texts:
It is only natural you would want to have a friend if you moved to a different country for some reason and therefore you don't have any local friend there.

As I was looking the other day into the usage of verbs that usually go together with the very popular word "friend," I learned, unexpectedly, English speakers hardly say, "get a friend," when they commonly say, "find a friend," which is very familiar to me too.

Even more interestingly and confusingly, they often talk about "getting" a girlfriend or boyfriend as well as "finding"a girlfriend or boyfriend.

Why not "get" a friend to mean the same as "find" a friend? I'm seriously curious if my understanding is correct.


texts: What is the meaning of the italicized "do" in this sentence?

texts:
A child meets this kind of discipline every time he tries to do
  something, which is why it is so important in school to give children
  more chances to do things, instead of just reading or listening to
  someone talk (or pretending to).

Three Disciplines for Children by John Holt

And also, what does pretending to mean here?


texts: Roy Hodgson's "Church in the centre of the village" expression

texts:
Listening to the current England football manager, Roy Hodgson, speaking on the radio, he used a very curious expression while speaking about his team:

  "We have to try to get back to putting the church back into the village"

I heard it on the radio, so I can't remember exactly what the context was. I think he was talking about managing disciplinary problems within the team. (But we all know how waffly football managers can be in their interviews.)

What does this metaphor mean, and how does it apply in these circumstances?


texts: 'if we were to go with them' vs 'if we were to have gone with them'

texts:
What is the difference between the two tenses?
1. If we were to go with them.
2. If we were to have gone with them.


texts:
As i am new with english can someone explain the meaning of this line ?:

Who that has prided himself on his spiritual strength has not seen it
humbled to the dust?


texts: "I you already know": is this proper English?

texts:
I found this sentence in Terry Pratchett's "Interesting Times": (*)

  “Great wizard,” said Butterfly, bowing. “I you already know, but these two are Lotus Blossom and Three Yoked Oxen, other members of our cadre. [...]”

It's certainly not the usual word order, but there's clearly emphasis on “I” and that often can reason about alterations like that. A word-for-word translation into my native language (Czech) works perfectly. Moreover I believe if it was like

  “I already know you, but these two [...]”

the “other two” could in principle at first be perceived like a substitution for the object rather than the subject, turning the thing into a garden path sentence.

Note: At least I assume that “I” is the subject and “you” the object, as in “I already know you, but these two don't”.

What makes me unsure is that this is in a part of the story where the speaking character intentionally switches between a flawless language and some sort of pidgin English for the purpose of disguise. It's not clear to me which is the case right here.

(*) An e-book edition so sorry for a missing page reference.


texts:
Gandhi went in his loincloth to Buckingham Palace and met the king. Later, when somebody asked him if he felt that was proper, Gandhi replied: "The king had enough for both of us."

Full article: https://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/21/opinion/meanwhile-gandhi-for-one-would-have-found-it-funny.html

My tiny brain couldn't grasp his reply.


texts:
My question is about the use of the form "beheads" in the following sentence from Victor Davis Hanson's essay "Are the Orcs Winning?":

  In contrast, Hamas only drives Christians out of Gaza rather than beheads them.

The form "beheads" sounds wrong to me; I would have said "rather than behead them." Now, I don't doubt that Dr. Hanson wrote it correctly; I'm sure he knows much more about language and grammar than I do. My question is, is "behead" also acceptable here? If so, is it a matter of formal vs. colloquial, or British vs. American usage, or what? Also, what would have been a better heading for this question? Is the form without "-s" an infinitive, or a subjunctive, or what?


texts: Can "english learning" be paraphrased with "of" preposition?

texts:
1?) Scheduled session of learning of English.

2?) Scheduled session of learning English.

I guess I understand that in sentences it would be "learning English", because there are subjects, but how is that different to sentence constructions with subject-less action concepts, concepts names or terms, and planned sessions or actions, suggestions?

Other examples of that paraphrasing I am looking for:

A) To do list (as list with points or array elements of actions for doing): e.g. English learning;

B) What I found in a book in it's table of contents: "Choosing Levels of English" (it seems strange without "of" after the gerund)

C) I'm gonna do English learning now!

D) Get English learning with fun!

I just have not seen anything about the usage of such constructions with gerunds and "of" preposition and related to gerunds concepts, and with either options of paraphrasing I feel uncertainty and strangeness in rightness of grammar


texts:
Sometimes media announcers, especially sports and business reporters, will make their examples plural, or parenthetically plural, even though those examples are obviously unique.  For example, an NPR announcer recently referred to
"The Googles and the Apples," When citing very large Silicon Valley firms, like only Google and Apple can be.  Sports announcers will often make players names plural, when citing them as examples of one thing or another, even though the players are obviously one of a kind.  Is there a name for this behavior, and is it correct in any way?


texts: What verb describes the motion of a swimmer's arms?

texts:
This question was raised in an XKCD What-If post (in footnote 3):

  When a swimmer is submerged and moving at top speed, the drag from the water is equal to the thrust they generate by kicking and ... whatever the gerund form of the verb is for the things your arms do while swimming. My first thought was "stroking", but it's definitely not that.

What is the verb to use to describe what the swimmer's arms do?


texts: Can someone tell what does this time format "10 to 10" mean? Is it 9:50 or 10:10?


texts: Does paralepsis require explicit invocation?

texts:
(I apologize for the title, it's the best I could do to phrase it concisely.)

Paralepsis (Wikipedia suggests the spelling Paralipsis) is defined as: a rhetorical device wherein the speaker or writer invokes a subject by denying that it should be invoked.

An example would be a politician who says something like, "I will not stoop to mentioning my opponent's drinking problem."  Every example I can find has basically the same structure: "I won't say ... (and then says whatever it is.)"

My question is: is it still paralepsis if the phrase "I won't say ..." is implied, instead of explicitly stated.  The example that prompted this question was the exchange:

  A: I've been in the business for 15 years with 50+ transactions a
  year.

  B: Congratulations on your success but personally I don't care how
  many deals you do a year.  Reliability, integrity and keeping my
  clients happy are the only things I care about in this business.

To me, there's an implied "I won't point out that you don't care about integrity..." in person B's statement.  (Although I'm less certain now that I've written this question.)


texts:
Consider the following sentence:

  Visit our website to join the chat, find upcoming rides, charge
  locations, and more!

Should I be saying

  Visit our website to join the chat, find upcoming rides and charge
  locations, and more!

instead, or can "find" be implicitly applied to the 2 following options without repeating it like in the original sentence? "And more" wouldn't necessarily be associated with "find". Or should I make it clearer with

  Visit our website to find upcoming rides, charge locations, join the
  chat, and more!

Basically, my objective is to include those 4 options, ideally, in the original order, in the shortest, yet, clearest, wording possible.


texts: Is there an English word that denotes the structured and deliberate pursuit of a course of action in order to achieve a goal?


texts:
This is a quote that I got from one of our customers:
"I'm proud to be part of an elite group of individuals that genuinely loves going to work on a Monday morning!"


texts: "Differentiating", "distinguishing," or another word for "that helps to tell apart easily"?

texts:
I am trying to come up with the right word that means that helps to tell apart easily, for example, one that fits into the following sentences:

Beak shape is a __ feature among birds.
Language is usually the __ feature for ethnic groups.

I tried differentiating and distinguishing, but was not quite sure.


texts: Is using the term "aforementioned" sometimes considered bad practice?

texts:
While typing up a document in Microsoft word, I got a funny "blue line" suggested correction:

As you can see, MS Word wanted to change my phrase from "aforementioned experience" to "experience." Is there some type of rule of thumb that I'm missing, or is this just some arbitrary "correction" Word is suggesting?


texts: looking for a word: "A certain fact can be ___ to another fact" (fact 2 is the cause of fact 1)

texts:
I'm struggling to find a word that can fit in this sentance:
"This difference can be ___ to the difference in methods".
Something like attributed, but not quite.

Thank you.


texts:
Jezebel means a shameless or immoral woman.

Is there a connate or coeval word for a man that would mean the same, as if it was coined to be the male counterpart of Jezebel?


texts: What does this idiom mean and where did it come from?

texts: What does the expression "being drug up on the carpet and then run up the mast" mean and where did it come from? It could very well be the person who said it made it up on the spot.


texts:
I'm trying to find out what this symbol means and if it has a name:

¶

I've seen it being used in word processors.


texts:
When and where did the -holic in alcoholic get added to words like shopaholic? The Online Etymology Dictionary lists some dates for an array of words formed using the suffix, but it doesn't show whether the origin was in the US, UK, or somewhere else, and it doesn't cite sources for the dates:

  -aholic
  word-forming element abstracted from alcoholic; first in sugarholic (1965), foodoholic (sic., 1965); later in workaholic (1968), golfaholic (1971), chocoholic (1971), ....

The place of origin and sources of the dates for the words are also not cited at the linked entry in Dictionary.com.


texts:
Recently, and for me beginning with the series Brooklyn 99, I have been hearing "noice" used for what I guess is an extreme "nice".

I was assuming this was just a mocking of Brooklynese (e.g. "toity toid 'n toid") , but now I see it sprouting up in other internet locations.

One source claims it comes from Australia.

  Noice, or nice pronounced with an exaggerated Australian accent, is a synonym for awesome. This spelling is helpful for internet users to convey the pronunciation in text.

So, does it derive from the Aussie, or Brooklyn accent?


texts: Is there a word that describes not the entire well, but only the bottom of it? I've seen some use 'cauldron', but I don't know how common it is. Thanks.


texts:
On the recommendation of some regulars here, I managed to watch the movie The Madness of King George  over the weekend, and found it excellent.  Anyway, one funny scene in the movie is when King George, who despite being contentedly married is quite flirtatious, remarks on the looks of one of the Queen Consort's ladies-in-waiting to the head of his attending guards:

  That's Lady Penbrook. Handsome woman, what? Daughter of the Duke of Marlborough...husband's an utter rascal.

