texts:
This headline (today) tells me that the three victims of a tragic road incident were from different families, but maybe not three different families.

  The boys' next of kin have been informed, the Met Police said.

Could it have been worded 'the boys' three next of kin' ?

Edit : I have now found a very obscure reference :

  ... the two next of kin by the father and the two by the mother ...

An Institute of the Law of Scotland


texts: What's the difference between "life conditions" and "living conditions"?

texts: What's the difference between life conditions and living conditions? I often use the former. "The life conditions of the Victorian workers", for example.


texts: "Left" and "right" are to "side" as "front" and "rear" are to what?

texts:
Is there an equivalent word to "side" when speaking of the front or rear of something (e.g. a car)?

So, a mechanic might say:

  You damaged your wing-mirror? Ok, which side?

... or...

  You damaged your bumper? Ok, which [insert word here]?


texts:
Can anyone tell me the correct way to write this? I'm putting it etched in glass and want to make sure the abbreviations are all correct.
5lb 12oz 20in
OR
5lbs 12ozs 20ins


texts: What is grammatically incorrect with this descriptive phrase?

texts:
A short coursework item involving the design, build, testing and
  evaluation of a fourth-order low pass filter of IGMF topology, having
  a maximally flat response with a cut-off frequency of 60Hz and a pass-band gain of 5.

I have been told this sentence is grammatically incorrect. I said, that to my knowledge, I don't think it is. It is, however, a little bit lengthy and could probably be made much more readable if the sentence was broken up.

The person that initially informed me that it's grammatically incorrect is Chinese, so I assume that their grasp of grammar is based off rules, rather than intuition (like mine).

I asked another person and they have told me that it lacks an 'active verb' - I've done some research on this, and I don't think this is the problem.

How exactly would I modify the sentence to make it grammatically correct, if it isn't?

In response to Canis:

  Can you point out the subject, verb, and object, along with any
  modifiers? Specifically, what do you think is the verb, and why? If
  you put your reply into an edit of your question, it will be read by
  more people. – Canis Lupus

Verb: involving

Subject: coursework item

Object: low pass filter of IGMF topology

Modifier: with a cut-off frequency of 60Hz and a pass-band gain of 5


texts:
Attorneys often argue to a Court that, if the Court does something in the future, a particular result will follow.

For such"future" arguments, which is correct?:

  A. If the Court grants the motion, then the defendant will go out
      of business.

  B. If the Court were to grant the motion, then ....

Does it matter if one is arguing for or against the Court granting the motion? I.e., if I don't want the Court to grant the motion, do I use "were"?

I think "A" is correct, because the attorney wants to argue that if x happens, y will happen and, then argue that X is bad.  Not that y may happen.

My colleague (and many attorneys I've spoke with) thinks B is correct because by using the subjunctive, it indicates that we don't want the Court to do "x".  By using the indicative, they argue, it suggests that the future event is necessarily going to occur.


texts: What function does the clause exert in this sentence

texts:
I was surprised that he can fulfill his obligation.

What confused me is the clause, being nominal, unable to modify neither "surprised" nor main clause in this sentence


texts:
I am translating a text from English, and I have a problem with two expressions. I was not able to find anything on the internet, and I'm not sure I understand the meaning of them.

Basically these are instructions for truck drivers:

  Boot still has to be at least 1.10m for deliveries. Truck load must be
  at least 2.35m wide and 2.30m high. This is the usual size of a 7.5t
  truck or larger vehicle. Total vehicle height must not exceed 4m.

I know what a boot is, but what exactly is boot still? Is it the height of the boot loading platform?

And then my second problem:

  Unloading of swap bodies with a pass-through loading provision is not
  possible.

I know what swap bodies are, but I don't get the second half of the sentence.


texts:
I want to know whether using unnecessary "No"s and negations paints individuals with a negative/insulting attitude.

Examples from my dear workplace.

Example 1:

1: "Hey Eric, today is so warm."

2: "No. it's not warm."

vs

1: "Hey Eric, today is so warm."

2: "Really? It's cold."

Example 2:

1: "Well, what I did was implement A and B to get C."

2: "No. Don't use A and B to get C. No."

vs

1: "Well, what I did was implement A and B to get C."

2: "Using A and B to get C isn't the best method."

Example 3:

1: "Okay, I'll finish this first, and then do that."

2: "No. Do that first."

vs

1: "Okay, I'll finish this first, and then do that."

2: "Do that first."


texts: present continuous tense or be going to?

texts:
Do you think it's correct if I use present continuous tense in this sentence?

  Tonight, Mike and I are watching a film at home.

I think present continuous is used for arrangement. But my teacher say that I should use "be going to" in stead of "present continuous tense".

Please help me. Thanks.


texts: Word for someone who discriminates against left handed people

texts: We have words like racist, bigot, xenophobe, etc. that we are all familiar with, but what would we call someone who discriminates against left handed people?


texts: Is the phrase get off the hammock idiomatic, and what does it mean if it is?


texts: Is 'who did see you?' grammatically correct?

texts: I realise 'who saw you' is probably more common, but is 'who did see you' wrong? This is with respect to why who-questions don't need 'do'-support as an aux verb.


texts:
The sentence goes like this:

Sometimes, it is just a friction that can ignite an entire forest.

My editor asked me to remove 'a' because friction is uncountable noun. However, I am trying to portray that a single spark from a flintstone may result in an entire forest burning down.

I showed this : The article "a/an" with uncountable nouns however, I was asked to still change it because ... 'from literary point of view'.

Is there a way, I can reframe the sentence which adheres from 'literary point of view'?


texts:
while reading NYT's review on the Gladwell's last book I stumbled upon a rather strange passage:

  In the weeks I spent listening to Malcolm Gladwell’s podcast, I
  learned that lobsters have serotonin, that Elvis Presley suffered from
  parapraxis and that Mr. Gladwell adheres to a firm life rule that he
  drink only five liquids: water, tea, red wine, espresso and milk.

Why the author uses "he drink" here? Is it a legal thing to do? Are there cases when you should use it?


texts: What is meant by common terms in software company names?

texts:
A set of terms occurs frequently in software company names. Some are pretty obvious like "-soft," "software," and "apps/applications." However, some are not so obvious (at least to me). What is the connotative/denotative meaning of these words when they occur in a software company name? What about a company would make it more/less likely to use one of these descriptors?

Designs
Dynamics
Solutions
Systems


texts:
I'm confused about using phrases like "can be easily accessed".
When I'm deciding which of the following I should use:

it can be potentially provided
it can potentially be provided

by searching google it's almost obvious that the second one is correct (about 3,470 results for "can be potentially provided" vs. about 899,000 results for "can potentially be provided"). But when it comes to "can be easily accessed" vs "can easily be accessed", Google showed more results for the first one (about 475,000 vs about 338,000). According to the question in here, it may be understood that the first one is indeed better. But I cannot distinguish between these two phrases. Why should one grammatical rule apply to one of them and another rule to the other? Is there a general rule for similar circumstances?


texts: Word for a person who wants to have problems to gain attention or sympathy

texts:
Is there a word for a disease or personality type where a person wants to have problems to gain attention or sympathy. I came across something closer called 'Munchausen Syndrome'. But it is about a person who 'pretends' to have problems, not actually wants to have problems.
Edit: It is not a duplicate of Is there a word for someone who somewhat delights in their illnesses/medications?, because the problems do not necessarily relate to a medical condition. They can be of a financial situation or relationship issues.


texts: What the definition for "Itsy Bitsy" term?

texts: Like on the Itsy Bitsy Spider I heard it in some lyrics but I don't know what this mean indeed.


texts:
To my knowledge, it is grammatical, but it looks strange to me as there are 3 participle clauses included in a single sentence.

Eventually, the conclusion and recommendations have been proposed based on the findings derived from the literature reviewed.

Please advise me whether it is natural or not.


texts: Colloquial sentence endings like "is all" and "is how"

texts:
I'm writing dialogue for a short story and I want to 'transcribe' the characters' colloquialisms in a way that best adheres to the rules of written English (I'm an ESL speaker). My protag ends some of her sentences with expressions like "is all" and "is how" (e.g. "Just asking is all"). My questions is, Is that type of expression supposed to have a comma beforehand? Or would that be a comma splice?
Example from the short story itself:
"How did you know I was over by the fountain?"
"Sister Amy told me [,] is how."
The descriptivist and prescriptivist parts of me disagree on the matter.
Thanks in advance, folks. :)


texts: Is it normal to say "reply distantly" or "reply in a distant voice"?

texts:
In my language (which is not English), it is normal to write: "reply distantly" , "speak distantly", "reply in a distant voice".

"Distant" here means strange, emotionless, cold

I wonders if it is the same in English. I feel a little odd because I have never seen anyone write like that before.


texts:
I saw these words in The Silmarillion:

  Then there was unrest among the Ainur; but Ilúvatar called to them, and said: ‘I know the desire of your minds that what ye have seen should verily be, not only in your thought, but even as ye yourselves are, and yet other. Therefore I say: Eä! Let these things Be!

And also:

  Of the fabric of Earth had Aulë thought, to whom Ilúvatar had given skin and knowledge scarce less than to Melkor; but the delight and pride of Aulë is in the deed of making, and in the thing made, and neither in possession nor in his own mastery; wherefore he gives and hoards not, and is free from
  care, passing ever on to some new work.

Is there any difference in meaning of wherefore and therefore?

Could you give an example using them where we can’t interchange them?


texts:
What is the difference between these two sentences? Do they have the same meaning? It would be better if you provide example sentences.

▪ I am not sure.
▪ I wouldn't be so sure.


texts: Is there a name for the words at the beginning of a sentence which make it a question?

texts:
Given the following sentences

Is it Thursday Today?
Does your dog smell?
Has your Mother called?

Is there a particular name given to the emphasised words at the beginning of the sentence which make it a question?
If not is there a name for the process of turning a sentence into a question?


texts: You're Coming On All-(blank), Coming Over All-(blank)

texts:
I'd like to know how widespread these statements are in the UK. In the movie 'In Bruges' Ralph Fiennes says to, a suddenly, soft-sounding Brendan Gleeson (employed as a hit-man by Fiennes):

  You're  coming on all-Gandhi,

a sarcastic remark ridiculing Gleeson's non-violent stance toward Colin Farrel (another hit-man).

