texts: What is “software-intensive industry” in software engineering and business?

texts:
In the broad area of developing/giving/selling software as-is or as hidden part of some other products (such as cars ot airplanes), what is meant by the term software-intensive industry?

A. Is it some particular industry or industries? If so, which one(s)?

B. Can you have more than one, meaningfully building the plural form "software-intensive industries" (which does occur, but the majority of the authors mentioning this term seem to be not native English speakers), or is it a mass term (such as food, information, although industries is purely grammatically correct)?

C. Is it specific to a geographic region?

A major Web search engine produces around 3300 URLs that speak about it, but to the best of my knowledge, none of the sites listed defines the term properly by saying something like

The software-intensive industry is ...[definition]...

or

A software-intensive industry is ...[definition]....

That's what I ask for in this question. So, please feel free to complete the phrases 1. or 2. above, accompanied with some explanation and references.

PS. We consider using this term ourselves, but we found out that we don't unambiguously understand it, and lot of folks use it too but noone seems to give an explanation on what they actually mean by that.

EDIT: The earliest usage of the term is found in "CAD is a particularly good example of a software intensive industry", cf. Raphael Kaplinsky, Firm size and technical change in a dynamic context, Journal of Industrial Economics, 32(1) pp. 39–59, 1983, dated 1982-04-15 by G**gle.


texts: Word for sensation of lifting an unexpectedly light object?

texts:
Is there a term for the sensation of lifting an object that is unexpectedly lighter than it appeared? For instance, picking up a can that you thought was full but was actually empty. The can seems to jump up weightlessly in your hand.

Does English have a specific word or term for this experience/event?


texts: When to use "had" plus past participle and simple past

texts:
Which is correct?

  A. Elizabeth I.  had reigned as queen of England from 1558 to 1603.
  B. Elizabeth I. reigned as queen of England from 1558 to 1603.

My answer is B but as per correction of the head coordinator (ESL School) the answer is A.


texts: When did mankind begin using surname suffixes such as Jr. Sr. I II III?


texts:
The definition of explicit that I wish to use:

stated clearly and in detail, leaving no room for confusion or doubt.
E.g. the speaker's intentions were not made explicit.

My motivation: I'm analyzing 'Follower' (by Seamus Heaney) right now and I want to comment on the word "exactly" in 'Mapping the furrow exactly'. My comment is something along the lines of

"Mapping the furrow" already attributes a high level of skill and precision to his father. The use of the word 'exactly' adds an extra layer to the phrase and makes it explicit.


texts:
My friends and I were walking down from the road.
The road was too steep, so I said:

  I am climbing down the road.

As I used to climb down with the word road, we had argument, and my friends said that climbing down the road is not correct usage. Were they correct?


texts: A structure in which every element is a lynchpin

texts:
Is there a word or phrase for a structure in which every element is a lynchpin? To clarify: the removal of any part of this structure would cause it to collapse entirely.

  The system is a/an X; removal of any part of it causes the rest to collapse.


texts: Which words can describe people who know mediocre level on everything

texts:
I am looking an adjective which can be used to describe people who know a bit of everything , somebody who is not superficial in term of general information irrespective of someone's age.

I'd rather not  use the word intellectual because it depicts an academic or philosopher who is very good at the area they the work area in my mind.Can we call a college guy as intellectual just because he reads a lot and knows pretty much something on everything?

I'd rather not  use the word well-rounded because it includes someone's sportive activities but I am asking more about knowledge.

Maybe a word which can be used by someone  to describe themselves who dare to attend " who wants to be millionaire" contest ?


texts: How would you capitalize "on-the-fly" and "one-sided" in titles?

texts:
I am studying computer science and the title of my thesis contains the hyphenated words "on-the-fly" and "one-sided". I am not sure about how to capitalize them correctly.

I have found an article about that problem referring to the Gregg Reference Manual and the Chicago Manual of Style. It states:

The Gregg Reference Manual (10th edition):

  In a heading or title, capitalize all the elements except articles (a, an, and the), short prepositions (at, by, for, in, of, off, on, out, to, and up), and short conjunctions (and, as, but, if, or, and nor).

The Chicago Manual of Style (15th edition):

  Traditional Rules (preferred)

  1)    Always capitalize the first element.

  2)    Capitalize any subsequent elements unless they are articles, prepositions, coordinating conjunctions (and, but, for, or, nor) or such modifiers as flat or sharp following musical key symbols.

  3)    If the first element is merely a prefix or combining form that could not stand by itself as a word (anti, pre, etc.), do not capitalize the second element unless it is a proper noun or proper adjective.

  4)    Do not capitalize the second element in a hyphenated spelled-out number (twenty-one, etc.).

  5)    Break a rule when it doesn't work (see the examples below that are followed by asterisks).

For "on-the-fly", both manuals recommend to write it as "On-the-Fly". For "one-sided", the Gregg Reference Manual recommends to write it as "One-Sided", but I am unsure about which rule of the Chicago Manual of Style applies. Is it "One-Sided" or "One-sided" according to the Chicago Manual of Style?


texts: She needed "we" or "us" the taxpayers to pay. Which is correct?

texts:
What is the correct grammar for this sentence fragment:

She needed we the taxpayers to pay....
She needed us the taxpayers to pay....

because without "the taxpayers", the correct sentence would be:

She needed us to pay....

but,

She needed us the taxpayers to pay....

doesn't sound correct. But I could be wrong. That's why I'm asking ;-)


texts: Just wondering, does compasses can stand on its own?  Or should it be accompanied by a pair of?


texts: What is the meaning of "the reification of markets" in the mentioned context?

texts:
What is the meaning of the reification of markets in the mentioned context?

  But there are implicit values at work in neoliberalism. These include
  individualism, competition, technology, the reification of markets and
  (after Adam Smith) the belief that the pursuit of self-interest leads
  to socially beneficial results. Source

I know the meaning of reify:

  to consider or represent (something abstract) as a material or
  concrete thing: to give definite content and form to (a concept or
  idea) Source

But what it precisely means to reify markets?


texts: Word for person who doesn't wake up easily

texts: What do you call a person who doesn't wake up easily from a noise or a touch? I just want to know a word that defines what I am asking for.


texts: What does it mean when after a personal statement someone says "But I would say that, wouldn’t I?"?  Does it mean "any way, it is my idea"?


texts: What is the opposite of "paying by installments"? I'm looking for the proper financial term for paying in full in a single payment.


texts: Why is the letter 'W' pronounced like double-'U' in English and pronounced as double-'V' in French? I've always wondered this. Typographically, the letter 'W' can be written with curvy bottoms (sorry for the lack of typography jargon) which looks like two U's side by side (uu). It can also be written with hard edges which make it look more like two V's side by side (vv).  I thought this was pretty interesting.


texts:
Self-Service or Self Service.

For example, Self-Service restaurants, Self-Service Websites, etc..

Another example, multi-platform, multi-factor, etc..

Is the hyphen a must?


texts:
Recently, I have seen discussions that state that "because" is always a preposition.  Can someone shed light on this idea?  Thank you.

UPDATE:

The question that prompted me to post this question: Is "which" a preposition? Because because

I posted this question for several reasons:

1) I have seen this topic come up in comments before.  I don't remember the original posts that led to the comments...perhaps another user can recall.

2) I could not follow all of the reasoning in the referenced article (Language log) and am hoping a user can bring the discussion "down to earth" for the rest of us mortals.

3) Language is not set in stone, and I have the feeling that other words will soon change use.  I think it's important to see how people discuss the words that are changing and to understand these inevitable changes.

4) I think it would help us have a better understanding of ideas such as "preposition" and "Subordinate conjunction" and "conjunction."


texts:
I was told today that I was using the phrase "arbitrary rule" incorrectly given the following situation.

My friends and I were setting up a game which involves diplomacy. I was adding a work colleague to the group of casual acquaintances some of whom don't really know others.

My friend decided we should have a rule of "one person per workplace" as I'd see the person at work more and so have more chance for diplomacy. He later added he didn't want to play with people he didn't know.

I pointed out we all have a different level of interpersonal relationship - some hardly know others in the group and indeed he'd suggested we invite someone many in the group don't know. As such, I argued, this is an "arbitrary rule" - based not on reasoned arguments but his personal feelings at the time as shown by inconsistencies in the argument.

He then switched to saying I was using words I didn't understand.

Pettiness of the argument aside (and irony, given we're setting up a game on diplomacy...)- is the term incorrect in this context? Differing definitions online make me question whether I'm correct or not.

The definition which made me doubt myself was:

Based on random choice or personal whim, rather than any reason or system.

Arguably - "whim" implies it's just a passing fancy. There is a stated reason for it, it's just that he's then acting in contrast to that. you could say he was disingenuous with his reason (he really just didn't want people he didn't know) but that the rule wasn't strictly speaking arbitrary.

However, another definition:

1    founded on or subject to personal whims, prejudices, etc.; capricious

Seems more clearly in my favour - it's his prejudice against people he doesn't know that is the real reason behind the rule.


texts: Adam lay ybounden. Any ys around these days?

texts:
Thanks for pointing out the similar question. Great, but note that I'm trying to find ...

• is there any SPECIFIC examples/evidence around of yword yusage TODAY?

• other than jokey usage, is there any fresh and real usage?

• nobody has explained, simply what period was it popular? (if at all - or was it just an artifact or something?)

• and indeed, what ywere the Top Three Yword greatest hits?

Cheers!

I made an ybounden the other day,

and it brought to mind the questions:

These days, are there any words which use the y- prefix?

What is the origin of this prefix?

In what period was it popular?

What were, at that time, other popular words with the y- prefix?

Is it perhaps today still popular in other (European?) languages - which?

Is the whole thing just a typo/artifact? What's the deal?

But mostly ........ are there any ywords popular today?


texts: Mnemonic for remembering how to spell "Guarantee"

texts:
It seems that I've been trying to remember how to spell guarantee for years, and I still find myself doing the right-click-fix, every. single. time.

