texts: Is it optional to voice the final letter and linking sound?

texts:
I am learning English and I like to observe how people say it.

Most of time, I hear "but I" as "buttai", "out of" as "outtof."
In this case, the T is pronounced.

However, I also hear when people say "they don't exist", it sounds more like "don nexist" or "they don Exist"(with a clear E sound). The T is silent.

Recently, I heard a movie character say "They won't make it out alive",
and it sounds like "They won makkittou alive". There are few things I observed,

The T from "won't" is silent,
The K sound "make" links to "it", and T sound from "it" links to "out"
The T sound from "out" is silent and doesn't link to "alive", I can clearly hear "alive", not "talive".

So I am very confused about when I should pronounce the final letter, and when I should link it.

I learned from both American and British films, but the example line is from an American TV show.


texts: How would I describe this situation on a CV/to an interviewer?

texts:
The situation is that I'm a software developer and before Christmas I was asked by a client to help with a site they have.

They had another developer create 90% of a site, then something happened, they had a disagreement I think - they wouldn't say anymore, but I had to step in and complete the project.

How would I describe this situation in a sentence, e.g. for a CV or to an interviewer?

All I can think of is that I "saved" the project but this isn't how I'd want to describe it.

I've probably not explained this as well as I need to, the CV/interviewer were the best examples I could think of but I have the actual usage, and format below

  Title   (e.g. Dave's Plumbers)
  Summary
  [Description]

I need a summary consisting of 5 or less words

  Due to the previous company not finishing the project, the client was left without a working website. I had to ______ etc.

The best I've come up with is Project Recovery, which works but I feel there's a better summary text out there somewhere.


texts: May I use the word "miscreant" in my thesis?

texts: I am writing my thesis. May I use the word miscreant to refer to people who create viruses to spread them on the Internet? Or is it a slang term that I must avoid?


texts:
I know many people use it, but it really does sound informal. Should I avoid it anyway?

Case is. I have a pair of earings on the table and I want to refer to them, so I say:

"Are you talking about those ones?"
"Are you talking about those?"

Is the second case better than the first? Are there other ways to say it?


texts: Origin and use of the abbreviation 'u' for ‘you’

texts:
The letter ⟨u⟩ is used in text messaging and internet and other written slang to denote 'you', by virtue of both being pronounced /juː/.

(Wikipedia)

When and by whom was   the letter "u" first used  as an abbreviation for the word "you" in writing?


texts: You enter your living room and see a pool of water on the floor. Do you say “Did you spill the water?” or "Have you spilled the water?"?

texts:
According to English Page.com,
We use the present perfect to say that an action happened at an
unspecified time before now. The exact time is not important. You
CANNOT use the present perfect with specific time expressions such as:
yesterday, one year ago, last week, when I was a child, when I lived
in Japan, at that moment, that day, one day, etc.

and it also says

Use the simple past to express the idea that an action started and
finished at a specific time in the past.

So, you entered the living room and see your child standing next to a pool of water.
Now, we don't know the specific time that the child spilled the water.
In that situation, which one would you say?
"Have you spilled the water?" or "Did you spill the water?"?


texts:
What is the origin of the phrase "in your backpocket"?

As in "What song have you got in your back pocket?" for "what song have you got ready to perform comfortably now, without preparation".


texts: Is there a difference in meaning between "aggregate" and "aggregated"?

texts:
The word is meant to be used as a description of the summarized number/count of something (e.g. aggregate(d) consumption of heating oil, consumed by all households in a country).
I've seen both words and now I am wondering whether they have the same meaning and whether one of them should be preferred.

Thanks in advance!


texts: Idiom, word, or expression meaning an easy-to-do task

texts:
I am looking for a term, expression, word, or idiom to describe a task as an easy one to do or to go through.

What I’d normally say is:

  Actually it’s not difficult, it’s as easy as drinking a glass of water.

Does that make sense to a native English speaker? Is there a common idiom?


texts: What is the exact definition of "set off" in the expression "set off by (a pair of) commas?"

texts:
It seems to me that in English usage "set off" is almost irreplaceable in the collocation I refer to in the question and in similar phrases, e.g., "comma(s) set(s) off (this or that)." As if everyone is afraid to use a synonym or a synonymous phrase – almost like a conspiracy. To me it sounds like a person who is parroting the same words over and over again without 100% understanding of what the words mean.

Please, can somebody provide a definitive definition of "set off" in the above-mentioned context?

PS Perhaps I just need access to a really good big dictionary, but, unfortunately, I ain't got one. In the following link, for example, "set off" and "separate" are treated as two distinct concepts, but it doesn't help me to understand what the words "set off" mean:
http://www.cws.illinois.edu/workshop/writers/tips/commas/

PPS Please correct my writing if I've made any mistakes. Thank you.


texts: Test subject but the subject is an inanimate object

texts:
I'm looking for a synonym(?) for ‘test subject’ that is applicable when the subject is an inanimate object.

I've tried using the thesaurus looking for synonyms of 'test subject' but it's only offering me alternatives that describe a living subject such as 'guinea pig'.

The phrase it's being used in would be:

  Here is an overview of the test subjects being used for this experiment

I've considered the following words:

examinee
testee
subject

But these all feel like they are referring to a person or an animal instead of to an inanimate object.
I'd prefer the word to be formal as it's being used in a research context.
The 'best' word would be a single word that implicitly conveys the fact that the subject of the sentence is in fact, an inanimate object.

Note:
The reason that ‘subject’ is not applicable lies in its definition:

  subject - 6. a person who is subjected to experimental or other observational procedures; someone who is an object of investigation; "the subjects for this investigation were selected randomly"; "the cases that we studied were drawn from two different communities"


texts: Adjective describing a person who does work to get it done

texts:
I have a friend who always goes on that I have a bad work ethic, though I am not lazy. At the same time, he says he has a good work ethic, but is lazy.

The definition of having a good work ethic is that you believe work helps further your character/moral fibre, while the definition of lazy is not wanting to do work.

My friend usually treats homework as something that needs to be done, for its own sake. For example, if a maths problem is particularly difficult, then he'll skip over it. Nothing wrong with that per se, but if he later learns how to fix it, he does not bother because he's done with it. Thus, he is disinclined to do the work (lazy), but does it anyway (not an attribute of having a good work ethic).

What is a better adjective to describe my friend? Or, failing that, is there a quick way to describe him eloquently?


texts: One word for visiting places shown in movies or tv series?

texts: Is there  a word for travelling to film locations where popular scenes were shot. Like Globetrotter for a person visiting different countries.


texts: Which is correct? The Gardening Club holds its event on Monday or The Gardening Club holds their even on Monday?


texts: Can 'enquire' or 'inquire' be used without a preposition?

texts:
I referenced Prepositions used with "inquire". I can't pinpoint why, but I'm still wildered about "to enquire of". When can of  be omitted, but still retain the same meaning as "to enquire of"?  Are there any similarities or differences between 'to enquire' and "to enquire of" ?

For example, how can the following Notice to Counsel at the US Supreme Court be rewritten using only "to enquire", without any succeeding prepositions?

  "Counsel shall not inquire of the Chief Justice how much time remains."

Footnote: Reflecting American English, the foregoing quote above uses 'inquire', but I am guessing that here, it means the same as 'enquire'.


texts: I am looking for a word that describes having a hunch that a bad event has happened before having any evidence of it

texts: Kinda like if you were to wake up and just know that something is wrong, the only thing I can think of is maybe "Avant vu" which means (directly translated) "Before seen" and is a word like deja vu but other than that I can't think of anything.


texts:
I have a question regarding the usage of "ultimately" in the passage below, quoted from an article here:

  The reports about Thales show him employing a certain kind of
  explanation: ultimately the explanation of why things are as they are
  is grounded in water as the basic stuff of the universe and the
  changes that it undergoes through its own inherent nature.

According to the Cambridge online dictionary, it is an adverb and has two usages:

1: It is used to denote the meaning of "finally, in the end"
2: and used to denote the most important part of something.

Does it, in the passage above, mean that the gist and summary of his explanation is what follows or it may have some more profound explanation in this context?


texts: What is a casual way of saying "I will go offline soon" in an Internet conversation

texts:
I'm having a conversation on my phone, but know I can't answer in a short while (e. g. need to go to sleep of have an appointment). What's a casual way of saying "I'm going offline soon"? I wanted to say "I'll have to tune off in 5 min" but apparently that's not a valid phrase.
With smartphones everyone is online 24/7, so saying "I'm going offline" is technically wrong, it doesn't feel polite and it doesn't sound like something a teen would casually say.
Another example: I'm having an online chat but want to focus on school work. I'm not going offline, but I want to focus on the school work instead of the conversation.


texts:
What is the adverb form of the adjective "custom"?

custom

adjective

made specially for individual customers.
dealing in things so made, or doing work to order.

The adverb form of the noun "custom" is "customarily". However, this question isn't about the noun; it's about the adjective.


texts: Can the suffix -wise be considered too inadequate/colloquial for a personal statement?

texts:
I am writing a personal statement for the very first time and I'm worried that the suffix -wise may sound too laid-back for a text of such genre. The sentence I want to write is similar to this:

Teaching-wise, being bicultural can be an advantage in that it...

I appreciate your help!


texts:
"Can security be granted by an entity which is neither a borrower nor a guarantor?
Yes, The third party may be granted if . . ..“

I don't understand what this sentence means. Who grants whom?  To my understanding, the third party should be someone who grants, and is not granted.


texts: Meaning of a conversation "if it isn't sweet little"

texts:
I was watching an episode of an anime. I came across a conversation  which seemed to be confusing. The conversation was between two girls who were each other's competitors. Ursula and Dawn are the names of those two girls. Ursula and Dawn have taken part in a contest. Dawn wins the first round of that contest. After winning, she meets Ursula backstage and have a conversation.

The conversation was this-:

Ursula - My, My, what do you know? If it isn't sweet little Dawn.

Dawn - Ursula!

