science fiction movies of those years for instance?


texts: What do you call a building, or rooms within it, where doctors see their patients?

texts:
My understanding is as follows. Is this universally agreed?

The OED sense 2a of surgery explains its use to describe the room where a doctor sees his patients. The OED gives no indication that this sense is exclusively used in Britain.

  2a. The room or office in a general practitioner's house or a health
  centre where patients are seen and treatment is prescribed; the
  regular session at which a doctor receives patients for consultation
  in his surgery.

Nowadays where GPs work in group practices the individual rooms used by each are rarely, in my experience called surgeries. We refer to the entire building where our doctors practice as the surgery. "When you go to the village, could you call in at the surgery and collect my prescription".

As we sit in our doctors' waiting room, when our turn arrives an electronic sign with the patient's name on says 'please go to room 5'. Hence the place where you encounter the doctor is not strictly a surgery, but nowadays a room within a surgery. It is historically known as a consulting room.

As the OED explains, and as can be seen from the OED definition, a surgery is also a session during which the doctors are available to see patients. e.g. morning surgery starts at 8.00am; afternoon surgery at 3.00pm.

The OED also goes on to explain how people such as Members of Parliament, Accountants etc hold surgeries, borrowing the word from the medical profession.

  1846   Bentley's Misc. June 549   A small den [Dr. Faunce] called ‘the
  surgery’.

  1862   M. E. Braddon Lady Audley's Secret III. vii. 200   The door of
  the little surgery was ajar... The surgeon was standing at the
  mahogany counter, mixing a draught in a glass measure.

  1872   L. P. Meredith Teeth (1878) 252   In some localities, the
  dentists..crowd their surgeries together in the same building.

  1938   F. B. Young Dr. Bradley Remembers i. 1   Between six and
  eight..Dr. Bradley ‘took’ his evening surgery as usual.

  1944   J. D. Carr Till Death do us Part xi. 113   I've got to be
  back..for surgery at half-past ten.

  1964   D. Francis Nerve v. 73   I'm late for surgery... Those pills
  ought to keep him quiet.

  1975   ‘J. Bell’ Victim ii. 23   Dr. Swallow was dealing with his
  morning surgery.


texts: Word to describe an entity that is malevolent, but not necessarily aware

texts:
Not sure if this is the best place to ask, so let me know :)

I'm working on a story idea that features a parasite similar to Halo's Flood, and the Necromorphs from the Dead Space games.  Although the parasite has the 'goal' of absorbing all life in the galaxy, it is not necessarily 'aware'.  It is meant to be a sort of Lovecraftian deal, with it being no more aware of Humanity than a Human is of bacteria, at least before we invented the microscope.

Given that the Parasite is deliberately malevolent, what is the best word to describe it?  I'm looking for a word that encapsulates the same kind of danger as a storm or other natural phenomena, in the sense that a storm doesn't 'care' if it kills you, but without implying randomness or lack of agency.  I also don't mind the word not being English, as the concept may be better expressed by another language that doesn't directly translate.

If you are familiar with the Babylon 5 TV series it would be a word that describes the encounter with the First Ones above Sigma 957.  The ancient being in question almost killed someone by shorting out the power systems of their spacecraft directly from proximity, and it is explicit in the episode that they are probably not even aware of it.

If anyone has any suggestions as to a word to use, I would much appreciate it.


texts: What's the correct use of a comma when thanking someone?

texts:
When writing quick replies to emails (usually to say thank you, etc.) I've taken to using the following style:

"Thank you, Ben!

Regards,
Øyvind"

That is, I insert a comma before the subject. Is that correct? Should it be

"Thank you Ben!

Regards,
Øyvind"

instead?


texts: Is breadlike a word? Should it have a hyphen?

texts:
I'm editing a recipe and one step says that the mixture should resemble a "breadlike dough".

This word looks fine to me but it keeps getting flagged up by spell check. Is it a real word? "Bread-like" looks a bit awkward to me.


texts: anatomically correct without sexual connotation

texts:
I would like to be able to describe something as anatomically correct in the sense that I would have a doll, etc. that is essentially anatomically accurate, without conveying the sense that I am primarily referring to the accuracy of the sexual parts of the doll.

I would like to use this to refer to dolls that both have and do not have sexually accurate organs if possible.

Is there a simple and accepted expression?