Are there any tricks / mnemonics for this word?


texts: Usage of a definite article with a proper name + defining characteristic

texts:
Suppose in a book there is a character named Alex, and he has a beard. There are no other Alexes mentioned. Which variant is correct?

1. "Hello," said bearded Alex.

or

2. "Hello," said the bearded Alex.

I lean towards the first variant, because it seems to me that we use "bearded" here just to remind the reader of that characteristic to make the mental image of the character more definite, and "Alex" itself does not need an article.


texts: past perfect + would have + ed-participle / past simple + would + infinitive

texts:
Could you clarify difference between sentences:

  If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses
  If I asked people what they wanted, they would say faster horses

In a similar vein:

  If you had asked me I would have followed
  If you asked me I would follow

They're all hypothetical, aren't they?


texts: What does it mean when a YouTuber says "Just don't touch!"?

texts:
Thank you for watching on air and on-line. And to subscribe, just click below, and comment and like, and just don't touch.

This is part of a YouTube video from America's Got Talent. What does the presenter mean by saying "Just don't touch!"


texts: Word to describe touching someone to call their attention

texts:
So I'm looking for a word to describe when you touch someone to get their attention.
Example: touching someone shoulder, so they will turn and start a conversation.
Is there a verb that can fit in the sentence: "This persons likes to XXX me a lot" by XXX meaning touching to call for attention.
XXX should be also usable if the person touches you on the back or other parts of the body.
Thanks


texts: I wonder what does the word "reputee" mean? What is the meaning?


texts: Etymology of "scramble" (in the context of military jets)

texts:
Japan Scrambles Jets in Island Dispute with Russia (headline)

Scramble here has the meaning of "rapidly take an aircraft to flight", carrying the tone of preparing for combat. Etymonline says that it was first recorded in 1940 with the RAF during WWII, but no actual origin is offered.

Does anyone know the etymology of this usage?


texts: Sun and earth in combination as proper nouns

texts:
I have done an extensive research and I am aware that Sun and Earth can be ordinary and proper nouns depending on the context.  I am writing the engineering text, which is also concerned with transfer of energy and light between Earth/earth and Sun/sun.

I initially used capitalised forms, Sun and Earth.  I gave my text for editing, and curiously, the editor changed Sun to sun and left Earth intact.  So what I got in the end is something like that

  A typical example of heat transfer by radiation occurs between the sun
  and the Earth.

This looks a bit inconsistent to me.  What would you suggest?

Would it be OK if I put both Earth and Sun to uncapitalised form?

Thanks for the advices.

EDIT: this might be interesting:

Serway's textbook consistently use Sun and Earth,
Incropera's textbook consistently use sun, while earth in used in about 90% of cases.

They both seem to be pretty consistent to me.


texts: Expression/word for "the one who is in charge of something"?

texts:
I am designing a website form and, on this form, there is a field where I want the user to enter the e-mail of an employee designated by him to be in charge of/responsible for something.

How should I label this field? A single word/term is preferable.

<...> E-mail:
 ______________
|______________|


texts:
My associate was explaining a concept to do with distributed datasets on the whiteboard to some people at work. He was making a judgement about how much they understood.

I think they understood it more than he gave them credit for, and he continued to explain after they had got his big idea.

I'm trying to find a word to describe "his understanding of their understanding".

Here is what I have come up with so far:

cognitive empathy
meta epistemology
pedagogical epistemology
skill in teaching

My question is: What is the word for "understanding someone's level of understanding"?


texts: Is the pronoun 'themselves' offset by commas like an appositive?

texts:
For example: would this sentence be correct?

Termites, themselves, can't break down the cellulose either.


texts:
Please see the following example, I think the ministers are quite specific, not all ministers, just those from the remaining 27 EU countries. So why there is no 'the' preceded?

Ministers from the remaining 27 EU countries have met in Brussels
ahead of the deal being finalised on Sunday.


texts: Stringing two adjectives in one sentence

texts:
I have the sentence: "I am not interested in answering this question"

and the sentence: "I am not able to answer this question"

And I want to make them into one sentence. As you will see, I am struggling.

"I am not interested, nor able to answer this question"
"I am not interested, nor able answering this question"
"I am not interested in, nor able to, answer this question"
"I am not interested in, nor am I able to answer this question"

and so on.

What's the correct form?


texts: Would Religiophobia be an accurate word for dislike of religion? If not, what word is?

texts: Other options I have seen include religiovilia and misallodoxia. Which of these would be the best/most correct for a dislike (not fear) of organized religion?  If none are, what word would be?


texts: When speaking of a problem that has no solution, do the words insolvable, insoluble, and unsolvable have different shades of meaning? How do you decide which to use?


texts: How to determine if I should use "St." or "Saint"?

texts:
I'm referring specifically to city names, though I suppose this applies to other things named after saints.

I'm looking at the Wikipedia pages for my "sources of truth". Saint Paul is fairly split, with 170 instances of "Saint Paul" and 40 instances of "St. Paul".

St. Louis, however, is almost always St. Louis, with only 5 instances of "Saint Louis" and 460 instances of "St. Louis".

I'm looking for any semblance of rhyme or reason here, but I can't seem to find any documentation on this.

I thought it might be official names, but it appears Saint Augustine is officially "City of Saint Augustine", but the text for the page only includes that 4 times (compared to 139), and none of those are in the actual text.


texts: Word for "argument against my current position"?

texts:
Sorry about the badly phrased title. I'm not quite sure what I'm looking for, either.
My situation is that I'm writing a report arguing for the usage of A over B. I have listed many advantages of A, and disadvantages of B.
However, I also want to point out that B still has its own merits, and cases where it is better than A. Is there a word I can use to refer to the section that I argue in favor of B in?
The word would kind of mean arguing against my own current position, or arguing against oneself with intent of providing an alternate perspective.
Thanks!


texts: What should a sentence meant to emphasize something using a question tag end in?

texts:
Consider these two sentences:

But aren't you a superhero?
But aren't you a superhero.

One of them ends in a question mark while the other ends in a full-stop. My grammar checker doesn't respond to either of them. So, which one is correct?


texts:
Is this grammatically correct:
“He normally doesn’t do this.” or do I have to write :
“He doesn’t normally do this”
If the first is not grammatically correct, why not?


texts:
I recently read a sentence containing took them helm, and I cannot understand the meaning of that sentence.

  Looks like [username] did not remove you from the commit list, so I
  cannot answer that. Otherwise, given you complained about this almost 4
  years after the fact, the only thing I could tell is you did not care
  inbetween, or at least it was not important for you to raise a concern.
  Given that, it sounds rational that someone else took them helm, doesn't
  it?

Commit list is the list of the users who can commit code using CVS.

What does the last sentence mean? To what is it referring?


texts:
What is to become of them? = What are they to become?
What has become of them? = What have they become?
What will become of them? = What will they become?

I was wondering if the three equivalences are correct.
What kind of usage is that in general, not just for "become"?


texts: When to use under and over as prefixes rather than adverbs with past participles

texts:
Is there a rule on when under and over are used as prefixes rather than adverbs when attached to past participles (and whether or not they are hyphenated)?

In general, it seems that both words are sufficient as adverbs, e.g., "this paper is under cited."  However, we often see under and over attached as a prefix, e.g., "this paper is under-cited."  In addition there are certain words where under/over are "built-in", e.g., "this company is understaffed."  Is this simply a matter of convention or are there clearer rules on how the words should be paired?  Are there differences in meaning when under is used as an adverb rather than a prefix (e.g., does "under cited" mean something different than "under-cited")?


texts: What part of speech is the word "smiling" in this example?

texts:
The present participial (participle) is formed from the verb stem normally by adding -ing to the infinitive with some variation based on the final letters of the stem. Thus to smile becomes smiling. The participle can act as a nonfinite verb, adjective, noun, or as part of an adverb clause. [The Chicago Manual of Style]

Some examples:

Smiling is good for you. - Noun [Gerund]

I love to see your smiling face. - Adjective

Joe ran from Melissa, smiling as he went. - Nonfinite verb [Joe was smiling]

She was grinning, smiling even, as she walked up to the podium. - Participle phrase being used as an adverb

But what about:

I said, "Look at those two smiling over there!"?


texts: Is there an equivalent English word for Jain concept of "Dharmastikāya" (i.e. Principle of Motion)?

texts:
In Jain cosmology, the universe is made up of six dravya (i.e. substances) one of which is dharma (i.e. Principle of Motion). To quote Wikipedia:

  Dharma means the principles of Motion that pervade the entire universe. Dharma and Adharma are by themselves not motion or rest but mediate motion and rest in other bodies. Without Dharma motion is not possible. The medium of motion helps matter and the sentient that are prone to motion to move, like water (helps) fish. However, it does not set in motion those that do not move.

Is there a word in English which denotes the same concept of “medium in which motion is possible” or the similar concept  of “can move through”? I think I knew such a word but for the life of me I can't remember it right now. Perhaps I'm just projecting my Jain knowledge as English knowledge?

Perhaps an example would be helpful. Consider the following wrong sentence:

  Light can move through water. Hence water conducts light.

Here the word “conducts” is not the right word to use. However, I hope this sentence explains the kind of word that I'm looking for.


texts:
What is the opposite of lenten?

I need some expression for not lenten cookies, is there some?


texts:
What are the meanings of 'oppress', 'repress' and 'suppress'?

Does it matter between Help Help! I'm being oppressed! and Help! Help! I'm being repressed!?


texts:
As a non-English speaker, I always find it's hard to understand the implications of the columnist Charles Krauthammer in his articles as much as I feel admired to his knowledge and word skills. This time, after reading an article about 'art', at his conclusion, I saw Krauthammer used the phrase "back from the edge" in the following context:

"Ah, but every once in a while a burgher arises and says to the artist: No need to report back from the edge. You can stay where you are. We’ll have our afternoon tea without acid, thank you."

that I couldn't figure out what did he want to say in that sentence. Besides, I also couldn't get the idea of "tea without acid" in the last one.
So, could someone kindly help me a hand in this situation? Thank you in advance!


texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  “They are not”: “they're not” versus “they aren't”

I noticed that you aren't in and you're not in are two ways to shorten you are not in.

