texts:
I'm German and I'm reading the English language General Relativity lecture notes by my professor, who is also German. As I read I take notes and corrections to help him improve the notes whenever I find errors.
I don't want to correct him where he's actually right and I'm not entirely sure if this is a mistake or not (emphasis mine):

  A 2-form in ℝ³ can be interpreted as as a space-filling staggering of parallel bars. The two vectors to which the 2-form is applied form a area element (the green parallelogram in the figure). The number of bars enclosed by this area element is the result value of the 2-form.

Apart from the obvious typos, shouldn't it be

  […] The two vectors to which the 2-form is applied to form an area element […]

I am asking if I need to add a preposition after the verb apply when it's used in a passive voice, where a "to" has already been added to the object in a relative clause. (Forgive me if that's not what I'm asking, High School English grammar has been a while)

As a clarification of terminology for people not familiar with this kind of mathematical lingo, one usually says "We apply 2-form α to vector u".


texts:
I have a question related to already shortened words and their plural forms. As I have seen on this site and have found in the dictionary, words like mas and pas are the plural form of the shortened words ma and pa (as in mother and father). However, it occurs to me that were I to write this, in order to clarify the meaning of what I was trying to write (because if you are like me, you read mas and pas and did a double-take), I would write it as ma's and pa's.

Some words like cuz have a similar issue, although the pluralization makes more sense: cuzzes. Perhaps cuz's?

I know that in the pluralization of single letters there is some contention regarding whether there should or should not be an apostrophe (A's or a's versus As or as). "I got a lot of A's this semester." just looks better to me, although I have no grammatical backing for this. I'm not sure if this is the same for these types of words as well.

My question is this: Is there a precedent for using an apostrophe for words that are shortened to convey appropriate meaning, or is the convention simply to omit the apostrophe altogether and leave the word pluralized with an s?


texts: "Pulled the rope" vs "pulled at the rope."

texts:
What's the difference? Example:

  I pulled the rope to make sure it was secure.

  I pulled at the rope to make sure it was secure.


texts:
what does "innocent betrayed" mean?
for example in the sentence

  There is no excuse to make up for the millions of innocent betrayed.

or maybe this one is correct "innocent betrayed dead".
What is the meaning of betrayed here?


texts: Humorous mis-spelling of "spell checker"?

texts:
When I back a spelling  mistake I tend to blame it on the spear chucker. Some get the attempt at humour, but it escapes others.
Can anyone supply a more humorous mis-spelling of "spell checker"?


texts: Is it “mat” or “matte” for the color around an image?

texts:
We are writing a program to add a “matte” around an image but the developers aren't sure whether to name the method matte or mat.

The Oxford American dictionary has mat as an alternative spelling of matte.

In this case, we think mat is less ambiguous because matte when referring to a color could mean either the glossiness of the color or to its purpose as a framing element.

Any advice?


texts:
This quote from Zig Ziglar doesn't seem right to me. I'm not sure if it's the original quote by him but is it grammatically correct?

  One can get anything if he is willing to help enough others get what they want.

I'm wondering about the use of 'one' and 'he' to refer to the same person, and 'help enough others' doesn't seem right to me either.


texts:
I believe the sentence in the title is grammatically correct.

Recently I've seen too many people writing it this way:

  I'm not sure what is the right way.

Is it grammatically correct as well? Maybe in a different sense? Or simply misuse by non-native speakers?


texts: "She's being obnoxious" - is my intuition correct?

texts:
Consider the sentence:

  She's being obnoxious.

I know what the sentence means: she is not usually obnoxious, but she is right now.

Now, what I'm interested in is why the verb be here in the present continuous form.

My guess: her being obnoxious right now requires her to make an effort (to go against her nature, so to speak), so the stative verb be "becomes" a dynamic one.

Is my explanation correct?


texts: Using "that" instead of "who", as a relative pronoun?

texts:
When referring to a person, why would anyone use "that" instead of "who"?

For example:
"The musician that won the award is very creative."
instead of:
"The musician who won the award is very creative."

To me, using "that" in this case sounds like saying: "It won the award", which sounds somewhat disrespectful. What am I missing?


texts: what is the difference between multi-lingual heteroglossia and translational polyglossia?

texts:
What is the meaning of this particular sentence considering the difference between multi-lingual heteroglossia and translational polyglossia.

Looking forward to the next section, we might ask whether one ought to classify Henry Roth’s intricately layered 1934 novel Call It Sleep as multi-lingual, mono-lingual heteroglossia, or translational polyglossia.


texts: How does one correctly use a suspended hyphen when the words aren't written together?

texts: My example in this case is "activity- and experience verbs", in the meaning "activity verbs and experience verbs". Does the hyphen suggest that "activity-verb" or "activityverb" is the uncontracted phrase, or is it correct to use a hyphen like shown in this case?


texts: What is the meaning of "treats" in this case?

texts:
The main text:

  Addiction ... is a matter of learning that the addictive cue - a game... - treats loneliness, disaffection, and distress.

Source


texts: What is the difference between zero, nought and null?

texts:
Is null only a computer science word?
Does nought refer to the digit only?


texts: What is the difference in usage between crenulate and crenelate?

texts:
I've long been familiar with crenulated edges, but until today I wasn't aware of crenelated. Looking at the definitions, they seem to describe the same kind of feature, that of notches on an edge that are more rounded in contrast to, say, serrated.

What are the differences in nuances? When would be a "wrong" time to use one over the other?


texts: How does "among" vs "between" affect the meaning of this sentence from the Times?

texts:
I realize that this has been discussed elsewhere on the site, but I was interested in the use of the preposition "among" in a sentence from a story in yesterday's New York Times:

  Research done by Emmanuel Saez, left, and Thomas Piketty has shown that inequality among the middle class and the rich is nearly as acute as it was before the Great Depression.

My first impression was that the sentence was incorrect, and that "between" should have been used instead. After thinking about it for a minute, however, it seems like the use of either preposition may be valid, but that the sentence would mean different things depending on the choice. With "between", the sentence is referring to inter-group differences between the incomes of the rich and the middle class. With "among", the sentence is referring to intra-group differences in income among the individual members of each particular group.

Honestly I have no idea if this interpretation is correct. Can someone please clarify this for me?


texts: Meaning of a sentence changed by a comma

texts:
Can someone explain or re-write/paraphrase the meaning of these two paragraphs in plain English (last one has a serial comma before 'or elsewhere'):

  if a Man do levy War against our Lord the King in his Realm, or be adherent to the King’s Enemies in his Realm, giving to them Aid and Comfort in the Realm or elsewhere

  if a Man do levy War against our Lord the King in his Realm, or be adherent to the King’s Enemies in his Realm, giving to them Aid and Comfort in the Realm, or elsewhere


texts:
When someone asks whether you have completed a task e.g. shopping, dinner. What should be your answer?

  I am done.

or

  I have done.

To me, the former sentence's formation, Sub + VBe+ Past Participle, falls to passive voice. Therefore, it has a totally different meaning from I have done Sub + Predicate (verb intransitive).

Addendum:

According to Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary 3rd ed., the verb do is an intransitive verb in the meaning of complete/finish.

In the sentence, same formation as I am done:

  I am beautiful.

The verb am (of VBe) links the adj beautiful to the subject of the sentence I. Therefore I, the subject of the sentence, is beautiful (in other words, state of being).

Then in the sentence :

  I am done.

The subject, I, is linked to the adjective done. So the subject's state of being is done, in other words dead?


texts:
I am writing a dialogue between two people where one is a local resident, who has seen the second person around a few times in his town and finally asks him this question.

I have only seen you around recently, friend. Are you new to the town?

Just not sure about it from structural point of view. Is it correct? Or is there any other way of stating the same question?


texts: "A majority of those whose family" or "families"

texts:
Is "family" both plural and singular? or would I have to say families for the plural form? For example, which of these is the best option:

"A majority of those whose family were unaware of their sexuality..."
"A majority of those whose families were unaware of their sexuality..."
"A majority of those whose family was unaware of their sexuality..."

Edit: Here are some full sentences to give some context.

  Participants whose famil(ies) were aware of their sexuality were predominantly feminine and identified as gay, homosexual, drag queen, or a combination of these identities. All those who assumed their famil(ies) knew about their sexuality were gay identified and a majority identified as feminine. A majority of those whose famil(ies) were unaware were masculine and identified as non-gay, straight, down low or did not identify with any label.


texts: Having a singular subject and a plural object - which form to choose for the verb?

texts:
Possible Duplicates:
  In special cases, can you use “one such family are” vs. “one such family is”?
  [Singular] Is/Are [Plural]?

I often encounter sentences like

  The best solution is / are implicit parameters.

Which form is correct in this case?


texts:
What's the next word after dialogue in any given communicative situation?
How do you define a pattern of ordinal succession in words, beginning with monologue, and then dialogue?

Is it polylogue or multilogue?

I thought of multilogue as a better word describing a conversation among three or more people, but is that correct?


texts: The word for "motivated by future reward (income)"

texts:
Do we have a word for describing someone (or something) as "motivated by future rewards or incomes" instead of "immediate rewards"?

The usage of the word is in the documentation of a concept, in which an algorithm is used to decide about the state of a system and is more interested in the rewards that are coming later instead of immediate effects of the decision.

Not necessarily searching for a word to describe the entire concept, however, it would be great to have the minimum number of characters to describe the idea as it is going to be used in a paper as a variable name.


texts:
I'm trying to translate a piece of my poem which is in Persian into English. I've so far come up with this:

  And what you see is a bewildering reflection of shadows, leaving the light lost on its way.

Does this make sense to you?


texts:
I've just seen the following sentence on a band's biography:

  Had it not been for a studio theft, the band might never have made that song.

Then I was wondering if I can change this sentence to:

  If it were not for a studio theft, the band might never have made that song.

Is the second sentence correct? Are they interchangeable?

Thanks in advance.


texts: Rhyming conventions of Early Modern English

texts:
I was reading the poem "To His Coy Mistress" by Andrew Marvell when something struck me as odd. Let me quote two passages:

  Thou by the Indian Ganges' side
  Shouldst rubies find: I by the tide
  Of Humber would complain. I would
  Love you ten years before the Flood,

[...]

