texts: Earliest printed record of the phrase "in the blink of an eye"?

texts:
I cannot trace the origin of the phrase "in the blink of an eye," neither the earliest printed record of the expression.
Surprisingly, even the Google Ngram Viewer returns a "NO" result. How come?


texts: Is there any difference in verb tense after the phrase "Isn't it about time you"

texts:
Isn't it about time you left the hospital?

vs

Isn't it about time you leave the hospital?

or

Isn't it about time you forgave yourself?

vs

Isn't it about time you forgive yourself?


texts: Where did "I'm Jonesing" get its meaning from?

texts:
I'm Jonesing for a little Ganja, mon... I'm jonesing for a little soul food, brother...

(verb) jonesed; jonesing; joneses
to have a strong desire or craving for something

(Merriam Webster)

Where did "I'm jonesing" come from?


texts: Can the expression "fully booked" be used metaphorically legitimately?

texts:
I'm an illustrator. Can I say "I'm fully booked" to mean that my schedule is full?

I've always heard the booked verb applied to "performative" professions: Models, event planners, singers, etc. Never for pure service and creation-oriented occupations as on-site technical support providers or painters. You book a model. You don't book a writer.

If this expression isn't appropriate, how else could I word that "schedule" sentence without being so passive or mouthful?


texts:
I read these sentences in "The life of Samuel Johnson":

  JOHNSON: You HAVE Lord Kames. Keep him; ha, ha, ha! We don't envy you him. Do you ever see Dr. Robertson?
  BOSWELL: Yes, Sir.
  JOHNSON: Does the dog talk of me?
  BOSWELL: Indeed, Sir, he does, and loves you.

Does "dog" in this context mean the person Dr. Robertson, or is there an archaic meaning to imply best friend?


texts: Why is the syllable division in "experience" different from its pronunciation

texts: Why is the syllable division in the word "experience" ex-pe-ri-ence, and not ex-per-i-ence?


texts: Adjective to describe something that has "reached the cooked point"?

texts:
When water reached the boiled point, you say "the waiter boiled." How about food that reaches its cooking point?

Example sentence:

  Like __ clams, her eyes snapped open.


texts: What is the word for doing an act and not knowing you're doing it until its done?

texts:
Like standing in one area of a room and then the next thing you know you’re across the room stuck in a weird fighting stance position, Because you were taking something from someone and you didn't realize you were doing this until they called your name.
Kind of feels like you were going through a tunnel.
Like unintentional tunnel vision.


texts:
Quote from a grammar book: "My parents are both teachers so you'd imagine I'd have no trouble at all academically."

I think using would in "I'd have no trouble...." is wrong because it is neither imaginary nor unlikely situation.  In other words, the speaker is not likely to have an academic trouble.

Please tell me whether I am right.


texts: What is the sound of cutlery dropped on a plate or table?

texts:
I can't find the answer to this question anywhere. It's un-google-able.
I am writing a script and the character's "facial expression changes from confusion to rage. He drops his fork with a loud clank (that’s not the word) against the plate [...].
Any ideas are much appreciated!!


texts: passwords memory test versus passwords test memory

texts:
Many letters...

English is largely accurate and analytical language, there is a word order, in contrast to Russian (we are talking about nouns and adjectives, I'm not talking about verbs now). Many people think that "passwords memory test" is a standard form, because each dependent word is located to the left of its main word.

This “rule” has an exception: dependent words with their own prepositions are placed to the right of the main one. This is necessary to avoid confusion and to show different meanings. For example: the largest building in the town (the largest town building) versus the largest in the town building. This is understandable, but the "passwords test memory" has no prepositions, and you can paste it into Google and you will see that it is used by well-known media quite often. What is my question: are "passwords memory test" and "passwords test memory" absolutely identical forms or the second has some stylistic coloring? But when a native speaker reversed the words in this construction, did he mean something consciously / unconsciously?

I started learning English recently, before that I studied Chinese, but my native language is Russian. There are many grammar books on the Internet, but little about syntax. Maybe someone knows good books specifically on the syntax and style of English (preferably in Russian or English)?


texts: A problem of the use of the Past Perfect tense in a complex sentense

texts:
Once there was a question on StackExchange about the reason for using Past Perfect with the verb "ask" in the pattern:

I wanted to order something on the Internet. I had asked for a new password when I realised that I had lost it. But I haven't got it yet.

Still it has been left unanswered.
Could someone explain it?


texts: What is the difference between I used to vs I'm used to?

texts: May I know what is the difference between I used to vs I'm used to? I have seen both of these words on various media. So please tell me?


texts:
Is either of these forms more accurate than the other, do they share the same implication?

A:

  A diagram that represents the movement of the ball.

B:

  A diagram representing the movement of the ball.


texts: Is there a proper name for a sentence that assigns a noun to another noun?

texts: Let's say I have a sentence about a person who works for a company. I might say something along the lines of "Jim is an employee." In this sentence, "Jim" is effectively being assigned the role of "employee." Is there a technical term for what the word "employee" would be in the context of this sentence?


texts: Is it okay to pluralize the word "status"?

texts:
Am I using the plural noun statuses correctly in the following sentence given that each of them has a distinct status?

"Both the girl and the guy are hiding their social statuses from each other."

Should I say status instead?


texts: Which sentence is correct? Using suggest or suggests in a sentence

texts:
I was wondering which sentence is correct:
"Koenig and Eagly suggests that that stereotype formation is perceived by relying on schemas of what people perceive as typical of a group..."

or

"Koenig and Eagly suggest that that stereotype formation is perceived by relying on schemas of what people perceive as typical of a group..."