Are they always interchangeable? Are there situations where you would choose one over the other?


texts:
The problems are threefold.
  The problem is threefold.

Which is the right way to use the -fold suffix?

Note - This question was previously asked by a user whose account has been suspended, so the question was auto-deleted. I'm re-posting now it because I think this is a valid question.


texts: Is there a word such as "history" that refers to a personal past without traditional "historical" connotations?

texts:
I am creating an application that gives information about old buildings. The app has two modes: History mode and Requested Word mode.

History mode would include buildings that are thought of in the typical historical context, e.g., Monticello or the White House.

The other mode would provide details about everyday buildings, e.g., my house. This mode would give information about a building's past in a way similar to how Zillow provides details about a house's previous sale prices and upgrades but without implying any sort of historical relevance.

Is there a reader-friendly word that means "history" or "past" but excludes topics one would cover in a history lesson?


texts: A word that describes both (product) registration and (product) survey data

texts:
A software product that I'm developing for a company has two sections, 'Registration' and 'Survey'.

Registration --
Similar to those postcards you (used to) find when you purchase a product:

Name, Address, Email, Where product was purchased, etc.

Survey -- Most closely resembles Net Promoter Score:

Recommendation (of product) score (scale from 0 to 10),
Reason for recommendation score,
Optional Contact Info (Name, Phone #, Email, etc.)

At times in internal documentation (meaning, their customers will not see this), I need to refer to both types of data and I would like to avoid having to use the specific phrase "survey and registration data" repeatedly.

Examples:
In the "survey and registration data" sections, ...
We send the survey and registration data to ...

I would like to be able to do something like:
The "survey and registration data" sections (hereby referred to as < insert word/phrase here > sections)...

Question:
Is there a word or phrase that might summarize or generalize both types of data?

Searching the internet, there were three possibilities that I considered (including synonyms), but none seemed to describe either or both.

Market Research
This is probably the closest that I could find, but not sure it accurately describes the 'Registration' section.
Demographic
Socioeconomic characteristics of a population expressed statistically, such as age, sex, education level, income level, marital status
(from businessdictionary.com)
Census
A census is a collection of the demographic factors associated with every member of a population. (from same link as above)


texts: Plural possessive with separate possessions

texts:
When we refer to a house that belongs to a family, we say "family's house". Pluralizing family gives us "families". Referring to the houses of several families, we say "families' houses". Forming the plural possessive in such a case is rather simple.

I encountered a more complex use of this recently - referring to a single house owned by a single family in a set of houses owned by a set of families.

We can say "the families' houses" to refer to all of the houses owned by all of the families.

We can say "one of the families' houses" to refer to one of the houses owned by one or more of the families. In this context, "one of" applies to "the families' houses".

If we were instead to apply "one of" to "the families", and want to refer to the one house owned by "one of the families", how would this be written?

My first though was "one of the families's house", taking "one of the families" as a single noun and appending 's to it. This looks (and sounds) a bit strange, though. "One of the families' house" and "one of the family's house"/"one of the family's houses" seem wrong to me, and I can't really determine the correct way to say/write this.

Is there a definitively correct way that this should be written?

EDIT: To clarify, although I think I made it clear, in this context, there are several families, and each owns one house. The goal of the sentence is to refer to one of those houses without stating which specific house. Example: "The players and their families want to celebrate their team's victory; this will likely entail a party at one of the families's house".


texts: When do we use "rarely, hardly, seldom"?

texts: I'd like to know when should we use "rarely" and "hardly" and "seldom". Can we use these adverbs in the same situation? Or do we need to follow some criteria for using those different adverbs?


texts: Meaning of 'to put sth. under the mind for sth.'

texts:
I found the following phrase when reading Ralph W. Emerson's The Poet:

  The world being thus put under the mind for verb and noun,
  the poet is he who can articulate it.

I am not entirely sure what is meant by 'to put sth. under the mind for sth.' and I also did not find this construct in any dictionary. Is this perhaps old English and, if so, what does this phrase mean in modern English?


texts: Adjective for describing a forehand shot in tennis that requires a lot of effort

texts:
I'm looking for an adjective to describe a forehand shot in tennis that requires a lot of effort (from hard hitter, baseliner, e.g. Thiem, Del Potro...) as opposing to an effortless, elegant forehand shot (e.g. from Roger Federer).
I know there're some people who may disagree with my labelling of the tennis players above, but I'm just here to ask for the word. So please bear with me ;)

I've thought of words like physically demanding or demanding, tough... (but they don't sound quite suitable to me); or even effortful (but unfortunately, some dictionaries don't consider it as a correct word).


texts: What's the word for a counterparty of a customer?

texts:
When I want to refer to the people (and organizations) who supply me with the goods and services I consume---that is, those of whom I am a customer---what word do I use?

My candidates:

Customee
Seller
Supplier

"Customee" gets the meaning across, very effectively I assume, by piggybacking on -er and -ee being paired in many other contexts.  However, it sounds awful (IMNSHO).

"Seller" is less foreign to most ears, but only speaks to what the other party does, not specifically that they do it in relation to me.  Also, and this is probably connected, "my sellers" could easily be mistaken for "the salespeople I have hired" or something similar.

"Supplier" doesn't sound too bad and speaks to what they're doing for me.  However, I have heard  that term used more of suppliers of capital goods---that is, inputs to or tools which facilitate production processes; I haven't heard the term used in reference to those who supply me with consumer goods (the things I want "just because").  For that reason, I think it may sow confusion.

What do?


texts: Is "blah blah blah" the most common spelling?

texts:
What is the most common or correct spelling of "blah blah blah"?

blah blah blah
blah blah
bla bla bla
bla bla

My question stems from when I first wrote it as "bla bla bla" in an English text, but a friend told me it should have been written as "blah blah" so I decided to ask here.

Before that I had checked it out on some online English dictionary and Google search but I wasn't able to clear it out.


texts: Where does the food industry term "86" come from?

texts: Such as in "that item is 86, we need to buy more"


texts: How common it is to emphasize a sentence by adding periods between words?

texts:
I am thinking about this style of writing:

  We. Do. Not. Negotiate!

First of all, how would you call that? I have difficulties finding references about it, even though it seems to me that this is quite a  common usage.

Second, is there any reason to avoid this form of writing? Would you consider it to be bad style?

To provide context: no, I do not plan to write with this style. If had to write dialogues, I think I would be inclined to use it. I am under the impression that this a common way of writing, especially in English (I don't know why, but I associate this style with English). I am not a native speaker, though, and I wanted to know how other people feel about this.


texts:
Tell me your secrets, all of the creepy shit.
  That's how I know it's true.
  Baby, direct it, name in the credits,
  like the movies do.

  from "Imagine" by Ariana Grande

I have done research and found that it could be of these meanings:

THEATRE, CINEMA to be in charge of making a movie or program, or getting a play ready for performance, especially by telling the actors and technical staff what to do
Talking directly towards someone

I wish I could know what you guys think of this, what "direct it" means, I'm confused here.


texts:
I asked if he speaks English
I asked if he spoke English

Speak or spoke?
Colloquially, is it correct to say speaks?


texts: Word for popular conception of a period of history

texts: Recently, I listened to the Heroes and Legends course from The Great Courses. At one point, the author said a word which he defined as something along the lines of "Popular (and often exaggerated) conception of a historical period". I think he specifically mentioned the old west and said that it really only lasted about a lifetime (but he might have mentioned Medieval Europe, too). I don't remember the word he used, however. What is it?


texts: What is a word or phrase for an apology made after you've already reaped the benefits or escaped the consequences of an action?

texts:
I'm thinking about the Montana congressman-elect Greg Gianforte and his apology to the reporter he assaulted after initially denying it and winning his election.

The general idea I'm after is waiting until your misdeed has served its purpose before apologizing.


texts: Is "targetted" a standard British English spelling?

texts: Wiktionary says that the difference between "targetting" and "targeting" is that the first one is a British spelling and the second one is American. Meanwhile, Oxford Dictionaries says that "targetting" is a misspelling of "targeting". Which of them is correct? Is it the case that if I would write "focussing" rather than "focusing", then I should write "targetting" instead of "targeting"?


texts: What do you call a type of person you don't want to become?

texts: Say this person had every single personality trait that you despised. Somebody that you don't want to be like or be associated with. What would this type of person be called?


texts: From the statistics point of view, does an estimator may have a bias or it may be biased?

texts:
Will it be correct to state that a statistical estimator may be biased, or that I must state that the above estimator may have a bias?

Is it acceptable to add the /-ed/ to the word bias in the above conditional future form?


texts:
I'm translating English to Hindi, what's it called when the translations are with English characters?

For example, "love" comes up as "Pyāra" and "प्यार". I need the "Pyāra" word in my dictionary.


texts: is/are + past participle vs. have been + past particple

texts:
So I am really confused when to use past participle and have been + p.p

For example

In situations like the ones below

  Are these dishes washed?
  Have these dishes been washed?
  (Washed and the dishes were being dried )
  The boxes have been taken away
  The boxes are taken away
  (Already gone by the time we got there)


texts: How to pronounce -MENT as in moment and environment?


texts: If a client is someone we sell to, what do we call those we buy from?

texts:
We say client list or customers for people we offer our goods or services, but what word should I use for the company I buy the goods from?

Is that also a client?


texts: Why did 'verboten' come into use when we already have 'forbidden'?

texts: Why did 'verboten' come into use when English already has a perfectly good word, 'forbidden', that means exactly the same thing but is much more widely understood? Is there a subtle difference that I do not get?


texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  Which day does “next Tuesday” refer to?

Suppose today is Tuesday. What do last Monday, this Monday and next Monday mean?


texts: Am I using the semicolon correctly in this example?

texts: When school is over and got nothing to do; wouldn't it be better if you could do something with your friends or family?


texts: What is meant by "Nothing up your sleeves"

texts:
Background: Hi, this one is my first question on this site. Until now I was just a developer asking for help on stackoverflow.com.

