texts: Is there a word like cardinal or ordinal but for the “single, double, triple” series?

texts:
The words one, two, three, and so on are the cardinal numbers.

Similarly, first, second, third, and so on are the
ordinal numbers.

Is there a similar term for the words single, double, triple, and all the rest?


texts: Why does incentivize exist as a verb but disincentivize does not?

texts: I ask this because incentive and disincentive both exist, but annoyingly, autocorrect and spellcheckers all over refuse to accept disincentivize while gladly accepting incentivize.


texts:
For some dictionaries, such as the Oxford one, racism requires that prejudice/discrimination based on the belief that a race is superior/inferior.

But I can't find this requirement anywhere for any definitions of similar words in any dictionary.  For example, "sexism" simply requires prejudice/discrimination based on sex in the Oxford dictionary.

Is there a reason for this?


texts: Remaining particles after making coffee or tea

texts:
When we make coffee or tea, there are particles that remain at the bottom of the jar.

Is it right to call them 'rudiments' or is there another term for this?


texts: "The punch card was data processing back then"

texts:
I find it difficult to understand the sentence as shown in the title.

Is the card data?
Is the card processing?
Is the card a method (or style) to process data?

I'm Chinese. If I express the sentence with Chinese I'll say The punch card was the main method of data processing back then.

NOTE: I'm a programmer and I know what a punch card is. So please don't waste you precious time to explain the punch card.


texts: Spelling of Vietnamese names in formal context

texts:
I am a professor and I have a Vietnamese student called, say, Nguyen Hoang Thang. How should I write his name in the official documents, such as his diploma or transcript? How should his name be indicated in published scientific journal articles he authors?

(Not duplicate of this question because that question is not about formal rules, and the answers mainly say "different people prefer different spellings of their names", which does not answer my question.)

His passport specifies:

Full name: Nguyen Hoang Thang

It is clear to Vietnamese native speakers (him included) that Nguyen is his family name, Hoang is his middle (additional) name, and Thang is his (main) given name, roughly corresponding to Kennedy - Fitzgerald - John or Bianchi - Lee - Mary.

I do realize that I can ask him, but even if John Fitzgerald Kennedy prefers to be called Jack, as a professor I cannot indicate his preferred spelling in his diploma -- there must be formal rules for this. My question is about these formal rules.

So how should we write the name of my student in the following formal contexts?

The transcript certifies that:
Last name: Kennedy, First name: John Fitzgerald (or John? John F.?)
Last name: Nguyen, First name: Hoang Thang? Thang Hoang? Thang? Thang H.? H. Thang?

The degree is bestowed upon:
John Fitzgerald Kennedy
Nguyen Hoang Thang?
Thang Hoang Nguyen?
Hoang Thang Nguyen?

Authors of the journal paper:
John F. Kennedy
Nguyen H. Thang?
Thang H. Nguyen?
H. Thang Nguyen?

Authors of the journal paper:
J.F. Kennedy
Nguyen H.T.?
T.H. Nguyen?
H.T. Nguyen?


texts:
I am new to the English language and I am going to English classes. In the middle of my book, we have a lesson about foods. In this lesson, food names are explained but I do not understand something.

We say and write the sandwich or the hamburger. However, when we say and write pizza,  coffee, chocolate or noodles, we do not use the. What is there such a difference?


texts: Can you help me in understanding the bold part of the text?

texts:
Philosophy involves the mind turning upon itself and becoming explicitly aware of the modes of its own action, which will have been in operation for some time before their philosophical reappropriation.

what does author mean by "philosophical reappropriation"?


texts: When is "need" a modal verb, and when is it not?

texts:
When do we use "need" as a modal verb and say "need something" or "need do something", and when do we say:

"need to do something"
"I needed"
"he needs" etc.?

Can we use "will need"?


texts: What's the term for using the wrong word because it sounds the same?

texts:
I was reading about various terms for incorrect words, but they didn't seem to fit.  I saw a post where someone said "what do you like to do when you're board?".  That kind of thing.  Also, would that be considered a mistake in grammar?  I didn't think so, but my friend insists it is.

I'm not sure if there even is a word for that kind of mistake, but was just curious about it.  Thanks!


texts: Why is there such confusion over a and an?

texts:
Recently while reading technical blog posts on the net I have started to see more frequently the incorrect use of 'an'.

My understanding from learning English as a child and English grammar in school is

'an' should be used before a word begining with a vowel sound.  This is most words that begin with a vowel and some that don't such as 'hour'.
'a' should be used in all other instances.

More and more I am seeing 'an JSON file' , 'an Yearling' and various other examples I haven't recorded.

Is there a reason for this trend (a change in education, a misunderstanding) or is it simply 2nd Language usage getting mixed up?


texts: Is there any difference between 'by the end of November' and 'by end of November'? I have looked 'end' up in the BBI Combinatory Dictionary of English, but it gives only 'by the end of the year" without further comments. I ask because I have a feeling that 'by the end' is used about the past (e.g. I managed to get it done by the end of August) and 'by end of' about the future (e.g. the report must be handed in by end of November).  But is that true? Or can both be used interchangeably? Or is only 'by the end of' (formally) correct?


texts: How is this structure named in English grammar? (main clause + object + -ing form)

texts:
I've been hearing this sentence structure for a while, so i wanted to learn about it but couldn't find specific information on the internet since i didn't know how this structure was named in English grammar.

For example there are lots of people that you don't like in a party and you are unhappy about this. It's possible to say:

I'm unhappy about their presence.

I'm unhappy that they are here.

But you can also say:

I'm unhappy about them being here.

So it goes like:  [main clause + (about) + object + -ing form]

Is there a specific name which has been given to this structure? And what are the properties of this structure in general?


texts: Word or idiom to describe relief at losing a battle?

texts:
I am looking for a word, phrase or idiom to describe a certain feeling of relief at losing a battle or war. I imagine it is a common feeling. Sadness at losing but relief that the fighting can stop and that the winning side will now be responsible for picking up the pieces.

This could apply to real wars and battles, but also politics, business and personal relationships. Sort of the opposite of a pyrrhic victory, but not quite.


texts:
Can the word "facing" be used both ways?

To write

  major water problems facing the world

or

  challenges and opportunities facing low- and middle-income countries and their citizens

seems to me to switch the roles.

Is it OK to use facing in this way, or would the only correct usage be faced by in these two examples?


texts:
Reading through an article on drawing animal forms, I came across this paragraph

  Horses or deer evolved one or two very strong, elongated metatarsals, with their last finger digits becoming their hooves.

If I rephrase the second half as

  and their last finger digits became their hooves.

then I see a "cause-and-effect" pattern that makes sense.

But, if I consider another example (this was off the top of my head as I tried to explain what "with" means in this sentence) such as

  The project was completed on time, with the entire staff working overtime.

then it's an "effect-because" that emphasizes the effect as the main topic of the sentence. That is, if I rephrase the second half, to keep the same meaning I have to use

  because the entire staff worked overtime.

Can someone explain the different uses of "with" here? I'm trying to figure out why this particular phrasing has been used and the best I can come up with is that it's a matter of style, but there has to be a better reason behind this.

Thank you.


texts:
How do you write this sentence: "My family and I like to rest at the weekend."
using the word easy. "My family and I ____ at the weekend."

Thanks!


texts:
I've been reading "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People" by Stephen R. Covey and I feel like he's misusing the word gravity in a couple of sentences.

  "Habits too, have tremendous gravity pull..."

And again...

  "But to get there, those astronauts literally had to break out of the tremendous gravity pull of the earth."

I have tremendous respect for Stephen Covey, but shouldn't he have used the adjective version of gravity, gravitational? Is he right in using the phrase "gravity pull"? He uses it repeatedly so it doesn't seem like a typo.


texts: Is 'folk' a politically correct substitute for 'people'?

texts:
Edit: Comments so far have focused on the speech of politicians. While this discussion is interesting, and desired when relevant, I am more concerned with use in activist communities. I believe the connotation is different: unlike politicians, these people are not trying to sound more 'folksy' or 'of the people'.

I often hear folk used in leftist and activist communities. The word choice seems ideologically motivated, a more politically correct synonym for people — just as one would say 'differently-abled' instead of 'disabled' or 'latina' instead of 'hispanic' — but I can't determine any need for the substitution. Is people offensive? The most common use is in 'black folk', but also 'white folk', 'brown folk', 'queer folk', etc.

My fundamental question is this: Why is folk used more often in activist communities?

I recognize that I don't have hard evidence to demonstrate the truth of the phenomenon. I'm not sure what evidence I could provide. So let's all play together and assume it is true?

I can imagine two answers to this question.

Folk is a politically correct substitute for people. Why, then, is people offensive, and folk not?
The word choice is not ideologically but historically motivated. Folk is historically common in the black community. As non-black people interact with black vocabulary, they assimilate (either naturally, or because of a false believe in #1). As listening-oriented black/non-black interaction is more common in activist spaces, the use of folk has spread quickest in activist communities.

These are, however, simply unfounded hypotheses.


texts: What's the English word for a short-lived feeling of euphoria?

texts:
This is a bit hard to put in words.

Let's say you're just coming out of a theater after watching a movie. You're thinking about the movie you just watched. You're feeling that the movie was the greatest movie you ever saw (that you'll give it 10 out of 10).

Some time passes, say a couple of days, and you're again thinking about it. This time, however, you're feeling that the movie was just okay, it wasn't as great as you thought two days before (that you'll give it 7 out of 10).

My question is, what do you call what you were feeling earlier (or how do you put it in words)?


texts: Word or expression meaning a demonstration taken place on Twitter

texts:
One form of internet activism is to post many messages on Twitter in a specified time frame. It is more specific than "hashtag activism" because, similarly to a demonstration that takes place on streets, it has a time to begin and to end.

Is there a word or expression for that?