I suppose a person who gushes about saving the people of the world would draw the comment:

  You're coming over all-Mother Theresa.

Expressions of sweetness and light might draw the comment:

  You're coming on all-Little Mary Sunshine.

Are these phrases a part of British slang or just one-off remarks by the movie characters? If they are part of British slang, do the names of the people change?


texts: Does "argumentative" have negative connotation? If so, what's a more neutral word?

texts:
It seems  argument has a negative connotation, almost like bickering. What about argumentative?

How to favorably describe a person who doesn't take things at face value but rather debate on veracity while not being an annoying pedant and such?

Is skeptical the right word?

More info on context:

I am looking for a word to use in informal sense in everyday language, may be like in a resume or talking about myself when there is no much room for an explanation of the word I use, while not coming across as snobbish. I did think of critical thinker but somehow that sounds too posh and over selling. May be a tangential question could be whether or not it is snobbish.


texts: Is there a proverb/idiom for "To be a lion among sheep rather than a sheep among lions"

texts:
My friend said the other day:

  It makes perfect sense to use the strategy of being a lion among sheep rather than a sheep among lions

I have researched this phrase and have found nothing, so I suspect my friend made it up. Is there a well-known proverb or idiom with a similar meaning?


texts: I need a "softer" analogy that means the same thing as "Don't bring a knife to a gunfight" or "It's like bringing a knife to a gunfight".


texts: What's the meaning of "there is not a good reference for"?

texts:
This is the context : "For most projectors however, including SONY projectors that have been used for a few months, or more and the bulb has aged, there is not a good reference for use in calibrating the test apparatus."

What does this sentence mean?
Thank you for your help.


texts:
Hyphenation is used in English in order to clear any confusion in a phrase or sentence. However, hyphens should not be used with '-ly' adverbs or 'very', so: "The finely tuned engine is roaring."

My question is: What if  instead of: (-ly adverb + past participle) formula  we have a (noun+adverb) formula? For example, "That noise was ear piercingly loud!" Should we use a hyphen between 'ear' and 'piercingly'? My grammatical sense tells me so because 'noun+adverb' is a very weird sight to me.

Further, would you extend the same rule of non-hyphenation for "very" to the adverb "so"? Meaning, would you write the following phrase with a hyphen or not, "The not so/(very) silent night?"

I'm very conflicted about adding hyphens or not.  A detailed answer is very much appreciated.


texts:
I'm wondering if air—the everyday air we breathe, with oxygen, nitrogen, C02, etc.—can be defined as either combustible or incombustible.

I would be inclined to say that our air is combustible, because incombustible gas would prevent a flame from lighting. However, the only part of air that is relevant to a flame is the oxygen, and combustion refers to an "exothermic reaction with oxygen", so I think technically oxygen is incombustible since it doesn't react with itself. Thus I'm not sure if it's accurate to say air is combustible, rather then simply allowing other objects to do so.

If I wanted to be 100% pedantic, which would be the most accurate term to use to describe our air, combustible or incombustible?


texts:
I was reading some articles on the Internet when I came across this sentence:

I was being in a fight with him.

Is using "being in a fight" correct, or does it need to be changed to "having a fight"?
Thanks for your help!


texts: What is a saying for someone who does good in the street, but is bad at home?

texts: In Spanish there is this saying "Candil de la calle, oscuridad de tu casa". Which is basically said to people who do good outside, e.g. at work or school, but does nothing good at home for his or her family. A literal translation to English would be something like "A light in the street, but darkness at home. Is there an equivalent saying in English for this?


texts: What is the preferred way to write this type of sentence?

texts:
Sally (the mayors daughter) donated to the Salvation Army yesterday.

or

Sally, the mayors daughter, donated to the Salvation Army yesterday.


texts:
I found on an invoice the shortcut QTTY that stands for the word quantity.

Simplified part of the invoice:

Item      |    QTTY Unit | Unit Price |Total Price
Product X |       2      |   100.00   |   200.00
...

Would you use QTTY or QTY? Or any other form?


texts:
I've been very interested in this word for a couple of decades, and I keep waiting for it to appear in English, but I can't find any uses.  Has anyone come across this word?  The closest I can find is "cryptostylis".

Part of the impetus for this question is I'm using it in my profile, and concerned people may not take the meaning.  I interpret it as: (1) a person who uses technology to separate themselves from the material world; (2) a computer nerd; (3) one who uses technology to remain hidden from the world, i.e. "blackhats".

I'm certainly not using it in a pejorative sense, though my assumption is it would be taken that way by non-techs.

The medieval stylites were ascetics who famously sat on pillar in pursuit of spiritual goals.  In the post-computing era, these goals become technological.


texts:
What does "That’s nature for you." mean? Does it mean "That is the nature of your behavior" or "nature behaves the same as you behave"?
And, is this quote a part of evolutionary psychologists report or a part of cultural relativists reply?

Context:

But there is immediately a problem to my suggestion if you look at my list of
heroes. They are all men. ‘Of course they are!’ the evolutionary psychologists would retort. ‘That’s nature for you.’ ‘Of course they are!’ reply the cultural relativists. ‘That’s how you choose to interpret nature!’ Even Tomb Raider’s post-feminist Lara Croft encapsulates male values.


texts: How long has the word "site" been used as a noun in English?

texts:
I am writing a book that takes place in the fictional past, so I'm trying to make sure the language used in my writing doesn't draw the reader back to the present because of it not fitting well with the time period of the story.
I am specifically struggling with the word "site." The characters in my book find ancient ruins, and I'm trying to figure out how the characters would talk about the place where the ruins are located, and if the word "site" is acceptable.
I remember when I was in grad school (many years ago), there was some kind of online catalog that I would use to do research on how long a word has been used with a specific meaning, but I can't remember what that website was.


texts: What is one word to describe the person being called via phone?

texts:
I'm a Customer Service Agent for a governmental assistance agency.  We often have situations where clients numbers have changed, and someone else has been assigned the old number.

When I want to make a note to my supervisor that the person I've reached is not the client and that the 'person I've reached' has requested in very virile, flammable language that they would like us to remove their number from our calling list/dB, it vexes me that all I can come up with is "the answerer," which sounds dumb, and "the number's new owner..."


texts: Is there a concise term for being over-aware of bad news happening?

texts:
That was probably a terrible title, but I'm looking for a word or phrase to describe this concept.

We all probably have a relative like this, they feel that the world is "going to hell" around them - except that isn't true, we have 24x7 media and the internet, so the bad stuff that already exists is just much more visible and perceptible than it used to be.

In the early 90's it was "stranger danger" and daytime talk shows having moms scared out of their wits that there was a child molester hanging around every corner, just waiting to snatch their loved ones away. (Nevermind the fact that the numbers of these crimes have stayed roughly stable, trending down for a long time)

Today it's computer hackers and the NSA.

How do you describe a person who is over-aware of bad news and has lost perspective, or the mental state of being in this condition?


texts:
I came across an organisation called Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD). From what I've learned from style guides and StackExchange contributors, I understand that the second part of a hyphenated word should be capitalised unless it is preceded by a prefix or it is itself a suffix, so it would be 'Five-Star' but 'Anti-corruption'. I am wondering why, in that case, that 'related' would be in lower case.

Can someone please enlighten me? Thanks in advance.


texts: ''to master the Japanese Language'' or ''to master Japanese language'' which way is the correct way?

texts:
I want to say that I want to master the Japanese Language while learning in Japan. But sometimes it feels odd to the Japanese instead of Japanese.
I want to master Japanese Language by going Japan and learn it there.
Is this correct?


texts:
Is it correct to tell a person who worked hard after a long day, ' be fresh' or ' no tired' or something like that?

In general, do English people use these expressions or others in the mentioned situations (especially after a long and hard working)?


texts: Is there a single word for combining two things for enhanced synergy?

texts:
I am writing a paper where two things are combined to be more efficient than each individually. I think I've used "integrated" 30 times so far.

What other words can I use to mean the same thing?


texts:
I'm looking for a few words today, in the context of Audio Players. I'm basically looking for words that match the following definitions:

Here are my current known words, and their definitions:

Player - The Audio Player itself.
Buffer - The Audio that has been loaded/stream already for the User
Play Button - The Button that Plays, Pauses, and Resumes the Audio.
Volume - The amplitude of the Audio.

And here's my definitions that need words:

Needle? - The Marker that represents the current position (time) in the Song.

Time? - A term meaning "The current position (time) in the song".

Track? - A term meaning the entire time, buffer, needle, etc. mashed up into a widget.

The words I've provided are mere suggestions. I'm here asking about these because they just don't seem right. Needle could be Marker, Indicator, Position, Slider, etc.; Time could be Position, Length, etc.; and Track could Slider, Widget, etc.

I would prefer terms that are used when talking about Music, or Audio Devices. Generic terms like Time could have many meanings. And Needle doesn't really describe the object in question, as it's not really a 'needle' (Metallic, pointy object).


texts: What does "transparently converted" mean?

texts:
The result is transparently converted to another data type.

What does "transparently" mean in this context?


texts:
Please, take a look at the following:

"Friends" and "foes" are, according to Carl Schmitt, defined in function of their capacity to respectively enhance or diminish the power of one's own state.

Does "in function of" equal something along the line of "in relation to"?

I'm aware that the "in function of" thing was once covered here, but I'm afraid there was no answer there I'm now looking for.

EDIT: THANKS EVERYONE FOR THE ANSWERS.


texts: Why is “a” used before “smoke” in this sentence?

texts:
I only have half an hour-barely time for a smoke  and a cup of
  tea.