Ursula - I have the less than great pleasure of seeing your performance yesterday; as usual sheer dumb luck appears to have gotten you pass the first round. I hate to burst bubble but you are hardly capable of winning the final round.
   ----------------------------------------------------------------

The video link is here; the dialogue took place at 4:33 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_ruXTg9Jfw&feature=youtube_gdata_player

I could not understand what Ursula meant by if it isn't sweet little Dawn. What did she mean to say? Is that an idiom?


texts: How does "A hit dog will holler" work as a metaphor?

texts:
Background: I, an Australian, once had a co-worker in North Carolina who would often use Southern-US idioms that confused me. I spent an evening panicked about how to handle "This dog will hunt" as feedback on a document before he clarified that meant he was happy with it. Oddly, the phrases always seemed to involve dogs.

So, when a politician from Florida recently used the baffling expression "A hit dog will holler" I wasn't surprised.

Wiktionary explains its figurative meaning:

  An offended or defensive response to a statement suggests that the statement applies to the person complaining.

If I understand this correctly, it is like the schoolyard taunt: I'm rubber, you're glue.

But, I understand why the rubber (the insult bounces off me) and glue (the insult sticks to you) idiom works.

What does the yelping of a beaten dog got to do with tu quoque claims?

[Stop Press: A commenter below suggests that I have misunderstood the figurative meaning, even before we get to the literal meaning. Please set me straight on both in an answer.]


texts: Capitalize all letters in a title/heading

texts:
I'm creating a resume and am therefore looking at various sample resumes. In some of them, the heading of each section has all letters in uppercase, e.g. "EDUCATION" or "EXPERIENCE". I also remember seeing the same usage in the title of PowerPoint slides as well as subtitles of a research paper.

Is it a standard in certain context, e.g. engineering-related writing, or is it merely a personal preference of style?


texts: Do you ever use the phrase 'good for you' with a completely positive connotation?

texts: I feel the phrase 'good for you' shows a sense of detachment or lack of interest and sounds so rude while the phrase 'I feel happy for you' shows a sense of interest and friendship. I wonder why would anyone use 'good for you' versus other simple phrases unless they want to point out that they could be happy for us but they don't care much anyways. Do you use the phrase even when you genuinely care about the person you are saying it to ?


texts:
By running advertisements, the company was able to put/get its offerings in front of millions of potential customers.

What is the difference between "put" and "get" in the sentence above? They seem almost interchangeable to me but there must be some difference in nuance.


texts: What are footnotes called when they aren’t in the footer?

texts:
What do you call the little asides found in the margins of books instead of at the bottom of the page?

I don’t mean the stuff scribbled in by hand, but rather the printed matter used by tasteful authors who have generous margins and which they put to good use.


texts: Is it proper to use the phrase "In conjunction with" in this context?

texts:
I am trying to phrase a sentence to say do something A along with something B. I do not want to use along with because both the process are extremely co-dependent and for the same reason I do not want to use in parallel to. Would in conjunction with be a better choice?

Lets take a simple example.

  To use the toothbrush, press the button A along with
  button B.

Is the statement still valid when I write

  To use the toothbrush, press the button A in conjunction with button B


texts:
I came across this expression in a book written by non-native speakers. The book will be used for 6th graders in Turkey.
Do you think the writers used the expression correctly here or do they mean something like "fair trial" and "natural justice"?
Is there really an expression like "fair law" to describe scales of justice?


texts: From the Spanish "xaquima" to the AmE "hackamore"

texts:
A hackamore:

is a type of animal headgear which does not have a bit. Instead, it has a special type of noseband that works on pressure points on the face, nose, and chin. It is most commonly associated with certain styles of riding horses.

The word "hackamore" is derived from the Spanish word jáquima, meaning headstall or halter, itself derived from Old Spanish xaquima. The Spanish had obtained the term from the Arabic šakīma, (bit), from šakama (to bridle). From the Americanized pronunciation of jaquima, the spelling "hackamore" entered the written English language by 1850, not long after the Mexican-American War. (Wikipedia)

The Spanish origin of the term appears to be confirmed also by Etymonline:

halter chiefly used for breaking horses, 1850, American English, of uncertain origin. OED and Klein suggests a corruption of Spanish jaquima (earlier xaquima) "halter, headstall of a horse,"

In the Word Origins...And How We Know Them: Etymology for Everyone  Anatoly Liberman explores the possible origin from a nursery rhyme starting with "Hick-a-more, Hack-a-more", but it does not appear to be related to the meaning of "halter".
Question:

If the origin is from the Spanish terms xaquima/jaquima, how is their "americanized"  promounciation possibly related to that of  "hackamore"?

are there other  plausible suggestions to the origin of this "unusual" term?


texts: The meaning of "Buzzword" and "Hip" in a given text

texts:
Since I'm not from an English speaking country , I was wondering if you could help me understand the meaning of these two words in this below text : The words are "Buzzword" and "hip" . And could you please explain the meaning of the text a little bit so that I can understand what it wants to say?

Astrobiology is arguably the trendiest buzzword in science after genomics. Like genomics, it is as hip as it is hard to define.


texts: Is there an index for assessing video's difficulty for EFL (or for native speakers), similar to readability indices for text?


texts: Alternatives for "similar to other studies"

texts:
When you want to compare the results of a research to other studies, you can use

  Similar to other studies, the current study indicates that ...

What are other alternatives for 'Similar to other studies'? I can only suggest one another that is 'Consistent with the results of other studies'.


texts: How to Reference a Figure Based on a Corresponding Table?

texts:
I am currently writing a thesis. So far, when I put a caption under a figure which was based on a preceding table, I worded the figure's caption to something along:

  Figure 1.2: Graphical Illustration of Table 1.3 to Display Thing A and Something B

. Figure 1.2: is the automatically generated label which is done via LaTeX and \caption{Graphical Illustration of Table 1.3 to Display Thing A and Something B} in a figure-environment. Table 1.3 is generated via \autoref{<label-identifier-here>}. I would like to keep the capitalization of the references to figures and tables consistent... so far I have kept them capitalized.

My questions are:

Is this correct?
If correct, could there be a more elegant way? I have a couple of figured based on corresponding data in tables and it's a bit

Then, I would like to ask a meta question: did I get the capitalization of the main words right in the thread's title and figures' captions? I googled for a bit and found a site on this: See oxfordjournal.sorg, in the section 'TYPESCRIPT TEXT'. I chose to follow the "case-specific" guideline, i.e. I capitalize all "main words". I think it's the same as here.


texts:
Within a directory of people I can only index people

Within a directory of contacts I can index people, companies, institutions, etc.

Is there any word with a broader scope? Mostly things one can follow within a social network, like: products, places, events...

Ideally something less broad than stuff


texts:
I consider a healthy lifestyle the most important part of general well-being.
I consider a healthy lifestyle as one of the most important parts of general well-being.
Which sentence is more correct?


texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  How long has the f-word been in use as an abusive term?
  What makes a word offensive?

I recognize that this is similar to Etymology of the term "curse words" and "swear words" and What makes a word offensive?, but it’s not exactly the same: the former question is asking about the origin of the term curse words, not the origin of the curse words themselves, while the latter question is asking about what fundamentally makes a word taboo in society. I’m only interested in the history of a certain word in reference to its meaning, not its usage.

With that out of the way, my question is, how did the word fuck come to be? I looked up its etymology and found this:

  ORIGIN early 16th cent.: of Germanic origin (compare Swedish dialect focka and Dutch dialect fokkelen); possibly from an Indo-European root meaning ‘strike,’ shared by Latin pugnus ‘fist.’

But I don’t understand how a word being strike came to mean have sexual intercourse with (someone).


texts: Listing an abbreviation with two different expansions

texts: How should I list an abbreviation that has two different expansions? Eg: LD - Leadership Development, LD - Liquidity Damage.  I have quite a few of these and I need to list them in a glossary.  Thanks.


texts:
I was watching the BBC broadcast of the Monaco Grand Prix over the weekend, and the announcer kept using the phrase "Vettel leads from Alonso". He took this to mean that Vettel was in first and Alonso was in second. Normally I'd phrase this as "Vettel leads Alonso".

Why would he use the phrasing "leads from"?

Note that at no time during the race did Vettel take the lead from Alonso, which is the only reason I can think this phrasing might be used.

Also note that this was a BBC broadcast with an English announcer (he's from Norfolk, if that makes any difference).


texts:
When using an ellipsis in fiction when you're not quoting another text, do you use three dots or four when the ellipsis follows a complete sentence?

For example: "The world would be a better place without him.... Oh well. What can ya do?"

Other information: I want to use the ellipsis to show a trailing of thoughts, not an omission/interruption.


texts: Is it correct to apply "Housewife" term for an unmarried woman who does house-chores?

texts: I would like to know what is the appropriate label to describe a young woman/girl who is unmarried, stays in her parents' home, does the house chores, and has no income. She is not also looking for a paid job. I am wondering if it would be correct to apply the "housewife" term to describe her occupational status? Many thanks for your help


texts: What's the difference between "most of the time" and usually? Also what's the register of those two?

texts: I was wondering about the register of each of those phrases and the difference between them. I've been told that when the expression is broken down in tiny pieces, has an informal register.


texts: I've heard that 'play piano' is OK in American usage. Is that true? What I learned so far is 'play the piano'. As long as it comes to the instruments, we usually "play the (instrument)". Is that correct?


texts: Yet another question about the pronunciation of the letter i

texts:
First, let's not talk about the long i (as in the name of the letter) or the short i (as in 'incorrect') pronunciations. This question is about the third and usually not talked about pronunciation - the ee sound (as in "pronunciation"). I have looked at many web sites about the letter i and none talk about the ee sound of the letter i. Why?

Would you call it the 'soft' letter i? As in the long A, short A and soft A? Do we also have long I, short I and soft I?

If one is teaching letter pronunciation to a non-english speaker all 3 sounds of the letter I have to be included. I don't see how it can be lumped into the letter e or letter y conversation. After all, it's an "i", not an "e" or "y".

thanks for any insight you can provide.
Chip


texts: "Jolly good" meaning "extremely good" in British English

texts:
Like the intensifier bloody, I assumed that jolly as an adverb and intensifier is not broadly used in the U.S. meaning very or extremely.