After comparing search results for images using the suggested answers, I believe realistic is the best answer for this question. As is often the case, multiple answers are of good quality.


texts:
In the May 11 issue of this year's New Yorker, the ever-excellent Atul Gawande wrote (emphasis mine):

  Among those which caught my eye: a British case report on the first 3-D-printed hip implanted in a human being, a Canadian analysis of the rising volume of emergency-room visits by children who have ingested magnets, and a Colorado study finding that the percentage of fatal motor-vehicle accidents involving marijuana had doubled since its commercial distribution became legal.

British and Canadian (as opposed to Britain or Canada) match, but why isn't an adjective (Coloradan, Coloradoan) used instead of Colorado?  I'll admit it sounds correct this way, but was he (and the copy-editors) wrong to leave it as is?


texts: Past perfect continuous and use of since

texts:
I came across the following sentence with an instruction to rewrite it in past perfect continuous using the given time expression in brackets:

Govind was working in this factory as a watchman. (since he came to Delhi)

My answer:

Govind had been working in this factory as a watchman since he came to Delhi.

I am kind of confused now as Govind first came to Delhi then he started working, but I'm using 'had' with working which action-wise happens afterwards.
If I could use 'since 2010' or 'since January' then it would make sense but I have to use 'came'(simple past). So, can someone please help.


texts: What is a word that means to not take the past into account?

texts:
Short sighted is a good word that often means failure to or inability to take the future into account.
What is a word that means a failure to take the past into account?


texts: What does it mean "One year after the rings"

texts:
Is there any place to recommend to help to look up the phase unknown?
Like below:

One year after the rings
and a west coast honeymoon
We are living in a rented house
with a terrible view....

Does it mean one year after their marriage ? Thanks.


texts: Word for task that is "blocked" on another task, without negative connotation?

texts:
When describing a task that isn't running, and can't yet be started, because one or more previous tasks haven't been completed, how can that task be concisely described?

The best I have is "blocked", but

It has a bit of a negative connotation
It sounds a bit technical to me


texts: Word for a person who meets all the guests at the entrance

texts:
Could you suggest some options to name a person, someone who meets all the guests at the entrance/at the beginning of some event? Not a Chair.

I know it is not a bouncer. Instead, it should be very close to a host or a greeter. Welcomer? (welcoming person)

Update: For one event only, it is not a permanent job, just a role.

Greeter. Thanks to all.


texts: Which one is correct: Most big change or most big changes

texts:
I was watching A Conversation with Barack Obama, Bill Gates and Melinda Gates today, and when Barack Obama begins to talk, he says:

  Most big change, most human progress, is driven by...

I am not a native English speaker, but I have a feeling that it should be most big changes instead of most big change.

Am I missing something here?


texts: May a comma be placed before a subordinating conjunction following a list in order to avoid ambiguity?

texts:
Example with nonsensical language, but relevant syntax:

The authors have emphasized (a) how to study the skrill, (b) where to chip the transom and (c) how children ask questions, in order to illustrate the problem.

I understand that, as in my title question, there is generally no comma before a subordinating conjunction like in order to.  However, without a comma here, the subordinate clause would be ambiguous as to whether it was subordinate to "The authors have emphasized..." or "(c) how children ask questions."  Is it thus acceptable?


texts: Is there a term for a word made of some of the letters taken (in any order) from another word?

texts:
I'm looking for a  word to describe something.

Say I have the word "note". Then "Eton" would be called an anagram of "note".
What would you call "not" or "ton" in relation to note – possibly a "partial anagram"?


texts: It is time for "a next step" or "the next step"?

texts: Which form is proper: it is time for "a next step" or "the next step"?


texts:
How do you express "the beginning place of love?"

  Here, we start to love.
  Here, we start out our love.


texts: What's the general term for pests and everything that can harm your crops?

texts:
When you grow some cultures in your farm you need to use some products against some "unfriendly" things that might harm your crops.

Fungicides are used to kill fungi or fungal spores.
Insecticides are used to kill insects.
Herbicides are are meant to control weeds.

What word could be used for generalization of the words that I have bolded?


texts:
What is the correct way of saying this:

  I have completed three years of a six years course.
  I have completed three years of a six-years course?