Smoke is uncountable so why is there an article used?


texts: correctly dotting the "i"s and crossing the "t"s in the expression "dotting the i's and crossing the t's"

texts:
I've found questions here at ELU related to the meaning of the expression (I'm clear on that), but this is about the best way to punctuate the expression in the title. Possibilities:

  a. It's almost ready. I just need to go through it once more to dot the "i"s and cross the "t"s.

  b. It's almost ready. I just need to go through it once more to dot the i's and cross the t's.

  c. It's almost ready. I just need to go through it once more to dot the is and cross the ts.

a. shows what I would naturally do.

b. shows what appears to be most common (used in posts on this site as well as in Wikipedia), but it using that apostrophe for plural sticks in my craw. I did find some support for this, here, but this also suggests using the apostrophe for letter grades (see c. below).

c. seems terribly confusing, although it follows the convention of pluralizing letter grades (which are not so confusing because they are capitalized).

So... which is it?


texts: What does "data-lite" mean as an advantage of an application?

texts:
What does "data-lite" mean in the following context?

  This application is:

  ...

  data-lite and saves you money

  ...

I couldn't find it online or in the dictionary (OAAD). For more context, I read it in the description of this application.


texts:
Do we need to add 'a' for : I went to a tuition class on Monday?
I went to organ class on Monday.


texts: Why is “Don't you forget about me” a correct use of the imperative?

texts:
I listened to the Simple Minds' song Don't You. It has following chorus:

Don't you, forget about me
Don't, don't, don't, don't
Don't you, forget about me

Why is this usage of imperative mood correct? I thought that right usage is:

Don't forget about me


texts:
i have heard that it should does/does not for he/she/it and do/don't for i/you/we/they

But I am confused when i always get to hear people talking do and don't for he/she

Even in a lecture i listened now it was said as, "That lady don't" instead of "that lady does not"

Which one is correct?


texts:
What would be another term for a person in their 50s and 60s other than "boomer" or "Gen-Xer"? People in their late 50s are technically baby-boomers, but "boomers" doesn't quite fit. People in their early 50s are "Gen-Xers" but that name has lost its meaning.
What could be some good names for people that are older, in general?
Elderly and even senior-citizen are just awful names!
What are some positive and non-ageist names for these people?


texts: Is there an alternate non-anatomical word to describe the action of "dilating"?

texts:
Is there a synonym for open other than dilate that describes the process of spreading open from a central point?
For example, when fire burns a hole in a piece of paper what would the paper be said to be doing? Or when a whirlpool begins to form, is there a word that describes the process of the water being drawn apart? And also what about the action of a camera shutter?
For all of these examples open would technically suffice because readers already have a grasp of these objects' mechanisms and there is no need for further explanation. But if I am trying to describe something new with which the reader has no previous familiarity, such as a futuristic machine, then open no longer adequately conveys my meaning without additional qualifying words or descriptions. We are used to opening things such as doors or boxes or drawers that involve either a hinge mechanism or some variation of two usually linear objects drawing apart from each other, and if I use this word I feel that I will have to struggle against these connotations.
Dilate perfectly captures what I am trying to describe but I do not want to use it because it is traditionally restricted to the action of an eye's pupil or some other sphincter and therefore may not come across well with readers.
I understand that there may be no other single word for this action but I wanted to put the question out there in case some rare or obscure word does exist.
Note: I prefer a single word substitute, but I am not opposed to suggestions of words that may be paired with open, such as spread or draw.
Example sentences:
So far there are two instances in a novel I am writing where I have needed a word to describe this motion. One example involves a wall opening, and the other involves a window opening. In both cases only a portion of the wall or window "retract" into themselves to create a hole or opening, and this without any noticeable bunching resulting around the edges.

Up ahead the right wall ______ into an archway and Madeline hurried through.

She was surprised when the glass ______ around her fingers, exposing them to the rain.

Edit:
It is a futuristic story where the walls and even windows are constructed from intricate biological machines which permit them to morph into various shapes seamlessly. But it is not the mechanism that I wish to describe, it is the motion, which is why I thought it unnecessary to digress into the mechanical minutiae.  Dilate describes the motion.


texts:
Example sentence:

  Harry stopped finding meaning in life. Not because of illness or a loss;
  it simply ceased to make sense to him.

I thought X stopped finding meaning in Y was a common construction, so I was shocked to see only 4 results on Google Books.

Maybe it's not a common construction? If so, what's a better alternative?


texts: How to represent a link in an APA style?

texts:
I was reading more on the APA style but somehow I got stuck that how can I represent a link in an APA style.

Below are the links I have -

http://www.mcdpressoffice.eu/downloads/Economic_footprint_Report_Exec_Summary.pdf

http://userwww.service.emory.edu/~eakharu/Positive%20Effects%20of%20McDonalds.htm

http://www.aboutmcdonalds.com/content/dam/AboutMcDonalds/Investors/Investor%202013/2012%20Annual%20Report%20Final.pdf

http://www.unescap.org/tid/publication/indpub2565_chap1.pdf

http://s3.amazonaws.com/mcdbestof-section-pdfs/2/MCD_072_BOSS_FINAL.pdf

http://www.mcdonalds.co.uk/ukhome/Ourworld/Environment/Energy.html

http://www.powersines.com/var/56/522535-CS%20ComEC%20McDonald's.pdf

http://www.bestofgreenmcdonaldseurope.com/casestudies_detail.php?cat=2

http://www.bestofgreenmcdonaldseurope.com/downloads/Energy_all_case_studies.pdf

Can anybody provide an example how can I represent a link in an APA style?


texts:
I am not sure whether to use in, on, or for after the word demand in the following sentence:

  The continuing demand on high-quality software that is reusable and
  easy to maintain and modify after it has been released was a driving
  force throughout the 1980’s

How should one deal with this demand in/on/for issue in general?


texts:
which is correct:

Thank you for your and your team's time

or

Thank you for yours and your team's time

and should (or does it make a difference if) I place commas before and after "and your team's"  ... thanks!!


texts: Why isn't there any article in the expression "vary from school to school"?

texts:
I am a non-native English learner. An example sentence in LONGMAN dictionary confused me. In the sentence "Test scores vary from school to school", there is no article in front of either school. I would expect that an a would be in front of each countable word school.

Is there some grammar rule that can explain this sentence?


texts:
It is ______________ to find that, when a young male and female are
  near a mound, she's really focusing on termite fishing and he's
  spinning round in circles.

I must put only one word in the gap. According to the answer key, it is typical. However, why doesn't frequent work?


texts: Capitalization of "President" and "State" [of the United States]

texts: We used to capitalize references to  "the President" (of the US) even when his name wasn't included. And we used to capitalize "state" even when a particular state (State of California) was not mentioned. Is it now considered proper usage not to capitalize either of those?


texts: How do I start a sentence after a quote that did not end with a period

texts:
I have the following Erratum:

The Editors regret that in the original article two formulations are misleading for the reader:

In the original publication, the last sentence of the Introduction is: “Section 5 also indicates this.”. This sentence should be replaced by: “Section 5 also indicated this.”.
In the original publication, point 2 reads: “other theories contemporaneously accepted;”. This should be replaced by: “other theories accepted;”.

My questions are: in (1.), is the use of period-quotation mark-period OK? And in (2.), should I write periods immediately after the closing quotation marks?


texts: What verbs can you use in a sentence "The movie "Boyhood" runs for three hours"?

texts:
What verbs can you use to express the duration of a movie other than "run"?

Example sentence:

Boyhood runs for three hours.


texts: I have read many sentences making use of 'on behalf of' meaning 'as a representative of'. I know behalf is a noun, so when we could use 'on the behalf of' in a sentence? I consulted many websites, but none of them used 'the' article before 'behalf'. Is it wrong to use 'the' before this noun? Why? If i do use it, what would it mean?


texts: Is this identified as plural or singular?

texts:
"The set of mental processes"
is/are ?
Thanks.


texts:
So I was listening to a song (bülow - Own me), and there's this one line that I can't really understand. Which is "Got nothing but a twenty on me", and I can't really understand what it's supposed to really mean. You can do a quick google search for the full lyrics, but in context the verse is

Car chase, got the Devil on me
Can't see, got nothing but a twenty on me, on me
Nothing ever comes for free
You can pay what you want
But you're never gonna own me

Song is something about like the when guys try to flex their wealth on girls and chase them like this, but that she doesn't really care about that stuff.
I understand the expression to have a twenty on someone - which means to know their location. But it makes no sense in this context. And it kinda drives me mad right now. My common sense would say that she's just trying to say that she doesn't have that much money, but doesn't really care about it. Though I'm not at all sure about that - hence the question.
If it helps, she's from a Canadian descent, raised in Berlin.


texts:
From Salman Rushdie "Shame"

  A fish seeks, in a fishhook, a kind of confidence, the hook communicating its inevitability to fish-lips. Angling is a battle of wits; the thoughts of the fishermen pass down rods and lines, and are divined by finny creatures. Who, on this occasion, found haunted waters easier to stomach than the ugly descending thoughts.

Please help me understand what the word divine means here.

Does it mean fish try to guess what fisherman thinks.
Or it means fish are trying to find those thoughts and stick to them. (like searching in with divining rod)
Or anything else?


texts: 'It would have been better if' grammatical issue

texts:
I am confused what is the correct usage of this

It would have been better if government banned the production of firecrackers
It would have been better if government had banned the production of firecrackers.

If both are correct then what is the difference between two.


texts: Moving from passive voice to active voice in a sentence

texts:
The following sentence was written in the passive voice:
During the COVID-19 lockdown, most of the business was sent to work from home for several months.
I have tried to rewrite it in the active voice, but it sounds a bit "off":
The COVID-19 lockdown sent most of the business to work from home for several months.
How would you rewrite this sentence in the active voice, while maintaining conciseness?


texts: What does "compromise of information" mean. Here it is in context: "The leak has resulted in the the compromise of information."


texts:
The study described in the article shows that implementation of
  dynamic LED boards doesn’t show a clear increase in traffic flow at
  the bottleneck before congestions, probably because the LED displays
  provide static information instead of dynamic.

