texts: " It was a pleasure knowing", "It was a pleasure to have known", or "It was a pleasure to know"?

texts:
I am in the process of ordering a headstone for my dad and I wish to have the words

  It was a pleasure to have known

(as opposed to the more traditional "in loving remembrance", "in memory of", etc.) above his name. I am not sure which phrase is most grammatically correct. A headstone is not a place to make a mistake. Would

  It was a pleasure knowing
  It was a pleasure to have known
  It was a pleasure to know

be correct?  Or is something else correct?


texts: Why would singers omit 's' from "He takes/makes/etc" in song lyrics?

texts:
I heard it done on purpose in different songs; like here

http://www.lyricsfreak.com/m/mark+knopfler/news_20089384.html

  He's burning the grass
  He take up a glass
  He swallow it neat

and here

http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/johnfogerty/theoldmandowntheroad.html

  He take a thunder from the mountain
  He take a lightning from the sky
  He bring a strong man to his begging knee
  He make a young girl's mama cry

These are not typos, both really do sing it like that quite clearly.

Is this meant to emphasize something? Why would they use seemingly broken English?


texts:
I am looking for the abstract, non-count form of solecism, if it exists. Just as "brevity" describes the quality of being brief, I am looking for an abstract noun to denote the quality of being incorrect, such as "incorrectness", but geared towards speech. Is solecity/solecisity a word, or is it, itself, a solecism?

If none exists, perhaps there is one for malapropism?

Thanks


texts:
According to the definition I'm aware of, heritage means "something that will be inherited by the subject". So if a person A leaves an item X for person B in his will, X is B's heritage.

Is there a word that means "something left by the subject to be inherited by someone else"?
(To be used as "X is A's [ something ]").


texts:
Which do I use in this phrase?

...and support the fact that the setting of the story is indeed in India.

...and support the fact that the setting in the story is indeed in India.


texts:
Which one of the following is right?

1) I am a doctor working in a hospital.

2) I am, a doctor, working in a hospital.

3) I am a doctor, working in a hospital.

Does "working" modify "doctor" in the first option?


texts: reunite: passive when used as a transitive verb

texts:
Collins labels its use as [be VERB-ed + with]

Longman labels it as: Reunite is usually passive when used as a transitive verb; "be reunited with somebody" (likewise there's an entry for the idiom "be entwined (with something)", for which Wiktionary offers a note "Particularly used in attributive form entwined.")

Unlike for example gather, Oxford English Dictionary shows the entry for reunite labeled as [usually passive].

What is the reason behind using reunite in so-called "passive" even in a sentence where there's no semantic agent and meaning?

Secondly, is there a pattern that a group of verb such as reunite follow?


texts: If one sentence begins with a conjunction, and the first one ends with free modifiers, how can I join the two into one sentence?

texts:
I have two sentences: one ending with free modifiers, and one beginning with a conjunction. But I want them to be one sentences. Can I use a semicolon or a colon? It seems that if I put a comma there, it would seem awkward because the conjunction would follow the two free modifiers, and it would the syntax would not be clear.

This is the sentence:

  Having in times past debated with you over many issues, I could not well contend for my own views, being too nervous to express myself perfectly, too nervous because of you. But now having nothing to make me nervous, I have set down this letter, defending those views which I could not before."


texts:
I cann't understand the meaning of "pot commited" in this phrase:
Law grads who lost their scholarships feel "pot committed," to use a poker term,
Any idea?


texts: Saying “today morning” to mean “this morning”

texts:
As an American, I use the term this morning, but I’ve noticed some Asian Indian coworkers who always say today morning to mean what I mean by this morning.

Is this an Indian English “dialectism”? Is it common in local English dialects throughout India and other formerly British-dominated (South-)Asian countries, or just in certain parts?

Do any English dialects outside of South Asia use this phrase?


texts: Is "get stuck" a proper term in academic writing?

texts:
I am writing to inquire the usage of "get stuck" in academic writing. Here is my draft:

  this design could get stuck in a bad local minima and therefore is not desired.

I use Google Scholar to search "get stuck" and I do find quite a number of exact matchings. However, I still want to double check if there was any (more) proper term in this context. Thank you very much!


texts: Are there any words which contain a double vowel, a double consonant, and also is 4 letters?

texts: By "double", I mean the same letter twice. There are many double consonant 4 letter words. There are also many double vowel 4 letters words. However, are there any which include all three of these restrictions, specifically, in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary


texts: Is the term "city boy" a commonly used appellation for London bankers? Does it only apply to them, or is it colloquial for other London denizens?

texts: I was watching the British series Sherlock Holmes and I noticed a couple of times they referred to bankers Sherlock was investigating or talking to as city boys.  How common is this usage?  Would the average person from the UK understand it? Or perhaps it's only specific to London?  Does it only apply to bankers?


texts: "Decided to do X the next time she went for a walk" vs. "...the next time she goes for a walk"

texts:
I came across this sentence in the book Grammar Essentials for Dummies which confused me.

  The lion with a thorn in her paw decided to wear sneakers the next time she went for a walk in the jungle.

Why is it went instead of goes? I always thought the next time indicated something in the future.


texts: Is there a solid reference/rule on when not to put article after 'of'

texts:
I have not found any articles or documentation on this, the only thing close to it is this Zero article after "of" in "a change of place" thread which only has a single answer referencing some 'substance', which is very abstract and ambiguous for me.

    I need a change of hotel.
    A change of situation will give another result.

those are the examples from the link, which is what I'm referring to.

From time to time I stumble upon the "the %noun% of %singular non-proper countable noun%" phrase where the latter noun does not have an article.

My question is does anyone have a solid explanation link, source for this?


texts: Are "polite" and "politics" etymologically similar?

texts:
I read of the words "polite" and "politics" on Wiktionary. They originate from Latin word for "smooth" and Greek word for "state", so superficially i concluded they have nothing in common.

But the connection makes sense. Wiktionary defines "politics" also as "Political maneuvers or diplomacy between people, groups, or organizations, especially involving power, influence or conflict". To be successful with politics an individual has to be polite, woo the crowd, be a nice guy. Rude and hostile people in such environment are quickly marginalized and shut up.

Were "polite" and "politics" connected etymologically at some point?


texts: Single word describing something "outside of oneself"

texts:
ie.:  The idea was "(blank)".  It didn't come from myself, it was divine inspiration, dumb luck, etc.

or maybe: My essence/spirit was outside my body.  It was "(blank)".


texts: Comma splice rule exception when listing things

texts:
I need help with the following sentence that I've encountered on the Wikipedia page titled "Literal and figurative language."

  His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry...

Another example (from engVid Youtube video):

  I have one idea, I have another idea, but they are very much
  connected.

Can somebody please support or disprove such an exception to the comma splice rule (when you list ideas or something like that).

PS If you say that "his nose like a cherry" is not an independent clause, then if the first sentence were to be written as follows:

  His cheeks were like roses, his nose was like a cherry...

would the comma still be acceptable/correct?


texts: Which variant of English should I use when my target audience is the world?

texts:
I know that all variants of English (American English, British English, etc.) can be generally  understood by everybody who knows any of the English variants. However, there are some regionalisms that can lead to ambiguity.

What are the things I must be aware of when the target audience (of my writing: book, blog, etc.) is the world?


texts: Use of "well" in "Britain’s Labour Party is in thrall to a man well to the left of Mr Sanders"

texts:
I have a question about a sentence from an article of The Economist Magazine:

  Britain’s Labour Party is in thrall to a man well to the left of Mr
  Sanders.

Does the word "well" in this sentence mean "to a great degree or extent"*?

Below is the paragraph where I encountered this sentence.

  The United States is not the only country where the establishment is
  on the ropes. Britain’s Labour Party is in thrall to a man well to the
  left of Mr Sanders. In the first round of France’s recent regional
  elections, the far-right National Front won the largest vote.
  Populists are leading the polls in the Netherlands and running the
  government in Poland and Hungary. In politically correct Sweden,
  nativists are polling at 30%.

The whole article is available here: http://www.economist.com/node/21689543/print

Thanks a lot for everyone's help in advance. I really appreciate it.

*this is definition 3 of the adverb "well" from Merriam-Webster's Learner's Dictionary.


texts: What do you call a person who's not yet a customer?

texts: I'm currently doing an Applied Business assignment based on Business Planning - we had to generate our own business idea, including creating aims and objectives for the business. I've decided for one of my objectives to be "To raise awareness of the business amongst..." (where the '...' is the word I'm looking for). I can't put "To raise awareness of the business amongst new customers", because they aren't actually customers yet.


texts:
I looked up the two words on wikitionary & got this:

satire:

  A literary technique of writing or art
  which principally ridicules its
  subject often as an intended means of
  provoking or preventing change. Humour
  is often used to aid this.

sarcasm:

  A form of humor that is marked by
  bitter mockery, often using irony, and
  sometimes conveyed in speech with
  vocal over-emphasis. With irony, it is
  insincerely saying something positive
  which is obviously the opposite of
  one's intended, cruel meaning. On the
  other hand it may be a direct taunt
  where the jibe means exactly what it
  says.

At first glance, they seem equivalent to me. Is there a clear distinction about when to use one & when to use the other?


texts: A word that refers to a previously mentioned action

texts:
I am trying to refer back to the action "act swiftly" mentioned previously, but I am not sure if I am in the right direction. I thought of a few possible solutions as follows.

An entire rephrasing of the sentence is welcome.

Any guidance is appreciated.

1.

  What we have learnt from past outbreaks is that one of the crucial
  factors in controlling the spread of the outbreak is to act swiftly,
  and it is with this swiftness that guides our efforts in combating
  the latest outbreak.

2.

  What we have learnt from past outbreaks is that one of the crucial
  factors in controlling the spread of the outbreak is to act swiftly,
  and it is with this mantra that we adhere to to combat the latest
  outbreak.

3.

  What we have learnt from past outbreaks is that one of the crucial
  factors in controlling the spread of the outbreak is to act swiftly,
  and it is with this regard that we are adhering to to combat latest
  outbreak.


texts:
What word could describe an operation of either importing or exporting?

X is to import and export as migration is to immigration and emigration.

