texts:
I'm having a disagreement with my boss (a non-native speaker) who says that in this sentence the word "rigged" is a be-verb. I say it's the past participle acting as an adjective and I confirmed it with two other native speakers who have writing/editing experience (one even majored in linguistics and has two MAs in teaching to other languages). But my boss insists that it cannot be an adjective and can only be a verb and it shares the preposition "by" with "driven" but the agent is unknown.
I argue that if it were to share the preposition "by" then the agent is "greed" and yet "greed" can't "rig" something. However, I am struggling to find appropriate sources to prove either case. Here is the sentence in question:

"Cynics will tell you that everyone is selfish and weak, that the system is rigged and driven by greed, that you can never succeed, so it's pointless and contemptible to try, that all ideals are ridiculous, and the do-gooders are only out to show off their own supposed virtues."


texts: What, in this context, is wrong with using the progressive tense?

texts:
In just a couple of years, low-carbohydrate diets have accomplished
  what the government has failed to do in decades of trying: convince
  the public that refined grains are bad and whole grains are good.

Why is the imperative word "convince" used instead of the progressive tense word "convincing?"

I ask this because it was an SAT question, and one of its options was to use a progressive tense form of "to convince."  Hence, I have no idea why my answer was wrong.


texts: What word describes someone that hides in public?

texts: For example a public figure, celebrity, authority, teacher that secretly conducts unlawful or unsavoury behaviour. Is there a specific word for this?


texts: Is the term "tooltip" for the upvote and downvote button on StackExchange accurate?

texts:
It just occurred to me that the term tooltip used for SE's upvote and downvote button might be ambiguous and misleading.

Doesn't tip here mean advice? Whenever I hover my mouse over an icon in Word (computer programme) a message appears that tells me more about that button's functionality, and its purpose. But on SE the message that appears over the upvote and downvote button is almost a definition.

“This question shows research effort: it is useful and clear”
“This question does not show any research effort; it is unclear or not useful”

Merriam-Webster defines the noun of vote as

  vote (n)
  1. a : a usually formal expression of opinion or will in response to a proposed decision; especially :  one given as an indication of approval or disapproval of a proposal, motion, or candidate for office
  b :  the total number of such expressions of opinion made known at a single time (as at an election)
  c :  an expression of opinion or preference that resembles a vote

and provides the following explanation for the intransitive verb

  vote (v)
  1: to express one's views in response to a poll; especially :  to exercise a political franchise
  2:  to express an opinion “consumers…vote with their dollars” — Lucia Mouat

Surprisingly, the terms upvote or tooltip, are not listed in M-W, but Oxford Dictionaries Online comes to the rescue.

  upvote
  (In an online context) register approval of or agreement with (a post or poster) by means of a particular icon:

  — I wish people would upvote comments they agree with instead of typing the exact same thing a hundred more times
  — you’ve missed the point entirely, as have the people who upvoted you
  — users don’t have the ability to upvote, downvote, or leave comments

  tooltip
  A message which appears when a cursor is positioned over an icon, image, hyperlink, or other element in a graphical user interface.
  —You can float the mouse over the button and a tool tip will pop up with the command name.

Why is the UV and DV button on StackExchange, technically speaking, a ‘tool’?
Is clicking on Facebook's like button a ‘tool’ or a ‘vote’? Would you define awarding marks/grades on a paper a ‘tool’?
Bonus question: When was the term tooltip/tool tip actually coined, and by whom?


texts: Is it correct to say "I write children books" (not possessive case)?

texts:
Although Children's books is what everybody says, I would like to understand why the genitive case is applied in such case.

If I write books for children, children is an adjective here; not the owners of my book! The word "children" just defines or characterizes the type of books I write. Therefore, it's an adjective.

So, I understand that genitive/possessive case ("I write children's book")  is incorrect grammar.

My question is: is the genitive case here really accepted as right? If I use "I write children books" (following the grammar principle) as as I say "I write pets books" (books about pets, and not possessions of pets) - would I be incorrect? Why?


texts: Word/phrase to describe the kind of joy that you feel when someone you like or love shows you an act of kindness or love

texts:
In my country, we call it “kilig.” When a guy, for instance, unexpectedly smiles at a girl who happens to have feelings for him, chances are the girl will feel so jubilant she would scream inside and smile.

Joyous, jubilant, and happy are too general to describe that specific feeling (you feel toward a person you like) that I want to describe using a “naturally occurring” word or phrase.

Can you suggest some terms?


texts:
Page 277 of Beyond the Segment: Stress, Rhythm and Intonation reads

Jane said she’d been delighted long enough and Margaret offended her.

The nuclear stress rule tells us that nuclear stress falls on the last
stressed syllable, which seems to be offended. However, anaphoric references tend not to be stressed; so, if Jane’s comment that she’s d been delighted long enough is
considered to be offensive in the context, then the word offended is
an anaphoric reference, in which case it would not be stressed, which
means it obviously does not carry the nuclear stress of the utterance,
but this is displaced to an earlier position, namely, to the stressed
syllable of the word Margaret.

Could somebody elaborate on what anaphoric relation is going on here?
In the example, who do the pronouns she and her refer to?  I still cannot come up with a context for such a sentence.


texts: "message exchanges" vs "messages exchanges"

texts:
I found a sentence in a paper which I believe to be wrong, I have a couple of questions:

Is it wrong? If not, which one is the correct form?

The sentence:

  ... these algorithms require successive control messages exchanges
  between MB and GA ...

The part that I have emphasized confuses me.


texts: Complex, Compound, Complex-Compound, and ;?

texts:
A compound sentence uses for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so to give the clauses equal weighting

  She didn't like to exercise, but she did at least eat healthy

A complex sentence makes one of the clauses subordinating, providing an emphasis on one of the caluses:

  While she didn't like to exercise, she did at least eat healthy.

Another option is sentences that uses a ;, but what is the a proper name for this sentence type, other than enhanced-compound (from what I've found)?

  She didn't like to exercise; she had gained weight despite her healthy
  diet.


texts: What are the subject and predicate in the following sentences?

texts:
1. Mercy on us.

2. Thank you, my dear friend.

What are the subject and predicate in these two sentences?


texts:
It appears the transitive verb provide has (at least) two prepositions:

  provide (something) for (someone/something)

  provide (something) to (someone/something)

For example,

  The umbrellas provide shade for the guests.

  He provided drugs to the prisoners.

In both of these examples, one could have swapped to and for, although the sentences as written feel more natural.

Is there a good rule to use when deciding whether to use to or for with provide?

No doubt endless opining on this question is possible.  But I would very much prefer if someone could point me to some sort of authoritative source, e.g., OED, Cambridge ESL materials, Chicago Manual of Style.


texts: 'I knew you are John's brother' vs 'I knew you were John's brother'

texts:
Suppose you are John's brother, and I talked with you several days ago. I knew that when I talked with you.  Now I'm meeting with you again and  want to tell you I knew then that you are John's brother.  Which of (1) or (2) should I say?

  I knew you are John's brother
  I knew you were John's brother


texts:
What are the antonyms of recently?

I have checked with a thesaurus and I got just two:

before
later

Neither of those seems to fit into my call to action sentence - visit 10 URLs that were not accessed for the longest period of time.

Visit 10 ... URLs

If I use `before`, sentence does not make sense
If I use `later`, sentence does not seem to make sense either
If I use least visited it does not seem to refer to time but number of visits
If I use bottom URLs it all depends on the sort order and does not refer to time

In contrast, If I would be referring to the recent I can just say:

Visit 10 most recently accessed URLs.

What are the antonyms of recently that would fit into the context?


texts:
This is a common IELTS speaking exam question: Do you play any sports?

How do you answer that if you're a professional swimmer? In my mind 'playing sports' implies team sports (I play football, I play basketball, etc.), you don't say "I play swimming".

So, the point:

Do you play any sports?
I do/I don't...

Yes, they do expect you to answer "do you..." questions with "I do, I don't...".

Updated to clarify:

Merriam-Webster's definition of "play" is: to engage in sport or recreation; to engage or take part in a game .  This is a very generic definition that doesn't particularly help in answering this question.
As I mentioned previously, the verb "play" is not normally associated with swimming (in my mind it is used with team sports).
"Do you play...?" implies a yes/no type of answer – "Yes, I do play..." or "No, I don't play...".

So, how should I respond?

Does it limit the question to asking about team sports only, which would exclude swimming?
If it could include swimming, how can an answer of a matching construction be grammatically correct (the "I play swimming" issue)?
What would an appropriate answer for swimming look like?


texts: A user vs the user - the 2nd is more common? why?

texts:
Why do we use "the" with "user" and not "a", even through we're not talking about a particular user, but about any user? For example:

When the user comes to the home page, they should see this link.


texts: What's the correct way to write drawn-out vowels?

texts: How should I denote drawn-out vowels in English? If I have a character with speech disorder or with a very unique accent, what is the correct way to express, in written form, this quirk of their speech? Would it be appropriate to just repeat the vowel? Or perhaps there's a specific punctuation mark I am not aware of.


texts: Disagreement with my English teacher on a GRE reading comprehension question...would like your opinion

texts:
I've come across a question where me and my teacher disagree on what is the correct answer for a GRE reading comprehension question.

First, here is the passage:

  ...Before feminist literary criticism emerged in the 1970s, the nineteenth-century United States writer Fanny Fern was regarded by most critics (when considered at all) as a prototype of weepy sentimentalism - a pious, insipid icon of conventional American culture. Feminists reclamations of Fern, by contrast, emphasize her nonsentimental qualities, particularly her sharply humorous social criticism. Most feminist scholars find it difficult to reconcile Fern's sardonic social critiques with her effusive celebrations of many conventional values. Attempting to resolve this contradiction, Harris concludes that Fern employed flowery rhetoric strategically to disguise her subversive goals beneath apparent conventionality. However, Tompkins proposes an alternative view of sentimentality itself, suggesting that sentimental writing could serve radical, rather than only conservative ends by swaying readers emotionally, moving them to embrace social change.

Now the question:

  Q. It can be inferred from the passage that Tompkins would be most likely to agree with which of the following about the critics mentioned in the passage?

