texts: Is this the structure of verb + object + adverbial phrase?

texts:
In ‘point new Gryffindors in the right direction ‘, is this the structure of verb + indirect object + direct object, or verb + object + adverbial phrase? As a Korean, I’m easier to accept the former according to my language habit. So I’m confused which one is right?

  Nearly Headless Nick was always happy to point new Gryffindors in the right direction, but Peeves the Poltergeist was worth two locked doors and a trick staircase if you met him when you were late for class. (from Harry Potter book 1)


texts:
Do you use a question mark when a sentence starts as a question but then turns into a statement? For example,

"Can you explain this to me, because I don't understand the second part."
"What did he just say, because I couldn't hear him over the noise of the television."

I usually use a period but don't know if that is correct.


texts: "don't do this is if that command failed (or fails)"

texts:
"don't do this is if that command failed  "

or should I say

"don't do this is if that command  fails"
which way is grammatical correct?


texts:
What is the correct way of pronouncing the i in "short-lived"?

Particularly, I'm looking for whether it's a short or long sound for this vowel. I've heard it both ways.


texts: Why is using 'this' mid-sentence incorrect?

texts:
I am an English Literature teacher at university level, and a trained EFL teacher, so it's a bit embarrassing to have to ask this, but I can't find a satisfying answer anywhere else.

My students regularly use 'this' mid-sentence, usually after a comma. E.g., 'The room is small, this indicates that...'

I think it should read: 'The room is small. This indicates that...' or 'The room is small, which indicates that...'

I am fully aware of the rules (whether you adhere to them or otherwise) that govern the use of 'that' and 'which', but I've yet to find a convincing way to explain to my students that 'this' is incorrect mid-sentence.

At the moment I try to explain that 'this' should only follow a full stop or semi-colon as it refers to the subject of the preceding clause, but that's not actually an explanation of why 'this' is incorrect mid-sentence.

Of course, I may be completely wrong, and it's actually fine to use 'this' in this way.

Can anyone help with an explanation that I can offer my students?


texts:
The following is from a New York Times article dated November 22, 2018:

  As the news of Mr. Peralta’s death began to spread on Thursday morning, his colleagues took to Twitter to praise and remember
  him.

Is there a nicer way of saying "to take to"?  Am I wrong in thinking that it is too colloquial a usage?


texts:
Jimping is a term used when describing knives, but I am unsure of what it really means.

See for example this description of a keychain-sized tool where jimping is mentioned, and even lauded for "working well".
According to Wikipedia, Jimping is supposed to be a sort of decoration (on the dull side) of a one-bladed dagger (specifically, a Dirk).

Unfortunately, looking for a more precise explanation results, most of the time I am being asked if I just mistyped "jumping". :(

So what does it mean exactly? And what is the function?


texts: What's an adjective for "alone but not lonely"?

texts:
I always thought that the adjective for “alone but not lonely” was “lonesome” but apparently “lonely” and “lonesome” mean the same thing:

What's the difference between "lonely" and "lonesome"

Is there an adjective for somebody who's alone but not... sad? For example, I'm an introvert. I've been telling people that I'm a lonesome person because I prefer being alone. Being alone does not make me feel lonely. However, now that I learned that “lonesome” and “lonely” mean the same thing I'm wondering what adjective I'd use in place of “lonesome”.


texts: Do I need to use "that" after to "think"?

texts:
In this phrase:

  I caught myself thinking that most people ...

Is "that" unnecessary or wrong?


texts:
Eschatology is the study or philosophy of formation of ideas about the end of things, apparently derived from the Greek ἔσχατος meaning "last" and -λογία meaning "study of".

What is the word for "the formation of ideas about the beginning of things?

Edit: I've accepted "cosmology" as the answer, but I also really liked "protology". Thanks for your thoughts, everyone!


texts: Should one use an indefinite article after 'kind of'?

texts:
If the noun after kind of is singular, do we use an indefinite article or not?
For example,

  That kind of an answer is teasing.
  That kind of answer is teasing.

Which is correct?


texts: Is there a word/phrase to describe an action which leads to it being pointless?

texts:
I'm wondering if there's a word or phrase to describe an action or activity which turns out to be pointless - let me explain further with an example;

Recently I was organising the garage and had lots of bits of wood lying around which I needed to store properly, so I made some shelving with the wood. In so doing, I realised I had used up all the wood which I needed to store - so the shelving I had created was sort of redundant and unnecessary. However, had I not have built the shelving I would still have lots of bits of wood lying about the place which would need storing.

I wondered if there is a word, phrase or expression to describe this sort of futile paradoxical activity?

Many Thanks!


texts: What is the opposite of an in-house application?

texts:
In my company we refer to applications that we created as "in-house" or "enterprise" applications.  I would like to refer to all applications a user could use... excluding in-house applications.

My first thought is "out-of-house applications".  However, this sounds silly.  Is there a better term to use for this collection of applications?


texts: "It seems to me we have trouble making sense of much that is happening in the world because we are too ready to accept without question that there are always sound reasons for the enmity directed at the U.S., when often it is the sense of failure and envy that inspires the enmity."


texts: Is the phrase "fire and brimstone" used by Americans or it is only in Bible?

texts: As far as I know "fire and brimstone" is an idiomatic expression of signs of God's wrath in the Hebrew Bible. Is the phrase commonly used by Americans or it is only used in Bible?


texts: The structure of the following sentence: "Why may standing up for a long time cause hypotension?"

texts: Is the structure of this sentence "Why may standing up for a long time cause hypotension?" correct?


texts: Is the acronym pluralized in the first parenthetical use?

texts: When introducing an acronym, is the acronym pluralized in the first parenthetical use?  For instance request for forces is RFF, the first time I use it I spell out "request for forces" followed by (RFF) for use in the rest of the document.  Since "forces" denotes plural, do I include the "s" in the initial parenthetical i.e. (RFFs)?


texts:
I wanted to say that

  I'm a frequent restaurant visitor

in order to express my authority on the restaurant subject.

But frequent doesn't quite catch it: I visit a restaurant almost every other day. The first word that comes to mind after frequent is often, but you can't say

  I'm an often restaurant visitor

Another word that comes to mind is obsessive, but that has other connotations.

What word could I use instead of frequent without rewriting the sentence?


texts:
If the present participle continuous form is not used for stative verbs then why do we sometimes see stative verbs as gerunds, such asloving, believing, knowing, hating, being, etc.?

For example:

  Loving my children is not just my duty as a parent, it is inherent in my very being.

When I googled, I found the book Reference to Abstract Objects in Discourse by Nicholas Asher which says "No stative verbs have gerund forms" so I was totally confused: are stative verbs used as gerunds or not?


texts: Is there an adjective to call someone who gets bullied?

texts: I need an adjective to call someone who gets bullied. An adjective for a victim.


texts: Which preposition: "Write on/at/to this address?"

texts:
My exam included this fill-in-the-blank question:

  Please write __ this address.  (on/at/to)

I filled the blank with on.

Is that correct?


texts: A word that means the rate at which a system progresses away from equilibrium

texts:
I am trying to think of a word the means the rate at which a system is moving away from equilibrium.

The best example I can think of is a chemical reaction; say you have a pile of wood. If the wood is burning rapidly, this number is negative and its magnitude is large. If wood is being steadily added, the number is positive. If the number is zero, wood is being added at the same rate at which it is burning away.

** context **

The use case is a software engineering one, but abstract. Items are accumulated, and items are consumed and discarded. If items are being accumulated, you eventually run out of disk space. If items are being consumed, eventually you free up all disk space. What I am trying to convey is the speed with which the system is approaching one of those two outcomes. The outcome you're headed toward is identified by the sign of the number.

So I'm looking for a physical metaphor that I can model the terminology after.


texts: What's an adjective to describe the type of writing found in essays?

texts:
You might say that writing found in literature is literary; language like that found in poetry is poetic.

What do you call writing found in essays, or writing like that found in essays?
(Not considering prosaic, to head off certain humorous tangents.)

Is there a word or short phrase better than essayistic?

In addition to pieces of writing originating from or destined for an academic group, here are a couple of items that appear to fall into the same category:

Errol Morris's blog in the New York Times

One of many 'essays' by Paul Graham: Makers/Managers Schedules

Also see Paul Graham: The Age of the Essay


texts: "Should probably be" vs. "should be probably"

texts:
Which one is more correct?

This one should probably be similar to the other one.
This one should be probably similar to the other one.

My gut tells me it's the first one, but I'm not sure.


texts:
In 2014, the organization of the “media-capital” prize in the business
  journalism field is the main project focused on improvement the
  financial literacy of the population.

Or can you help me to structure this sentence correctly?


texts:
This being Silverlight, you’d expect there to be some way to get the XAML representation
  of the selected text—and you’d be right.

What does the clause 'This being Silverlight', and especially the meaning of the word 'being' in the following sentence?


texts: "Can't see a difference" vs "Can't see the difference"?

texts:
My friend and I are in an argument regarding the usage of the phrases listed in the title.

The situation is: Facebook starts screwing up message sending for a while. I express my concerns: "What's wrong with Facebook"? A friend replies "I can't see a difference".

This looked correct or at least acceptable in spoken English - people seem to use it. An alternative, and perhaps even more correct, would be "I can't see ANY difference".

However, my friend insists the sole correct form in this case would be "I can't see THE difference", backing it up with a parallel to the customary of the definite article (we already know what we can't see the difference between). IMO, "the difference" is more suited for cases where we instantly list the things we're comparing, e.g. "I can't see the difference between Araya's and Petrozza's voices". It just doesn't seem to look so good on its own to me. I know these are rather subtle nuances, but IMO:

"I can't see a/any difference"
but
"I can't see the difference between A and B".

Am I correct on this?


texts:
I have a book that is divided in 5 main topics. What would be a good synonym for "main topic", in a formal document?

"Main theme" or "Main subject" would be better?