Is the usage of "handsome" here archaic, or just rarely used by those in the know? If the former, when did it become so?


texts:
When does a noun can be used as a adjective avoiding the use of saxon genitive? I am writing a tittle that states: "FDA's, EPA's, and TTB's regulations", but I would like to avoid using the saxon genitive (if possible) because the tittle looks longer and more complicated. I would prefer to say "FDA, EPA, and TTB regulations." Is the second sentence correct? Can we use FDA, EPA, and TTB as if they were adjectives?

Note: FDA, EPA, and TTB are US Regulatory Agencies.

Thank you,


texts:
I have been told 'everybody' is singular. However, there was a film named "Everybody Sing".

What are the differences between "everybody sing" and "everybody sings"?

Which is correct? the former, the latter, or the both?

Which is more natural?


texts: Is it ok to use "follow" to start a sentence as an object?

texts:
I saw a sentence earlier today:

  Follow this checklist prior to embarking on your next camping trip to help you avoid running into problems during your trip away.

I have a couple questions about this sentence.

Can "follow" lead and start a sentence? or have to change it to be “following”.
Is "prior to" the predicate of the sentence?

The whole sentence structure is strange to me. It is written by a local who speaks English as first language, so I would like to know whether it is a type of conventional expression.


texts: What is the name of this thing shown in "Call Me By Your Name" movie? It looks like an antique object.


texts: Using "wish" to express regret in the present and in the past

texts:
I wish I have been there for the baby kicking for the first time?

Could I change the sentence to

  I wish I was there for the baby kicking for the first time?

What are the differences between the two sentences?


texts: How popular is the word “cromulent”? If I use this word in conversation with native speakers, doesn’t it look out of place?

texts:
In today’s post, “What’s the antonym for recommend?” an answerer answered "I discourage the blue sweater sounds perfectly cromulent.”

As I am utterly unfamiliar with the word, “cromulent,” I looked for its meaning in Oxford, Cambridge and Merriam-Webster online dictionaries to find none of them registers this word. And Window Word 7 spelling checker keeps suggesting me to correct “cromulent” into “corpulent” or “crapulent” at this right moment I’m writing this question.

However, Wikitionary registers “cromulent,” and provides the definition as:

Fine, acceptable or normal; excellent, realistic, legitimate or authentic.

(Origin) 1996 February 18, Matt Groening et al., “Lisa the Iconoclast”, The Simpsons, Season 7, Episode 16.

I wonder how popular this word is among English speaking world. If a non-native speaker like me whose stock of vocabulary is very limited and are totally unsure of the good command of English uses this word in conversation with you - native speakers, does it sound out of place or overreaching?


texts: Word or idiom defining something barely functional

texts:
How can I refer to something that barely works given a certain context and can get broken at any moment?

The thing is: I wrote some geometry calculations in an application that will work in our context, but any minimum condition can make it fail.

So I typed in the comment:

  "... there are precision issues and different contexts that make this algorithm ___________."

A word or an idiom would do.


texts: Which of these plural forms is the correct one?

texts:
I want to describe a list of numbers where each entry is the numeric category of a word. For example, 'english' has category 1, 'love' has category 2, etc, so the list would be [1, 2, ...].

Is this list called 'word categories' or 'words category' or 'words categories' or 'word category'? Note that, this is for variable name in my program.

Thank you.


texts:
I seem to be noticing this one entering the popular lexicon lately, but cannot find a good definition.

Examples:

  No, you're just verballing...
  Leakegate: Leake verballed Richard Dawkins
  Jailed man sues over police verballing

Usually used in a debate, it seems to suggest that someone is twisting or misconstruing someone else's statement.  Of course, it comes from the adjective verbal, but seems to mean something different.


texts: Is there a difference between "indicia" and "indications"?

texts: I've seen "indicia" in legal documents--most recently in the Ukraine scandal whistleblower report ("preliminary review identified some indicia of an arguable political bias"). Is it just a more formal legalistic synonym for "indications" or is there a subtle distinction?


texts: Is it Racism or Stereotyping when unfairly judging a culture?

texts:
I was recently in a debate about unfair judgement of a culture by what it produces. the examples were

Because something looks Arabic it's Muslim and is Terrorist Material (because of ISIS)
Because something looks Japanese it's pornographic (because of Hentai)
Because something looks German it's represents Nazism (because if the Nazis)

I debated these are just very unfair stereotyping by most likely exaggerating one example however the person I was having the debate with said that it was actually racism as the categorization of something from a culture as something bad is making that culture and to the extent it's people inferior. ie,

All Arabs are Muslim and all Muslims are terrorists
The Japanese can only make pornographic things and are all perverts
The Germans still hold onto their Nazi history and thus are Nazis

Seeing it like this it sorta looks like racism to me. So is it Racism or Stereotyping when unfairly judging a culture like this?


texts:
This is my first time on the English portion of Stack Exchange

I'm creating a function that gets events from a table. One of the parameters of the function is whether the event is in the future or in the past.

function getEvents($param)

I'm looking for a word that means in the past OR in the future.

My mind is blanking out on having one and have had little luck finding one online.

Any thoughts?


texts: Can "respectively" handle multiple events?

texts:
Is this a proper use of "respectively"?

The cat and dog chased the mouse and squirrel through the field and barn respectively.

It has been asked here previously whether

a, b, and c did d, e, and f respectively.

is proper, but this case is different.


texts: "As has been seen/shown/etc": What kind of grammatical category does it belong to?

texts: It is evident that expressions like "as has been seen" make reference to something already mentioned before. However, why is there no pronoun? why not, for instance, "as IT has been seen"? On the other hand, what kind of grammatical category does it belong to?


texts: I keep on finding exceptions of the rule that changes from present tense to past

texts:
I keep on finding exceptions that doesn't fit into the rule that a grammar book suggests.
One of them is about changing regular verbs to past simple.
It says, if the verb ends in a vowel + a consonant, you double the consonant and add -ed.
i.g. stop > stopped, plan > planned, mop > mopped.

However, I found 'play' also ends in a vowel + a consonant, still it doesn't double the consonant. Same as 'slow' and 'screw'.
I recently learned about syllables, and 'y' at the end of word is considered to be a vowel too, not as a consonant. I wonder if these are the similar cases.


texts: Can "so" (as a conjunction) be followed by a sentence the subject of which is omitted?

texts:
Recently I have come across this strange sentence:

  The paper was mainly about the everyday life of the ordinary people during the Japanese   occupation so did not favour any student of History.

Can we omit the subject after the conjunction " so" when it is the same as that of the main clause? If we can, then what about other conjunctions like "as" (in the sense of "because"), "because", "since"?

I know the omission of subjects is common for conjunctions like "if", "when" and "as". But rarely do I see this happen to conjunctions showing casual relationships like "so" and "because".


texts: Can an adverb be placed between a verb and its direct object?

texts:
The direct object usually follows the verb, not the adverb. For example, we say I love you deeply instead of I love deeply you. However, there are instances where the direct object is so long that the adverb ends up far away from its verb. Is it correct to place the adverb between the verb and the direct object? See this example, where the adverb is placed immediately after the verb, and not after the direct object:

  In order to convey accurately all the shades of meaning that she had found while doing her research, she asked a few experts.

Does the length of the direct object affect the placement of the adverb? Thanks!


texts: What do you call a person who is always noisy on the Internet?

texts:
Noisy, in a way, that he always post on Facebook or Twitter anything he did like it is his diary, always commenting other people's posts, retweets every minute or hour, etc. An attention whore or something. Is there a specific word for this kind of personality?

By the way, I didn't mean nosy or nosey.


texts: "Not even" as a conjunction or for contrast

texts:
Is this sentence fine?
It was pitch black, not even the stars could be seen.
I know that you can use a comma before not even and then a noun for contrast, but can it still work with a sentence?


texts: For non-modal/auxiliary verb, is the non-3rd person singular present form always the same as the base form?

texts:
The Penn Treebank Parts of Speech tag set differentiated between the base form of verbs (VB), and the non-3rd person singular present form (VBP).
Consider the following cases, with the different uses of rise:

base form: The share price will rise.
non-3rd person singular present: The share prices rise.

In both cases the forms are the same.
All the examples I have seen of verbs where that is not true, are with verbs that can be considered (by some definition) to be modal and/or auxiliary. Such as: be, am, are, is, was, were, being, can, could, do, did, does, doing, have, had, has, having, may, might, must, shall, should, will, or would
Are there examples of words from outside my modal/auxiliary list, of  non-3rd person singular present forms that are different from their base forms?
I would particularly appreciate referenced answers, sourcing any statements about their nonexistence/rarity.


texts: The moment of success mixed with realisation of failure

texts:
Is there a single word for the feeling you have in the moment you successfully avert a bad outcome and simultaneously realise what would have happened if you had failed to do so? For example catching a dropped knife and realising as you know you have successfully grabbed it that if you'd missed it would have stabbed you in the foot.

In a sentence it would look something like this "She had a moment of [...] as she realised what would have happened if she'd missed her snatch for the vase."

It's an example of juxtaposition, between success and failure, but that doesn't describe the feeling at that moment. It often causes an adrenaline rush but that's non-specific, it might also be characterised as a moment of horror but again that can mean many things while this is a distinct, mixed, sensation.

I can say "...a moment of [relief mixed with horror] as she realised..." but I want to use one word if such a thing exists and without resorting to a non-English term if at all possible though of necessity such a term could be used as the piece is one involving culturally blanded characters.


texts: what is the difference between employ and employment

texts:
I can not understand the difference when employ is a noun.

So somebody help me to show the difference between employ and employment.


texts:
You always hear about "homicide investigations" or "murder investigations". But what if the investigators aren't sure it's a murder?

I don't believe "autopsy" fits, because the investigators know how the deceased died. What if they are just trying to analyze the events leading up to the death, and decide whether foul play was involved?


texts:
Many studies have noted social functionality and contribution of helping behaviors, volunteering and altruism towards individuals, groups or institutes.