  A) They accurately characterize the overall result Fern is aiming to achieve.

  B) They are not as dismissive of Fern as some feminist critics have suggested.

  C) They exaggerate the extent to which Fern intended her writing to serve a social purpose.

  D) They wrongly assume that sentimental must be a pejorative term.

  E) They fail to recognize the role that sentimental rhetoric plays to reader's emotions.

What do YOU think is the correct answer?

I chose E), but my teacher says the correct answer is D)

I disagree with my teacher because, clearly, the critics were dismissive about the strong sentimentality of Fern's works; they were not making wrong assumptions about the term sentimental. If anything, they failed to appreciate the function of the sentimentality, according to Tompkins. I can't grasp the notion that those critics made wrong "assumptions" about sentimentality as a term... but my teacher argues that since critics were negative about sentimentality of Fern's work, D) is the correct answer.

My teacher also says E) could be the better answer if the question compared Harris and Tompkins, since Harris asserted that the role of sentimentality was to mask Fern's goals. What do you think? What are your opinions?


texts: why is it always "on foot" not "on feet"?

texts: While we normally use both our feet to walk, why is it grammatically acceptable  to say "on foot" not "on feet"?


texts:
I'm now developing a web site at which users can purchase something. Users can also register their credit cards on the site. For security reasons, we show only last 4 digits of their registered cards.

Here is a problem. Our web site should support extremely small displays, so we cannot say "last four digits". Is there any good abbreviation for it?


texts: Are the words "backdrop" and "background" interchangeable?


texts:
And major difference?

"10 deaths" vs "10 deads", what is the difference?


texts: Phrases that would be similar to "Tip of the Iceberg" but with a positive connotation

texts:
I am looking for phrases that would be similar in meaning to 'tip of the iceberg,' but has a positive connotation. My understanding is that 'tip of the iceberg' has a negative "hidden" connotation.

The phrase I am looking for is going to be used in the paragraph below:

  Over the last few decades, robotics research has made considerable
  strides towards solving hard robotics problems such as navigating
  unknown environments, recognizing and manipulating objects, and using
  natural language to interact. These advances have resulted in some
  interesting robotic applications, ranging from autonomous vacuum
  cleaners and self-parking cars to personal software assistants. Yet, I
  believe these applications are just the tip of the iceberg in a whole
  new wave of personal robotics applications to hit the marketplace.


texts: Raised object vs. Subordinate subject (I didn't want Kim mistreating my cat)

texts:
The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language  (Page 1204) says:

A crucial difference between gerund-participials and to-infinitivals is that a non-genitive NP can function as subject of the former but not of the latter unless for is present:
[13] i What I resented was Kim mistreating my cat.
ii *What I intended was Kim to interview both candidates.
iii What I intended was for Kim to interview both candidates.

CGEL continues on the next page:

We have no reason, therefore, to analyse the NP following resent as a raised object--instead we take it as subordinate subject, so that the syntactic structure matches the semantics:
[14] i I caught Kim mistreating my cat. [matrix argument; matrix object]
ii I resented Kim mistreating my cat. [not matrix argument; subordinate subject]

In a nutshell, CGEL treats Kim not as a raised object but as the syntactic subject of the subordinate clause mistreating my cat in [14ii], because the corresponding what-cleft construction works in [13i].
Then, see these examples:

(1) I didn't want Kim mistreating my cat.
(2) What I didn't want was Kim mistreating my cat.

I think (2) as well as (1) works. Does that mean that Kim is not a raised object but subordinate subject in (1)?


texts: How do we 'execute' or 'do'? A concise word to "carry out this defined task in a specific context" so we get done?

texts:
In English one symbol that is overloaded in computer terminology is 'execute'. Another less harsh sounding directive 'do'. I 'do' sounds like a contract, 'execute' like a sentence.
In the 'do' case we may delimit its applicable context with 'done'.
A third but ambiguous context delineating technique is to use the couch phase 'begin' followed later by 'end'. This is more for context scope than to act as an imperative exhortation.
Is there a better English verb we could use to instruct our equipment on how to behave?


texts: English equivalent for the French expression "péter de santé"

texts:
Is there an expression/idiom in English that carries pretty much the same connotation as what is implied by French "péter de santé"?
WordReference actually gives for translation, "be bursting with health."
I'm not happy with that, though, because "burst" doesn't seem to convey in English all what the word "péter" carries in French.
Fact is, "péter de (or la) santé" conveys more something along the lines of, be/look so healthy/in great shape that it is indecent or might appear so to others.
And so, is there a raw, slangy phrase or idiom in English that might connote that idea of "being bursting with health to the point of indecency, or of being likely to appear indecent to others?

péter
vi
familier (émettre un gaz naturel) (colloquial) fart vi
(formal) pass wind/gas, break wind/gas v expr
(slang) drop one v expr : blow off vi + prep
manger à s'en faire péter le bide
familier (colloquial) eat til' bursting v; eat til' you burst
péter la santé
familier (colloquial) be in great health, be bursting with health v

As an example sentence, you might consider,

Check out that dude in black shorts, he looks [so healthy that it is indecent.)

EDIT:
Actually, I'm looking for something coarse/vulgar, with just about the same flavor as A Fish Named Wanda's famous line: Raw Quote


texts: Punctuation Query Regarding a Comma and a Parenthesis

texts:
On 24th January 2014 at about 10:25pm, I, John Doe (Loss Prevention Manager for the XYZ Corporation), interviewed and obtained an oral and a written confession from Patricia Schmoe (Cashier at XYZ Stores) in which she admitted to stealing $3,000 cash from the customer service desk.

Should I place a comma – as I've done – after the ending parenthesis after the word "corporation"?
Do we cap a title as generic as "Cashier" in the parentheses?
Would you use "oral" or "verbal" confession?
Do I need any commas inserted in "On 24th January 2014 at about 10:25pm"?

Thank you.


texts:
She is more than a friend.

As I understand, "more than a friend" is a constituent. The dependent "than a friend" is a prepositional phrase. The head "more" is a pronoun. Am I right? Thanks!


texts: "A tool to do" vs. "a tool that does" vs. "a tool for doing"

texts:
I'm the curator of the Open Web Platform Daily Digest link. In the "Tools" section of each daily I write entries in this format:

tool_name, tool_description

For example:

hapi, a server framework for Node.js

My question is, which of these should I use:

ClippingMagic, an online tool to remove image backgrounds
ClippingMagic, an online tool for removing image backgrounds
ClippingMagic, an online tool that removes image backgrounds

(That tool is located here btw.)


texts: In computer science, there is a word trie. It is  pronounced either /tri:/ or /trai/. However, according to the common spelling rule, "When two vowels go walking, the first one does the talking", the pronunciation is not reasonable. I want to know how to spell this word correctly.


texts:
In phrases of the form "too X to Y" (e.g. "too big to fail"), can "too" ever be replaced by a word such as "exceedingly", e.g. "exceedingly big to fail"? It sounds wrong to me, although "exceedingly big" on its own sounds certainly correct.

If it isn't correct, how else can I express in formal writing that something is "too X to Y" by a large margin? "Much too X to Y" sounds informal.


texts: On the go - can it refer to something being consumed?

texts:
Dictionaries define 'on the go'
mostly as:

very busy (Cambridge)
very busy or active (Macmillan)
very active or busy (Oxford)
to be very active and busy (Oxford Learner's)
constantly or restlessly active (MW)
very active or busy (MW Learner's)
active and energetic / in constant motion or action (Collins)
very busy doing a lot of things (Longman)
actively traveling; busy; moving often (Wiktionary)

and also as:

in the process of being produced (Cambridge)
in the process of being done or produced (Macmillan)
happening or going (MW Learner's)
if you have something on the go, you have started it and are busy doing it (Longman)
in progress; having started (Wiktionary)

and occasionally as:

quickly while doing some other activity (Macmillan)

Several times, however, I have encountered the following kind of usage:

There is always a bottle or glass of something on the go at my desk or with me! (source)
Chain-smoking chimp who's so addicted he has two cigarettes on the go at once (source)

The dictionary definitions do not seem to cover this meaning.
The second group of definitions comes closest, but even that is a rather poor fit (a drink or a cigarette done / produced / happening / going?).
Even the sentences provided as examples (on the dictionary sites) use 'on the go' in connection with projects and inititatives,  not drinks and cigs.
Is this another meaning for 'on the go' not covered by the dictionaries? Or perhaps not even proper usage?
Thank you.


texts: What's another way to say "Is this on your horizon?"

texts:
What's another way to say,
"Is X on your agenda?" or
"Is X on your horizon?"


texts:
The highest point; the flatland.

Ex: Summit is to mountain/hill as _____ is to plateau.

Would summit just be acceptable in itself?


texts:
"to pull it off" was at one time used meaning "to win."

And in sentences such as,

  I don't think you can pull it off.

, it often implies the idea of "success."

But how did this expression originate?


texts:
In Spanish, we use the word etcétera at the end of an enumeration to imply there are more things to mention, which may (or not) be important, but they will be omitted. Thus, I was fairly surprised yesterday when I was told that finishing enumerations in English using etcetera is improper.

Is there any good replacement for etcetera, something that may be used in a formal register without taking too many words, and not dependent on the context?


texts: As I understand it, in aviation and some armed forces, the term Zulu time (denoted by the letter Z) is used to refer to GMT. What is the origin of this? Why the use of "Z"/"Zulu"?


texts: What is the meaning of "later on the day"

texts:
The sentence is

  Please note that only candidates who actually pass the tests will receive a notification by email later on the day.

I would like to ask that "later on the day" is when?
Is that specified like the next day?


texts: A couple of quick questions related to "Messrs"

texts:
How is "Messrs" pronounced?

The meaning is the plural of "Mister", right?

Does that mean that "Misters" is not a word?

Is "Messrs" a word that is more commonly used in England than the United States?


texts:
I looked up some other posts related to this, but I'm still not 100% clear. In the following examples, are these all grammatically correct, and therefore a matter of style? I want to use the most simple "to" version, but fear it might not be correct. Thanks!

He set the bag down to better grip the railing.

He set the bag down in order to better grip the railing.