In Portuguese, it is called "tuitaço".


texts: What other word can I use to say a series of/ collection of (movies, books, plays, etc...)?

texts: I want to know the right word to use when I'm talking about a collection (of movies, books, plays, etc...) that has an indefinite amount. I'm looking for a word close to trilogy, but I don't exactly want to use that, because it has the prefix "tri" meaning "three". I seem to have stumbled upon the word I'm really looking for, but is there really a word somewhat like "trilogy" out there? Or was I just imagining things. Any inference would be welcome. Cheers!


texts:
Usually, speaking about an action that happened in the past and has a connection to the present time, we use Present Perfect tense. This is relevant to British English.
Though the question is, can we use both Past Simple and Present Perfect tenses in American English? If not in any case, then where should we use each tense?
For instance,

I missed the bus, so I’m going to be late for the meeting.  -- I think is acceptable only in AmE

I've missed the bus, so I’m going to be late for the meeting. -- I think is acceptable in both AmE and BrE

I appreciate your help.
-Added after reading the comment-
I'm told that for some sentences this is true, but for some - this isn't. In which cases I ought to use Past Simple tense if dealing with AmE?


texts: What’s a single word that means Contagious Happiness

texts: I am searching for a single word that means contagious happiness or infectious happiness.


texts: Correct noun usage in a sentence - singular or plural?

texts:
Should the noun position be singular or plural in the following sentence?

  You should focus on the position(s) of your lips and tongue pronouncing this sound.


texts: Among his greatest hits (were?/was?) the anthem. Which verb is correct?

texts:
I read this article and found a sentence that says:

  Among his greatest hits were the anthem "Bring Him Back Home," demanding Nelson Mandela's freedom from jail.

Could you explain why the sentence used 'were' as the verb? I think the subject and the object are inverted in this sentence. Therefore, it can say that

The anthem "Bring Him Back Home," demanding Nelson Mandela's freedom from jail was among his greatest hits.

So the subject is the anthem "Bring him back home" and I thought its verb should be 'was' because the anthem is in the singular.

I would appreciate a little bit of help.


texts: How to hyphenate "non self destructive"?

texts:
Non self-destructive
Non-self destructive
Non-self-destructive

Which one is correct?


texts:
Is it correct to say that "John is responsible for Mary"?
If not, what should we say?

What I want to denote is a mix of all these senses:

Supporting someone, because of sympathy, and also morally
Taking care of that person
Helping that person
Being kind to that person
...

And I have no emphasis on legality.


texts:
i can't distinguish a gerund and participle so i need your help..

Growing things in the garden
if this sentence is the title of a book, is "growing" a gerund or a participle?

I saw you dancing
in this sentence is "dancing" a gerund or a participle?

i want to know which one is right and the reason the other one is wrong.
my english may be rude and bad but please understand. thank you!


texts: "James while John had had had had had had had had had had had a better effect on the teacher" Correct Sentence?

texts:
How "James while John had had had had had had had had had had had a better effect on the teacher" is Correct Sentence?

Can anyone explain?


texts:
Is there any shorter way to say "military medical personnel"?

I mean by that: all the people in the armed forces that are allowed to use medical equipment on a daily basis.


texts: How should we put a website address into a sentence?

texts:
Is the following a right way to put a website address in a sentence?

You can visit the website http://english.stackexchange.com/questions/ask for English
grammar problems.


texts:
In supermarkets in the United States, I tend to hear this often:

  Cleanup on aisle two [or some other number].

Would in be as good as on?  How is in different from on in this context?


texts: Idiom for a person who gets owned/caught red handed for his mistake but shows as if nothing is wrong

texts:
What is the idiom/expression for a person who gets owned/caught red-handed for his logical fallacy/mistake/theft and knows he is wrong but has the tenacity to show as if nothing is wrong?

In fact, he ridicules the corrector as if he were absurd to accuse an infallible person.


texts: Is "vapourise" considered incorrect, even in British English?

texts:
According to Wiktionary, the British spelling of "vaporize" is vaporise, not vapourise as one might expect from the word vapour (and similarly, the Canadian spelling is still vaporize, not vapourize). The words "laborious" and "coloration" suffer from the same problem, and yet "favourable" doesn't. Why is this so?

And in case you think Wiktionary is a disputable source, the Cambridge Dictionary has no entry for vapourise either.


texts: What is it called when one word in a sentence "downplays" another?

texts:
In sentences such as

"I'm a little devastated"

"He's a little obese"

We tend to think of obese and devastated as being on the more extreme end of the scale when describing something, but what is it called when another word is used before it that sort of "downplays" it?

Would calling these contradictions be appropriate, or is there another term?


texts:
I am not sure which of the following sentences is correct (or which is the "best" version):

[...] texts describing mainly ionospheric-related experiments.
[...] texts describing mainly ionospheric related experiments.
[...] texts describing mainly ionospheric experiments.
[...] texts describing mainly ionosphere related experiments.

My understanding is that 1 is better than 2 as it is a compound adjective. I am not sure though if the second adjective (related) is really needed in this context as ionospheric basically means something related to the ionosphere (please correct me if I'm wrong). Initially I was favoring 1, but currently I am not sure if not 3 (or 4) is the better choice. Any hints or comments are greatly appreciated!


texts: As a non-English native it took me years to grow up and understand, what meant "Never Mind the Bollocks" as the title of Sex Pistols album. Using "bollocks" as "rubbish", "crap" or what so ever took much more. And after that I somehow automatically bound "bollocks!" with Sex Pistols. Suddenly I understood, that it is so just in my world. Or isn't? Is there some etymology of the idiom(?) ? How old it is in English?


texts: "For  sake" - which variant is more common?

texts:
There are a lot of variations of this phrase, most notably including

"for God's sake"
"for Heaven's sake"
"for Jesus sake"
"for Pete's sake"

Which of those are most commonly used in modern English? Is there any context in which one of them should be preferred? For example, I have never ever heard about "for Pete's sake" before reading "I, Robot" by Isaac Asimov, where this term is widely used.


texts: "Exact a price" versus "extract a price"

texts:
I recently heard someone use the phrase "extract a price".  He was referring to a scenario in which an action had an associated cost.  To me, it seems the correct phrase should have been "exact a price".  But, given the literal meaning of "extract", it seems his usage could have been correct.

What's the deal?


texts: What would be a good antithesis to "the calm before the storm"?

texts: I am trying to make up a idiom in my novel which would be the opposite of "the calm before the storm". I want to express something which happens after the storm but am not able to find any good suggestions. Google is simply presenting me with "the calm after the storm". Can anyone provide any good suggestions ?


texts:
I'm reading the Wikipedia page on garden-path sentences. One example is:

  The government plans to raise taxes were defeated.

What class of word is government in this sentence?

I read this sentence as having the subject noun "plans". "Government" describes the noun, which would make it an adjective. I thought that the adjective form of "government" was "governmental".

The sentence may imply ownership of the plans by the government (as opposed to describing the type of plans, distinct from council plans or building plans). In this case, I would have written it as "the government's plans...".

Either way, I'm unsure how to determine whether the given sentence is grammatically correct. Assuming it is, what class of word is government?

[Slightly separate question: what's the correct term for "the class of word", such as 'adjective', 'noun'? Had issues phrasing my question without knowing this.]


texts: Interjection of exasperation or frustration when something is not working properly

texts:
When I am exasperated or frustrated when something is not working properly. Not like shit or fuck, those are just "something bad is happening", and too broad. I want something that's more like signifying annoyance, a "this is really getting to me" type of thing. Is there a word for this?

I have heard Chinese people say "aiiyaaa" in this scenario but I am not sure if there is an English equivalent for this.


texts:
everyone, I'm reading an English novel and I found the next sentence:

  The person I'd once been vanished as I wrapped myself in white when
  the dust rose into clouds.

I don't really understand what "as" means in this sentence, so the whole sentence doesn't make sense to me.


texts:
Is it technically correct to call an apartment a house?

The definition on Google:

  house
  1. a building for human habitation, especially one that consists of a ground floor and one or more upper storeys.

So, an apartment is a building and some of them have more storeys. Still I'm not very sure if this is the correct usage.


texts:
Could you take a look at the sentence below?

Doesn't everyone deserve a chance at a good life?

This is a title of one of TED speeches. In this sentence, can we use "to" instead of "at"?

What is the difference in meaning, and which preposition is more appropriate?


texts:
I found a couple examples with that word:

  The song feels apropos to a midnight jaunt

  Clothes that are apropos to the occasion

I'm interested in can we use that following the verb of action. For instance, if I want to express something like the following:

My frined come to my house and bring some candies with him. Could I say It's apropos that you bought the candies, I just have made a tea.


texts:
I am confused in translating some kind of phrases such as these.

Which one of the pairs is true? If both, What is the difference? and what is the meaning of the phrase? (I mean if I want to explain the phrase what I must say?)

Security function requirement interfering actions
Security function requirement interfered actions
Security function requirement enforcing actions
Security function requirement enforced actions

Update :
I want to translate the following paragraph in Persian. But I don't understant the ...ing words in the bold phrases return to which one of the words in back!

Note : SFR = Sequrity Function Requirement

  The purpose of this work unit is to supplement the details about the
  SFR-enforcing actions (provided in work unit ADV_FSP.3-6) with a
  summary of the remaining actions (i.e., those that are not
  SFR-enforcing). This covers all SFR-supporting and SFR-non-interfering
  actions, whether invokable through SFR-enforcing TSFI or through
  SFR-supporting or SFR-non-interfering TSFI. Such a summary about all
  SFR-supporting and SFR-non-interfering actions helps to provide a more
  complete picture of the functions provided by the TSF, and is to be
  used by the evaluator in determining whether an action or TSFI may
  have been mis-categorised.


texts: What is proper term for 'composure' when mentioning it as your strength?

texts: In reference to your strengths and weakness. How to well describe composure as your strength. I am looking for a word/strength that represent ability to not to panic in any situation(especially difficult one).


texts: What is the intonation or pitch pattern of "parties" at 0:30?

texts: I wonder what the intonation or pitch pattern of "parties" at 0:30 around is in the clip? Why does the stress seem to fall on the both syllables, "par" and "ties"?  While "ties" is higher-pitched than "par", right?


texts: Does "fruit" get singular or plural verb form?

texts:
Which one is correct?

  There are no low-hanging fruit.

Or

  There is no low-hanging fruit.