  But at my back I always hear
  Time's wingèd chariot hurrying near;
  And yonder all before us lie
  Deserts of vast eternity.
  Thy beauty shall no more be found,
  Nor, in thy marble vault, shall sound
  My echoing song: then worms shall try
  That long preserved virginity,

Now, am I supposed to read flood as [fluːd], eternity as [ɪˌtɜː.nəˈtaɪ̯], and virginity as [vɜː(r)ˌdʒɪ.nəˈtaɪ̯]? Was one supposed to do so back in the 17th century? Or is this, and has always been, some sort of purely "visual" rhyme? The rest of the poem rhymes perfectly in contemporary English.

I guess I could sum it up in one question: What is the term for this type of rhyme?


texts:
What does it mean if one thing is "cross referenced against" the other?
Like the following example:

  Each story is cross-referenced against the other.


texts: I grew up IN the east coast vs ON the east coast

texts:
I cannot understand why there is "in" in the sentence "I grew up in the east coast..." - why it is not "on"?
Google search provides results for both with quite high number of hits.


texts: Normans vs. Saxons: cow = beef, sheep = mutton, chicken =?

texts:
The story goes that after the Norman invasion of England, the words in English for prepared foods took on their French equivalents. The Saxon serfs bred the cows, sheep, and swine, which when served on gilded plates to their Norman rulers were referred to as beef, mutton, and pork respectively, a practice that continues to this day.

My question is, why was the humble chicken, a word which does not have a French connection, discriminated against? Why don't we refer to cooked chicken as something like poulet?

(On the other hand, both cattle and poultry stem from French chatel and pouletrie respectively. Also, I'm guessing that technically, poulet would translate to fowl. But, it appears to be the word of choice for chicken in France.)


texts:
I was talking about this with a friend yesterday, though the actual example was "thou and I", which sounded weird. I thought it should be "thee and I", due to "I" being a subject pronoun. I eventually conceded, but I'm still not sure - could you say (arguably) that "thou/you", when paired with "I", is an object? Or are they still both subjects?

Similarly, is "it" still the subject in a sentence like "the dog and it"?


texts: Is there an English word for a plaza or forum in a park that is semicircular in shape, with rising decks on a slope similiar to how terraced farming is conducted?


texts:
At 1:35 into this clip of the animation movie 'Despicable Me 3', Dru shows his twin brother, Gru, their dad's supercar:

  Dru: Dad's villain wheels. Pretty slick, huh?

According to this previous question about the difference between slick and sleek, John Lawler says in a comment:

  Slick is a pejorative term, but sleek need not be.

And the only answer having 9 votes says:

  To me, slick is more about touch: slippery, and sleek is more about sight/appearance. A wet moss-covered surface is slick. A satin skirt is sleek.

To which John Lawler agrees.

As far as I know, Dru wasn't portraying his dad's car in a negative way at all. Also, it's all about "sight/appearance" and not really about "touch".

Then, why is slick used instead of sleek here?


texts: ...the probability of flipping exactly one head[s] and three tails

texts:
I've encountered the following math question:

  Four fair coins are tossed at the same time. What is the possibility that the four coins will come up with only one head and three tails.

Besides wanting to change "possibility" to "probability," and "only" to "exactly," I wonder about the word head. In coin-flipping, we typically use this word in the plural (and I understand there's a post about the history of "heads or tails"). But always?

My gut tells me to keep it plural. However, a bit of digging turned up examples for both singular and plural used in this type of context.

For example, Statistics: A Guide to the Use of Statistical Methods in the Physical Sciences contains the following:

  For one head and three tails, the probability is the same as one tail and three heads.

It still sounds awkward to me, as do other usages in the same book, such as:

  The probability of the first coin giving a head is ½.

I'd definitely avoid that phrasing, particularly for the college crowd.

In any case, head or heads in the listed contexts?


texts:
As I'm preparing my GMAT test, I see the "be of" structure very frequently.
for example

  By 1940, the pilot Jacqueline Cochran held seventeen official national and international speed records, earned at a time when aviation was still so new that many of the planes she flew were of dangerously experimental design.

This really bothers me as it contradicts  the conclusion from the post
Meaning and usage of "be of", because in GMAT writings the "be of" looks very flexible. I find it's very difficult to understand sometime, but I know these are really fine and efficient writings.

I guess my question was, in this case, can you get rid of the "of" and what the usage of it here?
If I take off the "of" here, does it modify the meaning of this sentence?

  By 1940, the pilot Jacqueline Cochran held seventeen official national and international speed records, earned at a time when aviation was still so new that many of the planes she flew were dangerously experimental design.


texts: How to correctly punctuate a question with an alternative?

texts:
How do I punctuate this sentence? When I say it, I raise my voice on the word available, which leads me to think there should be a question mark there. But I also learned in grade school to never start a sentence with Or (I know there can be exceptions; I'm just not a strong enough linguist to know what they are). The second part of the two part question looks like a question, but isn't said like a question, which throws me a little bit. I don't want the reader raising his voice on the word guarantee.

Is the second option still available? Or do you not honor your guarantee?
Is the second option still available? Or do you not honor your guarantee.
Is the second option still available, or do you not honor your guarantee?
Is the second option still available, or do you not honor your guarantee.


texts: Can the heart 'approach what it yearns', or must it 'approach what it yearns for'?

texts:
Paul Simon's lyrics

  ... how the heart approaches what it yearns...

has always seemed to me an incorrect usage, although it's difficult to state why. It seems to me that the verb yearn  requires an object in this case; thus the line should read

  ... how the heart approaches what it yearns for.

Any opinions?


texts: Is it technically correct to call an almond drink "milk" in English?

texts:
For the past few years in Italian supermarkets, we have all sorts of "healthy" and "organic" alternatives to dairy milk for vegans and for consumers who are lactose intolerant. For example; soy milk (latte di soia), rice milk (latte di riso), hazelnut, coconut, or almond milk (latte di mandorla), and oat milk (latte di avena).

I know this trend of plant-based milks sold commercially is hardly recent in the US or in the UK, but in Italian supermarkets, these substitutes for cow milk, are not called latte (milk) in Italian and neither when the package is written in English, and I wonder why. I am specifically speaking about the product sold in supermarkets.

“latte di coccco” (coconut milk) and “latte di mandorla” are both described as bevanda (drink). And when the packet is written in English, the term “milk” is avoided, an organic rice milk is called bio drink rice natural. Note also the wording on the packet Granarolo (a leading Italian dairy company), it simply says RISO, the term bevanda is not even used.

click the image above to see the larger version

Compare with the situation in the US, where the product carries the term “almond milk”

and in Australia where the term “oat milk” is clearly displayed.

In the US there appears to be some debate over the definition of “milk”

  Scott Gottlieb, the commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, […] speaking at a policy summit in Washington, D.C., suggested that no product that doesn’t come from a lactating animal should be allowed to call itself milk. “An almond doesn’t lactate, I must confess”…

  The War on Soy Milk, The New Republic

Is it technically correct to call a beverage “milk” if it is obtained by mixing the strained pulp of almonds, hazelnuts, oats, etc. with water?

  In the Middle Ages, almond milk was known in both the Islamic world and Christendom. As a nut (the "fruit of a plant"), it is suitable for consumption during Lent. (Wikipedia)

Why was it called “milk” and not “almond drink” or “almond juice”?


texts: What does “This story just won’t write” mean? Is this still an acceptable English phrase today?

texts:
The New Yorker (March 20) carries an interesting story about the writing style of Time magazine posted by Calvin Trillin who worked for Time magazine as a ‘floater’ and editor in 60s under the title, “Time Edit.”

There is the following statement:

  Writers at Time paid a sort of homage to those leftover tics by using
  phrases like “short-fingered vulgarian Donald Trump.” It was largely
  because of the constant pressure to compress that Time prose struck me
  as more difficult to write than to parody. A common complaint then
  among Time writers who found themselves stuck on a story was “this
  story just won’t write”—as if the story had a will of its own and was
  using it to resist being shaped into a coherent narrative. I may have
  used the phrase from time to time myself. The problem was mostly
  space.

I don’t understand what “This story just won’t write “mean. I feel like agreeing with 'This story tells ....," but can the story write a story by itself? What does it mean?

The author explains that Time writers used this expression ‘from time to time’ because of space constraint, by admitting by himself "it looks like as if the story has a will of its own," and "the problem was space (constraint)."

However, is the expression,“This story just won’t write” grammatically right? Does it make sense to most native English speakers, or is considered good Time-style English?

If this is just a usual expression both grammatically and rhetorically, why the author should have picked up this particular episode in explaining Time’s writing style and its obsession to space, which seems to be rather wasting space to me?


texts: Has anyone come across the word 'subscrub' or 'sub-scrub'?

texts:
I was at a Scottish boarding school (long since closed) and each table in the refectory had six boys.  The most senior boy was called 'the divider; the second 'the sub-divider; the third was called 'the subscrub' (perhaps hyphenated).  On the other side of the table were 'the tea man'; 'second lowest' and 'lowest'.  The other five names are self explanatory but 'subscrub' has always been a puzzle to everyone.

Some recent research has found no dictionary relevant definition but I have found some usage in old newspapers and a couple of novels. In one 1840 newspaper report, an article commenting on the goings-on in parliament refers to 'the sub-scrub or under secretary'.  The other examples suggest a stand-in or substitute sometimes though a stooge.
I have looked at 'scrub' on this site and others but if it is a derogatory term that would imply the more senior boys are the same and there were three more junior boys at each table.  Each boy had a function or duties except the subscrub.
Any assistance would be welcome.


texts: A word to describe a person whose profession is to make allegation/accusation against others

texts: There are several PR firms, lobbying groups who specialize in mud slinging, making wild allegations on behalf of their clients. Is there a word that describes such a person whose job is to make allegations against others?


texts: What's the term for a group of people who enjoy literary works?

texts:
I'm translating an essay to English from Korean, and it uses the term hyangyoo jibdan, which means "a group of people who enjoy literary works". What's the English term for that?