He set the bag down as to better grip the railing.


texts:
She tried to understand why, despite the fact that people want to be good, compassionate and good-natured, still, out of nowhere, appear irritability and hostility.

I could also add an Oxford comma but there already seem too many commas?


texts: I am afraid I look servile when I say "please"

texts:
In Korea, when I say "please", others think that I am servile.
In English, do I look servile when I use "please" in conversation? I want to know the intensity of the word "please" in servility.


texts: What is a word that means "lacking seriousness"?

texts: I am writing an essay for In Our Time by Ernest Hemingway and I need a word that means "to lack seriousness".


texts: The US Declaration of Independence states that "all men are created equal". Was it valid (linguistically) to refer to men and women as "men" in 1776?

texts:
"Man" can definitely refer to a male or female person. Can "Men" refer as well to males and females, or is it only the plural of a male person?
I'm asking this because the United States Declaration of Independence states that "all men are created equal". I'm wondering whether it refers literally to "male men", and if not, whether it is a correct form to refer to women too.
I'm interested in the dictionary meaning, not in the politically correct side. So my question boils down to this:
“In 1776, when one said 'men', could that mean also 'women and men'”?


texts: Whether to use the word 'was' or 'were' in this particular context

texts:
I am writing a report whereby I have to state something about the team. My colleague and I are of different opinions. Can you tell me which is the correct one?
Even though good reasons were given, the audit team were not quite satisfied with the outcome.
Even though good reasons were given, the audit team was not quite satisfied with the outcome.
I personally think the correct sentence is the first one where the word 'were' is used.
Therefore if anyone can advise I would be grateful.
Kind regards,
Miles


texts: Comma or no comma before "in part because"?

texts:
"Running outdoors burns about five percent more calories than running on a treadmill, in part because there is greater wind resistance outdoors."

I was taught that you shouldn't put a comma before 'because' in a sentence, so why is a comma before 'in part because' acceptable in this sentence?

Thank you.


texts: What's a word that describes acting coldly to hide the fact that you are hurt?

texts:
Someone who acts cold and impassive to mask the fact that they are actually hurt.

I've been trying to come up with the word for hours, but came up with nothing.


texts: Is it possible to say, for instance : "I am calling off the winter earlier this year"? I live in the northern part of the world and I am going on a vacation to Spain. I've heard people use that sentence before, but is it right?


texts: Synonyms or other ways of saying "once there"?

texts:
Example:

  We went to the roof terrace. Once
  there, we leaned on the railing and gazed the stars.

Thesaurus has synonyms for once, but not for once there. I don't know where else to look.

I tried other variations like up there and on there, but I think they're not very idiomatic?


texts: Are the words 'innuendo' and 'insinuation' different in meaning?

texts:
According to the dictionary the two words are synonymous to each other but I think there is a subtle difference in meaning between the two words that I do not find in the dictionary.

I thought of this question when I heard the word 'insinuendo' in a movie. The actor blended the words 'innuendo' and 'insinuation' and created an interesting and funny portmanteau.


texts: I'm not referring to "one of a kind" or "first of a kind" but "the two were of a kind".  This turns out to be remarkably un-Googlable so I am having difficulty providing examples.  In context I have always assumed it meant that two things were in a unique category unto themselves.


texts:
Which one of the following expressions is grammatical?

Please donate $5. More is welcome!
Please donate $5. More is welcomed!


texts: What's the difference between will and going to?

texts: I have no idea what the difference between these are. I have heard that they have the same meaning, but how do they?


texts: Is it ever acceptable to use "whom" and "anyone" when talking about pets?

texts:
Backgroundstory:

Working in Germany:
So I had my first mandatory english lesson for my job, which is mostly targeted on the right vocabulary for our work.
After the instructor introduced himself we were asked to tell a little about ourselfs, in 1-2 sentences.

She said:
"... I also love taking care of my puppies whom I love more than anyone else. ..."

The instructor immediatly corrected her: "which you love more than anything else"

I do understand why he would correct her, given that puppies are animals and therfore are "things". But I believe she used the more personal approach because she wanted to make clear how much she loves her pets.

My Question:
In a normal conversation between co-workers or friends, would her way of saying it be unusual or noticiably worse than the "correct" way? Would it be acceptable?


texts: What do you call those inclined slopes surrounding for instance a tree?

texts:
For a visual, you approach a tree and around it the ground slopes downward in a circular circumference and thus is not level?

"As I ran past the tree my foot got caught in the _____ and I stumbled."


texts: Word/phrase for copying down incorrectly

texts:
I'm looking for a word or phrase to describe when someone copies something down incorrectly.

Specifically, the situation I am thinking about is when someone is solving a problem (using pencil and paper), and in one step, they incorrectly copy an equation or expression from their previous step:

  Joe Smith got 1 point off on his math homework for a ____ [error] when
  he accidentally changed a 7 to a 1.

I originally arrived at the phrase "typographical error", however when I looked this up it seemed to only apply in the case of printing or typing (as in using a keyboard or typewriter), and does not seem to apply when writing with pencil, nor does it quite convey an issue with copying from a previous step.

Is there a more appropriate phrase that I can use?

EDIT: I'm specifically looking for a noun (or noun phrase) that can be used in the same way that "typographical error" is used.


texts: Why is soldier ˈsōljər? Where did the "j" come from?

texts: Just a pronunciation question. Is it a vestige of the spelling battle between i and j, where in English the j lost out to the i, but with soldier we retained the sound?


texts: Is there a term that describes the set of professional skills of a person?

texts:
This set of professional skills can be used to determine which work is best for someone.

Example of use: The test yields that Marie has a good <term> for the project manager vacancy


texts:
The following sentence is grammatically correct:

He swung his legs, and sang a song.

But I'm unsure if this is correct:

He swung his legs, singing a song.

It sounds correct to me, but I'm not sure about the present participle, unless what is meant is:

He swung his legs, [and he was] singing a song.


texts: Is there a difference in weight between "without flaw" and "flawless"

texts:
Is there a difference between the weight or impact between flawless and without flaws? It seems to me that flawless is rather close to perfect, and without flaws would be just mistakeless.

Am I wrong in this assumption?


texts: what does "Save the hammer for the man" mean in this context?

texts:
This is part of the lyrics of the song "Save the Hammer for the Man," by Tom Morello (& Ben Harper):

  I hurt the gentlest souls, I robbed my wife and son
  I turned my back on troubles, troubles I'd begun
  I cut a swath of pain and loss in the hallways of my home
  In the quiet of my room I know the things I've done
  Save the hammer for the man, save the hammer for the man
  It's the calling of the wretched
  It's the rising of the damned
  Save the hammer for the man

  Tom Morello & Ben Harper

What does the phrase "Save the hammer for the man" mean in this context?


texts: What does commonwealth mean in US English?

texts:
I have always understood commonwealth to be an association of countries. The most famous example being: "The Commonwealth of Nations, generally known simply as the Commonwealth, is a political association of 54 member states, nearly all former territories of the British Empire."
But in US TV they refer to the commonwealth of Kentucky or Pennsylvania.  What does that mean and what does it derive from?


texts: Is it acceptable to use the phrase "more and more" in present perfect continuous?

texts:
In a recent gap fill exam in my university, students were asked to choose the correct form of the verb "suffer" to complete a sentence essentially the same as the following. (Neither the previous nor next had any time expressions or clauses.)

Dr. Jones says that more and more people ___________ from sleep deprivation.

The most obvious answer is "are suffering", which is unquestionably correct. This was in the original answer key.

We queried whether or not "have been suffering" and "suffer" might also be correct.

"suffer" was accepted, but "have been suffering" was rejected.

My argument for allowing present perfect continuous was that although the sentence contains no time expression "more and more" implies a recent change/development. However, I've been unable to find similar examples. Any example I've found where "more and more" is used with PPC had a time expression such as "these days" etc.

Thoughts?


texts: Is it right to say "Jack's father's mother's books"?

texts:
To mention possessions,  how many possessive nouns and possessives are we allowed to have in a sentence.
Is it right to say?:

  Jack's father's mother's brother's house


texts: What is the meaning of this complex sentence?

texts:
The historical roots of democracy in India are well worth
  considering, if only because the connection with public arguments is
  often missed, through the temptation to attribute the Indian
  commitment to democracy simply to the impact of British influence.

For context — this is taken from Amartya Sen's speech (PDF).


texts:
I am wondering if there exists a specific symbol or word I can use in a birth-death range. When I introduce a specific person in my main text, I use a footnote to provide the reader some additional information. I use the following syntax

  Fullname, Birth--Death, Nationality Profession

Here is a example of a person who already died:

  Peter Adam Baruch David Goldberg, 1923--1997, American actor

Now I want to introduce a person that has not yet deceased

  Anna Maria von Hausdorff, 1988--???, Polish singer

Does there exist a symbol or an abbreviation to replace the ??? in this notion? Or can someone provide me with a best-practice method?


texts:
I'm looking for a word that describes a person who takes doing right by other seriously.

I like principled but for me it can connote an adherence to a doctrine and the person I am thinking of follows their own sense of right and wrong. I can also associate stubbornness and close-mindedness with principled people and this is not what I wish to imply.

I also like conscientious, but this word can also imply attention to detail.

The word I'm looking for describes a person that cares about doing right because of the impact it has on people, not service to some moral code.


texts: Is there any difference between "offense" and "offence"?

texts: "Offense" vs. "offence", which is more correct? If both are correct, are there any differences in shades of meaning and/or usage?


texts: Should I use 'at' or 'in' in the following context?

texts: Should it be he won an award in the XY competition or he won an award at the xyz competition?


texts:
Is there a difference between an active state and activated state?

For example, if I activate an item, will it become active or activated? Does it depend on the context? How?


texts: Is there a word that means "measure temperature"?

texts:
You can measure the weight - it is called weighing

You can measure the temperature - it is called what?

Is there one English word that means "measure the temperature"


texts: I have googled but can't find any reference to this. Does anyone know the origin of this phrase (recently used by Trump to refer to the London Mayor)


texts:
The following was a comment of mine on an answer on Stack Overflow:

  This answer is misleading and incomplete at best. Plain wrong at worst.