According to Oxford Online Dictionary, jolly as an adverb means as submodifier (British informal):

  Very; extremely: that’s a jolly good idea.

According to Online Etymology Dictionary, the word was used first as an adjective:

  c. 1300 (late 13c. as a surname), from Old French jolif "festive,
  merry, amorous, pretty" (12c.) of uncertain origin (cognate with
  Italian giulivo "merry, pleasant").

Questions:

When did it start to be used as an adverb and intensifier in BrE?
What's the difference between jolly good and bloody good in BrE?

Edit: I am posting the deleted question again as it is relevant.

Is the word never used in the U.S. as an adverb and intensifier? What would be the best counterpart of the word in AmE?


texts: "Sometimes", "oftentimes" — is there a -times word for "very rarely"?

texts:
If something happens sometimes, it happens occasionally.
If something happens oftentimes, it happens often.

Is there an equivalent word for something happening very rarely?


texts:
From Pat Hobby, Putative Father by F. Scott Fitzgerald:

  He searched the orange pages frantically. Below the form sheets, the
  past performances, the endless oracles for endless racetracks, his eye
  was caught by a one-inch item:

  LONDON. SEPTEMBER 3RD. ON THIS MORNING'S DECLARATION BY CHAMBERLAIN,
  DOUGIE CABLES 'ENGLAND TO WIN. FRANCE TO PLACE. RUSSIA TO SHOW'.

Clearly this is a shorthand for something, but what?


texts:
It is a far better thing that I do now than I have ever done before.

I think this is an it-cleft.
Am I right?

If so, what's the cleft clause? Is it

  that I do now

or

  that I do now than I have ever done before


texts: Why do non-native English speakers get the present participle wrong?

texts:
I see people saying things like this:

With a new infusion of cash it allows
to make the film.

...instead of...

With a new infusion of cash it allows
making the film.

I can't find a specific example right now, but it always takes the form of verb + infinitive instead of verb + participle. I've seen this repeatedly with the verb "allow"; there are others but I forget what they are.
This grates on my ears more than anything. What is the cause?
Update: Here are some examples from the web (searching Google for "allows to":
http://www.thedigitalbus.com/new-google-analytics-allows-to-measure-site-speed/
http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2011-03-06/news/28660032_1_border-areas-mobile-towers-border-districts
http://getandroidstuff.com/clap-phone-finder-android-app-find-phone-clapping/
https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=413451
These sites have constructs like "allows to steal", "allows to find", "allows to erect", and "allows to measure". Perhaps it is the missing direct object that a respondent mentioned, but the present participle is the first thing that comes to my mind: "allows stealing", "allows finding", "allows erecting", and "allows measuring".
There is also "requires to" and "helps to".
Update 2: Here are some specific examples - taken from the web pages linked above.  All of these phrases are wrong:

New Google Analytics Allows to Measure Site Speed
Android app allows to find your Phone
allows to steal data from sessionstore.js

(The last one is a fragment, I know.) Here's more examples (all wrong!!):

Creating a Google Account Requires to Enter Your Birthday in the US
Host now requires to use SMTP with PHP
Smart Array 6402 always requires to press F1 to continue.

I sincerely hope this is clear now.  All of the examples given need a past participle (or some sort of direct object).
Update 3: (Hope I'm not overdoing this!) I would correct each of the above examples thusly:

New Google Analytics Allows Measuring Site Speed
Android app allows you to find your Phone
allows stealing data from sessionstore.js
Creating a Google Account Requires Entering Your Birthday in the US
Host now requires using SMTP with PHP
Smart Array 6402 always requires pressing F1 to continue.


texts: What is this verb noun association called in linguistics?

texts:
Not all verbs work with all nouns.

It is better to say "fix errors" than "solve errors", for example.

In linguistics, is there a name for semantic compatibilities between nouns and verbs that go before them like this?


texts: To capitalize or not to capitalize "southern" California

texts:
Is it "southern California" or "Southern California?"

The word "southern" is not part of the official name of California or any city or county, so I never capitalize it. It only loosely defines a region of California and its border is not officially defined either. However, I was recently advised by someone who I consider to be educated to capitalize "southern" in this context. Did I miss the memo on this issue? Is "Southern California" considered a proper noun?


texts: Difficulties pronouncing words which contain specific letters

texts: I've noticed that I have difficulties pronouncing words contain letter "L" like "already" and "S" like "resources". Any suggestions on how to train and improve this point?


texts:
The moon is 240,000 miles far away from the earth.

Is this sentence grammatically correct?


texts: What's the meaning of rub it in your face?

texts:
p1 posted his bank account info and was excited to announce that he has paid off his mortgage. He is asking others to post their bank accounts as well.

p2 "I have more than that but I have enough tact not to rub it in your face."


texts: Etymology of ~Getting into someone's “kitchen”~

texts:
Popular in the 80s and early 90s in Black-American culture, but I doubt it made it into many books so we may be at a loss.

The meaning, quite visual, is walking into someone's house and banging all the pots and pans and making such a huge racket that it startles and disturbs the homeowner to distraction.  It's simply a more colorful way of saying getting into someone's head.

Often used in sports.  Like before a boxing match with trash-talk, or the stare-down.  There are numerous ways for me to “get all up in your kitchen” if we are to do battle.

But there are also countless ways to phrase it, so I find it hard to search for a specific idiom when it's more about a series of uses where kitchen=head/mind.  But it's always about gamesmanship.

I don't suppose there can still be some understanding of when this form was first used, or if there is some other idiom that sired it.

For example, I always thought “gat”, as slang for gun, originated similarly in the 1980s, but then I saw various 1930s gangster movies that used the term.  (Gatling gun; at one point gangster slang for all guns.)  I'm curious if this kitchen business is likewise long and storied.


texts: Collecting metals from electronic waste and reusing them to make other products "is" or "are"...?

texts:
I want to if this sentence is correct.

  Collecting metals from electronic waste and reusing them to make other products is called the “urban mining industry.

In the sentence the two gerunds are used as a subject and the verb is 'is', the singular form. Is is correct? Is it wrong if I use 'are' as a verb?


texts: Doesn't the term eclectic also describe a mix/combination? Is it correct to use this expression?


texts: What is the clearest way to describe two "kitty-corner" buildings?

texts:
How can I explain the relationship of building A to building B where building A is, e.g., on the NW corner of an intersection, and building B is on the SE corner?
Which of the following (if any) is the clearest?  If none, is there a clearer way?

The building A would be diagonally opposite the building B.
The building A would be opposite the building B, with 45 degrees to the right.
The building A would be kitty-corner to the building B.


texts:
I am reading The Maltese Falcon. Though the book was written in the 1920s, the edition I'm reading was printed in 1992. The back cover blurb uses the phrase "at the drop of a dime" to describe the sudden changes of loyalties in the story.

Some sources note this phrase's similarity (in meaning and construction) to "at the drop of a hat". Though I can find good explanations for Why hat? (most centering around the hat being used like a flag to signal the beginning of a fight), I cannot find anything similar for Why dime?

It may be a malaphor, a neologism that means

  An idiom blend: an error in which two similar figures of speech are merged, producing a nonsensical result.

As one blogger says:

  [It seems] like a combination of “do at the drop of a hat” and “he dropped the dime”. [1]   Very different meanings, but the word “drop” apparently led the speaker to think “dime” instead of “hat” (alliteration perhaps?) and thus another malaphor was born.

Given the popularity differences displayed in this nGram it would make sense for at the drop of a dime to be a corruption of at the drop of a hat.

Are there formal sources on the origin of, or use of dime in, the phrase at the drop of a dime?

[1] The phrase he dropped the dime may mean to make a telephone call, particularly to snitch on


texts: An abstract noun that refers to the quality of accomplishing something first

texts:
I am looking for a noun that means firstness as exemplified in the following

Examples

Roger Bannister was the first person to run a mile in under four minutes.  Not many of us can achieve firstness in something.

Neil Armstrong exhibited firstness by being the first person on the moon.

Some people prefer to answer first in a quiz, even if they get the answer wrong. They prefer firstness over correctness.

I thought of primacy. However the dictionary meaning doesn't fit -- primacy refers to importance rather than temporal 'firstness'.

I specifically want it to mean that the person achieves or completes something sooner than anyone else. Not that they achieve it better or to more acclaim.

Question: What is a noun (or failing that a short phrase) that means 'firstness' and would fit into those sentences without changing any other words?


texts: Usage: deepen, broaden, expand, and extend

texts:
I am wondering which of the following sentences is more often used in English:

The recent studies are deepened by investigating new problems.
The recent studies are broadened by adding new problems.
The recent studies are extended to include new problems.
The recent studies are expanded to cover new problems.

In these sentences, the second verb and the preceding preposition can be changed; however, it should be chosen in such a way that the sentence is proper and readable.

Thanks for your help.


texts: what's the difference between "artificial" and "man-made"?

texts:
My colleagues and I started a conversation about skiing.
I told them about my last year trip to a mountain but unfortunately there wasn't any snow at all. People there managed to make some artificial snow (as I called it) for tourists to enjoy. But for the rest of our conversations, my colleagues, who are english native speakers (I am not), used the word "man-made" to describe the snow.

Did I incorrectly use the word "artificial" in this situation ?

What is the difference between "artificial" and "man-made" ?

Many thanks


texts: Why are backyard and backseat single words while front yard and front seat are two? It seems exceedingly strange to me.


texts: Word / phrase for a product/system that presents several unrelated functions

texts: What's the word (or phrase) for a product/system that presents several (probably unrelated) functions? Swiss Army Knife is a good example of such products. I'm looking for something other than multipurpose. In fact, it's a multidimensional and multiple-aspect system.


texts: Should there be a comma before “so” in the following sentence?

texts:
Consider the following sentence.