My question is how can I know "helping behaviors" belongs only to "contribution" or belongs to "contribution" and also "functionality"?
And the my second question is how can I know "social" is an adjective for "functionality" or for "functionality" and also "contribution"?


texts:
As we know, Schadenfreude is defined as "the feeling of joy derived from witnessing the misfortunes of others". This question defines the antonym of Schadenfreude as "the feeling of discomfort derived from witnessing the misfortunes of others". Assuming you can find a word that means this, call it W1.

Would a word (W2) for "the feeling of joy derived from witnessing the good fortunes of others" also be considered an antonym?

Is there a name for the type of relationship between words of type W1 as an antonym and W2?

What if we forget about the antonym aspect, and just consider W1 and W2, are they antonyms of each other as well? Or is there some other name for the relationship between such types?


texts: "My Facebook post has sunk among all the new posts" Does this sentence sound natural?

texts: If I posted in some Facebook group and 30 more posts were posted after mine by other members and my post got disappeared, can I say that "My post has sunk among all the new posts"?


texts: Difference between 'He has been involved' and 'He has been watching TV'

texts:
From the sentence

  He has been watching TV,

I understand that it is a present perfect continuous tense that started in the past and is continuing in the present time.
But I get confused at times when I hear sentences like

  He has been involved.

Does it mean the same thing? That the involvement started in the past and is continuing in the present time?
If not, what is the difference?


texts: in regards to/regarding and of/from - Grammar in formal email

texts:
I've been waiting for an email for several days and haven't heard of the other person yet. He emailed me, I answered him but I haven't heard back yet. I wish to send a message to remind him to answer me but I wish to know the correct way of putting it.

I am thinking of something like this:

I am writing in regards to/regarding your email of/from the 10th January 2019.

Any suggestions?


texts:
Please be advised you have until Friday of this week to be finished.

I understood what this sentence means. But can you separate the sentence into phrases or clauses?

If I separate it, one is "please be advised you", another is "until Friday of this week", the other one is "to be finished". Where can I put the "have"?

I mean I need an explanation about that sentence grammatically.


texts:
Is it possible to shorten verbs which consist of more than one part when they are used together? For example, from the first sentence to the second below.

  I had gone and had seen the city.

  I had gone and seen the city.

Which of the two is corrrect?


texts: relevant to+dependent on a specific place, situation or condition

texts:
context sensitive?

i.e.

'provide a set of solutions through _ mediums'


texts: Origin of "to be into [someone] for [a sum of money]"

texts:
"He's into me for fifty quid" means "He owes me fifty pounds". It's common enough in the UK, but I'm fairly sure I've heard it in American movies too (bucks or grand there, not quid, obviously), so I don't think it's particularly a UK expression.

But since I just had reason to say it, I got to wondering "Why 'into'?", and realised it's a bit odd. Is it just short for "in debt to"? When I say it, I feel like "into" is one word, and a quick Google shows that's how people write it, but if you just miss out the word "debt" you'd still have two words left.

Anyone know the origin/first use?


texts: Is "destroying passions" a good thing in this paragraph?

texts: All passions have a phase when they are merely disastrous, in which they draw their victims down by weight of stupidity – and a later, very much later one in which they marry the spirit, ‘spiritualize’ themselves. In former times, because of the stupidity of passion, people waged war on passion itself: they plotted to destroy it ... Destroying the passions and desires merely in order to avoid their stupidity and the disagreeable consequences of their stupidity seems to us nowadays to be itself simply an acute form of stupidity. We no longer marvel at dentists who pull out teeth to stop them hurting.


texts: What should I say to people when I am passing them by?

texts:
I am talking about situations when you want to greet someone, without stopping to talk to them. In Russian, people usually say "добрый день" which means "hello." This is a greeting, not a valediction.

In English, it seems to be opposite. Can I say "hi," or should I say something like "have a nice day" or "bye" when I am passing them?


texts: Which is more appropriate here regarding in names: Junior or the 2nd?

texts:
I am from Philippines and I had a childhood friend named after his father, Cipriano Reyes, so my friend's name is Cipriano Reyes II.

But as far as I know, when a child was named after his father the title would be Junior (Jr.).

Does it mean that my friend's title is wrong? Will it affect the name of my friend's son if he will name it after him?


texts: Technical term for Internet-like network?

texts: There is a computer network, similar to Internet in architecture but not connected to actual Internet, that is used by the military. What is the term to describe such network?


texts: Is this a logically symmetric relation: "X must be consistent with Y"

texts:
Does it follow that if I make the statement "X must be consistent with Y" that "Y must be consistent with X"?

I'm hoping to hear this answered from a linguistics perspective, specifically related to information packaging and the use of the modal. I fear that this community may say "this isn't a good English question" just as much as the mathematics community might say "this isn't a good math question."

I've omitted the context here intentionally because the context itself is a bigger can of worms. What we can know from the structure itself: are these equivalent forms, or is this a false equality?


texts: "Should have been us" or "Should have been we"?

texts: I understand that "have been" is a form of the linking verb "to be", so it can only take a predicate nominative. But saying "It should've been us" sounds better.


texts: "Gentleman" is to "male" as what is to "female"?

texts: For males, it's gentleman; and for females?


texts: Can you use "invoke" with "undefined behavior"?

texts:
Some constructs in programming languages such as C (and derived) have undefined behavior. The term undefined behavior itself is used by the standard of C. The standard itself often writes as

  if ... the behavior is undefined.

In StackOverflow, questions with code having undefined behavior are common and a very common response is one of:

Undefine behavior
Because of undefine behavior
Your code invokes undefine behavior

and such. This question is regarding the last choice. Is it correct to say a statement, or a piece of code invokes undefined behavior? Note that the undefined behavior is a result of false assumptions during code compilation, optimization and generation and is not deliberately produced.

While on the subject, what words can be used instead? Surely a piece of code can have undefined behavior. One might also think of cause or contain.


texts: What do you call a phone call with no one talking on the other side

texts:
Is there a word or expression describing a phone call when the caller doesn't hang up, but also doesn't say anything (or at least nothing can be heard)?

I'm specifically looking for a term describing such call made to scare someone (with the caller breath being heard).

My initial thought was that it's called silent call, but according to Wikipedia it means something different.


texts: Difference between "just a minute" and "just a second"

texts:
Is there any semantic difference between "just a minute" and "just a second", especially when answering a door?

To me, "just a second" is equivalent to "i'm on my way", while "just a minute" conveys a message of "i have to do something first". However, i mentioned this to some other people, and they didn't make a difference?

Is a difference, or lack thereof, mentioned in any "official" guidelines? I did a quick Google search but didn't come up with anything.


texts: Is there any formal version of "as and when needed" for written English? Thanks


texts: Can 'medicines' be used the same as 'medicine'? When someone places two subscriptions, did they buy medicine or medicines?


texts:
Imagine the cops are looking for a criminal. That criminal is hiding but not for long in one place. He is changing places all over the world and continuously hiding . What is the correct word or phrasal verb for this?
"The criminal is roaming worldwide" is wrong I believe as this sentence would mean that he is on a happy vacation seeing places.
So, what is the correct word?
Please advise.


texts: Can I omit "A.D" when referring to a year, for example, "In 132" or "In 132 A.D."?

texts: I am not sure about the use of A.D. In some English references, I found it will be omitted sometimes(quite randomly). So I wonder if there is any principal use. Thank you.


texts:
I've encountered a sentence on English Wiktionary:

  The company's 2005 revenue exceeds that of 2004

Can I use one instead of that in the sentence? And that one? And, basically, what is the difference between them from the viewpoint of style?


texts: What is antecedent needed? Does logic count?

texts:
I am a high school student. Of my knowledge, on SAT, logics will not work.

But here is a sentence:

  The kids have discovered that they can used me for a jungle gym-it is painful, but good exercise.

I am not sure if it needs to be replaced by some antecedent.
I think it can refer to two things in this sentence: the jungle gym or the whole thing. But then the whole does not really count as a exercise, rather the jungle gym that the kids do on the writer counts.


texts:
I would like to say sorry first for my bad english, and I hope you understand me .

I have been improving my english recently and I thought about adding "indeed" into my essays , I have certainly understood the meaning but I couldn't find any information about placing "indeed" in a sentence .

I found out that when you are using "very" in your sentence you have to use "indeed" at the end of your sentence . How can I use "indeed" in sentences without "very" ?


texts: Does "turned a bright blue" contain a predicate nominative or predicate adjective?

texts:
The liquid in the bowl turned a bright blue.

Please tell me if blue is a predicate nominative or a predicate adjective in this sentence and please explain why.


texts: How do you say that you want to "recover" the hours you were not at work?

texts: I want to take two days off from work, but I want to work over the weekend to compensate for the missing days. So I have to send an email to my client and I don't know what the correct expression for this is.


texts: What do we call people with whom we have occasional daily interaction in terms of services?

texts:
I mean for example people like the hostel caretaker, the cook at the workplace, the taxi driver, the milkman etc.

What can we call all these people? I meant to say that we need to have a good conduct with these kind of people. But how can we refer them?


texts: What's another word for 'constitution' that conveys a similar meaning?

texts:
I'm looking for a word similar to constitution but in the context of an organization or team rather than a country. Basically a document that a team collaborates on and whenever they want to make a revision or amendment it has to go through intense discussion and review first (so, similar to when a court has to debate before an amendment to a constitution is applied). Furthermore, this document outlines everything the organization or team needs to know (i.e. institutional knowledge) (similar to how a constitution might outline everything a citizen needs to know to live in their country).

Edit: To add more ideas.... in my mind it's a document that's continually updated to reflect the current consensus of a group of people.


texts: "In graduate programs" versus "at graduate level"

texts:
I am writing a new CV. I want to choose a title for a section which specifies the courses I've taken at the graduate level. Since I've attended more than one graduate programs, which one of these is preferred for the title?