Is this a proper way of using "instead of"?


texts: Is "as you need" different from "as you need to" in this sentence?

texts:
To utilize things as(when) you need to, but never be captivated by things.(self-made, a translation from ancient text in Chinese)

I think "as you need" and "as you need to" is different in this context. Because "as you need" may be followed by noun, but "as you need to" is to be followed by verb. Which one do you think is more appropriate in this sentence?


texts: What is it called when the majority moves and leaves behind a small group of people effectively exiling those people but without forcing them to move

texts:
For example, me and 7 of my friends are sitting at a lunch table. 3 other people sit down at the same table. We (the 8 of us) leave that table and and sit down at another. This effectively exiles us due to the 3 people that sat down, but required no force.

We were debating what the word for this would be. I don't believe it is "immigration," because we didn't move to an already existing place.


texts:
Although I searched fairly extensively, I couldn't find any references as to the origins of pre-plan. According to Online Etymology Dictionary, pre-arranged and prearranged have existed since 1792  but it fails to mention the history of pre-plan.

Dictionary.com which is a reliable source for dates and examples of usages, doesn't even list the verb. Instead it re-directs the reader to plan

Oxford Dictionaries (which rarely provides the origins of words) says

  pre-plan
  [WITH OBJECT] (usually as adjective pre-planned)
  Plan in advance:  Safety and security of supply demand that they operate to stringent standards and create a mindset that is preconditioned towards conformity and pre-planned behaviour

Collins Dictionary notes the one word solution:

  preplan
  But then he added, `We'll let the company treat us, and I'll tell you all about how to preplan and prefinance your mother's funeral.

Exactly how old is this "corporate speak" expression?
Is it really derived from the world of business?
Has its meaning evolved or changed during the years?


texts: What would be the one word to describe this person?

texts: A person who is silly, outspoken and not following the code of conduct and from a high class city.


texts:
In more and more podcasts and presentations I hear sentences such as this one:

  That is our strategy going forward.

What meaning does going forward add to the sentence? That is, how is it different than saying:

  That is our strategy.

(I listened to two software podcasts recently: in the first going forward was used once, and in the second it was used twice and moving forward once. I have to say it connotes a slight sense of we have a team working hard on this, lots of motion, lots of action, but it could have been dropped in all four cases and no meaning would have been lost. In any case, people currently really love to use it!)


texts: How are artificial constructions such as l33t classified with regards to English?

texts:
L33t or its various other titles* is a derivation of English but I have no idea what term should be used to describe it. Other examples of these things would include lolspeak and the massive alterations involved in commonplace texting.

Wikipedia suggests that l33t is an alternative "alphabet" but that only covers the letter/number conversions. "Alphabet" doesn't address the lingo and structure (*cough*) that l33t employs.

Perhaps this question is too far outside of the scope of this site. L33t itself suggests a culture of its own but no one over there can agree on anything and any popular lingo today will be forgotten or replaced by tomorrow. Its worthiness is totally debatable but I still want to know what to call it.

* Included here for future searches: leet, leetspeak, l33tspeak, l33tsp34k, 1337, 13375p34k


texts: What is it called when something is described by what it isn't?

texts:
I'm not looking for a particular part of speech.

A corollary to this idea, and in some ways the opposite, is when something is defined by/as itself. A lot of times you will find this in bad dictionaries when the definition of a word refers to a word whose definition refers to the original word. I am wondering if there is a word to describe this phenomenon.

I also recognize that using 'whose' above is grammatically incorrect, as it refers to a person. What would I replace it with?


texts: What does this joke about milk going bad mean?

texts:
This is a joke from the TV series "Friends".

  — Can I borrow this? My milk's gone bad.
  — I hate that. I once had a thing of half-and-half. Stole my car.

I'm thinking that it has something to do with the ambiguity of "gone bad", but I don't understand what "I once had a thing of half-and-half" means.


texts: What to do if a sentence ends with "Yahoo!"?

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  How to handle a name that includes an exclamation point (or other punctuation)?

Just like the title of this question.

I was reading an article about CAPTCHAs on Wikipedia and I read this:

  These methods have been used by spammers to set up thousands of accounts on free email services such as Gmail and Yahoo!.

Is this correct or should the period be omitted? It looks very strange.


texts: How to reconstruct a sentence to avoid words like but, yet, still, although and though?

texts:
I often find difficult to avoid those words.
It'd be fine in articles, essays, etc if it was only because of the repetitiveness, there are three words or more for it, but in longer texts, like novels, it's hard for me to go on pages without thinking my sentences don't vary much in its structure.

There's always stuff to compare or make exceptions and the word but (and variants) have bothered me a lot.
I wanted to find an alternative structure for sentences that don't require "but" in it.

How can I reconstruct sentences like these so they won't look like there's something missing if I don't put a but there?

"He shook his head even though the room was dark and she couldn't see him"

"He tried to call, but it was too late."


texts: When to use a comma after "there is in fact"?

texts:
The following quote has a comma after it:

  There is, in fact, not much point in writing a novel unless you can
  show the possibility of moral transformation, or an increase in
  wisdom, operating in your chief character or characters.

But [this quote](www.goodreads.com/quotes/312171-there-is-in-fact-something-obscene-and-sinister-about-photography
) doesn't:

  There is in fact something obscene and sinister about photography, a
  desire to imprison, to incorporate, a sexual intensity of pursuit.

When should you use a comma after "there is in fact"?

Is it necessary to put a comma after "there is in fact"?


texts:
Last week, I was among a group of friends and commented on the fact that someone had removed a sticker from their microwave. I used the word "mic" to abbreviate microwave, and people thought I was talking about a microphone. This made me wonder if anyone else actually says that or if my mixed word usage (I'm from New Jersey, but have been living in California for 6+ years) resulted in an original abbreviation.

I'm pretty sure I have been abbreviating microwave this way for quite a while, though. Is it an East Coast thing? Is it a personal thing? I googled for it and checked WordReference, but mic is basically an abbreviation for microphone any way you slice it, it would seem.

So is this a regionalism that others share or is it an abbreviation with low general comprehension?


texts: Usage of 'someone gets someone familiar with something'

texts:
I can't find the exact answer to the question of whether 'someone gets someone familiar with something' sounds correct and natural in English?
When I googled a while, I discovered that speakers of English said that when referring to a tour or a guide or training sessions. But I want to say that, for example, in the following context

A manager at work offered to get a new colleague familiar with the affairs of the company.

In my dictionary I also looked up other phrases with the same meaning.

make someone familiar;
have someone familiar.

Are they more suitable for this context? A talk in a loose manner or ambiguity is not appropriate here.


texts: How to say things are positioned or placed next to each other without any space in between?

texts: Looking for a word to express objects being aligned next to each other without any space in between.


texts:
My English teacher took some points off on a recent paper of mine based on improper comma usage, so I'm coming here for clarification. Here are the examples. The [x]'s indicate where the commas were deemed missing and I was marked down accordingly.

  When I was younger[x] I skipped the superhero phase, and never really
  thought twice about it.

  At this point[x] the character becomes ridiculous as he becomes a God.

I was under the impression that commas are generally used to indicate pauses in speaking, connect independent clauses, delimit lists, or signal appositives. For example, many authors and speakers may use commas more frequently than others to indicate many pauses in speaking, whereas others prefer a more rushed manner of speaking (Had I been in a more pensive mood, I may have included the commas, but my manner of thinking at the time felt the chosen method more accurately represented what I was attempting to depict.)

Is one wrong and the other not? Is my teacher correct? Are there set-in-stone comma rules that are to be consistently followed in order to be proper? If so, are only creative writers and authors allowed to break those rules?

Thanks for reading.


texts: Is it "actively being used" or "being used actively"?

texts:
I want to convey via email that a machine M is currently being used by a person "X". So which of the following sentences is appropriate:

I cannot use machine M since it is actively being used by X.

OR

I cannot use machine M since it is being used actively by X.


texts: Word for 'to feel superior by pitying others'

texts:
Example sentence:
Some people like the fame and superiority gained by helping poor and posting that incident in social media.

Web search shows up pages like Why pity negative word, self-pity and not helpful.


texts: Is it correct to say "under the shelter of X, a Y was taking place?"

texts:
Is it correct to say the following?

  All that could be heard was the wind blowing, and giant waves
  crashing against the rocks in the beach. Under the shelter of
  the inn, a barbecue was taking place.

Meaning that some people are having a barbecue right in front (or behind) of the inn. And this is partially protecting them from the wind.


texts: "Is there a best X?" — why "a" if it's the superlative degree?

texts:
Which of the following is grammatical?

  Is there a best school?
  Is there the best school?

I'm sure that the first one is right. But why?


texts:
I'm writing some documentation for code I'm writing and had a question regarding commas with a series of two series.

You cannot add setting_A and setting_B, or setting_X and setting_Y in the same request.

Do I include the comma after setting_b? I'm not sure since a series of two items doesn't use one (I saw zebras and penguins at the zoo.). I'm just confused since each of the 'items' is actually a series in and of itself (A and B; X and Y).


texts: Is there a difference between modern English and formal English?

texts: In high school I was taught that it is not proper grammar to end a sentence with a preposition. My instructor was very strict about grammar on every paper we wrote. He always said to not end a sentence with a preposition and showed the ways to not do this. Is this different now with modern English as opposed to the English I was taught in high school?


texts: when to use "that is/are" for definitions

texts:
I am having a hard time figuring when to use "that is". For example, for the definition of "interjection", which is correct?

A word or phrase that is used to express emotion or surprise
A word or phrase used to express emotion or surprise

Do they mean the same thing? Is "that is" extraneous in this case?

Another example, for "premise":

Statements that are made to justify or induce a conclusion
Statements made to justify or induce a conclusion

Again, the same or different?

thanks!


texts: What is the origin of the phrase "beyond the pale"?

texts: What's the origin of the phrase 'beyond the pale'?


texts: Can I use "because" more than once in a sentence?

texts:
Something like,

  'Because' cannot be used in a sentence more than once because...

How to explain these sentences?


texts: Is it incorrect to use 'however' as a substitute for 'but' in a sentence?

texts:
In my thesis I have written such sentences as:

  "Murphy and Levy found that all participants used formality, titles
  and please/thankyou with overseas partners, however, what was
  perceived as impolite from both sides was different."