So today I was watching the movie Now you see me, where they all get caught and then Jesse Eisenberg tells the cop "Listen you have what we call in business Nothing up your sleeves".

What I have tried:

So I tried to Google it, using define nothing up your sleeves but no answer or definition came up! So I tried to go to some other sites. But no success!

My Question:

All that I know is that this is something about magic, like magicians have a card up their sleeves! But what is meant by that phrase or whatever, I am not sure.

That why I asked the question. What is meant by: "Nothing up your sleeves"?


texts: How “Barely better-than-even-odd” success is better as compared with 50:50 success?

texts:
According to Washington Post’s Breaking News Alert (May 8), President Obama faced sharply divided counsel and, in his mind, barely better-than-even odds of success when he ordered the daring May 1 commando raid that killed al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, the president said in an interview broadcast Sunday. "At the end of the day, this was still a 55/45 situation," Obama told CBS's "60 Minutes"

To me if the chance is 51 vs. 49, it seems to be “barely” better than even odd. But 55/45 chance looks not very, but ‘significantly positive’ mark if I’m asked to challenge. YMMV.

Of course criterion of judgment varies by status and situation you are placed in and magnitude of consequence you expect. But from purely rhetorical point of view, is 10% margin categorized in “barely better-than-even” range?


texts: Are androphilic males persons with a homosexual erotic development?

texts:
I come across the following piece and don't understand the last sentence in the light of the first one.

  This suggests that the resulting proportion of true pedophiles among persons with a homosexual erotic development is greater than that in persons who develop heterosexually. This, of course, would not indicate that androphilic males have a greater propensity to offend against children.

More precisely, I don't understand who the 'androphilic males' are not included among the 'persons with a homosexual erotic development' and, as a consequence, don't understand what that piece means.

So, from a strictly language perspective, can anybody explain why "androphilic males" would not be included among 'persons with a homosexual erotic development'?

Reference → http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1556756


texts:
I'm into the marine fish hobby and quite a few are aggressive to those that are too similar; usually fish that are congeneric to themselves; however most people just refer to the group as conspecifics.  The point being, much of the vernacular in the trade can't be taken literally.

I was looking up a specific fish and in the description was, "It is best not to keep [it] with fish of the same genera".  It makes sense to me that it shouldn't be kept with members of its genus, but how can it be in the same genera?  Does that mean within the same family?  Was the word just used incorrectly or am I not understanding the usage?


texts:
What's a word for someone who enjoys giving others pleasure?

Basically the opposite of schadenfreude, schadenfreude being pleasure derived from the misfortunes of others.

I'm looking for a word that means pleasure derived from giving others pleasure.

EDIT
Did a bunch more googling and found the answer. I don't know how to delete this question though.
What's the antonym for Schadenfreude?


texts: Should we write "writing any stuff" or " writing any stuffs"?

texts: What do we use with any? Stuff being a collective noun takes singular verb but again I checked the word "stuffs" is right.So those stuffs is/are?


texts: "Accuse as" in comparison to "accuse of"

texts:
I stumbled upon this sentence:

  I accuse myself and others as having been irrational in the way we have been using statistics on a key notion of rationality.

Is there a difference in meaning/usage between "accuse X as" and "accuse X of"? Are they used in different contexts? Intuitively I prefer "accuse X of" every time.


texts: Can I say "trees were shaking" because of the wind? Or should it be "moving" or something else?

texts:
The strong wind blew and all the trees in our mini park were ...

What word should I use here? I mean that situation when the wind is strong enough to cause the trees to make some motions, yet not be uprooted (like in case of hurricane)


texts: Why does “today’s lesson” seem to be possessive?

texts:
Why do we say the following?

  I'll have an hour's wait at the airport
  Today's lesson
  Yesterday's programme
  Two weeks' worth of groceries.

They are not possessive, or are they? Why is the possessive apostrophe used with time expressions and adverbs?


texts:
What is the meaning of as in as written by?

(I've searched everywhere, including many dictionaries, and I've googled it, but there isn't the slightest sign of what that as means, and I thought that no definition for as was proper in this situation.)

Is written by a shortened form of as written by? That is, does it always literally mean as written by, but sometimes we shorten it to written by? If not, what is the difference?
Which one is better to use in the following sentence?

  ... my prescription information pamphlets as written by [or just plain written by] my father.


texts: Is there a word for what one feels when they have a shift in perception/change of view because of exposure to opposing ideas?

texts:
For example, a pious person who, out of curiosity or due diligence, reads a variety of secular work or attends events of that nature, which, even slightly, makes that person doubt their faith (or at least make them less sure of their previously strongly-held beliefs)?

Another is when a staunch capitalist is exposed to leftist economic theories and begins to understand their points and considers them, whereas before they would've hand-waved them away immediately.

In short, a word to describe that "I was blind but now I see" feeling (but not totally converted to the other side)?


texts: I have the feeling that the word one is not always pronounced in all accents (but I cannot say which exactly) with the same vowel that cup or love. I believe that with accents where we pronounce cup [kɐp], we pronounce one [wɐn], but with accents where we prounouce cup differently, we often pronounce one [wɐn] or even [wän]. Is that a right feeling ?


texts: Can I say "Which area of triangle a or triangle b is larger"?

texts:
I am a math teacher in Asia. In one math question there are two triangles, A and B. I want to ask which has the larger area. Should I ask:

  "Which area of triangle a or triangle b is larger"?

or

  "Which triangle, a or b, has a larger area"?


texts:
I'm trying to come up with an noun that communicates a widespread problem.  Namely, the fact that 1 person has such a problem isn't a bad thing, but the fact that so many people have this problem is the issue.

I've come up with pandemic, but a pandemic is a huge problem that is also widespread.

What's the word for a little problem that is made big because it is widespread?


texts: Is "more certain  than " grammatically correct?

texts:
This sentence is correct:

  I am more certain that he is healthy than that he is wealthy.

But is it still correct with both instances of the word that removed?

  I am more certain he is healthy than he is wealthy.

For some reason, the latter sentence doesn't seem as correct to me as the former one.


texts: Can actions be one-off orlast for a period? Is it correct to say "He hid behind the door a few minutes ago and now he is hiding behind the door"?

texts:
Let's say, a light is now in its off-state (not operating) and then I pressed the switch and I say "I turned on the light"
And now the light is in its on-state (operating) and we say "The light is on now".
So, for the verb "to turn on the light", we have an adjective "on" to express its state.
Do we say "I closed my eyes 1 minute ago and now you don't see them because they are closed" or "I closed my eyes 1 minute ago and now you don't see them because I am closing my eyes"?
Do we say "I covered my face with a blanket 1 minute ago and now you don't see it because it is under the blanket" or "I covered my face with a blanket 1 minute ago and now you don't see it because I am covering it with a blanket"?
Do we say "He hid behind the door a few minutes ago now you don't see him because he is hiding behind the door" or "He hid behind the door a few minutes ago and now you don't see him because he is behind the door"?
But some verbs can be both one-off and state.
For example, "I saw her a few minutes ago and now I see her". We don't need a completely different structure to express the state of "see".
or, "I kissed her 1 minute ago and now I am kissing her"
or, "I listened to the song 1 minute ago and now I am listening to the song"
or, "I lay in bed 1 minute ago and now I am lying in bed"


texts: Is this sentence structure conversationally forgivable?

texts:
We're given transcripts of interviews with women that we then turn into TV commercials. The lady says this:

"My washing powder will help me achieve my dreams by looking neat and presentable every day."

My problem with it is that it assumes the washing powder is looking neat and presentable.

I don't know if I'm being too anal. Is this sentence conversationally forgivable or is it grammatically incorrect?


texts:
I overheard Alex talking to his brother-in-law, Bobby, about making
  a… a run.

Is there an another meaning of 'making a run'?

This is a dialogue from a TV show.
And Alex who is a mayor candidate committed a crime.
So he wants to cover it.
He doesn't want to run away.

However, I found 'make a run' in dictionary and It says 'escape' 'attempt to win/or do something'.
So I wonder there is an another meaning of 'making a run' that makes sense of this dialogue.

Please help me understand it perfectly!
(My native language is not English, please be kind to me. :-))


texts: I am working on a record, documenting archived data. I need a single word to describe someone who enters data, disposes of records. Example of a tab I have created: Disposal (Name). I would like to explain what name I need, for example, the person who disposed of the document.


texts:
Why was she absent today for the morning class?
              Is it right? Some one please answer me. l have a doubt about usage of was along with today.


texts: Grammaticality of "The victim was found by a passer-by with stab wounds"

texts:
I just heard a radio news report on a murder: "The victim was found by a passer-by with stab wounds".

Surely this should read: "The victim, with stab wounds, was found by a passer-by"?


texts:
In an English test book I found the exercise

That is a book. The book is thick. That book isn't thin. This is an interesting thick book.

Another one example

This is a compuer. The computer isn't old. This compuer is new. This is a good new computer.

I know the rule:

Use the to refer something that has already been mentioned.

I understand it like this:
That is a book. - The book is being introduced for the first time. We use the indefinite article.
The book is thick. - The book is being introduced for the second time. So we use the definite article.
That book isn't thin. - "That" is a demonstrative pronoun. Before the word "book" we should use no article.
This is an interesting thick book. - Why is there an indefinite article? We mentioned the book for the third time. We know about this book. I thought the sentence must be like "This is the interesting thick book."
The first mention - a/an. The second (third/fourth) mention - the
Please explain this situation?
Maybe it is due to "This is an interesting thick book." We mentioned the book, not the interesting thick book/ So the interesting thick book is the new information for us.
I think I understand! Am I right?


texts: Why do we say "It's time we ate" and not "It's time we eat"?

texts:
Why do we use the simple past but not the present or future in the following expressions:

Don't you think it's time we went a little further
Don't you think it's time we ate
Don't you think it's time we went home


texts: Hyphenating "Pulitzer Prize winning" as adjective

texts:
I'm looking for authority on hyphenating the following phrase with a compound modifier. Which is correct?