Please help, I'm still confused with subject verb agreements and sentence fragmentation.

Thanks!


texts: British and other English variants of 'write to me' - 'write me''

texts:
In British English, the standard is 'write to me'. In American English the standard is 'write me'.
Similar variants exist with 'out of the window' and 'out the window'.
When did the dropping of prepositions start happening?
Are there any historical or regional influences? If so, do you know of any research that has been done on these?
Finally, which version do other forms of English (eg Australian) use?


texts: Giving suggestion, you tell her, "It's relived you asked me before you do something on your own. " how would you say?

texts:
I'd like to ask about this specific situation.
My friend is going to open her own restaurant in town.
Last time I talked to her, she was still looking for renting the space.
So I ask her "how's it going", then she told me that she's going to open this week, but she just have to pick an opening time, such as on Friday night or on Saturday afternoon.
But when it comes to "picking an opening day", I know it's my special expertise.
So I want to tell her to open on Saturday afternoon, because I think it's when all family would go out for something to eat.
In this situation, I'd want to insult something that "It's glad you I ask you "how's it going", because if I didn't, you would never know when is the best time to open the store"
In English, do you have something specific to say in this situation?
Thank you!


texts: Relative pronoun "in which" vs. relative adverb "where" II

texts:
I am confused by why the following sentence is connected with "in which".

The term "applied mathematics" also describes the professional specialty in which mathematicians work on practical problems by formulating and studying mathematical models.

Why this sentence can be  connected by using "in which"?
Also I learned that "[preposition] + [which]" can be substituted by relative adverbs. For example, "This is a house in which I live" is equal to "This is a house where I live". The sentence can be divided into "This is a house" & "I live in the house.", and it is easy to concatenate with relative clauses.
So adding to the question, can in which be replaced with "where"?
If you are familiar with mathematics, I also ask that if "We define the function f by f(x)=ax+b, where a and b are constants." can be substituted by in which?


texts: Use "have" or "has" any/anyone/anything in the question?

texts:
Similar to this question, is it correct to use have or has with any* (any/anything/anyone/...) in a question?

Examples:

Have/Has any of my advices help you?
Have/Has anyone of you seen it?

Does it depend on the context, or is there a general rule?


texts: Hyphenation (end-of-line division) of "Germany" and some other common words

texts:
I am currently trying to build a database of English words and their hyphenations (end-of-line divisions) (en-US, if it matters), and thereby have come across some words which I have found contradicting hyphenations for. If those words were exotic, I would not be wondering about it, but some of them are frequently used. For example:

Germany: Merriam-Webster - Ger-ma-ny; Hunspell (which by far is the most dominant spell checker and hyphenator in the open source scene, driving applications like LibreOffice, OpenOffice, Firefox, Thunderbird and the like) - Ger-many
freely: Merriam-Webster - free-ly; Hunspell - freely
rapid: Merriam-Webster - rap-id; Hunspell - rapid

I have read a lot of articles (most of them on this site) about hyphenation. The general consensus seems to be that we should look up the respective word and its hyphenation in authoritative sources. But what if those sources contradict each other?

Another advice which often was given was that we just should hyphenate between syllables. Since I am not a native English speaker, this is extremely difficult for me. While I would have done it right with Germany and freely, I would never have done it right with rapid (in my world, it would have been ra-pid).

I always have considered the Oxford English Dictionary to be the most authoritative English dictionary. Imagine my surprise when I saw that they neither show hyphenation nor syllabication. The Wiktionary does show hyphenation, but only for some words; the examples mentioned above, being very common words, are not among them, so it's worthless in this respect.

Could somebody please give me a hint what I should do if two important sources which both can (somehow) be considered authoritative show contradicting hyphenations, and even more important, could somebody please tell me if there is a reliable method to identify words which are suspect in this respect in the first place?

To explain the latter: I am currently using the hunspell data to build my database semi-automatically; otherwise, I couldn't handle it. The hunspell data is the only one I have found to be usable to get the hyphenation of a word quite easily.

As a second step, I would like to be able to identify and separate suspect words, which I then could look up manually in different sources (hoping that only about 5% of the words are suspect).

EDIT 1

As a reaction to one of the comments, I now have found a word where at least 3 characters are left at each side after hyphenation, but where different "authorities" hyphenate differently:

Microsoft Word 2010 hyphenates inconceivable as in-con-ceiv-a-ble, where Merriam-Webster has in-con-ceiv-able.

Another one: Merriam-Webster says cli-ent, where hunspell says client, i.e. does not hyphenate that word at all.

EDIT 2

@Hot Licks has pointed out that the dictionaries are showing syllable boundaries, not hyphenation points (if any). However, at least in case of Merriam-Webster, this is the same. From their dictionary API documentation:

<hw>...</hw>    (text = boldface)
    HEADWORD
    - This is the first bold word in an entry
    - contains "syllable" break points (that is,
      end-of-line hyphenation points) here indicated
      by asterisks, which will translate to raised dot,
      {point} in Merriam-Webster font.
    - may contain superscript homograph numbers
      {h,1}, {h,2}, etc., in the same font (bold)
    - single word space after <hw> field

Please note the text following the second hyphen. IMHO, that means that each syllable boundary is a hyphenation point, and vice versa.