Also, if I wanted to replace "main", what should I use? I want to stress how "vital" these topics are.


texts: What's the difference between “by night” and “at night”?

texts:
Oxford Dictionaries say by has the meaning of

  6. indicating the period in which something happens: ‘this animal always hunts by night’

Then do we need to say, ‘Why does the sky glitter by night?’ And can’t we say, ‘Why does the sky glitter at night?’?

If we can use both, what’s the difference between the two?


texts: Word to describe a person of planet earth?

texts:
It is common knowledge that should a creature exist on Mars, for instance, it would be considered 'Martian'; however there is no such term (to my knowledge) to describe us, dwellers of Earth.

Earthen makes the most sense but it doesn't follow conventions, Terran is also a term I have heard floating around.

Is there a recognised term for 'Earth creatures'?


texts:
I'm trying to concisely describe a fictional settlement which was rebuilt from the ruins of a city which once took its place. The only word I can think of which does a decent job at this is "ramshackle," but I'd like to have more than one adjective at my disposal, and ramshackle, in my mind, feels as though it's describing something more quaint than a large settlement. Also, most words I've found on services like thesaurus.com give words similar to "dilapidated," implying that age is the reason for the settlement's poor quality. I don't think this fits my description. Are there any words which do fit this?

Example sentence: "Built from the ruins of the city before it, the [word] settlement is prone to building collapses and lacks the infrastructure which most settlements of its size have."


texts:
What is the practice called of falsely attributing an anecdote or piece of writing or fact to another source to give it more authority or authenticity, or to avoid the appearance of self-promotion?

Ex.: Making up an aphorism and labeling it as 'an old French proverb', misattribution of Sarah Williams' quotation, "I have loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night" to Galileo.


texts: Is there any idiomatic synonym for "to apply a double standard"?

texts:
Is there any idiom that if you use it in your conversation, the audience would notice that you are accusing someone of having a double standard behavior or policy?

In Persian we use this idiom:  "same roof, two (different) weathers".

There are two etymologies for this idiom, I'll give you the simple one:

In the old time when there was still no electricity, most people used to sleep on the roof of their houses in the hot summer nights.

There was a woman who had a son and a daughter. One night they went to the roof to sleep as usual.
Each one slept in their own bed. In the midnight the woman woke up and took her daughter's sheet/ cover (?) and put it over her son, while was saying:

  "Oh my sweetie, I'm worried for you, I hope you won't get cold."

  Her daughter heard her words and said: "But mom, what about me? Why did you take my sheet?
  The mother replied: "Because it is hot, so you'd better not use that sheet in such hot weather."

  Then her daughter said " Oh my God, but we are on the same roof, how is it possible that there is two weathers in the same place? (i.e. Mom! You are treating me and my brother unfairly while we are both in the same situation.)

Now, I will give you an example in which this idiom can be used:

A woman treats her own daughter and her daughter-in-law in a different unfair manner. Both of those girls are pregnant, but this mom recommend her own daughter not to lift heavy loads or she might have a miscarriage;  however she asks her daughter-in-law to help them to lift a heavy load and says it's useful for women to have physical activity during their pregnancy. This mother has a "the same roof, two  weathers" (i.e. a double standard) policy or behavior.

My question:

Is there any idiom that would mean someone is treating two other people/ group unfairly while they are both in the same situation (i.e. that person is applying a double standard to those two people)?


texts:
Laugh though you will, all the drug dealers and gang members had one of these long before any police officer I knew did.

What does "laugh though you will" mean here?


texts: A word whose suffix is the prefix for another word, so you can combine them?

texts:
I'm trying to think of words to be used for usernames and I noticed people sometimes take a word whose suffix matches the prefix of another word and combine them. Noteworthy examples:

disarmpit
bartenderizer
cobwebsite

Is there a word for this type of made up words?


texts:
I thrice presented him a kingly crown/ which he did thrice refuse"

Just wondering what the rhetorical technique is in that phrase.


texts: Are people now "watching a lot of phone"?

texts:
It used to be said of some people that they "watched a lot of television". In those days there was nothing else to watch, in that kind of way.

But how do I describe what is being done today ?

Are people "watching a lot of phone" ?
Are they "doing a lot of phone" ?
Are they "interacting a lot, on phone" ?

If I say "they are doing a lot of phoning" that would imply they are actually on the telephone, rather than tweeting/facebooking/instagramming/texting.

How else do I describe what they are doing ?


texts:
I think the word "semantics" is singular (just like e.g. "mathematics"), at least it is used that way (e.g. "... the semantics of ... "). I know its meaning at least in technical terms and I understand that often it makes sense to "treat it as singular" such as stated here. However, I definitively need the plural form and it feels like "semantices" sounds terrible.

edit:

I insist that "semantics" is countable in the context at hand. I use "a semantics" as a mathematical term that refers to basically a function that maps strings of symbols to mathematical objects. Those functions are a countable quantity (in the linguistic, not the mathematical meaning of the term).
I do understand that "semantics" is already in plural but this doesn't solve the problem at hand because, if what Jon Hanna says is correct, then it "doesnt work for something countable".


texts: Some English words only differ in their vowels: crisscross, dillydally, riffraff, etc. Is there a name for them?


texts:
I would like to know that in which position (front, middle, end) the term "however" sounds more emphatic.
Example:

England lost the match. However, they can win the the tournament if they do well in the upcoming match.

England lost the match. They can, however, win the the tournament if they do well in the upcoming match.

England lost the match. They can win the the tournament if they do well in the upcoming match, however.

Which one of the above sentences is more emphatic?


texts:
Notebook to write your feelings, thoughts, etc. about a person (deceased) or an organization on a special occasion:

What do you call that notebook in English?

(Testimonial notebook, memorial notebook, etc.??)

(That notebook is prepared by the person's family/the organization)


texts:
"I'm fine, thanks!"
From a strict grammatical perspective, is "fine" an adjective or an adverb in this particular sentence? Thank you!


texts: Technical writing: how to say more vs. less permission?

texts:
I'm writing a doc about user permission settings. I'm trying to say that if you select multiple settings for the same application, the highest permission will override the lesser permission. (In other words, the user will get the permission that allows him or her to complete more functions.)

Is that the correct way to write this?


texts: What does 'had been took with fits and held down in 'em' mean?

texts:
The following appears in The Haunted House by Charles Dickens. What is the meaning of the bolded phrase?

  This very concise summary of the facts was all I could learn, except that a young man, as hearty and likely a young man as ever I see, had been took with fits and held down in ’em, after seeing the hooded woman.


texts: Proper noun capitalization. Language or Culture?

texts:
I've noticed over the years my perception of "correct capitalization of proper nouns" has been challenged, as I've interacted with more cultures and languages.

For example:

Days of the week, in Spanish.
The language name, español.
Romanized names of people from "Indian" cultures. (I use quotes, as I'm unsure of their actual origin. Maybe Middle Eastern?)

sravan prince
shrikanth shrikanth
mohammad kumar
meera azaruddin

Those same romanized names, written by both India and English writers, are inconsistently  capitalized.

When I write these proper nouns, in an English discussion, are the rules I've learned in English class "thrown out"?

In those discussions, should they conform to English rules?

Is this not a big deal and everyone is cool with it?


texts:
The context is that a group of us asked a friend to come and have a breakfast, instead of study for a test (bad influence, I know). Initially she said she wouldn't come, but after some badgering on our part she gave us some leeway.

Which of these responses is grammatically correct?

  If I change my mind, I let you know.
  If I change my mind, I'll let you know.


texts: How to ask someone to only repeat single word instead of sentence?

texts:
I don’t know why this kind of questions haven’t been asked. Sometime when we have a interview with employees, they could say words or jagons we are unfamailiar with or we don’t know meanings.
Imagine I hear everything they said but a single word. I could come up with this situation like:

  Interviewer : Can you explain how JAXB related to RESTful web API?
  Me : a question [situation where I don’t hear the word JAXB and don’t know how to spell and speak JAXB]
  Interviewer : I mean JAXB. J. A. X. B. Java Architecture for XML Binding.

  Interviewer : Can you mention what tools are required to test your web API?
  Me : a question [situation where I don’t hear the word test.]

something like “Could you repeat that again?” could make them speak the sentence again. I want them to repeat and spell the word slowy instead of the sentence in case of the jargon. I want them to repeat again in case of the plain word. But I don’t know how to speak or spell word in case of jargon. How can I ask them to repeat and spell words again?


texts:
The Aesop's Fables translated by George Fyler Townsend book has a line which reads as follows:

  ... If you had but touched me, my friend, you ...

I've seen the word 'but' used this way a couple of times, but I'm not sure I understand the meaning of this phrase correctly. What is the general rule for using 'but' this way?


texts:
I read all the answers about "owe" but I am still confused. My question is not about the meaning of sentences, it's clear but which grammar rule is used in these sentences:

I owe you some money (and not I owe your money)
You owe me some money (and not you owe my money)

are sentences on the left correct grammatically?


texts:
I have to complete a text and there isn’t any given words:

  Her husband .... disliked the painting that he refused to pay for it

I was thinking of Perhaps or Probably since we can deduce from the previous sentence of the clause that the statement is uncertain.


texts:
In the following dialog at a funeral for the parents of two children who died in an accident:

  They were in an accident... For both of them to go... I heard the
  other person wasn't watching the road.

I don't really sure about the meaning of the sentence: "For both of them to go..."

Is it talking about the cause of the accident in the previous sentence or about the sequence after "they were in an accident"?


texts: What is the meaning of using a past participle after 'of'?

texts:
I'm reading The Go-Giver.

There is a sentence:

  Now some character he'd never heard of had underbid and outperformed
  him.

I expected after of in above sentence will be V-ing, but the author was using V3 (the past participle) I think. What is the special English structure or meaning here?


texts: How to cite an author who spells his name inconsistently

texts:
I am writing a paper where I will cite several works by the Hungarian mathematician Gábor Szegő. Note that his surname includes the letter o with a double acute accent, NOT a letter o with umlaut ö. In his first paper (that I know of) he spells his own name this way, and biographies of him always use this spelling.