  JS-- is an optimizing compiler for the good parts of JavaScript, which helps programmers write efficient and type-safe code so they can develop better quality software and be more productive.

This sentence seems all right to me. However, when fed it to https://languagetool.org/, an online grammar checker, it complained about a missing comma before “so”. Did the online grammar checker make a mistake?


texts: Can I say "Being walking down the street, I met my old friend."?

texts:
I know walking down the street, I met my old friend is much better.

I just wonder if the sentence is grammatically incorrect, or it's acceptable like in the case of passive participles as below.

  e.g. Being surprised at the news, I couldn't say a word.

vs.

  Surprised at the news, I couldn't say a word.


texts: What is meant by "present perfect", "past perfect", and "future perfect" verbs? How can I identify them or know which is which?


texts: What do you call a power plant that generates both electricity and heat?

texts:
There are thermal power stations that generate both electricity and heat which is used for heating residential houses close to it.

There are quite a few such power plants in, among others, Russia, Ukraine (both links in Russian), and (to a lesser extent) Germany:

In Russian, Ukrainian, and Belorussian, it is called  теплоэлектроцентраль, literally "heat and electricity central".
The German word is Heizkraftwerk, literally "heating power plant" (a power plant that heats).

What do you call such power plant in English?

Sample sentence

  Contrary to a thermal power plant, a <BLANK> generates not only electricity, but also provides heating for houses in its vicinity.

<BLANK> is the word I am looking for.

What I could find on my own

In a Wikipedia article on district heating I found the term combined heat and power plant. What I find a little confusing is that it links to an article about cogeneration which, at a first glance, looks like some modern, fancy innovation. This is definitely not true for such power plants in the ex-USSR because they have been there for decades.

According to Google NGram this term is used relatively rarely:


texts:
I was wondering if any one might know anything about the history, origin and or background of my family name, Salmon.  Any information would be gratefully received!
Thank you


texts: For a deceased person, do we use 'the late' or 'late'?

texts:
When referring to a deceased person, which one of the following is acceptable:

We, the heirs of late John Smith, agree that...

or

We, the heirs of the late John Smith, agree that...


texts: Correct term for describing how “interesting” a stock is to buy

texts:
When I decide what stocks to place in my portfolio I do a series of technical and fundamental analyses and during each one I give stocks different numbers of "points", and I basically go for the ones which I've given the highest rating in the end. What I'm wondering is, is there some term for this rating? Stockbrokers probably have some kind of word for it?

The main reason why I'm asking this is that I'm programming an automating app for this process and I really can't think of anything good to name the variable.


texts:
I believe I have the proper usage of commas with "or" for this case, but I cannot find anything on the WWW (and this site) to confirm it. If I knew what it was called, I'm sure my search would be more fruitful.

Original sentence...
If you do not want to participate, you may "opt out" or exclude yourself online...

I suggest the words "or exclude yourself" should be set apart with commas before and after, because in this case, it is a description or alternative word clarifying the meaning of "opt out". It is not a second option, like you can stay or go.

Suggested correction...
If you do not want to participate, you may "opt out", or exclude yourself, online...

Is my suggestion correct? What is this usage called? Any links to supporting style guides and such are appreciated, although once I know what this is called, my search will likely be easier. (Please don't respond if you are unsure and just "think" this is how it should be. I'm looking for an answer from an expert with the proper knowledge or supporting evidence.) Thank you!!


texts: Etymology of 'curvy' to describe the feminine figure

texts:
A term that has been recently  spreading also outside the English speaking world, especially, but not only, in the field of fashion is curvy. E.g. Curvy Convention 2015: Models on the Catwalk

  The convention will be the ultimate curvy shopping experience…

Curvy is an adjective that means  'full of curves'  whose usage dates back to the beginning of the 20th century (1902), according to Etymonline.

Later in the century, apparently around the 60's (see Ngram) the term started to be used to refer to women with the following meaning:

  (informal) of a woman’s figure,  shapely and voluptuous. (ODO)

Questions:

When was the term first introduced and in what context (Hollywood movies,  TV shows ,  politics)?
Was is initially used as a 'neutral' and 'politically correct' alternative to  terms such as voluptuous, or to more common but less complimentary terms, like chubby and fat for instance?


texts: Section of paper, excluding sub-sections, without using section numbers

texts:
How to refer to a section of a paper excluding sub-sections, without using section numbers?

For my example text:

  …
  3 Example section
  Example section text
  3.1 Example subsection
  …
  3.2 Example subsection
  …

I would like to comment on the example section text, without the comment including subsections 3.1 and 3.2. You might call it section 3.0, but the sections might change place in the future so such a reference would be short-lived. What is a word or succinct way to refer to this implied subsection? For example, I might like to say

  [the implied subsection] had some good points.

For my particular use case, I would like to leave a commit message that looks something like this

Review [label of section 3]

while making clear that the subsections are excluded, without the message being too long.


texts:
I was just curious why do we use 'get' before some verbs.

For example, get married, get hungry, and get angry.


texts:
In a news article about the benefits of flossing, the following sentences confused me (please read the article first):

  In the past decade, three systematic reviews sought to navigate these
  muddy waters.

  The first, published in 2006, narrowed its focus to the effects of
  flossing in young children between the ages of four and thirteen. The
  reviewers found that children who had their teeth flossed by a
  professional hygienist five days per week for 1.7 years had a 40%
  decreased risk of cavities.

In this excerpt, does "review" mean "looking back at a study that was conducted previously" or "experiment" as in "three systematic experiments"?

Is it saying that some people (A) are looking at some other people (B)'s work and found the statistics and listed them in the excerpt?
Or is it saying that the people conducted the experiment in 2006 and found those statistics?

Also, later in the article, they stated that

  Since daily flossings by trained hygienists aren’t available to the
  general public, the researchers admitted that their findings were
  limited.

Is the "researcher" mentioned in the above excerpt the same as the "reviewers" in the first excerpt?

Are the reviewers the ones doing the research?
Are the reviewers the ones looking at the research and drilling holes in it?


texts:
What is the best way to describe in English (expression, idiom) a context that at first sight is funny (most would laugh), but a deep analysis will make it really serious or even dramatic (to cry over)?

Example of such contexts:

"fail compilations" on the Internet - most of them are presented as funny, but some scenes include serious accidents (that might be even tragic)
discussions between politicians - their lack of knowledge seems funny, but their are actually controlling lots of things

My native language has an expression that literally translates to "it would be to laugh about, if it would not be to cry about".

Question: How to best describe a context that looks funny, but it is actually dramatic?


texts: What does "shotgun" have to do with the front seat in the car?

texts: What does "calling shotgun" have to do with reservation of a seat near the car driver?


texts: Precise definition of "wear [something] lightly" wanted

texts:
I would like a precise definition. Does 'wear' mean 'show'?

From NYT:

  You don’t become president without clawing your way into the Oval
  Office, but voters prefer pols like J.F.K., Ronald Reagan and Barack
  Obama who wear their ambition lightly.


texts: What did Marge Simpson mean when she said "629,000 results. Wow. And all this time I thought that ‘googling’ yourself meant the other thing"

texts:
What did Marge Simpson mean when she said while googling her name

  629,000 results. Wow. And all this time I thought that ‘googling’ yourself meant the other thing.
  (S18 E17, April 22, 2007)

Source: WikiSimpsons


texts: Alternative terms for Men's and Women's T-shirts?

texts:
I'm going to be hosting an event that may include gender non-binary participants, and we have some t-shirts to give away.  They are manufactured in Men's and Women's cuts.

Are there any terms that can refer to these cuts without using gender names?  The terms would need to be understood in Canada (which I am fairly new to).


texts: What does “No pressure” mean when you’re meeting someone new?

texts:
Time magazine (6 Aug 2014) carries an article titled “Our Brains Immediately Judge People” and subtitled “We make calls on trustworthiness almost instantly” that says research at Dartmouth College and New York University revealed the human brain judges trustworthiness or untrustworthiness of other people in about 30 milliseconds. The article concludes:

  “This, the researchers conclude, is evidence that our brains make
  judgments of people before we even process who they are or what they
  look like. Keep that in mind the next time you’re meeting someone new.
  No pressure.” http://time.com/3083667/brain-trustworthiness/

I’m not clear about what “No pressure” here exactly means.

Does it mean no need of feeling pressure in trying to read and judge trustworthiness of a person you meet for the first time?

Could you tell me “no pressure” from what? Can I rephrase it with a simple “No sweat”?


texts: “Never have I imagined that the day will come when my dad and I have a coherent conversation on electricity related topics.”


texts: Difference between "tranche" and "batch"

texts:
I work in the data science, where we tend to use "batch" to refer to collections of data points composed as follows:
Biosamples 1-10, processed as per A, on Day 1 = batch 1
Biosamples 11-20, processed as per A, on Day 2 = batch 2
Biosamples 21-30, processed as per A, on Day 3 = batch 3

We're now working with another institution and will be combining data between the two. The data are inherently different (DNA sequencing depth, experimental platform etc.).
Biosamples 1-10, processed as per A, at location 1
Biosamples 11-20, processed as per B, at location 2

Is "batch" still the most appropriate term? I've seen "tranche" used in finance but wondering if "tranche" MUST be finance.
p.s. I don't think "treatment" is appropriate because it's not the same samples treated in two different ways


texts: Word for the name part of a country name

texts:
EDIT: I am obviously not being clear. I am not looking for a word for the common or familiar name. I am looking at how to describe the portion of the formal name that does not describe the system of government. In the name United States of America what is America? In the name French Republic, what is French? (Note that French is not a country name.) Perhaps what I am really asking for is the part of speech.

Most countries' names consist of adjectives, common nouns, and a word that refers to a people group.

  Federal Republic of Germany, Czech Republic, Swiss/Helvetica Confederation, United Arab Emirates, People's Republic of China, etc.

How do you refer to the name part of the name?

I have considered toponym and place-name, but 1) this would still refer to the full name and b) even the full names aren't decidedly toponyms, because they refer as much to a people group and system as to a topographical feature. (Secondary question: can we consider country names toponyms?)