She was a Pulitzer Prize winning reporter, or
She was a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter, or
She was a Pulitzer-Prize-winning reporter

The Chicago Manual of Style 17th ed. at sections 5.92 and 5.93 covers some of this topic, but doesn't seem conclusive on this particular case.


texts: Other words or phrases for "Little Black Book"

texts:
I'm trying to find if there are any other words or phrases that have a similar meaning to Little Black Book. More looking along the lines of a word or phrase to mean a list or book where you keep important information, but usually about other people.

  Little Black Book: n. a book containing the names and addresses of acquaintances who are potential dates, usually put
  together by men. Am I in your little black book, or can you
  already tell that I wouldn't go out with you?

(McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions)


texts: Is Be, Do and Have all we can talk about?

texts:
I have heard that theoretically you can classify all things you can possibly talk/write about into 3 categories i.e. be, do and have. People and things can be something, do something and have something, but that is it. (Beliefs, experiences and intentions fall under the Have category; we have beliefs, experiences and intentions.)

What is the significance of this? Is it true (is it possible to categorize all sentences into these 3 categories with nothing left over)?


texts: A neutral idiom with the same basic meaning of "For your information"

texts: Is there a more neutral way of saying "for your information"? As far as I know, it is often used to express impatience, or to be assertive that someone is wrong about something.


texts: Imperative vs. cohortative in a scientific paper

texts:
Which of the following is more correct to use in a scientific paper?

  Consider the set A..., Recall that the set A..., Put the set A...

or

  Let us consider the set A..., Let us recall that the set A..., Let us put the set A...


texts: Correct usage of determiners and prepositions

texts:
I am confused between two sentences:

  The houses in the cities are more beautiful than that of villages.
  The houses in the cities are more beautiful than those in the villages.

Which one is more appropriate in usage?


texts: What is a general word for one who creates an image, either by painting, drawing or other forms of illustrating?

texts:
A writer is someone who writes anything: a comic book, an article, an essay, etc.
What would we call someone who creates an image by any means?
The word 'artist' is too broad, but the 'painter' is too narrow, while 'illustrator' doesn't quite capture it nicely. What is a better word?


texts: Why do some words have "X" as a substitute?

texts:
Why do people sometimes substitute x for letters in a word?

Examples:

Xing
Xmas
Xfr


texts: Love Experiences? Like Bonuses? Are these question fragments correct grammatically?

texts:
Or are they a product of digitalization of writing, where we shorten everything?!
"Love Experiences?" "Like Bonuses? Get more Rewards and Discounts" ...can one use these statements in writing or would it be considered grammatically incorrect?


texts: "It is through experiences that you experience the world." - avoid repetition

texts:
"It is through experiences that you experience the world."

How can I say the same phrase, either replacing the world "experiences" or "experience"? I was thinking "It is through experiences that you live the world.", but does it make sense?

Thank you!


texts: conditionals: what's the difference between these two sentences?

texts:
There is a sentence in a paragraph from the novel 'And the Mountains Echoed':

  "But these were gestures, Abdullah knew, acts of duty, drawn from a
  well far shallower than the one she reached into for Iqbal. If one
  night their house caught fire, Abdullah knew without doubt which
  child Parwana would grab rushing out."

The scenario is described in the past tense.

But I learned that for conditional unreal things happened in the past, we can use the past perfect tense. So can I change the sentence to:

  If one night their house had caught fire, Abdullah knew without
  doubt which child Parwana would have grabbed rushing out.

Can I assume that the first sentence using the simple past tense refers to a conditional situation in the past (we don't know it happened or not) yet the second sentence using the past perfect tense refers to not only a conditional situation in the past but also something that didn't happen in the past?
If the paragraph used the present tense like:
But these are gestures, Abdullah knows, acts of duty, draw from a well far shallower than the one she reaches into for Iqbal. If one night their house * caught * fire, Abdullah knows without doubt which child Parwana would grab rushing out.

In this case, could I assume that the "If sentence" describes something that happens now even if the simple past tense is used?


texts: What is the word for "demand something without saying it"?

texts:
What is the word/expression/phrase/idiom for "demand something without saying it"?

For instance, if my father expects me to "show" respect by standing up when he walks into the room, I could say - My father ______________ (demand without saying it) respect. He will not say that I have to stand up, but he will be passive-aggressive if I don't show respect.


texts: What's the word or phrase for how one's body's health or behavior is unique to them?

texts: Each person has their own physiological sense of smell or taste, which makes them like some foods and hate others (e.g. my family thinks durians smell like heaven, my chem teacher finds them nauseating). Their body make-up is also unique which makes them susceptible to certain diseases, while immune to others (e.g. some have deadly allergies, while others almost never get sick). What would be the proper term or phrase to refer to that uniqueness? Could it be "physiological make-up" or something, like "genetic/psychological make-up"?


texts: Is it rude to say "none of your business"?

texts:
I'm often asked in shops variations of this question:

  Where are you from? (Which country, zipcode?)

Frankly, it's none of their business,
but I feel it's somehow rude to say that so directly.

Typically, shop attendants or some sort of sales representatives ask this for data collection purposes, in various situations. They usually claim they do this to improve their services. Even so, I don't like giving away this bit of private information to somebody I've just met. At the same time, I understand that these people are just doing their jobs, and I don't want to be rude to them.

Is this rude to say? Or is there a better way to make my point without having to explain myself?


texts: What is the relationship name of my wife's father's sister's son to me?

texts: Actually i'm filling leave form, which has field reasons for leave.


texts:
in -> inner

out -> outer / (outter?)

What is the history or set of rules behind why 'inner' doubles the 'n' but 'outer' doesn't double the 't'?


texts: Use of ligatures such as æ and œ in English

texts:
As part of learning the language, I've noticed that ligatures such as æ and œ are no longer common in English. The ligatures are said to be primarily eschewed in favour of the digraphs ae or oe (mayhap due to technological limitations such as in use of typewriters and ASCII); however, they are not common either in handwritten English. Moreover, Unicode allows us to easily insert such graphemes while typing (e.g. to type those letters on Windows you would press Alt+0198 and Alt+0230 for Æ, and Alt+0140 and Alt+0156 for Œ).

Archæology is now more usually written as archaeology. Even in American English it is common to see the word spelled archeology, completely omitting the a.

Why is this?

Would it be still right to use a ligature for, e.g., supernovæ instead of supernovae?

Having observed other languages such as French, Danish, Norwegian, etc. I can say that ligatures are still common elsewhere. In French, for example, æ’s are mainly replaced with accents, but œ’s are very common in words such as cœur, sœur, œuvre, etc.

Of course, personally and subjectively, I consider ligatures to be beautiful and elegant, which add yet another matt flavour to the English language.


texts:
What does this phrase in the song Wow - Kate Bush mean?

  We're all alone on the stage tonight.
  We've been told we're not afraid of you.
  We know all our lines so well, uh-huh.
  We've said them so many times:
  Time and time again,
  Line and line again.

  Ooh, yeah, you're amazing!
  We think you're incredible.
  You say we're fantastic,
  But still we don't head the bill.

  Wow! Wow! Wow! Wow! Wow! Wow! Unbelievable!


texts:
I am writing a critical report where I'm comparing different definitions of art. I came across this one:

  Danto's definition has been glossed as follows: something is a work of art if and only if it has a subject (ii) about which it projects some attitude or point of view (has a style) (iii) by means of rhetorical ellipsis (usually metaphorical) which ellipsis engages audience participation in filling in what is missing, and (iv) where the work in question and the interpretations thereof require an art historical context.

In the final condition (iv), what do they mean by "art historical context"?


texts: What is a word that means both silly and scary?

texts: To find music, my friend and I were trying to think of a word that means both silly and scary. She says that she knows she's used it before but can't remember it. Any ideas?


texts: Is it "convince someone to" or "convince someone of"?

texts:
I've always thought that the use of the preposition 'to' with the verb 'convince' is correct. But I recently learned from a reliable source that 'to' shouldn't be used with 'convince' but rather with 'persuade'. So instead of saying for instance 'I should try to convince him to work harder', I'd rather say 'I should try to convince him of his ability to work harder' or 'I should try to convince him that he can work harder' or 'I should persuade him to work harder.'

Honestly, I'm still perplexed. Could anyone shed some light?


texts: Meaning of "if you're on one like me in mind"?

texts:
It's from Bruno Mars's song "Finesse", somehow I don't get it. Context:

Fellas, grab your ladies if your lady fine

Tell her she the one, she the one for life

Ladies, grab your fellas and let's do this right

If you're on one like me in mind


texts: Putting a good friend to bed in an insult match

texts:
A mate of mine is slightly larger than I am ( I could do with a few less pints a week, if you catch my drift?) and we give out each other every time we see each other. I like him really. Actually really lovely to everyone else. Great lad. Today we both agreed that we are going to do tough mudder... all signed up. I'm bricking it too so I thought I'd be nice and literally not poke his belly. The W anchor has just started on me via text and ( here's where I'd love your help) I want to a tell him that I forgot to tell him that he is fat today (sorry if this offends any one, but this is our standard banter) im battling grammatically and with this sentence... also I feel that it could be followed with a punchier ending.

Please offer up a line to end all arguments in which he might try rebuttal (he will) I'm not looking for anything hurtful nor am I looking for anything too... soft. Side with me on this one ladies and gents... he LOVES to give it out.  PS I'm not a bully and am slightly afraid that i will be called one... it's just that he was slimmer than I only 6 months ago before he discovered his love of pizza and milkshakes and walking half pace and making up excuses not to go to the gym xxx


texts: It's my nerves vs. It's getting on my nerves

texts:
What is the difference between:

  It is my nerves

and:

  It is getting on my nerves

Are they alike? In what situation do we use the first one and second one? Can I use one instead of the other?


texts:
I was interviewed 3 days ago which went well and It was my last interview with respective department Head for the position. I didn't receive any reply after the interview so I contacted the HR guy through email and asked about the status of my application. He responded "I didn’t go through. I wish you best luck for future."

I am a bit confused now as I don't get it If he mistakenly wrote "I" instead of "you" to inform me I am rejected or he wants to say he didn't go through and he is waiting for a response from Head of the department?