Or are both correct? If both are correct, is one of them more preferable?


texts:
What does "I had cut my eyeteeth" mean? And how can I translate it in Italian language?

A sample text is as follows:

  As an intelligence officer, and even before that as a young student in the course of my studies at the British Museum in London, I had cut my eyeteeth on all of them, plus a good number of others with whom I imagined Americans were familiar.


texts: What decides how to read a Roman number in titles?

texts:
Is there a fixed rule that decides whether to read a Roman numeral as a cardinal number or an ordinal number?

For Example, WWII, we say World War Two, but Queen Elizabeth II, Queen Elizabeth the Second. Minsk II agreement is also read as Minsk Two agreement.

(Yes, we can say the Second World War and the Second Minsk Agreement as well.)

Again, my question is whether there is a fixed rule that dictates the way Roman numbers are read in title or name (like citation guidelines we used in college), and if so, what would that be.


texts: Is there a word that describes a pre-wedding party?

texts:
So there are many words that describe the event that takes place before the wedding: stag do, hen do, bachelor party, bachelorette party.

Is there a single word that encompasses all those things?


texts: Words to describe documents or studies that provide additional insight

texts:
How would you express the fact that a study, report, or investigation provides new information, not included in existing reports? I'm looking for a verb; one that would fit the following sentences.

  These additional materials _ the original release, providing a comprehensive picture of the issue.
  You could add a proof-of-funds letter to your application to _ the limited financial information that they ask for.
  They decided to run in-person interviews study to _ two rounds of online polling.

The verb(s) shouldn't suggest that the new information is better — just that it adds to the original one, covering an aspect that wasn't originally covered (hence not "confirm").  The verb(s) shouldn't suggest that something is hotly debated or dubious (hence not "corroborate")

I'm thinking of complement or supplement, but I don't like the ring of either.


texts: What would you call a person pejoratively who enjoys perks of a job post but responsibility of a lower rung assistant

texts:
What would you call a person pejoratively who is on a professional privileged position such as Engineer, geologist, senior engineer etc (earning what the post demands) but chooses to do a job of a  say a postman or peon or secretary or a clerk and get away with it.

In other word he is doing work below his responsibilities (without affecting the remuneration). Enjoying perks of the position but responsibility of a assistant.

PS: The responsibility he has for himself assigned is because of privileged  position of being "the one-eyed man is king in the land of the blind". No one is able to notice it.


texts: Does the modern definition of "awful" come from its homonym to "offal"?

texts:
The following lines are found in Act I, Scene III of Julius Caesar:

What trash is Rome,
What rubbish and what offal, when it serves
For the base matter to illuminate
So vile a thing as Caesar!

To my ears, the pronunciation of "offal" sounds very much like that for "awful", and this made me wonder if this homology contributed to the modern definition of the word "awful".


texts: Is there a synonym for "centerfold" which doesn't also mean "scantily clad woman?"

texts:
I wanted to use the word centerfold to refer to a two-spread image I was creating in a magazine.
Generally when defining this word, most dictionaries seem to include an alternative meaning:

an illustration on the two middle pages of a magazine, typically a picture of a naked or scantily clad model [Google]

a picture (as of a nude) on a centerfold [Merriam-Webster]

a photograph of a woman or man in a nude or seminude pose appearing on a magazine centerfold. [Dictionary.com]

a large photograph that covers the two pages opposite each other in the middle of a magazine, usually of a young woman with few or no clothes on, or the person who appears in such a picture [Cambridge Dictionary]

Is there a similar word that does not have this "scantily clad woman" connotation?


texts: Idiom for a situation with no reliance and trust

texts: Is there an idiom or expression for a situation or a part of time that there's an atmosphere of distrust and  every one is cheating each other and no one can be able to find a trusthworthy person?


texts:
There's a word I remember looking up but can't remember. Something like:

When someone says something that's insulting but when you call them out on it, they pretend they don't know what was said was insulting. Instead, they argue that they meant it in a different context when they really didn't.

For example:

  A: "Wow he's smart"
  B: "What do you mean he's smart?"
  A: "What? I meant they're very intelligent."


texts:
The same clause in bold has different meanings in a. and b.:

a. Last night, my car was broken into.
b. I came home last night, and my car was broken into.

The clause in a. means that somebody broke into my car last night, while the same clause in b. means that my car was in the state of having been broken into.
So it's clear that the clause in a. is a verbal passive.
Is the clause in b. an adjectival passive, then? If so, in b., which is the adjective of the adjectival passive, broken or broken into (as a unit)?

Some Additional Examples Similar to Example b.
There have been some comments from BrE speakers questioning the validity of example b. above. I'm not too familiar with BrE, so I'd just be going to have to accept that example b. might sound 'off' to at least some BrE speakers. That does not mean, however, example b. is also wrong in North American English. So here are some examples I've just found where I think 'broken into' is used to describe a state of having been broken into:

b1. A Canadian news article The shop has only been open for two weeks and Bent had filled her books up fast before waking up at around 3 a.m. on Friday morning to find the shop had been broken into.
“I woke up on my 23rd birthday to my fiancé running frantically out the door, half dressed, cussing, and so I followed him to the shop that is on our property and it was broken into,” she said.
b2. An American Crime Log complied by a reporter 7:48 p.m. -- Deputies were dispatched to a Jerome Township residence in reference to the 37-year-old female homeowner reporting she was told by a neighbor that a 14-year-old Lincoln Township boy had jumped over her privacy fence and was on her property earlier in the day. Deputies checked the residence and it was not broken into. It was unknown if any items were stolen from the property due to the homeowner being out of town. The incident is under investigation.
b3. An American being interviewed Waxhaw resident and gun owner Clarence Shuler had five guns stolen out of his car in his driveway.
"It was probably one of the most upset I've ever been," he said. "I had put some in the car, loading them up so I wouldn't forget anything and I come out to go at 5:30 in the morning and my car is broken into."


texts: How to associate a participle with an exact word in a sentence like 'List of items'?

texts:
I have a problem with a sentence "A list of items grouped by category".
There are two possible ways to understand this sentence:

(A list of items) that is grouped by category
A list of (items that are grouped by category)

How to write it correctly?


texts: I need a deeper understanding of the state of being and the quality of being?

texts:
the word "approvableness" means - The state or quality of being approvable

When is approvableness used as a state of being approvable? And when is approvableness used as a quality of being appprovable?


texts: Please break up this sentence into several sentences

texts:
In the Lung Opacity images we can see that there is haziness were the labeled boxes are (termed ground glass opacity) and/or a loss of the usual boundries of the lungs (termed consolidation).

It is confusing to understand this sentence. Specifically, i couldn't get which is the subject of "were labeled boxes"


texts: About the pronunciation of "the" in the phrase “the first”

texts: I found in American English, "the first" is pronounced as [ ði:] [fə:st] but not [ðə:] [fə:st], the word “first” starts with a consonant, why we don’t say [ðə:] [fə:st]? Are there any regulations? Thanks!


texts: What's the meaning of "one too many times"?

texts: They're just a better bank. I keep a local bank as well (got burned one too many times by WF — started charging me for things I had for free for 6 years).


texts:
The original text:

  Waves are the children of the struggle between ocean and atmosphere,
  the ongoing signatures of infinity. Rays from the sun excite and
  energize the atmosphere of the earth, awakening it to flow, to
  movement, to rhythm, to life. The wind then speaks the message of the
  sun to the sea and the sea transmits it on through waves -- an
  ancient, exquisite, powerful message.

  These ocean waves are among the earth's most complicated natural
  phenomena. The basic features include a crest (the highest point of
  the wave), a trough (the lowest point), a height (the vertical
  distance from the trough to the crest), a wave length (the horizontal
  distance between two wave crests), and a period (which is the time it
  takes a wave crest to travel one wave length).

  Although an ocean wave gives the impression of a wall of water moving
  in your direction, in actuality waves move through the water leaving
  the water about where it was. If the water was moving with the wave,
  the ocean and everything on it would be racing in to the shore with
  obviously catastrophic results.

  An ocean wave passing through deep water causes a particle on the
  surface to move in a roughly circular orbit, drawing the particle
  first towards the advancing wave, then up into the wave, then forward
  with it and then -- as the wave leaves the particles behind -- back to
  its starting point again.

  From both maturity to death, a wave is subject to the same laws as
  any other 'living' thing. For a time it assumes a miraculous
  individuality that, in the end, is reabsorbed into the great ocean of
  life.

What does "both" mean in the context? Does it mean "two maturity", one is the process of message transmission from the sun to the sea and the other is the process of ocean wave movement? Or from maturity to death, and both maturity and death?


texts:
Yesterday I said: "I can't read analog clocks", but my interlocutor corrected me saying that what I was pointing at was a watch and not a clock.

Now, I am aware of the difference between the two, but how can I say I can read neither analog clocks nor analog watches? Is there a hypernym for both of them?


texts: It's become popular recently to say things like "I can't into Photoshop" (I took this example from Urban Dictionay). I wonder, what is the origin of this expression? It's obviously not grammatically correct...


texts: Is 'read' still synonymous with 'majored' in BrE?

texts:
See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_American_and_British_English#university

"She read biology at Cambridge."
That doesn't mean 'she read a book or something about biology at Cambridge'?


texts: Can there be a difference between learned and learnt?

texts:
To the best of my knowledge, there is no difference in meaning between learnt and the single-syllable form of learned. This is supported by the answers to When do you use "learnt" and when "learned"?

I'm watching a TV show now, and one subtitle reads:

  You learned their craft and you learnt it well.

I have absolutely no idea what could be the reason for the two different spellings here. It doesn't appear to be because of differences in pronunciation: I can hear a slight difference, but a later subtitle gets the learned spelling again even though the same speaker more clearly uses a t sound there.

Is there some logic behind this?


texts: What is a word for "to take pleasure in someone else's success"?

texts: For example, say I work with a group of people, and one completes a very successful project. If I feel happy that a teammate has had a success I then I am…..?


texts: What are the polite and neutral versions of “cut the bull*’?

texts:
I was wondering what are the polite and neutral versions of cut the bullshit?