EDIT 3

I have found more precise information. From Merriam-Webster's guide to pronunciation:

  Hyphens  are  used  to  separate  syllables  in  pronunciation
  transcriptions. [...]

  The centered dots in boldface entry words indicate potential
  end-of-line  division  points  and  not  syllabication. [...] As a
  result,  the  hyphens  indicating  syllable  breaks  and  the centered
  dots indicating end-of-line division often do not fall in the same
  places.


texts:
I need a shorter version of a phrase "Take into account magnetic declination" for user interface in my application. I am considering on of these:

Use magnetic declination
Count magnetic declination
Account magnetic declination

But I am not sure which one is better, as I am not a native English speaker.


texts: Past perfect tense vs present perfect tense usage

texts:
David got a message telling him that he has/had won the prize.

Here which is to be used ? Has or had ?


texts: What is the word for theatre that takes multiple nights to perform the entire story?

texts:
Some plays are typically performed  in installments over multiple nights for the same audience, because a single night is not adequate for the entire story to be told. What is the theatre terminology that describes this—either a word for these type of plays, or the process of performing them over multiple nights? I’m not sure of the part or parts of speech of this word.
Examples:

They will be performing Wagner’s Ring cycle as [word]—during the evening from Thursday to Sunday—because who has the patience to watch fifteen hours of opera in one sitting?

I wouldn’t watch Tony Kushner’s Angels in America in [word]; I would rather watch both parts in the same night.


texts:
My name is 'Ehsan Shirzadi'.
I want to know whether my name abbreviation is E.S or E.Sh?


texts: Should we use "opinion of" or "opinion on"?

texts:
What preposition should we use after opinion? Which of the following is correct:

What is your opinion on this book?

What is your opinion of this book?

Also, what is the correct way of saying the following:

We surveyed drivers' opinion on this device?


texts: What is another word for lightning striking?

texts: In the short story I'm writing, I need a synonym for striking in the sentence "A bolt of lightning ______ across the bleak and cloudy sky." I wrote shoots at first, but now I'm revising and I don't think that sounds right.


texts: As an answer to the question "Would you do X for me?" - Does it make a difference whether i say "Not a problem" or "No problem"  - My gut feeling is that there is a slight difference in the meaning of the two sentences - the first more oriented to the thing that is to be done, the second more oriented to the fact that i'll help?


texts:
Can I say for instance dynamic enough to partner you in facing new or must it be partner with you

I'm specifically asking whether you can say partner you as opposed to partner with you.

Here's an example; Opportunities and innovations often mean new legislation. We're a team of lawyers with expertise and experience, dynamic enough to partner you in facing new hurdles.


texts: Can you use "never" and "forever" together?

texts:
So I was asked if you can use "never forever" as in "I will never give up forever."  I honestly never heard of it out side of lyrics and movie titles, but I haven't heard the wording is wrong neither.

Is it grammatically correct to use "never forever"?
If not, do they use it? How do you say it in the right grammar?

I frequently hear "I will never ever…," which would imply "I" won't forever…,  and I also want to know if it differs from "I will never forever…."


texts:
I came across this statement:

  "Both Plato and Aristotle speak of music as "imitating" or "representing" the characters and passionate tones of men, but seem to suggest that the end for which this imitation exists is for the arousal of such passions in the listener, for good (Aristotle) and often for ill (Plato).

(from The Harvard Dictionary of Music, by Don Michael Randel)

What does it mean, specifically "for good (Aristotle) and often for ill (Plato)"?


texts: What's a word for someone with common sense other than 'sensible'?


texts: Strange use of "whether ... than ..." in official text

texts:
Is using "whether ... than ..." in the following grammatically correct? "This applies whether you have a closer connection to a foreign country than the United States during 2018."

The phrase comes from the IRS publication 519 (2018), Chapter 1, Section "Dual-Status Aliens", Subsection "Last Year of Residency", Paragraph "Residency during the next year", with my bold.

  Residency during the next year. If you are a U.S. resident during any part of 2019 and you are a resident during any part of 2018, you will be treated as a resident through the end of 2018. This applies whether you have a closer connection to a foreign country than the United States during 2018, and whether you are a resident under the substantial presence test or green card test.

(I should add that I am obviously not looking for legal advice: in any case this paragraph does not apply to me.)


texts: Is "Fool around" used as an euphemism for "build a relationship" nowadays?

texts: In old Western movies such as True Grit, "Fool around" was used as a substitute for "build a relationship between a man and a woman", is it still used in modern American English?


texts:
I was reading the lyrics of the song "Selling Rope" by "Los Campesinos" and there's a part that says:

  Anecdote, lie
  My own alibi
  I've been telling jokes
  Piled notes high
  My own alibi
  I've been selling rope

also

  Oh I was a bird right then, one day I will be again
  I've been telling jokes while selling rope to you

so what does it mean? I made a google search and it is not an idiom or anything like that, is it a british slang or something?


texts:
Is "need of religion" grammatically incorrect as opposed to "need for religion"?

Or "need of salt" vs. "need for salt"?


texts: Which part of speech do these words belong to?

texts:
This probably isn't a complete list of these types of words, but I am wanting to know what category these words go into:

quality
attribute
property


texts: Why in business, horizontal market are called horizontal and vertical market are called veritical?

texts:
Horizontal market serves a wide range of buyers for example cars like mercidies benz, Honda civic, Toyoto corolla but in contrast vertical markets are quite focused to serve needs of specific groups of buyers like F1-Cars or race cars.