I also consider proper noun and proper adjective, but these would also refer to the whole country name, even though the whole name contains common nouns and adjectives.

Also, I am not looking for familiar name or the like. I seek a word for the part of the full country name. Say we are discussing the Czech Republic; I want to refer to the word Czech.


texts: How do you call components that make up a car's engine?

texts: I'm looking for the common way to call components like oil filter or fuel pump. I thought about car parts or auto parts but I don't know which one is correct.


texts:
For example, I want to say that there's 14 weekend days in an interval between two dates, which means the sum of saturdays and sundays in that interval. How to say it correctly? What should I use instead of "weekend days" or it's correct?

EDIT:

It's an app, and user can choose, for example, 14 June 2015, which is Sunday, and 28 June 2015, which is Sunday again. Including first date, the sum of satudays and sundays in that interval will be 5. So I need one or two words that clearly descibe that instead of writing "sum of saturdays and sundays".

Here's what user currently sees on the screen. Take a look at "In this interval" section. Now it says "5 holidays", and that's what I'm talking about. Should I continue to use the word holidays or should I use another word(s)?


texts: Does "to be on the rise" have any other meaning besides "to start", "to begin" and "to be getting momentum"?


texts: Is it right to say "my curiosity was intrigued by that strange symbol"?

texts: Technically, it seems wrong as "intrigue" by itself means "to arouse the curiosity or interest of", but I see plenty of articles and books all over the internet with that usage. Please enlighten!


texts: What is the walking area beside a highway called in English?

texts:
Please refer to the red arrows in the image on the left. This road is an expressway/highway, but somehow people can come up (using a staircase) and walk in this area, although I've almost never seen anyone doing that (I was here to shoot this photo).

Is there any particular name for the area like this (walking area beside a highway)?


texts: What does the word "curse" mean in this sentence?

texts:
Hamsun is not so well known in America—perhaps the curse of a minor language—but his influence is certainly felt.

What does curse mean in this sentence?


texts: What does “like an elephant's eye” mean?

texts:
What does “like an elephant's eye” mean from "We seldom ever have an argument, but if it is, it's about something like an elephant's eye"? The sentence is from an interview, an old couple talks about their relationship. I googled, but can't find the meaning.

Thank you! :)


texts:
I have researched this for some time and the only answers I can find are with reference to : "Why is a mouse when it spins" and refers to a steam engine.
Here's my take: Since I can remember, and I was born in 1951, my grandmother would ask,"Why does a mouse the more he spins?" And, the answer was,"Because the faster, he spins the most." I was told that both the question and the answer are grammatically correct. The question: why is the mouse spinning more times round (more revolutions).  The answer: He is spinning faster so he spins more revolutions.  I have not been able to trace how this version originated.


texts: Identifying Vague Language -- "individuals" vs "people"

texts:
I'm writing an essay, and in my intro I start with:

For many individuals, value measures wealth and external beauty; for others, value measures more abstract elements such as love, intent, or heritage.

My question is, should "individuals" be replaced with "people" or something else?


texts:
There are several verbs in English meaning "to cause to become [a given color]". Most of these, it seems, end in the suffix "-en". There are other adjectives as well that use "-en" to create causative verbs; "harden" and "fasten" come to mind.
The verb meaning "to make brown, tthough, is simply "brown". I can't think of any other verb of this class that uses the bare adjective form without a suffix. Does "brown" have a different history than other causative verbs formed from adjectives? Or why did it, and seemingly only it, retain the adjective form?


texts:
I'd like to apply for a job at a company I haven't worked yet.

Which is the correct preposition?

  At your company ____ I appreciate(/like) your high standard of quality, your effort to provide a higher standard of life and your global success.
  In your company ____ I appreciate(/like) your high standard of quality, your effort to provide a higher standard of life and your global success.
  About your company ____ I appreciate(/like) your high standard of quality, your effort to provide a higher standard of life and your global success.

(____ stands for the company's name.)

I tried to use Ngram Viewer, but with no success. May be I should use another free corpus. Please tell me if you know one.

(This new question is somehow similar to an old one: "Position in/at/for your company")


texts: "I must to England" in Hamlet: What does "must" mean without an infinitive?

texts:
What did "must" mean when used as a non-modal verb (sorry, I don't know the technical term) in Early Modern English? For example:

I must to England; you know that?
(Hamlet, Act III, Scene IV)


texts: Is there a word that means "to turn into a habit"?

texts:
I'm looking for a word that represents the action of forming a habit.

As an example:

  Joe wanted to find a way to __________ [habit-ize] healthy eating.


texts:
Is it correct to say that the use badly is only used when there is a negative conjugation?

For example. When you beat someone at a game. Would you say you beat a person bad or badly? Because isn't the word bad in that context just slang for good?

Would the normal grammar rules of bad vs badly still apply here?


texts: Support for a political figure without necessarily knowing/understanding or supporting their policies

texts:
I know there is a word for this in Spanish but I can't remember what it is. I've been searching online for a while but have had no luck. All I remember is it's "C-something-ismo".

Is there an English word for this?


texts: Effective word to say destroy regarding student future

texts:
I want to convey message regrading destruction of student's future. However, I think destroy can not give effective meaning. I am confused which word is best in following sentence instead of destroy.

Commercialization of education destroys promising and interested student's future as only affluent households can afford higher education.


texts: Is there any suffix expressing “demand a lot”?

texts: For example, a job that demands a lot of effort is effort-***? Or a program costs lots of money is money-***? Or a task needs high patience is patience-***?


texts: How to clarify what you mean by "Standard Time" in relation to time zones?

texts:
It seems like the term "Standard Time" in the context of describing a time zone is ambiguous.  For example "Pacific Standard Time" could either mean:

As distinct from "Pacific Daylight Time", meaning 8 hours behind Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) and no other number.

or

As distinct from other time zones such as "Eastern Time", meaning either 7 or 8 hours behind GMT, depending on the season, so either "Standard Time" or "Daylight Time".

I don't want to ever use the term "Pacific Standard Time", at least not on its own.  I am looking for alternative terminology that is not ambiguous.


texts: Can "Contract concluded" mean that it's been agreed upon?

texts:
I am a bit baffled by the phrase "Contract concluded between party A and party B" used in certain official papers originally forged in foreign language. To me it sound like the contract has already ended and is no longer in effect.

The intended meaning should be "Contract was agreed upon between..." so I'm wondering if it is a valid phrase to use here? If not, what's the correct way?

Also if the verb conclude is correct here shouldn't be used in passive, i.e. "Contract WAS concluded between..."?

Thx


texts: Is "faster speed", "faster performance" correct?

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  Is 'low speed' finally proving its merit?

Recently in a mayor presentation of upcoming product I saw slide talking about "faster performance". Then in BBC article covering same event, they wrote about "faster speed".

Are these phrases considered correct in English? I'm coming from a language, where that would be considered pleonasm, and the only correct way is to say "better performance" and "higher speed". Is that not the case in English?

Quick look at nGrams suggest that indeed "fast speed" and "fast performance" aren't used often.


texts: Why are "homework" and "work" uncountable in English?

texts: In Bulgarian both "homework" and "work" are countable. Why are they uncountable in English then? What is the difference in meaning that makes that happen?


texts: It has been used correctly this phrase in this paragraph?

texts:
I am wondering whether the following paragraph is clear. I am particularly concerned about the last phrase (emphasized).

Joined work with local authorities to find alternatives to confront
climatic emergencies, such as the severe drought that affected the
biodiversity and economy of the region of Nualt in 2015.Seven maps and
two studies that my team and I developed, were used to identify key
areas where to invest resources in order to achieve the highest
positive environmental impact.


texts: What is the etymology and basis for vehicle "license plate" in the US compared to "registration plate"?

texts:
In North America, especially the US, the term "vehicle license plate" is used to refer to vehicle registration plates - surely this is incorrect terminology: vehicles themselves do not have a license (that belongs to the driver), instead they have a registration - to which the text on the plate refers.

Wikipedia has a footnote in the article on US plates, but it fails to give a citation:

  The spelling license is preferred in the U.S.
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vehicle_registration_plates_of_the_United_States#cite_note-1

(assuming they're not referring to the "license"/"licence" spelling difference).

How did this noun-misdirection happen?


texts:
I have this doubt when it comes to sports and teams.
Is it England is playing or England are playing?
Similarly, is it "Arsenal is playing..." or "Arsenal are playing..."?


texts: Is there a single word for "visiting someone who is sick"

texts: Is there a single word to use when describing someone visiting someone who is sick?


texts:
I'm looking for a verb that describe a coming wave. The wave may not be enormous as a tsunami, but it is strong enough to destroy or at least pushing away any obstacles on its way. The obstacles should be as heavy as a big human.

Obviously I'm not expecting the word come.

My sentence: the wave of globalization is coming. It will ______ everything in its way. We need to prepare for that.


texts: What is the meaning of "ever the academic?"

texts: I found this phrase in a story I intended to translate. I've searched it on Google but there's nothing about this phrase. Does it really have a meaning?


texts: In Russian we have idiom/saying "To shoot out of cannon into sparrows" (literal translation) which is used to convey an idea of applying too drastic measures to small problems. I believe there should be some native-English equivalents to this saying. Can you share if there are any?


texts:
Why Michael, vsause's host at the start of each video says "Michael here" instead of "Michael is here"?

Is it grammatically correct or just a slang / simplified way of speaking?


texts: A formal synonym for "to be asked to do something"

texts: I'm looking for a formal synonym for the phrase and counting on your help. I was wondering about "request" like in "The guests are requested to wear appropriate attire.", but it doesn't sound good for me somehow. It's probably correct, but is it formal?


texts: Please, is a comma required after the word 'lists'?

texts:
I have written many poems, topped lists and helped other poets.

Also, is a comma required after the word 'wells' here?

I spent years trimming flowers, digging wells and doing dishes.


texts: The content, added to the container that sticks out of it

texts:
What is the name for the content of a container (such as glass, spoon or Tupperware), that sticks out above the rim of that container? You can see the example on the image.