  "These definitions undoubtedly give generalizable insights into cultural trends,
  however, this method is not suitable for my thesis as these types of
  studies either use large datasets and discourse completion tasks, or
  they take a more ethnographic stance looking qualitatively at two
  groups interacting (see e.g., Spencer-Oatey & Xing, 2003; Grainger,
  2011)."

My supervisor hates it leaving such comments as "In my practice, a ‘However’ used to indicate that the following proposition contrasts in some way with the previous proposition begins a new sentence." and "As you know, I hate this ‘however’ used as ‘but’." - but am I actually grammatically wrong? Or is my usage informal/improper?


texts:
Could you please tell me, what does "phlossofeh" in this sentence:

  Her patrician tones (she always spoke of "phlosoffeh" and "litch-cha") limited her appeal...


texts: What is the best word to describe making decisions based on the limited information available?

texts: The word I'm looking for does not entirely have a positive connotation as it may mean that you don't have a certain style or attitude in making decisions. You may have just decided based on what is available or on what you know.


texts: How would you say e.g. creativity isn't something that only belongs to graphic designers?

texts:
Can't think of the word or phrase to use, can anyone help me?
Creativity isn't solely the domain of graphic designers?
Something to do with prerogative?


texts: What is the phonetic transcription for my pronunciation of /l/?

texts:
Please listen to my pronunciation.
http://vocaroo.com/i/s0DWEjzb1GpG

When I say "seagull", when making the  L sound, my tongue makes contact with the area behind my front teeth. It's an /l/.

But for "seagulls", there is no contact at all between my tongue and my mouth.

Question:

What is the phonetic transcription for the way that I pronounce "L" in "seagulls"? (I don't think it's /l/ because there is no contact as mentioned above. Or can it still be /l/ without contact?)
Also, here is "golf". Also no L sound. What is the transcription?
http://vocaroo.com/i/s0NvuYmJJOYh


texts:
For semicolon and colon, I have found out that if in two independent clauses the second one explains the first clause, we use colon; if not, semicolon. How do I know the second case?
My examples:

Spain is a beautiful country; the beaches are warm, sandy and clean.
He got what he worked for: he really earned that promotion.

Can I see better examples of sentences with independent clauses?


texts: What is the word to describe trying to find the right word for something?

texts: There is a "meanings" tag on English.SE, but I would like the opposite way around — I have a meaning already, I want the word (if it exists) for doing just this.


texts: Can please anyone helps me to revise these Line

texts:
I am a man who not speaks gut English..., I have a Website with two Language, Spanish and English because my English is very bad, First employ google Translate, then Grammarly and later with my bad English remediate it...now have a little problem with these Line...

  In July 2019 Debian release a new stable version, his name is Debian 10 Buster, it will receive support over the next five years. I will explain here with this Tutorial how to Install Debian 10 Buster with Mate and Nvidia, but it is working similarly with all Desktop's (Gnome, Kde, Lxde, Lxqt, Xfce, Cinnamon, Debian and Mate).

Can Please anyone helps me to remediate these line...

Thanks!


texts: Blockchain or block chain? Double-spend or doublespend?

texts:
On the Bitcoin StackExchange site we have a discussion about a few words that you probably won't find in a dictionary right now but that are technical terms used in Bitcoin or cryptocurrency in general. As I am not a native english speaker myself I would like to know if there are any general guidelines that we should follow when deciding how to write them.

The block chain (or block-chain or blockchain) is a chain of blocks, each block containing a number of transactions made on the network.
To double spend (or double-spend or doublespend) is to attempt to spend the same money twice.


texts:
This paragraph is published in The Economist, Jun 6th 2020 edition as "Have Siberian fires been smouldering underground all winter?"
The part of Nestled... in the highlighted sentence looks like a dangling participle to me. The subject of the main clause is satellites which does not seem to agree with nestled.
No offence to the professionals. I am just wondering if journalists would also have a lapse in grammar.

SEEN FROM the sky, the northern stretches of Siberia in early May were
a splodgy white, their thinning winter snow cover interrupted by the
brown veins of meandering rivers. Nestled within some of these curves,
though, satellites picked up patches of soil warmer than the ground
around them. The patches grew and multiplied as the month went on.
Before it was over, some were visibly ablaze.

Here are my versions. Comments are welcomed.

Passive voice

Nestled within some of these curves, though, patches of soil warmer than the ground around them were picked up by satellite.

Preposition structure

Between some of these curves, though, satellites picked up patches of soil warmer than the ground around them.
What do you think?


texts: Expression for asking about the material of a cloth in a store?

texts: How do you ask about the material of a cloth when you go shopping?


texts: Is “Arriving late to the party, but dancing on all the clichés” an adaptation of a cliché?

texts:
Yesterday’s (June 12) New York Times introduced Guggenheim’s new ventures of collecting artworks from South and South east Asia, Middle East, North Africa, and Latin America, which it has paid little attention to in the past under the headline, “Arriving Late to the Party, but Dancing on All the Clichés” in its Art & Design section.

I am intrigued with the phrase “Arriving late to the party, but dancing on all the xxx.”
Is it a popular idiom or cliché? What does "dance on all the clichés" mean?

I guess it is a twist of “Arriving late to the party, but dancing  all the night (snugly).” But I’m not sure.


texts: What is the meaning or context of this Mark quote

texts: “I once sent a dozen of my friends a telegram saying 'flee at once - all is discovered.' They all left town immediately.”


texts: What are these symbols called in the English language?

texts: You see these all the time in movies, usually when some poor guy has been wrongly imprisoned and begins counting the days since his incarceration, but what are these markings called? I used to know, but I've forgotten and now it's really bugging me.


texts:
I know you're feeling pretty hey sailor up here about now.

What does about now mean, in the sentence?
Is it an informal way of saying?


texts: what's the rule for tense consistency within a sentence?

texts:
I have a doubt regarding tense consistency within the same sentence.
Which one between these two sentences is correct?

A - when he comes out of the house, a storm blows all over the city.
B - when he comes out of the house, a storm is blowing all over the city.

Or in this instance

A - a man comes out of the house, takes his time to check the surroundings.
B - a man comes out of the house, taking his time to check the surroundings.

When, as a general rule, is it proper to use a continuous in the second part of the sentence?


texts: Word for an activity that one does not care for?

texts:
I'm looking for a word or phrase to describe an activity which is not liked by everybody. You either like it or you don't. This word or phrase shouldn't be critical. I don't mean to say that somebody's interests don't make any sense. What I do mean is that I'm not someone who might be interested in this kind of activity, I'm not the right person to take it up.

For example:

  Would you like to try canoeing? - Not really. It's ... (only for those who really like this kind of activity but I'm not one of them).


texts: Word like 'sailor', without the connotation of sailing

texts:
I have several qualifications in what the RYA (UK authority for such qualifications) calls powerboating or motor cruising. These are small-to-medium sized boats with engines, and no sails. I would like to be able to say sentences of the form "I am a keen x" but using the word sailor suggests that I know about sailing (which I don't).

I realise that in other contexts (for example, sailors in the Navy) the word doesn't have those connotations, but I believe it would in the contexts I want to use it. What alternatives could I use?


texts: What's the difference between angst and anxiety?

texts:
I read about angst as anxiety and frustration that isn't specific and in another website, it was written that angst is a feeling of worry but with hope that everything will be sorted in the end and anxiety is worrying without any hope.

Help me to differ between them.
examples would be helpful.


texts: Is it correctly say " "My family watchES television there every night" or " "My family watch television there every night"

texts:
I find that sentence in a video on youtube, and I'd like to now what is the correct, please, help me. I would be grateful for your help. I'm trying to learn English and understand special the part about grammar.

Sincerely,

Vinícius Corrêa
Student from Brazil


texts: Word for a book or notebook that describes the contents of a specific set of other (note)books

texts:
I believe, in the before time, when wikipedia was just an idea, there were these things called encyclopedias that came in many volumes.  One of the volumes actually described the contents of the other volumes.  Despite the encyclopedia being alphabetized, this was useful because it let you skim available topics and got you interested in them (it also got you interested in buying the other volumes).

I have a set of hand written notebooks.  I'd like to create a notebook that is, similarly, about the other notebooks to remind myself where certain topics reside.  I'd like to give it a name that makes clear what it is.

Edit:

The notebook about the notebooks will contain a table of contents.  However, the notebooks are not organized by subject, they are chronological.  This means the same subject will appear scattered on different pages.  When I can, I'll gather these page numbers together in a list on a line with the subject.  This means it will look a bit like an index.  It just won't be alphabetized.  I'm doing all this by hand so I'm dealing with certain limitations.


texts: What is the origin of the use by Texans of "them" to mean one person?

texts:
I have always wondered about a use of the pronoun "them" that is characteristic of many Texans, and would like to know if it has been documented by linguists and, perhaps, had its origins explained.

I was born and raised in Houston, Texas, and spent my first 17 years there. This use of "them" always sounded strange to me, even though I was a native, perhaps because it wasn't something I heard in my family. I did hear it, however, from many neighborhood children and my school friends, as well as from several of my parents' friends.

Here are a couple of examples of this use of "them":

"I just saw Bob and them."
"How are Bob and them?"

Of course #2 sounds strange, because the nominative case of the pronoun, "they", is the correct choice for "How are..."

But this is not what makes the expression so different.

"Them", as in both cases here, is often (not always) used in Texas to refer to one person, irrespective of gender. For example:

"I just saw Bob and them." "Are they coming?" "Yes, Bob is coming at 5:00, and Jane will be along about an hour later."

Apparently Texans aren't the only people to use "them" in these and other like expressions. I have searched on the Internet, and the search turned up plenty of sites that refer to the expression "How's mom and them" or close variants:

Your Dictionary - mom-and-them, a Southern expression that means "family";
Urban Dictionary - your mom and the rest of your family;
Wiktionary - a Southern US expression that means "family";
Many New Orleans sites, including NewOrleans.com - "ya mom'n'em", meaning your immediate family.

So evidently, the use of the expression goes far beyond Texas in the southern United States. But nowhere on the Internet can I find a source that documents this particular type of use of "them" to describe only one person, irrespective of gender. (Also, in Texas, it does not always apply to family.)