My question is why horizontal is called horizontal and vertical market are called veritical? Is there a reasoning behind it or it is just something randomly named?


texts: Use of the definite article before a person's name or pronoun

texts:
Hey native English speakers,
My question is regarding the use of the definite article before a person's name, as in

Realtime with the Bill Maher on HBO  (youtu.be/I9HCbOmwndA?t=8m40s)

or in the Metallica song "The Unforgiven II":

If you can understand the me
Then, I can understand the you

I suppose these must be grammatical. If so, what are they supposed to mean? If not, why are native speakers making such sentences (especially Metallica; I mean that song is going to become history, right?)?


texts: What is the nominalization of the verb "Load"?

texts:
For example:

Extract > Extracting > Extraction

Transform > Transforming > Transformation

Load > Loading > ???


texts:
Example:

  "Time for the/a big one (referring to a big (important) rugby match)!

Do I use the indefinite article a or the definite article the?

Thank you!


texts: Precise meaning of "Last N days, weeks, months or years"

texts:
Would phrases like these generally be considered inclusive of the current period?

I think it's pretty clear that last week does not include the current week. But does last 2 weeks include the current week? Does it make a difference where you currently are in the period?

For instance does last 2 weeks on Sunday mean the exact same time period as last 2 weeks on the following Monday (assuming you start a new week on Monday). On the following Thursday, does it then become an 11 day period rather than 14 days?


texts: Do I always need a capital letter after an exclamation mark?

texts:
Do I always need a capital letter after an exclamation mark or a question mark?

I'm bilingual with french, and, especially in older works, I've often stumbled upon exclamation marks or question marks that don't end a sentence, but merely serve to accentuate a specific part of a sentence. Sometimes they replace a comma, sometimes not.

Is this kind of stuff legal in the english language or not? I haven't seen it in english texts so far, but I have no reason to believe it would only exist in french and not in english.

EDIT: Here are some examples (in french) that Wikipedia provides:

  « Ah ! non ! c'est un peu court, jeune homme ! On pouvait dire… Oh !
  Dieu !… bien des choses en somme… »

    — Edmond Rostand, Cyrano de Bergerac (I, 4)

  « C'est la femme d'un autre ! ô jalousie affreuse ! »

    — Victor Hugo, Ruy Blas (II, 3)


texts: Synonym of word "last" for some special case

texts:
There are two special abbreviations showing the significance (or 'weight') of a bit in a set (or nibble): lsb (least significant bit), msb (most significant bit). Both "lsb" and "msb" are not general English words therefore that abbreviations could be unambiguously distinguished among other words within sentences.

Similarly, i search for a pair of terms for first and last [bit transmitted] on wire, i.e. defining the transmission order of a bit in a set. And if with first-on-wire - abbreviated as fow - i see no trouble because "fow" is not a common English word (as Google Translate assures me), abbreviating of last-on-wire results in the well-known word "low" which could rise disambiguations.

Google Translate gives a rare (as I assume) synonym for the word "last"—the word "dernier" (adj.) that results in dernier-on-wire and dow, which is not a common English word today. Then fow:dow seems as a good pair, based on this. But...

1) Is it correct? (I am not native speaker; it's difficult for to me to understand these kinds of things by myself.)

2) Are there other synonyms for "last" and "first" more widely known/used that would be more comfortable/relevant in this case (whose abbreviations also must/should not intersect with general/common English words)?

Beforehand thanks.


texts:
Recently, on another SE page, I've asked a question about a painting that was used as a decoration in a particular movie.

It contained the following sentence:

  What is the name and author of that painting?

Soon it was edited to:

  What is the name and artist of that painting?

with explanation that "paintings are created by artists".

I'm confused, because in my native language the word "author" is very natural for the artist who created the painting (as with any other piece of art, the word specifies the simple fact of authorship) and I've seen it in use in English on the Internet. This way my question is:

Is the word "author" correct for the artist who created particular painting?


texts: Will prepositional verbs always prevent us from moving the preposition to the middle of a sentence?

texts:
I'm bringing this question because I'm not sure whether a preposition in the end of a sentence can be moved to the middle, especially considering prepositional verbs.

Also, I'd like to know which grammar section covers prepositional verbs in a wide approach. Please, could you give me some guidance about it?

  As a start, we would like to know more details about the project that you are engaged in.

This sentence sounds ok for me.

  As a start, we would like to know more details about the project that you are engaged.

This one sounds incomplete.

  As a start, we would like to know more details about the project in which you are engaged.

I'd say that it's correct, but every time I got myself in this situation of thinking something sounds good in my mother tongue, I need to ensure whether it's correct in English.

Thank you for your attention! :-)


texts:
She said, "I like dogs." He said, "I like cats."
I would like to combine these two sentences.

Do I put a period after dogs?
Is it

  She said, "I like dogs." and he said, "I like cats."

or

  She said, "I like dogs" and he said, "I like cats."


texts: Word for a statement that embodies its own 'theme'?

texts: eg, "People over-generalize."  Sort of, 'autological', for sentences.


texts:
I've seen both "kneel" and "kneel down" writing.

When I enterd "kneel down" in the software After the Deadline, it says it's a redundant expression. Is that correct?

Example sentence:

  I went over to the edge of the cliff and knelt down.


texts:
Which of these phrases is more correct?