My intent was to express that an indulgent interpretation will render it misleading and incomplete. A less forgiving one can go as far as saying it is just wrong.

I don't feel good about at worst. Is it a correct way to express this? I suspect it is, but even if it is I have the feeling it doesn't sound natural to an English speaking native.


texts: Is there a word for a change so small that it doesn’t seem to be a change at all?

texts: Today, I was reading an article on pharmaceutical companies making minute changes to a drug in order to extend the patent.  In one instance, the company profiled did not actually change the content of the drug, just the outward appearance.  This got me thinking, is there a word in the English language that means “to change without changing” or “a change so small that it’s not a change at all”?  I thought about the word superficial, but that doesn’t seem to fit.


texts: What is a good substitute that is less localized than "secular"?

texts:
I am having trouble using the term "secular" to convey a sense of bringing a religiously neutral ground to government, society, and culture. What term is better than "secular", that is less localized than the US-connotative sense, but conveys the same general meaning to multiple  countries?

Secularism is often denoted the same, but from country to country it is practiced on a sliding scale in terms of how truly neutral laws are. Some of us on the Atheism.se are trying to broaden the scope of the site and are interested in methods for doing this. The usage of "secular" (that I am looking for) should convey taking secularism and using it as a tool for atheist questions to hone in on issues regarding equal rights, activism, promotion.


texts:
Can anyone please tell me if I should use no one or no one else in the following sentence?

Here is the example:

John is a very good friend of mine. No one (else) likes me more than he does.

I think no one likes me more than...  means no human being (including john) likes me more than john does. So I think I should use else.


texts: Food production techniques or technologies?

texts:
Please help me with the translation of the phrase in the title. The problem is, in Russian, which is the language I'm translating from, 'technique' and 'technology' is one and the same word. Also, I don't quite understand the difference between the two in this particular context.

TECHNIQUE - the method of accomplishing, the body of procedures used in any specific field; a way of carrying out a specific task.
TECHNOLOGY - a scientific or industrial process, method etc.; the application of scientific knowledge for practical purposes.

So basically in this context both could refer to the method of production.
I tried just googling both phrases to see which pops up more - and guess what? I get food processing technology and food processing techniques. I'm totally confused now! Would processing be the same as production?


texts: What is the history of the expression “many moons ago”?

texts:
What is the history of “many moons ago”?

Oxford Dictionaries tell me that the idiom means “a long time ago.”

  That's when we first met many, many moons ago and then we started having him on as a regular guest maybe once a month, maybe even twice a month.

When I Googled "origin of ‘many moons ago’" the only relevant page I found was Yahoo! Answers whose best answer was: “many moons ago means a long time ago” But a second commenter said:

  “This idiom actually started with the Native Americans. They did not keep track of time like we do now, so they only knew days and nights by sun and moon. To say that you are talking about something a long time ago, they say "many moons ago" because the moon has shown many times since the "event" they are talking about happened.”

Can someone provide more detail for the origin and meaning of this phrase?


texts: An expression for 'growing old and more spiritual'

texts: Is there an expression or saying that can be used to describe when  person is growing old and  he/she becomes less  involved with physical  issues and  devotes more time to spiritual ones, taking care more of his/her soul rather than his/her body or other everyday issues?


texts: starting a sentence with 'when reading ...'

texts:
Is it possible and good English to start a sentence with 'When reading...'?

Exactly it's about the following one:

When reading your offer it seemed to me as if this position is made for me.

bg,
Johannes

P.S.: If you have any other things to say about this sentence, I'm always open for corrections and tips.


texts:
I want to say, someone sort of promised to do something, yet it was not a full promise:

  She had a semi-promise from his employer to get a raise this year.

Is semi-promise correct in this sense? What are the alternatives?

Edit:

Thanks for the comments. I have also come up with provisional promise:

  Her boss has made a provisional promise to finally give her a raise.


texts: Is there a word for "all but the first one"?

texts:
Is there a word that refers to all items in a series except the first one? Example:

The tests are successful only on the first run. On all subsequent runs, following the first one, the tests fail.

I was thinking of the word "penultimate" (the one before the last one) and was wondering if there is a similar word that could be used in the case described above.


texts:
Is it grammatically correct to use "apologize" as a verb without the preposition "for"?

  apologize:
  to make a formal defense in speech or writing.

"I apologize the event."

Wouldn't this mean that I'm defending the event?

"I apologize for the event."

Wouldn't this mean that I'm defending the event on it's behalf?


texts: I've forgotten a word: something like "Persona effect"?

texts:
I learned a word a while back, and I just tried to recall it today and use it after like... 10+ years. It's escaped me now.

The meaning of the word or effect or disorder, to the best of my memory, is when people begin to act or behave like their online avatar/persona/alter ego, or something to that effect.

I believe it was about 7 letters + the word "effect" or "disorder". Part of me feels like it may have had a 'g' in it somewhere. I also have a weird feeling that, like "narcissism", it was named after someone, possibly from Greek Mythology as well. I've looked in a thesaurus for clues but nothing rings the bell of familiarity.

Any help is greatly appreciated! Thank you!


texts: Is ''the''used with absolute adjectives?

texts:
Is there some definite rule for it. In my book the is mentioned for some and not for others. For example,
It's perfect copier ever invented.
Shouldn't the be used here.


texts: Other ways to say "I'm rooting for you?"

texts: What are other ways one can say that have the same meaning as, "I'm rooting for you?"


texts: What is the difference between always and forever? Are they synonyms used in different contexts or can they be used interchangeably?


texts: What does "Touch the bottle again." mean here?

texts:
This is from a dialogue in The Round House by Louise Erdrich. Huge spoiler ahead, so be warned if you haven't read the book.

Joe and Cappy, who are 13 year olds, drink a half quart Four Roses which was given to them by Joe's uncle Whitey. After they finished drinking and about to leave Whitey to go to their parents, Whitey says:

  Gimme your shirt, Joe, he said. Leave it here. Touch the bottle again.
  You, too, Cappy.

Joe and Cappy have killed a man only a couple of hours ago and both puked. I'm guessing they have puke in their shirts, and since Whitey knows they committed a murder, he doesn't want their parents to know anything is out of the ordinary with them. But I didn't understand why they had to touch the bottle again.


texts: Is the plural form of “Mercedes” a disused word?

texts:
In the picture below:

  1) are there two Mercedeses?

Or,

  2) are there two Mercedes?

Can we infer from this nGram that the plural noun "Mercedeses" is a disused word, hence the sentence 2) is considered correct?


texts:
What does the phrase triple witching hour mean?

I have seen it in the financial news relating to stock markets. I sense it has to do with the convergence of three events, deadlines or periods that acting together place pressure (what kind? I don't know) on the stock markets.

Edit: What is the origin of triple witching hour?


texts: Is there a word to describe beliefs that are neither scientific nor false nor religious?

texts:
If I believe that the Spaghetti Monster lives under my bed, what word would you use to describe this? It can not be proven that the Spaghetti Monster does not live under my bed because you have not looked there but I also have not proven it to be true myself. It's not a religious belief because religious beliefs are by definition "the belief in and worship of a superhuman controlling power, especially a personal God or gods" and this is not a belief in a higher power, just a scary Spaghetti Monster. And it's also not a scientific belief because it has not been scientifically proven. Furthermore, it is not a false belief because one has not proved it to be false.

Hope this makes sense.


texts:
What I understand so far:

Wrecking - to trash/destroy/be destroyed

Wracking - to be tortured, possibly from variant of "rack".
http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=wrack also seems to mention that using the word "wrack" in the sense of torture is a mistaken usage.

Wreaking - "wreaking havoc" is the only example I can think of that uses this word, and it was apparently used in a similar manner to "wrath" archaically.
http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/wreak

What I want to find out:

The 3 etymologies seem to all be linked to "wrecan" via divergent evolution, but how closely linked together are the etymologies of these 3 words, and how did the final one, "wreak", end up sounding like "reek"?


texts: "I worked in a chemists" vs "I worked in a chemist's" vs "I worked in a chemist"?

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  Store names & possessive

What is the correct grammar for saying that I worked for a chemists (that is, a shop that sells medicine)?

Is it

  I worked in a chemist

or

  I worked in a chemists

or perhaps

  I worked in a chemist's

?

Had I been working for multiple different chemists, would it be correct to say

  I worked for chemists during my first two years of university


texts: What are direct and indirect objects to "provide"?

texts:
I'm always wondering when I want to write a sentence with provide. What is the correct way to say/write:

to provide someone with something
to provide someone something
to provide something to someone

Or another?

Is there any difference in usage between American and UK English?


texts: What's a modern equivalent of "fie on thee"?

texts:
Is there a modern equivalent to the archaic expression "fie on thee"?

I'm aware of expressions such as "damn you" and the like, but I'm looking for something less strong.


texts: What does "The Pink Elephant in the Room" mean?

texts:
I know someone who keeps using the phrase "The pink elephant in the room". I know that phrase "The elephant in the room".

Is this the same thing? Does it mean something different?


texts:
Basically a friend of mine is working with me right now and we're translating a few things.

In a tear-jerking scene where two sisters are reunited, my friend insisted on translating it to "an impressive reunion" whereas I was thinking of "heartwarming". My impression of impressive are mostly among the lines of "leaving a deep impression" or "awe-inspiring". Can it be used to describe tear-inducing matters? I've never touched upon that kind of usage before...


texts: What is the difference between behavior and act?

texts:
I think behavior is more about manner,act refers to a thing one does. But suppose I want to find a phrase to mean rules that stipulate what you can do and cannot do, such as you cannot kill a person, shall I use rules of behavior, or behavioral rules?

Example 2 : All human beings shall obey the basic rules such as you shall not kill a person in their behavior.


texts: What do “a bare foot” and “flat on his belly” mean in this context?

texts:
In the opening prologue to the novel A Game of Thrones, two sentences left me with questions:

  The great sentinel was right there ať the top of the ridge, where Will had known it would be, its lowest branches a bare foot off the ground.

What does bare mean in that sentence above?

  Will slid in underneath, flat on his belly in the snow and the mud, and looked down on the empty clearing below.