Courses taken at graduate level
Courses taken in graduate program


texts: What is the most common collocation to describe the seven trumpets blown in Revelation?

texts:
Revelation 8:1-2 (of the Bible) says the following (KJV):

  And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour.
  And I saw the seven angels which stood before God; and to them were given seven trumpets.

I want a concise way to refer to these seven trumpets. Options I have considered include:

the seven trumpets of Revelation
the seven trumpet blasts of Revelation

(or substitute "the Apocalypse" for "Revelation" in either case).

Is any of these phrases the most common collocation for describing the event mentioned in Revelation 8:1-2; if so, which one; and if not, what is? If it matters, assume some variety of British English or General American English, as suits you.

Note: for my use case, the collocation must include a reference to both an instrument being blown and an allusion to Christian eschatology. Other aspects (e.g. the number of instruments; the specific name of the instrument; etc.) are negotiable.


texts: What semantic notions underlie the meaning of 'chip on your shoulder' with 18C working practices at the British Royal Dockyards?

texts:
I focus on the 2nd theory, out of 2, for the etymology of 'chip of your shoulder'. How does  limiting "the amount of timber that could be taken", thus the "revoking of their previous benefit", semantically shift to signify "perceived grievance or sense of inferiority"? They appear unrelated to me, probably for I don't understand the history of 18th century working practices at the British Royal Dockyards.

What's the meaning of the phrase 'Chip on your shoulder'?
A 'chip on your shoulder' is a perceived grievance or sense of inferiority.

What's the origin of the phrase 'Chip on your shoulder'?

[...]

Anyone who might be inclined to doubt that origin might be interested in an alternative theory. This relates to working practices in the British Royal Dockyards in the 18th century. In Day and Lunn's The History of Work and Labour Relations in the Royal Dockyards, 1999, the authors report that the standing orders of the [Royal] Navy Board for August 1739 included this ruling:

"Shipwrights to be allowed to bring [chips] on their shoulders near to the dock gates, there to be inspected by officers".

eval(ez_write_tag([[250,250],'phrases_org_uk-medrectangle-4','ezslot_4',105,'0','0']));
The permission to remove surplus timber for firewood or building material was a substantial perk of the job for the dock workers. A subsequent standing order, in May 1753, ruled that only chips that could be carried under one arm were allowed to be removed. This limited the amount of timber that could be taken and the shipwrights were not best pleased about the revoking of their previous benefit. Three years later, for this and other reasons, they went on strike.
Hattendorf, Knight et al., in British Naval Documents, 1204 - 1960, record a letter which was sent by Chatham Dockyard officers to the Navy Board, relating to the 1756 dockyard workers' strike at Chatham. The letter records a comment made by a shipwright who was stopped at the yard's gates:

"Are not the chips mine? I will not lower them."

It goes on to report that "Immediately the main body pushed on with their chips on their shoulders."
That's a nice story and does connect an incident concerning chips and shoulders with a belligerent attitude. We need to be a little wary of swallowing that derivation whole however. The problem with it is that the phrase isn't known to be recorded in print in England with its figurative meaning anywhere near the 18th century. The first such record by an English author doesn't seem to be until the 1930s in fact, in Somerset Maugham's Gentleman in the Parlour:

"He was a man with a chip on his shoulder. Everyone seemed in a conspiracy to slight or injure him."

A gap of nearly 200 years between the use of a phrase and the incident that supposedly spawned it in the same country is hard to explain. In my humble opinion, the 'chips on shoulders' report dating from 1756 refer literally to just that, chips carried on shoulders. There's no evidence at all to suggest 'a chip on one's shoulder' existed as a figurative phrase until the 19th century.


texts: Which is correct, "neither is" or "neither are"?

texts:
Bob: "Can I set the font color? Can I customize the text?"

Frank: "Neither of these options is available. Sorry!"

Is "neither is" always correct or should one use "neither are" in some cases and what are the exact rules? I tried the googles and found a big mess of this-is-why-stackexchange-exists :P


texts: "not only.... but also..." in questions?

texts:
Here is a multiple-choice question:

_____ not only I but also he going to Paris?
A. Am
B. Is
C. Are
D. Be

Which choice is correct?


texts:
What is the reason, historical or otherwise, that many consonants are silent when they appear before "n". Examples:
Gnome
Pneumonia
Mnemonic
Knowledge


texts: What's the name used for lines representing text in a sketch?

texts:
What's the name for the five horizontal lines shown here in each of the page icons? The lines are placeholders for text in a sketch.

There is a specific term used for these lines in the publishing / graphic arts / cartooning industry; I've seen it before but can't for the life of me remember what they are called.


texts: Are quantities of units considered singular or plural?

texts:
Whenever I recite recipes or measurements in my head, the quantity of units is usually plural, but I find myself using singular verbs. For instance, "three cups of butter yields 12 batches" or "when measuring speed, five people gives a 20% increase." I figured that since three cups is obviously plural, it should be "three cups of butter yield 12 batches" and "when measuring speed, five people give a 20% increase." But that just doesn't sound right at all, to my ears at least.
This might also just be a poor understanding of English on my part, since I didn't grow up with fluent English speaker, but I'm certain that I've heard other people (including my grammar puritan English teacher) talk like this before.


texts: In Charles Dickens' book "A Christmas Carol", the children of Want and Ignorance crawl out of the Ghost of Christmas Present's robes. My understanding of this kind of "want" is the want of objects for themselves. Is there a single word opposite of "want" (i.e. "wanting to give")?


texts:
Why can we say "he is a student" , but not "a student is him".
Also, "he is the best student" and "the best student is him". Both sounds good?


texts: Past or present tense when talking about firsts that happened in the past?

texts:
When talking about firsts that happened in the past, is it okay to use the present tense?

For instance, if we want to talk about George Washington being the first president of the United States, could we say:
"George Washington is the first president of the United States."?

Technically he still is the first president and will be the first for the rest of time. But, he is no longer the president so should the statement be made in the past tense?


texts: Holding off on it or Holding it off or Holding off of it?

texts:
I would like to say that I'm pausing / postponing work on something.

I wasn't sure which of the following is the right way to say it:

I'm holding off on it for the time being
I'm holding off of it for the time being
I'm holding it off for the time being
I'm holding off working on it for the time being
None of the above, if so what's the "right" way to say it?


texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  “If I was” or “If I were”. Which is more common, and which is correct?
  Which is correct: “what if there was” or “what if there were”?

Which of following sentences is formed properly? Why?

  Although Reza has a successful career as a lawyer, he still wishes he
  was a rock musician.

or

  Although Reza has a successful career as a lawyer, he still wishes he
  were a rock musician.


texts: What was the profession 芸者 (female entertainer) called in Britain?

texts: I am looking for an indigenous English word for women who entertained guests at social gatherings in Britain. To put it simply, I am looking for an English analogue of geisha.


texts: Is "could've" or "should've" standard English?

texts: As the title says — is "could've" or "should've" standard English or is it slang and should correctly be spelled "could have" and "should have"?


texts:
An anacoluthon <...> is a rhetorical device that can be loosely defined as a change of syntax within a sentence <...>. Grammatically, anacoluthon is an error; however, in rhetoric it is a figure that shows excitement, confusion, or laziness.

Apart from poetry and rhetoric, can you give examples of anacoluthon nowadays?
Is this technique widely used in popular media?

My thought is since anacoluthon is an intentional grammatical error it would rather appear in newspaper headlines (where everybody understands will never be errors) than in article text? Can you give examples?


texts: What is a specific word to describe necessary products that customers buy infrequently?

texts: Such as a car, microwave oven, espresso machine, electric kettle, television, etc.


texts: A word to describe a concept between 'utopia' and 'dystopia'

texts:
I am searching for a word to describe a past experience that is in itself unexplainable, but perceptually vivid in nature and true to the eyes of the beholder. In the first person tense and at first, I reached for 'dystopia', but;

  noun dismal imaginary place

Doesn't work, because the reality is not being described as negative, nor positive such as its antonym, 'utopia';

  noun ideal place and life

For example;

  The experience was a true _ _ _ , far from reality.

You will have to forgive me, I can see how this question could come across as nonsense. I am open to constructive criticism.


texts: Should I say "3 half days" or "3 half-days" or "3 half-day"?  I mean I want to refer to, for example, the a.m. of Monday, the p.m. of Wednesday, and the a.m. of Friday, together.


texts:
So I stumbled upon this sentence:

''Aside from a flexible vagina which is due to the pelvic muscles' elasticity [...]''

And I wonder, shouldn't there be ''because of''? Because it modifies the adjective ''flexible'', and for ''due to'' to be right shouldn't it have been ''the flexibility of vagina [...]'' ? But again, I know that ''due to'' must follow a form of ''to be'', which is present here.


texts: When should one use "should" and when should one use "must"?

texts:
I tend to use should when it's a suggestion I don't have a strong opinion on, i.e. it could be done in many other ways than the one I'm suggesting and it can still happen.

  You should stop by that gas station to go to the bathroom.

On the other hand, I usually use must for things that have to happen in a certain way; any other way would make that thing not to happen. The problem is that some people find this usage harsh, as they receive it like if I'm giving them an order.

  You must cross the street to get to that store.

To me, it's just a depiction of reality, not an order. But I'm neither a native speaker nor a regular person. :-)

So, what's the proper use for must and should? Does this use differ among the English dialects?


texts: Can a possessive pronoun be used in a tag question?

texts:
Can we use possessive pronouns in tag questions? For example,

  Your name is Ben, isn't yours?


texts: Should it be "concerned person" or "person concerned"?

texts:
An office colleague wrote the following in an email:

  Kindly log a ticket for the same and assign it to the concerned team.

I wrote back the following:

  I believe it should be
  "Kindly log a ticket for the same and assign it to the team concerned."

Which one is correct, and why?


texts:
What's the difference between  "back at home" and "at home"? "back there" and "there" and ect. Why do we need "BACK"?
Thanks!


texts: To "late file the form" vs to "file the form late"

texts:
I'm wondering about the differences between to:

  Late file the form

and

  File the form late

Specifically, how can the grammar of the form in A1 below be described? Is an adjective modifying a verb? Is that even possible? Is "late" in "late file" an adverb?