  The man who I know to be unhappy

  The man whom I know to be unhappy

Is one of the verbs in the phrase more important, thus determining the noun case, or is something else happening with the particular combination of verbs? (The man whom I know is valid but the man to be unhappy isn't; the tense must be specified as in the man who is unhappy.)


texts:
Frequently in my childhood a conversation would arise at the dinner table that went something like this;
"How many peas would you like?"
"About sixty please".
(Laughter ensues).

The question befits a countable noun such as sausages. However the correct answer is something which befits a non-countable noun such as rice. "Quite a lot", "Not very much", "A spoonful" or "Less" (rather than "Fewer").
Why is it that peas defy classification as countable or non-countable?

I've had it explained to me that the etymology of pea is a back-engineered (and originally incorrect) singular derived from "pease" which would suggest "How much peas would you like?"  is a grammatically correct question.

However this doesn't explain why the same problem occurs with other small items such as sliced carrots or cornflakes.

Is it size-related? Is there a no-man's land between rice and sausages where English is simply lacking an appropriate solution?


texts: Doubt concerning reporting a past event in present

texts:
Consider this portion from an article written in November 2019:

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (Nasdaq: VRTX) today confirms that NHS Wales has accepted an offer for all currently licensed Vertex cystic fibrosis (CF).
This means that once the contract is finalized, patients with CF in Wales ages 2 years and older who have two copies of the F508del mutation in the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) gene can access ORKAMBI® (lumacaftor/ivacaftor).
The agreement also offers expanded access to KALYDECO® (ivacaftor) to include those patients ages 12 months and older who have one of the nine licensed gating mutations.

If I want to mention the same in a report in July 2020, can I make the following changes:

In November 2019, NHS Wales accepted an offer for all currently licensed Vertex cystic fibrosis (CF).
This meant that once the contract is finalized, patients with CF in Wales aged 2 years and older who have had two copies of the F508del mutation in the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) gene could access ORKAMBI® (lumacaftor/ivacaftor).
The agreement also offered expanded access to KALYDECO® (ivacaftor) to include those patients aged 12 months and older who have had one of the nine licensed gating mutations.

Can I get some insights on which of these would be a better alternative, when we are apprehensive about whether the deal mentioned above has been finalized or not?


texts: Usage of prepositions "on" and "of" for dates

texts:
In an automatic email I received, a coworker used the following sentence fragment:

  ...during the afternoon on September 27, 2017 and the morning of September 28, 2017

The switching preposition from on to of really bothered me, and I pointed it out.  Afterwards, though, I realized I wasn't actually sure which version is more correct, or if it is actually frowned upon to switch midsentence.

Which version is more correct, and is it incorrect to switch preposition use like in the example above?


texts:
When someone tells me something, how should I respond, "I get it" or "I got it"? I have a feeling that "I got it" means "I already knew the thing before you told me," and "I get it" means "Now I know the thing, because you just told me."

Is that right?


texts: Lexo-philosophical possibilities of the 'in'finite

texts: Can anybody think of a word meaning infinite that isn't a combination of a  negative prefix or suffix and a word meaning some sort of bound, such as limitless, endless, or unlimited? I haven't been able to think of any yet and I'm wondering if this carries some lexo-philosophical implications with how we consider the infinite with respect to language. And if there aren't any words like this in English, are there in other languages? And if so, does it affect their consideration of the infinite.


texts: What do you do when you end the first part of a compound sentence with a quote?

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
How should I punctuate around quotes?

For example, if I want to show someone's response in the same sentence, what would I do?
Would the comma from the end of the quote be enough?

He said, "Get me a drink," but I didn't want to.

Because this looks weird:

He said, "Get me a drink,", but I didn't want to.

What if the quote end with a question?

He said, "Will you get me a drink?" but I didn't want to.

I think that I would need a comma somewhere.

He said, "Will you get me a drink?," but I didn't want to.
He said, "Will you get me a drink?", but I didn't want to.

The ?," looks better to me, but I don't know. How do you do it?


texts: Address one known person and multiple unknown people in a letter

texts:
I am submitting my CV to a company for the purposes of an internship application, I know the name of the the person who manages the interns, but he has told me that he will pass my CV onto the rest of the company for consideration of permanent employment.

How would I address the intern manager and anyone else who reads the CV.

Dear James or Sir/Madam


texts: I know late wife is a common term (dead wife). How about late girlfriend? If that's not the case, what's the most used term?


texts: Accomplishment vs. Achievement (implicit superiority)

texts:
I elsewhere saw the difference between the two explained thusly: accomplished denoted "completed for someone else's benefit", achieved "completed by oneself".
I consider it a one off, but can anyone confirm if there is an implicit superiority in language usage.
This would be useful in the positive sense one would say "... an accomplished career".


texts: How did English get related words from the same Latin root but different negative prefixes?

texts:
I see that there is no consistent rule in English for which words use which negative prefix, but in‐ is generally for Latin roots and un‐ is generally for Germanic roots. However, I find it especially surprising that some related English words derived from the same Latin roots use both, eg:

unmoved and immovable
unstable and instability
undetermined and indeterminate
unvaried and invariant

How did this happen historically? Were words with one prefix introduced to English in a different era than words with the other prefix?


texts: My English teacher told me the word for multiple "and"s in a sentence, but I can't remember what it is. I think it starts with an A or a P. It's been bugging me.


texts:
Context

The Japanese government rushed to modernise and industrialise. ... Out went kimonos, in came business suits and top hats.


texts: Phrase for something that takes a very long time and a lot of resources to understand

texts:
I want to paraphrase this sentence into something smaller  - "Laypersons cannot understand findings from papers in this field, no matter how much time they spend. To understand them, experts are required and the process may require sizeable resources and time"

I thought of something like "Findings from these papers are resource-intensive and temporally incomprehensible to laypersons." but I know it's wrong. What kind of phrase can I use to describe the nature of the process of "understanding findings from papers"?


texts: An expression for a child that refuses playing with others

texts:
I am looking for expressions in English for a child that stubbornly refuses to play with others, for example a group of other children, although they are friendly and inviting and actually would like the one child to join their group, say, out of a sense that it is better to cooperate in a group than to isolate oneself.