And what does flat on his belly mean in that one?


texts: What construction does ‘A wise man is never less alone than when alone’ have?

texts:
I think this proverb roughly means that a wise man isn’t lonely even if he is without company. However, when considering its construction, my understanding is starting to get shaky.

Let me explain what happens in my mind.

  My daughter is no less talkative than my wife is.

My wife is (very) talkative. That’s true. However, my daughter might be more talkative.

The speaker wants to emphasize his daughter’s talkativeness.

  A wise man is never less alone than when alone.

A wise man is lonely when he is without company. That’s true. However, a wise man might be lonelier.

Of course, I can’t understand my explanation at all. I’d be happy if you could tell me about its construction.


texts: Verb to describe "to enable or to disable"

texts:
I'm looking for a word that describes "to enable or to disable". This related question found the hypernyms mode and state, but I am looking for a verb. I.e. a word for "(potentially) change mode/state".

I guess to switch is a good match, but unfortunately in JavaScript (my target language), switch is a reserved keyword.

What alternatives are there?


texts: The name for an assumption made for the sake of contradiction - the marked assumption?

texts:
To be clear, I am a mathematician first.
What is the name (or adjective) for an assumption made for the sake of contradiction?
To be clear, I'm in search of an expression in the form "a(n) $\underline{\quad \quad \quad \quad}$ assumption".
I liked the suggestion "the marked assumption", found in the comments to this mathoverflow question asked by Me: https://mathoverflow.net/questions/362848/the-name-for-an-assumption-made-for-the-sake-of-contradiction. Unlike Willie Wong's suggestion the "contradictive assumption", the "marked assumption" only partially suggests the nature of the expression. This is hard to fix unless the expression is made standard.
An advantage of the "marked assumption" is that it can serve double-duty: Even in cases where the truth of the assumption is unknown, the expression is still relevant. This is particularly notable in the study of the Riemann Hypothesis where the Riemann Hypothesis is occasionally assumed and consequences derived therefrom. If the marked assumption holds, then all we have done is discover consistent structure. If the marked assumption fails, then our presumptive work can just be seen as a search for a contradiction.
P.S. The comma and period placements are deliberate.


texts: Having a hard time analyzing the grammatical structure of this sentence

texts: The sentence is, "Listen to what she has to say." "To" is clearly a preposition, and "what she has to say" is clearly the prepositional complement. This is where I'm having trouble. How do I analyze "what she has to say". For example, is "what she has to say" a subordinate clause, or is it a noun phrase? This article calls it a subordinate clause, but I have my doubts. "What" doesn't seem like a subordinator in this context, because it seems to have a lexical meaning (Contrast "what" with "that" in the sentence, "He says that the leaves are brown"), and "she has to say" doesn't seem capable of standing on its own. So is it a noun phrase? If so, how do I analyze it? Thank you in advance for your time!


texts: Can you also say "Take you care" or "Take you care, too"?

texts:
As a greeting in parting you often say "Take care" (at least in the US, I am not so sure about the UK).

Can you also say "Take you care" or answer with "Take you care, too"?


texts: "administrate"/"manage" vs "maintain"/"support" for someone in an assistant role

texts:
What is a softer term for the completion of tasks assigned to a junior/assistant employee that involve administering or managing a system or process? For example, they may be asked to "manage a schedule" or "administrate access rights". I feel that those terms lend too much decision-making responsibility to that role, when it is more of a maintenance, support, or data-entry task.

Am I wrong? Is this demeaning? And is there a third option somewhere in-between?


texts: Word for to learn more, expand knowledge, etc

texts:
Is there a single word in English the fits the meaning of:

To learn more about a subject through reading, discussing, etc.

Here's some context: this is an abstract of the full article. For those who wish to ______, the full article can be found at WWW.XXX.COM.

Thanks!


texts: Why is "violated" being used as future perfect with a person as the object?

texts:
On Aviation StackExchange, I've seen these:

I don't think you will be violated..

He was subsequently violated...

Pilot [...] may now be violated for it.

... pilots have been violated...

It seems in all of these cases "violated" is being used where I would have used "found in violation of regulation".

This doesn't match my understanding of the definition of the word "violate", which means to break a rule or law, or to abuse or harm or sexually victimize.

Is there some idiomatic definition of this word that comes from FAA regulations or US Code or tradition or somewhere else?

Is there a name for this... inversion (?) of subject/object?


texts:
A Google Books search shows many results of the phrase “to take birth” in the sense of “to be born”, but most of them are in books dealing with Eastern philosophies like Hinduism and Buddhism. I am from India, and in Indian English, the phrase “to take birth” has the connotation that a liberated Atman (~soul) consciously decided to be born in a human body. Does a native English speaker use the phrase “to take birth?”

Examples:

Link 1

Link 2


texts: When a noun followed by a restrictive clause is preceded by "whichever" or "whatever", it is incorrect to introduce the clause with *that*

texts:
When a noun followed by a restrictive clause is preceded by whichever
or whatever, it is incorrect to introduce the clause with that in
formal writing: Whatever book you want to look at will be sent to
your office or Whichever book costs less is fine with us.
https://ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=whatever

What are the grammatical reasons for this?


texts:
What is correct here?

it could pay your mortgage and car payments
it could pay your mortgage and car payment

The monthly payments are separate and distinct so #1 sounds right, but in #2, mortgage and car modify payment, a single payment—a single mortgage payment, and a single car payment. Instead of saying 'your mortgage payment and car payment' the sentence just leaves out one 'payment'.

If 'or' was used, then payment, singular, would be correct:

it could pay your mortgage or car payment


texts:
Finding the right preposition is always tricky for non-native speakers of English.
I'd like to know what native speakers think of these two versions:

(1) He was born on a bed.
(2) He was born in a bed.

Here, the "bed" is not a figurative bed but simply a piece of furniture for sleep or rest, typically a framework with a mattress and coverings.
Are both idiomatic and natural to native speakers?
Or is one more idiomatic and natural than the other?


texts: What is a word for someone who has multiple skills/talents?

texts:
What is the title for someone who has multiple talents and skills? Eg, juggling, pickpocketing, memory expert, sleight of hand etc.

Thank you.


texts: "In the Philippines", or "In the US" sounds okay, but why not "In the Japan", or "In the China"?

texts:
Random thought earlier.

I am basing my question on my memory of what seems to be normally used, but I am unsure of the actual correct grammar usage.

Which is correct, and if one is wrong, what is the reason for that?


texts: Are there words with positive connotations used to describe atheists or other non-religious people?

texts:
Most words used to describe the lack of religion of people have negative connotations, for example:

  infidel, nonbeliever, disbeliever, unbeliever, skeptic, doubter, atheist, agnostic, heathen, heretic, nihilist, goy (Judaism), kaffir (Islam)

Many of these can also be applied to followers of other religions in addition to atheists.

Other words are at best neutral, for example:

  secularist, freethinker

Are there any words with positive connotations that can be used to describe non-religious people?

For example, for religious people, we have:

  holy, godly, pious, saintly, venerable, faithful


texts: Word which refers to a Position and Timestamp pair

texts:
I'm trying to find a term that refers to both a position and a timestamp associated with that position. "Position in time" is a common phrase. Are there more technical terms?

A position and timestamp would be expressed like this: a car was at 40.7484° N, 73.9857° W at Apr 23 15:08:16 UTC 2018

I found this question which has a lot of terminology for referring to these things individually: "Position" is to "space" as what word is to "time"?


texts: Idiom Request: What is the idiom that means "If it's hard/easy for you, it must be the same for others"?

texts: This is the situation: a younger brother just (badly) finished a rigorous exam and the older brother wants to say something that means "Others must feel the same, don't worry". Is there such an idiom?


texts:
You tell your friend about a person's funny habit and that person shows it right away without knowing. You tell your friend "See!". You are surprised but you were right. What is the verb for that kind of surprise here? Is "amazed" or "amused" appropriate?

If the habit is not funny but bad or sad, what would be the verb for that kind of surprise?


texts: Confused between Simple Present and Present Progressive

texts:
I know that the Present Progressive is used for current events (the action is happening right now) and Simple Present is for express habits.

But, i'm still having trouble to distinguish them.

  For example:

  -Where are you going?

  -Where do you go?

I think both are correct grammarly. Since there is no frequency adverb or additional senteces such as "every week, every day, right now, in this morning, today, etc.".

When we're talking about sentences without adverb, how to use "be" and "Do/Does" properly?

  Second example: Which one is true? (I'm asking)

  -Is he talking to his wife?

  -Does he talking to his wife?

The first question sentece is an example on my book, and the second one (i'm not sure about it), anyway i was trying to type the second sentence on google translate in my native language, and it translated as "Does he talking to his wife?".

So who is right? My book or the translator?

Please explain to me with the language that's easy to understand. Thanks.


texts: "Have been having classes" or "have had classes for three months"?

texts:
Which sentence is correct:

"I have been having classes for three months."

or

"I have had classes for three months."


texts: What are these seemingly incorrect sentences called?

texts:
I sometimes stumble upon phrases such as

This command not executed.
This widget property of B.C.
This page intentionally left blank.

The verb is missing here, isn't it? I see these types of sentence so much, and to my knowledge, they are just wrong. Is there a name for this type of sentence?

Also, why are they used? I mean, inserting an "is" in there is not that much effort, is it?


texts: Why there's a difference between the two common appearances of the letter “a”?

texts:
Luckily the forum is using Georgia typeface, so both can be easily shown below:

  a vs a


texts:
Is the sentence in the title correct?
I had to join the sentences below into one using adjective clauses.

  This is a street. Many famous churches are on it.

Traditional English: This is a street on which many famous churches are.

Modern English: This is a street which many famous churches are on.

Are they both correct?


texts:
The following use of the word "abortion" got my attention. It is from Graham Greene's The End of the Affair, published in 1951. Here is the context:

  "...Listen. I met a man on the Common today with three legs."

  "How terrible," Henry said seriously. "An abortion?"