I would appreciate the help.


texts: Is there any difference between "post" and "position"?

texts:
I know that both post and position are polysemic and have a lot of non-overlapping meanings, but I am asking about the following definitions:

position: a post of employment: a position in a bank.
post: a position of duty, employment, or trust to which one is assigned or appointed: a diplomatic post.

In this meanig, are these two words completely interchangeable or are there any slight differences in the meaning? The question arose when I wrote

[He] applied for the position of head of human resources at [a big company].

and my teacher corrected position to post. When I asked her why, she just said that in that particular context post sounded right and position sounded wrong (to her British ears).
So, what is the difference between post and position and why (if my teacher is right) is post preferable to position in my sample sentence?


texts:
The phrase " be up against something(someone)" means to confront someone, or to have deal with something. For example:

  He is going to be up against them.

But where does the phrase come from, and what is the meaning of the word "up" there?


texts:
What does it mean to "draw back a stump" in this sentence?

  "Keep touching me like that, and you'll draw back a stump."


texts:
There's some context:

  In this direction M. Loisy has done noble and excellent work; but the dead weight and selfish blinkerdom of the Catholic organization has hampered him to that degree that he has been unable to get justice done to his liberalizing designs or, perhaps, even to reveal the full extent of them. And the same difficulty will remain.

Is it a synonym for "blindness"?


texts: Words with opposite meanings in different regions

texts: I can't recall it, but there is a word in American English which now means the opposite of itself in British English. What words are there that have opposite (not just different) meanings in different regions?


texts: How do I pluralize Italian foods, like pasta noodles (spaghetti, macaroni)?

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  Was the usage “Spaghetti were” ever acceptable or common?
  What does Maugham mean by “his spaghetti were”?

Is it proper to say spaghettis for more than one spaghetti noodle?  What about macaronis as a plural for more than one macaroni noodle?


texts:
I'm a junior high school student from Taiwan.

I've been studying English in Canada ever since I was a toddler. I came back to Taiwan three years ago to study my primary language, Chinese. Throughout these years, I realized that my English has become rusty, and I am unable to point out mistakes as quickly as before.

Due to there not being any native English speakers around me, I decided to take this question to the internet.

Please look at the question given below. I wrote the answer (C), but the answer is (A). The more I reread it, the more I think that (A) works as well, but at the same time, answer (C) doesn't sound wrong to me either.

Do both answers work, or is there really only one?

Please try to be as detailed as possible! Thank you very much!

Brush your teeth "_____" first, "_____" you can enjoy your breakfast.

(A) X ; and
(B) the ; then
(C) X ; then
(D) the ; and


texts: Equivalent of homonym for terms and phrases

texts:
A homonym is a word with two distinct meanings, for instance:

  chase (from dict.org)

  To pursue for the purpose of killing or taking, as an enemy, or game; to hunt.        [1913 Webster]
  To cut, so as to make a screw thread.
      [1913 Webster]

Does homonym apply to terms (esp. colloquial) or phrases as well?

For instance, wife beater refers to either a type of shirt or a person who physically abuses their wife.

Is there a word or term that describes this type of word or phrase?


texts: What is the meaning of 'fly' in: "I wonder how many real amber mouth-pieces there are in London? Some people think that a fly in it is a sign."

texts:
I am quoting The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, The Yellow Face By Arthur Conan Doyle.
Is it some kind of brand of amber-stemmed pipes that has a fly as a logo or what?


texts: Is this correct: "I didn't skip gym for no reason"

texts:
I was having a conversation with my coworkers, and we just can't seem to agree on what is the grammatically correct way to say this.

In the context of the conversation, he was trying to express that he skipped his gym session in order to attend a club meeting.

I think the correct way to say this would be "I skipped gym for a reason." instead of "I didn't skip gym for no reason."
For one, his statement actually means he "worked out" for "no reason", but you can hardly tell what it's saying with the double negatives in there.

Everyone else in the office seems to disagree with me though, and I think I'm going crazy. Is that actually proper English?


texts: How would I say "Time it takes to fall after casting" as short as possible?

texts: As said in the title. The "Time it takes to fall after casting" is only for a title and should not show a time.


texts: Is “There is no sewer one isn’t willing to swim in for one’s master” a popular expression?

texts:
I found the phrase, “There is no sewer he wasn’t willing to swim in for his master” in the following sentence in Jeffrey Archer’s novel, “False Impression.”

“Fenston looked down at a man who had proved, time and time again, that there was no sewer he wasn’t willing to swim in for his master. But then Fenston was the only person who had been willing to offer Leapman a job after he’d been released from jail.”

As we have the similar cliché, “水火も辞せず- be willing to jump in fire and water (for his master / mission)” in Japanese, I was interested in this expression.

So I searched the phrase on Google to confirm its exact usage. All I could find were a stack of the same clips from “False Impression” and no English dictionaries at hand carry this expression as an idiom.

Is “There is no sewer one isn’t willing to swim in for one’s master” an established English idiom, or just a phrase coined by Jeffrey Archer?


texts:
Consider these sentences:

  I created an implementation of a semaphore in terms of a mutex.

This is very easy to interpret. The author created a thing called semaphore in terms of one other thing, a mutex.

  I created an implementation of a semaphore in terms of mutexes.

This is fairly easy. The author created a thing called semaphore in terms of many mutexes.

  I created implementations of semaphores in terms of a mutex.

Asuming you need a thing mutex to create a semaphore, I think this sentence means create many semaphores in terms of a mutex. This sentence is wrong. Am I correct?

  I created implementations of semaphores in terms of mutexes.

I do not understand what this means. I don't know if it means a mutex per semaphore or many mutex per semaphore.

The real paragraph can be found here:
https://mitpress.mit.edu/sites/default/files/sicp/full-text/book/book-Z-H-23.html#%_sec_3.4.2

My questions are:

Can anyone explain what the last sentence exactly mean?
Are all my interpretations in the previous sentences correct?


texts: How to use "you are so lame!" or "you are so retard!" with friends?

texts:
I heard lots of these words from my colleagues.

Definitions in Dictionary do not help me much.

What I really want to know is what these words actually mean when using with friends and what situation we can use them.
(A frequently used situation would be really appreciated.)

Also, are they offensive?


texts:
In Scottish English, I know that the word summat is used in place of standard something. But what's the etymology of this pronoun?

It seems unlikely to me that summat could be merely a variant pronunciation of something. It also seems likely that the sum- part is from some, as with something, though I haven't a clue what the rest of it could be.


texts: Is “Open kimono with somebody” a popular English phrase?

texts:
According to AP and other news sources, Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase acknowledged that his bank slipped-up $2 billion losses incurred by their trading and that the matter is now under investigation by regulators. Dimon told in NBC’s “Meet the Press”:

  “Of course, regulators should look at something like this. It’s their job. We are totally open kimono with regulators. And they will come to their own conclusion and we intend to fix it, learn from it and be a better company when it’s done.”

I am interested in the phrase, “We are totally open kimono with regulators” as I understand ‘Kimono’ is Japanese equivalent to dress.

Is “Open kimono with somebody” a popular English (or American) idiom or phrase?

Can I say “open dress with somebody” instead of using “Kimono”? If not, what are alternative idioms meaning “open up one’s mind”?


texts:
The title pretty much summarizes my question. For example, in the following sentence

  She has developed an accent while living overseas, which as of late(ly) became more pronounced.

I usually hear people say either as of recently or as of late, and one of those is bound to be grammatically incorrect. Or is it?


texts: What is another word for the act of making a decision?

texts: One word for the act of making a decision. Not looking back. Moving on


texts:
A particularly quotable 1970s British comedy film includes the following pseudo-old-english instructions for dispatching a troublesome foe:

  First shalt thou take out the Holy Pin, then shalt thou count to
  three, no more, no less. Three shall be the number thou shalt count,
  and the number of the counting shall be three. Four shalt thou not
  count, neither count thou two, excepting that thou then proceed to
  three. Five is right out. Once the number three, being the third
  number, be reached, then lobbest thou thy Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch
  towards thy foe, who, being naughty in My sight, shall snuff it.

What is the meaning of "right out" in this context? It does not sound like something from old english, so I assume it's an expression relevant to 1970s British English. For those unfamiliar with the operation of hand grenades, typically the number "five" would correspond with the explosion of said grenade. This leads me to believe that the phrase means "insane", "incredibly stupid", or something similar, but I have been unable to find any references to support this.

Edit:

I am already familiar with a number of uses of the phrase "right out":

The horse stopped right out of the gate.

We're right out of peanut butter.

The water leaked right out of the jug.

The play was right out of the handbook.

I'll be right out!

Take a right out of the driveway.

He left it right out in the open.

Despite doing a reasonable amount of research, I was only able to find references that were similar to the uses above. None seemed to match the apparent use in the quote.


texts: What is the pronunciation for the word 'pluriharmonic'?

texts:
Maybe this problem is a bit too trivial for some people. I could not find any dictionary giving me a pronunciaiton for the word 'pluriharmonic'. Google does not work, either.
Will someone be kind enough to give me a pronunciation for this word? It is a word from mathematics. I guess since it is a compound word, 'pluri-harmonic' may be its correct form.
So will someone give me some information on the 'pluri' part? How is it pronounced?
Thank you very much!


texts: Cannot use the official phobia definition

texts:
What would be the best way to replace “afraid of dead people” with a single word in this sentence:

  A girl afraid of the dead protects nonviolent monsters ripped off their humanity from the atrocious humans, which are prepared to do anything not to become monsters they once were.

This is a logline for a script so it must be so simple that a child understands it without looking up in books or similar. I will probably cut out “ripped off their humanity” in the end version.


texts:
I was wondering where the phrase "on the blink" comes from. According to the OED the first recorded usage is from

  1901   ‘H. McHugh’ John Henry 83   A stranglehold line of business
  that will put Looey Harrison on the blink.

But what is the relationship between the word "blink" and its usage in this phrase?


texts: Question about the Possessive with Multiple Parties

texts:
Suppose I want to refer to the widget owned by me and Susan.