Could be a word, or any other expression.

"Spoiler" comes to my mind but I don't know if this is applicable to a situation like above.

I would look for expression that - when used in metaphors to describe the behaviour of powerful protagonists in society (not children!) - may sound ironic or slightly sarcastic.

Note (added later): as commenters below stated that they would refuse answering this question because it was cruel towards children displaying such behaviour I hereby officially declare that I do not intend to use the term(s) with regard to real children. I was thinking of other, less vulnerable entities such as politicians, companies, associations, etc. This is meant for metaphors in newspaper articles.

(By the way, I find it irritating that so many people obviously vote this question down not because it is a bad question but because they presume I was about to abuse children with these terms. Is this called helicoptering?)


texts: Are there any words with a hard "C" preceeding an 'I' in words starting with "ci"?

texts:
Are there any English words that are pronounced with a hard "keh" sound as their first syllable, and begin with the two letters 'ci' in their spelling?

I ask purely out of curiosity, since I was unable to find any examples.


texts:
Props can mean compliment / respect / credit, for example:

  Erika gets props for the great work she did on the music.

Wiktionary states that props is:

  (slang) proper respect or proper recognition for another person; an expression of approval or a special acknowledgment; accolade or accolades; praise.
  - I've got to give props to Roger for the way he handled that situation.

How did this word come about? What is its etymology?


texts: An adjective meaning "full of potential"?

texts: Is there an adjective synonymous with having a lot of potential? Thank you!


texts: They vs it when talking about "your dog"

texts:
I have the following example from this blog post:

"Your dog gets some kind of reward when they bark. Otherwise, they wouldn't do it."

Should it actually be:

"Your dog gets some kind of reward when it barks. Otherwise, it wouldn't do it."

If the first example is actually correct, can you please tell me why. I thought when talking about a single thing, you should always say "it" as opposed to "they".


texts: Idiom to describe something that has little to no effect?

texts:
I'm looking for an idiom to describe something that has a negligible effect.

The only similar question I found here was: An idiom meaning someone's doing something useless and has no result at the end, but I'm looking for something else.

I remember it being something to do with water or fire. Something along the lines of throwing a very small amount of water on a large fire? Does anyone know what I'm thinking of?


texts:
I'm looking for a single word that essentially means: "mathematically formal declaration." Here, declaration is in the ordinary sense of the word; i.e a declarative sentence.

The word theorem will not do; a theorem must have a proof. Similarly, the words lemma, result don't work either.

The word conjecture will not do; a conjecture carries the connotation that no proof of the assertion has been found yet.

What I want is a word that just means the assertion, without any connotation of whether a proof for it exists or not.


texts: Word meaning "expressing innocous concept with offensive near-homonym"

texts:
Years ago, an Internet NNTP poster's signature read in part "a
niggardly lover".

Of course, "niggardly" just means "stingy", so there was nothing
literally offensive in his signature.

However, I believe he chose this phrasing (instead of "stingy lover"
or "miserly lover") specifically to provoke and annoy people.

What word embodies this concept? Using an intentionally
offensive-sounding phrase to express an otherwise inoffensive concept?

Would this be the opposite of bowdlerization?


texts: Sentence fragment with Colon (Kurt Vonnegut)

texts:
I read this sentence from Vonnegut, and I was wondering whether this is a sentence fragment. He places a colon after a dependent clause, but aren’t colons allowed after independent clauses only?

  And there, I’ve just used a semicolon, which at the outset I told you never to use. It is to make a point that I did it. The point is: Rules only take us so far, even good rules.


texts: Repetition of an article "the" in a sentence

texts:
I have learned that the article "the" should be repeated if it each noun phrase describes quality of a noun in a separate sense. But I am not sure if second "the" is necessary in the following sentence:

"The first Phoenician state in North Africa and the former regional center of political and cultural primacy, Carthage was destroyed in 146 BC."

Should I omit the second "the" for a more clean structure or should I leave it there to emphasize the quality of Carthage?


texts: Difference in usage of "all right", "ok", "very well"

texts:
When I agree with doing something annoying or what I originally didn't want to do is there a difference between starting the reply with: "all right", "ok", "very well" or others?

Does "very well" sound posh or archaic? I hear it all the time when watching old episodes of Doctor Who (60's) but I don't recall hearing it in the wild in England.


texts: Is there any word that comes in between "active" & "inactive"?

texts:
Being active and being inactive are used often. But is there a word for being normal that comes in between these two?

  They attend the community meetings actively.
  Those over there rarely attend any meetings, I'll say they are all inactive.


texts: 3 meter square area vs 3 square meter area

texts:
A. 3 meter square area

  B. 3 square meter area

I’m wondering what the easiest way is to clearly express the difference between A and B above.

In A, one side is 3 (meters). In B, one side is the square root of 3 (meters).