However, in later works (such as a major book that he published) he usually uses an umlaut for his name instead. I am not sure whether this is because of technical limitations on what accents could be typeset at the time or because he moved out of Hungary (which did happen) and was trying to spell his name in a more appropriate way. Additionally, a theorem has been named after him (which is a great honour for a mathematician), but it is usually spelt as the Szegö limit theorem with an umlaut.

Should I follow convention with the theorem name or try to correct it by using the original spelling of his surname? And how should I cite his work? To clarify, I am of course asking whether there is an accepted convention on such things, rather than looking for opinions on what people would prefer that I do. Unfortunately I plan to cite both his original paper and later book, so if I cite his name in the way it's spelt in the work then I'll have Szegő and Szegö right next to each other in my bibliography! And if I use author-year citations then I'll have them right next to each other in my text (see Szegő, 1915; Szegö, 1952)!

(Thanks in advance for any help. Apologies if this is not the right place for this question. It applies equally in any language, but this seems the most appropriate StackExchange board.)

Edit: I should point out that the 1915 article isn't written in English (nor Hungarian: it's in German). It seems that all of Szegö's work in English used the umlaut, so perhaps he considered it to be the correct way of writing his name in English. Just as we have Pythagoras's theorem rather than Πυθαγόρας's theorem and Sobolev inequalities rather than Со́болев inequalities, perhaps Szegö is always (and only) correct in English.


texts: Single word for happy and envious at the same time

texts: I'm looking for a word, doesn't have to be English, that expresses the complex emotion of being sincerely happy for someone and a bit jealous at the same time.


texts: Is there a single word for “Seeing the Unseen”?

texts:
Is there a single word which means “Seeing the Unseen”?

Imagine one needs special equipment or accessories (for example, a microscope, telescope, or periscope) to see something that otherwise is not seen with the naked eye. What is the act of “seeing the unseen” called?


texts: Is the use of whom appropriate in the phrase "You are with whom your mind is."?

texts:
And why?

I always see whom used in questions. This is not a question, is a statement. Whom sounds correct to me, but I'm not sure if it is and why.

The "rules" I've seen around are all for questions, not for statements. In this case, "whom" seems the object to whom (hehe) the action of "being with" is performed. Is this correct?


texts:
I am not sure which of the following sentences are correct:

What is the most common mistake that players do?
What is the most common mistake that players make?
What is the most common mistake of the players?


texts: Which is better to refer to the time, saying that it suits me well or that it fits me well?


texts:
Suppose I break up with my girlfriend and I still love her very much. And it is impossible for us to resume our relationship. What's the best word or expression that will describe my feeling?

I feel great pain? I feel terribly miserable?


texts: "Sender" is to "receiver" as "distributor" is to what?

texts:
I'm looking for a word that means the party being distributed to by a distributor.

I'm in the film industry. There are wholesalers and distributors. Even though both roles could be called wholesaling, functionally, they are never talked about that way within the industry.

The recipients of a distributed film are only referred to by category. For example, 'cinemas', 'retailers', 'churches'. I am looking for a hypernym to all those categories.

Any suggestions would be great!


texts: What does the expression "in Pickwickian sense" exactly mean?

texts:
I have not infrequently come across the expression "Pickwickian sense".
Of course, I have tried to search on the web, but generally the explanations I have found do not fit well into the context concerned. For example, the online Merriam-Webster offers the following description:

Definition of Pickwickian

1
:  marked by simplicity and generosity

2
:  intended or taken in a sense other than the obvious or literal one

(https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Pickwickian)

I feel, however, that the e.g. text below says something more subtle than
the one in which the expression interpreted in this way:

  [...] I had the opportunity to suggest to Quine
      that this strong version of revisability is rather
      hard to take, especially when applied to laws of logic.
      Quine responded as follows:    "Well, I think I rather agree. I think nowadays it seems to me at   best an uninteresting legalism".

  The expression "uninteresting legalism" is Quine's marker  for
  earlier views that he has come to view as - if not  altogether wrong,
  and perhaps even in some  Pickwickian sense correct - needlessly
  extreme.

(Fogelin: Aspects of Quine's Naturalized Epistemology
   In: The Cambridge Companion to QUINE, Edited by
        Roger F. Gibson Jr., p.32)


texts: Properly transfer quote "stars should shine" into English

texts: In Russian there is a sentence that can be directly translated as: "Stars should shine". But the nature of this statement means that talents should be exposed. Is it applicable in English to have this metaphoric sentence that talks about stars but implies talented people? Maybe there are better verbs, e.g. "glow"?


texts: I am looking for a positive synonym for the word sacrifice. Something that highlights the positive qualities needed to sacrifice the old and go with the new.


texts: proper usage of didn't had or didnt have

texts:
Its a simple ask as it doesn't appear to be wrong while using it in emails etc.

I didn't had breakfast or i didnt have breakfast.

Which one of above is better in grammatical manner.


texts:
I am looking for interesting classroom material.  Google is both the name of a company and also a verb.

Is there a name for this type of verb?  Are there any other examples of this type of verb?


texts:
Can anybody help to explain what 'educated risk' means? I recently met this phrase and need to translate it into another language.
The sentence I met is 'Encouraging educated risk'.
Thanks...


texts: Antiquated appellations for marks of punctuation

texts:
I was in the mood for A room with a view last night, and I came across the expression "note of interrogation" for "question mark," which I found quite pleasing.  It seems "note of exclamation" has also been used for "exclamation mark."  As far as I know, these are no longer in vulgar usage.  For instance, these terms are not even mentioned on the Wikipedia entries for these marks.

  Did the punctuation marks now called period/full stop, comma and quotation marks/inverted commas commonly go by other names that have since fallen out of fashion? (let us say, go by names that are not listed in the first part of their Wikipedia entries)

Note: I would also be interested in antiquated terms for other punctuation marks, but will not make that part of the question proper.  I presume there is none for semicolon (at least in English), since that appears to have come to us straight from Greek.


texts: How do ordinal suffixes work with mathematical constants and other non-Arabic numbers?

texts:
This question was inspired by a tweet from the FakeUnicode Twitter account, a semi-novelty account sharing various examples in the wild of bugs, glitches and other unintended results from improperly implementing the Unicode character encoding standard.

  What are the English ordinal suffixes of various mathematical constants and concepts? Is it always -th?

  πᵗʰ
  ᵗʰ
  ℎᵗʰ
  ᵗʰ
  φᵗʰ
  ∞ᵗʰ
  ℵ₀ᵗʰ
  ₆₄ᵗʰ

  [Try saying these aloud for extra fun]
  source: https://twitter.com/FakeUnicode/status/1086205723736854528

How does the English language decline ordinal suffixes for numbers that are displayed in a different way than an Arabic number?


texts: Is there a single word for "accidental information leakage"?

texts:
I'm not talking about computers and coding!

Imagine there are some necessary information for doing a certain operation and they leaked out so the operation must be cancelled now!

and Can I say "He leaks the information"? or "the information leaks"?


texts: What is the origin of the phrase "thank bog"?

texts:
I sometimes use this phrase, and I have no recollection where I first heard it.  I know I've heard other people use it as well, and a search on google shows references to it dating back to at least the early 2000's (frequently on blogs or other informal resources).

I recently made this comment to my wife, and she said she had never heard of it before.

Where and when did this phrase originate?


texts: Is there a word or phrase that describes someone who cannot take what they verbally dish out or criticise.


texts: Word or idiom for the "traditional" charade without ambiguity?

texts:
From the wikipedia page, a charade is

  A word guessing game [...] in which one player acts out a word or phrase, often by miming similar-sounding words, and the other players guess the word or phrase.

The previous definition is the most recent one, but traditionally a charade was :

  A riddle either in verse or prose, of which the listener must guess the meaning, often given syllable by syllable

For example :

  My first is a preposition (for)
  My next a composition (tune)
  My whole is an acquisition (fortune).

Is there a word/group of words in English that means the "traditional charade" without ambiguity and without defining the whole game ?

(Note that in French the word charade only refers to the traditional version of the game)


texts: Equivalent AmEnglish expression of BrEnglish slang term "cheeky"

texts:
I play an online game with a group of people, one of whom is UK-based. He was going out of town for several days, so he told us to "feel free to do a cheeky quest" without him.

What does the word "cheeky" mean in that context? I tried to look it up, but none of the meanings I found - even on urbandictionary - seemed to fit. My best guess is that it means something like "quick"?  How would I express something similar in American English?


texts:
I have the following sentence and need your help:

"The EU expects PV and wind to proceed growing significantly in future."

Is the gerund correct here or do I have to use the to-infinitive like:

"The EU expects PV and wind to proceed to grow significantly in future."

I'd appreciate every comment.


texts: Scottish English: "what-e-ver" (Literary Realism)

texts:
I’m reading a book, The Eagle Cliff, written in 1894, set in the western isles of Scotland. The author, R. M. Ballantyne, tends toward 19th century realism. Characters’ dialogue is written (and spelled) in such a way as to mimic their manner of speech. There are some characters who speak "common" english as it might be spoken in London. These characters’ dialogue is written (almost—some words uncommon in my area are employed, but no unorthodox abbreviations or gross misspellings) just as I would write it in America. Others, speak with some flavor of scottish accent, also using some words that might be considered “scottish english.”
Here's an example:

“Oo ay, we’re somewhere’s wast’ard o’ the Lewis.  But whether wast,
nor’-wast, or sooth-wast, I could not say preceesely.  The nicht, ye
see, wass uncommon dark, an’ when the fog came doon i’ the mornin’, I
could na’ feel sure we had keep it the richt coorse, for the currents
hereaboots are strang.  But we’ll see whan it comes clear.”