Porting isn't the word I'm looking for, I don't think, but that's what I'm getting at. Cheers!


texts: Cardinal British Dates - A Kiwi Original?

texts:
I had never heard the use of cardinal numbers in dates when speaking until I moved to New Zealand. It seems particularly prevalent in TV and radio advertising, but doesn't seem to follow either British or American "standards". As a Commonwealth country, dates are usually written in the British order, but I often hear them spoken thus:

  24 October 2010 as twenty-four October two-thousand and ten

or without a year:

  1 November as one November

Not using ordinals in dates seems "American" to me, but I guess Americans would prefer:

  October 24 2010 as October twenty-four, two-thousand-ten

Is the first way unique to New Zealand or is it used in America too?


texts: Is "learning", used as a noun, Denglish?

texts: The English term "learning" is being used as a noun in German language, describing the process of learning something about a specific topic. ("Das Learning war, kein Wasser ins brennende Fett zu schütten." / "The learning was to not put water into the burning grease."). Is this a case of Denglish?


texts: Why can 'lower' be a verb but 'higher/upper' cannot?

texts:
The title is basically my question.
The word lower can be a comparative form of low as an adjective, but it can also be a verb.

However, the antonym of the word such as higher or upper cannot be used as a verb.

Why is this? Or is there any other antonym of lower that can function as a verb?


texts: Words to describe a person that values merit and achievemnt

texts:
Or, you could say, a proponent of meritocracy (descriptors for opponents of meritocracy also welcome, see details below). Please don't say "meritocrat", I would rather avoid that one.

Nouns and adjectives are all welcome, single-word descriptions preferred, but two-word descriptions are fine too. The terms should also not rely on reference to other ideologies or political systems, like many thesauri seem to.

A bit of background:
I'm in the process of describing a list of personal values, assigning an adjective or noun to various levels of these values. The descriptions go both ways, that is the range should describe anything from people to whom this value is extremely (quite possibly too) important to people who are actively opposed to it.

As an example, one of them is "Individuality", for which I came up with the following range, from lowest to highest:
doctrinal, conformist, conventionalist, individualist, egocentric, narcissist

One of the values on that list is merit, i.e. how much a person believes how important personal achievements should be for societal progress. And... I can't find any meaningful descriptors for such a mindset, and the thesauri seem to be somewhat empty in that regard. I would appreciate any help.

As an interesting side note, I had much less trouble finding descriptors for people that value social status, as in proponents of Aristocracy. I guess the idea of a meritocracy hasn't been around in our culture for too long...


texts:
"The economics of the matter mean that your proposal is not feasible."

or

"The economics of the matter means that your proposal is not feasible."


texts: What is the meaning of "ongoing requirement"?

texts:
Would you please tell me the meaning of "ongoing requirement"?

I surveyed it on the internet but couldn't find out the proper meaning. Close synonym is "continuous", but I think it's a little different from the context.

The original sentence is like this:

  You should ensure that all staff are appropriately trained about the ongoing requirement for penetration testing.


texts:
When I am sure about something and want to say

  I can be firm with that.

Is this usage grammatically correct with using 'with'?


texts: A particular word for after death get together?

texts: In my native language (Gujarati) there is a special word for a get together held after someone's death, i.e. બેસણુ - "besnu", typically held between the 2nd to 4th day after death. Is there any word with the same meaning in English?


texts: I am translating a historical tv series about the Ottoman Empire. So in the 15th century do you ask for medication or medicine? Or is there a more appropriate word for it?


texts: Which is a more correct way of referring to an amount of time that has passed since something happened?

texts:
I was watching a show where a character made the statement,

It's been years since I've played that game.

I thought that was odd, since I'd have said something like,

It's been years since I played that game.

Which is more correct?


texts: Is there a word for someone who makes people retire?

texts: My friend got a perfect round of mini putt. People got discouraged and they all stopped showing up to our weekly putting challenge. I told him that he makes people retire. We then tried to find the synonym of someone who makes people retire and could not find it. Can anyone help us? So far we use "The Retirer", but we know it's wrong


texts: When is the word *mail* used in the sense of rent or payment?

texts:
When looking up the etymology of the word mail for the clearly distinct senses of:

things you use the postal service for; and
armour (e.g. chain mail),

I came across a third sense of the word, namely, rent or payment. Etymonline claims an example of this usage is the word blackmail. This third sense seems to be uncommon in modern English, at least to me, although the link to its use in the word blackmail sounds plausible. From Etymonline:

  Middle English male "rent, tribute," from Old English mal "lawsuit, terms, bargaining, agreement," from Old Norse mal "speech, agreement;" related to Old English mæðel "meeting, council," mæl "speech," Gothic maþl "meeting place," from Proto-Germanic *mathla-, from PIE *mod- "to meet, assemble"

My question: After Old English, where else is the word mail used in this third sense, and is mail used commonly in this sense anywhere in modern English? I'm looking for some idea of this word's life-cycle, so to speak. Era of common use ('era' in the sense of Elizabethan or modern), reasons for the word's decline in usage, derived words and regional usage are all in scope for this question.


texts: Singular or Plural after a List of Streets using "or"?

texts:
When writing a list of streets using "and", I can obviously pluralize.

  The event will take place on Maple, Walnut, and Orange Streets.

When using "or", however, which is correct/best?

The event will take place on Maple, Walnut, or Orange Streets.
The event will take place on Maple, Walnut, or Orange Street.
The event will take place on Maple St, Walnut St, or Orange St.


texts:
Can anyone make this clear for me? Look at this sentence:

-"I have been making this Tshirt during the confinement period"

Let's imagine that the confinement period is not over, and that the job with the Tshirt is over. The question is: can you use "during" in this sentence: I feel you can't, but I can't work out how to express that.

Can you help me? Thanks!


texts: "Give someone trouble" — what does it mean?

texts:
I saw the usage in a translated novel, in which a boy's parents died in an earthquake, and as soon as he knew that both his parents were dead, the boy's immediate reaction was that now he was free and "nobody would give him trouble any more".

What does it imply? Does it mean that no one could ever find fault with things that he does? or that the boy was glad he would never get punished or told off by his parents?


texts: "I have a question for you" Vs "I have a question to you"

texts:
What is the proper way of starting an email:

Hi X,

  I have a question for you.

Or

  I have a question to you.

Google fings 122M of the first version and 45M of the second one.Is the second one always incorrect?


texts: Which is correct use of the apostophe in minutes?

texts:
Minutes walk to the building.
or
Minutes' walk to the building.
or
Minute's walk to the building.

As in it is several minutes walk to the building...


texts: A word for an experience that must be lived

texts:
I believe that I had read the definition for a word that was described as an experience that must be experienced in order to be understood.  The example was parenting in that you cannot Simply read about it to gain understanding and that you must actually live it.
Is there a single word that describes this?


texts: The word sum can be used to mean the result of addition of a two or more numbers, while difference denotes the result of subtraction etc. Is there a single word that denotes the result of concatenation of two text strings?


texts: Is it acceptable to use "womyn" or "womin" instead of "women"?

texts:
I have often seen/heard the two terms "womyn" and "womin" in many articles and speeches about feminism or women's rights issues. I couldn't find them in any online dictionary except for the Oxford Dictionary which describes it as

  non-standard spelling of ‘women’ adopted by some feminists in order to avoid the word ending -men.

And Urban Dictionary, which has (second definition):

  This is a term used by feminists who feel that having the word "man" in the word "woman" makes women a subset of men. So, to make themselves a non subset, they changed the letter 'e' to a 'y'.

Is it acceptable to use these alternate spellings in my writings and conversations with natives (educated/uneducated)? Does it sound strange, aggressive, or odd in the modern English language? Is it likely to prejudice the minds of my audience against me? Is it illegal to use it in writings and conversations? Which kinds of danger can threaten me?

That is, are these alternate spellings seen as uneducated? Are they used solely by strongly feminist groups who are looked down upon? Or are these spellings seen more positively?

Now, what is my motivation?

I thought it might prejudice my audiences regardless of their ideas about feminists, or even an ordinary woman/womyn who likes to avoid sexism at least in her talks and writings. Furthermore, if I wanted to work with a group of people who hate feminists or these kinds of considerations in language, it would help me to decide about changing my workplace or hiding my ideas!


texts:
I'm trying to break down the english language in a computer program. Having a hard time figuring out those two. I think that they should be adjectives though because they are descriptive as in

a watermelon - any random watermelon

the watermelon - some specific watermelon

and also because I can't find any other use for them. When I learned english in school, I think my teacher called them something like "articles" (direct translation, don't know the english for it) but that doesn't help me at all.


texts: how do you say "write onto a piece of paper" in a more creative way?

texts:
I want to use an alternative to the expression

  write onto a piece of paper

I would like to rephrase this to sound more interesting. Can anyone provide suggestions?


texts: Is it proper to say, "First Last name, further represented herein as I"?

texts:
In writing a formal explaination of events, can I put this in this form or should I rephrase the statement starting with I?

I, Michael Staples, further here represented as I,...
Not sure which one is correct.


texts: What is a medical term for the belief that you're healthy when you're not?

texts:
What is a medical term, as in a mental or eating disorder, that means "a compulsion with being healthy, while actually being unhealthy," stemming primarily from a poor understanding of science, medicine, physiology, and the effects of exercise?

For example, a man who does hot yoga to "sweat out toxins" (MYTH!), but in reality, due to the effects of dehydration, his kidneys are retaining water and actually hanging onto any toxins that may be in his system.


texts:
I was just sitting thinking I had cold tootsies meaning my toes or feet!
This got me wondering, where on earth does the word tootsie/tootsy come from?

I did Google this and got definitions (apparently a childish name for foot) but no reasoning where it comes from. Are there any more clues out there about the word's etymology?


texts: Is there a phrase that means sleeping with someone without sex?

texts: The phrase "sleeping with someone" often means "having sex." What is the origin of this sexual connotation? Is there a non-sexual equivalent of this phrase to express sleeping with someone without sexual intercourse?


texts: 'I about to died' --- Southern vernacular?

texts:
I wonder if anyone here has ever heard this phrase, about to + past tense --- probably a dialectal variant of about + past tense. Is this America's Southern vernacular?