Also, can both A and B be expressed with all the modifiers on the left, such as with hyphens? Or would word order such as the following be required for A?

  area of 3 meters squared


texts:
I'm intrigued by the use of 'who' twice in the following quote from the movie 'The Imitation Game'

  Sometimes it is the people who no one imagines anything of who do things that no one imagines.

Is this usage natural or common among native speakers?

Or perhaps as a rhetorical device by being "parallel", does it resemble an antanaclasis anaphora by repeating same word deliberatily?

Finally, can we place any comma in that sentence (apart from a comma after 'Sometimes'?)


texts: word for emotion that's not quite to envy or jealousy

texts:
Jealous is defined as "very watchful or careful in guarding or keeping," and resentfully envious. Envy is defined as "a feeling of discontent and ill will because of another's advantages, possessions, etc.; resentful dislike of another who has something that one desires." Jealousy has stronger emotions attached than envy.

Is there a word for feeling sad and missing something you want to be a part of?  For example,

  I'm not feeling jealous, I'm sad and feel like I'm missing for something. I feel _____.


texts: When was the form “is become” first used?

texts:
In the famous “Hallelujah” chorus from Handel’s Messiah, a line goes:

  The kingdom of this world is become the Kingdom of our Lord.

I’ve noticed similar forms in many biblical texts and suspected the usage may go back as early as the 15th century, but I’m not sure. Does anyone know the more exact time?


texts: Correct English term to indicate "the culture one is born in"?

texts: What is the English term that one uses to indicate "the culture one is born in"?


texts:
The well-known expression  professional bias appears to date back to the very first years when   professions  started to exist:

"Professional bias" designates a mental conditioning brought about by the particularities of one's job. A contrived example is that of a race-car driver, say, who overtakes dangerously when he's out driving in the family automobile with his wife and kids.

Ngram shows that the expression  was first used towards the end of the 18th century, roughly during the same years when the  first professions were born.
Professional (adj.):

early 15c., of religious orders; 1747 of careers (especially of the skilled or learned trades from c.1793); see profession. In sports, opposed to amateur, from 1846.

professional (n): "one who does it for a living," 1798, from professional (adj.). (Etymonline)

Was the expression coined with the birth of the first professional activities in England or did it already exist in religious contexts where the term profession seems to come from.


texts: “International themed” or “internationally themed”?

texts: Would you say “an international themed party” or “an internationally themed party”?


texts: Phrase for a problem that seems impossible, but actually has a simple and obvious solution?

texts:
Daniel M. Russell poses what he claims is a deceptively simple brain teaser in his blog:

  What short 4-word idiomatic phrase (in English) captures [the] idea of
  a problem that seems impossible, but actually has a simple and obvious
  solution?

"Deceptively simple brain teaser" is the best I could come up with, but I don't think it's particularly idiomatic.

UPDATE:

So, the originating blogger has posted his intended answer. I would agree that there was no stand-out candidate amongst all the plausible suggestions, so kudos to all those who found a solution.


texts: Why do people use "..." in emails after people's names? For example, "Mike... "

texts:
What does this "..." mean in emails? For example,

  "Mike...You are always welcome to come to our social event."


texts: What is a word for the concept of maintaining uncertainty in your enemies?

texts: Specifically by introducing bad data over time to limit their ability to deduce things? Not necessarily warfare-related. I'm thinking "information warfare," "instilling doubt," or "sabotage," but none of these seem specific enough. I'm looking for a word that means just that.


texts: What is a good word for someone who hardly ever smiles?

texts: Like whats a good adjective for someone who doesn't really smile a lot?


texts: What is an appropriate word for a third-tier item (primary, secondary, ...)?

texts: If a first-tier item is called primary, and a second-tier item is called secondary, what can third, and greater, -tier items be called?


texts: Is William Blake's usage of "to break a net" idiomatic or metaphorical?

texts:
The following passage is from William Blake's 1793 work "The Marriage of Heaven and Hell":

  A man carried a monkey about for a shew, & because he was a little wiser than the monkey, grew vain, and conciev'd himself as much wiser than seven men. It is so with Swedenborg: he shews the folly of churches & exposes hypocrites, till he imagines that all are religious, & himself the single one on earth that ever broke a net.

What is the meaning of the phrase "to break a net" used there? Is it a metaphor of some sort, or is it some idiom that has fallen by the wayside as English developed over the past 220 years? If it is an idiom, what is its history, and if it is a metaphor, what exactly is the action of "breaking a net" supposed to be? My guess is that it has something to do with fishing, but I'm not sure what (to be clear: should the phrase be a metaphor, I would like to know what comparison the metaphor is actually making, not the interpretation of what that comparison means).


texts:
"Homo" has two main meanings that I am aware of: "man" (e.g. "homo sapiens"), and "same" (e.g. "homogenous", "homosexual", etc.).

Those seem like pretty distinct meanings, but I am curious to know if their etymology has a common ancestor at some point.  Basically, how did "homo" come to have these two very distinct meanings?


texts: Is there an English equivalent for the Persian proverb "to play with tail of lion"

texts:
The Persian proverb to play with tail of lion is used informally. We use it to say that a certain situation is very dangerous. By saying it, we alert the the listener that the act which he or she is doing, is likely to harm or kill him or her.

  Example: Driving too rapidly in a busy road is like playing with tail of lion.

Is there a proverb that would express the same thing in English?