(I've searched, but I couldn't find anything.)


texts:
My sentence is as follows:

  Carol Ohmann discusses in her article Daisy Miller: A Study of Change in Intentions how the main heroine of Henry James' novella brings rise to arguments.

Do I have to set the title of the article off in commas or leave it as it is written?


texts: So it's common to call an apple crisp, but can you call it crispy? In general at least for me I consider crispy to refer to chips as crisp, as they are dry and brittle, but apples are not. So can an apple be crispy?


texts: What does 'and counting' mean in 'China has over $3 trillion (and counting) worth of ...'?

texts:
Further to my previous question on the expression in Time magazine’s November. 10, 2011 article “China’s Century or India’s?”, there was the following sentence in the same article:

“The country (China) continues to run a huge current account surplus and will be posting only a slight budget deficit this year. It also has over $3 trillion (and counting) worth of foreign-exchange reserves and, in a world in which the developed nations are engaged in beggar-thy-neighbor currency devaluations, a steadily strengthening renminbi.”

I don’t understand the meaning of “and counting” in the line, “It also has over $3 trillion (and counting) worth of foreign-exchange reserves.” What does it mean? Does “and counting” add special significance or precision to the statement and $3 trillion figure?


texts: Term for a joke with a missing punchline

texts:
What do you call a joke that has a punchline which as been emphatically implied through omission,  as in...

[Comedian peeling banana, saying...]
"one skin, two skin, three skin, (pregnant pause)...five skin"

[...arch look and lifted eyebrows]
Benny Hill used to do a lot of this, and I am trying find a name for it.
I have looked up types and classes of jokes, but cannot find a definition for it.


texts:
I recently found out that "mustang" is a hispanicism: it is adapted from "mostrengo" or "mestreño", which roughly mean "without rooting"; Merriam-Webster compiles "mesteño" (where 'ñ' sounds as the 'gn' in 'lasagna') as "runaway cattle".

Since large portions of the southern USA used to be first under Spanish, then under Mexican, rule, I wonder if there are other "proper" English words that are hispanicisms. I certainly do not mean words like "sombrero", "taco" or "tamal(e)", which are just calques of words in currently spoken Spanish; neither do I mean words like "concentration", whose etymology in both English and Spanish is Latin. I mean words in English whose etymology is original from Spanish. Specifically, I'd like to know if there are (US) English words, like "mustang" above, that are still colloquially used nowadays but derive from archaic Spanish.

Wikipedia doesn't return much, I regret to say. I found this question here, but it is mostly a harangue on Spanglish. Thanks in advance!


texts: Is there a word for the mental state of laughter?

texts: We speak of madness when someone is in a fit of anger, and being smitten when someone is in love(with someone), etc. But what about when someone just can't stop laughing? i.e, when someone is "cracking-up" - is there a more formal word?


texts: 'Why you did that' and 'Why did you do that' difference

texts:
I asked one person 'Why you did that' referring to something he did in the past, and he responded something like 'Why are you saying that, are you a little kid?'. I was confused and asked him why would he say that, he responded that I need to use 'Why did you do that' instead.

Why 'Why you did that' was incorrect and why he was referring to a little kid thing?


texts:
Possible Duplicate:
“It is they who lied” or “it is them who lied?”
What rules make “Remember me, who am your friend” grammatical?

Which one of these is correct?

It is I who am at fault.
It is me who is at fault.

The word "is" is a conjugation of "be" which is a linking verb.
I also want to know the same for 2nd person.

It is you who are at fault.
It is you who is at fault.


texts: Why is it spelled "curiosity" instead of "curiousity?"

texts:
I have been spelling the word "curiosity" with a u, "curiousity," my whole life, and only today was Chrome's spellcheck bold enough to highlight my lifelong error. I have two questions:

The root word is curious. How or why has the quality of being curious come to be spelled without its u? Or is it the word curious that is unique, and both words were derived from a word with no u, like curio?
Since I have spelled the word this way my whole life and none of my English teachers/professors ever crossed out this "misspelling," is it not technically incorrect, just discouraged? Or perhaps it is archaic, which is why I could only find it defined in a legal dictionary with a capital "C:" Curiousity, not curiousity.


texts: I recently visited Czechia or did I visit the Czech Republic? If I visited the latter why did I not also visit the Slovak Republic instead of Slovakia?


texts: What to call the plane between Background and Foreground?

texts:
In a 2½-dimensional design system, where x and y are planar coordinates, but z is only a signed (±) stacking index, what do you call the main or basic plane (or layer or level or ground) that lies, relative to the eye of the beholder, behind all foregrounds (z > 0) and before all backgrounds (z < 0), i.e. at z = 0?

All layers can have fully transparent and partially opaque areas and thereby act as masks to lower-level layers. They can also apply more complex filters and effects, or just contain pictures, solid colors, gradients, patterns or text.

  The ____ contains the textual content that is presented in front of a pictorial composite backdrop, but is only revealed completely after all overlays have faded away.

  With parallax scrolling applied, the ____ moves at the nominal, constant speed, whereas foreground and background use adaptive velocity to create the visual illusion of depth.

I would prefer a word ending with …ground, for parallelism.

Options

In pictorial art, the virtual space of a painting is apparently divided into background, middleground (also spelt middle-ground or middle ground) and foreground. This is an intuitive term and seems most appropriate, but I am not fully convinced, because it feels like it would possibly cover multiple layers in the middle and the most important things are probably located up front, close to the spectator, whereas they are not in the foreground(s) in my use case.
I would have used ground as a general term for all types or groups of layers, if Q123211 did not suggest otherwise, or as the term for what lies neither overground nor underground or neither aboveground nor belowground but aground. Perhaps I am wrong, though, and it would fit the case well.
main ground sounds too electric.
ground zero – um, nah!
fairground or playground, possibly also raceground and showground, are possible metaphors using terms established elsewhere.
base, basic plane, basic layer, base layer – These do not seem wrong, but base ground or basic ground sounds odd.
canvas plane, canvas layer – The physical canvas is really behind even the deepest background, but the psychological canvas may be wherever the focus is intended to be.

Related questions

What is a word that describes the class that "background" and "foreground" are members of? – plane
Are the words "backdrop" and "background" interchangeable? – not quite in general, but yes in the intended context


texts:
So we walked as far as Kensington High Street, and we looked at the shops. All the skirts are quite full. Ambrose Kimberley was frightfully nice. He said he didn’t often meet a girl like me.

It's from the novel "Grey Mask" by Patricia Wentworth (1929).

What is the meaning of 'All the skirts are quite full.' ?


texts: Single word that describes a group of people that irrationally support a lost cause?

texts:
Is there a single word, or a phrase, that can describe a group of people that mindlessly support someone/something regardless of the many obvious flaws they exhibit?

I suppose some context is necessary here.
I've come to personally know a rather unsavoury character over the past few months, so for the sake of the question, I'll refer to her as "N".

N is an online blogger who has somehow gained a massive fan following, despite the fact that she is evidently narcissistic, and also rather ostentatious. On top of that, N often asks her followers to provide her with criticism on her online presence, and their honest opinion of her. If the viewpoints provided even happens to be slightly negative (despite honest), the follower in question receives severe backlash from her fan following, if not from N herself.

What would be a single word that could describe N's fan following? Note that I've heard of the term "circlejerk" but I'd prefer something less vulgar, and more appropriate.


texts: Are the abbreviations IMO and IMHO synonymous to each other?

texts: Is there a difference between IMO (In My Opinion) and IMHO (In My Honest Opinion)? You see both forms frequently being used in online conversatiosn. Do they mean the same, or is there a slight difference in meaning?


texts: What does "getting it" mean in this phrase?

texts:
As English is not my mother tongue, I need someone to explain the phrases "getting it" and "adequate mantra" in the following paragraph:

  Their shows are sold out within 10 seconds after they go on sale, completely breaking the old notion that it‘s impossible to wield success solely off rap in Korea.In the purest sense, Dok2 and The Quiett are Korea's first real, rap superstars. Young, rich, and getting it, is an adequate mantra for these two indie rap bosses.


texts: Is there a term for reduplication used to disambiguate categorization?

texts:
Reduplication - noun - A word formed by or containing a reduplicated element. An act or instance of reduplicating as a grammatical pattern. http://www.thefreedictionary.com/reduplication

Is there a term for the kind of reduplication where the two words are exactly the same but the first one narrows a category that could otherwise be interpreted more broadly?

e.g.

Do you mean Indian Indian or American Indian?
It is common both in Irish English and English English.
Do you mean cable television?  No, I mean television television.

To be clear, I'm not looking for a term to describe reduplication for the purpose of intensification, as in: "They have been together for a couple of weeks now".  "You mean "together together"?  That kind of reduplication has already been covered.


texts:
I have a question about the usage of the word 'bog' in the following sentence:

  Bog standard scoops of ice cream etc

I understand that the meaning is 'form'; nevertheless, this is the first time I have seen it. Of course, I'm not a native speaker, Italian being my mother tongue. Any help would be much appreciated. Smile.


texts: What is wrong with "had a tendency of changing"?

texts:
From the SAT:

  The famous filmmaker had a tendency of changing his recollections, perhaps out of boredom at having to tell interviewers the same story over and over.

They said that "of changing" was wrong. Could someone tell me what is wrong with it? I am guessing it is an idiom error "...tendency to change..." but am not sure.

Thanks!


texts: Meaning of "currency in this field of disclosure"

texts:
Following is a part from Australian case law:

The tokens - "employer", "employee", "principal" and independent contractor-which provide the currency in this field of disclosure have survived for a very long time and have been adapted to very different social conditions.

What does  "currency in this field of disclosure" in the above paragraph mean?


texts: What is the difference between "data" and "information"?

texts:
So I've always assumed that data and information are the same thing, however, someone I know told me that there is a difference between them, but neglected to tell me said difference.
Could someone please tell me the difference
Thanks.
(PS. Sorry for asking a stupid question)


texts:
Why is the verb to be in the infinitive in 'Praise be to God.'?