  And then the judge turned to Gavin: “It's so nice to meet you. I've
  heard so much about you.”

  I about to died: heard so much about you! It was as if he was
  meeting a fellow at the Tuesday Rotary luncheon. Even Gavin was
  impressed. ('Everybody's all American' by Frank Deford)


texts: If something is beyond, is it more than or that and more. For example the question i'm struggling with "Absences beyond 10 days". So is it 10 and more or 11,12,13 etc.


texts: What's the opposite to a chilli pepper's 'heat'?

texts:
You describe chilli peppers as being hot despite them not being physically warm.
How would you describe a chilli pepper that is not-hot.

  The chilli peppers I have grown have all been very [not-hot]

What word would fit here?


texts:
I know that just because I am allowing something, it doesn't necessarily mean that I am desiring that something.

But does "desiring" automatically imply "allowing"?

for instance, does it make sense to say:

"If a teacher desires her students to use iPad in her class, then the teacher will allow her students to use the iPad in her class."

or

"If a mom desires her boy to taste her new soup, then the mom will allow her boy to taste the new soup."

Thank you,


texts: What does this proverb mean and what is the origin

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  What does this mean: ‘Chuck Norris can lead a horse to water AND make it drink’? Why is it funny?

  You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink


texts: Who first said "We can predict everything, except the future"?

texts:
"We can predict everything, except the future" is a quotation that seems to appear everywhere on the Internet. Computerbob has it listed in their favorite quotations list; Anivari.org has it in their miscellaneous fortune cookies collection and it is mentioned in email too.

It is even mentioned in the book Rooted in Detachment: Living the Transfiguration, which was written by Kenneth W. Stevenson and published by Cistercian Publications in 2007 as an old truth:

  And we can fall back on the old truth that we can predict everything except the future!

However none of these sources attribute a source. Would any of you happen to know its origin?


texts: Is there an idiom about wasting money and a window?

texts:
Is there an equivalent to the french idiom

  Jeter l'argent par la fenêtre

which means throwing money through a window?  (I'm not sure about the translation, especially through.)


texts: I have an A one, but I don't have a B or (a) C one(s)

texts:
Let's say:

  I have a Facebook account, but I don't have a Twitter or Instagram one.

I'm doubting about:

  I have a Facebook account, but I don't have a Twitter or (an) Instagram one(s).

Is it correct? What's the best way to say it using "to have an account"? (I know I can use "to be on" or "to use").


texts: What is the grammatical role of "do" in "Ty and Chris care more about Arsene Wenger than they *do* Arsenal"?

texts:
In the following sentence,

  Ty and Chris care more about Arsene Wenger than they do Arsenal.

What is the proper name for the role of the verb do here in the context of grammar?

For example, the role of they in this sentence is pronoun since it replaces the phrase Ty and Chris to avoid duplication. The same goes for do which replaces the phrase care about, but do is a verb so it is definitely not a pronoun. What is the correct name of it?


texts: The main ingredient is blueberries or the main ingredient is blueberry?

texts: Which sentence is grammatically accurate or they both acceptable? "The main ingredient is blueberries" sounds better to me. "The main ingredient" is indicative of one type of ingredient, so does that mean that it doesn't matter if "blueberry" is in plural or singular form?


texts:
Another shot before we kiss the other
  side.

This is from Lady Gaga's recent song, "Edge of Glory."

A subtitled video can be seen here. This is probably better than just reading the lyrics.


texts: Which word is best; "population", "pick" or "combination"?

texts:
Please look at the sentence below.

  The ________ of actors and actresses is very important in this movie I will make.

Which of the following three words fit best in the blank space?

population, pick or combination

I myself like pick better.

Are there any better words?


texts:
How do you "idiomatically" describe the instance of a person using their feet to traverse a road?

Is there any "wrong" way to do so?


texts: how do you pronounce the contraction what've you in been doing?

texts:
how do you pronounce the contraction "what've you" in "what've you been doing?" Does it sound like what of you, what v'you, or something else?

Since we're at it, can you tell me if these contrCTIONS are pronounced these ways?

what've you = what v'you done/ what of you done
where've you been = where v'you been/ where of you been
how've you done it = how v'you done it/ how of you done it

Thanks in advance.


texts: I was studying for my exam and I came across something called elision. So my question is... Can "often" be considered an elision? Because of the silent t? Or am I just not getting the concept of elision?


texts: "When will you come" vs. "When are you coming"?

texts:
One of my friends will come to my city "Ahmedabad" on 18th May 2015.

In a WhatsApp group chat, my friend asked him,

  "When are you coming to Ahmedabad?"

I corrected my friend:

  "When will you come to Ahmedabad?"

Which one is the correct sentence and why? If it is wrong then also correct me with reason.


texts: when and how I can use plural form of a noun.

texts:
I am still confusing on when I should use plural form of noun.

For example, "Nancy survived her five-hour ordeal by following another intuition: She engaged the dangerous stranger in constant conversation."

why not use "ordeals"?
I would be very appriciated if someone can create new sentences using both "ordeal" and "ordeals" in separately.
In that case, I can compare clearly and to know how I should use plural form of a noun.

Thank you very much.


texts: More and more in TV interviews -- and only on TV, by the way, never in "real" life -- I hear people using what I call, for lack of any other name, "Self-Questioning.". Example: "Do I regret saying what I did that morning?  Yes, I do.  Do I wish I had said something else instead?  Of course.  But we cannot go backwards, so what's done is done.". Sometimes there are three self-questions in the series, but usually there are only two.  I don't know the official name for this, if there even is one.  All I know is that I loathe it.  Has anyone else noticed this confessional-like speech pattern?  I am positive I never encountered it until recently, and unfortunately seems to be gaining in popularity.


texts: English equivalent of "a**holes don't have horns"

texts:
We have this expression in Hindi slang. Situation:

  A: "I can't believe he treated me like that. I was stupid to trust him"

  B: "Don't beat yourself up. How were you supposed to know he would stoop so low? After all, a**holes don't walk around with horns on their
  heads"

What B is trying to say is that bad people don't have distinctive physical characteristics. They look like normal people and there's no way to tell them apart.

Is there some English expression that conveys this?


texts: Why does "The Punisher" get an article in his name and "Spiderman" doesn't?

texts:
Why not

  Punisher vs. The Spider-man

?

Is the word "the" used however we feel like? Could I call them "Punisher" and "The Spider-man"?


texts:
Sacred is an adjective (Random House Dictionary, 1967).
It would seem that one cannot let te word simply dangle: it must refer to something (as in: the sacred land; the sacred text.)
Yet the (translated) title of Rudolph Otto's famous book is:

  The Idea of the Holy.

True, it obviously is a Germanism. The (relevant part of the) original title is:

  Das Heilige.

Has that form now become commonplace enough so that I may speak of
"The Sacred" as in the title I am contemplating, for a paper discussing interpretation of sacred texts:

  "On Reading the Sacred"?


texts: Should we use "the Pharaoh" or simply "Pharaoh"? Since it is a title I think it should be preceded with "the". But I see it used both ways. Why?


texts: Why the oddity of speculative/non-specified large numbers

texts: When there is a large number to describe, without knowing the specific number, we can report "millions," or "thousands," or "hundreds." Why do we then break that base-ten (seeming) pattern with "dozens," rather than simply "tens"?


texts: Is there a fraction prefix for “(one-)third”?

texts:
I am a mathematician, working with things called 1⁄k-regular polytopes, dubbed thus by Conway. For the case of k = 2, as in ½-regular, it is naturally pronounced and written half-regular.

However, I am now dealing with the ⅓‑regular case, and I’m surprised to find that saying third-regular doesn’t sound right at all!

After considering for a while, I realized that using ordinals to denote fractions here always sounds wrong, but that when there is a different word, it works. For instance, saying quarter-regular for ¼-regular sounds fine, but  fourth-regular does not.

This leads to a couple of related questions. In my US-based usage, I would have assumed that quarter and fourth were perfect synonyms for describing fractions. For instance, I can say:

The project is three-quarters complete.
The project is three-fourths complete.
A quarter of the people left.
A fourth of the people left.

But evidently, they are not as perfect as one might wish. Does the difference lie solely in whether or not the word can be used as a prefix?

For instance, saying a quarter-full glass sounds fine, while saying a fourth-full glass does not, because when pronounced out loud it sounds like you have four full glasses and are referencing the fourth of these. Are there other differences?

Is there a way to form such a prefix form for ⅓ or other cases?

I have imagined something like tertiarily regular,
but I don't think that really means what I want. Consider a tertiarily full glass: that doesn’t work for me. This answer
suggests tertile, but I don’t think that works here.
Tertile-regular certainly doesn’t sound very good.

Metric prefixes will work when available, like deciregular for ¹⁄₁₀ and centiregular for ¹⁄₁₀₀. Can these be extended beyond powers of ten?

This question
asks for a “quarter” equivalent for ¹⁄₉, with the answer that no such term exists. But it wasn’t focused on prefix forms.


texts: "Within this question I am asking about word order" or "I am asking about word order within this question"?

texts:
Are any of these formats regarding the word ordering within the sentence generally preferred to the other in general writing? Are there any special considerations if a more formal style is preferred or if I want to achieve as high readability as possible?
As a non-native speaker of English I have a general perception about the first format being the standard form, but I've never really thought about it and can not deny the possibility that it could just be an arbitrary stylistic form that just happened to get standardised inside my head.
Examples
Say that I want to describe my apartment to a friend:

In my apartment I have chosen to follow a modernistic look.
vs
I have chosen to follow a modernistic look in my apartment.

Or that I'm writing an abstract for an academic paper of mine:

In this thesis, my main argument is that B is caused by A.
vs
My main argument in this thesis is that B is caused by A.

What should I know and think about this in order to make a more conscious stylistic choice here?


texts: Is "may not necessarily be" reduandant or does it differ from "are not necessarily"?

texts:
I feel like both "may not" and "not necessarily" contain the idea of possibility. Therefore, I find "may not necessarily" somewhat redundant. I would like to know whether "may not" can always be replaced by "do(es) not" or is/are/am not" when it is used in conjunction with "not necessarily".