Most definitions of "abortion" I've checked focus mostly or exclusively on the termination of pregnancy which, at least in North America, is the most common meaning. There are a few definitions given which appear to correspond to Henry's use:

Merriam-Webster: MONSTROSITY (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/abortion)

Oxford Dictionaries: "2 an object or undertaking that is unpleasant or badly made or carried out."

And way down on this page on Dictionary.com: "6. a person or thing that is deformed"

But otherwise, as far as I can tell from the etymologies on the above links, and from this question, it looks as though the the word abortion has always referred to the early end to a pregnancy.

My question is, was Greene's usage ever common? I can't very well search Google Ngrams since it would be impossible to differentiate the intended meanings. Would a British reader in 1951 have made any association at all with an early termination to a pregnancy, when reading the exchange above?


texts:
I'm having trouble thinking of a good example of this (I have a good example, but it doesn't make sense without context.)

Take this silly premise for the sake of explaining what I'm talking about: Imagine for a moment that whenever someone talks about a shape, the shape that ALWAYS springs to mind is square. Squares represent almost all shapes in people's minds, so when you talk about a shape, you might as well be talking about a square. In this situation, a square is the _ example of a shape. Archetypal?

(I'd also be interested if anyone else has good examples -- that's better left for a comment)


texts: How to formally say "I just would like to get this over with, so you and I do not have to think about it any more"

texts:
I am currently in a state where my former employee does not respond to my email. I am tired of bothering them.

I do not know if my email is blocked, but I do not think it hurts to write things formally regardless.

So I have a question.

How would I say "I just would like to get this over with, so you and I do not have to think about it any more"

I came up with

"Please do not misunderstand me, but I just would like to get it over with as much as you do. I just would like to take this matter out of my plate, so you and I do not have to be bothered by it constantly at the back of my head."

How does this sound?

I am writing this in the middle of the night because I am caught up in thinking about the same matter and I am just little tired of it. If it sounds little stressed I deeply apologise.


texts:
The past, present and future tenses quite well represent what they are supposed to mean or be. But what's "perfect" about the perfect tense?

I am not asking for the usage of the perfect tense. I just need to know why they are called so.  Thank you.


texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  Use of the superlative when only two items are present

Is the word better used in comparing two things, or do you use the word best?

Example used in a conversation:

  A: Is there any way to get over the anxiety?

  B: Drink a shit ton of alcohol or caffeine.

  A: I like the first suggestion better/best.

Are they both correct to say?


texts: "Well-rounded" usage in the United States

texts: What’s the first recorded use of the term well-rounded as it refers to being competent or trained in several fields, e.g., from astronomy to literature to social dancing to cookery?


texts: What's the word for a vendor/retailer/wholesaler that sends products abroad

texts:
I'm looking for the word for retailer or vendor that sells goods abroad. I may be wrong but my understanding is that 'retailer' and 'vendor' are used to denote sellers of goods that you would directly go to in order to buy the goods.
The example sentence for the word I'm looking for is below:
We get a lot of our mangoes here in the UK from ***** in Pakistan and India.


texts: Are there any English equivalents to Chinese proverb"throwing a brick to attract jade"?

texts:
In Chinese, "throwing a brick to attract jade" means

  I offer a humble remark, please give us your valued opinion.

See here for the full explanation. Are there any English equivalents to this?

In Chinese, "throwing a brick to attract jade" is not limited to the remarks and opinions. Sometimes people say "throwing a brick to attract jade" to mean "I want to do A to encourage more people to do A and do better in A".


texts:
This CNN article titled "With UN vote, Trump gets what he deserves" has this passage:

  There was nothing principled or realistic about what Trump and UN
  Ambassador Nikki Haley tried to do this week. But then, I think they
  knew they were asking for it. They knew the scrutiny they were going
  to receive. And I think they like playing the victim. I think they
  believe victimhood lends credence to their anger and sense of
  entitlement. It makes it easier for them to play to a base of voters
  who believe international cooperation and compromise are weaknesses.

  "When a nation is singled out for attack in this organization," said
  Haley in her speech to the UN on Thursday, "that nation is
  disrespected. What's more, that nation is asked to pay for the
  privilege of being disrespected. In the case of the US, we are asked
  to pay more than anyone else for that dubious privilege."

  Haley should remember that privilege comes with responsibility, that
  respect must be earned -- even nurtured -- and that the United Nations
  isn't one of Trump's country clubs. It's a deliberative body of
  sovereign states who have just as much right to express their will as
  we do. Compromise and accommodation come with the territory.

In the first sentence of the last paragraph, there's this clause:

  privilege comes with responsibility

This clause acts as a subordinate clause in the sentence.

Normally, I'm familiar with the adage "With privilege comes responsibility".
In the context of the above article, is "privilege comes with responsibility" used to mean "with privilege comes responsibility"?

If so, are the two generally interchangeable?


texts: Is there any English equivalent to the idiom "cat always dreams of meat"?

texts:
We have an idiom in Urdu that could be translated as, "cat always dreams of meat". The meaning is something like, "one always sees what one desires".

Let me try to put it in a context. Suppose,

A group of friends was planning to visit one of their acquaintance to condole for her fathers death. Another of their friend approaching towards them, while catching part of the discussion, and exclaimed, "Hey, I'd love to join you guys, her mom makes fantastic croissants" — having no knowledge of her father's death.

Now here we can use this, "cat always dreams of meat".


texts: Drop possessive apostrophe for noun ending in s/double s

texts:
Most sources I've found state you should add the possessive apostrophe even to nouns ending in s, as in Thomas's and James's, but does this ring true for nouns such as duchess, countess, and marquess? Can one write countess', duchess', or marquess' instead?

Cosmopolitan dropped the possessive apostrophe here. Now, they've also spelled duchess with a capital D, and I'm not sure if that may have something to do with it. They aren't a reliable source anyway, but I'm just wondering if the lack of the possessive apostrophe may be permitted for nouns such as those I've enumerated above?

And would it be acceptable as part of a title (any title) and/or royal title/rank?

I'm mostly interested in the British English perspective.

[edit] I found this article from the Telegraph and they've used duchess's. Same for this link. Shakespeare says Auvergne. The COUNTESS's castle. in The First part of King Henry the Sixth. Sally Gardner's book is titled The Countess's Calamity as well.


texts: Should "office mate" be one word or two?

texts: Should "office mate" be one word, in the same vein as "roommate"? I haven't been able to find any reference that addresses this.


texts: What is a verb for making something look natural?

texts:
I want to write that the government is trying to make its attempts for privatization of the educational system look natural to public. What is a suitable verb here?

Example sentence:

  The government is trying to {make look natural} its attempts for privatization of the educational system.


texts: Is the usage of "ma'am" in the Philippines correct?

texts:
In the Philippines, they use the honorific ma'am before a name, such as Ma'am Garcia or Ma'am Karen.  I think this is incorrect use of the word ma'am, but I was told it is acceptable.

Is this usage correct?


texts: "inquisitive" vs. "inquiring" in AmE and BrE

texts:
Do these terms share the same level of laudatoriness/pejorativeness in both BrE and AmE?

Or, does one typically have a more positive/negative connotation to it than the other from your side of the pond?

For example, think of "inquisitive mind" vs. "inquiring mind."

Also, would you define Lt. Columbo as an "ever-inquisitive" or "ever-inquiring" police officer to say he is quite a snoopy fellow?

  inquisitive: adj. :
  1) having or showing an interest in learning things; curious.
  2) Unduly curious about the affairs of others; prying.

  inquiring/(chiefly BrE) enquiring: adj. : 1) showing an interest in learning things.
  2) (Of a look or expression) suggesting that information is sought.

Edit:

What I wish you could tell is whether some sort of difference exists in the usage of "inquisitive" and "inquiring" as used in AmE and BrE.

For instance, I was taught when I was in school (where BrE is the norm out here in France) that "inquisitive" has a pejorative connotation to it, a bit similar to "snoopy/prying."

However, quite a few years ago, I was corrected by a couple of Americans in their mid thirties/early forties after using "inquiring" to mean "having/showing an interest in learning things." They told me the appropriate word for that should be "inquisitive," not "inquiring," which, to their perspectives, had a pejorative meaning to it, as in "inquiring eyes staring at you."

Hence my question: is there a US/UK difference to the usage of those terms?

Hope I'm not being too inquisitive (or should I say "inquiring") looking into this.


texts:
Is there an adjective that describes something that must be omitted/absent in a particular context?

For example, consider this software documentation that explains the relationship between two different variables:

When contentType = 'application/json', schemaVersion is required (must be present).
When contentType = 'x-vendor/manifest', schemaVersion is optional (may be present or absent).
When contentType = 'image/jpeg', schemaVersion is _______ (must be absent).

What word can be used to fill in the blank?


texts: I believe the correct term is "vice versa", but occasionally I hear "vice-a-versa" being said. Is there any explanation for that pronunciation?


texts: "The USA birth rate" or "the US birth rate"

texts:
The original words are:

the birth rate of France
the birth rate of the USA
the birth rate of the UK

I want to rewrite these words into simpler formats, but I'm quite confused:

French birth rate or France's birth rate? (I'm not sure which one is correct)
the US birth rate, the USA birth rate, the US's birth rate, or the USA's birth rate (I'm quite confused about "US" and "USA", and does there exist some 'adj.' words for USA that are similar to 'French'?)
The UK birth rate or the UK's birth rate ?


texts:
Please let me know the meaning of the phrase below under quotes"".

We rarely collaborate because the projects don't "readily lend themselves" to teamwork.

Thanks
Ali


texts: Are "flower" and "flour" always homophones?

texts:
Flower and flour are said to be homophones. However, considering the number of different pronunciations (/flaʊə/ like BrE sour, /flou(-ə)r/ like AmE sour, /flɑː/ (forvo) like BrE car, etc.) floating around, are they always homophonous for each particular speaker?

Edit: As tchrist points out in the comments, the same question could be asked of dower and dour.


texts: Should “How long were you at work?” have a simple or a compound tense?

texts:
I would like to know, if the following sentence can ever be correct in any context?

  How long were you at work?

Or it must be:

  How long had you been at work?

For example:

  How long were you at work yesterday.