And also, should it be 'six year' or 'six years' here?


texts: Can a PP be analysed as a complex adjective?

texts: In the sentence They are more familiar with this, the predicative complement more familiar with this is an AdjP, with the adjective head familiar. But what about a sentence such as They are more at home with this? Could at home be seen as a complex adjective here, despite its actual PP form? If not, how would we parse the predicative complement here (all levels)?


texts: I've been wondering whether the sentence in question is correct. I've come across this a lot of times even in professional books, but Google changes it into "Surprising as it may seem".


texts: In a conversation, do native speakers people call each other by name?

texts:
I've noticed a particular behavior in the frequency of mentioning the person's name we're talking with.

I'm Italian, in my language we are used to calling each other by our first names during a conversation, simply to enforce a message or to confirm the communication channel between the talkers.

But, I've seen that English native speakers do this less often, if at all.
Instead, Indian people tend to use the person's name a lot during a conversation, maybe even more so than Italians.

Can someone confirm this practice?
Is frequently referring to  the addressee's first name  in a conversation perceived as a sort of privacy invasion?
Have there been any studies on this phenomena?
Or was this an isolated case due to the speakers I had experience with?


texts: Meaning of "breakers close beneath her lee" in Byron's Don Juan

texts:
From Byron's Don Juan, Canto II:

  Some lash'd them in their hammocks; some put on
       Their best clothes, as if going to a fair;
  Some cursed the day on which they saw the sun,
       And gnash'd their teeth, and, howling, tore their hair;
  And others went on as they had begun,
       Getting the boats out, being well aware
  That a tight boat will live in a rough sea,
  Unless with breakers close beneath her lee.

In my understanding, the meaning here is "with breakers that are just below the gunwale (top edge) of the lee side of the boat". Am I right?

What puzzles me is that breakers (a kind of wave), thinking logically, should appear not leeward but windward of a boat.


texts:
There's a relatively common saying, used by at least some speakers of modern English:

I'll tell you what let's do.

What meaning of let's is used here and what is happening grammatically? It doesn't seem like an imperative.

You can find many instances of this from published books. Many from this millenium. See here for details.
It has been used in Futurama, To Kill a Mocking Bird, and famously by Gene Hackman's character, Major General Stanislaw Sosabowski, in the film A Bridge too Far:

Doesn't matter what it was. When one man says to another, "I know what let's do today, let's play the war game."... everybody dies.

There are other interesting posts regarding let's in subdialects of English, such as Is it "Don't let's" or "Let's don't"? (see all answers there). Those questions, though related don't begin to answer the question here.


texts: when do we omit the article in an OF-phrase?

texts:
When do we omit the definite article THE at the beginning of a phrase and for what reason?
Removal of skin or the removal of skin. Could someone give some examples?


texts: What is a general name for a group of people who support and defend a cause or ideal?

texts: Adherent ("a person who follows or upholds a leader, cause, etc.; supporter; follower") is the word I am considering. For example, would a group of people who support and fight for freedom be called adherents (ignoring the obvious "freedom fighter")?


texts: Is there any single word for "widely used"?

texts:
"Practical" and "useful" have positive meaning. I am looking for a word with neutral meaning as same as "widely used" that uses neutrally (examples):

Prescription painkillers are more widely used than tobacco, new federal study finds.
This is a list of British words not widely used in the United States.
Answer to Polystyrene, one of the most widely used plastics in the world, has the following formula.


texts: What grammatical structure is this parenthetical?

texts:
An equivalent formulation, generalizable to interacting systems, is to consider...

I want to know what kind of grammatical structure the part "generalizable to interacting systems" is. It is not a participle construction, right? What is it?


texts:
If someone has a strong sillage it means that their scent remains strongly in their wake.
But can sillage be used to mean ''influence'' or any other abstract meaning ?


texts:
I'm trying to convey in an essay that I often find a piece of information (an esoteric mathematical equation, to be exact) and get really excited. Is the following sentence not appropriate for a Statement of Purpose?

  Or better yet, I’m probably geeking out about a new equation I found and boring everyone around me telling them about it!

I'd really appreciate if anyone could help formalize this! Thanks.


texts:
I'm confused by the following sentence:

  Will I need to know this particular information again, and if so, will it be difficult to locate?

In this sentence, is  "to locate" a synonym of "to remember" or  "to memorize"?


texts: Can I use "had" without dependent clause?

texts:
From the common English grammar lesson, the past perfect tense with had is usually followed by dependent clause. For example:

  He had studied English before he moved to New York.

Now, if I want to say something like this:

  Yes, I had turned off the lamp.

or

  I had made two mistakes:

  ...
  ...