In other words, is there a difference/a correct version in these 2 example sentences when using "are" and "does" instead of "may (be)"?

1) Boosted bee populations in organic farms may/are not necessarily (be) due to reduced pesticide amounts. In fact, in some instances the risk of intoxication may even be higher in organic farmland.

2) Having cancer does/may not necessarily mean that you will die soon.


texts: What is the difference between [ɐ] and [ʌ]?

texts:
In a similar question which asks the difference between /ə/ and /ʌ/, I learned that /ʌ/ occurs in stressed syllables. Now there is another similar vowel sound: /ɐ/ which also occurs in stressed syllables.
I don't know the difference between /ɐ/ and [ɐ] yet but I am only concerned about the sounds they give whether it is "[ɐ] and [ʌ]" or "/ɐ/ and /ʌ/"
In Wikipedia, [ɐ] is given in many varieties of English like California, Cockney, East Anglia, New Zealand, Received pronunciation and some other Englishes. As an example in Received Pronunciation, the example given in wikipedia is "nut" and transcription: "[nɐʔt]" whereas an example of [ʌ] is "gut" transcription: "[ɡʌt]".
I would expect both "gut" and "nut" to have the same vowel but I don't know which vowel they have. Assuming that wikipedia is not so reliable, I consulted Cambridge dictionary which gives /ʌ/ for both "gut" and "nut".
One of my friends told me that the pronunciation of the word "cut" as given in the Cambridge Online Dictionary uses [ɐ] but when I hear both [ʌ] and [ɐ], they sound the same to me.
The name of /ɐ/ is Near-open central vowel and  /ʌ/ is Open-mid back unrounded vowel but is there any difference between both of them? Which one does standard Englishes use? And how do you perceive the difference?
I need to know the difference between ɐ and ʌ (I am not concerned about the brackets). Can anyone enlighten me on this please?


texts: An adjective for referring to the present-day geographic extent of India to contrast against the whole of British Raj India?

texts:
When contrasting one part of a region to another an adjective is necessary. This usually takes the form of a compass adjective such as Western Europe versus Eastern Europe. But in some cases those adjectives do not suffice, and a region-specific adjective is necessary; as in the case of Sub-Saharan Africa.

However, I cannot think of an acceptable adjective to differentiate the present-day geographic extent of India to the Indian subcontinent as a whole. The intended use is in the context of talking about British India when Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Myanmar were part of "India".

An example sentence:

  The outcome was much the same in Burma as it was in ______ India.

My initial thoughts were "mainland India" or "peninsular India". But I find both to be unsatisfactory and insufficiently self-explanatory.

Suggestions would be greatly appreciated.


texts:
Reading this article in the New Yorker I notice this word 'reëxamined'. It's not the only one written like this, any other word with double vowels will be written similarly.

What is the point behind this use ?


texts: What's the difference between "irritated" and "vexed"?

texts: What's the difference between "irritated" and "vexed", or between "to irritate" and "to vex"?


texts: "talk over the phone" or "talk over phone"

texts:
We just talked over (the) phone.

Should there be a "the" in front of "phone"? I.e., should "phone" be
specific or not?
If there should be a "the", should "phone" be "phones" instead，since
there were two phones being used during the conversation?


texts: Difference between "vulgar", "offensive" and "derogatory"

texts:
Why do we use the words "vulgar", "offensive" and "derogatory"? What are the differences between them?

For example, on Wiktionary, if we look up "nigger".

  now offensive, ethnic slur, vulgar, see usage notes) A dark-> skinned person, especially a person of, or primarily of,
  Negro descent; a black person.

So, why is "fuck" worse than "penis" for example? Is it the fact that it's vulgar and how do they become actual swear words? Sorry if this is perceived wrong. Please assume good faith.

Plus, the broadcasting authority Ofcom has been exploring 'latest attitudes' to offensive language? It is very confusing why the language in their statistics they've chosen is very selective.


texts: A term or phrase expressing the cheapening of a quality by measuring it in monetary terms

texts: I am looking for a term that expresses something along the lines of to measure something of  value (especially an abstract, often positive quality such as bravery or effort) in monetary terms in a derogative/pejorative fashion. Essentially as a result of such a measurement, the value of such a quality's perceived to be cheapened.


texts: What is the term for an essay that analyzes other essays?

texts:
Are there terms which distinguish between (a) an essay that focuses on presenting and analyzing the information presented in various sources (e.g. topic: "Food Sources of Ants") and (b) an essay that focuses instead on analyzing the form of those essays (e.g. topic: "A Comparison of the Text Structure of Articles on Ant Food Sources")?

The later has no concern with addressing the information or facts or even arguments given in the initial sources, but instead just focuses on examining the choices the authors made in how they approached the writing and presentation of the information.

Sample sentences where these terms could appear:

(a)

  Frank wrote an essay where he described the food sources of ants using
  three different sources he found on-line.

(b)

  Kyle wrote an essay where he described how the authors of each source
  used different text structures, and showed how each author's choice
  impacted the readability of the texts.


texts: Should "that" or "it" be used in this sentence?

texts:
People say things like ‘all publicity is good publicity’ but that isn't always true.

Should that in the sentence above be replaced with it? It's sort of ambiguous as to what that is referring to, isn't it? I meant that to be referring to what's in the quotes, but couldn't someone also interpret it as referring to the whole clause before it? Would it be any better to use it?

Also, besides the aforementioned ambiguity, is there anything else wrong with that sentence?


texts: Term for when a negative word is used positively?

texts:
Many years ago I heard a linguistics professor use a term to describe when negative words evolve to express positive opinions. For example, African Americans began in the 1970s to say "bad" when approving of someone or something.

The only other examples of adjectives I can think of come from modern slang, as in "sick", "ill" and "mad". But there's a long history of well-known adverbs like "awfully", "terribly" and "horribly" that are used for positive emphasis, as in "It smells awfully delicious."

The professor didn't use "antagonym", "Janus word", etc., which describe words that also mean their opposite; he was discussing the phenomenon in which words take on their opposite meaning, like "literally" did when it recently came to mean "figuratively" (alas!).

Are there any linguists here who might know something about that term or concept?


texts: If a sentence ends with a place name that ends with an exclamation mark, what punctuation should follow?

texts:
There are a few place names in the world that end with exclamation marks; for example, Westward Ho! and Saint-Louis-du-Ha! Ha!.

I suppose there are multiple cases here:

If an ordinary statement ends with such a place name, should it be followed by a full stop/period? "He went to Westward Ho!" or "He went to Westward Ho!." The latter, though ugly, seems strictly correct to me and at least makes it clear that the sentence is not an exclamation, even if the reader has never heard of the place name.
In an exclamation, should an extra exclamation mark be added? e.g. "He went to Westward Ho!!" Is this, in fact, a restricted situation where multiple exclamation marks could legitimately occur together?
In a question, I do not see any alternative to simply following the original exclamation mark with a question mark, although it looks like an interrobang: "Did he go to Westward Ho!?"
Finally, just for completeness and to consider the most unpleasant case, suppose one wanted to express incredulity using an interrobang. Would one then write "He went to Westward Ho!!?"

(Naturally, I suspect that in some of these cases, unless one were quoting, the best advice would be "Recast the sentence".)


texts: Word for discrimination on the basis of domicile

texts:
A person belongs to a different country than the one she is currently in. She is clearly a foreigner/alien. But what is the single word for the discrimination faced by her when the natives of this country constantly call her a foreigner in order to point out that she does not belong here?

In other words, what's the word for domicile based discrimination?


texts: When do you pluralize a noun that refers to multiple words in a list?

texts:
I just read a sentence that ended with “... why a host might use two rather than one address.” and it seemed awkward to me. What rule governs a word's plurality, when it is used in this sort of shorthand to refer to both single and multiple things?

I would probably say:

  this or that address
  these or those addresses
  one or two addresses
  two or one addresses

That last one is awkward and I wouldn't normally use it, but the “rather than” construction forces that order.

So do you pluralize if the last item is multiple? If there are any multiple items in the list?


texts: "Majority" is to "plurality" as "minority" is to what?

texts:
This analogy may not be quite accurate but I think I can get my point across with it.

I was reviewing some obesity statistics:

Obese: 35.9%
Overweight but not obese: 33.3%
Neither overweight nor obese: 30.8%

There is no majority. "Obesity" is the plurality. Is there a specific term for "neither overweight nor obese" as the smallest minority?


texts: The meaning of a phrase that has one of four-letter words

texts:
The passage below comes from a book, What The F. It's about the anomaly in the rule of profane words.

  But jack-shit and its profane peers flout the rule. You can say You don’t know jack-shit, using it in a negative context, but you can also just as easily say You know jack-shit. Same with dick—I don’t draw dick unless the price is right is fine, as is I draw dick unless the price is right.

In this I cannot figure out what draw dick means in this context.
(Excuse my profanity.)
My gut feeling says Don't draw dick means Don't care, but I am not sure.


texts: The use of the definite article to refer to generic nouns

texts:
I was reading John Lawler's dissertation on the use of generic nouns and found the following example sentences.

correct : (A) The unicorn is a mythical beast resembling the horse.

correct : (B) The unicorn is a mythical beast resembling a horse.

wrong :   (C) The unicorn is a mythical beast resembling the horse with a single horn.

correct : (D) The unicorn is a mythical beast resembling a horse with a single horn.

The first two sentences (A) and (B) are both syntactically correct and have the same meaning.

However, when the phrase "with a single horn" is added to the first two sentences (A) and (B), which leads to sentences (C) and (D), respectively,
(C) is wrong but (D) is correct.

My question is : what is wrong with sentence (C) ?


texts: A word that describes a sound that is not an onomatopoeia

texts:
By necessity, visual phenomena have abstract descriptions. The word yellow is only linked to the actual color because our teachers told us so. Sounds are easier to describe. Because language is sound, the most expedient way of getting your meaning across is through mimicry.

I was wondering whether anyone had ever come up with an abstract description of an auditory phenomenon that stuck in the community as the de facto term to describe that sound. A word for a sound that is not an onomatopoeia for that sound.