Other sentences that look similar are:

'May you be always in our presence.'

'May you be forgiven.'

But May + sub + infinitive of be is used to make a wish and 'Praise be to God' is more of a informative statement rather than a wish.


texts: A verb for "picking small bits of food from the tray or the main plate before it is served or others have started eating"

texts:
I am looking for a verb that means to pick small portions of food usually stealthily before it is served for everyone especially from the main plate. I believe it can be the same verb used when people insert their finger in a cake to taste some cream before a wish is made or candles are blown.

Here are some examples of how I would like to use it in a sentence:

Kids! Do not [the verb] the food. Go to the dining room and wait at the table.
Don't [the verb] the food with your dirty finger. Go wash your hands.
He was [the verb] the chicken nuggets before everyone came to the table.


texts:
Is the following sentence correct?

  I'll get lost tomorrow.

Mom asked if I have plans of exploring the city alone tomorrow. The city is really new to me and I don't mind if I lost myself somewhere along the way. So is it grammatically correct to just reply to Mom:

  Yes, I'll get lost tomorrow, Mom!


texts:
Example:

  Speaker A: You got a new babysitting job?

  Speaker B: No, it's just a [...]. No payment.

Speaker B is just going to do a "helping work", say, taking care of a friend's cat while the friend is on vacation.

Is there a word or phrase for these type of "works"?


texts: Is there any noun in English which changes the first letter in the plural?

texts: Plenty of nouns change the second letter to become plural (man->men, goose->geese) but does anything change its first letter.  I've hunted high and low over the internet, and spent ages browsing the questions at Oxford dictionaries but I can't find anything.


texts:
I watched a class in which the teacher was explaining how to use quantifiers. One of her examples was "I had lots of fun last night". However, she used the example "I didn't have little of fun last night" in a substitution exercise, which is part of a regular class.

Is the expression little of fun correct? I mean, according to the English grammar?
Do people really say that? Google returned over 300 thousand results for little of fun, while there were over 8 million for little fun.

I would have said "I didn't have little fun last night" instead.


texts:
Possible Duplicate:
When do we use “arrive at” versus “arrive in”?

Is the usage at or in correct in following sentences?

a. Flight has arrived in Tokyo.
b. Flight has arrived at Tokyo airport.


texts: In this case, should I use the present progressive as a noun or infinitive as a noun?

texts: "the only internal change McMurphy undergoes is becoming inwardly defeated", or "...to become inwardly defeated"?


texts: I am confused with usage about 'the' and object complement

texts:
Is the sentence as below correct in grammar? And is it clear enough?

  Please copy & paste keyword, mykeyword, into the search box of Google
  Play Store app or website to locate this pure app quickly.

But someone else said the sentence should be something as below:

  Please copy & paste the keyword "mykeyword" into the search box of
  Google Play Store app or website to locate this pure app quickly.

So, which one is correct?


texts: Word to describe someone who doesn't appreciate what another person has done for them

texts:
What is the single word to describe someone who doesn't appreciate what another person has done for them?

For example, let's say someone has sacrificed a lot of things and gone through a very hard life to make their spouse happy but the spouse leaves the person for very minor selfish reasons.

In other words, someone who is not appreciative of what the other person has done for them and never thinks twice to hurt the other person in exchange for the smallest benefit.


texts: Word that describes the practice of "expressing a feeling/assessment by first denying that feeling/assessment"

texts:
I'm looking for a single word that describes the practice of "expressing a feeling/assessment by first denying that feeling/assessment". Here is an example of that practice: "I'm not saying you're wrong but there is no evidence to support your assertion". Or: "I'm not saying you're overweight but you could stand to lose a few pounds". Or, "I don't think I'm perfect but I rarely make mistakes". I've checked the thesaurus: "irony" is the closest fit, but isn't quite right.

As in..

  I don't know what my wife truly meant when she uttered the _________: "I'm not saying I don't love you anymore, but I just feel that we need a trial separation ".


texts: Is it correct to use the word "wrongdoing" in this sentence?

texts:
Is 'wrongdoing' used appropriately in this sentence?

The wrongdoing of spying on students is not only in the boundaries of law, but it is also morally inappropriate.


texts: Better phrasing for "year we started working with [them]"?

texts:
I'm making a database, establishing the fields where data is entered. The database stores a list of school systems that our company has worked with. So there's a field for the year we started working with them; but I'm drawing a blank as to how to summarize that in a small phrase.

Is there a better phrasing for the title of the field, rather than "YearWeStartedWorkingWith"?


texts: Is there a term for contemporary words that historically described a state of affairs that's no longer the case?

texts:
The example in question: the term "chemist" has been used to describe pharmacists since the middle ages, because in the middle ages and perhaps until a century or so ago, the pharmacist literally was the chemist who synthesized the substances you purchased from him. This is no longer the case in any way at all, and yet the term remains in common use to refer to pharmacists.
I can't think of any other distinct examples off the top of my head. "Sinister", maybe? It used to literally described left-handed people because the association between left-handedness and evil was so strong as to be built into the language, and of course, since that association has largely disappeared, the word now only invokes its abstract meaning of "evil".
Edit: so, it seems like the phenomenon in question is kind of like the verbal equivalent of a skeuomorph. I wonder if there's a term for that specifically, but I don't see it mentioned in any of the number of similar threads.


texts: why many people think bad about "smell" word?

texts: "fragrance" means also smell....but why many people always said when someone said that this smell is so good.. .and ..other one said that that is "fragrance"..lol....  why? tell me please....thank you


texts: Best alternative word for "Basic building block" or like this

texts: I have developed an algorithm which can be further customized by including or excluding some of its components. In this way, it provides a basic building block upon which further algorithms can be built, as per requirements. What should be the alternative word which provide the meaning of "basic building block" or like this.


texts:
I remember a word that meant automatic gift that is given to everyone present. The example sentence was, "Everyone receives a ________________ glass of wine upon entering."

I thought the word was preemptive, but I don't think that's correct after reviewing the definition. Any thoughts?

Also, I remember something about no refusing, but it's all very hazy. Thanks!


texts: What's the difference between "censor", "moderate" and "review"?

texts:
What's the difference between censor, moderate and review?

Real-world examples would be much appreciated.

Edit: thanks for the answers guys, from my understanding, censorship means the action to prevent readers from knowing stuff, moderating means making readers get an altered version of stuff, and review means feedback for editing. Is my understanding OK?


texts:
I've always used the phrasing

  It strikes me as peculiar that ....

But I've come across an example which reads

  It strikes me peculiar that ....

It could be a typo but this comes from a text which has been carefully checked for mistakes.

I wanted to find out from others if the second phrasing exists, albeit uncommon?

The meaning I derive from each is slightly different. The second I read as meaning, "it turns me into something peculiar", or "makes me feel strange"; whereas the first phrasing places the strangeness in the observed phenomena, not in the self.


texts:
https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93&filter=dictionary&query=occurence

It seems that occurence is not a word, but a friend said it is because he says he found it in the OED.


texts: What does "validating install" mean when installing Acrobat updates?

texts: I use Windows 7 SP1 x64 Ultimate and Adobe Acrobat DC 21.1.20135.421056.


texts:
If I prove something, does it have to be true?

I can structure the question more convolutedly: Does successfully proving something depend on the credulity of the audience, or the truth of the argument?

NOAD defines the word:

  prove, v. demonstrate the truth or existence of (something) by evidence or argument

Other dictionaries are similar. I find it unclear, though, whether 'demonstrating truth' requires something be true.

The problem mainly arises in historical arguments. In matters we still don't know, the distinction doesn't matter—"She proved God exists" vs. "She proved God doesn't exist"—because we don't know the truth. Some things, though, were previously thought to be true that are no longer considered to be true (cf. science). When writing after an idea has been disproved, should we still say it was proven?

Example:

Copernicus proved that the earth rotated around the sun. We still believe this. However, he also argued that the planets rotated the sun in perfectly circular orbit and that the sun was the center of the universe. At the time it would have made unequivocal sense to say he proved that the sun was the center of the universe. Now, however, we no longer believe the sun is the center of the universe, or that planets rotate it in perfect circles.

Is it correct, today, after Kepler et al, to say Copernicus proved the sun was the center of the universe?

Why does this matter? If I read that someone proved something, should I trust that their finding is true?


texts: What are some of the most common idioms and phrases of speech in the 20's? Specifically what are a couple different terms for bars (I already know speakeasies)? What were taxi's and cab drivers known as? How brutal were racial slurs at the time?


texts: Usage of the word suicide - validity of 'suiciding'

texts: Is 'suiciding' a valid word by itself? I have very rarely come across suicide being used in this form. Mostly, you see it being used with the prefix 'commit' as in 'committing suicide' rather than 'suiciding'. (The dictionary editor flags the words 'suiciding' and 'suicided' in red anyway!) I want to know if it is valid but very rarely used, or if it is wrong altogether.


texts: I've been searching a lot of dictionary websites for the antonym of dispenser.  I was wondering if anybody could think of one.


texts: How to end one-word sentences like "done"?

texts:
How do we end one-word sentences? Should there be a full stop or another punctuation mark? or can I just use it without any punctuation mark?

I usually say "Done." in response to emails where I'm requested to do something. For example, when I'm asked to do a translation I would just reply "Translation done!" instead of writing "The translation has been done." is that grammatically correct?


texts:
I have difficulty with paired-passage because of the vocabulary range from historical documents. In The Complete guide to SAT Reading by Erica L.Meltzer, I read that it is good to go through AP US History passages.