The A2 form (with hyphen) also has many Google hits. Is a hyphen required?

More importantly, why even use A1 (or A2) when A3 seems much more natural word order? Is this simply an idiosyncratic style of legalese that can be ignored for the sake of preferring Plain English? Or is A1 somehow semantically different from A3?

Is this A1 (and A2-A3) word order used for any other adjectives, especially any outside legal contexts?

  A1. If you late file the form

  A2. If you late-file the form

  A3. If you file your the form late

  B1. If you timely file the form

  B2. If you timely-file the form (I see no Google hits for this version
  with a hyphen.)

  B3. If you file the form timely (Seems totally unnatural.)


texts: Are 'rich' and 'cold' relative or absolute terms? I said to my boss yesterday, ‘Man, it's cold out!’ He said, ‘Cold is a relative term.’ He has also said that 'rich' is a relative term. If that's the case, then it seems that all terms can be relative, right? I truly don't understand this at all.


texts: I understand how to use square brackets in quotes when adding full words, but if I am quoting something that was misspelled initially and want to correct the spelling, is it proper to do this? For example, I am quoting someone who said ”Additional, _____”, would it be appropriate for me to type ”Additional[ly], _____”?


texts: “Next to” is to horizontal as what is to vertical?

texts:
The thing I like about next to is that it does not specify whether it is to the left or to the right.

However, for the vertical next to, it appears one needs to specify whether it is “above” or “below”. I find quite interesting why this would be the case (cf. various other vertical versus horizontal biases: reading direction, attentional acuity, etc), but I also find it quite annoying.

I would like to find a word that is the equivalent of next to but which applies to the vertical case. That is, it indicates that a position is either above or below, without specifying which of those two applies.

Sample Sentences, assuming the preposition is abaqine:

  "The sparrow abaqine that falcon is casting a shadow on that sand
  dune."

  "Look at those macaques, they're all climbing abaqine one another."

  "In my fridge all the good food is abaqine each other, so I can't get
  it without toppling it all over."


texts: "When" or "Where" when refering to scenario?

texts: In a sentence like, "This bias may not be acceptable in all scenarios, especially where/when recall is important," which of where/when should be used?


texts: Is there a single word to describe "acting in a way unbecoming of a parent?"

texts:
In writing a letter today, I realized I was in need of a word outside my knowledge. I would like to convey that someone acting in a manner unbecoming of parents.

In a world where neologisms were free, I would use "unparently," but I am convinced this is not a Standard English word. Your help would be appreciated.


texts: Word meaning "to choose or take something as one's own"

texts:
I was having a conversation with an agent of an Internet service provider and the reason I called them was because I'm confused about a plan they have that is very similar to the one I currently have and I wanted to find out the difference. The conversation was coming nearer to the end and the agent asked me if there was anything else she could assist me with, and I said something along the lines of

  No that's all, I actually have the Flex plan with you guys(the plan that's very similar to the one I had confusion about), I was just confused about the 30-day pass, but now I understand. I'll think about it if I want to consider the 30-day Flex plan(the one I had confusion about), thanks very much.

The last sentence of my reply, is there a word/phrasal verb that could replace consider to mean to choose or take something as one's own?

I figured there could be a much better expression to use than consider. I don't want to say choose or use because they seem too strong because the whole intention of my call is to clear the confusion I have with this other plan that's very similar to the plan I currently have and not to decide on getting a plan and I'm pretty satisfied with my current plan though perhaps I might consider about this other plan, it's not my first intention.


texts: Describing the absence of equality or competitiveness

texts:
Situation: talking about a president of a country. Only the incumbent one is okay. All other candidates are either too inexperienced or are simply stupid.

Question: How to describe this situation?

1) At the present moment I don't see anyone equal to him

2) At the present moment I don't see any adequate counterpart for him

3) At the present moment I don't see any right substitute for him

4) At the present moment I don't see any proper replacement for him

5) At the present moment I don't see any prospective successor to him

What's the right way?


texts: What is the pronunciation of "the" before the vowel "e"?

texts: How do you pronounce the vowel in the article "the" when used before "evil"? (American English)


texts: A number between 0 and 1 - like a percentage but expressed as a decimal

texts:
I'm looking for a word to replace "percentage" for numbers between 0 and 1.

To explain: what I'm actually dealing with are decimals (like 0.12), semantically however they serve the purpose of percentages (the equivalent here being 12%, obviously).

So my number between 0 and 1 is not a percentage but a _______. Any ideas?

This question is similar, but has a different focus; it allows for multiple words, whereas mine needs a single word.


texts:
I've always wondered what it the origin of the word log (as in "a log file") and the verb to log (as in "The server logged this event in the event journal"), in the computer science context.

Is there any relationship with the wood log at all ?


texts: Is the book title "God versus gods" grammatically incorrect?

texts:
I wrote a book entitled God versus Gods which depicts the struggle between the One God of Jewish Monotheism and the multiplicity of gods in the pagan/polytheistic ancient world. The prevailing rule in English is to capitalize nouns in titles of books. According to that, the word "gods" in my book's title should be capitalized.
However, there is also a rule in English that one should capitalize Divine nouns and pronouns when referring to God or anything related to Him. Without getting too much into the ideology behind the title, I wanted to purposely NOT capitalize the word "gods" in order to deemphasize their actual existence. Thus, my question is whether God versus gods can be considered a grammatically-correct title for the book? Or do we say that since nouns in a book title must be capitalized, then the words gods should be capitalized as Gods?


texts: I know "workingness" is not a word, but I am looking for a word that means it. For example: Evaluate the workingness of capitalism?


texts: What do "muckraker" and "rake muck" mean?

texts:
Are they the same? What do they mean?

Here is the sentence:

  I was one of the most experienced. All of us were judged by our ability to rake muck. The head muckraker was Frederica Jansz...


texts: People are nested in groups, which in turn are nested in?

texts:
I am looking for a summary term for a collective of groups. Specifically, I would like to make a general statement that people are nested in groups, which in turn are nested in (?).

Some examples to illustrate:

Students are nested within classes (groups), which in turn are nested within a school (?).
Students are nested in sorority chapters (groups), which in turn are nested within a sorority (?).
Employees are nested in departments (groups), which in turn are nested within an organization (?).

I can summarize classes, departments, and sorority chapters with the summary term "group".

I have tried summarizing schools, sororities, and organizations with the summary terms "collective" and "society", yet I am not satisfied with either.

"Collective" appears to imply a common goal. While departments in an organization likely pursue a common goal (e.g., improve company performance), I feel the term "collective" draws away attention from the fact that departments may also have competing interests. I am thus looking for a more neutral term than "collective".
"Society" seems unsuitable because its meaning is already defined: "A society is a group of people involved in persistent social interaction, or a large social grouping sharing the same geographical or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations." All people I talked to therefore found it confusing to refer to an organization as society.

Edit 1. I am hoping to find a term that is intuitive and descriptive. For example, I find that collective has an intuitive meaning (collection of items/people). While I like super-group, I feel the term does not convey the same intuitively graspable description for people who never encountered this term in mathematics.

Edit 2. Subgroup appears more intuitively graspable. However, I would like to start at the group level and find an overarching term from there (rather than going from group to subgroup).


texts:
I'm trying to find a well-known person who was/is famous for not allowing any choices. Eg, Henry Ford going "you can have any color as long as it's  black."

Ideas welcome!


texts: Should we split "call together" & "gather together"?

texts:
When an organization sends invitations to companies for a planned conference, the verbs "gather together" and "call together" seem to be interchangable in this context. Should the object stay between the verb and the preposition?

The organization X called _____ together for the conference.
The organization X gathered ____ together at the conference.

Can they be used interchangeably?


texts: Date "at which" - Date "for when" - Date "on which"

texts:
Which of these three phrases is better/correct?

Date at which it will be enabled
Date for when it will be enabled
Date on which it will be enabled

This is for instructions to a user to enter a date.


texts: How to tell someone that I am having dinner with friends

texts:
If someone has asked me what's going on and I have to tell him I am having dinner with friends.

Can I say

  I have come out for dinner with friends?

Or

  Came out for dinner with friends

Please suggest.


texts:
Can anybody please explain when should I use an apostrophe S and when not to. If I am referring to certain walls that surround a kingdom, should I say "The kingdom walls" or "the kingdom's walls"

There's also a book called The God Virus. Why isn't it titled "The God's Virus"? And what does each of these variations mean?

Please feel free to give as many examples as you can or a rule of thumb.


texts: "Express of a research interest" or "Expression of a research interest"

texts:
How to name a presentation slide with the list of research topics I am interested in?

It is not a research proposal, since there is no proposal.

I like "Express of a research interest", is it grammatically correct and does it reflects the desired meaning?

Also, should it be "Express" or "Expression"?


texts:
Is there a word meaning "footage shot in advance" in English?
I mean, there's a live TV show and before the host starts interviewing his guest, some material from her earlier life and work, or probably some interviews with her family members are shown first.

I'm translating some materials into English and the dictionaries I'm using are rather clueless.


texts: Better way to say "responsible for official public written communication"

texts:
I'd like to mention in my resume that I was responsible for official public written communication in my project, to show skills in communication, language and responsibility. What would be a good way to put it? Can the word "responsible" be avoided (I already use it in the previous sentence)?

I came across "executed communication", but that sounds crude.

Does "cultivated written official communication" sound good?


texts: Use of angle brackets in telepathically transmitted speech

texts:
I've recently started the novel "Polar City Blues" by Katharine Kerr and found this interesting use of angle brackets for telepathically transmitted text:

This roughly translates as (from context)

  "Little brother, you should tell Lacy. There was a strong, evil force which I heard telepathically back there. There was a murder of a Carli and you were with your police friend."

  "I don't remember. How can I tell Lacy?"