The word spoonful is probably not applicable since the spoon is overflown.


texts: What are these wheels called in English?

texts:
I've been looking for the name of the wheel of which a few are visible on this picture (not the object itself, but the wheels that are used on it!):

I've been looking for terms like "counter wheel", "counter reel", and so on - but can't seem to find anything that names the actual wheels themselves.

I know that these wheels have a name as I've seen it before, but I can't recall what it was. If I had to describe it, "a numbered wheel that represents a counted digit, either stand-alone or as part of a larger number".


texts: Is this correct usage of the word “slack”?

texts:
“The charger cord is getting pulled. Could you give it slack?”
What I want to convey here is, pull the cord in the other direction (to which it is being pulled right now) so that it becomes ‘loose’ and there is no more strain on it.
Is it idiomatic to say it the way I did?
...
(More detail, if needed: I have an extension board which I keep on the floor, by my bed. I usually work on my laptop in bed, and when I plug the laptop charger into the extension board, most of the charger (including the heavy adapter) either trails on the floor or down the side of my bed. This causes the “pulling” of the cord/cable close to where it connects into my laptop. The charger port also happens to face away from the side with the extension board.
So when this happens, I have to pull more of the cord towards the laptop so there is no more strain on the cord and it won’t get damaged.)


texts: What is the meaning of "I'm happy for you to do something"?

texts:
If somebody told me:

  I'm happy for you to make this change.

Does it means that he is going to do it, or does it means he gave me his permission to make the change, but I am the one who will act?


texts: In search of an idiom expressing explaining oneself and feeling ashamed on behalf of another person

texts:
I am in search of an idiom that would convey the act of explaining oneself to a person, after a third person has put one into an embarrassing situation, however with a bit of anger towards that third person.

Imagine, three actors in a hierarchical organization: a director, a manager and an employee. The employee makes a promise to deliver something by a deadline, based on which the manager makes a promise to the director to deliver too. The employee then fails to deliver without giving a proper heads-up, thereby putting the manager in a very difficult situation. The manager then has a conversation or a meeting with the director (or even a larger group of people) during which she/he has to explain themselves as well as the employee, possibly making up a fictitious story.

My question is: what would be an idiom to convey what manager did in front of the director, it would combine: to cover up, to answer for,  to feel embarrassed, to feel anger or irritation, to be ashamed - all that in a sarcastic tone that emphasizes the awkwardness the manager was put into in front of the director, by the employee.

Not sure how much it is going to help you - in Polish, in a situation like above, we use a phrase which could be literally translated as to flash/shine one's eyes for sb (one = the manager, sb = the employee). The manager would say something like: "Hey, we need to talk! I had a board meeting yesterday and I had to flash my eyes for you again!"

When trying to answer my question please focus on how the manager would describe their awkward situation to the employee or any third person (as in the Polish language example above).

Edit

Would to play dumb make sense? It is not as figurative as I would expect, but it is the closest I was able to find.


texts: How do I better ask question which may not contain subject?

texts:
Which of the following sounds better:

  How do I cook an omelet?

– or

  How to cook an omelet?

If I am asking which steps someone, in general, should take to cook an omelet.


texts: Etymology of chandelier as relating to fortifications

texts:
Wiktionary gives a  third sense for chandelier:

(obsolete, military) A portable frame used to support temporary wooden fences.

I can find quite a lot of uses like this from 1800s and earlier, but I can't find any etymology besides the standard one which applies to lights/candles. Anyone know the connection? Thanks!


texts:
A doctor cured his patient and operated upon him well. Actually the patient was shot at his lower back, he had escaped from a jail and the doctor took the bullet out of his body. The patient was unconscious, he was in pain and when the doctor took the bullet out, patient said

  "Guts".

He was choking, then he told

  "They got......my guts..."

"Guts" here is actually creating a lot of commotion for me. Can someone please clear?

Is it like: "Internal organs of his body". When the bullet was taken out, he felt like his internal organs are being removed. (Guts = Internal organs). OR something else?

Guts meaning here.


texts:
I was wondering if I can use "the Greek occupation" and "Greek occupation" interchangeably in the examples written below ?

Greek occupation of Smyrna started on 15 May 1919 where a large crowd gathered waving the Greek kingdom flags on the docks where the Greek troops were expected to arrive
Milne warned in his report that Turkish guerrilla action would continue as long as the Greeks continued to occupy Smyrna and questioned the justification for Greek occupation
French and Italians used this opportunity to remove their support and financial obligations to the Smyrna occupation and this left the British as the only force supporting the Greek occupation
In addition, the conclusions questioned the fundamental justification for the Greek occupation and suggested Greek troops be replaced by an allied force.


texts: What's the word for when a word means what it seems like it should mean?

texts:
I'm not talking about onomatopoeia—I don't mean a word that describes a sound—I mean something along the lines of an aptronym, i.e. a perfect name such as Anthony Camera for a photographer (true story). What is the word for when a word just sounds like exactly what it means? I heard the word for this once, long ago, and have since forgotten it.

"Push" and "Pull" might be examples, in that the sounds they form evoke the physical actions denoted.


texts: Is there a word that describes both “providing” and “utilizing”?

texts:
Original Question:

I'm working on a personal 'Purpose Statement'. I would like to make it flow and be succinct. The statement is

Purpose:
To make software more meaningful by providing and utilizing my framework for embedding meaning in code.

I would like to use just one word instead of 'providing and utilizing'. In the business world it seems that these concepts could be merged, but if so I can't think of an appropriate word.

Edits:

Proffering is a little bit of an answer to this question:
An offer made; something proposed for acceptance by another; a tender
(law) Something that is offered into evidence; an offer to which one is willing to testify under oath.
Essay; attempt.
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/proffer#English'

Proferring is even better but it's obscure and doesn't pass my browser's spell check test.
1. To utter; to pronounce.
2. To deliver.
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/profer#English

Both words are pretty obscure for business.

Another word that comes close is engage:
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/engage
1. To interact socially.
    - To engross or hold the attention of; to keep busy or occupied.
    - To attract, to please; (archaic) to fascinate or win over (someone).
3. To interact contractually.
    - (intransitive) To guarantee or promise (to do something).

Engage word sounds good in business and may be as close as I can get. So

Best So Far:

Purpose: To make software more meaningful by engaging with others in my framework for embedding meaning in code

Purpose: To make software more meaningful by sharing my framework for embedding meaning in code.


texts: Is this sentence grammatically correct? (From a novel)

texts:
I understand the meaning of the following sentence. However, I am not sure that I can write a sentence like it because I have never seen such a sentence structure before: "noun and a full sentence".

A few minutes of determined sawing and the dog was free. (This sentence is extracted from the book "The dog who came for Christmas" (Sue Pethick) p243.)


texts: What is the word for dating documents by the mistakes in them?

texts:
There is a technique for dating hand-copied documents, or placing them in the correct chronological order at any rate, by analysing the mistakes in them that are inevitably made when a new copy is made.

Does anyone know what that is called?

(Putting a search involving "dating" into Google generates a lot of hits but not much that is relevant.)


texts: Is it right to say that "they have their utopia starting when they see a plate of food and water"

texts:
I have to do a presentation about a third world country next week and I started writing down what I am going to say and I am stuck in the introduction! I am speaking Greek and this phrase make sense in Greek but I think it's not right in English!

  I want to say that they have nothing to eat and nothing to drink and that when they find food or water they feel so good that it's like our utopia!


texts: Academic writing-questions on the topic, "Capitalisation"

texts: Should names of languages within sentences be capitalised? Example french, spanish,russian.


texts:
Because of our negligence towards the issue since so long, ...

Am I using this correctly? I want to convey something like 1-2 months ago or since around September.


texts: A word or phrase for "temporarily not working"

texts:
Is there a word or phrase for temporarily not working since one has gone on vacation?

I thought out of work could be used but that means unemployed or having lost one's job

EDIT

I am looking for a more general word that is applicable that may also be used when one is sick or just taking leave to stay with family


texts: To be only verb to deviate in second person singular?

texts:
"To be" is irregular in its second form singular, i.e. 'you are'.
Is "to be" the only case where the second form singular deviates?
In other verbs I think of, the baseform (infinitive form, first person singular) seems to be repeated for:

1st person singular
2nd person singular
All plural forms

The same question applied for the past tense.
Reason is again I am not sure if I should foresee all 6 forms in the database, as this will turn into a lot of redundant data.
If "to be" is the only verb that that deviates, I can write something custom for this verb but I wouldn't have to store all 6 forms.


texts:
I need to invent a new word familiar to English speakers, and think it would be beneficial to have a thesaurus based on the etymology of words (ideally with some ngram usage sorting).

Does such a thing exist?

If not, where can I derive the information needed to perform said research?

In addition to word building, such a tool would be helpful in the ever popular single word requests.


texts: Was the word that is now considered a slur against Japanese people ever considered simply a standard, neutral demonym?

texts: It seems the word 'Jap' could have formed along the same lines as 'Finn' (for Finland) and 'Swede' (for Sweden). Perhaps it became more emotively charged during the war?


texts: What do you call that sound uncouth people make by gurgling the snot in their sinuses?

texts: There may not be a word for it, but maybe there is a better or more concise way of describing it.


texts: Term to describe the 'things' involved in a signal exchange process?

texts:
Suppose a data exchange process, where two objects send/receive data to/from each other. Here, even though the type of data itself is the same, the type of objects can be various. For example, in a computer network packet exchange can occur not only between two desktop computers, but also between two mobile devices, or even a server and a sensor.

What I'm searching for is a generic term to describe these 'objects'. I considered the terms like 'actors' as these objects are the conductors of the exchange process, but I felt a bit awkward as it gives an impression of a 'living' thing. Could anyone recommend an appropriate term in this situation?


texts: I'm not sure how to word this, so my example is below: What is the word for this?

texts:
A friend asks me to watch their pet in the afternoon. I work from home generally but I have meetings with people that afternoon and say I can't watch their pet. The friend then asks if my meetings are at my house or if they are telemeetings.