I guess I cannot use present perfect here (the past is specified). Is my guess correct?


texts: What is the difference between disseminate and distribute

texts:
The original confusion arose when I read the following sentence.
--> you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution, or copying of this communication, or any of its contents, is strictly prohibited.

In this context, how do meanings of dissemination and distribution differ from each other?
I look them up in dictionary, they both seem to mean "to scatter", so I am confused.

From dictionary:
Disseminate
To scatter widely, as in sowing seed.
;To spread abroad; promulgate: disseminate information.
;To sow and scatter principles, ideas, opinions, and errors for growth and propagation, such as seed

Distribute
To deliver or pass out;
To spread or diffuse over an area; scatter


texts:
I'm working on a translation of Resurrection in Bronze, by Oliver Onions (1935), and I can't seem to find anywhere the meaning of the expression "finger-tipping" as an adjective. The context: a wife is trying to make her husband jealous because she herself is jealous of his work, which is making them drift apart from each other. She tells him she's going to meet some friends and that they're going to  bring a young nephew who used to be "a little in love" with her. The exact sentence that puzzles me is

  "But no finger-tipping, after-tea-calling, young man had made the breach >between them."

I understand the general meaning of the sentence, but to translate it I need something more precise. My guess is thath it may be one of those crazy 1930's idioms (I had the same suspicion about "after-tea-calling", but since the guy in question is going to call on the wife that evening, I'm prone to believe it's just literal.)

The only thing I could find, which did not help at all, was a Wikitionary page: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/fingertipping (No Way! And guess what? The meaning of the verb to fingertip, which seems to exist on wikitionary only and is supported by a way too recent quote from 2011, shed no light on what exactly Mr. Onions meant by calling a young man "finger-tipping".)


texts:
Jumping straight into my question, consider these two sentences:

  He had finished the recitation and closed the book.
  He had finished the recitation and had closed the book.

Which of the above two is correct? To me, the second sentence sounds more correct; I need to confirm.

Also, any tip on handling a sentence with two verbs separated by a conjunction, as in this case itself, would be much appreciated.


texts: Simple Past vs Present Perfect to express experience in the past

texts:
At least in American English it is common to say

Did you watch that movie?

When I would expect people to say

Have you watched that movie?

The later sounds correct to me because it's the experiential usage of the present perfect. So I was wondering if this is some kind of flexibility of the usage of tenses. How do you explain it?


texts: "You wouldn’t want to know" vs "you don’t want to know"

texts:
What is the difference between "You wouldn't want to" and "You don't want to"?

Also similar uses with

You wouldn't want to do
You wouldn't want to see


texts: A one-off action or a series of actions in the past?

texts:
I have two sentences here whose meanings are confusing to me as they are interpreted by native speakers.

1)    "When Jack did all the shopping, he went to the cafe."

Means: On the days that Jack did all of the shopping, he (also) went to the cafe. (a regular (repeated) action in the past)

2) When I paid her one dollar, she answered my question.

Means: I paid her a dollar, and (in exchange) she answered my question. (A one-off action)

Do you agree with this interpretation of the meanings? If yes, what is the factor which determines when it should be understood as a one-off action in the past (2) or a regular action in the past (1)?

On the top of that.
Some natives say that:

1)  "When Jack did all the shopping, he went to the cafe." – can be changed to (3) "When Jack had finished all the shopping, he went to the café." and it will mean a one-off action in the past.

Why is it not necessary to change (2) “When I paid her one dollar, she answered my question.” to (4) “When I HAD paid her one dollar, she answered my question.” in order to get a meaning of a one-off action?


texts: "It contains vitamin C as an antioxidant." Acceptable?

texts:
The drink contains vitamin C as an antioxidant.

It is clear what this sentence is supposed to mean: "The drink contains vitamin C, which serves as an antioxidant." or "The drink contains an antioxidant in the form of vitamin C."
Constructions of this type (e.g., "... comprises olive oil as a lubricant," "The company has a small branch office in the area as a source of communication." etc.) sound a little clumsy to me, but they are very common in technical documents, and I am not sure if I should rewrite them every time I see them.
Would you say the sentence quoted above is acceptable?


texts: Word for delimiters which are placed after each item?

texts:
The word "separator" can be used to describe delimiters which are placed between items. For instance, in this sequence:

"abbbabbbabbbabbba"

The 'b's separate the 'a's.

I'm looking for a word similar to "separator" which can be used to describe delimiters in this sequence:

"abbbabbbabbbabbbabbb"

The 'b's come after each 'a'.

Examples of this are periods after sentences and, in programming, semicolons after statements.


texts: "You are not going to be able to ... " versus "you can't ..."

texts: Are there any differences between these two expressions?


texts: The first day of school photos ["is" or "are"] coming

texts:
Which of these two sentences are correct?

The first day of school photos is coming
The first day of school photos are coming


texts:
I am confused about the word "very purpose" what does it mean & where we can use it.

As per my English knowledge, I what I can guess is not making sense.
It would be nice if get any assistance.

Thank you


texts:
My teacher gave me a question

When I (come)______, she (leave)______ for Cali ten minutes ago.

and my job is to complete this sentence with any verb tense provided it makes sense.

My teacher said it must be only one sentence:

When I came, she had left for Cali ten minutes ago.

But I think there are some sentences that make sense:
(1) When I came, she left for Cali ten minutes ago. (it means that I came as soon as she left, so we met each other for a very short time, so I could give her the present.

(2) When I came, she had left for Cali ten minutes ago. (It means she left for Cali before I came, so I couldn't met her and give her the present)

(3) When I had came, she left for Cali ten minutes ago. (It means I came before she left some minutes, so we met each other for some minutes, so I could give her the present and talk to her about something.

(4) When I came, she was leaving for Cali ten minutes ago.

Do you think (1), (2), (3) and (4) are correct? If not, please help me fix it.


texts: How should I understand this sentence from the transcript of a podcast?

texts:
This is an excerpt from the transcript of a podcast online:

  "We did some calculations and the results were remarkable. We determined that the average shark was worth about $200,000 over the course of its life. And when you compare it to finning that animal--a one-time extractive use--seeing it for diving is worth about 40 percent more."

I don't understand the sentence in bold. Here are my questions:

What does "finning that animal" mean? I've looked up the word "fin" into the Merriam-Webster Dictionary online, but I can make sense of the entries.
What does "it" refer to in "seeing it for diving is worth about 40 percent more" refer to?
What's the subject for the word "seeing"?


texts: Noun + Verb + ing, what grammar structure is it?

texts:
I saw in my book this sentence:

  Arctic animals are now in danger because of ice melting due to global warming.

I am wondering what type of grammar structure ice melting and global warming is?
Is it a noun composed by noun/adjective + verb + ing? is verb + ing a noun? is it a composed noun? I am confused

Thanks


texts: "to take someone to task" does not mean to make someone do something?

texts:
I just looked up the translation of the German expression jemanden zur Rede stellen. The one translation for that expression I found was to take someone to task.

I use the German expression to describe a situation where you ask someone to justify himself/herself. It usually (but not necessarily) involves a feeling of stress to the person who is asked, because he/she has to justify a decision or action. When this expression is used, it often involves an uncomfortable atmosphere.

The confusion stems from the English expression, which in my opinion would literally mean that I take someone and assign to him a task. While in German it is more like you make someone talk, in English it seems to mean to make someone do a task.

Where does that expression come from?

When can it be used the way I described it for German? I.e. to ask someone questions/make someone justify himself/herself.


texts: When did the phrase "how fun" become acceptable?  I first heard this term used about 10 years ago and I thought it very odd.  Personally I don't think this phrase will ever be acceptable to me.  I know I will never use it.


texts: "I leaked nothing to nobody." - SAE? AAVE? Deliberate double negative?

texts:
"I leaked nothing to nobody" (around 3:42 in the video)

Is the sentence above from Susan Rice grammatically correct in standard American English (SAE)? Seems like it should be:

  I leaked nothing to anybody/anyone.

If not SAE, is it maybe African American Vernacular English (AAVE)?

If not AAVE, would the double negative make it a positive? Maybe weasel wording or understatement (litotes)?


texts: What is the best verb form to this question?

texts:
Write the best verb-form for the blank.
A: Who have you worked with?
B: I ________ with people from all over the world.

The intended answer is 'have worked'. One of my students answered, 'have been working'.
Of course it makes sense. But do you think 'have been working' can be called the best form for that blank above?


texts:
I have a question that comes up when writing mathematical problems.

Which of the following is correct:

  The problem is well-posed

or

  The problem is well posed.

I am sure the second is correct. However the first is used in all sorts of papers, books and Wikipedia.


texts: Is there a comma after the name of a province/state

texts:
Is this sentence correctly punctuated, specifically, is there a comma after the words "British Columbia"?

  He had only recently relocated to the port city of Victoria, British Columbia after being offered a long-term contract.

Thank you!


texts: "if the majority of the players is honest", is vs are

texts:
A friend of mine came across an academic paper which consistently used the phrase "if the majority of the players is honest....". I'm pretty sure that that "is" ought to be an "are", but it was pointed out that if you changed it to "if the majority is honest..." then "is" would be appropriate, even though the subject doesn't really change plurality, so now we're not sure.

So the question is: is the first form correct (though strange sounding)? And if not, what makes it different from the second?

Thanks!


texts: How unseemly these days is it to use the word damn in educated or elderly circles? I have heard that there is a modified and supposedly less intense darn. Should I be careful to avoid the former and at best, use the latter? Or does it not matter anymore?


texts: How to correctly capitalize words inside of brackets/parentheses in article names and book titles?

texts:
How do I correctly capitalize words inside of brackets/parentheses in names and titles?
A few examples:

Captain America (untold stories)
Captain America (Untold Stories)
Madonna (written by E. Cales in 1998)
Madonna (Written by E. Cales in 1998)
My Summer Vacation (with my family)
My Summer Vacation (With My Family)
My Summer Vacation (With my family)


texts:
I wanted to ask, which of these two is correct. I would be grateful for your answer.

  People’s lives is involved.
  Or

  People’s lives are involved.

2nd is grammatically correct, I  think.


texts:
I saw a sentence today:

Lily was speaking so excitedly and so fast about winning first prize in the Mark Six.