Is this an established (even if esoteric) use of angle brackets? Or something particular to this author?

(Apologies if this is not on topic, happy to repost somewhere else if it is)


texts: When should cooking, cuisine, and cookery be used?

texts:
I have never really understood when the words cooking, cuisine and cookery should be used, and to what level they are synonymous. For example, in each example below, which could you use and why (or why not)?

  Sicilian cuisine is based on seafood
  the local cuisine is just fine, but their wine is terrible
  my wife is much better than me at cooking pasta
  Greg is more skilled than me in cookery
  I am taking cooking classes after work


texts: Is it acceptable to mix Latin with English?

texts:
Is it acceptable to mix small amounts of Latin with English?

  Right now, ________ is persona non grata.

Is this proper English?


texts: Origin and meaning of "strealish"/"streelish"

texts:
I've heard the word strealish (or streelish) used to describe someone with a lost or wan look or someone unkempt or untidy.

I know it's an Irishism, but what is the origin of the word and what did it originally mean?


texts:
Some of you might have noticed that I oftentimes use the conjunction "as long as" in my questions and my posts.
I was just wondering -- does "as long as" in the sense "since" [=in view of the fact that, considering, inasmuch as] have any currency in AE, and can it be used just about safely for whatever register of language but the most formal prose?
You might want to consider the following sources and examples for this:

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/as+long+as
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/as%20long%20as
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/since

As long as (= since/inasmuch as) you're not interested, I won't tell you about it.
As long as (= since/inasmuch as) you're already here, you might as well stay.
As long as (= since/inasmuch as) you have offered, I accept.
As long as you've offered your daughter the possibility for information and she's stated her preference, there's no reason to insist.
As long as you've provided her with the opportunity to learn, it's best that you wait for indications of her readiness... source


texts: 'my homeland even if it was unjust to me is still to me dear'

texts:
My homeland, even if it is unjust to me is still dear.

An Arabic poet said this line when many told him to betray the government that wronged and oppressed him, and show the enemy the way to enter the country, thus becoming something like a fifth columnist.

He refused because he would rather be wronged by his own fellow citizen than by a foreigner and always be seen as a traitor. Regardless of all the injustice and hardship he has gone through he chose not to betray his country. He is against the government and system but not against his country.

He died on the battlefield and he said those lines and the ruler at that time shed tears when he knew about he said.

Is there a similar line in English literature?


texts: Is it correct to say "Rationality has taken over"

texts:
For example, I want to say I used to be a heavy smoker but after going through the pros and cons of it, it had become evident to me it's time to quit, would it be grammatically correct to say:

In the end, rationality has taken over and I gave up once and for good.

Implying that rationality has defeated the habit.
What's the more common way for expressing such thought?


texts: Differences between American and British question intonation?

texts: In interactions with American and British people, I've noted Americans tend to have rise-fall (↗↘) intonation while I've heard the British having rise-fall-rise (↗↘↗) intonation while asking questions. I've heard both use simple rising intonation (↗) for questions as well as upspeak in general. Anyone else observed this before?


texts:
A recent question at Academia SE elicited an answer that used the term "business optional":

In the corporate work environment it is quite common for things to not really be entirely optional. A regional term I've familiar with is "business optional," but your supervisor might say something like "[person] is going to be at this event and you should meet them," or a mentor might tell you "this will be good for your career." All of these are effectively code meaning that even though nobody is going to force you to show up, it behooves you to show up. Usually this is something that comes up for holiday parties but it's not just limited to those.
(The region was the U.S. Northeast.)

The writer explained how it could be used in an academic environment, in a comment:

It's basically the same things as a tenure track professor hearing the "suggestion" that they should look into doing more service work for their department, to enhance their tenure application package.

I tried to find a definition of the phrase and I tried googling to find the phrase in use, and came up empty, so I thought I'd ask here.
The usual requirements for documentation will not hold for this question.
Can "business optional" mean what the cited Academia participant described?  Please give some examples of its use.
An idea: might it mean that the thing being described is optional, in the realm of the business world?  I found several uses of "academic optional" that worked that way, e.g."The module also complements other academic optional modules."


texts:
I'm a native speaker, and I would naturally read the word VAY-guh-ri.

I've never actually heard anyone say the word, I only ever see it in writing.

But I also know that you can pronounce it vuh-GARE-i.  Does anyone actually pronounce it like this?  Where does this weird pronunciation come from?


texts: If-clause type 3 using "would", not "would have"?

texts:
I saw in a movie that they said: "If this thing hadn't happened, I'd have $100"

I think the correct tense must be: "I'd have had $100"

is it informal usage?


texts:
I'm wondering how do you pronounce letters when used in place of ordinal numbers.

Examples:

The xth root of five.
Two to the yth power.
The ith odd number.
The jth item on the queue.

I know how to pronounce nth, i.e. /ɛnθ/, but I don't think that I can do the same with x, y or other letters (I find it really hard to pronounce /ɛksθ/). Should I spell x-t-h?


texts: What is the name of this rhetorical device

texts: What is the name of the rhetorical device where someone mentions a subject by stating that he or she will not mention it, as in "not to mention the fact that you have not paid me."


texts:
What is the origin of the phrase “do not argue with idiots”? Please cite some credible references.

From googling around, I found these three variations. One came from the Bible but I couldn’t find any credible source for the other two.

  Don’t argue with idiots because they will drag you down to their level and then beat you with experience. —Greg King
  Never argue with a fool; onlookers may not be able to tell the difference. —Mark Twain
  Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest thou also be like unto him. —Proverbs 26:4 (King James version)

As you can see, only the last one is easily verifiable.


texts: Word for a post-meeting 'justified prejudice'?

texts:
I am looking for a word which ultimately explains a dislike/hatred of a group of people, but unlike a prejudice can be justified through prior experiences and is potentially considered acceptable to express, which will fit in the following sentence:

'I am ....... against them'.

Interested in knowing if there is a way of communicating a dislike of certain groups of people without sounding ignorant and judgement like prejudice does:

  Prejudice is an unjustified or incorrect attitude (usually negative)
  towards an individual based solely on the individual’s membership of a
  social group.

  For example, a person may hold prejudiced views towards a certain race
  or gender etc. (e.g. sexist).

I am aware that discrimination could potentially meet the requirements to some extent:

  Discrimination is the behavior or actions, usually negative, towards
  an individual or group of people, especially on the basis of
  sex/race/social class, etc.

However I believe this holds negative connotations itself, and expressing the fact you discriminate against groups of people is often frowned upon. Discriminate would not fit in the sentence anyway.

PS: I don't hold any negative views against anyone at all! Just curious if there is a word which meets my description. Thanks!


texts:
May I be educated on which of the two is correct:

Create a webpage about anything

Create a webpage for anything


texts: Noun that describes a person who learns from any experience

texts: What word in English describes a quality in person that allows him to learn from any kind of experience? Be this a hobby, homework, or any kind of activity. More specifically, I’m interested how would we call a person who can take advantage from various experiences to learn take new insight and learn something new.


texts: Is it correct to use Do just before the verb? In which context we have to use this?

texts:
I have observed many sentences like

  Do watch my all episodes

where do is used just before a verb. Is it correct to use do that way? In what types of sentences we can use this?


texts: What is the difference between “whack somebody around the shins” and “whack somebody on the shins”?

texts:
At Dudley’s fifth birthday party, Aunt Marge had whacked Harry around the shins with her walking stick to stop him from beating Dudley at musical statues. (Harry Potter 3, Scholastic Paperbacks p18)

Can you explain what the difference between around and on is?  I’d like to know if the around adds a subtle nuance to the sentence.


texts:
Consider the sentence "Many a rose bloomed in the garden."

If you had to substitute "many a rose" with a pronoun, what would it be?

"Many a ..." takes a singular verb. Does that mean it can be substituted by the singular pronoun it?

If you had to add a question tag to "Many a rose bloomed in the garden", what would it be? Is "Many a rose bloomed in the garden, didn't it?" grammatical?


texts: Can a semicolon be used to separate questions?

texts:
Did you see Survivor last night; it was crazy, right?
  Did you see Survivor last night? It was crazy, right?

Can a semicolon separate questions? Which one is correct?


texts: Seeking a word with specific connotations of excessive, unashamed hypocrisy

texts:
There is a word, which I'm sure exists, but which has eluded me for the best part of a year; it's driven me so mad as to finally buckle and write this question in the hopes of drawing it out to the surface at last.
I'd tentatively define it as follows,

Of a person's action or comment that is so hypocritical as to be unbelievable* that they'd try to take such a position.  *(The word itself could be used here to describe the unbelievably hypocritical behaviour)

The idiom, "That's rich (...coming from you)", sums up the sentiment, but if normal hypocritical behavior is rich, then the word I'm looking for is the mud-cake rich version of it.
Examples of situations where the word could be used to describe the (insert word) hypocritical nature,

A dubious politician takes a hard stance against a respected senior public servant for allegedly making misleading comments.
A social media influencer, who gains all their wealth from posting selfies to Instagram, has a go at society for its modern revelry in vanity.
A wealthy individual, who pays substantial sums to accountants to maximise what benefits they receive from government initiatives, criticises people with disabilities who receive government welfare.
One person, with extremely partisan political views, has a go at another person for their holding of their own extremely partisan political views.

An example sentence referencing an above scenario would be,

Their behaviour was utterly (insert word).

I've searched through various thesauruses without luck (merriam-webster, wordhippo, Macquarie, ect.). Two words that keep blocking my mind's eye are incredulous and egregious; I believe the word in question likely sounds similar to these, therefore. However, these don't fit as it has to relate specifically to the demonstration of excessive hypocrisy which is unpalatably rich.


texts:
Dear native speakers of British / American English,

I often find myself in the situation when I have to say one of these but then get confused about the choice of word.  Is there any difference in meaning or formality between:

It's a shame you won't be able to join us.
It's a pity you won't be able to join us.
It's unfortunate you won't be able to join us.
It's too bad you won't be able to join us.