Then do I say "you are welcome to use Susan's and my widget"? (Sounds awkward.)

Or "you are welcome to use the widget owned by Susan and I"? (Too long, clunky.)

How do I say this correctly? I would prefer not to rearrange the phrase altogether to avoid the problem. How do I correctly format the possessive with the multiple parties?


texts:
I'm not sure about the verb tense I should use here:

  Run this definition so that the previous changes become/became visible.

I think the correct one is Present Simple but it sounds better with Past Simple.


texts: Technically, would the contraction "I'm" be a sentence?

texts:
Way back in high school, I asked my English teacher a question while we were on the topic of sentence fragments.

If the words "I am." make a complete sentence, then would the contraction "I'm" be a full sentence too?

She was not able to answer me. Hopefully someone here can change that.

Note: Before someone marks this as duplicate to this: Is there some rule against ending a sentence with the contraction "it's"?

I want to say that this question asks if a contraction by itself can be a full sentence or not.


texts: Is there a word for the person sought by a suitor?

texts:
I have designed a game that involves parents' arranging marriages for their children (think pre-modern European nobility).  I need terms to describe the person (male or female) for whom a match is being sought, as well as the person that the parents are attempting to match him or her with.

It would be great if there actually were specific terms for this sort of thing (where the prospective bride and groom are not active participants), but I'm unaware of any and I'm not expecting to find them.  Therefore, I am willing to settle for the term "suitor" for the person for whom a marriage is being sought (even though it sounds more active than it is).  However, I can't find any word that would remotely signify the match sought.  Logically, it could be "suitee," but that doesn't actually seem to exist (besides the fact that it sounds a little too close to suttee).

I would settle for any reasonable pair of words that would indicate the sought/seeking relationship, e.g. wooer/wooee, if it sounds halfway reasonable (which wooer and wooee do not) and will be readily understood.

Edit:  For a sample sentence, "You [as a player] select one of your heirs as the suitor, and another player's heir as the ______."


texts: Recently I often hear or read the expression 'deflationary environment' as something bad for he economy. I may assume that its opposite might be something good, but what is the opposite of deflationary. Plus, what is a more appropriate  way to say that a deflationary environment is 'bad' for the economy.


texts: An adjective for someone who likes sweets?

texts:
I am writing something and want know, is there a particular word I can use to describe a sweet thief or a person who likes to eat too many sweets?

I'm looking for an adjective.


texts:
I know that in this example

  I find it quite hard to do something

the verb "to find" must be followed by the pronoun "it".  But what if I say

  One thing I found "it" to get used to doing is…

Shall I use "it" in this phrase? as I'm saying "One thing" first so, which one is correct?

One thing I found it hard to get used to doing…
One thing I found hard to get used to doing…

Just to give more details as this was actually a kind of an indirect question i was asked
" (tell me) One thing you find/found it hard / difficult to get used to doing."
Let's say the question above was the original sentence . But the "one thing" phrase I found "it " difficult to understand and i took it as the direct object.


texts: Is it "multi-element" or "multi-elemental"? "Multi-attribute" or "multi-attributed"?

texts:
I've seen both being used, so I'm having a hard time telling which one is correct. Logic dictates that it's supposed to be "multi-elemental" and "multi-attributed," considering we have "multicolored," "multiparous," and "multilateral," so you should use -adjective, but then I thought about how we have five-story buildings, three-star restaurants, and the like, in which we have -noun, so that threw me for a loop (and it doesn't help that there's an entry for "multielement" in the Merrian-Webster online dictionary).
On a related note, would the answer of this question also apply when multi- is replaced by another term, such as fire- or light- (as in, fire-attributed [or fire-elemental] damage), or is multi- a special case?
Below are some examples, for reference. Rather embarrassing ones, I guess, given the lack of context, but they are the situations I have in mind, in any case.

He suffered multielemental/multielement (multiattribute/multiattributed) damage.
That is a fire-attribute/attributed spell.
A multielement/multielemental (multiattribute/multiattributed) sigil. (In other words, a sigil comprised of multiple elements.)

If it helps, the meaning "element" has in the sentences above is the following (taken from the Cambridge Dictionary):

Earth, air, fire, and water from which people in the past believed everything else was made

And yes, before anyone comments on it, I know that when using "fire," "light," and similar terms, I can just remove -attribute/attributed (-element/elemental) and use those terms directly as adjectives, but I also want to have the option to use them as compound words.


texts:
Alice believes that everyone should own a cat. Bob, the animal expert, has claimed that cats are superior animals and perfect as household pets.
In this sense, Alice and her devotion to cat-owning would find a ______ in Bob.

Sorry for the awkward example -- I'd basically like a word that expresses that Alice and Bob have similar beliefs. You might imagine that they'd get along well if they were to meet each other. My attempt was "companion," but this is still pretty far off from the idea I'm trying to express.


texts: Would you say, "a flat of which windows were broken" or "a flat of which the windows were broken"? Of course the best solution is "A flat the windows of which" or "whose windows".


texts: Irregular plurals. Leathermans or Leathermen?

texts: Which plural do you use for a word that should have a regular plural but ends with a word that has its own irregular one? The example that made me ask was "leatherman" (the multitool) but there are  plenty of others.


texts: Programming skills are an important criteria for "whom/who" we choose to hire. Which is correct?

texts:
Programming skills are an important criteria for whom we choose to hire.
Programming skills are an important criteria for who we choose to hire.

Which one is grammatically correct?

I'm guessing it's the second, but I have no idea. But there is also  for whom the bell tolls.


texts: There is an exercise in a book I use which asks students to put the words for the kinds of trips in a chart, under three columns: Go, Take and Go on a/an. The problem is that after students do it, the book starts showing the verbs with different trip situations. Example: "going on a saffari" is later seen as "taking a saffari trip", and "taking a city tour" is also displayed as "going on a city tour". Are there any rules in English that specify the verbs that go with kinds of trips, like cruise, road trip, pilgrimage etc. ?


texts:
Says it all in the title.

Forgotten a word. It means something like 'plan ruiner/foiler' and I'm pretty sure it starts with m, maybe ma/me.

It's a noun, of course. I've tried to search it up to no avail. Maybe I just suck at research.


texts:
Can you please explain in detail why I "skip" the article before Central Park, "skip" the article before St. Peter's Cathedral and "keep" the article "the" before the Chrysler Building, in the following sentence?

I am an ESL teacher/English Teacher who teaches adults.and it seems this maybe has to do with the context of listing places? I don't know why I am putting the 'the' in at the end and not in the rest of the sentence? I don't know how to explain this one.

We can see(no article) Central Park, (no article) St. Peter's Cathedral, and the Chrysler Building from our room.

Warmly,
Jules


texts: If someone is an expert in written (rather than spoken) language, can they still be called a "linguist"?

texts:
When I think of “linguistics”, I typically think of the study of spoken languages, particularly phonetics. Compared to “language”, which of course is used of writing systems, it carries to me a stronger association to the original literal meaning of “lingua” being “the tongue”.

Wikipedia’s article on linguistics speaks mainly of language concepts in the abstract: things that apply equally to written and spoken language. It has a small section comparing writing to speech, which says:

  Most contemporary linguists work under the assumption that spoken (or signed) language is more fundamental than written language. […] Nonetheless, linguists agree that the study of written language can be worthwhile and valuable.

So consider a hypothetical person; let’s call him “Jim”. Jim can read and understand Ancient Greek texts, and he is an expert translator. Jim may not know the IPA, and he may not even be able to pronounce Ancient Greek words all that well, but he’s definitely the guy you call when you have a piece of written Ancient Greek that you need made readable by Americans.

Can Jim properly be called a “linguist”? Specifically, will other linguists scoff at the idea of a mere translator being called a “linguist”? Or does being a translator by definition make you a type of honest-to-goodness linguist?


texts: Word for "a change not noticable, transparent to users"

texts: I'm making a change in the software which should be unnoticeable to users. What would be a single word that describes it best? I'm looking for an adjective that fits into sentence such as 'This change will be _____ to the end user.'


texts: Are there any collective nouns that are only collective nouns?

texts:
All collective nouns that I can think of are words that have a different meaning in addition to that role as a collective noun.
eg.

herd - a herd of sheep; I herded the sheep in to the paddock.
flock - a flock of birds; People flocked to see the spectacle in town.
murder - a murder of crows perched in the tree; The man was in jail for murder.

Are there any words that now only serve as a collective noun?


texts: What is the opposite of someone who has been sheltered?

texts: I am looking for a word to describe a teenager as someone who is "not sheltered." Someone who has been exposed to many different people, communities and ways of thinking. Worldly seems too broad of a word as it should relate to experiences within his community. I'm also looking for a word that more closely relates to how he was raised and what he was allowed to have access too. If a child is not sheltered they are what?


texts: What do you call 'a person of encyclopedic culture'?

texts:
Would 'polymath' a correct word to substitute  'a person of "encyclopedic" culture' in

  He is described as an atheist, a materialist, and a person of "encyclopedic" culture.

quoted from 'Creating the Hybrid Intellectual' by Anne Lambright.

Or, as an instance, 'polyhedric' is more suitable?

I'm unsure because Merriam-Webster defines 'polymath' as 'a person of encyclopedic learning', not as 'a person of encyclopedic culture'.


texts: How do you frame a question for this situation?

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  Framing a question whose answer is an ordinal number

Let me explain the scenario.

Say you have 'n' number of siblings (brothers/sisters) in your family, i.e your parents have n+1 children. A random person wants to know whether you are the 1st or 2nd child, or so on… without knowing apriori the value (n+1). Is it possible to frame a question for this? This has puzzled me for a long time because  in many Indian languages it is possible to frame a question which would prompt a response like this:

  I am the 3rd child of my parents

Note: English.se warns me that "The question you're asking appears subjective and is likely to be closed." But asking it anyway :)


texts: Punctuation in complex sentence with repetition (implied) of the same verb

texts:
There is a kind of complex sentences where the first subsentence has the same verb as in the second one. So logicaly the verb could be ommited in the second one. What would be the correct punctuation in this case. Here is the original sentence:

  The first one contains the score the second one contains the name.