I gave it ten minutes and gave up so I decided to crowdsource the question.


texts: Word for a person at a company who is in charge of my data

texts:
I looking for the exact translation for the German word "Sachbearbeiter".

When I enter this German word into a certain online translation tool, I get a long list of words, but I am not sure, what to take for this situation.

What Sachbearbeiter' means is for the following situation:

I am, for instance, a customer with a certain insurance company. My last name starts with "A" and I live in the city "Abc". At the insurance company there is a person who is in charge of all persons from the city "Abc" with the last names starting with "A" or "B".

What do you call such a person who is in charge of my case?

I found the term "person responsible", but it is relatively long. Is there also a single word that describes exactly this meaning?


texts:
I have already seen these here questions:
Can "here" be an adjective?
What part of speech does “here” have in “I am here”?
but they don't appear to me to answer the question I am about to ask.

If I say:

  This lovely lady is my daughter. So, be nice, will you?

'lovely' is obviously an adjective pre-modifying the subject noun.

But if say:

  This here lady is my wife. So, keep your paws off, will yah?

1- Is 'here' an adjective here?

2- Which parts of the world (of the USA?) and/or what kind of people use the construction:
"This here + noun..."?

I never use this kind of construction, but I sometimes here it in movies...

E.g. in "Night at the Museum" (2006):

  Octavius, hold on. This ain't your fight.
   This here giant's on our  land.
  ...
  Now, this here's King Ahkmenrah.
  His tablet is what brings  you to life every night.


texts:
".. and these flashes of light happened most frequently when he was hunched over it in the hour before bedtime, struggling with the right way to say something.."

On strict grammatical terms, is the comma optional after bedtime?


texts: Name for the stick running through the small and narrow leaf of a big coconut leaf

texts:
Is there any specific term in English for the stick running through the small and narrow leaf of a big coconut leaf?

  In coconut tree, there is a stick(resembling a spinal cord) running through the small and narrow leaf of its main big leaf. In my mother tongue Malayalam, we call it "eerkili". I have encountered several occasions where I had to reluctantly use the Malayalam word for this while communicating in English.


texts:
Original sentence:

  Inform John that you have completed the tutorial and need your assigned mentor.

Is that grammatically correct, or it's misses an additional you:

  Inform John that you have completed the tutorial and you need your assigned mentor.


texts: Does the word "house" include the land that surrounds it?

texts:
Example:

Link: http://s0.geograph.org.uk/geophotos/03/76/64/3766499_abf79906.jpg

Can I say, "The bridge is in a country house?" Maybe it sounds strange? Like implying that the bridge is inside the house? Or maybe the word "house" can refer to the whole place?


texts:
Today I was reading in the Washington Post

"if you so choose"
(https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/arts-and-entertainment/wp/2018/01/01/your-guide-to-2018-movies-minus-the-superheroes-sequels-spin-offs-and-reboots/).

This sounds very strange to me (my mother tongue is german).

My question is:
Is this just a kind of slang expression or is it a normal term?

Thanks alot in advance


texts: According to this Guardian article, about the book “P is for Pterodactyl: The Worst Alphabet Book Ever”, there is one word in the English language which starts with a silent B. Unfortunately, they don’t tell us which word it is, and I’d quite like to know!


texts: Mentality of a person who repeatedly shifts focus from one subject of study to another

texts:
I am looking for a word which describes the mentality of a person who is inspired to learn something and starts studying, but then quickly moves on to another subject. Such a person shifts focus from one subject to another without making an in-depth study of any one subject.

  You should not have a _______ mentality, shifting from subject to subject.

It would be like trying to find water by digging a well. If you dig ten feet deep and don’t find water, you move to another location, dig another twelve feet, don't find water, again move to another location, dig another fifteen feet, and so on. By this time, you have dug seventy-five feet deep maybe, spread across five or six locations, but you still haven't found water because you have not dug in one place. Maybe you would have gotten water if you had dug twenty-five feet deep, but you will never get to this depth because you move from place to place, site to site.

What is this type of mentality called?


texts:
I wrote this:

  This means that, as with any distributed application, concurrency is key: we have at least one flow of execution per node running concurrently with all others, and [...]

I was told to change it to "is the key". Is that right?


texts: What's the word for something that is purposefully generalised and understated?

texts:
“By the time his arrival was reported, Lindbergh was the world’s hero, and nobody was interested in an Italian who reached his destination at the end of a tow rope.”
Like this example, the Italian guy has a name and did much more than just what was stated. What is this type of tone called? (generalizing the facts + understating the situation) Is there a name for this type of writing? Throughout the book (One Summer: America 1927) this strategy of intensified understatement is used multiple times, but I can't find the word for this kind of tone. It purposefully downplays the exciting scenario while intentionally stripping detail to amplify the contrast, which ends up not being 100% accurate, but funny nonetheless.
Thank you for your help in advance.


texts:
I am looking for a term or an idiomatic expression to refer to a good, experienced lawyer who, in terms of competence and results, is well above average.

The term or the expression can be formal or informal. I've been asked to supply a phrase where to use it. It could be:

  Mr. Smith is a very competent lawyer, he is a [...].


texts:
In a fun discussion, someone used the sentence

  That guy is ballless.

I can see a slang definition on urbandictionary but this led to a question. Are there words with 3 consecutive l's in them (preferably not scientific words, technical words or abbreviations)?


texts: Understanding "Mother of God!" or "Holy Mother of God!"

texts: I have come across this term numerous times and this expression is well used when something unbelievable or shocking happens but I don't understand how Mother of God can imply its meaning. Does refer back to the Bible (or any religious book) or mythological event? How is its very meaning originated?


texts: What do you call a brightly lit spot, especially as a result of reflecting the light source (e.g. sun) off a glassy surface?


texts: How to spell a word that sounds like mewnewsha?

texts: It would fit into this sentence: ...important for the reader to overlook the mewnewsha of details and enjoy ....


texts:
On page 82 of Elizabeth Green's Building a Better Teacher, the second and third paragraph mentions "ed school" a couple of times, what does it mean? Here's the original text--

  An Oxford professor named Harry Judge, touring American ed schools at
  the request of the Ford Foundation, described the university approach
  as “the doctrine of Anything-But.” That is, ed schools were “anything
  but schools of pedagogy,” an ed school professor told Judge.

  The doctrine of Anything-But began with professors. In his final
  report, Judge described how faculty recruitment happened at a
  fictional university he named Waterend—a composite representing the
  elite ed schools he’d toured:


texts: All dictionaries, American and British, have used /ks/ for the transcription of  'cc' in the word ' buccinator'. However,  l have noticed that some medical instructors use /ks/, others use /k/ and a few of them use /s/. My question is: is it correct to use /k/ and /s/. By the way, the medical instructors are native American and British.


texts: “doesn’t it”/“don’t they” with “every” as a determiner

texts: Which of the two is correct: “Every cell phone does that, doesn’t it?” or “Every cell phone does that, don’t they?”


texts:
I've been rereading Heinlein's "Notebooks of Lazarus Long" recently and came across this phrase:

  People who go broke in a big way never miss any meals. It is the poor
  jerk who is shy half a slug who must tighten his belt.

I understand what "shy (of)" means but
I've checked dictionaries and can't figure out what "slug" refers to here. They propose meanings similar to this list:

mollusk
slow/lazy person
bullet or a cylindrical piece of metal
shot of an alcoholic drink

I don't really see any of them fitting here.
From the way it's said it seems to mean something (not very) valuable since the "poor jerk" is not "broke in a big way" but still has to "tighten his belt" = go without a meal or two.

IIRC the original books date from 1950s-60s.
The original book (Time enough for love) was written in the early 1970s.


texts: In the brief passage that I present, is "were awoken" or were awakened" grammatically correct?

texts: Vicky Smith of Snowflake, Arizona, said she was asleep in bed when she and her dogs were awoken by a loud noise.


texts: What's another way of saying "closed the laptop"?

texts:
So I want to say "I angrily closed the laptop." Like this:

Instead of using the quote above, what else can I say?


texts: Adjective for something that puts you on edge?

texts:
For school, I'm taking some online courses, which are graded almost completely by 10 question quizzes that cover each lesson. Any question wrong is a drop of 10%, so it's very important to try to get everything right. Unfortunately, the questions are often quite ambiguous and opinionated, and leave me stuck between two choices.

In describing how I felt taking the quizzes to someone, I had said that they were tantalizing, but after looking the word up to confirm that I had used it correctly, I found that it was a bit off from what I wanted. I think unnerving would be more appropriate, but what would the SE community say is the best way to describe tests like these?


texts: Word to describe someone doing something even though told not to

texts:
I'm looking ideally for a word to describe someone who does something even when they're told not to. Like, if they're told not to do something like a dare, or just to not go and do such-and-such, they will do it. In fact, it will only make them more determined that they can do it.

Examples:

  She was described as ___ because she was told to not go to the party, but did it anyways.

  She was called ___ since her father told her to not do any stupid dares but she didn't listen to him.

  He has a tendency to be ___ - he likes to prove he can do it, despite others telling him he can't.

Thanks for your answers!


texts:
Is there a name for "sts", "sks" and "sps" sounds found in words like "tastes", "tasks", and "wasps"?

I seem to remember someone telling me the name for it.


texts: What is the difference between “submit” and “deposit”?

texts: I am trying to find out the difference between "submit" and "deposit" these words are very confusing when you visit to a bank and somebody ask you "what is the purpose of you to come here and you replied that "I came here to submit a payment" or "I came here to deposit a payment" out of these two sentences which is correct and why?


texts: (Latin) Abbrevation for 'apropos' / 'regarding' / 'with respect to'

texts: I am looking for a convenient abbreviation for the construction of 'with respect to' or 'regarding' or 'apropos'. I used to write "A with respect to B" as "A cf. B" but this is not really correct. Is there a better or proper abbreviation for this ?


texts:
How to express my surprise at the moment?

I am wondering how easy the task is!

or

I wonder how easy the task is!


texts: Why are the pinky and index fingers called the pinky and index fingers?

texts:
The middle finger and ring finger are obvious names for those fingers. The thumb is, well, the thumb, too.