Suppose one calls his mobile customer service for signal problem, but the representative endlessly tries to promote irrelevant products.

I seem to remember there is some word other than bullshit to be used with cut, which is more neutral, but I cannot recall it.


texts: Is it grammatically correct to change tense in a sentence?

texts:
When writing a sentence, can I change from past-tense to present-tense in the middle of it? For example,

  Joey realized that the ball is green.

or

  Joey realized that the ball was green.

I am talking about a ball which is always green. The second example implies that the ball was green and that it may or may not still be green. However, Joey realizes it in the past. Is the first sentence grammatically correct?


texts:
Can I use the phrase "definitive edition" to explain that a product has the most up-to-date and highest quality in the field as opposite to mean "last edition of the same series"?

Thank you for your help.


texts: Could the word repertoire be used to describe one’s behavior as a façade?


texts: Word like "decadence" for declining skill

texts:
I'm trying to fill in the gap in a sentence like this:

  John's true skills were stagnating, even regressing, and in his ___, he increasingly indulged in fanciful daydreams where he would save the day, instead of facing his difficulties head-on.

I'm thinking  of the word "decadence", but I feel like there's a word I'm not remembering that's a better fit.


texts:
Often, when overheard from far away, I find myself saying/thinking:

  [S]he has the ears of a hawk!

Which doesn't really make sense as hawks aren't particularly well known for their sense of hearing.

Is there a common saying, equivalent to "eyes of a hawk", relating to someone's sense of hearing?


texts: Which is the proper way to use (and mark) nested parentheses?

texts:
I found some posts on whether it is acceptable to nest parentheses (e.g. here) but there is no discussion yet about which parentheses should be used when nesting, and how.
These are some alternative methods that one could adopt to spell the same sentence with nested parentheses. Which one do you think is right?

The nested and the nesting are in the same style

Example: Nested parentheses are ugly (as we saw in example (1), (2) and (3))

Like in maths: nesting in square brackets, nested in simple

Example: Nested parentheses are ugly [as we saw in example (1), (2) and (3)]

Internal parentheses need to go, and is substituted by some other sign

Example: Nested parentheses are ugly (as we saw in example -1-, -2- and -3-)

External parentheses need to go (nesting is illegal)

Example: Nested parentheses are ugly, as we saw in example (1), (2) and (3)
My feeling is that (4) is preferable when possible, then (3), then (1). Clearly (4) will not always be possible (syntax may demand parentheses), and also (3) could create problems (for instance, it may introduce a confusing inconsistency in how one refers to the numbered examples). I find (2) almost offensive for a text in natural language (rather than mathematical notation).
I often find myself forced to used nested parentheses, even if I hate them. Any advice on which form is more acceptable would be very welcome!


texts: How to punctuate two quotes within a sentence

texts:
Should I put a period at the end of the first quote within this sentence?

  We often hear, "That's not me." or "I wasn't raised that way."

OR should it read:

  "That's not me" or "I wasn't raised that way."


texts:
Hidden gems is an idiom which means something which is extremely outstanding and not many people may know about; for example, Blame It on Rio by Stanley Donen is a good movie, but relatively unknown by the mainstream world, hence a hidden gem.

Hidden gem however does seem to be informal, is there an alternative phrase for this which I can use in a formal context?

It is also known as a diamond in the rough, which is defined as;

  someone or something whose good qualities are hidden


texts: How do we describe answering a question tangentially to how it was put forward?

texts:
This might take some background. Role-Playing Games Stack Exchange, like any other site, sometimes receives charged or leading questions, and people don't want to respond to the lead laid out for them and want to in some way challenge the premise of the question. Sometimes the question doesn't make sense such that an answerer may feel the only valid response is "mu", or they feel it's an XY problem and refuse to answer the actual question and instead tackle the problem they think lies behind it: for example, "my friend keeps kicking me, what shin guards should I buy" would likely get answered with "tell your friend to stop kicking you."

Is there a term, phrase, or expression we use in English to concisely describe this type of response to a question, where people refuse to take on the question at face value and instead tackle some deeper premise behind it or take it on from a different angle?

I ask this because at some point circa 2014 it became commonplace for us to call these "frame challenges" or "challenging the frame of the question", but I can find no evidence at all that anyone except us calls it that. I've googled for both terms with and without quotes and only found design challenges, and Google Ngrams has questionable results — exceptionally slim usage of "challenge the frame" even by its standards, and no recorded usage of "frame challenge" whatsoever.

Sometimes our site's regulars who are familiar with this jargon will say at the top of answers "I'm going to challenge the frame of your question", which is a problem for random internet googlers or new users who may not know what that even means. I've seen people ask a handful of times what that means (most recently leading to a meta being asked).

I'd like to make sure that whatever we're calling this, it's something that actually makes sense to people, and isn't strictly internal technical jargon we invented between ourselves which nobody else understands.


texts:
It's possible that this question has been asked before, but neither google nor stackexchange search show anything.

As in the title, do we use "the" before filenames? As in "The config.txt" or "config.txt" ? Or maybe it depends on the context, some files have "the" before them, while others don't ("the config.txt" but just "vacation_photo.png")


texts: What does “Soviet time tactics - No give bucks and muddy the water” (If I heard it right) mean?

texts:
In our English language listening circle, we unanimously heard AP Radio News (aired on March 31) refering to Russia’s action on Crimea anexation by force as follows:

  Former ambassador, Michael McFaul tells the NBC’s ‘Meet the Press’
  that Russian President Vladimir Putin seems to be using a tactic from
  Soviet times - No give bucks and muddy the water. "They’re changing the
  subject. They’re saying O.K. Crimea’s done. We’ve taken that. Now
  let’s start negotiating about the Ukrainian constitution.”

I’m not certain whether we heard out the line, “No give bucks and muddy the water” rightly, or not.

Does our hearing make sense? If no, what should Mr. McFaul have said?. If yes, what does it mean? Is it an idiomatic expression?


texts: Word/phrase for "treating the problem rather than the symptom"?

texts:
Is there a word that means the equivalent (or close to) the expression "treat the problem  rather than the symptom" ?

If not, is there a concise way to say this?

For example, in discussing healthcare costs I might advocate that we treat the problem (lack of exercise) rather than treating the symptoms of the problem (obesity).  I need to explain this clearly and concisely in a bullet point....


texts: Verb when citing statistics ex. "one in nine Americans (work or works) in sales"

texts:
When I read the following sentence:

  According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, one in nine Americans works in sales.

I believe work sounds better than works.

Experts and wordsmiths, please advise!


texts: What's the correct way to imply that a course is not taken online?

texts:
I'd like to know how I should write on my CV that some courses I've taken were taken online (i.e. on websites, through videos and such) while others were actually taken on an institute/school etc.

For example:

Online Education

Foo (at example.com)
Bar (at somesite.com)

(place your suggestion here) education

Baz
Quux

There's a word in Portuguese which is sometimes used to convey that meaning: presencial. I think it would be possible to use the English word presential with the same meaning, but somehow it doesn't sound so natural.

Could anybody present some possibilities? Thanks in advance.


texts:
What do you say?

got me thinking
made me think

Is there a difference between those two phrases?

I recently heard someone say “it got me thinking” — which got me thinking about whether it also “made me think”. ;)


texts: Use of the word "freak" as a slang term to mean stoner or heavy marijuana user

texts:
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, the word "freak" was used for heavy marijuana smokers (other drugs might be involved as well) in New England boarding schools and as far south as Pennsylvania.

My 16 year old son (public school New Jersey) and 50 year old colleague (public school NY) had never heard the term used.

I believe "freak out" is still used for a bad experience on drugs.  But in this case, I mean simply "freak"--without any modifiers

1) Was this term used more widely than in boarding schools 25 years ago?
2) Is it still used anywhere?
3) When was it first used to mean stoner? (BTW "stoner"--a synonym, was not in use in those days, although the verb form "to get stoned" certainly was)
4) When was "stoner" as a noun first used?


texts: When should I use "will" instead of "would"?

texts:
Which tense of the modal verb is correct here?

I have seen these ads so many times before! Often the properties would be situated right next to beach.

I have seen these ads so many times before! Often the properties will be situated right next to beach.


texts:
Which of the titular phrases is the most appropriate and correct to express a work or task that mainly relies on the intelligence of an entity?

  Stats of matches from Google Books:
  Intelligent-intensive (762) ; Intelligence-intensive (1840)


texts:
Do you have to capitalize a question that is after a comma?
Example:

I'm not hungry, why do I have to eat?

EDIT
The sentence are formed by dependent clauses with the next structure:
Situation, question about the situation.
More examples:

They have a luxury car, are they rich?
If I don't study, will I pass the exam?
I'm sure you received my letter, why didn't you answer me?

My question is: the words "are", "will" and "why" have to be capitalized?


texts: Should a semicolon be used before a list?

texts:
I'm writing a college admissions essay and I have a question regarding the usage of a semicolon.
The sentence is:

I believe I will thrive in upper division coursework due to traits my family instilled in me; sustained focus, independent initiative, intellectual curiosity, and collaboration.

Is a semicolon the correct punctuation to use after me, or maybe a hyphen, or something else?
Thanks in advance!


texts:
In a documentary I'm watching, a teenager is missing and her car is found. In the car's truck a bag can be seen, and they suspect that she might be inside of the bag. Her father states:

  It took everything within me not to walk over there and open the trunk."

I understand took: to grasp or grip; to get possession of.

But what is "everything within me"?

What does he mean by that?


texts: What are the words to express sobbing and crying sound?

texts:
Google doesn't help much.

What are the sounds (written in words) that people usually use to express their crying/sobbing emotions such as in chat, social network?

For example if I say, "I am sad [sobbing]", this is ok but I want to replace it with sound to express more emotion.

In my own language "sig sig" would be the sound for sobbing but I guess if I wrote "sig sig", English speaker friends wouldn't understand me.


texts: What is the saying, "famous paintings will always be stolen"?

texts:
I came across this sentence in Chinese:

在欧洲，有这么句俗话：“是名画，总要被盗的。”

Google translate translates it as:

In Europe, there is a saying: “It's a famous painting, it must be stolen.”