Is there an etymology of this usage? Has anyone seen it documented anywhere?


texts: Looking for a word that describes the merger of two words, is this an example of Portmanteau?

texts:
This is slightly awkward to explain, so I will be as clear as possible. I am aware of what a portmanteau is, as you will see below, but I am unsure if my examples classify as such.

I'm looking to find out if there is a word similar to the term portmanteau but for when you join two words where the last syllable/sound of the first word is the same as the first syllable/sound of the second word. The spelling is often the same on the end of word one and start of word two, but not always.

Some examples of what I am trying to explain are as follows:

Murderotica (murder + erotica)
Disconnecktie (disconnect + neck tie)
Bayonetwork (bayonet + network)
Morgan Freemango (Morgan Freeman + mango)
Typicalculation (typical + calculation)

Are these still examples of portmanteau or something else? By the definition of portmanteau and examples I think they aren't.

  A portmanteau word fuses both the sounds and the meanings of its components, as in smog, coined by blending smoke and fog, or motel, from motor and hotel. (Wikipedia)

The reason I assume my examples are not portmanteaux is that both my words remain "whole" to a certain extent and can still be made out. In a stereotypical portmanteau parts of each original word are lost.


texts:
"When I write a novel in which the central action is a baptism, I am very well aware that for a majority of my readers, baptism is a meaningless rite, and so in my novel I have to see that this baptism carries enough awe and mystery to jar the reader into some kind of emotional recognition of its significance.To this end I have to bend the whole novel—its language, its structure, its action.I have to make the reader feel in his bones if nowhere else, that something is going on that counts.Distortion in this case is an instrument; exaggeration has a purpose, and the whole structure of the story or novel is made what it is because of belief.This is not the kind of distortion that destroys;it is the kind that reveals, or should reveal."
                                   ————Flannery O’Connor

Does it mean at least?But "in his bones" has been an very high degree so I don’t think it makes sense.


texts: Single word for the phrase "friends at high places"

texts:
A person's "jack" is the slang for "friends at high places" in the part of the world where I belong to.

Thank you.

Edit: I split the long question as I was asked to.


texts: This may be a somewhat archaic word, but I recall learning it from Nabokov's Lolita. It has that 'vortex','spasm' sort of phonetic similarity lying on the tip of my tongue...


texts: Meaning of “I can ring your napkins out any day, with you tucked in them any day”

texts:
I'm reading Arnold Wesker's The Kitchen and cannot understand the meaning of:

I can ring your napkins out any day, with you tucked in them any day.

I understand that it's suggesting beating someone figuratively, but I'm not sure. Could anyone paraphrase it?


texts:
We were taught in school that gerund comes after 'for', while infinitive follows 'to'.

However, I came across this sentence :"Thank you for devoting your time to reading my letter"

Whatever research I try to do on the subject, the only results I get are 'ways to thank people for their time' and 'how to write formal letters' , but it's the given grammar structure i'm interested in.

So can you please help out?

Thank you so much! :)


texts: "Which browsers do support this?" or "Which browsers support this?"

texts:
What is the correct syntax:

"Which browsers do support this?"
"Which browsers support this?"


texts: Speaking about someone of unknown gender

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  Gender neutral pronoun

For example, user clicked the button. I don't know if the user is male or female, what gender should I use? Now I read a book, where the user is "she", but I've seen before books where the user was "they". So, what is right?


texts: Gender in "Sun won't show its/his/her face" nowadays

texts:
The question concerns the usage of possessive pronouns in phrases like:

  Sun won't show its/his/her face much today.

I saw this sentence using her in J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, and several sources online point out that the Sun was feminine only in Old English and changed to masculine later due to Roman influence. How is it used nowadays?  Does it differ in colloquial speech, fiction and/or other books?


texts: How to reply to the question, "What's up?"

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  What is an appropriate response to “what's up” greeting?

If someone asks me "What's up, man?," how should I reply? What does it mean?


texts:
I remember reading or hearing that English is a very unusual language, almost unique, in using the verb "to go" to create a question. (Are you going to see the play? Are you going to drink that coffee?) Most languages would do something a lot simpler such as changing word order (See you the play? Drink you that coffee?). If you think about it, unless you've grown up with it all your life, it is a strange construction.

So my question (out of curiosity) is: Am I correct in what I said above? If so, can someone point me to an article online where I can read some more about it?


texts: "Details on" or "Details about"? Use in technical writing

texts:
I'm writing a technical text about the information in a report, dealing with telecommunication procedures.

I want to highlight that the information field I'm referring to doesn't provide any information about some details, which more specifically are some type of errors. To do so I'm using a negative form.

I'm unsure if I should say:

"It seems the field doesn’t provide details neither on "Operation Errors" nor on "Reject causes", the report lists in its output."

or

"It seems the field doesn’t provide details neither about "Operation Errors" nor about "Reject causes", the report lists in its output."

Thank you in advance


texts:
"That was a memorable day to me, for it made great changes in me. But, it is the same with any life. Imagine one selected day struck out of it and think how different its course would have been. Pause, you who read this, and think for a long moment of the long chain of iron or gold, of thorns or flowers, that would never have bound you, but for the formation of the first link on that memorable day."

--Excerpt from Great Expectation

How to understand the bold "but"? As I can't see transition between "the formation" and "the long chain".


texts:
I was going through some 5th grader's assignment and there was a question which required the synthesis of two sentences.

Mary is not going to attend the party.
Jane is not going to attend the party too.

The questions dictates that the sentence must start with "Neither of...". The answer provided by the teacher was: "Neither of Mary and Jane is going to attend the workshop."

For some reason, this bothers me tremendously. I don't really understand why, but I know I would be less uncomfortable with: "Neither of the girls, Mary and Jane, is going to attend the workshop."


texts: "The applicability of the algorithm to uniform filter bank" or "to the uniform filter bank"?

texts:
I have this sentence:

  We would like to prove the applicability of the algorithm to uniform filter bank.

I am not sure about the before uniform filter bank. To give the context for the sentence, I would like to say here that the algorithm is applicable to any uniform filter bank.


texts: "The odor of strong rum made a greasy pass through the room."

texts:
I found the sentence as a ldoce sample sentence for "odor".

  The odor of strong rum made a greasy pass through the room.

"... made a greasy pass through the room".

What does the writer mean? The odor made the greasy pass?


texts:
If one means next, as if waiting for orders or instructions, is it possible to use the expression what do we do?  Or should we say what are we going to do?

Is there a reason to prefer one over the other? Is there a better way to use next as in waiting for instructions?


texts: Learning about the difference between past simple and past perfect

texts:
I've been reading about the difference between past simple and past perfect and I've found that when a series of events are narrated in order past simple is the one to be used. When the events aren't in order or when one is subsequent to another past perfect has to be used instead.

In the next examples which one should be used?
"We (walk) around the garden for an hour then we (stop) for an ice cream."
As these events are in order but one is subsequent to the other should I use past perfect in the first verb (had walked)?
"After we (finish) eating the ice cream, we (buy) our tickets and (stand) in a long queue."
In this case should it be past simple in the three verbs because the events are in order and reassemble a list?


texts:
Is it correct to say "I am heading off" when I am about to leave?

Is it informal? If so, what's the formal equivalent?


texts: Why does reversing the rules of "an" vs "a" make speech easier at times?

texts:
Background
From what I’ve learned during grade school, information which can
easily be found online,
you should use an when the following word starts with a vowel:

"An animal"
"An alien"
"An ewok"

And a when the following noun starts with a consonant:

"A car"
"A radio"
"A xylophone"

Following these rules seem to ease how we pronounce things. If I reversed
the rules and tried saying An xylophone, or a alien, I seem to
struggle more than if following the rules.

Confusion
When pronouncing the acronym LEA, short-hand for Local Educational Agency Representative, myself and my peers would use "an", such as:

"Do you have an LEA?"
"An LEA is required for that."

I’m not sure if this is specific to acronyms, since a LEA may be ambiguous:

a LEA
ALEA

However, I’ve seen/used acronyms following an a without issue:

a PHP file exists in the system

Question
Would saying an LEA be improper? Is there a documented reason for
why this rule complicates how we pronounce our words?


texts: Does a brand name used as common noun like Hoover respond to change in market share made by Dyson?

texts: In the UK, electric vacuum cleaners used to be called Hoover, a product name, but Dyson is now the top brand on the UK market. Is the vacuum cleaner still called Hoover? Or is it now called Dyson?


texts: Source for the Adage: "The first liar is always believed most."

texts:
In a couple of books and articles I've come across an adage, “the first liar is always believed most”:

  Now, I talked to the captain first, but I want you to know that great old saying, “The first liar gets believed”, does not apply with me. I listen to everybody the same.
  —Poyer, David. The Gulf, p. 322.*

  And while I agree the digital age gives you additional options for setting the record straight or refuting allegations, there’s another old adage I heard once that seems to be true as well: “the first liar is always believed most.”
  —Barrett, John. Comment section, “Is It a Better Time Than Ever to Pick Fights With the Press?”, Mr. Media Training Blog.

Where did this originate?

* Quotation verified using Amazon’s search inside this book feature, search text [ first liar ].


texts: Why do "X associate" and "associate X" have such different meanings?

texts:
This answer describes the American English term "stock associate", as meaning a relatively low paid store worker who fills shelves.

By contrast, high status work seems to have the job descriptor after the word "associate" ("associate director", "associate justice", "associate" member of some professional body).

Is it always/usually the case, that "associate" after the rest of the job title would have a different significance to "associate" before the rest of the job title? If so, why?


texts:
in the sentence "Fourteen of the bones make up the face and jaw." is "Fourteen" singular or plural?

The preceding sentence is "The skulls of every human being have 22 bones."

The grammar book I'm using suggests that the sentence should read, "Fourteen of the bones serves as the face and jaw." suggesting that "Fourteen" is plural, and that it requires a singular verb!!