I can discern nearly all of the words spoken this way. There is one
word that I cannot really tell what it means, and I’m not sure if it’s
misspelled to reflect how it was pronounced, or if the spelling
indicates something about it's meaning, or perhaps both.
what-e-ver
It is used almost exclusively at the end of a sentence, as if it were
some sort of interjection or word with a multiplicity (or vagueness) of
meaning. It is uttered by some (Scottish) seamen, who are prone to a
kind of sing-songy speech, as well as unsophisticated villagers.
Here are some examples (emphasis added):

“That's true, sir, but we’ll be none the worse o’ the poy, what-e-ver.” (ch 3)
“Yonder iss the end o’ yer bonnet stickin’ oot o’ his pooch, what-e-ver,” said Donald. (ch 9)
“Me preach!” exclaimed the laird; “I never did such a thing in my life.”
“Maype you'll read a chapter, what-e-ver,” persisted the elder. (ch 11)

I cannot grasp its meaning (or purpose) in these sentences. I was unable to find a “scottish english” lexicon. Can anyone tell me what “modern” word this refers to or what its meaning might be?


texts: "Had me blind" and grammar in lyrics/poems

texts:
I'm looking at a line from the song "I Can See Clearly Now". It's the line: Gone are the dark clouds that had me blind.

I know that that line is in the passive voice ("the dark clouds that had me blind are gone"), but rearranged with poetic liberty to emphasize "gone". But what's really bothering me is the "had me blind" part.

I'm trying to explain what's happening there. Which do you think is correct?

It's rearranged from a past-perfect tense, and the past participle was dropped ("The dark clouds that had blinded me")
"Had" holds the meaning of "made" ("The dark clouds that made me blind")
Something else I haven't thought of

Thanks for the help in advance! I appreciate it!


texts:
Can I say "I have been nourishing my passions"?

Or something similar to express the figurative fact that "I have been developing and nourishing them"?


texts: Why is "I believe in woman" ok? Or isn't it? (from Slade's "My Oh My")

texts:
This first line of the song is I believe in woman, my oh my.

I'm not a native speaker, but that sounds odd to me. I'd either expect women (I believe in women [in general]) or some kind of determiner (I believe in this/my/a woman).

I wondered whether the singer might speak some dialect that doesn't differentiate between woman and women phonetically, but the band's from England and the word is written as woman on the various lyrics sites all over the net.

What does this line mean and why is it ok to omit the determiner?


texts: The next of the week (the structure and meaning)

texts:
I have just received an e-mail where a friend of mine (unlike me, a native English speaker) used the phrase "till the next of the week". How common is this? I have been using English as the primary language for study and work for many years but this is the first time I have seen this.
Usually, I look collocations up either in Oxford Collocations Dictionary or LDOCE/OALD, but this time there's nothing.
The very structure of this phrase implies that the word "next" is used here as a noun, just like some word after it was omitted for brevity or any other reason (for the next [part] of the week).
Other than that, I don't quite understand the collocation except that it is evidently synonymous with "a new job till next week".


texts:
I'm having a discussion with my wife on English conditionals.

She says we cannot have "would" in a hypothetical if statement:

  If I would want to change my address, should I let you know?

She says that "would" can only occur in the second part (as in Type 2).

If this is the case, is there then no way to describe "a hypothetical situation in which I would want to change my address" as conditional?

I feel like this sentence is different from:

  If I want to change my address, should I let you know?

Then again, maybe it is just that I'm confused with how we would say it in Dutch.

And what about if it is the change, not the wanting to change, that is hypothetical? In other words:

  If I would change my address, should I let you know?


texts:
I am trying to find a way to link two sentences and was confused if I can use "by" here?
"One way to solve this problem is to give equal job opportunities for everyone. By doing this, it will help .."

Usually, I would use a subject indicating the action in the first phrase, like: by doing this, we can... with doing is to refer to "we".
Sorry if I make any grammar mistake, and thank you in advance.


texts: Tom believes that that tree bears fruit.  What is it called when two "that's" are used in a row when only one is needed?


texts:
I saw a person had described his position as "CP at example.com" on Linkedin.

Not someone who I know personally, but I had been in contact when he asked me to publish my Android application on this website (a kind of apps market in China).

Just curious, what does CP means? I search on Wikipedia and abbreviations website to no avail.


texts:
Whats the word for when one says a thing is the best of something?

E.g. the word covers all following:

That is the most amazing
It is the coolest
We are the greatest at this

This word does exist, I just cant get it off the tip of my tongue!


texts: Can you say "reasonably technically possible"?

texts:
I am translating an agreement into English. Can you say "destroy confidential information to the extent reasonably technically possible"?
It may be difficult to destroy ALL back-up copies of digital data, therefore the word "reasonably".


texts: Word for saying that some media content has been shortened in length?

texts: What word can I use to describe a song or a movie that has been shortened or edited to a smaller sample of it's original content/length?


texts: Providing transparency on or providing transparency of?

texts:
I am wondering about the wording of this sentence: Empowering solid decisions by providing transparency of the system landscape and IT processes.

I'd like to ask if "on" can be used in this context as opposed to "of" and which variant sounds better/is more correct. And what about using "... making transparent the system landscape ..." versus "... providing transparency of/on the system landscape...", which one of these alternatives is better? Or am I completely on the wrong track?


texts: Disingenuity and intellectual dishonesty

texts:
In the midst of the current American political drama, unfolding around the impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump, the phrase "intellectual dishonesty" has been thrown around by pundits on both sides of the isle to describe the arguments of their opponents on the other.

Disingenuity is described roughly as a being "not straightforward or candid; insincere or calculating". This seems to perfectly mesh with the concept of intellectual dishonesty, as one's sincerity and candidness are arguably direct products of one's application of their intellect to their integrity.

However, the Oxford dictionary also caveats "disingenuous" as arguing in bad faith "typically by pretending that one knows less about something than one really does." One could make the argument that being intellectually dishonest is inherently characterized by feigned ignorance of damning aspects of a counter position.

So my question is if disingenuousness and intellectual dishonesty are reasonable synonyms.


texts: What is the meaning of ‘something blind’?

texts:
The phrase “Something ugly, slimy, and blind” is confusing me. Here are my questions.

What does the 'blind' part mean?
Is ‘something blind’ a special expression? (For I couldn’t find its example in dictionaries.)

I found the expression in the following scene:

  It was as though Wormtail had flipped over a stone and revealed something ugly, slimy, and blind – but worse, a hundred times worse. The thing Wormtail had been carrying had the shape of a crouched human child, except that Harry had never seen anything less like a child. It was hairless and scaly-looking, a dark, raw, reddish black. Its arms and legs were thin and feeble, and its face – no child alive ever had a face like that – flat and snakelike, with gleaming red eyes. (Harry Potter 4 [US Version]: p.640) [Bold font is mine]

N.B.: The baby-like thing is a temporal seat of the spirit of a dark wizard, the main villain in the story, who is trying to regenerate with Wormtail’s help.

For you who are interested in my confusion.

At first, I thought the thing (or the baby-like being) can’t see anything, but I found it a little difficult to accept it because we can’t tell blindness objectively like ugliness and sliminess. (The author is likely to describe things objectively as she is narrating from the viewpoint of Harry, the main character.)

Then, I thought it means something incomprehensible that the writer can’t give an exact description. However, I couldn’t find a good explanation in dictionaries.


texts:
Sometimes, after the actual song is finished, musicians add an extra something to it, not necessarily part of the lyrics. Sometimes they recite a poem or sing lyrics from another song without instrumentals. Sometimes, usually after the last song in an album, there is a long pause and then some messing around or a bonus song obviously not meant to be a part of the album.

Is there a term or terms for the stuff that goes on after a song is finished?


texts: People have computers vs people have a computer

texts:
I am curious about plural and singular noun usage.
Let's assume there were no one who had two computers. (i.e. one computer each.)
Which one is more natural: "people have computers," or "people have a computer?"


texts: Should an article be used for the word “war”?

texts:
I’ve been reading much about the US poverty war recently. Some people say:

  He declared the war on poverty fifty years ago.

But others say:

  He declared war on poverty fifty years ago.

Should one use an article before the word war?

It is really hard for an English learner to master the usage of articles.

For me, it is weird to leave a countable noun with no article, an example being war.


texts: What do "it doesn't work" and "phrase" mean?

texts: I'm confused with these two and their usages.


texts: What is the correct spelling: "filterbank" or "filter bank"

texts:
On Wikipedia, the usage is "filter bank" exclusively.
A search on Google Scholar returns essentially the same number of both spellings.
This is for a scientific document about digital signal processing, so I want to know which is correct.


texts:
I need to write something like

  Students were silenced because of social media posts: a case of non-freedom.

That isn't the exact context, but I need to know if non-freedom is correct.


texts: Earliest usages of the literal and figurative sense of “window dressing”

texts:
The expression window-dressing,  the skill of arranging objects attractively in a shop window is often used figuratively to refer to  an act or an instance of making something appear deceptively attractive or favorable.
An early literal usage is given by   Wiktionary:

1897, S. R. Crockett, The Surprising Adventures of Sir Toady Lion with Those of General Napoleon Smith, New York: Frederick A. Stokes, Chapter 33, p. 252.

The linen-draper at the corner under the town clock was divided between keeping an eye on his apprentices to see that they did not spar with yard sticks, and mentally criticising the ludicrous and meretricious window-dressing of his next-door neighbor.

But according to Etymonline its earliest literal usage dates back much earlier  to the late 18th century, while its figurative usage dates about a century later.

Window dressing is first recorded 1790; figurative sense is from 1898,
while Google Books suggests that its usage is from the late 19th century, and earlier usages appear to be quite rare.

Is there more clear evidence about the earliest usages of the expression “window dressing” both literally and metaphorically?


texts: Are "once" and "when" are interchangeable in this sentence?

texts:
M: How long will it take us to drive to your brother’s house?

W: ______ we’re out of the city, it’s about 120 kilometers.


texts: What are these types of soldiers called?

texts:
During the military service in Iran, some soldiers are responsible for traffic control (entrance and exit of people in a garrison or headquarters after writing down their names and searching them), appearance and discipline of other soldiers, opening and closing gates for vehicles, and things like that (you could say they are in charge of the building although having low ranks). What do we call them in English?
P.S. I believe the words "doorman" or "guard" wouldn't be appropriate since they do not encapsulate all of their duties.


texts: Why are identical rhymes inferior in English poetry?

texts:
From “War Pigs” by Black Sabbath:

  Generals gathered in their masses
  Just like witches at black masses

In English poetry, a perfect rhyme has identical vowels but different onsets, like come and sum. An identical rhyme has identical vowel and onset, like come and become. Pairs of homonyms and homophones are identical rhymes but not perfect rhymes, and most people consider them inferior.