And the sentence without second verb:

  The first one contains the score the second one the name.

(All punctuation marks are ommited)


texts: Quick or Quickly: “How to Install a PHP Extension: Quick and Easy”

texts:
Let’s say I have this title:

How to Install a PHP Extension: Quick and Easy

Should I say quick and easy or quickly and easily?

Why?


texts:
I would need help with the following sentence:

  It may be no more difficult to claim in words a feeling not felt than one that is.

The “no more” is related to the whole sentence or just to the “feeling not felt”?

My understanding (it is incorrect I guess, so I would a little help here):
In other words: Maybe it is not more difficult to claim in words a feeling we do not feel than one we feel.

I would need to understand the sentence as a whole.

Also probably I do not translate correctly may – can it be “does not have to be” in this context?


texts: There is an advantage in/of doing [something]

texts: I know that they usually say "there is an advantage in/to doing [something]" - at least, it's stated in my grammar book. But I am wondering whether it's possible to use the preposition "of" in this grammar pattern?


texts: Sequence of the tense and its sense: "It just said..."

texts:
I happen to read the following conversation in Raymond Murphy's Grammar book.

Ann: It just said on the Radio that it is going to snow
Bill: Oh!, did it?

I would like to change Ann's sentence into different ways to know whether they are right or wrong.
Besides, I feel that since the main clause is in the simple past, the sub-ordinate clause should be in the past. I know that there are some exceptions to this rule. I think 'just' in the sentence can be used in different tense and voice.
My sentences are:

It has just said on the Radio that it is going to rain.

It has just been said on that Radio that it is going to rain.

It was just said on the Radio that it was going to rain.

It just said on the Radio that it was going to rain.

I would be most grateful to you if you could enlighten me on the subject.


texts:
I'm not sure what is the best title for this question.
For example, Which of the followings is grammatically correct?

(1) people with high IQs

or

(2) people with a high IQ

and why?

if (2) is correct, does it mean that we can say "plural A with singular B" if every A has only one B?


texts: Is it correct to say (Name of University) Academic Community welcome guests and participants to the first youth congress of ~?

texts:
I saw a tarp with this text: (Name of University) Academic Community
Welcome
      to the First Youth Congress~~~~
      June 15 - 17, 2013
      (Name of University) Social Hall
Theme: "~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~"
 I did not mention the name of the university for the obvious reason..
 My concern is the word welcome. I think it should be welcomes because the community is taken   as one but when I pointed that out they said welcome is correct.. I'm confused..


texts: I’d like to use the Latin word for garlic, allium, as an adjective, but can’t find any examples of this being done. Is there a rule for doing this with nouns ending in ‑um? Alliumnal sounds good, but I suspect that’s just because it sounds like autumnal. Any help much appreciated.


texts: What’s the rule for using “who” and “whom” correctly?

texts:
I can never figure out whether I should use who and whom. Most people use who for both colloquially, but some people say this is not correct.

What’s the rule for using who and whom correctly?


texts: Alternative to "minuend" and "subtrahend"

texts:
In math, I just learned that when performing subtraction, the terms for each number are as follows:

  minuend − subtrahend = difference

I have never heard of minuend and subtrahend before, and I'm fairly certain the majority of people I encounter have never heard these terms before either. Is there a better alternative to these two words?

Context:
I'm writing some software that subtracts a set of items from another set of items, such as in this math.SE question. I need to name these two sets of items so they are easy to understand for an average user, or a future developer working on the same software.

Edit:

For those who want to see code, I'm writing a PowerShell cmdlet that would be used like so:

Get-Difference -Minuend "a.csv" -Subtrahend "b.csv"

and in the code I may write something like:

var minuendData = readFile(minuendFilePath)

Currently I have the following comment at the top of my code:

// If you don't know what a minuend or a subtrahend is, then shame on you!
// http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/minuend
// http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/subtrahend

I could just use something like "A" or "B" but that is not as descriptive as I'd like it to be.


texts: How do I cite a Stack Exchange answer in MLA?

texts:
I'd like to cite an answer to a Stack Exchange question in an MLA-format paper. What's the correct way to do this? Should I cite the specific answer I'm using, or the question page as a whole, and if the latter who counts as the author? Everyone whose contributed?

Word has done it as such:

GordonM. Why is Global State so Evil? 10 May 2012. Web Page. 21 April 2014.
    <http://programmers.stackexchange.com/questions/148108/why-is-global-state-so-evil>.


texts: What is the correct way to write the interjection "ha ha?"

texts:
I had a hard time finding the English origin of this interjection and how it technically should be written. I am often ridiculed in written conversations, especially those that are informal, because I might reply to something funny with, "Ha ha ha." It seems as if the accepted way to colloquially spell this is "hahaha."

When asked about it, I actually admitted that the original spelling might have been something like "ha-ha-ha," similar to how "goodbye" seems to have been originally written as "good-bye."

What is the correct way?


texts:
While my question applies to Jenkins (software) which was named after Jenkins named meant to evoke a feel of English butler, there is a historical precent:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_of_Jenkins'_Ear

Wikipedia article has Jenkins' in the title and Jenkins's in reference to historical book.

However modern grammar rules seem to imply that correct possessive form in modern English would be Jenkins'es.

So what is correct? Or are several options acceptable?


texts: In search for universal formal greetings

texts:
I am dealing with a system which is supposed to autoreply to certain emails. It cannot start with 'Dear (forename)' as it cannot parse a forename from email address or original email. It also cannot start with 'Good morning/afternoon/evening' as it is not flexible enough to generate a response based on time of day besides timezones makle it even more interesting.

It's not a brilliant idea to reply to someone's email with 'Dear Sir or Madam',
So what is a universal static text greeting line, appropriate for most formal autoreplies without sounding too 'canned'.

I am based in the UK.


texts: Which is correct: coming down the "pike" or "pipe"?

texts: Is the expression coming down the pike or coming down the pipe?  I’ve always used pike, but I’ve heard a few people use pipe recently. I can see how both could make sense, but which is correct?


texts: Can one conjugate and use 'suicide' as a verb?

texts:
I don't remember ever seeing suicide used as a standalone verb. I've always seen it as commits suicide or committed suicide.

Can you conjugate and use suicide by itself?


texts: Context to distinguish "we" inclusive versus exclusive

texts:
In English, "we" has no clusivity - context is needed to determine whether it means we-including-you or we-excluding-you.

What context can a speaker provide to disambiguate without sounding awkward?

I'm wondering in particular how to reword sentences like "We need to meet tomorrow."


texts: How to react on "I'm sorry" while accepting the excuse but not willing to say somethign along "not therefor"?

texts:
Lets say some one bumbs into me on the street and excuses for it.
While I'm seeing the excuse as appropiate, a "No Problem" or "Not therefor" or that alike wouldn't be literarly correct, reacting like he became my new liftime archenemy is kinda.... overreacting.

So in what way I can (without appearing rude) express that I was expecting the excuse for it, but as I got it, No hard feelings... ?


texts:
I just encountered this news heading: "All-Female Flight Test Crew Asked How They Will Cope Without Make-Up Or Men In Space"

This confused me, because I understood from the heading that the "crew asked". But according to the article, it was actually reporters in a press conference that asked the crew. Shouldn't the heading be "Crew Was Asked" accordingly?


texts:
I'm unsure about the correct preposition of time regarding two sentences.

This is the first sentence in question:

  I'll call her ... the holidays.

Possible solutions are at/in/on.

I already ruled out at because that simply doesn't make any sense. I'm torn between on and in.

The same issue:

  Did you have a good time ... Easter?

I'm leaning towards on here.


texts: Is there an English equivalent of the Korean expression: "If the rice cake looks good, then it tastes good"?

texts: This Korean saying is essentially the direct opposite of "never judge a book by its cover."


texts:
Consider this example:

  He got into the car. Started the engine, checked the mirrors. Stepped on the gas and headed down Main Street.

Omitting the subject from a sentence isn't proper construction, strictly speaking, but it infuses the writing with a sense of breathless urgency. I've seen a few writers use this style (notably in fast-paced suspense novels).

How common is this style?
Is there a name for it? (I was thinking staccato style, but that refers to short, choppy sentences in general)


texts: What does "realization" mean in this context?

texts:
I read a paper, named A Hybrid Novelty Score and Its Use in Keystroke Dynamics-Based User Authentication. It states in section 3 that

  For data sets, we used 10 realizations for parameter selection and 20 other realizations for parameter selection.

Does realization in this case mean simulation?

The following is the link of this paper:
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0031320309001502


texts:
I am can't seem to think of a single word for trash or garbage in the singular form.

I want to use in a sentence like so:

  I picked up two [trashes] yesterday.

Obviously that is wrong because trash is uncountable. Which word can I use instead to have the same meaning as

  I picked up two [pieces of trash] yesterday.

In a nutshell I am looking for the direct translation of the french word "Déchet". Google comes up "Waste" but "2 Waste" doesn't sound right.

Any ideas?


texts: "it may/might interest you to know that" vs. "it may be of interest that..."

texts:
Is there any difference between the following structures ?

  1 .It may be of interest that I’ve changed my opinion on that
  matter.

  2.It might interest you to learn that I’ve changed my opinion on that
  matter.

Sentence 2 is from McMillan Dictionary.


texts:
I am a native german speaker and I have a problem in understanding a question in an assignment which I have to solve.

What does this sentence mean:

"Plot the total consumption D over the interval I, upon convergence."

Does it mean, I have to plot the consumption until it converges or only the converged consumption?


texts: Grammatical status of Question tags in Sentences

texts:
When a question tag is added to a simple sentence, what does the combined sentence become? (compound sentence/complex sentence)

Can it be classified as asyndetic co-ordinate clause?
If question tag clause is classified as dependent clause, then obviously the sentence becomes a complex sentence, doesn't it? So, in that case, which category (Noun/Adjective/Adverb) of dependent clause will question tag fall in?