Is it allowed in English grammar?


texts: Can "runtime" be used for something outside a computer programming context?

texts:
The word "runtime" appears in contexts related to computer programmes as a noun for the time when a programme or part of it is executed. So far, so good.
May I, however, use the word also in other contexts not related to computer programming? May I use it e.g. as a shorter way to say "the period of time when Project XYZ is being implemented", as in:

During project runtime, the steering committee will meet at least biweekly.
Project runtime is from May 2017 to June 2018.

Or am I restricted to expressions such as

The project will be implemented between May 2017 and June 2018.
During project implementation, the steering committee will meet regularly, at least biweekly.

Other suggestions to express stuff like that elegantly are welcome.
Regaring "runtime": I looked it up in various dictionaires and text corpora, but so far I found it used only in the programming context. My desire to use it elsewhere may be rooted in my German background, as German Laufzeit can well be used for projects, cultural programmes, and funding programmes, too.


texts:
I was taught in my school days that Argentine was the correct adjective for something relating to the country Argentina. However, these days, even in common speech (but moreover in formal English on new channels even), the form Argentinian used.

My question is, is Argentine in fact the correct form and Argentinian a misconstruction of the adjective done out of ignorance, is conversely the latter correct, or are both correct in fact? In the final case, I would be curious which came first and was traditionally more common in usage in the English language.


texts:
I've been thinking about the verb 'to kill'. There are many figurative extensions ('kill a ball' (stop it); 'kill time'; 'my feet are killing me').

What happens in times of war, for example, when the core meaning of the lexeme ('to put to death') will be used more frequently?

Would you expect the figurative usages of this lexeme to decrease or remain?


texts: What is meant by "to him" in this title?

texts:
The title of a chapter in Herman Melville's Moby Dick is named:

  Enter Ahab; to him, Stubb

What is meant by this title? (I can't tell by the chapter's contents, it simply tells of the interaction between two people, Captain Ahab and Stubb) Can this use of "to him" be used the same way in a sentence, or is it just a result of "shortening" often done in titles?


texts: If I'm writing "he stepped forward", is there an "s"? Is there any specific time to say forwards vs. forward, or is it based on USA vs UK?


texts: Correct preposition for information in/on/under/at a tab or different page

texts:
I've read Prepositions: “in” vs. “on” a tab/widget, but it asks about widgets and I am not sure if the answers apply to more general information.
For example:

You can access the details __ the Administration tab.
You should check your doubt __ our FAQ page.

My intuition says “on”, but English is not my first language. And I am not sure about the use of onto or into in this context.
Also, if anyone has a broader explanation or link  about preposition use on the web, I would be very happy to read it.


texts: Would it be correct to say "5 billion cubic meters OF natural gas". Is the preposition "of" ever OK after numbers and units of measurement?


texts: "[wh-word] X [verb] Y?" in Indian English

texts:
In Indian English, you will often hear constructions like the following:

  Why Lord Ayyappa isn't a avatar of Lord Mahavishnu?
  Why each day of the week is dedicated to a particular god?
  Why lord Shiva has a crescent moon on his head?

That is, rather than being of the form "Why [verb] X Y?", we have "Why X [verb] Y?". This occurs with all kinds of verbs (not just stative ones), e.g. "Why you went there?" for "Why did you go there?"; and also with other wh-words, e.g. "What you are doing?" for "What are you doing?".

I don't think I natively speak any variety of Indian English, but I've heard enough of it to know that the "[wh-word] X [verb] Y?" construction is considered perfectly grammatical (albeit I think it is proscribed in writing?). "[wh-word] [verb] X Y?" would probably be acceptable in Indian English, though I suspect it would mark you as a non-native speaker (of that dialect).

Now, as we know, this construction is ungrammatical in British English (and also American, for what it's worth). What I want to know is this: how did this construction come to be common and even grammatical in Indian English? Is this word order "calqued" (so to speak) from Hindi or something like that?