Must is wrongly translated here. The sentence is probably better translated as: “If it's a famous painting, it will always be stolen.”
I've never heard or seen such a phrase before. Does such a saying actually exist?


texts: what is the difference between "be into" and "be keen on" and "interested in"

texts:
I am keen on studying English,
I am interested in studying English.

Can you write with some examples?


texts:
My friend gave me this sentence and said there is nothing wrong with it. I can't for the love of me understand what it means. And can't help but to think there is a more eloquent way of phrasing it. Can anyone help?

  I just don't want to wonder what job I could've had, if I hadn't been focusing solely on the business during my job search.

Here's the context: the writer (my friend) has the option of taking an average job, and focusing on developing their entrepreneurial spirit through exploring business ventures. Or to take a great job but perhaps would get too consumed in it (time wise) to have any energy to explore the entrepreneurial side. My friend is trying to express a want to obtain a better job, even if the focus is on developing the business side. Otherwise he would wonder at a later piont if he could have gotten a better job. He is trying to explain this to a third party in an email that was read to me. And this sentence caused me great confusion and a heated debate ensued.


texts: Is the term "low-level employee" considered to be derogatory?

texts:
I recently saw a TV show where an executive referred to an assistant as a low-level employee.

Is it considered appropriate or derogatory?


texts:
Swift code has a column limit of 100 characters. Except as noted below, any line that would exceed this limit must be line-wrapped as described in Line-Wrapping. - https://google.github.io/swift/

Fixed a bug where Room would not correctly detect the JDK version used to enable incremental annotation processor. - https://developer.android.com/jetpack/androidx/releases/room

Are there any reasons to use would in such cases? Why not rephrase these passages in the simple present tense?

My version: Swift code has a column limit of 100 characters. Except as noted below, any line that exceeds this limit must be line-wrapped as described in Line-Wrapping.

My version: Fixed a bug where Room does not correctly detect the JDK version used to enable incremental annotation processor.


texts: Restructure "did you mean x?" so that `x` is at the beginning

texts:
I'm trying to find a sentence with an equivalent meaning to:

  did you mean x?

Where x is the first word of the sentence. This sentence is displayed when a user enters invalid input, suggesting an alternative.

Is it possible?


texts:
Which one of the two forms "high inaccuracy" and "low accuracy" should be used in formal language? Is there a rule?
What about "highly inaccurate" vs "lowly accurate"?


texts: "Using the technique" vs "By using the technique"

texts:
I am confused about the following sentence:

  We can check overlap using the technique in solution 1

Why has the author written "using"?  Could we rephrase it as:

  We can check overlap by using the technique in solution 1

Can anyone explain the grammar of the original statement to me?


texts:
Can anyone explain to me, what does "step up" mean in the song Imagine by Ariana Grande, which she says at the beginning:

  "Step up the two of us, nobody knows us
  get in the car like skrrt"


texts:
I'm trying to convert the following sentence from the active voice to passive. It has two verbs, and I don't know how to link all parts.

  A recent study found that posting photos of oneself correlates with lower levels of intimacy.

What I've tried is:

Posting photos of oneself was found by a recent study.

I don't know how I could link the last part.

Any help?
Thanks a lot


texts: What's the origin of the meme "and so can you"?

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  Please explain “I Am America (And So Can You!)”

Stephen's Colbert book is titled "I am America, and so can you." I think the phrase "and so can you" is a reference to something, but I'm not sure what that is. In particular, when and where did it become a famous meme?


texts:
There are already some posts talking about inquiry, enquiry, and survey.

However, a real sharp definition and distinction between survey and inquiry words is still missing and I'd like to be sure about their differences and best uses.


texts: Difference in Usage of Specificity & Specification

texts:
I found two noun words such as Specificity and Specification.
When can we use Specificity over specification.


texts: "I have got a Playstation" versus "I have got Playstation"

texts:
Is it possible to avoid using the article in the following sentence:

  I have got a Playstation.


texts:
Regarding the use of the verb fathom, is it correct to say this?

  I can no longer fathom the difference between right and wrong.

Merriam-Webster says:

  fathom: to penetrate and come to understand

So my understanding is that it's perfectly fine, but I wanted to make sure.


texts: when can i omit the subject in comparative sentences

texts:
I recently encountered two sentences -

Cars made in Japan are better than those made in Korea.

here, "those" cannot be omitted

Prices of mangos in Thailand are much lower than (those) in England.

here, "those" can be omitted

Can anyone please help why in the 1st sentence "those" cannot be omitted but can be omitted in the 2nd sentence? They look like having the same structure to me.

Thank you!
VC


texts: Is there a word for re-engaging in a habit one used to have?

texts:
I'm not sure there is such a word, but I'm looking for a word, which expresses the intention or execution of re-engaging an old habit, which one used to have.

For example, if Joe used to play piano daily in his twenties but lost interest due to lack of time after starting a family, is there such an expression, that Joe can say "I used to play piano daily a long time ago and plan to * this habit soon again" (where * is the expression I'm looking for)?


texts:
The planet was discovered by TESS, NASA's planet-hunting space telescope designed to find exoplanets that pass between us and their home star, by detecting the telltale dimming as the planet blocks a small percentage of the star's light. The depth of dimming, and the tiny movements of the star as it is very slightly pulled by the planet's gravity (detected with other telescopes), allow scientists to place constraints on the size and mass of the planet.

(Source:https://www.sciencealert.com/a-newly-discovered-rocky-exoplanet-has-three-red-suns#:~:text=The%20planet%20was%20discovered%20by,percentage%20of%20the%20star's%20light.)
According to the context, I can infer that "place constraints on" here means something like "measure" or "calculate". However, I can't find any related meanings in dictionaries for the word "constraint" or the phrase "place constraints on sth." So my question is that do I just get the meaning through the context, or the meaning of "measure" has something to do with that of "place constraints on"?
Thank you!


texts: Force someone to do what you want [to] [do]

texts:
1) Don't force your friends to do what you want to do.

2) Don't force your friends to do what you want to.

3) Don't force your friends to do what you want.

I think

1) is 'Don't force your friends to do something. You want to do something.'

And

3) is 'Don't force your friends to do something. You want something.'

But generally, forcing is kind of acts so I think 1) is the most grammatical sentence.

But now I have still a few questions.

2) Don't force your friends to do what you want to.  - > Is it grammatically correct?

2) If it is possible, what is the difference between 1) to 3)?


texts:
I have just listened to a presentation to adjective order in my linguistics class, however, it failed to answer my question. Would an English speaker say "this is a dead pregnant cat" or "this is a pregnant dead cat."
Why would one be better than the other?


texts: What's a phrase for "doing what you know" even when it's wrong?

texts:
We see several tropes over on the DIY forum.  People have problem A, but they don't know how to fix problem A, so they fix problem B that isn't broken solely because they know how to do that.

Typically, it is perfectly obvious that the problem is A not B, or only a moment's thought or an easy test would tell them that, but their skill at B pulls them like a magnet to that "solution".

For instance

A water heater has a bad element that costs $12.  It trips the correct 30-amp circuit breaker, so they change the breaker to a 40A ($11).  Later, that trips, so clearly something is wrong.  But they change it to a 60A ($11) etc. etc.  They know how to change breakers. They don't know how to change elements.
A $15 coffee grinder has a ground fault.  This trips their ground fault detector (GFCI/RCD).  They could go plug it into the (different) GFCI in the bathroom, but no -- they instantly presume the detector is faulty and spend $20 changing it (the US style is easy to change).

My first thought was "rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic" but that seems to be about a tragically pointless effort done out of lack of awareness.

What's a better phrase for that?


texts: Work on sth. vs. work at sth. (both in a form of a regular verb, not a phrasal verb)

texts:
I have difficulties with understanding what preposition should I use after a verb "to work" when I'm talking about spending time on development/resolvment of a specific task. Should I say "to work on a task" or "to work at a task" And is there any difference at all?

For instance, Oxfords Learner's Dictionaries says that both are fine if we are implying doing something that involves physical or mental effort, especially as part of a job (which is basically the meaning I want to use). Yet, I'm still not quite sure because if we take into consideration meanings of such phrasal verbs as "to work on sth." and "to work at sth.", we can see the difference. Does the difference in meanings of these phrasal verbs transfer to a regular verb "to work"?


texts:
Do I need to put a comma at this (highlighted) position? Why? Why not?

  In a sub-picosecond range, this radical is transformed into hydroxyl radical...

My collaborator from USA insists on putting in it.
As for me, no comma should be there, since the sentence becomes divided.
I tried to find a rule for this case, but it was not very convincing, saying that there are two cases with and without comma.


texts:
Is correct the expression "Where to trip" understanding "trip" as a travel.

For example:

I don't know where to trip.

Is it similar to the following?

I don't know where to go.
I don't know where to travel.

Maybe its an easy question but I ask it because I'm not a native english-speaker.


texts: Can "once" and "since" be followed by a V-ing clause?

texts:
Consider these examples:

  Since the board realized that the figures are increasing, they have been searching for a new campaign.
  Once the board realized that the figures are increasing, they began searching for a new campaign.

Can they be rewritten as "since realizing" and "once realizing"?


texts:
Is the following sentence in present or future tense?

  I will now begin.

Context
I was writing a speech, at the end of which I say: "My friend Steve* will now talk to you about..."

It seemed to me at first that it should be present, because of its usage of the word "now", but it makes more sense for it to be in the future (I will begin).


texts: What is someone who leaks a surprise called?

texts: What is someone whose tendency/act is to leak the surprise called?


texts: "Made look better" vs. "made to look better"

texts:
Results are made to look better by...
  Results are made look better by...

Are both correct? Is there another way of phrasing this sentence?


texts:
Is it correct to say user accounts or users account when referring to the accounts any user has on a site like this one?

In general, in the case of a noun that is used as adjective for the noun that follows, is it better to use <plural-noun> <singular-noun> or <singular-noun> <plural-noun>?


texts:
Can we use "depart" in the following sentence?

  I departed from Jared, heading to the north as he went to the opposite direction.