The problem is all the APUSH wordlist provide the list of public figures, treties, etc, but not 'common words' that can be used in historical documents. Could anyone suggest where to find these "antiquated words"?


texts: what is the etymology of the word "none-so-pretty"?

texts:
Merriam Webster defines the word as:

1

a decorative braid or tape used in the late 18th century

2

a : london pride

b : lobel's catchfly

It looks like an interesting word to know but very little information is available online. Also, there is no mention of its origin neither on Online Etymology Dictionary nor any other sites.


texts: Looking for a special synonym for "sharing"

texts: For sake of naming convention, I need a noun synonym to share that start with "ea" or "e". Is there any word that meets this constrain?


texts: Colloquial expression for something working very fast?

texts:
I am looking for an expression as an alternative to fast in the following expression:

Ever since they have constructed flyover/overbridge, traffic has been very fast.
My laptop has been super fast, ever since I have had the ram changed.


texts:
Given below are two set of questions. Could you please let me know which among the two is right?
Set #1:
The books shall be delivered tomorrow noon.
The books shall be delivered noon tomorrow.
Set #2:
The books shall be arriving on this Wednesday, 8 A.M.
The books shall be arriving at 8 A.M. on this Wednesday.
Kind regards,
Kumar


texts: When is it appropriate to use "see you later"?

texts:
Most of the references I found online simply note that "see you later" is a farewell or parting phrase but nothing discussed when it is appropriate to use the phrase. Is it acceptable to use "see you later" in each of the following circumstances?

When you will be seeing the person again later that day
When you will be seeing the person soon (e.g., in a few days)
When you will be seeing the person again at some point in the future (e.g., next year at Christmas)
When you are suggesting that you want schedule something specific
Whenever you say goodbye, regardless of whether or not you will ever see them again


texts:
Here I want to say that this function just should be applied to the following classes: A, B and C.

  This function just applies for/to A, B and C.

But once again I am not sure which preposition should I use ?


texts:
My notes tell me that prepositional phrases are noun phrase preceeded by a preposition. So my doubt is... If you consider this sentence

  the flower in the pot
  Is it also a prepositional phrase when a noun phrase precedes the preposition itself?


texts: question something, challenge something, etc

texts:
Assume you want to question/challenge an idea x with the purpose of exposing flaws in it. What would be some good alternatives to say it?

Question x
Challenge x

Any other options?


texts: how to use comma in the first line of Cover Letter

texts:
May I ask a question? is one of the sentence below correct?

"Dear Dr. James, Department of History Chair, and Selection Committee,"
"Dear Dr. James, Chair of Department of History, and Selection Committee,"
"Dear Department of History Chair: Dr. James, and Selection Committee,"


texts: Is it bad English to substitute the word 'says' with 'goes'?

texts:
In the Midwest, I notice that some people substitute the word 'says' with 'goes' and this has always bothered me. For example, I will hear someone say something such as "So my mother goes, "you should drink water instead of soda."" instead of "So my mother says, "you should drink water instead of soda."".

Is this simply bad English?


texts: What does "persuade you otherwise" mean?

texts:
What does "persuade you otherwise" mean exactly?
Is it an idiom?


texts: Use of "the" in front of an application name

texts:
I am currently writing my thesis. It is based upon an application that I developed.
My question is that should I use the in front of my application's name in my thesis.

In this example suppose my app's name is mSecure:

  Applying the concepts of HCI in the development of mSecure.

OR

  Applying the concepts of HCI in the development of the mSecure. (This sounds weird to me)

Also, later on if I have a sentence like this:

  The user of the mSecure must be healthy.

OR

  The user of mSecure must be healthy.

Can some one please point out which of the above sentences are more appropriate?


texts: When do we use " Have/has been not" and Have/has not been"?

texts: I search through some pages and find that both will work. Is it so? How?


texts: Questions about "get" vs. "was given" and the Passive Voice

texts:
What is the difference in meaning between got and was given?

I understand that got is in the active voice, was given is in the passive voice, and that they are different verbs. But what is the difference when they mean received?

Also, does to get have a passive voice? Since it functions as the passive voice of to give, it doesn't make sense for it to have its own passive voice. I cannot think of any context that "was got" or "was gotten" aren't simply wrong.


texts: "I can not attend to something" meaning "I'm free not to attend to something"?

texts:
When I say "I cannot attend to it" it sounds like I'm saying "I'm not able to attend to it", while what I want to express is that I'm capable of doing it, but I just don't need to.

In Slavic languages it's resolved by changing the negation particle position: [negation] [can] [do something] vs. [can] [negation] [do something]. In the first case I negate "can", while in the second I negate the "do" verb.

How to achieve the same in English and not be ambiguous?


texts: Is there a verb that means "to make someone realise"

texts:
I'm writing a sentence that I believe would sound and read better if there was a verb for it.

  The stress management program both decreased additional cardiac events, and made them realise what really causes their stress, and with this, how to cope with their stress.


texts: parsing a relative clause "the gravitas she felt was appropriate to her office"

texts:
I came across the following sentence:

  The head of the committee never failed to carry herself with the
  gravitas she felt was appropriate to her office.

I feel that this construction came from "she felt the gravitas was appropriate to her office", but here "the gravitas" seems to be the subject of a noun clause, rather than the object of verb “felt". So how could it be translated into an attributive clause like "the gravitas she felt was appropriate to her office"?


texts:
I had seen a documentary on the Whydah before we visited it in Providence.
  Sir Francis Drake had worked for the British Navy before he became a pirate.

These two sentences seem quite awkward to me because of the use of the Past Perfect. If Past Perfect clarifies which of two past events occured first, does the word before render it unnecessary, and could they simply be written in past tense?

  I saw a documentary on the Whydah before we visited it in Providence.
  Sir Francis Drake worked for the British Navy before he became a pirate.


texts:
When A impacts B, do we always say "A has an impact on B"? Or does it depend on what A and B are? For example, is it right to say, "the recession had a great impact in Dubai?"

I have also seen the proposition "to" being used with the word impact.

Which is the correct form?


texts: Looking for an alternate word for 'Acquisition'

texts: I am trying to find an alternative word for acquisition in the context of acquiring a license to a piece of software. I would prefer a word that's shorter to put on a report than the "Number of License Acquisitions."


texts: It's suggested that he work hard. It's suggested that he works hard

texts:
It's suggested that he work hard.lt's suggested that he works hard.
Which one is correct?
I think,  It is suggested that he works hard. This is correct one.
But,  how ? I am confused.
Please clear them.


texts:
I was on the NJ transit and saw an advertisement outside our local baseball stadium for TD bank. The ad said:
“Big fans of the patriots and longer hours” - TD bank.
I can totally understand why a Bank ad might endorse the local baseball team (patriots in this case) but I couldn’t for the love of god figure out what “longer hours” is meant to add to this advertisement.
My theories:

They endorse working longer hours, because of covid job losses?

They endorse the baseball players working longer hours?

They endorse that the baseball games last longer?

It’s an ad to say they have longer hours of customer support?

None of these seem to make that much sense to me. I’ve attached the ad below. Is there an obvious meaning to this sentence?


texts:
I saw a news headline that reads: he admits accident was caused by drunk driving.
My question is why they use present tense (admits) instead of past tense (admitted). The news was written after the confession.
Shouldn't it be: he admitted that accident was caused by drunk driving


texts:
I am writing a school project report and I came across the following. What is the difference between the two? Which is more preferred if there is no difference in meaning?

Our focus is on developing a model that is both easy and extendable...
Our focus is to develop a model that is both easy and extendable...


texts:
I came across this quote in the novel Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austin:

  She seems a very pleasant young woman.

Was it proper during the time in which the novel was written for people to omit the usage of 'to be'?


texts: Difficulty choosing between "would" and "will" in a seemingly real conditional sentence

texts:
The following question is intended to be an example of a real conditional sentence ( first conditional)--not hypothetical. I would like to know whether to use "will" or "would" in this question:

If a naive person falls victim to a trickster, would/will you blame the person for being naive or the trickster for being a criminal?

As far as I understand, I should use "will," as "would" is only used for hypothetical situations. But, since my intention is not to talk about something that will happen in the future but something that is a possibility and can happen at any given time,  I think that "will" is not the best choice in the example sentence above, is it?  Or should I use "would" instead?


texts: A word to describe type of question (questioning the future)

texts:
I know what a rhetorical question is. But this is more like me asking a question which will definitely draw an assumption or a guess as an answer.

For example : What do you think the oil prices would be in 5 years time?

Can i describe this type of question in one word?


texts: A general term for 'how positive/negative is this result'

texts:
I am running a series of tests, each of which has one of several possible results: Negative, Positive, Detected, Not Detected, Equivocal, etc.

I need to group these into results which are 'generally positive' (Positive, Detected), 'generally negative' (Negative, Not Detected) and 'neutral/other' (Equivocal and others).

For example:

  In order to collate the results, I cross-check each result's (something) against the list of (somethings).

My question is, what do I label that grouping of Negative/Positive/Other? A single word would be ideal, but a compound word could work. A phrase won't work, as this needs to be used as a compact label. A good solution will be somewhat intuitive, though it can be technical if need be.

Words I've considered:

Type, Category, Kind (all too generic)
Sign (drawing too heavily from electrical positive/negative),
Valence (probably the best I've come up with, but a bit obscure and un-intuitive).


texts:
I’m needing a descriptive word that describes both not recent” and “not old” - essentially the latter.

However, I am not wanting to describe a living thing such a person or animal, but rather, academician.

I understand the complexity of this ask, given if there was a word, a quick google search would show a list. However, I’m also optimistic that given the broadness of the English language, a word meaning such would have to exist.

I would be absolutely over the moon if there is a word, but doesn’t use the words I’ve mentioned above,  so long as the point comes across.

The syntax I’m currently needing to word for is: “______[ Research highlights the important details of neurological disorders associated with transcriptional-translational feedback loops in RNA”.

Thank you all very much for your time in helping.


texts:
Dictionary lists out the following meanings and usages of the word "contemplate"

Verb 1. If you contemplate an action, you think about whether to do it
or not. Verb 2: If you contemplate an idea or subject, you think about
it carefully for a long time. Verb 3: If you contemplate something or
someone, you look at them for a long time.He contemplated his hands,
still frowning.contemplation UNCOUNTABLE NOUN
He was lost in the contemplation of the landscape for a while.