Holorime, where entire lines rhyme, is likewise stigmatized in English poetry:

  For I scream
  For ice cream

Most consider this a trifle at best, doggerel at worst.

This judgment makes some sense for the mere repetition of a word as “rhyme,” which may indicate a lack of creativity. However, that makes less sense to me for examples like the wordplay in holorime and in the Black Sabbath song. Furthermore, some other languages value identical rhyme, like rime riche in French poetry.

Did identical rhyme fall out of favor at some point, or was it never well-accepted to begin with? Was there any period where it was in fashion in England as in France? Is it considered low poetry for the same reasons that puns are considered low humor in English? Are there forms of English poetry or song where it's more highly regarded – perhaps in limerick or rap, which value wordplay?


texts: When should I use "Would",  "Would have", "Will", and "Will have"?

texts: I hope someone, once and for all, can clarify (with examples) the difference in usage of will vs. would vs. would have vs. will have.


texts:
I am trying to tie together some pieces of grammar here. Specifically: What is proper full-stop and comma notation in combination with parentheses?

The issue shows when abbreviations are involved as in these sentences:

  He measured all the properties (though not height, width, depth etc.).

  He measured all the properties (though not height, width, depth etc.), which might be of use.

At the closing parenthesis, there are the weird-looking .). and .), constructions. Is this actually correct notation?

The answer on this question concludes that the full-stop in the first sentence can both be inside or outside the parenthesis depending on which part of the text, it is tied to. I would therefore keep it outside in the example above.


texts: Alternative sentence of "May I come in, please?"

texts: What do you usually say in the UK when you come into the class while the teacher is teaching. Is it ok to say "excuse me, sir or miss" or "May I come in, please"? are there any other ways to say this?


texts:
I wasn't sure how to phrase the title more precisely, so I welcome suggestions or edits.

Companies spend 65% of their profits on buying back their shares
because CEOs are incentivised to jack up the share price of their
stocks through hefty bonuses.

Here's my question: often when I'm writing a sentence like the above, I end up in this awkward position where I've got two facts (excuse my probable abuse of terminology here):

CEOs are being incentivised.
Share prices are going up.

and my explanation/justification is:

Hefty bonuses.

From the context, it's almost clear that hefty bonuses are a justification for 1 and not an explanation of 2.
But how do I make this very clear without verbiage? After I've written the first two facts, I feel I've laid a rhetorical trap for myself. What are my escape routes?
PS. I wasn't sure about how to best phrase the title or which tags to choose, so please feel free to suggest or edit.


texts: "need to go to" (Flap t/d pronunciation)

texts:
I need to go to the bathroom.

Can the letters in bold in the example above be pronounced as flap t/d sounds in American English, just like in better, ladder, party, and city?


texts: Which is correct in this example? Who or whom? (example upon which my friends and two professional editors could not come to an agreement)

texts:
I know this question has been posed many times already, but I've had several people (some even professional editors) who cannot decide on the correct form in this sentence.

  Three men, one demon, one minority—on a quest to kill the guy who/whom
  Domino’s parents love more than him.

Please tell me which is correct. Who or whom?

I myself am unsure (regardless of other answers) in this situation, because a few people and both my developmental and copy editor have differing opinions, so I have no idea which one is right, since both have their own opinions and arguments for this. One editor says "who" is correct here because the person in question is the subject in this sentence (although I'm not sure whether they are right or wrong about that), but the other editor said I need to follow the "he/him" rule. Thus, I don't know which rule to follow.


texts: Who does “who” apply to in this example?

texts:
His governors, some of them incompetent and tactless, quarrelled bitterly with the people, who were constantly demanding greater political control.

In this sentence, who are demanding greater political control—the governors or the people? If the people are demanding greater political control, does that mean they want to be governed in a more efficient way, or does it mean they want their own political power?


texts: What is the local pronunciation of 'Chicago'?

texts:
What is the local pronunciation of Chicago? (specifically the 'a')

The standard American English pronunciation is

  /ʃɪˈkɑ.ɡoʊ/, /ʃɪˈkɔ.ɡoʊ/

or (what I think) is the PALM or LOT lexical sets in AmE.

[Here are some examples of many different people (AmE and others) saying 'Chicago](
https://forvo.com/word/chicago/#en)

The very first example, "Pronunciation by themediacollective (Male from United States)" is what I would think is a very different, very local variety of its pronunciation. Matt3799 and TurtlePoser have this same 'a' but not as strong. Mattpsy and Tory1417 have what I think is the standard version (what I think is US typical).

But what is this special vowel exactly. It doesn't sound like /æ/ TRAP to me even though it is in that direction. The most articulate I can put it is that it is ... annoying. An annoying 'a'.

So what exactly is this 'a'? Is it /æ/ or something else? Does this go with other vowel changes (that I just haven't noticed in this same variety)? Is this one example of Northern Cities Vowel Shift

Note: I'm not suggesting that everyone in Chicago says it this way (I'm sorta suggesting quite the opposite, that few do this even in Chicago)


texts: British English: "fantasise" or "fantasize"?

texts: I would like to know which spelling is more common in the UK: fantasise or fantasize?


texts: What's the most common way of referring to the gender of a friend?

texts:
I thought about 'male friend' or 'female friend.'

I've heard people saying 'girl friend' (usually girls say this).

What's the most common way of saying this?


texts:
When you have specific dates in the past, do you always have to use the simple past?

  On 01/31/2013 I met my friend. We were/have been together all day
  long.


texts:
There are a handful of articles suggesting that a new preposition has appeared in the form of "because-noun":

The Atlantic
Stan Carey
Grammar Girl

Isn't "Because (of)... whatever" a causitive? Causitives are adverbs; in fact they are at very core of "adverbiality." That happened and now this is the result. The only way pre- and post-conditions arise is through a change (read: action) in condition or state. (Temporal consituents are more associated with adverbs, as well.) Prepositional phrases can ornament verbs, but not be inherent to them.

"I am an astronaut because science." = "Science is what made me an astronaut." There is no prepositional context here.

So I submit that there is actually no new "because-noun" grammatical form in American English, only a mildly-interesting economical shortening, like "Nope, he dead."


texts: English idiom for 'Fry the fish using fish's own oil'

texts: Please help me to find out the appropriate English idiom for Fry the fish using fish's own oil. This is a Bengali proverb/idiom whose word meaning 'When you are frying some sea fish, initially cook use some oil for frying but within few minute fish emit it's own body oil, and the remaining frying is done by this oil. Literally, this means Somebody has invested some amount of money in some particular purpose but get some extra benefit, as an add-on that save his/her initial investments. Please help me. If I'm not clarify well please ask me. Thanks!


texts: Why is it "came back from the dead" and not "came back from the death"?

texts:
Many times now, I've heard native English speakers (from the USA and Canada) say "he came back from the dead" instead of "from the death" when they mean resurrection.

Dead is not a noun, so I don't see why the sentence is correct.

Evidently dead can be a noun that means dead people but that isn't the case here.

Any reason?

edit: I didn't expect that this would spark so much interest; it just came up again in an online video I was watching.


texts:
In conversational and spoken English, it's common to hear statements like

  I only answer phone calls from people I know.

The "correct" form of this would be

  I answer phone calls only from people I know.

In rare situations this can lead to ambiguity, but usually only in written
English; when speaking, emphasis and intonation clears all doubt about what is
'only'. For instance, someone might say

  You only run during the day.

Which of the possible meanings is intended could be clarified by adding more
information or by changing the position of 'only':

  (1) You only run during the day, but you also walk at night.
  (2a) You run only during the day. or
  (2b) You run during the day only.

It seems that 'only' moves only leftward, farther away from what it qualifies.
A similar thing happens with 'either'.

Is there some sort of explanation for this movement?


texts: What is the term to describe someone who deliberately drives into oncoming traffic?

texts:
According to http://www.cracked.com/article_23248_6-foreign-words-so-dark-there-are-no-english-equivalents.html (warning: sarcasm), there is no English equivalent for "Geisterfahrer", or someone who drives into oncoming traffic. I know there is a Dutch word ("spookrijder"), but apparently there is no succint term for such a driver in English. What would be the best term to describe that? I assume radio has a term for it in their traffic bulletins, but I don't know what they call it.

Example sentence:

  A {Geisterfahrer equivalent} has been spotted on the M4 near Windsor heading towards London. Please keep to the far left and do not overtake other drivers.


texts: Asking about a company: do I use "who" or "what"?

texts:
Nike makes huge profits.

Should the question about the subject Nike be:

Who makes huge profits?
What makes huge profits?


texts: How to ask a question with a causative verb

texts:
What is the correct form of the following sentence?

"Did he wash his clothes or had he had you wash it?"
"Did he wash his clothes or had he got you to wash it?"
Some other form

It is supposed to mean "did he do wash his clothes himself or did he make you to do it".


texts: I have noticed a regrettable trend toward using the short "e" when pronouncing "the" before words beginning with a vowel: "thuh Earth"; thuh older one". This used to be a cultural symbol (e.g., old movies) of illiteracy and still sounds so to me.  Is there any specific recommendation on this other than taste and pleasing the ear?


texts: Word / expression to describe how heavy fog might affect a streetlight

texts:
Imagine a streetlight in the middle of the night during a heavy fog, and the way that the fog would partially obscure or cause the glow/color emanating from the light to distort.

Is there a word for that?

  "A heavy fog rolled into the night, the color from the streetlights
  [word-ing] with the backdrop of the night sky."


texts: Why wasn't it phony, overblown to close with "most obedient servant"?

texts:
I'm aware of this answer:

Today, "Your obedient servant" may sound extravagant and highly ornamental; but in the second half of the eighteenth century, when it first became popular, it must have sounded almost brusque, arriving as it did after many decades of truly elaborate declarations of loyal and grateful servitude.)

But I still don't understand why these words weren't regarded as disingenuous?