(If nothing else, I can say that the Dravidian languages probably have nothing to do with it - they're all SOV languages.)


texts: What is the difference between a blurb and an abstract?

texts:
I'm a student of English Studies and I'm struggling with these two terms.
I know both are kinds of summaries, but I want to know the exact differences because I have to write an assigment using abstracts and blurbs as examples. I don't know what is best. I know what abstracts are used for, not so sure about blurbs. I would appreciate so much if someone could tell me.
Thank you!


texts: What is the articulatory logic behind the "a/an" rule in English?

texts: Is there some articulatory reason behind why we choose to preface consonant sounds with the article a and vowel sounds with an? The reasoning I've read in the comments somewhere, I don't remember exactly where, is that we are trying to avoid consecutive vowel sounds, but why exactly are we trying to avoid these consecutive vowels? Are they harder to articulate for some reason? (If so, can that be explained as precisely as possible?)  Are there many cases that can pointed to in English where we similarly avoid consecutive vowel sounds?  Why not dipthongnize the vowels? Is the whole thing mere idiosyncrasy on English's part?


texts: Which is more accepted: "hoi polloi", or "the hoi polloi"?

texts: I've seen that both 'hoi polloi' and 'the hoi polloi' can be used. Does anyone know which is more accepted or correct? Or are they the same?


texts: Does the phrase "ought to" express the irrelevance of the person taking the action? For example, if someone says "Governments which are just, ought to ensure food security for their citizens", are they specifically saying certain governments ought to do so, or is the sentence expressing that governments which are just, in general, ought to do so, as in a generic statement that doesn't express the relevance of the person/entity taking the action?


texts: I have a list of similar items (e.g., book titles), where some items are better/worse then others, and arranged from worse items (it the top of list) to better ones (in the bottom). This list should have a title - I think about "From worse to better" - but this phrase have suspiciously few mentions in Google. And it doesn't sound really good to me. Are there better  alternatives?


texts: Term for people who feel they have some disorder when they read about it

texts: What is the term for people who, when they read symptoms of some psychological disorder, start feeling that they have it?


texts: Words that changed meaning in past hundred years

texts:
I am looking for a list of words that were used to mean something different from for what they are used now.

some words are such that whose meaning has changed completely and
some words have more than one meaning, but earlier one meaning was in popular use and nowadays another meaning is in popular use.

I am posting two links here and here, both talk about the change of meaning of some words over a period of some hundreds of years, but I am only interested in past one hundred years period, not older than that.

In case if it is too much for you to type to explain the earlier meaning and recent meaning, you can just type the word, I will try to find the two usages.


texts: What to call a person or process of giving someone money to buy something for you if he/she is at the shops?

texts:
In English, what do you call a person or the process of asking someone who is on his/her way to the shop to buy you something for you or to give someone a parcel to give to someone else if he/she is going towards the direction of the intended recipient?
Examples:

Please buy me coffee on your way back.

If you are on your way home, please take Sams phone he left it behind

I am looking for a word to describe the process or person, similar to messenger
Thank you


texts: What is the meaning of "put white out on sth"?

texts:
I have read an article which includes the phrase "put white out on sth", but I am unable to guess its meaning.

Despite referring to http://dictionary.cambridge.org/, I haven't been able to look up this term. Can anyone  explain it?


texts: In this sentence, does really good modify player or does just good modify player? "He is a really good player."


texts: What can I translate the word "argument" in this passage? What does it mean?

texts: The brain is an argument. We make different decisions in different ways. In addition, different parts of the brain respond to stimuli in different time frames. Think of two teams of lawyers doing discovery to prepare for a trial, and you've got the picture. The fMRI scans support the notion put forward by Jonah Lehrer that the brain is an argument. How we settle that argument depends on social context, prior experience, etc.


texts: Correct English words for trade 'source item' and 'destination item'

texts:
First of all, I hope I'm on the correct site asking a question, usually I'm around on Stack Overflow itself.

So here's the story: I am designing a database table involving trading and I'd like to use the correct words, the table involves at least:

A user that wants to trade his item.
The item he wants to trade, codenamed sourceItem for now.
The item he wants to trade his item to, codenamed destinationItem for now.

What are the correct English words for sourceItem and destinationItem? I sadly don't even know it for Dutch (my language), so cannot translate it either.

Edit to clarify: I am looking for the genuine English naming of the words I've asked, I am not looking for a variable name or something of that kind.
I'm sorry if this question looked too much like a "How should I name this variable?"


texts: How commonly is the verb 'air' used in AmE?

texts:
One of the definitions Merriam-Webster gives for the verb 'air':

  to allow air from the outside to enter something (such as a room) so that it becomes fresher or cleaner

How common is this verb in (obviously colloquial) AmE speech? If it's not, what is the most common expression or verb?