The reason why I ask this is because in my native language we tend to avoid words like "shame", "pity", and "unfortunate" in a sentence that should sound sympathetic.  I have read related threads but am not very clear with the suggestions.

Thank you.


texts: While in a online conversation(by typing), how do you let know the other person that you are there listening to him/her? I suppose it would be annoying to type 'okay' or 'yes' all the time and right now, I use 'Hmmm' or 'mmm' as if I am nodding my head to what he says. I am not sure this is the right way or is there something better?


texts:
What's the right construction?

Example:

  I spent the whole night listening to silence, one as deep as the
  bottom of the sea.

  I spent the whole night listening to the silence, one as deep as the
  bottom of the sea.

Or maybe both are right, and they just refer to a different kind of silence? I'm a bit skeptic about the second case. I think the "the" and "one" are imcompatible in situations like this?


texts: What does "complex" in "military-industrial complex" mean?

texts:
Eisenhower famously introduced the concept of the "military-industrial complex" in his farewell speech:

  In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military–industrial complex.

"Military-industrial" is straightforward enough. But what does "complex" mean here? Was this a usual meaning of that word? None of the Wiktionary definitions really seem to fit, other than perhaps:

  An assemblage of related things; a collection.

Are there other analogous uses?


texts:
Following on from this question about "badly" is there a word that means the opposite?

For example:

  How did the recent Mardi Gras affect tourism in Sydney?

Answer?

"Goodly"? Hardly.
"Positively"? That is really the opposite of "negatively", and doesn't convey quite the right idea.
"Well"? That isn't quite the opposite of badly.

Another example:

  How did your girlfriend take it when you broke off the relationship?

A. Badly
B. er?

  you should expand on when it [well] doesn't work for you

Well ...

If I reply to a question with "well", then it sounds like a "filler" rather than an answer.

  How did your day go?

Me: Well

Everyone looks at me expectantly ...


texts: what are some synonyms for alcohol tolerance?

texts: I've searched for some slangy synonyms of alcohol tolerance but couldn't really find any. For example: he has high (synonym of alcohol tolerance).


texts: How to say removing redundancy and/or duplicate entries from a list of items?

texts: How to say removing redundancy and/or duplicate entries from a list of items with a single word?


texts: Word/phrase for seeing something for the first time and being impressed

texts:
I'm looking for a word that can best describe a thing that you see when you first come to a place, a thing so strange or unusual that you didn't think something like that could exist (or you have been aware of it, but it's far more than you expected), even though it is normal stuff in the area.

It can be a (strange) custom of a country that a visitor came across for the first time, or the bookworm's house, filled with books. It can be the gorgeous sight of the Pyramids and the fact that you have never thought how small your are compared to it, even though you have known almost everything about it. In my language (Vietnamese), there is a phrase for it: hit the eyes.

Do we have any equivalent phrase for hit the eyes in English?

Note: The meaning in the Vietnamese phrase is mostly for the first thing you see. It may be something special to the person, it may be not. But it is the first that this person see. The thing may be (or even just) a normal thing of the place/object, but it keeps appearing enough so that the person won't forget the impression, although when time pass by they can get used to it and feel back to normal again. When I say about the impression, I say that it will be the thing that they tend to remember first when telling others about this.


texts:
I'm working on an app that works with inflections and realized "person" has three levels of plurality:

person -> people -> peoples

Are there any other words in English that act this way?


texts:
When should I say "of London" instead of "from London"?

For example:

  Twinings of London
  Twinings from London


texts: What word or expression describes the attitude of "if I can't have it, nobody can"?

texts:
Is there a single English word, or a fixed phrase, to describe the attitude conveyed when someone destroys an object/opportunity for others simply because he/she cannot benefit from it?
For example, suppose a formerly wealthy financier goes bankrupt and his creditors arrive to haul away his assets which include some expensive artworks. However before the creditors can get to the art, the bankrupt financier burns them and declares that "if I can't have it, nobody can!"
How can you describe his actions?


texts: Usage of the gerund preceded by the possessive adjective/determiner?

texts:
I read this thread on the usage of the gerund preceded by the  possessive adjective/determiner with much interest.

I have another question about the usage of the gerund preceded by the  possessive adjective/determiner.

In a test from a textbook I am using, one must choose the correct form of the bracketed word in the following sentence (I have simplified it somewhat):

  Company X experimented with its (expand)____ into a new business area.

The given answer is "expansion." To me, this intuitively feels more comfortable than the gerund "expanding".

My question, however, is the following:

Is the gerund also grammatically correct in this sentence?

In the example sentences throughout this thread so far, there are no cases in which the subject of the sentence and the subject of the gerund clause are the same, not to mention cases in which the verb of the gerund clause is intransitive and followed by a preposition.

For example:

  The monkey seemed to be preoccupied with its prying off the lid of the jar.

Again, this sounds very awkward to me, but I'm not sure if it's incorrect.

I also wondered if there might not be a rule that if a verb has a standard nominalized form (expand -> expansion), it needs to take precedence over the gerund when it is preceded by the genitive case.

Are such matters entirely irrelevant to my question?


texts: Can you have a compound of a predicate nominative (noun) and predicate adjective with a single linking verb?

texts:
Beth is a nurse.

Nurse is the predicate nominative (noun).

Beth is a nurse and a sailor.

Nurse and sailor appear to me as compound predicate nominatives (nouns).

Beth is funny.

Funny is the predicate adjective.

Beth is funny and clever.

Funny and clever are the compound predicate adjectives.

Beth is a nurse and funny.

Can nurse and funny be considered a compound of predicate nominative and predicate adjective? Is the sentence grammatically correct?


texts:
I am writing about some leadership stuff, and I am trying to say that I am leading the 14-15 year old boys. How do I correctly use year-olds as in, "I was the adviser to the 14-15 year-olds."

Thanks in advance


texts:
Sometimes we need to write a sentence with a placeholder for a missing bit of information, which the reader needs to fill out when reading the text. This may be a number, or a word, or a sequence of words, or something else. It may be because the author doesn't know the information, or he wants to focus on the meaning of the sentence instead of the missing information.
For numbers, we often just replace them by a symbol of a common mathematical variable, like X, or n. Sometimes this may also work with words. For example
I am X years old.
The name of my dog is X.

But often the variable itself doesn't clearly convey what it should be replaced with. It needs a placeholder text which describes what the variable stands for. This placeholder text is often surrounded by different kinds of brackets, like square brackets [] or angle brackets <>. But it often seems like the arbitrary choice of the author instead of a commonly agreed upon syntax. For example
I am [age] years old.
The name of my dog is <dog name>.

I'm wondering, is there any agreement on what syntax should be used for placeholder text? Also, does there exist different syntax than the brackets in my example?
The bracket syntaxes are both problematic since they interfer with the most common markup languages used. In HTML the angle brackets interfere with the element tags. In markdown the square brackets can get confused with links that miss a URL.


texts: I have a question. Should I say; The place where I went or The place where I went to?


texts: What word means the opposite of "preamble"?

texts: I'm looking for a word the describes the concluding text of a document, i.e. the opposite of the document's preamble. Is it just "conclusion"?


texts: "how the data is accessed" and "how is the data accessed", which one is correct?

texts: Of the two sentences “how the data is accessed” and “how is the data accessed”, which one is correct?


texts: Which does the 'who' in the sentence refer to?

texts:
They are  two of the rare people who believe in ancient myths.

Someone told me that the "who" here describes "they", but in my view the "who" describes the people. Which is right?    What about "Jasper White is one of those rare people who believes in ancient", What is the function of 'who' here?


texts:
I'd like to know which of these is more correct:

  ... a vision of the company for the future

or

  ... a vision for the company for the future

(I do realise that the phrase 'for the future' could be redundant here, so it could be changed to some other construct, such as 'for the next year' etc.
I just want to find out which sounds better in a usage like this.)


texts: Can freshwater fish, crayfish, etc. still be referred to as seafood or is there a special term?


texts:
"kekeke" is somewhat of an alternative to "hehehe" or "huehuehue". From Urban Dictionary:

This is an onomatopoeia for laughter. Its origin is the Korean onomatopoeia ㅋㅋㅋ, in which ㅋ stands for the "k" sound, like in raspy, stifled laughter.

This obviously means it isn't English in origin but the question I have is whether it would be considered an English word when used in sentences like the following:

ATTACK THE BASE! KEKEKE!
OMG ZERGRUSH kekeke

Since it is an onomatopoeia, it "translates" perfectly into English. We can make the same sound and the connotation of such laughter carries over into English speaking cultures. Does this mean it is considered a valid English word?
The simple question: What is "kekeke" with regards to the English language?


texts: Wondering why make ends meet means to have enough money to live on. I am interested in knowing the origin of the idiom. Can anyone help me on this?


texts: Meaning of "down on me" in the Janis Joplin song

texts:
What does 'Down on Me' mean in this Janis Joplin song?

Down on Me
Well, down on me, Lord, down on me.
I said it looks like everybody in this whole round world,
Yeah hey yeah all right, is down on me yeah.
Yeah yeah yeah yeah.
[...]

I'm sceptical about the 'oral sex' meaning here.


texts:
I come from a language that heavily uses in as a preposition, so I often overuse it in English. I am trying to differentiate between things that can be in a mountain vs. things that can only be on a mountain. Also, is there a difference between in and inside, because every time I make a mistake like that, people correct me and explain that what I've said basically means inside the mountain.

So, for example, can I say that a peak is in a mountain rather than on a mountain? And generally, can something be in a mountain without being inside it?


texts:
Sir,  I am really  confused about this sentence:

Thank you for watching my Youtube channel.

Does the observation verb 'watching'  act here as a  gerund  (it is happening now) or act as a past action?


texts: I'm writing a paper describing a fashion designer who creates incredibly complex and EXTRAVAGANT sets for his runway shows. I want to say he "stops at nothing" or "spares no effort" or "leaves no stone unturned" where his events are concerned. Any better phrases come to mind than these? Feel a bit clumsy still...


texts:
If I want to describe something within the realm/environment/domain of something), do I say in or on?