The Founding Fathers belonged to an elite social class, and weren't 'servants'. Why not write something politically correct, less classist like 'Acquaintance'?

'most humble/obedient' is too bombastic. The writer must know that everyone else closes with this adjectival phrase, and the writer logically can't be 'most obedient'; so now the writer redoubled his insincerity.

Examples.  You can skip the following.
From Benjamin Franklin to the Earl of Loudoun, 3 March 1757

But I shall now wait your Lordship’s Arrival here, that if in any thing I can be of Service, I may be ready to obey your Lordship’s Commands; being, with the sincerest Respect and Attachment, My Lord, Your Lordship’s most obedient and most humble Servant
B Franklin

From John Adams to the Marquis of Carmarthen, 28 May 1785

With great Respect, I have the Honour / to be, my Lord, your Lordships / most obedient and most / humble Servant
John Adams.—

From Thomas Jefferson to Lord Wycombe, 25 July 1789

I have the honour to be with sentiments of the most perfect respect and esteem, your Lordship’s most obedient & most humble servt.,
Th: Jefferson

From George Washington to the Earl of Buchan, 1 May 1792

With sentiments of the truest esteem & consideration I remain, Your Lordships Most Obedient Servan⟨t⟩
Go: Washington


texts: Should the noun "community" be capitalised in the following example?

texts: When posting questions on forums such as this one, I usually start with a simple greeting such as "Dear community" and I would like to ask whether "community" should be capitalised in this example. From what I know, it should only be capitalised when it is used as a name of an association. However, I also came across examples such as "Dear Community Member" where both community and member are capitalised. Thank you in advance.


texts:
1. Once in a while

OR

  2. Once in awhile

Which is the correct phrase? I'm thinking it's the first one, but I'm unable to find out for certain.

"a while" vs "awhile" and Correct usage of "awhile" were related but didn't answer the question


texts:
‘I did. But when I reached the telephone, he had grown tired of waiting and had rung off. I should never have allowed Miss Wickham to take me away from the house.’
  ‘She wanted you to see the big fish.’
  ‘So I understood her to say.’

Can anyone help me with construction of the last sentence. Is it common in English?
I was expecting 'So I understood what she said.'


texts:
Is there a word for an example that is wrong?

That is, using an example in an argument that is either a misrepresentation or does not illustrate what the arguer suggests it does.

Is there a word for this kind of false example?


texts: Is there a term for the character trait of assuming things about people?

texts: I'm sure you've had a conversation with someone like this. The person constantly reads something into everything that you say or makes quick judgements about you based on very little information. I guess "judgemental" would be accurate, but that doesn't perfectly nail it. I was thinking "presumptive" captures it, but the definitions for that word don't seem to include that usage. Any ideas?


texts: What does it mean by " I umbrella the rain."

texts:
I don't understand the sentence above.
I know that "umbrella" is noun. But in the sentence above, It is used like "verb."
How is it possible?


texts: Why isn't portmanteau spelled portemanteau?

texts:
Portmanteau, which describes words that are formed by combining two other words, was apparently coined by Lewis Carroll according to Wiktionary.

This word has obvious French origins, and there is in fact an almost identically-spelled word in French: Portemanteau.

Why was the e in Porte dropped in English? Was it intentional? If so what is the point, since English is pretty much non-phonetic anyway (I would guess that the eau combination is much more confusing than a e for an English speaker by the way)?


texts:
I had rather go home than stay out too late.
I had rather listen my parents or get in trouble.

Is had rather refers to past?

Can anyone explain 2nd sentence in other words?


texts: Placement of "?" in parentheses and quotation marks

texts:
Recently, I've found myself writing sentences which are statements, but which conclude with a question, either in parentheses or as a quotation, and being unable to decide quite how to punctuate.

For example:

She said, "Are you coming home?" -- versus -- She said, "Are you coming home"?

... and:

He looks unhappy (but isn't he rich?)
 -- versus --
He looks unhappy (but isn't he rich?).

Also, is this affected by whether on not one is using British Punctuation (cf. the Oxford Comma) or American Punctuation?


texts: Word meaning "quality of belonging to a library"?

texts:
I couldn't find anything about Web 2.0 at the library. Seems like
  the topic isn't very [...].

I thought about academic, but I think that that word is probably wrong because it is more applicable to a school or university.


texts: How to indicate your source of information is Amazon's “Alexa”?

texts:
Is there a proper or technical way, in writing, to indicate your source of information is Alexa or some other AI (artificial intelligence)?

By this I don't mean that I have asked Alexa a factual question, such as "What is the capital of Maryland?". I mean when I am quoting her various "conversational" responses.

I am writing a paper for a class about the cultural changes that are happening with the widespread use of AI, and do not know how to correctly quote a machine.  Not one of my English books discusses this.


texts: Purchase price/cost/worth/value/… — which one?

texts: I have a table called purchases and it stores details about purchases of items in a store. One of these details is the amount of money that were payed for items. How should I call this detail (or table field) in one word? I've been thinking about the following options: purchase price/cost/worth/value.


texts: "Who is one to believe" or "which one to believe"

texts:
Do you think this edit was necessary?

So, who is one to believe? (as in "So, who am i to believe?")

into

So, which one to believe?

Specially considering that the following question in the original text was also specified in a similar manner:

And how is one to back that decision up?

Reference


texts: Can “alma mater” refer to any school you’ve graduated from, not just college?

texts:
I was wondering whether alma mater refers to all the schools you have been in, or just to college.

For example, suppose someone has an undergranduate degree from one institution, a masters degree from another, and a PhD from yet a third; would all three of those count as his alma mater?


texts:
Too much time has passed.

Is this grammatically correct? Wouldn't it be better to say

  Too much time has passed by.

or

  Too much time has gone past.


texts: several thousand/thousands day - which form

texts: What is correct please - thousand wuth s or without s? ... of the order of several thousands days.


texts: A word to describe works of fiction/entertainment that seeks to indirectly educate its audience on some topic(s)

texts:
There's a specific, somewhat uncommon word I have in mind.  I came across it some time ago, but I can't remember it and can't find it back.  It perfectly, succinctly represents what I'm about to describe.  Also, it's not edutainment.

The word is one you would use to describe a novel/game/movie/whatever which, as an accessory to its primary goal of entertaining the audience, also seeks to educate the audience about specific topics.

For example, imagine a political thriller where the audience comes away with some understanding of the inner workings of the U.S. senate.  Or imagine a work of historical fiction that greatly deepens the audience's understanding of a particular aspect of the Korean War.  Or a novel where the protagonist is a sumo wrestler, and the audience comes to learn a great deal about sumo culture as a byproduct of the storytelling.


texts:
I don't know if this juice is too sugary or too [little] sugary.

What word should I use to convey this meaning? I could use an antonym of the word:

  I don't know if this juice is too sugary or too unsugary.

But in this case "unsugary" is just a made-up word since there is no good antonym and this sentence isn't as good as the first sentence.

A third option, which still isn't as good as the first sentence, is:

  I don't know if this juice has too much sugar or too little.


texts: What to use instead of cliched exaggerated adjectives such as iconic?

texts:
The English language expert at grammar.about.com advises on many occasions against using the word iconic, claiming it is cliched and will make you sound trivial, without saying what to use instead. Is it really technically wrong or bad to use this word (or such an overused exaggerated adjective in general, like awesome or amazing, as the expert suggests)? If yes, what should be used instead to avoid sounding trivial?

Example (taken from grammar.about.com):

Mr. Leopold is not turning 95 years old, but his iconic ice cream business is. . .


texts: "something come something", or foo-come-bar

texts:
Is the bold construct below valid? Does it have a name? What sort of punctuation would you use for it?

  Fnord, the something-come-such-and-so, was under development for a year or so. It suffered a redesign late last year to satisfy changing customer demands. We had a something on hand; customers wanted such-and-so.

I swear I've heard or read this construction before. It falls on my ear as old fashioned (dare I say "vintage"?), though not quite archaic.


texts: Difference between 'REVERENCE' and 'DEFERENCE'

texts:
MY EFFORT: this a straight-forward question. I was practising for 'SAT' and met a question which required knowledge of difference between the afore-mentioned two words. I have searched the following 2 Web Sources and 1 Father's MacBook In-Built Dictionary:

Google

a) Sorry: I don't have 10 reputation to post the link.E

b) Sorry: I don't have 10 reputation to post the link.

Wikipedia

a) Sorry: I don't have 10 reputation to post the link.

b) This is one is quite intriguing: Wikipedia refers to two contexts in which Reverence is used, first one is 'Emotion' and the second one is 'Attitude'; the second is very important because Deference is mostly used in the context of 'Attitude' (THIS IS THE EXACT REASON BEHIND MY DOUBT).
Sorry: I don't have 10 reputation to post the link.

Note: I haven't still (NOR I HAVE THE TIME, MY 'SAT' EXAMS ARE NEAR) researched into the meanings of these two words, therefore, it may be possible that they may have even more complex and differentiated meaning, for i.e., they have either historically or primitively quite distinct meaning.

MacBook Inbuilt Dictionary: These are screen shots

a)

b)


texts: Generalization of words flats, commercial spaces, garages

texts:
There is a house. It has several flats, garages, commercial spaces and some rooms.
Flats, spaces and rooms may be rented or they may be used by the owner of the house.

Is there any general term that would express flats and other things that may be rented?
Is an asset a good word for it?


texts: Is the term "self-supervision" an oxymoron?

texts:
I was suddenly curious because I had always thought that "supervision" implied there being two separate entities.

For example, when I search the definition of "supervision," I get a few results along similar lines. The one from Wikipedia states:

  Supervision is an act or instance of directing, managing, or oversight. The noun derives from the two Latin words super (above) and videre (see, observe).

So if the definition implies a sense of hierarchy (i.e. "observing from above") wouldn't this mean that you can't technically supervise yourself?


texts:
we wanted to share some of what you'll see now on foursquare while out exploring your city.

Is the bolded text a clause with ellipsis or a participle phrase? If a phrase, is the while a preposition?