They're ignoring my response when I said 'no' and digging to see if I'll be at home (in which case their pet can roam around) even though I said I can't watch their pet.

Is there a word for this?


texts: "The purpose of" versus "the purpose for" — which one is proper?

texts: Is there even a difference between the two?


texts:
I would like to know if whom can be used in this sentence:

  I commend the authors for discussing the discrepancy between minority
  medical students and the disproportionate percentage of whom apply to
  plastic surgery.


texts:
1) Нe went upstairs quietly last night.

2) Нe quietly went upstairs last night.

What version is right? I can't find information about this issue.


texts:
Consider the following sentence.

  The TA would communicate with the students through email, but keep in mind that he still had to maintain a professional what?

Figure, identity, boundary?

Basically, even though we communicate through email, we still must be professional in our emails, and so I am looking what that word.


texts: Formal personal introduction to a letter

texts:
I've received an e-mail of a colleague that I meet once. He wrote as introduction, "I hope you're doing well" and then he continued directly with the matter of the mail.

I would like to use some kind of similar introduction, but it cannot really be very personal, as we don't know each other so well (I thought about using "I'm glad to hear from you"... but probably he will not believe it :) )

The recipient of my mail is a colleague and we have never worked together, but now we will work in the same project. He is an Englishman and he is extremely correct.

Thanks!


texts:
A question on ELL recently aroused a discussion.
It's about usage of nationality as mass noun:

Like the Chinese, the Italian is a born gambler.
"You want to know why the Italian is skinny?"

The asker says, in a comment:

I was once told that we can think of other species collectively as thus we can use either The hippopotamus (singular) or The hippopotamuses (plural), but we can't do that with people.

I have never heard of this rule. Sure stereotyping is a slippery slope but not forbidden as such. What's with this rule? Am I missing something? Is this usage grammatically correct but politically incorrect or something like that?


texts: Can I separate events with period to form past perfect?

texts:
Can I say the following?

  The doorbell rang. He had finished his meal.

I know I could join the sentences into one sentence to get the same meaning. I want to know if this would be correct if I write it this way? In this, the doorbell ringing comes after he finished his meal.


texts:
I feel the following sentence does not sound usual:

  I like meat. Can I eat it tonight?

I think it is more common to say:

  I like meat. Can I eat some tonight?

Is my understanding correct? If so, why? How does the first sentence sound to native English speakers? Can you explain the difference between the two grammatically? Finally, does

  I want to eat meat.

connote that the person wants to eat raw meat?


texts: Origin of "for the birds" (Trivial; worthless; only of interest to gullible people.)

texts:
I really have looked, but the best I can come up with is this

  To say that something is "for the birds" is to call it horse manure. Dating from the days of horse-drawn traffic, the expression is the answer to a child's question: "Mommy, what's all that stuff in the street?"

Perhaps I need to get out more (not that there's much of it around where I live), but I find it hard to believe that of all the things it might be known for, bird food should be considered an archetypal use for horseshit. Is that really the origin?


texts: What is 'him' in this sentence: "She stands there, him looking into her eyes."?

texts: Is it a subject? Also, what sort of sentence is this?


texts: Is there a phrase or word for an "inverse" bibliography?

texts:
When documents (books, papers, web pages) cite another work, they may have a list of said works in a specific section. Depending on the level of formality and other details of the document, that section has a variety of common titles:

Bibliography
Works Cited
Reference List

However, we could also list works in which the document is cited. As an example, Google used to offer a service that let you find out what sites link to your webpage. That list would be called a _____?
As another example, though probably less common, a subsequent edition or reprint of a textbook could offer a list of other textbooks that reference its first edition. Logistical and motivational issues aside, what would that list be called?


texts:
The first time I heard it (When You Believe by Leon Jackson), my grammar instinct screamed "When all you hear are fear and lies." But then again, I feel that the phrase "all you hear are" sounds a little odd, "all you hear is" sounds perfectly fine to me. But maybe I am wrong.

Would you use is or are in such a phrase?


texts:
Do parenthetical lists need "e.g." preceding the list, such as:
"I am building a model of the house with key attributes (height, style, color) considered for comparison with other development areas."


texts: “it's truly vital that he or she becomes/become familiar with the reasons”?

texts:
Please have a look at the sentence below:

  Before one votes on the propositions, it's truly vital that he or she becomes familiar with the reasons for voting both for the proposition and against the proposition.*

My book says, become familiar… proposal. That is, becomes should be become. Is there a grammatical difference? Is one more correct than the other?


texts: can "Every" be used as the Subject of a Sentence?

texts: "Every can't be used as a subject since it is a determiner"   is this sentence correct ? Here Every is being used as a subject but we know every is a determiner , how is it possible ?


texts: "a variable of type int" versus "a variable of an int type"

texts: In programming books, I noticed that "a variable of type int," and  "a variable of an int type" are often used interchangeably. Which one is the correct one?


texts: QA vs QAs (a group of people that perform quality assurance)

texts:
Which one is correct when referring to a group of people that perform quality assurance? I can see that both are used in the Internet:
QA:

QA are the gatekeepers, but everyone in the agile team should have the same responsibility for the quality of the product.
DevOps and QA are often working side by side.
If there are no unit tests, QA are left to test as much of the affected code as they can.

QAs:

It's important to note that QAs are interested in making any product user-friendly.
QAs are responsible for improving the quality of the development process.
The objectives of the QAs are to promote quality assurance at an organisational level.


texts: Why does "right" have the same two meanings in both English and French?

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  right (opposite of left) connected to right (legal term)?

This is both an EL&U question and a FL&U question, so I've double-posted accordingly to maximize visibility.

Here's the thing that struck me as odd today.

In English, we would say "his right arm." But we would also say "he has the right to something."

In French, we would say "le bras droit." And we would say "Il a le droit de quelque chose."

So, given that the English "right" is not (so far as I can tell) in any way similar to the French "droit," how is it that they both happen to have these two disparate meanings in both languages? I'm inclined to say it's not a coincidence. How would that happen?


texts: Writing and Reading Learning in a single word?

texts:
Whenever people learn a language, be it as a kid or as an adult, the speaking and listening processes are often separate from the writing and reading ones.

The first two are usually covered by the term speech. Speech development means improving speaking and listening skills.

I am looking for a similar word that would encompass writing and reading. We could say something like

  Before the age of 6, the children develop their speech, but it is only in primary school that they learn to read and write.

Is there a way to replace the italic part? And in particular the "read and write" part?


texts: Can the subject of a portrait be an animal?

texts:
The answers to question "What is the definition of portrait photography?" seem to imply that the subject of a portrait has to be a person or a group of people. This isn't directly expressed in the reference provided in the top answer, although all the examples are of people.

Acceptance of groups is explained in the mentioned answer as:

  By the very existence of the term "group portrait", clearly such a thing exists.

Googling for "pet portrait" gives plenty of results to conclude, by the same logic, such a thing also exists.

Given that other criteria of portraiture is met, can a portrait also portray an animal, or should it not be called a portrait?


texts:
I was watching a speech on TV by someone who said the sentence "..and our country faces threats from within [long pause] and without."

I thought this was wrong and jokingly posted about on social media, but a friend told me that it is in fact 'perfectly correct' English usage and often used in rhetoric.

Is this true? Is it 'perfectly correct' in this context? I've never seen 'within and without' used myself but upon googling the phrase it does seem to be used in old English texts, such as this quote in The Great Gatsby:

  "“I was within and without, simultaneously enchanted and repelled by
  the inexhaustible variety of life.”"


texts: Not sure if this is grammatically correct: Target in-demand candidates for your apprenticeship

texts:
I am a little confused about this slogan that I wrote:

  Target in-demand candidates for your apprenticeship.

I feel this sentence is not complete and could be rephrased to be shorter and clearer.

Any help would be appreciated.


texts: Is there a word for words being lost and rediscovered in different time periods?

texts:
In this thread, it became clear that a verb, 'to bug', seems to have been current in the 1950s and 60s, then dropped out of favour entirely, then re-appeared in the Internet age. However, the new usage probably has nothing to do with the old form.

Is there a recognised idea of a word being 'reinvented' or rediscovered in different time periods? Or is it too infrequent to be a recognised concept?


texts: Alternative to "yeah" as an acknowledgement

texts:
I'm trying to stop myself using the word "yeah" in certain contexts where it seems too informal. But I'm not sure how to replace it. Consider this example:

> "I need to cancel our meeting on Monday"
> "Yeah, it gets busy this time of year"

"Yeah" is generally considered a more casual "yes", but here it serves as an acknowledgment. "Yes, it gets busy..." would sound weird because there was no question that was asked to say yes to. Is there an alternative word that can replace "yeah"?

I suppose I could rewrite the sentence to: "It really gets busy this time of year", but the difficulty with this is that you need to think of a way to rephrase each sentence that uses "yeah" rather than there being a general rule.


texts: The use of the words "and" and "well" at the end of a sentence that is a list - conversational inclusion of the word "well"

texts:
I'll start with the sentence at hand; it's a doozy!

  "I think Sherry cultivates a totally different/unique type of account person and mentality on her team: customer service is far and away #1, plus knowledge of course, coupled with what seems to be an unusual ability for the handful of us to circumvent some of the organization’s standard processes—likely due to the crazy tenure many of us have, the independence the SJ team is able to enjoy, and, well, largely due to Sherry herself."

My primary question is particularly focused on the very end of the sentence which I have bolded: do I need to and/or is it an appropriate preference of mine to use successive series of commas after after "and" & "well"? Particularly, given that there is already a comma used after "enjoy," it seems excessive but I feel it very well may be correct(?).

Also, while I nerd out on grammar, I wonder if I am incorrect to use a slash at the beginning of the sentence "different/unique."