I guess "depart" is mostly used for places. I wonder if it can be used for people, as well? Is it better to say "I separated from Jared"?


texts: Is “Thisness” an established English word? What is the alternative expression that sounds more natural and familiar?

texts:
I came across an unfamiliar word to me, thisness in the following sentence of New Yorker magazine’s (April 19) article titled, What We’re Reading: Buzzfeed, “Pulphead,” Chekhov, and More”

James Wood explains why the selection and elaboration of seemingly irrelevant detail is what makes fiction real. Details that appear true, he writes, have a quality of “thisness.”
By thisness, I mean any detail that draws abstraction toward itself and seems to kill that abstraction with a puff of palpability, any detail that centers our attention with its concreteness….
By thisness I mean the moment when Emma Bovary fondles the satin slippers she danced in weeks before at the great ball at LaVaubyessard. Thisness is often used to puncture ceremonies like funerals and dinners that are designed precisely to euphemize thisness; what Tolstoy calls making a bad smell in the drawing room.

Though none of Oxford, Cambridge, and Merriam Webster English dictionary registers the word, thisness, I found the definition of thisness, in Wikipedia which defines it as the translation from Latin, haecceitus meaning the qualities, properties or characteristics of a thing which make it a particular thing.
Is thisness, a popular English word? If thisness has currency, can we say thatness, theyness, or even I-ness, we-ness, here-ness, there-ness?
Isn’t there smoother and more familiar word than thisness, which sounds somewhat crude to me?


texts: Is it good to use "for you" or "for me" in business communications

texts: While talking to business, how bad it is to use language like "We will do this for you" or "can you do this for me". Are both of these sentences are not acceptable/not good to use


texts: Word for "when someone does something good for you and then mentions it persistently afterwards"

texts:
Say your friend A bought you a present on your birthday. Then long after the birthday, you gathered with your friends including A and were talking casually and A mentions the gift they had bought for you. . . After a while, on another occasion, A mentions that gift again and tells you that they had bought you a present. . . After some time on another occasion, he mentions it again and makes you annoyed about the gift.
What word would you use for the process of mentioning the gift persistently?
An example sentence would go like:

A bought a present for me and then "...WORD..."ed it on every occasion

A phrase or an idiom would also do.


texts: Comma before "with," "who," "having" for non-compound sentences

texts:
I've noticed my résumé and cover letter have multiple sentences like the ones (slightly edited) below:

  I offer excellent computer skills, with a typing speed of 80–120 WPM.
  I recently met ____, who advised that ...
  I bring a strong awareness of ____, having completed ...
  I assumed additional ____ at ____, where I also ...
  I am seeking entry into ____ at ____, with an aim to ...

I want advice on this that is not "commas are a stylistic choice" — for me, whatever I start doing regularly, I become stylistically accustomed to.

I asked my career counsellor at Stanford and she told me that I should look at what follows the comma as an "aside." According to her, the comma here is correct and should be looked upon as a lone, pairless, bracketing comma. Taking sentence 1, she said it could be thought of as :

  I offer excellent computer skills, with a typing speed of 80–120 WPM, and therefore I deserve ____. (Hypothetical sentence with bracketing commas)

  I offer excellent computer skills, with a typing speed of 80–120 WPM. (Lone bracketing comma ― period replaces second comma for the pair)

Her second bit of advice was that if I can put what follows the comma in parentheses, then I should leave the comma in.

Going on this, I've removed commas for sentences 2 and 5.

But I'm still confused. Mainly because this rule seems a bit flimsy and could be used to justify commas that are clearly wrong.

  Example: "I am good at reading, and writing."

To me, the rule is that only two sentences that can stand on their own when joined together with "but," "and," etc. may have a comma. According to this rule, only no. 4 requires a comma where there is a subject on both sides.

Could someone offer guidance on this?


texts: Which sentence is grammatically correct lay or laid in this situation?

texts:
She lay on the beach while her son splashed at the water's edge.
or
She laid on the beach while her son splashed at the water's edge.
Grammarly is indicating that both are correct, but Word Power says that the first is correct.


texts: One word for 'Completeness and Correctness'

texts:
I am looking for one word for the phrase 'Completeness and Correctness' as in submitted documents.

As an example say I have to give status of a payment that require examination of some documents with respect to some agreed submissions and values set as standard. The invoices were submitted around 5 months ago, and the statement should allude to reason for the long time taken for vetting. For this the statement should go like this:"The invoices were submitted on 24.08.2015, and were being examined thoroughly for its completeness and correctness"

This is a part of a long reply. So I am looking forward to be as much concise as possible. Hence the quest for one for 'Completeness and Correctness'


texts: very specific tense aspect configuration

texts:
I recently tried to translate a German sentence to English and I failed. I won't give you the German version but rather the background configuration of it.

Two people talk about an event that has happened in the past. They do not know how exactly it happened though, let's say there are 2 options how it could have gone down. They have no information but they do know that under a certain condition one outcome was almost certain. Here is an example that I think does work in English (if not then please correct me):

  If you haven't seen the movie, then you have definitely missed out on something.

Another example without a negative:

  If Marie studied then she passed the exam.

Now here comes the version that didn't work.

  If Thomas knew, that Marie needed the book he would have brought it with him to class.

or another try:

  In case that Thomas was aware that Marie needed the book, then he has probably brought it with him to class.

I don't know if that is correct or not.
Anyway... I was wondering why the same configuration can be expressed in the movie example quite easily while I have to find all kinds of workaround for the book-example.
My idea was, that the verb to know (with a few exceptions) does not make sense in perfect aspect and that using the simple past doesn't work because the if makes it look conditional.
Is that possible?
And also, what is the grammatical name for that configuration?
How can I express the idea for the book-example in proper English?


texts: Do native speakers leave out articles in slides for space?

texts:
Sometimes a and the take too much space in a slide, and I delete all of them to save me extra lines.

Is it a good practice?


texts: Sleep means to rest your mind and body, usually at night. So it should be stative. But we often say something like "I am sleeping". So it looks also like a dynamic verb. Is sleep stative or dynamic or both?


texts: A phrase that captures the concept of making oneself falsely appear to be guilty for purpose of discrediting another party

texts:
Perhaps this is more of a trope, but I'm looking for a phrase or word in English that describes the situation where:

(a) "Party A" consciously performs actions that establish a false expectation of wrongdoing.

(b) Some antagonistic "Party B" leaps to the conclusion of wrongdoing due to [a].

(c) The lack of wrongdoing is revealed by "Party A" to some unbiased "Party C", and "Party A" improves its standing to an unbiased audience or benefits from reducing the perceived objectivity or fairness of "Party B".

Is there some phrase or common anecdotal reference used by English speakers to reference this sort of situation?

An example of this would be the following: Let Party A be Alice, and Party B be Bob.  Bob's dog is missing, and because of some bad history, Bob claims to the police that Alice killed his dog.  Alice then waits until she knows (but Bob does not) that Bob is observing her, and digs a hole in her backyard, then appears to throw something into the hole.  Bob runs to tell the police he saw Alice burying his dog, and the police dig in the location Bob specifies.  It turns out that Alice was simply planting tulips.  Bob is discredited as being paranoid and Alice gains sympathy.  To clarify, it's unknown whether or not Alice actually killed Bob's dog, but she knows that there is suspicion cast on her by Bob's claims.

Another example could be the following: Alice is in fierce competition with Bob at work, and Alice knows that Bob is talking to others to gain information about her activities.  So Alice pretends to be stealing Bob's idea for a proposal, mentions this around the office, and then submits a proposal having nothing to do with Bob's idea.  Bob, upon hearing the rumors, angrily confronts his superior about this, and is red-faced after being presented with a copy of the report.

What word or phrase describes the deceit Alice carried out as described above, to benefit her standing with the police at Bob's expense?


texts: Does the letter i serve as a consonant in words like "onion" and "view"?

texts:
Some more words: union, behavior, Daniel.

And the second i in opinion, familiar, brilliant, California.

I am especially concerned with American English.


texts: Is there a word, phrase, or idiom for a person who stays too late at an event such as a dinner party?

texts:
Something like "latecomer" but for departing rather than arriving.

For example, "Bob was always the _____ at social outings."

Other variations with verbs or non - noun idioms are useful to me as well, such as "Bob would always ________ at social outings."


texts: Is it grammatically correct to say 'value within time interval' or 'value within signal segment'?

texts:
I have following signal graph.

Is the following sentences are correct (Y-Axis values are called say, M value)?

1) The M values are quite high within the time interval [1870, 1180].

2) The M values are quite low within the signal segment k.

I am actually confused between: within vs during vs for.


texts: Use of suffix and agglutination to form antonym of "hope"

texts:
I am an assistant teacher of English in a higher secondary school in a remote village of Basirhat - ii block. In my school the first summative evaluation is going on where in the English grammar question of class - vi it is asked to form the antonym of the word, 'Hope', by using suffix to it.

The concerned grammar teacher of class vi argues that the answer is 'hopelessness' without considering the fact that the word, 'hopelessness' is the derivative of the word, 'hopeless' and not the direct derivative of the word, 'hope'. My question is : does the question exist at all where it is asked to form the antonym of the word, 'hope', by using suffix?

Even if we consider 'Hopelessness' as the derived form of 'Hope' by using suffixes, in that case also 'Hopelessness' is derived from 'Hope' as verb and how can we consider it as the antonym of 'Hope' as noun? Can we consider the derived noun form of 'Hope'(verb) after using suffixes as the antonym of 'Hope'(noun)?

Perhaps it is a silly question, but I am expecting your valuable opinion on it out of my responsibility to my pupils.


texts:
In the quote below, please see the sentence that begins with the word "None." I have a question about the second half of this sentence. To understand it better, I paraphrased it to "none are so poor with a smile but they are richer for its benefits." I feel that the conjunction but is incorrect because it is not introducing an opposing idea. I think that and would be more preferable. I'm sure that the author knew English better than I do, so my thinking must be wrong. Would you please help me understand why I am wrong?