I came across in a script, where the writer uses the word contemplate to convey the meaning "with thoughts about someone"

She deeply contemplated her dying brother. (this brother is not before
her. He is far away in a different city. She leaves immediately to see
him after this)

Is it right to use this word in this particular context? From what I understand from the dictionary, when you contemplate someone, you actually look at them for a long time.


texts:
Is the following a grammatical rule or reason?

  The noun phrase following the verb be in a sentence beginning with there is indefinite because there introduces new information, and new information in English is marked with an indefinite article.


texts: Does "asking" as a noun have much, say, historic use?

texts:
There's a commonplace form in AmE, "as per your asking"...  (Note this question by a rightly confused non-native speaker.)

It occurred to me that "asking" makes a beautiful noun.

(Particularly if you pulp YA for a living ... consider say crap like "The Giver" .. that would be a perfect sequel title ... "The Asking".  Sounds great, right?  I mean, it cries italics. You don't even have to add italics: you just look at it, and your deepest linguistic processes lean it to the right. It's sort of a linguistic optical typographical illusion.)

{Come to think of it, it's essentially the perfect title for any YA series book.  Vampire Academy: The Asking. Surviving the fog: The Asking. Etc.}

So ... it's time for the asking. (Political context.) Tonight comes the asking. (Marriage upcoming.) We're going to have the asking later.  (Child raising.)

My question, it has a ye-olde feel.  In fact, was "asking" used, perhaps .. in the 1800s? Or earlier?  Or has it never been used before?  Is it a recent coinage like other Americanisms, or?

Doh: FYI I forgot about the common form "...for the asking", which seems related to, but not the same as, the above.


texts: Is there a better way to say "the highest possible"

texts:
Here is the sentence I am trying to improve:

"How building a culture of Quality results in better care and the highest possible reimbursement revenue."

Seems clunky but I'm a bit stuck. Suggestions?


texts: Can you remove a relative adverb before an adverb clause?

texts:
Is the following sentence correct?

  Paul felt like he was the happiest man on earth, founding his own distillery.

Don't you need something else besides just a comma between earth and founding?

Is "founding his own distillery" an adverb clause with its relative adverb when unexpressed? And if so, is the comma needed?


texts: Are "course" and "lesson" interchangeable?

texts:
I'm writing a letter to Columbia University but I am having problems with the last sentence of the letter.

  [...] I have also nearly completed the X course that your university offers online.

  With this lesson being the second, and Columbia's former Provost and Dean of Faculties Prof. Jonathan Cole's influential article On the Matter of Edward Said that taught me the sanctity of academic freedom being the first lesson I took from Columbia, I wholeheartedly hope to take my next Columbia course on campus.

The most problematic parts are in bold. There is a link to the article for a better understanding of the context, or if anyone is interested.

What I tried to say here is that this article was a personally important moral lesson and the first lesson I took from Columbia; that this online course was the second lesson (in the academic sense) I took from the university; and that I hope to be at Columbia for the next ones.

I tried to condense this meaning into the sentence, but I don't know if using lesson and course practically interchangeably is correct in essence.

I also am not sure if using "with" at the beginning of the sentence is a correct usage.

Any help, opinion, suggestion or even possible rephrasing would be welcome. Thank you for your time and help.


texts: What is the correct definition and usage of "for all I know"?

texts:
I saw some sentences using this phrase "for all I know" but wasn't quite sure what is its exact definition and also whether a modal verb such as "could, may or might" expressing uncertainty must be present in the sentence.

The following are some possible definitions:

According to the information I have; I think; probably. (usually implies uncertainty)
Based on what I know (usually expressing displeasure)
As far as I know (used to show indifference)
I really don't know (used to show complete ignorance)

And these are statements containing the phrase:

For all I know, the mayor has resigned already.
She may have gone to town for all I know.
He wears a ring, but he may be single, for all I know.
For all I know, there may be someone with you now.
The man I met on the beach yesterday seemed friendly, but he could be a thief, for all I know.
For all I know, the girl was buried alive in the Arabian sands.
They've decided to hire Jack for all I know.

References:
http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/for+all+I+know
http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=22340
http://esl.about.com/od/vocabularyreference/a/all_expresions.htm
http://dictionary.reverso.net/english-definition/for%20all%20i%20know
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/for+all+i+know
http://www.classic-country-song-lyrics.com/foralliknowlyricschords.html

What does the phrase "for all I know" mean exactly?


texts:
I am writing a scientific text in the area of computer science. Often, I need to refer to a certain data structure named String which refers to a sequence of characters. In most programming languages, this needs to be capitalized in order to be correct. However, when I refer to that data structure in regular text, do I have to capitalize it?

I tried to do it like others do it but I have seen both.

Sample Sentences

A matcher might use a string-based matching strategy.
The string "hello world"...
On a general level, syntax refers to a set of rules that define how to structure characters and strings.
Each retrieved string from one ontology is compared to each retrieved string from the other ontology.
These kind of strings slow down the comparison process.


texts: 'Average' vs 'Mean' - what's more scientifically accepted?

texts: I'm working on a translation of a paper in portuguese to english. In this paper I work with the average of parameter, but I'm not sure if I should use the word 'average' or 'mean' (specially on graphics). For a non native it's the same thing, but I do not know what word is more scientifically accepted.


texts: Verbal compounds such as come-to-be, come-to-know, come-to-X

texts:
Reading about intellectual history and the history of natural science, I have very often come across the expression to come-to-be as a synonym for to come into being, to start to exist, to originate, and so on.

I also see commonly used such verbal expressions as to come to know (for to learn, to acquire knowledge of) or to come to see (for to realize), and so on.

My question now is twofold:

If one is allowed to write to come-to-be and to come-to-know and to come-to-see, is there some definite end to this or am I allowed also to write to come-to-converge, to come-to-acquire, to come-to-X?
If I am allowed also to use other combinations, then what about the dashes/hyphens in these expressions. I usually see come-to-be with dashes, but the to come to know without (I think). Why is that so? Should one be consistent? Or has to come-to-be become a lexical entity that warrants a particular use of dashes, whereas the other expressions are simply compound verbs that do not warrant an equal use of dashes? What about "to-come-to-converge` and other less usual instances of such combinations?


texts: "This boys hat": Ambiguity of demonstative with possessive

texts:
A.    [This boy]’s hat is cute.

  B.    This [boys’ hat] is cute.

In sentence A, "this" modifies "boy," and in sentence B, "this" modifies "boy's hat," as the brackets show.

Questions

What is this potential ambiguity called? Is it an issue with possessives?

Is this ambiguity solved merely by the placement of the apostrophe in such cases?


texts: How to form this tag question – as a positive tag question, or a negative one?

texts:
We always use a positive tag question after a negative sentence:

You shouldn't take this medicine, should you?

We use a negative tag question after a positive sentence:

She must leave early, mustn't she?

But when there is a negating prefix on the adjective (impatient vs. patient) after the verb "to be", then the sentence is negative in meaning. Does this mean the tag should be positive?
Which is correct, A or B?

A: I am impatient, am I?
B: I am impatient, aren't I?
A: The class was dismissed, was it?
B: The class was dismissed, wasn't it?


texts: Yet Another (harmless) Shakespeare Question: Scansion

texts:
He was very fond of his pet words, some of which might seem oddly useless to some readers UNLESS scansion is considered. Specifically, "doth," "did," and "most" crop up with astounding frequency when one would least expect them. Consider (all the lines below are from "MacBeth," but the same thing happens in all his plays):

  Whose horrid image doth unfix my hair

  Which fate and metaphysical aid doth seem/To have thee crown'd withal.

  Perchance even there where I did find my doubts.

  As I did stand my watch upon the hill,

  Most sacrilegious murder hath broke open

  And question this most bloody piece of work,

  Of the most pious Edward with such grace

  No; they were well at peace when I did leave 'em.

And so forth. My question is:

"Is it just me," or did Shaky put in all those doths and dids and mosts just to make those lines scan?


texts:
Do we put a comma before "then" when it's the last word in a sentence?

If she goes, I'm not going, then.


texts:
If I were to place "orders on behalf of" Jack, then what is the word I would use to refer Jack?

I could not figure out what I would call Jack in one word, if I were to inform that in an email or in correspondence to someone else.

I need the answer on the likes of assignee-assigner. Can someone help?

Thanks

-Sid


texts: Is 'nothing is impossible' and 'anything is possible' the same?

texts: I wonder if these two sentences mean exactly the same, or is there any difference?


texts: Someone who parts their hair to cover their bald head

texts:
I hope you can help me find one or more adjectives that describe a person who parts their hair in a way to cover the bald part of their head whether it is a positive or a negative word.
Thanks


texts: What is the act of the realizing you've made a stupid statement and thus proceeding to make another stupid statement?

texts:
I've looked for some references on various sites, and the closest but still incorrect source I've gotten is tautology; the act of rewording something, but still intending the same meaning. But the fault with this is the fact that there is no rewording; an example is something like:

Person A: "You know that computers work on will & power?"
Person B: "Pardon me? You notice that ... " - Person B proceeds to annihilate Person A with sources & facts.
Person A: "Also English was a derivative of the Assembly language."
Person A: " --and processors are cheese!"

Kind of a bad example- but what I'm trying to figure out is what is it called when (a) person/people are conversing and then one remarks something stupid, and thus to the realization of this; they make more stupid statements to sort of demean or bring the fact that the prior statement was probably just a sarcastic joke or some sort of misunderstood humor.


texts: Front wheels toed in at the top, king-pin wear

texts:
This paragraph has a coupled of things I don't understand:

  A large number of native-owned cars have their front wheels toed in at
  the top. This is apparently king-pin wear, since their owners never
  give them any attention beyond gas, oil and water, so long as they
  will run.

What does it mean for the front wheels to be toed in at the top?
What does king-pin wear mean?


texts: What's the proper expression for "An approach to a problem"?

texts:
I want to express the following:

Method X provides a way to tackle problem Y.