Example: Free software is common in GNU/Linux. Comment: I would like to express that free software is the most popular choice in systems running on GNU/Linux.


texts:
Is there anything good on telly tonight?

Why don't we place an article before "telly"? I think it should be "on the telly".

  He enjoys the beauties of nature in Siberia.

Why do we use "the" before "beauties" and we don't use an article before "nature"?

  Novgorod was the main Russian port for many centuries and was important for Baltic sea trade.

Why don't we use "the" before "Baltic sea"?

  Immediately before this he had served as Chancellor of the Exchequer.

On Wikipedia we can see another variant, "The Chancellor of the Exchequer". Why don't we use "the" in this case?


texts: "Needs repairing" vs. "needs to be repaired"

texts:
Do the following two sentences mean the same thing? If so, which is more commonly used?

  My car needs repairing.
  My car needs to be repaired.


texts: Is it correct to say "...of guys got fame..."?

texts:
When reading a post I've seen this comment:

  Stupid idea from a bunch of guys got fame for helping people steal stuff – now they want to help you beg for money.

  I think these guys have high hopes of gettin any real traction with this.

Is it correct to say "... guys got fame..."? Hasn't he forgotten the "that" word, as in: "... guys that got fame..."?


texts:
However, the latest versions of ImageMagick doesn’t properly filter the file names that get passed to the internal delegates that handle external protocols (like HTTPS).

I search the word 'delegate' in dictionary.cambridge.org，and found much meaning. I think the explaination 'to give a particular job, duty, right, etc. to someone else so that they do it for you:' may be appropriate. But I don't know what be delegated. I guess that maybe the internal or file names?

Source: imagemagick-remote-command-execution-vulnerability


texts:
Suppose I am excited for a movie that will be releasing tomorrow but my friend  just told me plot spoilers.

I want to say that he "messed up" the experience that I was going to have.

What can I use instead of “messed up” which can be more convenient or appropriate?


texts: Which expression is correct? "I've already started working on it" or "I've already started to work on it"

texts: today i attended an interview. The employer told me that I should know some skills about the job. Today I am going to start to work on those skills. Now, I am writing a "thank you for the interview" letter to him. I want him to know that I just started to work on those skills. It's like, "You mentioned that you need an assistant who has strong drafting discovery/letter skills. I have already started working on it/I have already started to work on it." Which one is correct? Thank you.


texts: Is there a word to describe a person who gets uspet at work when he feels others are not working as hard as him?

texts:
I have a guy working for me who is at risk within his job. This is because he has, on a couple of occasions walked off the job he had been given as he felt he was working hard and the Boss running the area wasn't.
When approached he often cites Team Leaders being lazy etc, the guy is actually a good worker, but by no means a superstar. The Team Leaders are good workers who, while not working as hard (not carrying out manual tasks), they are in fact doing the job they are employed to do, very well.
Is there a term for this type of reaction or person?


texts: If I believe that AAVE is a legitimate dialect of English, am I a linguistic prescriptivist or a descriptivist?

texts:
Or maybe there is a third categorization I should use, such as "linguistic inclusivist"?

I believe that hypercorrections like "This is a secret between you and I" and "Whom is he?" are incorrect insofar as the speaker considers himself to be speaking in a formal, non-slang context.

However, I do believe that African American Vernacular English is a culturally legitimate form of English, so I disagree with extreme prescriptivists who want to quash out the dialect.

Does this make me a moderate prescriptivist? Or a hard descriptivist? Or something else?


texts:
I don't get this joke:

  It smells like up dog in here,

  What's up dog?

  Nuuthin dog, what's up with you?

(source)

I understand that the person asking "What's up dog" is tricked into asking a question they didn't intend to ask. I also understand the meaning of the "What's up?" question.

I don't understand why this exact question has been chosen. If anything, it sounds demeaning to the person who's making the joke and is referred to as dog by the receiver of the joke.

If I were to make a similar joke, I'd replace dog with something like master, so that it'd sound like the receiver of the joke respects the person making the joke more than it might be in reality.

Does the word dog in this context have some alternative meaning, perhaps?

Or is this joke funny simply because the receiver of the joke asks a funny question, no matter what the question is?


texts: Differences between "frank" and "honest"

texts:
I found a lot of people say "Frankly" or "To be frank" while the others say "Honestly" or "To be honest".

I know both of them mean that sb. is going to say sth. which is true in a direct manner. But, I keep thinking that if there is a difference between them and if yes what is it?

I am informed that in English as well as in many languages, some words are pretty same in meaning with each other, one of them is preferred by some people just because they like it. Like teenagers like to say some words which they think can make them cool. The case of "frank" and "honest", is it like this?


texts:
Is using "access" as a verb in different contexts accepted in standard English ?

Dictionaries' definition as a verb shows limited use, such as in the realm of computer technology or the Internet. However, apart from this, people use it in different contexts as in the following passage.

For example:

  Research shows that tobacco prevention programs must conduct a
  comprehensive set of strategies to be effective The Tobacco and Vapor
  Program provides services to help people quit, conducts public
  awareness and media campaigns, supports local programs in communities
  and schools, supports enforcement of policies to keep kids from
  accessing tobacco products, and evaluates the effectiveness of program
  activities.

http://www.doh.wa.gov/DataandStatisticalReports/HealthBehaviors/Tobacco/FactSheets/Compliance


texts:
What is a word or phrase meaning "to bring in account" or "to bring into a controlled state"?

I don't think "to bring into account" is exactly the phrase I'm looking for...
I want to convey the idea of taking something which is in an unknown state and beginning to manage or know the state. I don't want to imply only discovery  or management of the state, but both.

For example: "The software developers finally _____ their messy project by setting up a version control system." (the example sentence can be re-worked to fit the phrase if necessary)

Thanks!


texts: speech balloon vs speech bubble usage and meaning

texts:
I am from the UK, and am not familiar with the term "speech balloon".
I have always used and heard "speech bubble" instead.

Are the 2 meanings the same?
Is there some kind of difference in British/American English usage?
(I don't really use speech bubbles so could be due to lack of knowledge.)


texts: A question about the usage of the word "occur"

texts:
I have read a sentence including occur in New Concept English,
a well-known English reference book focusing on rules of British English.
And in order to fully grasp the word, I tried to make a sentence with it,
but in the middle, I was greatly confused by the tense.

  It suddenly occurred to me that he [is/was] a considerate leader.

Supposing that the truth is he is definitely a considerate manager,
and while I was doing something yesterday, the thought slipped into my mind.
Which tense is more appropriate? And please explain in detail, thanks!


texts: A word for showing a bit of anger that you are not satisfied with what is offered?

texts:
"Thanks for your favor" means that you don't need it, but here actually you would like to take what is being offered but you are not at all satisfied and would like to resign yourself to what is being offered.

Please also tell me a word, in the opposite case, that you would not like to take the offer, and show off a bit of anger. A phrase other than - "thanks for your favor, I don't need it".


texts:
I believe the following to be correct:

What did you do in university?

My student, however, asked me why it has no 'the'. I thought I had better ask folks here for the answer.


texts: What is the origin of the expression "proudly placed on our mantelpiece"? In what context started to be used?


texts: What do the following words/phrases mean?

texts:
I'm trying to understand this article on the latest Vision Mercedes-Maybach 6 Cabriolet and there are some words/phrases I don't quite understand.

Be still my beating wallet.
Cartoonish proportions are backed up by headlights that are no more than slits, and a grille Lady Penelope would be proud of.
Unfortunately it’s just a Vision for now, but nothing about the technology is beyond the realms of possibility. So, let’s hope enough well-heeled and well-lubricated punters at Pebble Beach told Mercedes they wanted to buy one immediately
(Not included in the above webpage) Perfect for the French Riviera, not ideal in your local NCP

I've first looked them up in the dictionary and then I googled all of them.
Here is what I could come up with so far:

Be still my beating wallet. : Don't be upset with the price of the car.
The google search taught me Lady Penelope is is a fictional character in a British TV series in the mid-60s. I also found out that she drove FAB 1, which has a front grille similar to the one we see in the 6 cabriolet. So I took them to mean "even
Lady Penelope would approve of the front grille of the 6 cabriolet."
I suppose the word "Vision" means two things: the car itself (Vision Mercedes-Maybach 6 Cabriolet) and the future in which new versions of the car will be launched. I don't quite see the logical connection between the first sentence and the second one, so I'm not sure why the author uses So in this context. I understand well-heeled and well-lubricated punters to simply mean "rich people".
I suppose NCP is a bus company so I understand the above to mean "Not ideal for your local bus company", which doesn't quite make sense.

Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.


texts: Is the phrase "great pickup" a regional (Australian?) thing?

texts:
I am someone who grew up in Canada, and been mostly exposed to Canadian, American, and British English.

When speaking with some Australians, I've been noticing the use of the phrase "great pickup", or "nice pickup".

The meaning is similar to how I would say "nice catch", or "good eye", or more verbosely, "good job noticing that".

Is this phrase used commonly used by Australians? Who uses it?


texts: problem about "that" / a conjunction? or r.pronoun?

texts:
I've a problem in the following text, please help me.

  A shroud is a piece of cloth that a dead person's body is wrapped in before it is buried.

my problem is-  is shroud a proper noun? And what kind of that is it? Conjunction? R. pronoun?


texts: Where did the term "at‑large" originate from?

texts:
I was listening to the radio and something caught my attention.  The news journalist made the comment, “The suspect is still at‑large.”

It got me thinking...

First, I can only assume that the proper spelling is “at‑large” instead of “at large” because using the adjective term “large” as a noun doesn’t make any sense in this context (at least in my head).  Naturally I try googling it only to find further confusion in context of a suspect.

So, how did this term come to mean “out and about”, or “free”, or some other word(s) that would describe some suspect not in custody?