My guess would be just 'let some fresh air in'.


texts: How can you make "to be" explicit and simple in this future conditional sentence?

texts:
I can say "Jerry's been a bad pussycat this morning" or "Hey, Jerry, you be a good pussycat now" or "Jerry's been active all morning so he's being a good pussycat now". All these involve the use of the verb be.

Now if I said "if Jerry bes a bad pussycat, put him in the laundry," I'll sound ungrammatical. How else can you say this without being specific about the verb? I understand the future tense of to be is is but then it sounds like present tense rather than future tense.

I don't want to say "if Jerry behaves badly" because it's too complex. And I don't want to say "if Jerry is bad" because that implies current state rather than future state.

Should it be "if Jerry would be bad..." or "if Jerry should be bad" perhaps?


texts: Something about "information" and "insights"

texts:
In this sentence,

  Sharing insights and answers freely is what makes the Internet such a great medium for learning.

Why is "information " not the right answer?


texts: Is "ringing somebody up" exclusive to telephone use in British English?

texts:
Is ringing somebody up exclusive to telephone use, or can it be used to say you made a call on somebody's person?

EDIT: Note that my question is specifically asking about British English; I would love to hear from an actual Brit the answer.


texts: "When words aren't enough" or "that words aren't enough"?

texts:
I'm editing a video with some romantic songs, and I want to name it "For those moments when/that words aren't enough".

What are the merits of using when (which indicates a time, AHDEL) vs. that (used to refer to the event, action, or time just mentioned, AHDEL) in this sentence?


texts: What's the term for when a word is said so many times it sounds weird?

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  Is there a word or phrase for the feeling you get after looking at a word for too long?

If you say a certain word enough times, it starts to sound/feel different. I had this today with the word patio, and in the end I felt like I barely know the word anymore.

I am not sure how else to describe this, but that’s pretty much the reason I’m asking – what is this phenomenon called?


texts: Do you use the plural or singular when asking for a comparison?

texts:
On a web page form the following question is asked:

"Are your business and home address the same?*"

Is this correct? I am often wrong about stuff like this but shouldn't it be:

"Are your business and home addresses the same?"
Or
"Is your business and home address the same?"


texts:
Let's say I am comparing two software products. And one of them offers more features (functionality). What adjective would you use to describe the size of their feature sets?

First program has larger/broader/wider feature set.
Second program has smaller/narrower feature set.

Are these correct? Or would you write something else?
Edit: This is for an internal document for the sales department (so I would say it should use "marketing language"). It's the comparison of two software products, the one with more features is supposed to be better.
Thanks


texts: "Feel free to hit me up" — "at"? "on"? "via"?

texts:
If I'd like to let someone know they can reach me via this@emailadress.com, as well as via Twitter and Facebook, what's the most correct way of writing?

  Feel free to hit me up via this@emailaddress.com, as well as via Twitter and Facebook.
  Feel free to hit me up at this@emailadress.com, as well as at Twitter and Facebook.
  Feel free to hit me up on this@emailadress.com, as well as on Twitter and Facebook

Or simply none/a combination of the above? Thank you very much.


texts: I have come across this expression in a youtube video but couldn't figure out what it means: "maze to end all mazes". Could you please tell me what it means?


texts: Etymology of "choice" — New Zealand vernacular

texts:
One of the things that I hear all the time over here in NZ is the phrase 'Choice'. Which is used in a similar way to great or fantastic or awesome. For example,

  That party was choice!

I can't seem to find where it comes from. Does anyone have any clues, please?

One thought is that since the term 'bro' (as in 'brother') is often added to it, I suspect that, perhaps, it has ecclesiastical origins.


texts: Is it appropriate to use a hyphen in compound adjectives?

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  When is it necessary to use a hyphen in writing a compound word?

I've searched the web and "English Language & Usage", but am having problems finding the answer to the following question:

Is it appropriate to use a hyphen for compound adjectives consisting of two adjectives having the same, how do I put it, "status"? That is, grammatically speaking, they could each stand on their own instead of the compound word. Thus, I'm not talking about words like "well-mannered", but rather words like "thermomechanical/thermo-mechanical" ("thermal" + "mechanical") or
"magnetorheological/magneto-rheological" ("magnetic" + "rheological").

In short, is it "thermomechanical" or "thermo-mechanical"?

Thanks!


texts: Difference between "May" and "Let" in biblical language

texts:
Is there a meaning difference between “May” and “Let” in the following examples?