But why is the index finger called the index finger and why is the pinky finger called the pinky finger?

Also, is there another formal name for the pinky finger? I only ask, because the spelling and grammar check on my browser keeps underlining the word "pinky" in red.


texts:
I had the following sentence in mind: "The conflict escalated quite rapidly, as I imagined/predicted would be the case". To my ears, the sentence sounds good, and a moderate amount of people have already used the phrases "as I imagined would be the case" and "as I predicted would be the case" before. However, I'm still concerned and not fully convinced about its grammaticality. Here are a few possible alternatives that should be "more grammatical" in my opinion:

As I imagined/predicted the case to be [...]
As I imagined/predicted that the case would be [...]
As I imagined/predicted what the case would be like [...]
As what I imagined/predicted the case would be like [...]
As what I imagined/predicted that the case would be like [...]
As what I imagined/predicted the case to be like [...]

Unfortunately, none of these alternatives returns significant hits in Google search, as I imagined would be the case (pun totally intended).
Is the phrase  "as I imagined would be the case" grammatically correct and why?

Answering to comments:
Yes. That said, it's hard to explain why without having an argument to counter. Why do you think it's not grammatical?
You imagine or predict something. So, according to this logic, the phrase should be answering the question I imagined/predicted what? I imagined/predicted what the case would be like. So now that I think of it, the most grammatical version of the phrase IMO should be "as I imagined/predicted what the case would be like, [...]", although it sounds quite convoluted to be honest. The phrase "as I imagined would be the case" omits what, like and inverts the relative order between the case and would be. Are all those changes grammatical?

What about the adverb as?
As describes an event by comparing it to something else. So a phrase that begins with as should be answering the question: as what? As what I imagined/predicted that the case would be like. That's the version that makes the most grammatical sense to me. But, of course, nobody uses it :-)


texts: I am curious as to whether there is a noun or some other, more suitable expression for that group of people which shares my personality type. I often use 'people with same traits or personality'.


texts: Are English diphthongs nasalized before nasals?

texts:
I learned that vowels are often nasalized before nasals (Nasalization). It means that the velum is lowered when the vowel is produced in the mouth and most of the air comes out through nose. For example, the [a] in the word "man" is nasalized because it comes before the nasal [n]. We mark nasalization by a tilde over the nasalized vowel.
"Man" = [mãn]
I didn't find any information about diphthongs nasalization and I wonder if they are nasalized before nasals.
For example, the diphthong [aɪ] comes before a nasal in the word "mine". Is it nasalized? If it is, how should I represent it?
[mãɪ̃n] or [maɪ̃n]?
Which vowel between the two vowels of a diphthong is nasalized? And where should the tilde go?
There are some disagreements in the comments. I believe most people here confused my question with "spelling", which is not my concern. This is IPA transcription, not spelling. French has nasalized vowels in "spelling" so that's completely different.


texts: Must a coordinating clause always have a subject?

texts:
E.g.,

  (1) You are getting yourselves into a very dangerous situation; get out of there at once.

The imperative following the first clause has an implied subject, so would this mean it is a coordinating clause? If the above sentence was coordinated with so, would that change the status of the clause?

  (2) You should wear a suit, a clean shirt and a tie for the interview, and be punctual.

Is and be punctual a coordinating clause?

  (3) Worcester is a very sought after porcelain, and is regarded as the finest of the period by many experts.

The following clause of this sentence contains a passive structure with an implied subject, so does this make it a full coordinating clause? How would the status of the sentence change if by many experts were omitted?


texts: What do you call a person who makes maille?

texts:
What do you call a person who makes maille (chainmail)? Would they be just be called an armor smith, or is there a more specific term that is widely accepted? I have heard "chain mailer", and while most people would understand, it is not a term I would consider very accurate, since many people consider "chain mail" wrong, and prefer "maille" or "mail". Is there a more accurate or historically correct term that I can use? Is "mailmaker" usable?
An example usage would be: "I have a friend who is a ________, and he made a hauberk for me."


texts: What is the correct way to respond to sender with full name

texts:
I recently received an email I need to respond to, but I am unsure of the correct way to address the sender.

Dear Mr Sayse,
[ . . . email body . . . ]
Regards
Joe Bloggs

Is it correct to respond with the sender’s first name, or should it be in the same format as it was in the original email?
That is, which of these should it be:

Dear Mr Bloggs
Dear Joe

This is a formal email to be sent to someone I will be paying quite a substantial sum of money.
I suspect it should be the former but would like to make sure..


texts: Considering that a kitten is a young cat by itself, is it grammatically correct to say "baby kitten"? Or is "baby kitten" awkward as it would mean something like "baby young cat"?


texts: Need alternative phrases to "calendar week" and "calendar month"

texts:
We may be familiar with the terms "calendar month" and "lunar month". The former refers specifically to a month as it begins and ends on the calendar. The latter, by contrast, refers to the span of time between new moons--regardless of the dates of those days on the calendar. Is there a phrase which denotes a month which is simply any period of thirty days?

More importantly (for what I am writing), a "calendar week" is the seven-day period as it appears on the calendar (e.g. in the USA from Sunday through Saturday). Is there another phrase which denotes a week as any seven-day long period? (I was thinking it might be called a "common week", but I'm not sure where I got that from.)


texts: Where should "a lot" be placed in a sentence?

texts:
Which of these is right?

I like to play with my dog a lot.
I like a lot to play with my dog.
I like to play a lot with my dog.
Any of the above.

I mean, where does a lot go in there? I searched but didn’t find the answer.


texts: How would you describe the technique/etiquette or "do's and don'ts" of having a conversation?

texts: I'm trying to find a good word to describe "things to do" while having a conversation with someone. For example, you would want to make eye contact, affirm your speaker, and not check emails on your smart phone. These simple examples, to me, appear like etiquette. However I feel that word etiquette is really only used for "good or acceptable" manners. If I were to add conversation techniques, tips, or tricks, then I feel that I'm outside the scope of etiquette, and really need a word that combines the two together.


texts: When playing videos with slow connectivity from YouTube, I often pause the video to allow the loaded video portion to grow.  I was wondering if any of the technophiles could weigh in on a possible term for this practice. It seems to me that  preloading could work, but I figured I could ask about a better term.


texts:
So, I'm having trouble working out whether or not the title of a literary work should be surrounded by commas. This is because most grammar guides, including the Chicago Manual of Style, which I use, assert that all restrictive clauses must not be surrounded by commas. They even give the following example: 'O'Neill's play The Hairy Ape was being revived'.

However, I have found examples in published works that suggest otherwise -- in Witches' Companion: The Official Guide to Anne Rice's Lives of the Mayfair Witches I found the phrase 'William Blake's collection, Songs of Innocence and Experience'. And yes, Blake published multiple collections.

In summary: Are the sentences 'William Blake's collection, Songs of Innocence and Experience,' and "William Blake's collection Songs of Innocence and Experience' both equally grammatically correct? If so, why? It would seem to me that the clause is clearly restrictive therefore, if the Chicago Manual of Style is to be believed, this is a grammatical inconsistency.


texts: "What does it mean?" vs. "What does that mean?" — what's the difference?

texts:
I tried to find an answer to this question. But no luck. Can somebody explain it to me? An American friend of mine said, "I've never heard about 'What does it mean?', I've always used 'What does that mean?'". My other English friend said: "It depends on context." I asked, what context? He tried to explain but couldn't. So now I'm asking you:

What is the difference between "What does it mean?" and "What does that mean?" in common speech?


texts:
Which of these are correct, and why? Suggestions for rephrasing it are also welcome.

[noun] was developed independently of [noun]
[noun] was developed independently from [noun]
[noun] was developed, independent of [noun]


texts: Usage of "to" in "I've got some slides to talk to"

texts:
In Lucy Kellaway’s 2012 Golden flannel Award, the Preposition Award is given to a usage of to.

  But the winner is the innocuous word “to” as increasingly heard in presentations: “I’ve got some slides to talk to” – the unfortunate implication being that the speaker has to talk to the slides because no one else is listening.

Am I right in thinking that the speaker originally intended to mean some images for projection on a screen? If so, what is the appropriate preposition in this sentence. “About” perhaps? Is this usage of to really often heard?


texts:
In the King James Version of the Bible, I Corinthians 11:24 says (emphasis mine):

  And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. >>I Cor 11:24 (KJV)

Why did the KJV translators use "brake" as the past tense for break instead of broke? Every other version/translation of the Bible uses "broke" in that verse. I tried googling brake but it only comes up with the typical definitions such as a brake on a car, not a past tense for break. And googling for the past tense for break also came up empty.

I seem to recall hearing a long time ago that there was no real English translation for the unique type of conjugation used in the original text (Hebrew?); so they used brake. But I have no confirmation of that.

Is there any insight to etymology of brake in this context and why KJV uses brake while every other translation uses broke?


texts:
What's the correct way to pronounce 'dogged' ("He was dogged"/"dogged pursuit")? Is the 'e' silent or a schwa? Is it the same for the past of 'to dog' and for the adjective?
(What I tried so far: I asked Google translate to pronoune "He was dogged" and the e was silent; I looked it up in Merriam Webster's and it says the e is a schwa, but only for the adjective... I trust Merriam Webster's more than Google, but I still can't rule out that maybe the adjective is different than the past tense of the verb...)


texts: More than 1000 gallons of paint is/are sold each day

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  Plural/singular verb agreement with units
  Does modifying a collective noun with a number make the subject plural?

Can anyone help me determine the correct verb in this sentence? I am not sure what to do. If it were not such a complex introductory phrase, it would be more obvious. The general consensus of my friends who are not professional writers is that the verb should be are.

To me the question is whether or not the subject is singular (i.e., “a large collective volume of paint”, perhaps in a tank) or plural (a lot of the individual gallon containers of paint).