The value of a smile... It costs nothing, but creates much. It enriches those who receive, without impoverishing those who give. It happens in a flash and the memory of it sometimes lasts forever. None are so rich they can get along without it, and none so poor but are richer for its benefits. It creates happiness in the home, fosters good will in a business, and is the countersign of friends.

—Dale Carnegie (2016), How to Win Friends and Influence People, p. 67, Diamond Pocket Books Pvt Ltd.


texts: Any better terms or words for an overseas office?

texts: Is there any better term or word for an overseas office? It's like a company opening a new workplace in other countries.


texts: One word for a state which is neither here nor there

texts:
Is there any word to describe a situation in which one is undecided about the relative desirability of two mutually exclusive alternatives in an abstract sense?
For example, as regards the relative merits of doing X and not doing X, I have always been in a state of ____. As regards which of the two ideologies is more suited to my temperament, I have been in a state of ______.

"vacillation" is one word I thought about. But "vacillation" seems to be rather  concrete in the sense that it seems to be more apt for common alternatives such as "My vacillation in regard to wearing a suit on that occasion led to a delay in my departure".  Are there other words or phrases or idioms that describe what I have in mind?


texts: How do you say you accept something wrong being done?

texts:
How do you say when you are NOT doing anything wrong, but you are part of it by not pointing out the crime/situation....

e.g.: You are married to your wife and she starts to get fatter....the fatter she gets, the sadder you became ....and you do not say anything about it so you are ___________.

The word missing is the one I need.

In portuguese we have the word

  "Conivente"

which fits perfectly.

However, in English I am not sure about what to use.


texts:
Are there any differences in meaning between the two sentences?

  We hadn't left the place yet; we will be there in 10 minutes.
  We haven't left the place yet; we will be there in 10 minutes.


texts:
Is there a phrase or idiom that conveys the "reverse" meaning of sour grapes?

Sour grapes: A good object "becomes bad" if I cannot get it.

Phrase I'm looking for: A bad object "becomes good" if I'm forced to have it.

Say for example that I was forced by a court to fight a boxing match due to some contract and I cannot escape it. I didn't want to do it originally but now that I know I'll have to, I pretend it's all I've ever thought of since I've known the opponent, to take him down in a boxing match. This is where someone would look at me and use the phrase I'm looking for with an intention to deride my pretense.

To be clear, these are my constraints:

The situation or object has to be undesirable all through, objectively.
I am strongly against it right from the beginning to the end (as any normal person, going by the constraint above)
After facing the situation/getting the object with no way out, I pretend that I love the situation or object. I do not actually reconcile myself to it, let alone like it. I only pretend.
The phrase should be used in a pejorative manner


texts:
I recently received a letter from my solicitor which contained this statement:

  I am waiting to receive the suite of documents.

I've never heard this before; can you use suite for a number of documents?


texts: What are the proper names of movie theatre quarters (rooms)

texts:
How to correctly call lobby of a movie theatre where people are waiting?

How to correctly call the room where people watch the movie?


texts: Is it natural to answer a yes-no question with just yes/no?

texts:
Given a yes-no question such as:

  Did you call him?

Is it idiomatic to simply answer:

  Yes. / No.

As opposed to:

  Yes, I did. / No, I didn't.

or just:

  I did. / I didn't.

I've noticed that in some languages simply answering yes or no seems to be the common unmarked way of answering (e.g. Spanish), but not in others (e.g. Portuguese).


texts:
What would be the correct spelling:

georeferencing or
geo-referencing?

I'm writing my PhD on the topic and would prefer to write correctly, of course. Some research I've conducted already:
Merriam-Webster
The Merriam-Webster online dictionary does not know the term: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/georeferencing (as of today).
However, looking at somewhat similar terms, I can see no clear pattern:

geo-economics (perhaps a more common word than georeferencing): the website notes, that geoeconomics is less common compared to geo-economics
geospatial (more closely related to the topic of georeferencing): dash form is not mentioned

Encyclopedia of Database Systems
Uses georeferencing (without dash): https://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007%2F978-0-387-39940-9_181
The same author also published a book in 2009 titled Georeferencing https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/georeferencing .
Scientific field
The authors use both spellings; however, most are non-native English speakers. Additionally, it is not always necessary that their texts were checked by a professional before publication. Following are two lists of some selected publications grouped together by their usage of the word georeferencing.
Using 1. option:

(2018) https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/8453694
(2019) https://jgcc.geoprevi.ro/docs/2019/10/jgcc_2019_no10_3.pdf
(2020) https://www.researchgate.net/publication/343849821_Georeferencing_in_the_context_of_building_information_modelling/citations?latestCitations=PB%3A351907369 (my paper, which also shows my inclination towards option 1. as the correct answer)

Using 2. option:

(2012) https://www.repo.uni-hannover.de/handle/123456789/4740
(2020) https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/12/12/1928
(2021) https://www.researchgate.net/publication/351907369_A_Common_Approach_to_Geo-Referencing_Building_Models_in_Industry_Foundation_Classes_for_BIMGIS_Integration

Similarly, geo-information is used by an international journal from the field https://www.mdpi.com/journal/ijgi


texts: Which is the meaning of "palm-to-forehand"?

texts:
I am reading a science-fiction short story and I met this sentence that I can't understand. You can read the whole sentence in the attached file.

"Palm-to-forehand"

What does it means? Think you everybody for your help.

Andrea, Rome, Italy


texts: Is it offensive to say that someone "fell pregnant"?

texts:
That's my question in the headline. It implies that it was an accident, and/or that the pregnancy, so therefore the unborn child, is a burden, like an illness.

Seems offensive, yet I hear it all the time, so, maybe it is not.


texts:
I found a sentence in the dictionary:
'He walked off in a most bizarre fashion.' I found in the grammar books, it is a rule to use 'the' before superlative degree.

Now, I'm confused when I should use article 'a' before 'most'.


texts: English phrase which a native speaker can't understand

texts:
In the office here in Germany, everyone is telling others of a simple German phrase - which native German speakers can't understand! (see this Reddit)

  Mähen Äbte Heu? Äbte mähen nie Heu, Mägde mähen Heu. Äbte beten.

Translation: Do abbots mow hay? Abbots never mow hay, maids mow hay. Abbots pray

Very simple words, which should be known to all; nothing tricky.

An English speaker would hear it as

  Men ebte hoy? Ebte men knee hoy, megde men hoy. Ebte baiten.

Not very meaningful, perhaps, but no tricky sounds.

There is something about the repeated ä (like e in bed) which causes the German brain to blink, think "does not compute" and ask "what language is that" (100% of people whom I have observed hearing it for the first time have asked what language it is).

Finally, my question: is there something similar in English?

Nothing using dialect or obscure words (I'm looking at you, buffalo), nor tricky repeated words or phrases, etc.

Just some short, simple, common English words, which cause the native English speaker on hearing them to ask "what language is that?".


texts:
Can someone tell me what phonetic alphabet is used here? Also, how is this word pronounced?

Update: This is a scientific term from a 1976 National Bureau of Standards manual. The original word is written giga. Thanks.


texts: When do you use "Cheers" instead of "Thank you" in spoken English?

texts:
A lot of time, people say "cheers" instead of "thank you". As I am not a native speaker, I wonder in which case you can use what.

It is used a lot for polite gestures, such as holding a door or giving someone a light. It is also more used if you know the person you are talking to.

Are there any rules?


texts: What is a word for someone who doesn’t want to improve themself


texts: Idiomatic expression for "moving away" from a subject

texts:
I am in a meeting with a lot of people but the person who is speaking is not focusing on the subject, that person is somehow "moving away" from what is really important.
Is there any expression for that mirrors that situation or any other words I can use to talk about it ?


texts: What is the difference between "invasion" and "intrusion"?

texts: What is the difference between "invasion" and "intrusion", according to the original latin meaning?


texts:
We choose evidence that everyone can agree shows him being out of touch with reality.

Is this sentence grammatically correct? To me it only sounds correct when it’s modified to

  We choose evidence that everyone can agree that it shows him being out of touch with reality.

Is the meaning still same with the bolded words omitted?


texts:
In the movie '300', the protagonist King Leonidas has a famous dialogue.

  Spartans! Ready your breakfast and eat hearty, for tonight, we dine in
  hell!

Here, I wanted to know if the usage of hearty as an adverb is right.

Is not heartily the right adverb?


texts:
Could you please tell me which sentence is correct?

It's not worth learning many a language when you haven't got the
opportunity to use them.
It's not worth learning many a language when you haven't got the
opportunity to use it.

Until now, I've only known that "many a + singular noun" takes a singular verb. Unfortunately, I've never heard about the correct pronoun for it.

Before I posted this question, I'd done some searching and this is the only one that I've found useful. But it seems to be a mere opinion, not an officially accepted usage or something like that. What I really want is a widely accepted usage.

Please enlighten me. Thanks in advance.

P/s: This is not a duplicate of this question. In other words, I've already known the use of "many" vs "many a". You can clearly see that my question isn't about "many" vs "many a". In addition to that, the link above refers to a question that doesn't even mention anything about "pronoun" while mine is mainly about it.


texts:
I'm looking for a word that means "having the right to use this word."

For example, one could argue (and let's not argue whether or not this is true) that a gay person has some degree of agency/authority/word-I'm-looking-for in using the word "gay."

In general, this could be applied to derogatory terms, where the people against whom they are used have the right to "reclaim" them.


texts: "It's a great thing" in a formal letter?

texts: Is it ok to say "it's a great thing that your company does this and that because..." in a business letter or is there another way to say it ?


texts: Should a second definition for a word be used over the first definition of another word? (Both appropriate words)

texts:
Say we have two words that essentially mean the same thing that can fit in a sentence. One of the words has a "primary" or first definition that allows it to fit in this sentence. The other word is a "secondary" or second/third definition of the word. Would it be more appropriate to use one over the other? Does it depend on who you are speaking to? I feel like it is better to use a "primary" definition over a "secondary" one.

When I say "primary" and "secondary" I am referring to any dictionary or source to define words that list multiple definitions for a word. Do any of these definitions take priority over others? Or is the first definition the most frequently used?