Is there a neater way of expressing this?


texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  “Utilisability” vs. “usability”

The word utilisability seems to come from the french utile (useful), utilisabilité (usability). I checked dictionary.com and some other online dictionaries, but without any result. However, when searching google, this word seems to be used in research papers, but mostly by french students. Is this word correct?


texts:
Your employer is required to deduct a certain amount from your salary as a withstanding tax payable to the federal government.
  'Hamlet' is required reading [= must be read] for this course.

Would you kindly tell me the reason why in the first sentence, there is an infinitive after required, and in the second one a gerund?


texts: Asking about Navigate coursebook of The Oxford University Press

texts:
I got 2 coursebooks of Navigate books bellow, I realize that the content of the two coursebook is different.
My question is that why are there difference between those coursebooks? Does that mean that the "Teacher's edition" just uses in classroom and has to study with teacher, right?


texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  Please use other door?
  Is "Stick no bills" correct English?
  “train approaching”
  What's with syntax in newspaper headlines?

Well, I know the basic rules about using articles, but this is a different case.
On pedestrian traffic lights there are signs like:

  Press button. Wait for signal.

Why aren’t there any articles before button and signal here?


texts: Is it true that English has "evolved" to say that "Jim and me" instead of "Jim and I" is correct?

texts:
My English teacher was saying that English has "evolved" so that saying "Jim and me" or "me and Jim" is acceptable to use in instances like "Me and Jim are going to the bathroom". Here is what I found on http://www.businessinsider.com.au/i-or-me-grammar-mistake-2014-12?r=US&IR=T

  Consider these two sentences:

    He’s taking Jane and me to the park.

    He’s taking Jane and I to the park.

  Which is correct?

    If you said the first, you’re right:

    He’s taking Jane and me to the park.

  It’s right because “Jane and me” are the objects of the sentence (the
  things being taken) while “he” is the subject (the thing that is
  taking). After all, “me” is the objective form of the first person
  pronoun while “I” is the subjective form.

This confuses me because I was always taught that if you are mentioning another person, you always say "that person and I". Could someone help me, thanks. Please upvote if you have the same question :)


texts:
What does "philoso-fugal" mean in the following sentence?

  It seems to me that a consideration of Malick’s art demands that we take seriously the idea that film is less an illustration of philosophical ideas and theories—let’s call that a philoso-fugal reading—and more a form of philosophizing, of reflection, reasoning, and argument.
  Simon Critchley, 'Calm — On Terrence Malick's The Thin Red Line'


texts: What number bus is that? or What bus number is that?

texts:
Imagine you are at the bus stop. You see a bus coming, but you can't read the number, so you ask: "What number bus is that?"

However, usually the noun used as a determiner precedes the main noun, for example: house number, ticket number, seat number, phone number, etc. So why, in this case, don't you say "what bus number is that?"

By the way, my English teacher told me the right way to say this is, "What number bus is that?"


texts: History of metaphorical use of "alphabet soup"

texts: What is the first metaphorical use of “alphabet soup” to refer collectively to some kind of diversity? Does it date any earlier than the film “North by Northwest”, in which the expression is used by the Professor to refer collectively to the highest-level intelligence services of the country?


texts:
Which is correct?

  Everyone were convinced that he would go to the game.
  Everyone was convinced that he would go to the game.

I think it's "was", because "everyone" is singular, but I just wanted to check.


texts: A word for someone who does tasks just to get rid of them

texts:
How do you call a person who does tasks without paying so much attention into the details and only thinking about finishing them soon and getting rid of them.
What do you call such action?
Example: suppose that you are a Ph.D. advisor and one of your responsibilities is to read the reports of your Ph.D. students and provide suggestions and comments to improve the work. Sometimes the reports get complicated and you don't want to get your hands dirty by going into the details. So you just read them carelessly and provide some lousy comments in order to just get rid of it.


texts: I have an idea of summarizing books or the story of novels in just a few sentences. My question is what is the word describing that? I was thinking of these words: synopsis, blurb, abridgment, brief, sketch, and epitome. Could you please tell me which one is better?


texts: Why are redheads called "gingers" when ginger is yellow?

texts: The term "ginger" is often used as a slang term for someone with bright red hair.  But ginger (the spice) is actually a bright yellow in color.  Where does this term come from, then?


texts:
Do "determining" and "analysing" have different meanings?

What is the difference between "determining" and "analysing"?

[...] while analysing current price characteristics.
[...] while determining current price characteristics.


texts:
I am looking for the name of a certain type of word puzzle.  A string of letters is given without any spaces between those letters.  By strategically inserting spaces into the string, different valid phrases are generated.

I would use Google for this, but Google is tough if you don't know the search phrase.


texts: Term for disrespecting people with lower social condition

texts: What is it called if I have a good social condition (education, money, etc.) and I disrespect people with a lower condition?


texts:
Consider the two sentences

He reported that the car was on fire.
He reported the car was on fire.

Which usage is considered correct?
Are there any hard and fast rule when to use or not use "that"?
Is there terminology that describes this usage/situation?


texts:
I'm designing a game where, when players perform spcial game actions, their die rolls can receive bonuses. For instance, if you roll a 4 and have a +1 bonus, your final result is 5.

Now, some of these bonuses stack while others do not. Whether a bonus stacks depends on the effect that supplied the bonus.

By "stack," I mean "multiple bonuses combine into a larger bonus." If a player gets a +1 stacking bonus, a +1 stacking bonus, a +3 non-stacking bonus, and a +3 non-stacking bonus, the two +1 bonuses combine into a +2 bonus. The player is allowed to apply this combined bonus and one non-stacking bonus to his roll. In this case, he would increase his roll by +5 in total.

I don't think "stacking" is a very good word for this, however, so I'm looking for another word that can describe the bonuses that combine.

Any suggestions are welcome.


texts:
I'm not sure what "trenchantly" means in this sentence:

  While the rest of the firm gradually acquired a new persona, mortgages remained more trenchantly the same.

Here is the definition I found of trenchant:

  vigorous or incisive in expression or style.
  "she heard angry voices, not loud, yet certainly trenchant"
  archaicliterary
  (of a weapon or tool) having a sharp edge.

Thanks for the help!


texts:
I would like to use this sentence in this context:

  ... which would correspond to my field of study and experience.

  With 5 years experience working in ...

The Microsoft Word corrector underlines "5 years experience" and propose these two options:

5 year's experience
5 years' experience

Which one should I use in this context and why?


texts:
In the lyrics for the childrens song The Wheels on The Bus it says

  The doors On The Bus go open and shut, all through the town.

Is shut correct in this context? Can you say "the door goes shut"?


texts:
Does "he has some issues to work out" have some special meaning?

Is it an idiom? How is its meaning different from "he has some problems to solve"?


texts: 'go ride your highest horse' equivalence?

texts: 'Go ride your highest horse'. It is used to mean go do whatever you wish I will not comply or listen to what you want. It's like never will I do that, go do as you wish. The idea behind riding your highest horse, is you'll look bigger and scarier or smth suchlike that may force him to comply or do as that person wishes, yet by telling him to 'go ride his highest is simply saying whatever you do I will not comply/I will not be scared with unflinching determination. It's just idioms of the desert. It has nothing to do with get off your high horse, the english idiom.


texts: Are quotes needed when naming an educational course?

texts:
Do I need quotation marks when naming an educational discipline?

For example:

  An analysis of the educational discipline "English Language for Professional Purposes" has been conducted.

Or is it correct without them?

  An analysis of the educational discipline English Language for Professional Purposes has been conducted.


texts:
Is there a word for someone who really has their act together?
Someone who has their time well-managed, is focused, works out, has ambitions,
eats right. Not necessarily success, but there's a kind of trait that leads to it, that I can't quite put my finger on.

There's strong overlap with people who are competitive or are overachievers,
but it's not exactly the same thing. "In the zone" is close, but I'm looking for a more long term or permanent kind of thing — the opposite of a slob or slacker.

Maybe there isn't a word, but there should be.


texts: If a clause is a direct object, its pronoun is nominative because the whole clause is the object

texts:
I am sure this has been asked before; I couldn't locate a definite answer (grammar websites on direct objects do not seem to explicitly state the answer). I think it may have been addressed in my previous question indirectly and I was hoping for some clarification.

With a clause as a direct object, the pronoun is in the nominative case because the entire clause is the direct object, not just the initial pronoun. Is this statement in anyway accurate?

For example:

"He intimated [(that) he would go today]."

I believe the direct object of "intimated" is within the brackets, and the direct object clause should be treated as a if it were "self-enclosed"; therefore, "he" should be nominative because it is the subject of the verb "go".

I think this is true, but I would feel more comfortable with clarification/correction.


texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  How do the tenses in English correspond temporally to one another?

I have a difficult time to understand perfect tense.

I don't see the different for the following two sentences.

1) He kicked the ball.

2) He had kicked the ball.

Is perfect tense used to tell is an action completed or not?


texts: This phrase "Including but not limited to" put me in confusion

texts:
Who has to bear the costs? Individual or Firm? Which are the costs does Firm will bear and which are the costs an individual/self has to bear?

All other costs, including but not limited to cost of travel, meals, taxes(including Luxury tax where applicable) and cost of various services and facilities at the participating centre, will have to be borne by the bearer of the voucher.


texts: Use the object pronoun or the subject pronoun as the relative pronoun heading a restrictive clause that employs a transitive verb and a linking verb?

texts:
EXAMPLE:

James is the man who/whom we know is who won it.

I've been trying to work this out, but for the life of me, I can't work out in such a scenario as shown above if the restrictive relative pronoun is to be an object pronoun or a subject pronoun. That's because I can't tell if it is the direct object of the transitive verb, which in the example is "know," or is a subject of the linking verb, which in the example is "is," the verb "to be" never taking object pronouns but only subject pronouns. Every time I try to work this out, I can't tell which to use because I can't tell what the relative pronoun is actually standing in for.
Yes, the dilemma could be easily avoided by simply switching the restrictive relative pronoun out for "that," but because this relates to some lyrics I'm writing where I'm using some internal rhyming, I really want it to be "who" or "whom," not "that." Plus, avoiding questions only furthers ignorance, and I don't want to be ignorant.
So, in a relative clause, like that in the example above, that employs two verbs, a linking verb that would require the relative pronoun to be "who" and a transitive verb that would require the relative pronoun to be "whom," which is the right pronoun to use and why?


texts: What's the correct way for pronouncing "route"

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  What is the correct pronunciation of the word “route”?