If simplified to other options, it would be like these:

Paint is sold.
Gallons of paint are sold.
More paint is sold.
More gallons of paint are sold.
More than 1000 gallons of paint is sold. [emphasis on total volume]
More than 1000 gallons of paint are sold. [emphasis on individual containers]


texts: We say "I will contact you by letter", but we say "He was knocked down by a bus". Why is "letter" not preceded by an article?


texts: English expression to describe the monotony of a worker's life

texts: I'm looking for an English equivalent of the French expression “métro-boulot-dodo”. A word-for-word translation is “underground(subway)-job-sleep”. The overall idea is to describe the monotonous routine of a life with nothing beyond working, sleeping, and the minimum transition between the two. Is there a word or informal phrase that is used for this in English?


texts:
Is there a word for the degree of how much a system of equations is underdetermined?

Does the word

  underdetermanancy

exist? I also found

  underdetermination

but it seems to be a philosophical term.

Background: The values of a system of (say) 100 variables is in general determined by at least 100 equations. If you just have 99 equations the system is slightly underdetermined. If you just have a few equations its highly underdetermined.

Edit

In other words: Is there a word for the ratio (number of equations)/(number of variables)?


texts: Does it make sense, literarily, to speak of a "smiling sun"?

texts: I am writing a short story in which I have hitherto exploited several literary techniques to portray a bright and beautiful sun in the paleness of a blue sky. To retract from employing the same techniques exhaustively, I have tried to describe the sun as a "smiling" one in the endeavour to portray its beauty and brightness and the general positive atmosphere of the setting. I was wondering if such a description makes sense.


texts: Is there a word that denotes the process by which a new leader is selected?

texts:
I'm looking for a word that describes the process by which a leader is chosen. I would use "election", but that word contains too much information about the details of the process. I need something that doesn't refer to any particular way of going about the selection process - a general term that encompasses election, appointment, coup d'etat, etc.

Ideally, I'd like something that has both noun and verb forms. A technical, niche, or uncommon word would be okay, but an excessively long word would not be very useful.

One of my intended use cases has the verb form appearing on its own in command form, as a single-word sentence. Another case I have in mind is to use the noun form in a sentence such as, "When members of government realize the old leader is incapable of leading, they begin {the selection process}."


texts:
I was wondering how you are supposed to use commas after full dates in AP style.
I've been told to always put a comma after the year, like in the sentence:

On April 4th, 2012, I found a cat.

However, I thought the following might be an exception:

April 4th, 2012 brought the death of my cat.

Notice how there's no comma after "2012."  My teacher disagreed and told me that the AP style dictates that we always put commas after dates like that.
The way I reasoned through it is by replacing the dates with the word "Monday"

On Monday, I found a cat.
Monday brought the death of my cat.

And you wouldn't write

Monday, brought the death of my cat.

TL;DR
Which one is correct?

April 4th, 2012 brought the death of my cat.

or

April 4th, 2012, brought the death of my cat.


texts: Origin of “as all get out” meaning “to the utmost degree”

texts:
At reference.com, all get out is glossed as “in the extreme; to the utmost degree”, and at   thefreedictionary.com as

  an unimaginably large amount; “British say ‘it rained like billyo’ where Americans say ‘it rained like all get out’”

Of get-out, etymonline.com says only “to indicate a high degree of something, attested from 1838”.   A thread at ask.metafilter.com includes several speculations about the origin of the phrase “as all get-out” but I think has little or no convincing evidence to support any of the theories.

Is there any good evidence about the origin of this phrase?


texts: "Welcome to Q&A for ..." or "Welcome to a Q&A site for ..."?

texts:
There's a question on Meta Stack Overflow about whether the current text for the welcome banner is grammatically correct.

It currently reads:

  Welcome to Q&A for [site description]

Apparently, a lot of people consider that grammatically incorrect and would prefer this:

  Welcome to a Q&A site for [site description]

Is one "more right" than the other?


texts: What is non-borrowed English word meaning "calculate", "compute", "count"?

texts: What is non-borrowed native English word meaning "calculate", "compute", "count"? What was the word for these things in Old English?


texts: What are these? These are / they are penguins

texts: So, imagine that someone points at some penguins that are close to us and asks me : "What are these?". Should I answer with a "These are penguins" Or "They are penguins". I feel like I should say "They are penguins". But now imagin that that person is pointing at some computers, in that case I feel like I should say "These are computers" instead of "They are computers" because computers are objects and penguins are living creatures. Am I right on making that assumption? And I guess I have the same question with questions using "those".


texts: Idiom Meaning "Ready to Correct One's Mistake"

texts:
I'm looking for a concise way to describe this situation:

  Person A compliments B's team at a competition. But B does not respond to this compliment gracefully, even though it means a lot to him. B senses that doing this has hurt A, but pride or shyness get in the way of him clearing the air with A about this for a while. When B works up what's needed to talk to A, unforeseen circumstances change B's plans and he loses touch with A. Years pass, but B continues to feel an urge to fix his mistake. B does not actively seek to fix it (aside from learning from it), but if the opportunity to do so presents itself he has told himself to take it.

One idiom I've considered is turning over a new leaf. But this phrase seems better for a personality overhaul than for repairing one mistake.

Is there a word/idiom/phrase (WIP) to describe a person who would leap if given the chance to correct a specific mistake he made?

Edit: I have received some great answers, but I've realized I have one more condition I'm looking for: I'd prefer a casual/conversational WIP. Thanks!


texts: Can something or someone "garner attention"?

texts: I'd like to express something using an analogy of a cat vs. dog fighting because they want to garner attention. The dog wants attention vs. the cat wanting attention. Does it make sense to say "garner attention"?


texts: Can we use the term 'HOT SUN'. I am always confused if the term 'hot' can be used with sun. Eg: I don't want to go out in this hot sun.


texts: what are the difference between 'learn' and 'study'?

texts:
Should I be when to use 'learn' and  not 'study'?

eg. " I am learning  how to love a person. " is right ?

Or , i should say:"I am studying how to love a person."

I understand, thank you everyone!


texts:
Is it okay in an informal conversation to say a number digit by digit?

For example, is it okay to say "two five six kilobytes" instead of "two hundred and fifty-six kilobytes"?


texts:
In article ‘How To Use the “Seven Deadly Sins” to Turn Visitors into Customers’ in the Smashing Magazine the autor used the word ‘front up’:

  Showing off your customers. People want to use tools that big brands use. SEOmoz does a great job of fronting up the logos of famous companies that pay for their tools, with a simple call to action prompting you to be as successful as these top brands. This entices users to try this tool: “I want to use something big brands use.”

I don't know he is a native but I have not found the proper definition. Did he use it right or simply made a mistake?


texts: What's "exchange dark looks with somebody" mean

texts:
I've read a sentence "He exchanged dark looks with his wife". But I cannot understand what does the expression "exchange dark looks" mean even though  looking up for dictionaries.

I'll appreicate that if you could help me.


texts: What is the word for a person who is over reverential to authority figures in general or scientists in particular?

texts:
I am thinking of someone who believes that the government would never lie to the population, that scientists are always right about everything, and cannot possibly be wrong about anything, and shows such utmost faith in figures they consider to be authorities.

As an example on scientists, group A did an experiment and announced their results. Group B then did another experiment and announced that group A was wrong. Later it turned out that group B had misunderstood what group A had said, and group A were right.

To my mind group B were simply wrong when they said that group A was wrong. But because this person believes that scientists can never be wrong, they insist that group B was not wrong when they said group A was wrong, but were "correct given their knowledge at that time."

Similarly when the senior scientist told Whittle that his idea for a jet engine would never work, that scientist wasn't wrong to say that, he was "correct given his knowledge at that time." To me this person treats authority figures in general, and scientists in particular like infallible gods who are never wrong, and in order not to admit that the scientists can be wrong they resort to this "they weren't wrong, they were correct given knowledge at that time" excuse as if being wrong through lack of knowledge stops someone from being wrong.

So the word I want is for use in a sentence like

  You are a xxxxxxxx.

I'm thinking it might be something like authoritydeist, authoritytheist, scientistdeist or scientisttheist, but I can't find such a word on the internet.

I want a term that someone like a psychologist or psychiatrist might use that would have some scientific gravitas. I don't want to insult the person so much as point out that their behaviour is sufficiently weird to warrant a scientific label.

If there is no such word is there a brief phrase, "authority worshipper" and "scientist worshipper" sound too clumsy and I want something more technical, like "technophobe" rather than "technology hater".


texts: does within mean near the parameters or at the exact spot?

texts: For example, "tape or tab shut within 1" of lead/trail edge" mean at exactly 1" or near the 1"? Would being 2" from the edge be acceptable because it just means to not go over the 1" or does it have to be at exactly that 1" mark?


texts: I watched her become a mother vs I watched her becoming a mother

texts: Which one has more correct way to put, and what are the differences found on those two sentences?


texts:
I want to know about the origin of the compound adjective devil-may-care:

  Cheerful and reckless:
  light-hearted, devil-may-care young pilots

All OED has is

  The exclamation devil may care! used as an attribute.

And etymonline.com says:

  1837 (but suggested in other forms by 1793).

The earliest relevant result that I could find on Google Books was from 1823, and it was used there as an exclamation:

So where did this exclamation come from?


texts: Can you explain to me the workings of the phrasal verb "vector in" in the sentence "The insurgents are already vectoring in from the east"?

texts:
I think I sorta understood the meaning of it (or maybe I didn't), but I'd still rather a clear definition.

This sentence is composed by the very first words in the short story The Colonel, in case some more context is needed.

Thank you for taking the time to read my request.


texts: It was set to that time, exactly when .. - is this a time clause?

texts:
Watching Rick and Morty, I heard the following:

  There is a timer set to 10 minutes from now, exactly when we would
  have left.

I would think that this might be tense-shifted from "will have left" as the clause is about time - although I cannot tell for sure and hence my question.
If I am wrong, why is this construction (would+past infinitive) used here?

What about:

  There is a timer set to 10 minutes from now, exactly when we have
  left.

Is it not the same? I am expressing that those 10 minutes expire and by then, we will have left.


texts: How do I change passive voice to active?

texts:
The C# language will be used to test and create the application.

How would I remove the passive voice in this sentence?


texts: What's the difference between "surprise someone" and "take someone by surprise"?

texts:
"take someone by surprise" is defined as "surprise someone". But then why would you use one over the other?