WHy is "first prize" without the definite article "the"?


texts: What do you call someone who (over)uses archaic terms and expressions while writing?

texts:
I came across a literary article from one of my cousin's numerous English books. The author, in what I presume to be an effort to showcase their vocabulary and command over English, seems to have largely (ab)used outdated English terms, forcing me to flip pages in dictionaries every few sentences. One such instance would be the use of "betimes" instead of "early". While learning new words is always a good thing, I would have preferred less use of antiquated terms.

My questions

Is there an adjective or noun to describe such practice?
Are archaic expressions and words more preferred (than simple, everyday words) by authors of English literary articles?


texts:
What's a better word for what the term 'hugbox' suggests; i.e. an environment in which one is surrounded by likeminded people and as such is likely to have their preconceptions reinforced rather than challenged?

I've always used hugbox colloquially, but as a) the only definition I can find comes from Urban Dictionary and b) it refers to boxes used to calm the hypersensitive, it could be viewed as offensive and certainly unprofessional.

All I can think of is 'feedback loop', but that doesn't seem to fit.


texts: What is a synonym for "relatively unknown"?

texts: I am trying to describe a place that is not often publicized in tourist guides and is not frequently visited. I currently have "visit the relatively unknown", but I am not particularly happy with the phrase because it sounds vaguely snobby to me. I am also not sure "unknown" should be qualified by degree. Does anyone have any suggestions?


texts: Word that means "fashionable thinking of the day"

texts:
Help!
I forgot to write down a very useful word, all I've got are a few possible definitions from memory,
"fashionable thinking of the day"
"trendy idea / way of thinking"
The word is short, maybe 4 or 5 letters.
The word looks and sounds like "ersatz", using the "tz" sound I believe.
I've tried different anagram generators with no luck!
Same for Google, which thinks I want to read articles?
You're my only hope, what's the word?


texts: Are words with negative meaning used to describe positive things by the youth?

texts:
In Germany, kids of age 10 to 15 tend to evolve a language pattern that uses a certain word that has a negative connotation to describe everything they approve of, be it an impressive slam-dunk or nice cars on the street.
Every generation seems to choose their own word for this, so after some years the word changes, but the meaning stays the same.
Examples that come to mind are

übel (sick/disgusting) and more recently mies (lousy):
"Meine Mutter hat mir zehn Euro mitgegeben." "Miiiiies!"
"My mother gave me ten EUR to spend." "Looooousy!"

The only aquivalent i can think of in the english language would be "sick", but that's maybe connected to skater/surfer slang.
Is this a common behaviour in UK/US/English speaking kids as well?
Edit: After some discussions in the comments I thought to specify my question further.
I'm especially interested in the described mechanism of one word replacing another over the years, allowing to place users of such word into a certain age range for example.


texts: A word to represent the most rapidly changed index in a multi-dimensional array

texts:
I know there is a word that represents the most rapidly changed index which starts with "M...", but I can not recall the word even after searching through the internet. So I come here to ask for your help: would you please tell me what the word is.

In computer science, if we have a two-dimensional array (indexed by X and Y), we store the elements of that array in X first order, so the order of the 3X2 array is: [X1,Y1] [X2,Y1], [X3,Y1], and then [X1,Y2],[X2,Y2],[X3,Y2], X is the M... axis; it represents the most rapidly changed indices.

Would you please tell me what the word is? It starts with an M.


texts: What is a good replacement for "ununderstandable"?

texts:
I want to tell a colleague of mine I'm doing something that will prevent her from getting "ununderstandable" errors. I have:

  ...so that you will not get unnecessary, [ununderstandable] errors.

After googling "ununderstandable", I see that there is no such word, but I'm still looking for something that sounds better.


texts: Which is grammatically correct: "if someone was starving" or "if someone were starving"?

texts:
Which sentence is more grammatically correct:

If someone was starving on an island
If someone were starving on an island


texts:
I searched everywhere but could not find the meaning or even a right pattern for this phrase to fit in. Does it simply mean something like "go hunting"? and why can't I find anything about it?

Thanks in advance.


texts: What do you call the way a culture is forming their language?

texts:
suppose a culture is still starting to be develop and they are forming their "language" for communication? what do you call this process?

Regards,


texts: rook-haunted as applied to an interior room

texts:
In the book I’m reading the author writes:

  The Russian clergy had little in common with the Anglican curates and
  bishops in whose paneled libraries and rook-haunted chambers James
  passed some of his winter evenings.

So, rook-haunted.
Googling shows that it’s not a rare word combination. But in most cases it seems to be understood quite literally – “rook-haunted groves” or “rook-haunted towers,” which can be imagined as groves or walls, well, “frequented” by the birds.

But I suspect the rook is not the only bird species that can be met in any environment. And you’re unlikely to meet any bird at all in a chamber where you pass evenings.

My question has thus two points:

What does “rook-haunted” mean as applied to an interior room?
Since it’s apparently a metaphor, where does it come from? Some classic work everyone knows? Some folk text? Something else?


texts: Can I use 'since' or 'for' in other tenses?

texts:
Example:

  The company has been the duty-free operator in Kolkata since 2008.

Which is the correct way to say:

  The company is the duty-free operator in Kolkata since 2008

or

  I have seen many changes in Kolkata since 2008.


texts: Comma after introductory words, phrases, clauses: unacceptable, obligatory or optional?

texts:
I am no native speaker and always confused about the comma in introductory phrases, in particular in prepositional phrases. Is there any hard rule when a comma must be set? If I make a google search for certain phrases, I often find both variants. Typical examples where I am not sure whether a comma must be set are:

  First[ly][,] I must phone mother
  In this case[,] we must...
  For simple problems[,] the algorithm...
  From Lemma 1.2[,] we obtain...
  For a typical user[,] the algorithm...
  In our theory[,] we...
  A dark line on the horizon[,] the mountain range we were headed for seemed somehow not as threatening as when we had started out on the trip.
  Avidly reading her novel[,] Jane did not notice that her stop was approaching.
  To be sure[,] it is not easy to see a solution.
  When you get to Rome[,] give me a ring.


texts: All of a sudden the scales fell from my eyes: OxFORD and CamBRIDGE. Is there a serious reference for this - not so surprising, but linguistically amusing - fact that these two prominent university cities (by the way both of them doubled across the ocean) share their names by ways to cross a river?


texts: Origin and meaning of "every cloud has a silver lining"

texts:
Every cloud has a silver lining.

Please provide some historical perspective and meaning of this expression.


texts: The meaning of "People say that life is the thing, but I prefer reading."

texts:
I am having a hard time understanding  the following Logan Pearsall Smith quote:

  People say that life is the thing, but I prefer reading.

Googling didn't help much other than whose quote it is. What exactly does the above quote mean?


texts: Using before the fact in multiple contexts

texts:
The terms "before the fact" and "after the fact" are usually used in a legal sense, as in, accessory before the fact, (and similarly, accessory after the fact), to indicate a person aiding or abetting a crime before it is actually committed.

My question is, can these terms be used in a non-legal context, as in, for instance, learning before the fact, to imply something learned before its actual use is anticipated?


texts: Modal: Stronger than "may", weaker than "must"

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Is there a modal to express a probability that is higher than that associated with "may", without the definiteness "must" evokes?
Example (as I understand the expressions to be intended):

"This might happen" -> There is the possibility of it happening, but it probably won't.
"This may happen" -> 50/50 Chance of it happening.
"This must happen" -> There is a small possibility of it not happening, but in most cases it will.

Is there anything to express a high probability of something happening while not being as definitive as "must"?
Basically I'm looking for a modal expression stronger than may and weaker than must.
I have considered "could" and "should" - But to me "could" sounds like it would range itself between "might" and "may", whereas "should" may not even be that far off the word I'm searching, but I simply can't use it the sentence I am trying to write.

Although this {modal expression} be because only few decide to stay in the country itself, whereas most continue to venture further into Europe


texts: What's the category name of "city" and "rural"?

texts: When I ask whether someone's living situation is rural or city, what's the category I'm asking about? Living situation includes many other things, but there's gotta be a word summarizing those two things, right?


texts:
Would it be correct to use the adjective "presumptuous" in the following independent sentence: "They are presumptuous"

or is it required that the context is more defined such as  "They are presumptuous because they felt their nation was greater.. "

Do you necessarily need to define why someone or something is presumptuous or could you use it without giving any context?  If so, how do you tell when an adjective requires the context or when it doesn't?  There's no indication from types of adjectives: positive, comparative, superlative...


texts: What is a "commodity" when referred to as an adjective to describe a particular object?

texts:
When people describe any object (such as a career, or for instance, a computer cluster, etc) and they describe it as "commodity", what is it supposed to mean?

According to Wikipedia, a commodity is basically something that fills in a need or a want, but if that's true, then isn't everything a commodity?

Basically, what kind of connotation does the word have in everyday usage?


texts: Use of Apostrophe s to show possession when the noun is singular but ends with s

texts: Should I use apostrophe-s('s) or only a apostrophe(') with the noun to show possession when the noun is singular but it ends with s.


texts: Please help me to understand the following definition of "Precautionary Principle"

texts:
for "precautionary princple", it gives the following definition.

  where there are threats or serious or irreversible damage, lack of
  full scientific cerntainty shall not be used as a reason for
  postponing cost-effective measures to prevent envrionment degration.

I am having difficulty to understand this defintion. What does it mean??

Say I plan to build a pipe-line. If I am not certain about the envrionmental impact the pipe-line will bring to the community (or I can't provide full scientific certainty that it is not harmfull), then according to the "precautionary princple", I can go ahead and build it?


texts: How to make gender-neutral: "Let he who would move the world, first move himself."

texts:
Here's the original quote from Socrates:

  Let he who would move the world, first move himself.

I'm thinking a non-gender specific version would be:

  Let they who would move the world, first move themselves.

Or should it be theirselves?


texts:
What is the difference between "bias" and "opinion"?  Are they synonyms?  Are all opinions biased? Is there such a thing as an "unbiased opinion"?

The sentence, "Lima beans are vile" is an opinion -- but is it biased?