For example, ignorant can be defined as discourteous/rude:

  this ignorant, pin-brained receptionist

What if you just used rude or discourteous instead of ignorant since someone would be more likely to understand that over knowing that ignorant can be defined as discourteous or rude? (Definition - Google <-- define: ignorant)


texts: What's a good term to denote a fixed cost?

texts:
I'm looking for the X in the following sentence:

  Cost: $5 per item plus $20 X

The X is a fixed cost paid once, no matter how many items are bought. This line is for a formal business documentation.


texts: Where does the expression “spill the tea” come from?

texts:
According to Wiktionary, spill the tea (idiomatic, informal) means:

To disclose information, especially of a sensitive nature.

Apparently, the expression appears to be a recent one.

2012, Demetria L. Lucas, "Should I Worry That He Earns Less Money?", CARE, Issue #18, October 2012, page 18:

They are up in your business because you invited them in by spilling the tea on what you and your man earn.

And recently on YouTube, I read this comment

Can anyone tell me where it comes from? Is it British or American in origin?


texts: Is there a verb form for "Template", or such synonym?

texts:
My research shows that the word Template exists only as a noun.

Dictionary.com

M-W

The Free Dictionary

I feel comfortable using the word to Template, or Templating (as a verb or gerund), to express the process of creating a template, though it doesn't exist...

Or is there a good word to describe this that does exist?

My need is a bit tricky - I'm referring to a process where you create a template and then create documents based on it. So perhaps we could say:

  Start the Document (templating/other word) process.


texts: Do you say 'eights-and-a-half' or 'eight-and-a-halfs' when asking whether a person has that size in shoes or stockings?


texts: Can the word "pervasive" be used in positive and negative contexts?

texts:
I see a usage in positive context (Pervasive computing) though the definition is:

  Pervasive (adj): (especially of an unwelcome influence or physical effect) spreading widely throughout an area or a group of people.


texts:
So I've been learning German on Duolingo (great app by the way if you want to learn a language). I know you guys don't want translations here, but this is more about the English.

Of course, not all translations can be word for word. The German sentence was

  Mehr Optionen sind immer besser.

I put this and got it wrong

  More options is always better.

Now, "sind" means "are" in German, but that's beside the point. Some things just work differently in different languages. I can understand "are always better" being right. But I think that the concept of having more options is always better. And I also think that you can shorten the concept of having more options to more options. To me, "more options" is a state that you are in in which you have better leverage and control.

Am I right? Does "More options" here take a singular verb?


texts: Saying for having an argument in public that should be private

texts: Isn't their a saying when a couple fights where everyone can hear and they say things like nobody can hear? Something like, "Arguing behind a screen door" or "fighting with the screen door open."


texts: Does the term 'eccentric screw pump' have weird associations?

texts:
A progressing cavity pump is sometimes referred to as an eccentric screw pump, because it features a screw that turns abound an axis other than its center. 'Eccentric screw pump' yields many Google hits, while professionals seem to use the term 'PC pump'.

The German term would be Exzenterschneckenpumpe, so to me and to other Germans it may come naturally to translate this verbatim and arrive at eccentric screw pump. But 'eccentric screw' might also sound like a sex act. Does the term 'eccentric screw pump' have sexual connotaions to a native English speaker?


texts: Is a colon necessary after the phrase "some of these include"?

texts:
For example,

1) "Some of these included art design class and working with animals without a home"

2) "Some of these included: art design class and working with animals without a home"


texts: How do I identify a simple sentence versus a complex sentence?

texts:
In this sentence:

When pigs fly, I will be surprised.

This is a complex sentence because it uses one dependent and one independent clause.

However, in this sentence:

After this, I will take a shower.

This is a simple sentence because "this" is not a complete sentence.

Is my reasoning correct?


texts: Does anywhere else add an 'L' to words ending in a vowel sound?

texts:
When I was six I moved from Manchester (northwestern England) to Bath (southwestern England).  I was baffled to hear my school mates describe the 'aerials' they lived in.

Fast forward many years and I live in Bristol (10 miles from Bath). I find now that sometimes I add 'L's to words ending in vowel sounds, involuntarily! Because that's how Bristolians (and Bathonians) speak (although they didn't always - the city name, originally was Brycgstow (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Bristol)).

I'm wondering whether anywhere else routinely adds an 'L', or any other letter for that matter, to words ending with a vowel sound.


texts:
What does 'to herald' mean in the following passage from the Guardian.

  Patty came out and expressed her desire to get married to a woman in a
  February 2005 episode that was criticized by conservative media
  monitoring groups such as the American Family Association and
  heralded by LGBT rights groups such as GLAAD.

If it means

  to say publicly that someone or something will be good or important  ,
  be heralded as something
  http://www.ldoceonline.com/dictionary/herald_1

can it be used without the part  "as something" ?

Could you give me a few synonym that we can replace the word herald with in this sense?


texts: Correct tense for "I wish I had worn socks today"

texts:
I had an argument in the office today, about structuring something I said about not wearing socks.
I said the first of the four lines below, then everyone had their input.  All the arguing gave three more options. What is the correct way to say this?

  I wish I had worn socks today.
  I wish I'd worn socks today.
  I wish I'd had worn socks today.
  I wish I'd have had worn socks today.


texts:
Where does the term "second wind" come from? Does it refer to a physical wind, or only a metaphorical one?
From cursory research, second wind can be used in terms of running or sleeping. In the example of running, it seems that this "wind" could refer to breath or oxygen even though it colloquially means to have another burst of energy or will to continue. In the example of sleeping, there does not seem to be an obvious correlation with wind or air.
But the phrase "second wind" is used in other contexts other than running or sleeping, and it is unclear whether this ever refers to physical air/wind.


texts: Can the word "opportunity" be used as a non-countable noun? Can I say "a lot of opportunity" like in "a lot of exposure" or "a lot of pressure"?


texts: I'm looking for an English word which would replace "a seminar/conference talk where each co-author of the paper gives approximately one half of the talk" which may or may not exist.


texts: If I use a quote followed by a citation, then a small sentence from the cited material, should I include another citation?

texts:
I understand you should always follow a quotation with a citation in academic writing, but how close together can two of the same citations be? Here is the sentence in question:

  “BitTorrent traffic accounts for 18% of all internet traffic”, [3] two thirds of which is estimated to be illegally distributed copyrighted material. [3]

Should I even include the second citation? It also comes from the cited source, but having two identical citations so close looks clumsy.


texts: One word or short phrase for ease of visual surveillance if required

texts:
Situation - A person is using a room because it is easier to respond to the sound of a visitor at the gate or door (gate opening, bell ringing, someone calling). It is not necessary that you see the visitor from the room itself. You can step out into a nearby room and look out, largely without being noticed by the visitor.

I came up with ease/facility/facilitation? of visual surveillance (simple)

Or

affordance of spatial layout (technical - architecture background! affordance - 'action possibility')

Any clarification appreciated


texts: What does a "course of instruction" mean?

texts: Googles definition of class says "course of instruction". Would that mean a class could be something taught to a single person over a period of time?


texts: Complex compound adjective (adverbial phrase + participle)

texts:
A relative of mine and I have hit a brick wall in trying to agree on the grammaticality and stylistic suitability of one his sentences:

  However, it proved incapable of jeopardizing the under-socialism-fortified proletariat and nation.

I cautioned him that very complex compound adjectives are an ungainly 20th-century construct and tried to recast the dubitable phrase as:

  ... the proletariat and the nation, which were fortified under socialism.

He wouldn't hear of it, because his savvy readers would allegedly find a whiz-clause there too explicative. They're all too well aware of the attribute, yet he insists on including it because of the rest of his readers (:sigh:  :rolleyes:). So, I tried with this:

  ... the proletariat and the nation, both fortified under socialism.

Although whiz-deletion1 doesn't call for a comma, I figured ", both" was necessary to secure the application of the attribute to both nouns, proletariat and nation.

All I got was a scoff in return. It still sounded too lecturing. Then we considered this:

  ... the proletariat and nation fortified under socialism.

He firmly holds that because the second definite article is omitted from the coordinated nouns, they're more congealed, so the attribute applies to both the proletariat and the nation. Well, I'm not so sure.  Your thoughts on that?

Worst of all, after all the hubbub, he said he'd just go with his hyphenated version. But, disregarding the question of style, I'm only 99% sure2 that adverbial phrase + participle is a grammatically valid construction at all (though the (never hyphenated) adverb + participle and the (always hyphenated) noun + participle I'm 100% sure are valid). I̲s̲ i̲t̲?

(And, if it is, are all the hyphens needed? I know they are in established expressions such as dyed-in-the-wool and in constructions such as The state set a 55-mile-an-hour limit.)

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1 John Lawler on whiz-deletion:

  Interestingly, there is a codicil to Whiz-Deletion that applies when there is only one adjective left after deletion. The adjective has to be moved in front of the noun; it can't appear after it the way phrases can; conversely, phrases can't appear in front of the noun, but must follow it.

  Bill is a man who is happy to see you.
  Bill is a man happy to see you.
  *Bill is a happy to see you man.

2 I've consulted The New Fowler's Modern English Usage, The Oxford Guide To English Usage, Webster's Dictionary of English Usage, and Penguin Dictionary of American English Usage and Style, and found either nothing or an insufficient coverage.


texts: Is there a word that connotes multiple strands of hair?


texts:
I was watching Seinfeld and whenever things start becoming great for George (he is always jobless and miserable) he says : "I am busting".

Does it mean breaking the bad luck or something else?


texts: I'm looking for an adjective in English which describes the below qualities for a new year

texts:
RE:  Work, your Job, the Company

Prosperous, but not in the monetary sense, necessarily
A year in which many projects that need to be addressed, are
completed with above-average results
Significant improvement in Department's reputation in the company

The word should fit into the sentence

  Happy New Year! It’s going to be a busy, but _____ one. We’ve got a lot of work to do, but I’m on board 110%


texts: "Charge it by the blink" vs. "charge it in blinks"

texts:
Which of these sentences is grammatically and semantically more appropriate?

  Lawyers measure time and charge it by the blink.
  Lawyers measure time and charge it in blinks.