1a.  "She bolted into the room and surprised them" vs.

1b.  "She bolted into the room and took them by surprise"

2a. "The extent of the outbreak in South Korea has taken many by surprise -- mainly because the virus has not been shown to spread easily between humans" vs.

2b. "The extent of the outbreak in South Korea surprised them -- mainly because the virus has not been shown to spread easily between humans "

In other words, what is the additional effect that the phrase "take someone by surprise" has that the construction "surprise someone" lacks?  I feel "take someone by surprise" sounds more official, but I might be wrong.


texts: Term to describe the phenomenon of people starting conversations when you're about to leave

texts:
As suggested by the title, I am looking for a term to describe the well-known (?) phenomenon, that some people often start quite lengthy conversations with someone standing in a doorway about to leave. I am sure I came across such a term some time ago, but cannot find it now.

Thanks in advance!


texts: The meaning of "to be x years out from putting two and two together"

texts: During a conversation someone said that he is x years out from putting two and two together with gadolinium poisoning. What is the meaning of "to be x years out from"? I know the meaning of "putting two and two together" ... Thanks!


texts: How natural "Get It!" is usage-wise, when used as an imperative?

texts:
A friend of mine uses "Get It!" (actually, he writes "get it!!!") as an imperative, especially when threatening someone.
Ex. If you don't come, I'll beat you up. Get it!

Is it grammatically correct?
Does this usage seem natural to native-speakers?
Would "Get it?" be more appropriate than "Get it!" in the aforementioned example?


texts: What do you call the space where you park a car? Parking spot, space, bay or what?

texts:
I am looking for the correct/common way to call the single spaces which are generally clearly visibile  in parking lots   as you can see from the picture:

I would probably call them "parking slots," but I am not sure if that is correct and I could not find any reference apart from this one, which clearly refers to a different context.

According to the Collins Dictionary a
parking bay is:

  a space in a car park designed to be large enough to park a vehicle in

Any reference to American English or British English would be appreciated.


texts:
The sentence is this:

“two of the people I met were a sweet couple who wanted to move to the countryside.”

I have two questions.

Do I match “were/was” to “two of the people I met” or to “a sweet couple”?

If I need to match to “a sweet couple” do I take the couple as a single entity and use the singular case or do I need to consider the couple as more than one and use the plural case?


texts:
Which preposition is to be used in a phrase like:

  An object is mounted [in/on/?] the ceiling in the car.

and

  An object is mounted between the front windows [in/on/?] the ceiling.


texts: Is "right to collect" a phrase that acts as a noun?

texts: Some business folks have asked us to name an "entity" as "Right to Collect." We need entity names to be nouns. To me "Right to Collect" doesn't sound like a noun. What would you best describe this phrase as?


texts: Why was the subject and verb inverted in a declarative sentence?

texts:
Preface: I ask only about the syntax and not semantics; I comprehend the meaning behind the following quote (for a paraphrase in 20C English; see p 27 of 35), but I am inexperienced with Early Modern English syntax.

Source: Section 12, Part 1, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding (1748) by D Hume

  There is a species of scepticism, antecedent to all study and philosophy, which is much inculcated by Des Cartes and others, as a sovereign preservative against error and precipitate judgement. It recommends an universal doubt, not only of all our former opinions and principles, but also of our very faculties; of whose veracity, say they, we must assure ourselves, by a chain of reasoning, deduced from some original principle, which cannot possibly be fallacious or deceitful. But neither is there any such original principle, which has a prerogative above others, that are self-evident and convincing: or if there were, could we advance a step beyond it, but by the use of those very faculties, of which we are supposed to be already diffident. The Cartesian doubt, therefore, were it ever possible to be attained by any human creature (as it plainly is not) would be entirely incurable; and no reasoning could ever bring us to a state of assurance and conviction upon any subject.

Please see the bold above: Why might have Hume inverted the subject and modal auxiliary verb?

My conjecture: Is that declarative statement (with the bolded) meant as a rhetorical question? I am unsure because if so, would Hume have concluded it with a question mark?

PS: Initially I did not notice the significance of 'neither', but the comments and answer have since motivated me to bold it.


texts:
I was reading something on MSDN (Microsoft Developer Network) and I saw this and made me confused:

  Although variables passed as an out arguments need not be initialized
  prior to being passed, the calling method is required to assign a
  value before the method returns.

What I would like to learn whether "calling method" means the method which calls another method or the method which is being called by main method?

If you'd love to see more about the context, you are very welcome to visit this page: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/t3c3bfhx(v=vs.80).aspx

It is important since it changes the meaning a lot.

And also for more information to me, I would love to learn what it is called in grammar? Gerunds maybe?


texts: I heard it in a recent TV episode. Someone walks with a limp (probably a ruptured Achilles' heel), and the doctor mentions that he had the accident “blowing a dismount on a keg stand”.


texts:
I'm studying English for 10 months. I suppose myself to know it quite well now. But I'm confused about one thing. I noticed that some of my English speaking friends sometimes ask

  "Don't you tired/hungry/etc?"

Is this normal/grammatically correct to make such questions? Because I've googled by phrases and found quite a lot of examples of using such questions?

Here are some examples:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=D6IUow9g_1g (the last comment by noangelsaroundme);
http://about-ukraine.net/last-february-for-ukraine.html (chapter "February 16")
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20121224104020AA0tWKv (question title)


texts:
Is there a measurable difference in meaning between the phrases "to a degree" and "to an extent" (or "to some degree" and "to some extent")?

Examples:

To [some degree / some extent] that is a better solution.
To [a degree / an extent], she is correct.

Just a matter of a style, or are there different connotations?


texts:
By looking at Oxford's Dictionary, the definition of Storage is pretty straight-forward:

  The action or method of storing something for future use.

But it confuses me on some aspects, for example

  Cooper had put much of the furniture into storage

That means that Cooper stored furniture, and that's ok.

If Cooper's responsibility is always to store, what does this make him? I thought of the words Storager or Storer, but couldn't find a definition for either of those in a dictionary, and I don't actually know if the nomenclature is correct.

So, for a phrase like

  Cooper stores furniture very well, he's a really good ...

What should I call Cooper?


texts:
What is the meaning of "traction back" in the sentence below?

  The salt and ice challenge gained traction back in 2012.


texts: How do I phrase my sentence correctly (predictions of/from/by)?

texts:
I am not an English native and new to StackExchange.

I have difficulties determining the correct wording for a sentence with "predict":

  ... the weather forecast is compared to predictions of/from/by various models.

Any help is highly appreciated.


texts: What's the original/most used variant of "If I had a [dollar/dime/quarter/penny] for every time ____ "?

texts:
I hear this a lot, even in songs, e.g.

  If I had a bill for all the philosophies I shared

  If I had a penny for all the possibilities I presented

  If I had a dime for every hand thrown up in the air

  My wealth would render this no less severe

I guess it started with one of such variant, and everybody then just began using the others. Am I correct? Which variant is the original or the most used one? Or is it just randomly equivalent?


texts: "Would you mind and do something" in nonstandard colloquial AmEng

texts:
Does Would you mind and do something instead of Would you mind doing something sound acceptable in spoken AmEng, or is it an attempt to imitate or render colloquial speech in not so formal writing?

Would you mind and provide the phone number connected on the account? source
Would you mind and tell us what you've tried. source
Would you mind and not steal my Sig. source
Would you mind and not repeat that to anyone.


texts: When and how did "pretty" enter English as an intensifying adverb?

texts:
Today I saw an idiomatic road sign: "Pretty Muddy". I found this lack of strict English on a road sign unusual (on par with my "Dead Slow" official speed limit sign in Leeds, pic below), but as it turned out it's a charity race and the signs were merely directions.

This got me thinking however, how do words like "pretty" and "dead" as  intensifying adverbs end up in English? Taking "pretty" as an example, when did this first appear?

I wonder how fast you have to be going before they stop you. How would this hold up in court?


texts: What does "it" refer to in "it's raining"?

texts:
I wanted to leave the question title as is so as not to take away from my amusement :).

Anyway,

  It's raining.

What is raining? Is it the sky? The clouds? The weather? The rain? What is "it"? Any historical insights on the statement?


texts: The introduction of manmade structures in the etymology of harbor

texts:
In a Stackexchange post, a commenter offers a distinction between ports and harbors:

  Or to put it another way, "harbor" is a description of the natural
  geography, while "port" is something made by people.

  Emphasis mine

I can wholeheartedly affirm that a port is manmade in any nautical sense of its definition, but I have a question about the claim that harbor is an intrinsically natural phenomenon.

The current usage of *harbor* seems to favor manmade structures without foreclosing the possibility of natural harbors:

  A place on the coast where vessels may find shelter, especially one
  protected from rough water by piers, jetties, and other artificial
  structures:

  OED (American English)Emphasis Mine

Various popular posts make the distinction between natural harbors and manmade harbors. So there is no doubt the current usage accepts both.

This question of manmade structures in harbor is not simplified by the apparent broadening of port to converge as a synonym of harbor:

  NOUN

  1 A town or city with a harbor where ships load or unload, especially
  one where customs officers are stationed.

  1.1 A harbor:

  OED (American English)

Examining the etymology of harbor with my limited tools doesn't create a definitive notion of manmade structures, but seems to imply them strongly in the types of manmade shelters described by OE herebeorg:

  "lodging for ships," early 12c.,

  probably from Old English herebeorg "lodgings, quarters,"

  from here "army, host" (see harry) + beorg "refuge, shelter" (related
  to beorgan "save, preserve;" see bury);

  perhaps modeled on Old Norse herbergi "room, lodgings, quarters."

  Sense shifted in Middle English to "refuge, lodgings," then to "place
  of shelter for ships."

In an unrelated Stackexchange post, reference is made to more etymological data, which seems to confirm my theory: manmade structures were the English implication well before the word received a nautical application, but I have not been able to confirm the source material of that claim either.

Accepting the current dual usage as the status quo, what linguistic evidence might support the claim that harbor is rooted in natural phenomena, and if there is evidence for that, what linguistic event or process introduced the current emphasis on manmade structures.

Let me emphasize again, this is not a question about acceptable current usage!