Seems extremely awkward to me!!


texts: What is the antonym of insightful? I want to say that the information provided is not insightful. I searched in various dictionaries. The most common antonym is unperceptive, but that does not exactly carry the meaning of un-insightful.


texts:
It was....hard question to solve

a) too
b) such a

I’m a little bit confused but i think the form (too + adj+ to) can’t have a noun after the adjective unless it’s (too + adj+ a/an + noun), also I haven’t seen the form (such + adj +noun+ to) before.. I’m just guessing so what should it be?


texts: The Northwest Territories of Canada are only one territory, and the Papal States in Italy consisted of only one state. Why is the plural used? (In Italian, one says "Stato Pontificio", which is singular.) Are there other examples?


texts: Adjective to describe a significant natural disaster "which only occurs once every century/millennium"?

texts: I'm looking for an adjective that expresses the rarity in terms of scale or impact of an event (especially a natural disaster like a flood or an earthquake). Words like disastrous, catastrophic, and devastating all describe the severity of impact, but don't stress the chronological rarity. In Chinese, there is an expression 百年一遇 which literally means "seen only once every century". I'm wondering if there is an English word or expression for that.


texts: A word to describe the feeling of the lump in the throat due to nostalgia

texts: Is there a word to describe the feeling of the lump in the throat due to nostalgia? If so, what is it?


texts: Is there a term or a phrase for something that is both literally and figuratively true?

texts: For example, when I tried to do my best at dancing, I "put my best foot forward".  This is literally true because in dancing I put one foot in front of the other, but it's also figuratively true because I was sincerely giving it my best effort.  Is there a word or a phrase that describes something that is both literally and figuratively true?


texts: Use of Perfect Tenses, depending on the position of the phrase 'the first time'?

texts:
Today, I AM WEARING ice skates for the first time (ever).
Yesterday, I WORE ice skates for the first time (ever).
Tomorrow, I WILL WEAR ice skates for the first time (ever).

with the phrase 'for the first time', versus

Today IS the first time I HAVE (ever) WORN ice skates.
Yesterday WAS the first time I HAD (ever) WORN ice skates.
Tomorrow WILL BE the first time I WILL HAVE (ever) WORN ice skates.

with the phrase 'it is/was/will be the first time'.
Are these tense changes correct? If they are, how come they occur, since the situations described remain the same exactly, irrespective of whether you use 'for the first time' or 'it is/was/will be the first time'?


texts:
While I was searching on the net, I found this  sentence:

  Memorandum to him who is concerned.

I looked for a definition to to him who, but I found nothing. So what's the meaning of it?

ِAre these two sentences equivalent:

Memorandum for those who are concerned.
Memorandum to him who is concerned.


texts: What is the difference between "vast majority" and "clear majority"?

texts:
I was writing an essay when Word picked up an error in my writing; specifically, it wanted to replace "vast majority" with "clear majority."

So my question is: is "clear majority" better, more eloquent, or clearer than "vast majority?" If so, how?

A similar post here talks about the differences between similar expressions, but I want to know about the difference between "vast majority" and "clear majority."


texts:
How would I hypenate the phrase 'high poverty public school?'

My first guess was 'high-poverty public school', but I'm not really sure.


texts:
What is the structure of might + verb (in past tense) called?

I might said it. (Instead of I might have said it.)

I might did it. (Instead of I might have done it.)

I might did say it. (Instead of I might have said it., with did as an auxiliary verb.)

The verbs said and did are not modal, and so these examples are not double modal. But I don’t know whether these are speech errors, and I myself might have said it (and it might not sound entirely unnatural). What is this structure?

I thought it would be nice to have a name to the structure when people discuss this type of construction, unlesse it’s No English at all but a form of (non)standard dialect.

Prior to this posting, I came across an article, titled might didn’t, about a similar structure of double modals. I was in hope of making a valid question for the Forum.

This type of structure is not listed in commonly available references, while it is also difficult for lay people to ascertain the facts that its usage is common in particular dialects.

I don’t think the study of its usage is particularly useful for English learners. Learners may get a wrong idea that English speakers in general are receptive to nonstandard usages.


texts: Are we not allowed to use reflexive pronouns to refer to their fellow objects?

texts:
I would like to know whether the following sentence is ambiguous or not in a way that "himself" could either refer to "the man" or "the boy":

"The man told the boy different things about himself."

I'm thinking that I should use "him" to refer to "the boy" and that "himself" could only refer to "the man" since I've read that reflexive pronouns could only refer to their antecedent subjects, but I'm not quite sure about this.

Thanks in advance!


texts:
"The city was a thousand years a-building."

What does "a-building" (in building) modify in that sentence?


texts:
I always thought gauntlet had 2 definitions: the hand piece of a suit of armour, and an obstacle course, like the kind filled with swinging traps and pits.

I've looked on the internet for a definition that fits my second definition, but I can't find one anywhere. All I find is an armour glove and something where 2 rows of people attack someone walking down the middle as a form of punishment.

Does anyone else know of this obstacle course definition I'm talking about? Can someone possibly link me to a definition if one is found?

A few examples are from the first 40 seconds of this video: http://www.moddb.com/groups/adventure-time-community-group/videos/adventure-time-business-time

And also I thought the game 'Gauntlet' was in reference to the fact that the whole game is like a gauntlet, as in an obstacle course with traps and such.

Could someone confirm if this is a real definition or if I'm just losing my marbles? Thanks!


texts:
When I finally caught him, he was bleeding and was too weak to swim.

The sentence seems awkward to me and I don't know how to rephrase it. I think "was" is kinda redundant but just omitting it doesn't help the sentence much. Any suggestions?


texts: How to pronounce the final “s” in plural nouns

texts:
Could you please help find which word below is pronounced differently from the rest with regard to the final s?

caves
marks
exams
days

I choose number 2, marks.


texts: Difference in meaning depending on context?

texts:
I’m not a native English speaker and I wonder if there is a difference in meaning between the following phrases (hunting lion/lion hunting/the hunt for), depending on the context. The context is: the writer is not just an observer writing about hunting in general, but he uses his own experiences as a hunter for the story. I have the feeling that there must be a difference. Thank you very much! (I Hope I pushed the right button.)
Leo
He went for a safari. Hunting lion provided material for a story.
He went for a safari. Lion hunting provided material for a story.
He went for a safari. The hunt for lion provided material for a story.
Thank you very much!


texts: "His work(s) in research and teaching [have/has] been"

texts:
His work in research and teaching have been ...
  His works in research and teaching have been...
  His work in research and teaching has been ...

If I want to express many pieces of his work, not just one piece of work, which one of the above is correct or better?


texts: A transitional word/phrase for this context?

texts:
Goodman, Jackson, and Fricker are non-contextualist. _______, the mainstream epistemology is contextualist.

What transitional word or phrase should be put in the blank?

The best I could come with is "on the other hand", but that is for opposite views.

Any suggestion?


texts: Term for a person/group of persons wanting to celebrate all

texts:
For example if in an organization only the day of work, Christmas and independence day are given official celebrations throughout the company. But then in the offices are people wanting to celebrate also father's day, mother's day, etc.

Is there a term for the creator(s)?


texts: Did "didactic" go through Latin before arriving in English or did it come directly from Greek?

texts:
Did the word didactic go through Latin before arriving in English? How could it not have? Yet Websters says it came to English directly from Greek! I think they are wrong.

There is a Latin word, didacticus, which means didactic and was widely used in Latin texts.  How can we find out what is didactic's true etymology?


texts: If someone is my proxy, I am their _____?

texts: Bonus question: If I am a proxy for multiple people, what's the collective noun for that group?


texts:
First, to harbingers of doom. One is the upheaval in the market for “speculative grade” (or junk) bonds.

The first sentence seems to be grammatically incorrect. The subject does not have any predicate. Can anyone verify this?


texts:
I seem to recall that there is an expression for when you are throwing something too big at a particular challenge: "To kill a fly with a..."? Or am I way off here?

Edit: maybe it's not a fly after all? I found this article talking about 'Using a sledgehammer to crack a nut'.


texts:
I was helping to explain the difference between "except for" and "except" and my friend made two example sentences. Those two sentences being:

  I like those except apple

and

  I like those except for apple

They sound unnatural to me, but I am unsure whether they are incorrect or not. Can someone please explain this sentence to me and if it is correct or not?


texts: Should I use “Team X” or “X Team” when “X” alone is ambiguous?

texts:
Suppose I want to put a description below a picture of a sports team or prepare t-shirts and other promotional gadgets with the name of the team.

Sometimes the team is well-known (Manchester United) or the name obviously indicates a sports team (Oakland Athletics).

But when the name is generic (Squirrels, Penguins, What-evers), has no city name in it and is not widely known, in order to avoid ambiguity it would probably be better to add the word “Team” to the title. Should “Team” go before or after the name, i.e. is it “Team X” or “X Team”? On TV we had “A-Team” but I’m not sure one can safely apply rules from TV series to real life.

EDIT: In my original examples the generic term was always plural but actually I’m also interested in the case of a singular name which could be a proper name at the same time (e.g. “Mars”, “Washington”, etc.).


texts: What does "change one's stripes" exactly mean?

texts:
I found a phrase in the headline of today’s Washington Post article (Feb. 14) that reads "Mubarak loyalists change stripes to fit into the new Egypt."
Though I interpreted the meaning of change one’s stripes as change sides, I wasn’t sure.

I checked up dictionaries at hand. No dictionary carries change stripes.

So I checked online dictionaries of free Merriam-webster, Cambridge dictionary online, and the thesaurus. com. None of them carries change stripe, except reference.com says refer to “Leopard cannot change its spots”, which seems to me not applicable to the implication of the phrase used in the above headline.

Can anybody tell me the exact meaning of change stripes? Does stripe mean a flag? Is this phrase well-established, though none of dictionary I've checked registers this phrase?


texts:
When somebody suggests me something (maybe offering me something, or suggesting me for a proposal/plan), and I would like to show my agreement/approval for that. Instead of just saying "sure" or "yes please", what are the other common options to express that?

Thanks!


texts: Should I use "is" or "are" in this sentence?

texts:
It goes on until everything Job has ever known, including his children is gone.