Lastly, should anyone reply, I'd welcome any other feedback you may have regarding any content found in my quoted sentence. Heck, even in the grammar I've used in the entirety of my posted question!


texts:
If Mrs and Miss are generally used to distinguish the marital status of a female, is there or has there ever been a term with the same connotation as Miss for a male?

For instance in the following sentence what is the appropriate title you could use in the dotted space, Mr or just nothing perhaps, and why?

Miss Jane is 20 years old and her younger brother (...) John has just turned 18.

Note: I am nor referring to terms like bachelor, but just to titles like Mr or Miss.


texts: Can I mix simple past and other verb forms?

texts:
Stalin eliminated the rebels by rounding them up and sending them to concentration camps, then took over their lands.

Is this correct? I'm not sure if using rounding and sending will affect the
took that I used in the later part of the sentence.

Am I supposed to change took to taking?


texts: "Can cities shape socio-technical transitions and how would we know if they were?" were or could?

texts:
Can cities shape socio-technical transitions and how would we know if they were?

This is the title of a peer-reviewed article in the journal "Research Policy". Is it correct? My expectation is that can should be matched by could, and not were.


texts: A word for a collection of slogans or statements which implies intolerance of dissent

texts:
In some contexts, what I have in mind could potentially be referred to as a manifesto or a party platform or a creed. In such cases, a list of statements covering various topics is crafted through debate and revision and ultimately those who are satisfied will sign on and those who are not won't.

But I have observed something different lately and I feel that there's a word for it which is just beyond my tongue. I have noticed yard signs popping up around my city with a series of slogans covering 8 or 10 hot-button political topics. Each of the slogans represents, more or less, the most prevalent view among American liberals, particularly as expressed on social media. There are not multiple versions: somebody compiled these slogans and printed up a sign and those who wish to identify as part of the movement buy it. I live in a liberal area but you could easily imagine a parallel sign with conservative slogans.

I personally disagree with few if any of the slogans, but the sign still stirs up some discomfort. It feels like a slate of litmus tests. The sign is a way to signal membership in a social group, and responding "Yes, but..." to any single item would disqualify you. This impression is strong especially since these are slogans with loaded language rather than carefully composed statements.

Regardless of whether my apprehension is misplaced in this particular example, what words could describe this notion? A litmus test fits but is just for a single issue, whereas I have in mind a collection of such tests, the effect of which is to discourage critical reflection.

It is the product of groupthink.
It is something you are asked to accept wholesale.
What is it?

I'll accept either a noun or an adjective. A noun could be a standard metaphor, like Rorschach test.


texts: What's the difference between "idem" and "ditto"?

texts:
I understand that in colloquial American English people retort with "ditto" when they mean "likewise", but I don't know that it is a correct use.

I always thought the real meaning was "as I previously wrote/said before", which would make that "right back at you" use incorrect. At the same time, I thought that "idem" would actually be the word to use in that case, use which the wiktionary seems to back.

Anyone able to shed some light into etymology or correct usage?


texts: Deferring a noun belonging to a preposition until after a conjunction

texts:
Is it grammatically correct to defer the use of a noun (belonging to preposition) until after a conjunction?

In order to scale to (deferred noun: multi-objective optimisation) and study multi-objective optimisation, ...
We demonstrate how one can help out with (deferred noun: poverty) and mitigate poverty in Africa.
... so that the community can open up to (deferred noun: migrant populations) and accept the cultures of migrant populations.


texts: In architecture, you {cut?} the corners of a building to keep it from featuring right-angles. What's the word I'm looking for?

texts:
During the Reconstruction of Paris, the Baron Haussmann gave specific instructions to the architects designing buildings along the boulevards:

The eaves had to be at a 45 degree angle.
Each building was to take up the entire block.
Each building had to have six floors.
The upper floor and the penultimate floor had to feature balconies running the entire length of the block.

Finally, the corners had to be ??? ... to avoid featuring sharp or straight angles.

What is the word, or words, I'm looking for here?


texts: What do we call the spike in the cap of an ointment/cream tube?

texts:
I'm translating a text about an antifungal cream sold in aluminum tubes. The plastic cap of each tube has a spike in it used to break the foil/seal in the neck of the tube.
I'm not sure what these spikes are usually called. I googled but failed to find a description. It is spike or some other term?

P.S. Original in Russian:

15 г крема в алюминиевой запечатанной тубе с белым полиэтиленовым колпачком, имеющим перфорационный пробойник.
Проколите  запечатывающую мембрану при помощи острия на внешней стороне колпачка.


texts: Can I use "pretty" as a degree adverb to describe an adjective that has a negative meaning?


texts: Is a stem word required with a prefix and suffix combination?

texts:
Suppose the following lexeme:

  mononess

Consisting of the prefix "mono-" (meaning "one") and suffix "-ness" (meaning "the quality of"), but no stem/root word.

Could this lexeme be a valid word in the English language?

If so, is this construction allowed explicitly or implicitly ("not disallowed" by any rule)? Also, are there examples of any real words that follow this pattern?


texts: THE English language or English Language?

texts:
Which is correct?
I have been successful in teaching the English language


texts: Meaning of "extenuate": "extenuated the difficulties"

texts:
The definition of extenuate as a verb is:

  to cause a wrong act to be judged less seriously by giving reasons for it:

Yet I don't apprehend its meaning herein. Would someone please explain? What's the "wrong act"?

  Less than four years after the demise of the 1898 reform movement,
  Liang published an editorial in his journal, Hsin-min ts’r"mg-pao (The
  New People Magazine), which argued vigorously for the necessity
  of p’o-huai, or destruction.“ Sick of double-talk, he declared that any
  scholar of resolve (chih-shih) must absolutely refuse to condone the
  corruptions of the time—corruptions which would soon destroy the
  entire system. Moreover, those who refused to recognize that “destruc-
  tion in the end cannot be avoided” simply extenuated the diﬂiculties of
  the present, for history proved that human progress was impossible with-
  out destruction. England could not have reached her current great
  power status without the civil war of the seventeenth century, which
  cleared away feudal debris; the United States of America owed its

Source: P150 at http://books.google.com/books?id=ORMNHQGDuBgC&pg=PA150&dq=%22extenuated+the%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=pVabU_KNN83fkgX5i4DQCQ&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=%22extenuated%20the%22&f=false


texts:
For preposition of places, should Facebook, an Internet space, be used as in or on? E.g.

  Find us in Facebook.


texts:
In math, we always need to derive some methods and strategies to estimate an unknown thing.

For a good method, first it should get an estimation that is as accurate as possible, and second it should also be easily implemented in practice. Also, I hope this method can beat other existing methods in these two aspects.

Now, assume I get this method, then in the title of my paper, should I use "effective and efficient estimation" or "accurate and efficient estimation"?


texts: The word "dormitory" means "sleeping place". Is there any similar word for "eating place"?


texts:
I'm looking for a creative and relatively familiar idiom to describe something that needs to be handled a specific way because an activity comes in waves.

Specifically I'm looking to describe experience with business where sometimes many contracts will come at the same time and other times there will be no money.


texts: I'll take you home / I'll bring you home

texts:
Being both non-natives, I had some discussion today about the following situation: suppose you're at a party and you want to take/bring your drunk buddy home.

I believe that:

"I'll take you home" means come, I'll bring you away and then I'll go back or go to my place. This is going away from the party.
"I'll bring you home" means come with me and we both go home. We probably both live at that place or it is our end stop. This is coming to home.

She believes that:

"I'll take you home" means either of the above, because you're both in the same room when you ask and you're going away from.
"I'll bring you home" is an invalid construct in that situation, or actually is always invalid. I was opposing to that that I actually remember to have heard the phrase quite often.

I know the general meaning and differences between bring and take. However, I somehow couldn't get my head around this. Any native speaker that can shed some light here? There's an extra beer at stake!


texts: Is there a single word that is the opposite of "want" (i.e. "do not want")?

texts:
Is there a single verb that means "do not want"?

E.g. "I want that object" or "I want to do this" vs. "I _____ (do not want) that object" or "I _____ (do not want) to do this"?

Also in the case of casual writing, when you might write "Let's not talk about what you want/don't want, let's take action instead" or "Let's not talk about what you do or do not want, let's take action instead", is there a single-word opposite of "want" that could be dropped in and used in combination with "want" in that type of sentence?


texts: Can "I'm springing" ever really have a present continuous meaning relating to a single spring?

texts:
As an homage to a certain kind of linguistico-philosophico question we see here now and then, I'm asking my own, since I have pressing things to do which I would like to do tomorrow, or the next day, but not today.

I'm springing can mean "I'm going to spring".

I'm springing can mean "I am springing again and again".

But once one has sprung, can one really say "I am springing" to mean "I'm in the midst of a spring"? Can one be in the midst of a spring?  Or is a spring an act of zero-duration?  Are we ready to spring or sprung and never springing?


texts:
I have the following two sentences:

In Germany, the most common type are air-water heat pumps, followed by brine-water heat pumps.
In this thesis three type(s) of optimization approaches are developed. The first type are heuristic algorithms

Is this correct or do I have to use the plural form 'types' in this context? I'd appreciate every comment.

Regarding sentence 2):

I developed three different types of optimization approaches and for each type I have multiple algorithms. For example: The first types of optimization approaches are heuristic algorithms. I have not only developed one but many heuristic algorithms.

So here is more information: I have developed 3 type(s) of optimization approaches. The first type(s) are heuristic algorithms. Here I have developed 3 methods. The second type(s) are exact methods. Here I have developed 2 methods. And the third type(s) are rule-based methods. Here I have developed 4 methods. So overall I have:

Type 1 (Heuristic Algorithms): Heuristic Algorithm 1, Heuristic algorithms 2, Heuristic Algorithm 3

Type 2 (Exact methods): Exact method 1, Exact methods 2

Type 3 (Rule-based methods): Rule-based method 1, Rule-based method 2, Rule-based mehtod 3, Rule-based method 4

So I think I should use the plural form 'types' with the plural form of the verbs 'are' and plural form of the object 'algorithms'. Is that correct?

Can someone please open the question again. I would like to give bountry for the question.