  You guys checked in 381,576,305 times in 2010

Why add guys ?


texts: Without looking in either direction - why not "neither"?

texts:
In a book I read to improve my English, I ran across the following sentence (simplified):

  ..across the street, without looking in either direction.

I know "either" is often used when there is a choice with 2 options. But in this context, if he did not look either left or right, then he did not look in neither direction..at least that is how I understand it.

I struggle to understand why "either" is used here.
And, how would the following change the meaning, please?

  ..without looking in neither direction.
  ..without looking in both directions.


texts:
I saw an anecdotal "rule" in a magazine stating that, if an adverb is used in a comparative clause, the '-ly' form of the adverb is preferable to a comparative form. Apparently however, if the adverb does not have an '-ly form, then one can use the comparative form. For example:

I run quicker than Sara
I run more quickly than Sara
I run faster than Sara

The "rule" is that, between the first and second statement, the second statement is to be preferred. However, if 'fast' is used as the adverb, then the comparative form of the adverb is correct; hence, the third statement is also right.

Can someone verify if this "rule" is true and applicable in all situations?


texts: Politically correct term for someone who is Internet challenged?

texts: What is the politically correct term for someone who is not very Internet savvy?


texts: What could be meant by something "puts the tin in" someone's "pockets"

texts: In Melville's White-Jacket a sailor on board a U.S. frigate, who had undergone a severe flogging, said to White-Jacket: "these coltings (i.e. extreme and unjust flogging with a 'colt' or piece of rope) puts the tin in the Purser's pocket". The phrase is particularly unclear, since there is no apparent relationship between the punishment and the Purser's office.


texts:
I am currently learning German on Duolingo and one of the phrases for translation is "There is oil on the shirts" which in German comes out as "Oil is on the shirts" which works just as well in English. The addition of "there" in the English phrase reminds me of "do" support in questions: "Does he eat?" vs "He eats?" or "Eats he?" in some other languages.

What is the name of the grammatical feature using "there"?


texts: Is it OK to say "functionality wise and productivity wise"

texts: We tell a customer about recent changes in our software. Is it OK to say "These changes are very important functionality wise and productivity wise for you"?


texts: Any alternative to "on the one hand, on the other hand"

texts:
I'm writing a formal academic article to introduce some facts. For example:

  On the one hand, the government would like more energy, but on the other hand, it is not prepared to find more extra investments in order to get it.

However, I think the idiom on the one hand...on the other hand is somewhat informal. Are there any, more formal alternative to this idiom, that would fit in the provided context?


texts:
Okay, so we seem to have established (with lots of great and generous help from StoneyB and Peter Shor) that:

where it came to certain diphthongs, Shakespeare either elided syllables that didn't fit into the line, or didn't, depending on the situation. (Specifically, we went over some words ending in -ious, but there are others, such as the word continually, which Shakespeare treats (in Richard III) as if it only had four syllables, not five).

that such "extra-metrical" (a term used by Robert Bridges in his long essay on John Milton's prosody) syllables are always unstressed (duh).

that the contemporary ear will accept some of those elisions, but might at the same time protest against others; i.e. should someone write and stage a play in verse today, he or she could treat such words as ceremonious as if they had four syllables rather than five without worrying that someone might accuse them of having written a silly-sounding Shakespearean pastiche.

that the reason some words resist such eliding (the word curious is three syllables; it can't be shortened to two, ever, full stop) SEEMS to have something to do with the consonant preceding the vowel in the unstressed syllable slated for elision. I tentatively proposed that "r" may be one such consonant.

My question, then, goes like this. Is there a rule or pattern that would enable one to create two lists of words: the first one consisting of words that can be shortened through elision; and the second one of words that can't.

Any and all answers will be greatly appreciated.


texts:
I came across a sentence that began with "It was used a .." and was wondering whether it is grammatically correct.

Specifically, the sentence was:
In this case study it was used a part of the database iris available in the R package datasets. (as in 'a part of database was used')

I found some (very few) similar examples on the internet, but am not convinced, they all seem to be missing 'used as a'. The sentence I'm asking about looks wrong to me.


texts: Conveying "under the radar" in a less colloquial way

texts:
I am searching for a word to contrast with iconic

I want to characterize views of the city as both iconic and under the radar, maybe "non-iconic."

I was thinking about saying that a view of the city was undiscovered, but I think that maybe that overstates what I'm think-- I more mean under-appreciated. Are there any other words that come to mind?


texts:
5th is fifth, 4th is fourth, 3rd is third, 2nd is second.
People in races come fifth, fourth, third, and second.
Divisions are one fifth, one fourth, one third, and one half?

Why is it one half and not one second, following the ordinal numbers?


texts:
Does tense change when the narrator (present) writes about what a person (past) could have said about their time?

For example

  A person who lived during 1790 could truthfully claim that Washington is the president of the United States of America.

Should the is be was? If so, or if not, what's the relevant rule?


texts: "You're a crooked jerky jockey, and you drive a crooked hoss!" -- What's a Hoss?

texts:
So, it's that time of year, and every once in a while I'll hear the Grinch's tune on the radio. One line that has always confused me is the line

  You're a crooked jerky jockey, and you drive a crooked hoss!

Given the phrase "Jockey", I'm inclined to believe that "Hoss" is a purposeful mispronunciation of "Horse" in order to keep the flow of the song, but I've never heard of a horse being "Driven" only "Ridden". Is Hoss an archaic slang term for something else? A type of automobile maybe?


texts:
Technology helps us better understand more things.
Technology helps us to understand better more things.


texts: The correct way to say Measure units or Units of measure

texts:
which one is correct and why, or are they both correct:

measure units
units of measure?

when i start to google it, I saw only 1st variant.


texts: At what point did "what a shame" come to mean "what a disappointment" or "what a missed opportunity"?

texts:
This is the common usage of "what a shame".

  used for expressing sympathy or disappointment (MacMillan Dictionary)

another common usage

  spoken used when you wish a situation was different (Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English)

etymology for word "shame"

  Old English scamu, sceomu "feeling of guilt or disgrace; confusion caused by shame; disgrace, dishonor, insult, loss of esteem or reputation; shameful circumstance, what brings disgrace; modesty; private parts," from Proto-Germanic *skamo (source also of Old Saxon skama, Old Norse skömm, Swedish skam, Old Frisian scome, Dutch schaamte, Old High German scama, German Scham). The best guess is that this is from PIE *skem-, from *kem- "to cover" (covering oneself being a common expression of shame). (etymonline)

At what point in history did this idiom develop to its contemporary meaning?


texts: How does one deal with one word in parenthesis at the start of a sentence?

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  (I'm not sure) how to capitalize this sentence

How does one deal with capitalization in a situation like this:

  Correlation does not not imply causation. (Link) However, one can...

or

  It took me so long to make these candies that I swear I'm never baking again. (Maybe) The whole kitchen was a mess...

This has come up for me a couple of times, not always with links, but always in a casual setting. I wouldn't try it in an academic essay! I could probably find other ways to get around it, but I still want to know the official rules! In the above example "Link" is not a full sentence, so I feel funny capitalizing it, but it starts the sentence, so I feel even stranger not capitalizing it! Then, the word that does actually start the sentence needs to be capitalized and I don't know what to do next...I end up leaving it as it is in the above quote.

Edit: I added another example...I think I confused the issue with having a link. I'm bad at making up examples :(

To try to explain myself a little bit more: I can think of other ways of writing the above sentences, but if I wanted to keep it as it is, what should I do about capitalization and/or punctuation? In the second example, I don't want the (maybe) before the period, because I want the rythem of the sentence to land squarely after again. It comes after a period so I feel it should be capitalized...but I don't know if it should have a period after it or not.


texts: What's a nicer way of phrasing 'Aggressive schedule'?

texts: The phrase 'Aggressive schedule' is often used to express a desire to achieve high performance and speed on a project, however has the negative connotation related to the word 'aggressive'. If I'm expressing such a desire, I could say something like 'I want us to have a focus on achieving delivery in the fastest possible time', however that's wordy and formal. What's a succinct and relaxed way of expressing this desire, without sounding like you're trying too hard?


texts:
What is the difference between saying solution to the problem and saying solution of the problem?

Are they both equivalent, or is there some difference?


texts: Which possessive pronouns should I use in "I'm not a person who..."?

texts:
Consider this sentence, please:

I'm not a person who screams out my achievements from the rooftops.

Why do we use "my" instead of "his/her" in the sentence above, when "I" is not the antecedent of "who", the subject of the relative clause?


texts:
The Bank entered into an agreement with X.
The Bank entered an agreement with X.

I have always found 'entered into' being used but does the modern usage allow omission of 'into'?


texts: "The child may not feel as loved", what's the meaning of "as" here?

texts: As the question title, what's the meaning of 'as' here? Is the sentence meaning - 'The child may not feel that he is loved'?


texts: What does "O.D." mean in this context in "Revolutionary Road" by Richard Yates?

texts:
In "Revolutionary Road" by Richard Yates, Chapter 3, Frank is laying out the stones for a walk way, and the sentence reads as follows:

  "...he could take pleasure in the sight of his own flexed thigh, lean
  and straining under the old O.D., ..."

Frank is wearing an old pair of army pants, so I take it that "O.D." is related to some brand or insignia.

Can someone provide the meaning of "O.D." in this context?


texts:
I know strength is a noun. So in some sentences article is used and in some sentences, an article is not used before Strength. Example
I was impressed by his strength.
She's doing exercises to build up the strength in her legs.

I would appreciate if anybody can she some light on it?

Parry


texts: What's the pronoun for two uncountable nouns?

texts:
Which is correct?

I bought some beef and pork. All of it looks fresh.
I bought some beef and pork. All of them look fresh.

Since both "beef" and "pork" are uncountable nouns, I think the we should use the pronoun "it" to replace "beef and pork."

However, when it comes to the following sentence, I think we should consider them as plural to make the subject agree with the verb. And that makes me confused.