I always thought that the word route should be pronounced as ru:t (my english dictionary also says that). But I hear people say it as raut. What's the correct way? Or both are correct?


texts: At what point did "gross" come to mean "disgusting"?

texts:
The first time I heard "gross" being used to mean "disgusting" was probably around the late 1980s, and at the time I felt it was some sort of a corruption of "grotesque"...

I'm wondering if there is a longer history of this usage, or am I right in saying it stems from a more recent misuse?


texts: 'Male'/'female' is to 'gender' as 'plural'/'singular' is to what?

texts: 'Male'/'female' is to 'gender' as 'plural'/'singular' is to ?


texts:
I am from the Dutch-speaking part of Belgium, and this popped into my head today. Is the word acorn (the nut of an oak tree) in any way related to the Dutch word for squirrel, eekhoorn, the animal that collects acorns for food?

Looking at eekhoorn, one will have a hard time finding any logical meaning to the naming of this animal. There's eek, which is not a Dutch word, and hoorn which means horn. So it doesn't make much sense.  But the pronunciation even in Dutch/Flemish is remarkably equal to the English acorn.

Since many words have migrated country borders (like the NL bolwerk and EN bulwark), I wouldn't be surprised if it's the same with acorn/eekhoorn, except for the fact that eekhoorn is the actual animal that consumes the acorns. That would make it pretty unique, I think.

By the way, acorn in Dutch is eikel, having different connotations which I won't explain here.


texts: Has the suffix "-trix" acquired a pejorative meaning in recent years?

texts:
A couple days ago I needed the correct word for a female aviator, which I figured was aviatress. A dictionary.com search provided aviatress, aviatrice and aviatrix as acceptable choices. Coincidentally, I had just read this EL&U post about the origin of the -trix suffix, and so I explored other Latin-based agent nouns. I found that legislatress exists along side legislatrix as does benefactress with benefactrix and orator with oratress. Not so with dominatrix, though. It seems to have maintained only the -trix suffix.

Dictionary.com has this to say about the -trix suffix in modern use:

  Most nouns in -trix  have dropped from general use, so that terms like aviatrix, benefactrix, legislatrix, oratrix,  and proprietrix  occur rarely or not at all in present-day English.

Dominatrix has maintained, and most people would only ever use it in the realms of sado-masochism and sexual role play.

My question is, why has the -trix suffix fallen off and been replaced by the more sibilant "-tress"? And, have we avoided the -trix suffix to avoid any unintended association with the sado-masochistic sense of dominatrix?


texts: Is there a common noun form of the adjective "repetitive" that doesn't have a negative connotation?

texts:
Is there a common noun form of the adjective 'repetitive' that doesn't have a pejorative connotation and that denotes a state rather than action?

Edit: I am not looking for the word 'repetition', as the suffix '-ion' conveys the meaning of "action or condition" (dictionary.com), which is not yet the level of abstraction I am thinking of.

I am tempted by the word 'repetitivity' [and its suffix "-ity", which is "used to form abstract nouns expressing state or condition" (dictionary.com)]

But: Although the word 'repetitivity' exists (first detected in 1930 by Ngram Viewer), it doesn't seem to be common within any discourse.
None of the dictionaries I consulted (Oxford Dictionaries, Cambridge Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, etc.) knows this word.
But isn't it instantly intelligible?

Grammarist knows the word "repetitiveness" but quite clearly states that the word has mostly a negative connotation (hence misunderstandings are around the corner!):

  "Repetitiveness is the noun form of the adjective repetitive, which is used to describe something or someone as having the attribute of repetition. This term is usually negative, as in something repeats without need or becomes very tiresome in its repetition." [my italics]

Surprisingly, the Urban Dictionary knows the word "repetitivity" (the one I wanted to use) - but it assigns a negative connotation to this word too!

Example sentence: "English teachers often find it hard to convey to young learners such abstract ideas as generality and repetitivity, when they have to explain the main uses of the Simple Present tense."

Important: What I am looking for is a word for a concept more abstract than the concept of "repetition".
Compare:

  exclusive - exclusion - exclusivity


texts: What is the meaning of acute apathy that makes it an oxymoron?

texts: So I'm not getting why acute apathy is an oxymoron. I looked these up in a dictionary. Apathy means "lack of interest" and acute means "intense". But I still don't get why it's an oxymoron, and I've looked up oxymoron too!


texts:
I'm looking for a word to describe a solution that is simple, fast to develop and fulfills its intended purpose. The word "adequate" is not quite what I'm after. The shade of meaning I want to impart is that the solution is good quality, and not over- or underengineered. I suppose I could say "well engineered".

Can anyone suggest an alternative?

I thought of "optimal" but this implies a kind of exactness that I don't want to portray. I want to suggest there's a range of possible solutions that could work and not be considered over- or underengineering. For example, to meet some need we could put together a spreadsheet or a little database and both of these would be acceptable solutions, neither is "optimal". Whereas a custom built application might be overengineering and a manual system might be underengineering.

I'm not sure that "well engineered" really captures what I want to say.


texts: why use "isn't" in the sentence "if it isn't too much trouble, i'd love a cup of coffee?

texts: Why use "isn't" in the sentence "if it isn't too much trouble, i'd love a cup of coffee?why English users do not use "weren't" instead of "isn't"?


texts: What is the word for this effect: things are not normally noticed until those things come in to the news and people fear/are looking for them

texts: For instance. I've never really paid attention to white vans, but when the DC sniper was at large and they stated that he's probably shooting from a white van, white vans seemed to appear out of no where and be around every corner!


texts:
Yes, you can easily modify pages and you can (temporarily) publish dummy sentences, and you can even (temporarily) completely destroy a page in a wiki.

In the above sentence, what does "dummy sentences" mean?


texts:
Is 'Viking' capitalised in this phrase?
'Clothe someone in a viking costume.'


texts:
In the sentence:

  The two methods require two different kinds of prior information

a colleague of mine suggests that it should be "kind of" instead.

I was quite certain that the first form was correct, but reading various online sources on singular vs. plural use in relation to "kind of" has got me confused. Still, it seems to me that the examples where it is a bit ambiguous are those where the quantity is implied by how you interpret the sentence. In the current case, I still lean towards "two kinds" because it seems it is explicitly "kind" there are two of. Which one is right?

NB: I am not a native English speaker.


texts: "I was...and I was..." and/or "I was...and was..."?

texts:
Take for example the two sentences:

"I was at the park and I was wondering about the future."

"I was at the park and was wondering about the future."

I hear the two being used interchangeably in spoken English all the time. However, are they both grammatically correct?


texts: A phrase to show that something is deeply personal

texts:
The context here is that I'm translating from Spanish a phrase which has a wonderful suggestion of deep intimacy. I want to keep the translation as literal as possible but also to maintain the emotion of the phrase. The Spanish phrase is "siempre seguirá perteneciendo a tu intimidad", which roughly translates as "it will always remain personal to you". However, to my ear, that translation loses all the sensuousness of the original phrase, but I'm struggling to find alternatives (other than adding for example "deeply personal").

Any suggestions? Do we even have a word in English with the same connotations as "intimidad" in this sense of emotional, personal profundity?


texts:
They came for her and me

They came for her and i

Which one is correct according to grammar?


texts: The difference between "Kudos" and "Props"

texts:
I've looked through the definitions of kudos and props:

According to Cambridge Dictionary, the definition of kudos is the public admiration that a person receives as a result of a particular achievement or position in society, whilst props means respect for someone.

So, "kudos" connotes approval and admiration, and "props" implies respect.

However, I'm wondering if there are any cases in which one of them are fine to employ while the other would be inappropriate or wrong to use in the same sentence.


texts: Is this sentence using relative clauses correct grammatically?

texts: The winner of the competition is the person who gets the cheese first, which is the prize.


texts:
I'd like to know the meaning of "meaning" in the following sentences:

  Please note that we have implemented a 1 post approval process for new
  users. Meaning, a newly registered user with no posts
  under their belt can post, but will have to wait until a moderator
  approves it before it shows up.


texts: Answering negative questions with "Yeah."

texts:
I know I need to answer in the same way regardless of questions are positive or negative in English.

For example, when I didn't go to work yesterday,

Q. Didn't you go to work yesterday? (Did you go to work yesterday?)
A. No I didn't.

I am still taking time when answering negative questions in the real life, because in the language I was using before, it was deferent way. If I say yes to negative questions, it means I agree asker's negative questions. Anyway, I have been adapting to the English way to answer.

But what confuses me is that I meet those kind of native  speakers who answer "Yeah." to the negative questions.

For example,

Q. You don't want to go?
A. Yeah. (When he/she doesn't want to go.)

There have been many of native English speaker answering like this. So I am wondering if there is a difference between 'yes' and 'yeah'.


texts: She came in in a wheelchair. Do I need a comma between the two repeated words?


texts: The use of possessive pronouns in phrases like "I don't know my geography" or "He certainly knows his Star Wars"

texts:
There's a rather peculiar use of possessive pronouns. In my experience, it normally occurs in the context of referring to someone's familiarity with a particular subject (or lack therof), e.g.

  You clearly know your art history.

or

  What can I say, I don't know my Shakespeare.

or even

  He knows his Claret from his Beaujolais.

Even though the meaning of this construction is nearly always clear from the context, I would like to see a "formalized" explanation of this sort of usage— one that ideally would provide answers to the following questions:

What is the difference between saying You clearly know art history and You clearly know your art history? What sort of meaning does the your in the latter sentence serve to convey?
I think I've mostly seen this usage in British English. Is it a specifically British way of speaking or is it used in other varities of English, too?
Outside of referring to someone's degree of knowledge in a particular area, are there any other contexts that this usage can occur in? In other words, what other verbs besides know can be used with a personal pronoun in this way? (I think I've come across phrases like he loves his food, but I'm not too sure).