It goes on until everything Job has ever known, including his children are gone.


texts: Is "Too Much People" possible when I want to get the feeling of uncountable people?

texts:
Of course the rule is countable = many
Uncountable = much

But I see in some contexts that it's possible to exist this sense when I can't count in a way that it's exaggerated.

"There were too much people in the same room."

Is it possible or not?


texts: What's the verb for 'to form a canonical representation'?

texts:
I'd like to describe the activity of turning a set of elements into its canonical (standardized base) form.

Some candidates seem to be:

canonicalize
canonize

I'd also like to name the device performing this action, candidates so far:

canonicalizer
canonizer

None of these look quite right, what's the right term?


texts: Can “in alpha” be used as an antonym to “in beta,” or it’s a totally different animal?

texts:
I was drown to the phrase, “in beta” in the following passage of New York Times’  (June 16) publicity of their own new scheme, Trending:

  “The Times unveils a new tool, Trending, that shows you what Times
  stories are most popular with readers at a given instant. Trending
  also lets you know what stories are most popular on Facebook, Twitter
  and Google, and shows you which stories were most popular last week.
  Don’t want to be the last to know? Check out Trending. Brand new. Now
  in beta (testing mode). The Times has a sizable readership, but you
  haven’t been able to feel that presence when you are on the site. Now
  you can. (We still have a ways to go — we’re in beta, after all — but
  this is a start).
  http://www.nytimes.com/times-insider/2015/06/16/trending/?

online slang dictionary defines “in beta” as “a pre-release product that is released for testing.” It doesn't specify “in beta” as an internet or computor terminology.

Google Ngram shows the emergence of the usage of both “in beta” and “in alpha” in mid 1900s.

Why did “in beta” come to be used in the sense of “testing mode,” though it sounds like as if a disclaimer?

Can we use “in beta” in the sense of "in test, in development, in preparation" of a product/ service  or scheme / plan other than Internet associated context?

Can “in alpha” be used as an antonym, or contrast word to “in beta,” or it’s a totally different animal?


texts: Is there a term for clause in a sentence that can be removed without invalidating the remainder of the sentence?

texts: Take, for example, the sentence "The dog, which is in the corner of the room, is barking.". Is there a specific term for the part of the sentence "which is in the corner of the room", which can be removed to leave the valid sentence of "The dog is barking."?


texts: How to handle verbs that use different preposition when used in pairs

texts:
For example the sentence

  I will widen my perspective and approach to complex interdisciplinary
  research

should it be?

  perspective of and approach to

If this is the correct way, is there a better construction that flows better? At least to me, reading "perspective of and" doesn't sound very good.


texts: Is there an expression to describe a poor woman who marries a rich man for money?

texts:
Wikipedia reads that in Spanish Dar el braguetazo 'se dice de un hombre que ha encontrado un buen partido para casarse, que le saca de toda penuria y preocupación,'  — e.g., to marry for money, where the man is poor and the woman is rich.

I don't know why, but after some searches I found no Spanish expression to describe, contrary to "Dar el braguetazo", a marriage of a poor woman to a rich man, which is, as far as I know, a more common case.

Thus, my question is, at least in English, is there an expression to describe a poor woman who marries for money a rich man?


texts: How to phrase a sentence with reference to "Least Superlative"?

texts:
For instance if I have two younger sisters, named Alice, and Becky, for example. How do I describe the sister who is not youngest, but the other younger sister?

Becky is my youngest sister. Alice is my next youngest sister? Least Young? Sister of penultimate youngness?

It gets worse if I have a third sister (Carly), whose age is between mine and Alice's. Now I need to refer to not only the sister who is older than Becky and Alice, but younger than I am.

Or is there no succinct way to express this? I tried to explain this concept to a  French teacher once, but struggled to express it in English, and it's bothered me ever since.

Edit, to clear things up. I'm male. There's 3 sisters, and one brother.


texts: Word for an exhaustive description of something

texts:
A "description" of something does not necessarily have to completely describe the thing. For example, one could describe a mouse as "small and grey", but this leaves out a lot of information. Someone who did not know what a mouse was would have a very incomplete picture.

Is there a word for a description which aims to capture something as completely as possible, by reducing it to its components?

I have a feeling there is a word for this which maybe ends in -onomy or -ology.

I don't think it's taxonomy because that refers to an overarching system of description/classification covering many different "things".


texts: Is "If it had been for you" grammatical?

texts:
I came across the following sentence:

"I acted as if it had been for you." (V. Hugo)

Since "if it had been for you/we/they" don't have results after searching on Google Search (site:.us), can someone clarify if it is grammatical?

Could we rewrite the sentence as follow without change in meaning?

"I acted as if I had been you."


texts: What's the origin of the phrase "cruising for bruising"?

texts: It means "Acting in a way that is likely to cause trouble" but what is the origin of this expression which is not present in  Etymonline?


texts: Capitalization or not on fields of study in the arts

texts:
When used as the title of a course or a college major, clearly Music, Art, Theater, Dance and "The Arts" are capitalized.

I find myself writing about the arts and wondering if I should capitalize the "A" or not. If I write Arts majors, I capitalize; but I write non-arts majors in lower case. Is this correct? Which one is correct − "patrons of the arts," or "patrons of the Arts" or "patrons of The Arts"?

I want to do this correctly, as I teach a college course in this discipline.


texts: I searched for an answer at this site, but didn't find it. Is it correct to write "He takes part in a project"? Is "takes part in" correct in the aforementioned sentence? Or should other preposition be used instead of "in"? The meaning of the sentence is that someone works on a project, i.e. he is a member of the project's team.


texts:
You can create a web site or an application with your bare hands.

or

  You can create a web site or application with your bare hands.

?

Also, same for the definite article?


texts: A statement of request in that implies an obvious answer is expected

texts:
Is there a name for a statement someone makes, in which they issue a command for feedback, or request information, but the answer they want is totally obvious?

For example, your friend shows you pictures of his backyard pool, drinks, and girls who hang out with him, and says "so let me know if you're coming over this weekend".

It's similar to a rhetorical question, where the asker knows the answer and is essentially asking himself.
What would this case be called?


texts: The Coordination/Conjunction Constituency Test

texts: We've been covering constituency tests in my syntax class and whenever it comes to doing the Coordination (also know as conjunction) test, it isn't making sense to me. I'm just not sure how it proves constituency. Does anyone have a concise explanation?


texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  “Washroom”, “restroom”, “bathroom”, “lavatory”, “toilet” or “toilet room”

What is the British equivalent of the American 'washroom'? (Besides 'loo', of course, as it is informal.)

I've found two definitions, with both saying that they are of American English as opposed to British English.

Bathroom: N. Amer. a room containing a toilet: I have to go to the bathroom.
Washroom: N. Amer. a room with washing and toilet facilities.


texts:
I find it common in my writing to end up a sentence with a footnote reference mark. Should the footnote mark come before the stop or after it?

... this is some text1.

... this is some text.1


texts: Why does 'sharpening the saw' and 'has an axe to grind' - mean two completely different things?

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When someone is sharpening the saw, they are taking time out, learning and improving so that they can be more effective in their job.

When someone has an axe to grind, they are angry, and looking for an excuse to take it out on someone.

Now perhaps the former image is that of the careful thoughtful craftsman. Perhaps the second image is one of sparks flying off a piece of metal in a grinder – but they seem too similar not to have some common origin.

My question is: Why do sharpening the saw and has an axe to grind mean two completely different things?


texts: What is an overview page of a newspaper (online) called

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I am actually working at a German newspaper as a programmer, so this question might sound embarrassing or silly to you. Still we have a dispute on how to name the "overview" pages on our website.

With "overview" page I mean this: We have article pages, the webpages that show an article, and we have pages that list many articles, like our home page or the start pages of certain sections of or newspaper (sports, politics) etc.. I am wondering what you would call the latter.

article -> article page
"overview" -> ???


texts: If one writes a word in italics, say the name of a movie, and wants to put apostrophe s at the end to form the possessive, is the apostrophe s italicised with the title? Chinatown's or Chinatown's?


texts:
I have come across a definition of compound prepositions on

http://playit.pk/watch?v=GLoTwohOxBc

"Compound prepositions are those prepositions which are formed by prefixing the preposition to a noun, an adjective or an adverb"
Examples: above, along, inside, around, before, behind, below, beneath etc.

The boys ran around the bench

The book is inside the cupboard

The fan is above the table

I am unable to understand this definition, members are requested to make this clear to me.

Thanks in advance!


texts:
I have been asked to review a document but I have a dilemma:
"D" in below phrase should be capital?

"It can flourish collaboration among the members of the Department"?

Or job title:

"The Chairperson of Department is responsible for ...."

"You should focus to support our Research Chairs"

These sentences are from a formal proposal (statement) and I believe that non of the words should have the first-letter capitalized.

Although these are not proper name, the author capitalized first-letter of the job title and the words:"Department" and "Chairperson" all over the document.
I do not feel confident enough that they should be kept capitalized or not.


texts:
According to the Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English

Although some object to the inclusion of of in such phrases as all of the students and all of the contracts and prefer to omit it, the construction is entirely standard.

What are the reasons behind such objection? There must be some grammar involved: first the definite article the, and second both students/contracts are plural and countable.
**** EDIT ****
OED reads (here's the index for the website; if somebody needs to use the cdrom, PM me)
OF: XII. Indicating a quality or other distinguishing mark by which a person or thing is characterized. (For OE. genitive; F. de; = genitive of quality or description.)
b. qualified by all, indicating (temporary) condition:

1849 Thackeray Pendennis xvi, ‘Do you say so?’ Smirke said, all of a
tremble

ALL: A. adj. II. absol.

Followed by of: in sing. The entire amount, every part, the whole; in pl. Every individual, all the members or examples. (This const. is comparatively modern, and is probably due to form-assoc. with none of, some of, little of, much of, few of, many of.) Rare, exc. with pronouns, as all of it, of whom, of which, of them. Also, as much as, altogether, quite; for all of (cf. for prep. 26b) U.S., as far as concerns (a person or thing).
[See pronominal examples under 2c.]