Beef and pork are expensive.


texts: A word for women's appearance that could easily arouse sympathy from others

texts:
Is there a word in English that describes a woman's appearance that could easily arouse sympathy from others?

something along the line of meek and kittenish?


texts: Difference between "value" and "valorize"?

texts:
Beyond the definitions of both words, I can't find which is best in which context.

If I mean giving impontance to something, which one should I use?

If I mean giving more value ($) to something, which one should I use?

If I want to mean both?

By example: Valorize your data / Value your data ?

Thank for your help.


texts: The adjective "close" in a competitive situation

texts:
Oxford defines "close" thus:

  Adj
  (With reference to a competitive situation) won or likely to be won by
  only a small amount or distance:
  "the race will be a close contest"
  "she finished a close second"

My question:

Based on the same sense of the word, can I describe the 'difference' or the 'differential' between two numbers or amounts of something as 'close'. For example:

  The differential between what you owe and the credit you have is
  close.
  The difference between their numbers of followers
  on Twitter is close.

Does this sound nearly native? If not, what would be? I know we usually say "small difference" but I wonder if 'close' would be more effective, especially in the second sentence.


texts: Diacritics and non-English letters in anglicized loan words: keep 'em, dump 'em, italicize the words, or what?

texts:
Take an expression like déjà vu. This is a French term which is frequently seen in English. In fact, it is included in English dictionaries. But it is often seen in English in a variety of forms:

  déjà vu

  déjà vu

  deja vu

Now, one would probably not consider using frisson or soupçon, both proper unanglicized French words [uh-oh, see edit], without italics to indicate that they were foreign words. But once anglicized, do the words require non-English diacritical marks? Or, if such are used, does that push the word back into foreign status, so that italics are again required?

There's probably a continuum in operation here, during which a word goes from foreign with foreign markings to English with only English markings (or lack thereof). What I want to know is how one can tell where to draw the line. Does anybody have any useful information about this? Guidelines? Or is it on a case-by-case basis?

Honestly, I feel affected writing à la carte when every damn diner you walk into has an "a la carte" (or "ala carte" or "a la cart") category on the menu.

Edit: For example, see the Free Online Dictionary's schizophrenic listing for soupçon:

  Soup`con´ n. 1. A suspicion; a suggestion; hence, a very small portion; a taste; as, coffee with a soupçon of brandy; a soupçon of coquetry.

and then in the Thesaurus part:

  soupcon - a slight but appreciable amount; "this dish could use a touch of garlic"

So if dictionary entries can't even remain consistent within the same definition, what chance does a mere mortal have?


texts: Does the word "buttress," which is both a noun & verb, follow the rules about where to put emphasis based on its part of speech?

texts:
buttress (n.) any prop or support
buttress (v.) to support by a buttress; prop up

Words like combat, abstract, project, and convict change the syllable that's stressed based on whether you're using their noun or verb or adjective form. I thought the word buttress, which has both noun and verb forms, should also follow the rule like the others do, but I can't seem to find anything that differentiates its pronunciation based on its part of speech. Does anyone know if it follows this initial-stress-derived noun rule? I know it's not much of an established rule and buttress could be an outlier but I'm just not sure.


texts: Why does the incorrect plural "aircrafts" seem to be occurring more often?

texts:
My first reaction to aircrafts was to think it was a typo, but I just checked usage on NGrams...

...and compared it to usage for the singular / collective noun form aircraft...

...which seems to indicate that the "regular" plural form is gradually being taken up. Does this represent a tendency for English speakers to enforce regularity on the language? Are there any other examples? I'm not expecting to find that "sheeps", for example, is displacing "sheep" for the plural meaning, but maybe there are other "less established" usages that could be changing.

EDIT Please note that I'm not asking whether "aircrafts" is correct, or common. I'm asking if there's any reason why it seems to be occurring more often over recent decades (even though it's still pretty rare). And whether this effect occurs with other nouns having "non-standard" plural forms.


texts: Formal equivalent of "fast forward to today"

texts:
I'm trying to think of a formal word or phrase that I can use to substitute this line at the beginning of a sentence: "Fast forward to today, ...". For context:

  At its onset, the industry had little in terms of standardized rules
  and metrics. ______________, progress towards a more unified
  regulatory framework has made much headway.

"Fast forward to today" seems to be a great fit for flow, but it is not of the writing persona deemed suitable for my writing. What formal equivalents should I consider?


texts: Why is it that Americans invite all and sundry to "Enjoy!" without including an object noun in the sentence, when the dative case of the verb 'to enjoy' clearly demands one to be correct?


texts: I've once heard a person make a reference to another person as sleeping with their eyes open. I wonder if there is another way to take this expression other than literally. Thanks.


texts:
The sentence

  We wish to verify that adding or removing an apple to the basket does not alter its color.

sounds wrong, because we should remove from instead of remove to.

But the sentence

  We wish to verify that adding or removing an apple to or from the basket does not alter its color.

sounds complicated.. and lame. But I am not a native speaker.

Is one of the two above correct?
Is there another consensual formulation in this case?
Do I need to hard-rephrase all the sentence?


texts: The clock (has kept/kept) precise time for over forty years?

texts:
The correct answer is "kept" but I don't understand why because shouldn't "over forty years" make it past progressive?
This is from an ACT practice test. The passage talks about a guy making the clock on 1753 so maybe it is because the clock is not functional today?


texts: How to wish someone for the upcoming weekend

texts: Is it correct to say "Wish you a happy weekend" or should I say "Wishing you a happy weekend"?


texts: Origin of different past tenses for verbs with the same endings?

texts:
Why do we have a situation where the past of "to blow" is "blew", but of "to glow" is "glowed"? And don't say "flew" if you mean "it flowed". The poem Lovers, by Phoebe Cary has many examples of these.

How did these differences originate? Did "blow" and "glow" come from etymologically distinct backgrounds that have just come to be spelled and pronounced the same way? Is there a general rule for words like these?


texts: Wrong to use "less equal" in a sentence?

texts:
I would like to say that inequality increased in time as a small proportion of patients started to receive extreme amounts of rehabilitation. However, Grammarly says that I should not use "less" before "equal"? Is my sentence wrong in the way it is?

The temporal analysis showed that the division of rehabilitation resources became less equal between its receivers.


texts: What is the meaning of “in that parents’ basement sort of way”?

texts:
What is the meaning of parents’ basement?

In that parents’ basement sort of way
He’s kind of cute, in that parents’ basement sort of way


texts: How to split a multiple word phrase and another word/phrase

texts:
I work in a global company that with many Japanese people has a general rule to add "san" to the names of people. With so many names from different countries and different order rules it is hard to know which is the surname.

Is there a good way of representing "firstname middlename surname san" without making it look like "san" is part of the name.

For example this seems logical but not something I've ever seen: "(firstname middlename surname)-san"


texts:
I'm wondering whether it's grammatically correct to compare an infinitive with a noun using 'than'. For example:

"Does he like to play in band better than gym?" she asked?

I don't hear much usage of this comparison, but it sounds correct.


texts: Question about the phrase "tap somebody as [a position]"

texts:
"Tap"(6. [transitive, usually passive] tap somebody (North American English) to choose somebody to do a particular job) is a synonym of "appoint" when it means "to select for an office or position", and there is a phrase "tap somebody as [a position]".
However, I encounter this sentence:

To lead that effort, he has tapped as his foreign minister Ernesto Araújo, a Trump-loving antiglobalist who wants to prioritize relations with the United States.
---Making Brazil great again: How Jair Bolsonaro mirrors and courts Trump in the Washington Post (Dec. 31, 2018).

Question:
Is this sentence correct in grammar, and is this usage common in English?
In some phrases, you can change the order of words, like "give sth. to sb. = give sb. sth.", but the order above (tap as [a position] sombody) is too awkward, and I never saw such change of order in a phrase before. Is such change of order in a phrase common in English?
Edit:
Someone told me that if the clause was "he tapped Ernesto Araujo as his foreign minister, a Trump-loving antiglobalist...", there would be a stylistic weakness with the following clause since the description of Araujo is closest to "foreign minister" and thus the sentence is awkward.
What do you think of such claim?
Edit 2:
In another article days after (Jan. 3, 2019), there was also such usage in the Washington Post.

Trump aides say the president never came close to tapping him(Romney).
--- Romney asserts his independence from Trump — and Trump’s defenders return his searing criticism of the president


texts:
What is the difference between "I enjoy not working late" and "I don't enjoy working late"?

By the way, if they mean the same, is one more common in US than UK?


texts: What does "make [someone] into shoes" mean?

texts:
In BBC's Sherlock series (Series 2 Episode 1, "A Scandal in Belgravia"),

   Jim Moriarty says to Irene Adler: "If you have what you say you have, I'll make you rich. If you don't, I'll make you into shoes."

What does he mean?

Googling led me to a link that that is probably enlightening, but unfortunately, not for me.

So if this is a play on words, then what are the possible meanings?


texts: What rule can I give to authors who start sentences with "-ing" words when it's inappropriate?

texts:
I work as an editor and I've found that many writers (usually novices) inappropriately begin sentences with "-ing" words (as opposed to appropriately beginning sentences with "-ing" words. It's a common problem in my field. Here are two consecutive examples from an essay I'm currently editing:

Determining a medium of instruction in education is driven by political, social and economic forces.

Championing a foreign language has disadvantaged speakers of indigenous languages.

I know how to correct these sentences - "The determination of..." etc. - but what rule should I give my author?


texts:
In the sentence –

  Auditors recommend an increase of the allowance for bad debts by ten %.

– should the percent sign be there or should the word percent be spelled out. Also should the number be written in a numeral format?


texts: What are the important differences between Canadian and American (USA) English?

texts:
English is not my first language; the little English I know is mostly from the USA.

I know some of the differences between British English (or just English?) and American English, and the same with Australian.

In general terms, could you explain to me, or list the most important differences (if any), between Canadian and American English?


texts: What are adjectives that begin with 'a' called in grammar?

texts:
I mean adjectives like: ablaze, afloat, alive, ashore, ...

I did a quick Google search and found that they are called a adjectives. But I do remember that I came across a different denomination in a grammar book some time ago, but I have since forgotten that word.

Could anyone help?