May/Let praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
May/Let thanks be to God.
May/Let the God (and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ) be blessed.


texts:
I want to express that the doctors I shadow do surgery on patients who are newborns all the way to patients who are adolescents but I feel like this sentence has a grammatical error. Can someone help me fix it?
"I shadow pediatric surgeons as they complete clinical rounds and perform surgeries on children from newborns to adolescents."


texts: "...questions that ended up creating a great learning experience for myself/me"

texts:
In the following sentence, should "for" be followed by "me" or "myself"?

  John began asking questions that ended up creating a great learning experience for myself/me.


texts:
Suppose A and B are friends and B has only one brother.

During a conversation between A and B:

A: you know, yesterday I met your brother at the supermarket buying some stuff for his children.

Can we use a present participle(buying) in this way. I mean to say I know when a present participle is used this way, it normally modifies the subject of the preceding clause. But, can it modify the object of a verb or maybe any other noun in that clause or maybe a smaller clause inside the main clause?

Consider the second sentence please:

Yesterday I met your brother walking to work.

How are the first sentence and this sentence different?


texts: Does the long form of an abbreviation go in quotes?

texts:
I am trying to use and introduce an abbreviation in a sentence. Example:

  I worked with technologies such as Syntactically Awesome Stylesheets (Sass) while working on my project.

Does the "Syntactically Awesome Stylesheets" part need to be in quotes? It seems a bit out-of-place to me while using an acronym with such a peculiar long form.

Thanks


texts: Is the word "who" an adverb? If not, what is it? If it is an adverb, what type of adverb is it?


texts: Is it "midsentence" or "mid-sentence"? Onelook doesn't say

texts:
Is it midsentence or mid-sentence? Onelook doesn't say.

Also, is it mid- to late 50s, mid-to-late 50s, or mid to late 50s?

I'd say mid- to late 50s because mid is a prefix that requires a hyphen. Hence, we put a space after the hyphen.


texts: Is there any difference in meaning to start a two-clause sentence with "As" or "Because"?

texts:
Is there any difference in meaning to start a two-clause sentence with "As" or "Because" in first clause to explain the reason for the second clause

As we need that function, we must import the following properties file.
Because we need that function, we must import the following properties file.

Thanks.


texts: To locate something based on compass readings is to locate it __________?

texts:
Is there an adjective and/or adverb form for describing the manner  of locating something based on cardinal and ordinal compass readings?

For example, if I'm giving an object's location as:

  northwest of the terrace,

I'm basing the object's location, in relation to the terrace, on a compass reading--on ordinal direction in this case.

What do I call that manner of locating? Ought I to say:

  I am locating the object cardinally?
  I am locating the object ordinally?

Is there a better term that would encompass both cardinal and ordinal direction for this case?

The context of my question is that I see it commonly in police reports, and I'm labeling it on a style guide for this type of text.

I'd like to write something like:

  All objects in a crime scene should be located _________ in reference to the victim.


texts:
Not journey or adventure.

Not crusade or expedition.

I'm not trying to insinuate purposeful / heroic.

I'm looking for a word relative to trial or crucible or calamity, but specific to a long and arduous journey.

Any ideas?


texts: Why do American people use simple past instead of present perfect with "ever"?

texts:
I would say British English seems to adhere to English grammar books that I learned in school more than American English.

For example, I was taught that we use present perfect with "ever" because the time is unspecified or something which happened in the past which is important now.

See the Cambridge Grammar say:

  Present perfect simple: uses

  We use the present perfect simple to refer to events in the past but
  which connect to the present.

  We often use present perfect for talking about something which
  happened in the past which is important now.

  we often use general time expressions like ever, never, before, in my
  life, so far, up until now with this use of the present perfect
  simple:

  We often use ever, not … ever and never when we talk about
  experiences:

  Have you ever tried to write your name and address with your left hand?

  American English

  In American English the past simple is often used instead of the
  present perfect simple, often with already and yet.

  American English Did you eat (yet)? Did you finish (already)?

  British English Have you eaten (yet)? Have you finished (already)?

Another source confirms this:

  The Present Perfect Tense in British and American English

  British and American grammar differences – present perfect vs. simple past

  In American and British English, we can also use ‘just’ with the
  simple past to talk about recent events. So what’s the difference
  about the way American and British people use ‘just’? When we’re
  giving news in British English we generally use the present perfect.

  Oh, your mother’s just called.

  Oh, what did she want?

  When we’re giving news in American English, we often use the simple
  past.

  Your sister just called.

  Oh really? What did she want?

  So both these sentences are possible in both varieties. It’s just that
  we use the present perfect more frequently in British English.

  The words ‘yet’ and ‘already’ indicate a time up to now or until now.

  That relation to the present time means we commonly use them with the
  present perfect. That’s true in both British and American English. In
  American English, especially spoken English, you’ll often hear us use
  these words with the simple past, too.

  I’m going outside to practice soccer.

  Wait a sec.

  Did you do your homework yet?

  Yeah, I already did it.

  OK.

  In British English, these sentences would be unusual. With ‘yet’ and
  ‘already’ we usually use the present perfect, not the simple past. So
  when do Americans use the present perfect and when do they use the
  simple past? In written English and when we’re speaking carefully, we
  often use the present perfect with ‘yet’ and ‘already’. But when we’re
  speaking informally, we often use the simple past. ‘Did you do it
  yet?’ sounds a little more informal than ‘Have you done it yet?’,
  especially if we use the less careful pronunciation ‘Did ja do it yet?.
  And there’s something else. My theory is ‘Did you do it yet?’ can
  sound just a little more urgent in American English than ‘Have you
  done it yet?’

And I guess that usage may apply to "ever" as well

Have you ever watched the film? ( we use present perfect because we don't know the time the that person watched the film or the specific time that that action happened is not important or its result is important now, ie I just want to know if you have watched it, the time is not important)

But American people will say:

Did you ever watch the film? (I feel strange when hearing it, why would the asker want to know the specific time right at the beginning)

Is that how American people say daily? or
American grammar is not as strict as British English?


texts: Where does the term "Smurfing" come from?

texts: In multiplayer online gaming, the term "Smurf" (noun) is used to refer to an experienced player who creates a new account for the purposes of being matched against inexperienced players for easy wins.  Where does this usage of the word come from?


texts:
Can we use a reverse order in salutations? For example,

  Tom, hello/hi

instead of

  Hello/hi, Tom


texts:
To the eyes of Mr. Jeremiah Cruncher, sitting on his stool in Fleet Street with his grisly urchin beside him, a vast number and variety of objects in movement were every day presented.

  A Tale of Two Cities (1866)

I actually discovered quite a bit about the meaning and history of the term urchin, often used in Victorian times for orphans or desperately poor children. Apparently, the first urchins were hedgehogs.

  urchin

  c. 1300, yrichon "hedgehog," from Old North French *irechon from Old French herichun "hedgehog" (Modern French hérisson), formed with diminutive suffix -on + Vulgar Latin *hericionem, from Latin ericius "hedgehog," enlarged form of er, originally *her, from PIE root *ghers- "to bristle".

Sometime around the mid-15th century, the English stopped calling these small mammals covered in bristles "urchins" and decided that they looked like piglets that typically lived in shrubs. According to Etymonline, the term hedgehog is a compound word formed by hedge (n.) and hog (n.)

The 15th-century hog seems to have been the clipped variant of the earlier 14th-century hoggaster “a boar in its third year” However, in some parts of Northern England and the West Midlands, these spiky rodent-like creatures are still called urchins

  Still used for "hedgehog" in non-standard speech in Cumbria, Yorkshire, Shropshire.

The term urchin was eventually applied to anyone or anything that resembled a “hedgehog”

  …hunchbacks (1520s) to goblins (1580s) to bad girls (1530s);

  Sea urchin is recorded from 1590s (a 19c. Newfoundland name for them was whore's eggs); Johnson describes it as "a kind of crabfish that has prickles instead of feet."

And a street urchin is a young, grubby-looking child dressed in tattered clothes, who roams the city slums.

  meaning "poorly or raggedly clothed youngster" emerged 1550s, but was not in frequent use until after c. 1780.

The Google Ngram below, compares the trends of urchin with sea urchin and the hyphenated sea-urchin in the British English corpus.

Despite what I have uncovered so far, I would like to know more

Today, it's my impression that the term urchin evokes pity and compassion. Was it always like that? Was the term “urchin” derogatory in the late 18th and 19th  century? See the opening quotation.
Who or what sparked the trend circa 1780?
I thought it might have been Charles Dickens, but he was born in 1812 and he wrote and published Oliver Twist (the world's most famous urchin) as a serial between 1837 and 1839.