It is necessary to say that I have already heard the expression to play with fire. I have to add that this proverb has a humorous connotation. The speaker wants both to alarm and to ridicule the listener. His or her aim is to say that the act is at the same time dangerous and foolish.


texts: Where does "Look yourself in the mirror" come from?

texts:
Where does "unable to look myself in the mirror" come from?

related example:

  ...I asked her what she does if after six months or so it becomes obvious that a salesperson is not bringing in business. Would she fire the person? Without hesitation, she blurted out, “I have to look myself in the mirror!” — as if firing someone who isn’t doing the job would make her a bad person.


texts:
I'm translating some news items from Arabic into English and I want to know if I can use two hyphenated compound nouns in the same sentence :

The 47- member state Geneve-based council has adopted a British resolution.
The 47-member state council, based in Geneve, has adopted a British Resolution.
The 47-member state council, which is based in Geneve, has adopted ...

Thanks in advance .


texts: When writing an introduction, its important to orient readers in terms of disciplinary frame - what does this mean?


texts:
in a novel, if I write this at the start of chapter:

Destination: New York.

Destination New York.

Should I use the colon or not?


texts:
I have personally never heard (or seen):

  in both cases

being referred to by:

  in the both cases

before; therefore, my first instinct was that it is an obvious mistake. However, looking up "in the both cases" (with double quotes) in Google Scholar yields many results.

So my question is: is it correct so say "in the both cases"?


texts:
It shames us as a nation that a freedom fighter has to scrape a living singing on the streets in his twilight years.

In the above sentence, what is the function of the that clause?? Is [that a freedom fighter..... years] a objective complement of us(object) here?


texts: What is the derivation of "out like a light" meaning "to lose consciousness quickly"?

texts:
The idiomatic relationship between out like a light and falling asleep (or being rendered comatose) quickly is easily understood in the context of electric lights extinguished instantly by a switch. The logic would also seem to apply to the blowing out of a candle, the turning down of the wick of an oil lamp, or the closing of a gas jet.

But when and where did the application of the phrase to mean this first take shape?

In searching via ngram, 19th century usage shows up, but most of those references that refer to dimming or extinguishing seem to be focused on fleeting emotions and facial expressions rather than consciousness. Numerous mid 20th century references (at least as early as the 30s) use the phrase in the modern sense.

Does anyone have information as to when and where out like a like started to mean rapid unconsciousness?


texts: Is a comma necessary before "above"/"below" when these words are used as sentence terminating adverbs?

texts:
Is a comma necessary before “above”/“below” when these words are used as sentence-terminating adverbs?
Examples with the comma:

Place the item as indicated, above.
A correct example will be presented, below.

Is the comma necessary, optional, or should it be omitted?


texts: Is a comma or "if" needed in this sentence

texts:
"X might not have been made had money been a priority"

We are discussing with friend about this sentence, which I had trouble understanding at first.
To me, it'd have been more idiomatic adding "if" or a comma in the middle like :

"X might not have been made if money had been a priority"
"X might not have been made, had money been a priority"

As we are both natively French, it may be me, trying to "frenchize" the sentence, am I ?


texts:
Often used for presenting a tentative sports league table while games are still in play - "here's the league table as it stands..."

(It kind of means "now", but implying the situation could change.)

Is this usage common in international usage?


texts: Expression/word for reading a book quickly?

texts: Is there an expression or word that describe the action of reading a book very quickly or enthusiastically?


texts:
What is a car's interior packaging?

This is from Wikipedia article on Crossovers:

  Using the unibody construction typical of passenger vehicles, the crossover combines SUV design features such as tall interior packaging, high H-point seating, high ground-clearance or all-wheel-drive capability — with design features from an automobile such as a passenger vehicle's platform, independent rear suspension, car-like handling and fuel economy.


texts:
Which of the following, if any, is correct?

You answered the same questions as me.
You answered the same questions as I did.
You answered the same questions as I have.

How can you tell?
I tried Googling it, but I only get Breaking Bad references.

I also saw this, but I don't know how it would apply in this context.


texts: This pluralization pattern is highly unlike those I found in English, such as those ending in -(e)s and ones that were technically borrowed from Latin and Greek, thus following different patterns that may confuse English speakers themselves.


texts: Why is the subject omitted in sentences like "Thought you'd never ask"?

texts:
"Thought you'd never ask" is "I thought you'd never ask" with "I" omitted.
"Hope this helps" is "I hope this helps" with "I" omitted.

In English grammar, normally every sentence should have a subject, right?

My first thought is that these two examples are so often used that they are like set phrases. But these are not really set phrases. You can alter the words after "thought" and "hope".

Another possible explanation is the tendency to drop the subject if it is the first person pronoun. It seems that in many languages, such as Spanish, Italian and Japanese, the first person subject is usually omitted. Maybe English is going the same way? (Not exactly the same, since in Italian, verb forms change according to the person, so the subject is not necessary to understand who one's referring to.)

And, apparently, such omission is more common in spoken English than in written English.

Are there more examples of such first person subject omission? How frequent is it?


texts:
One of my customers in the UK is in the Easter holidays. I'd like to inform her that the package has been delivered from the warehouse to the designated address.

Could I write a greeting with "Hope you are enjoying the holidays."?

Thanks.


texts: I heard a song this morning that had "We put the us in trust" in its lyrics. It reminded me of the maxim "There is no I in team." I've heard other, gloomier examples like "harm in harmony" and "utility in futility." Is there a hypernym for "insight based on the presence (or absence) of substrings in another string"?


texts:
The phrase "because of" is commonly thought of as a preposition; by itself, "because" is also considered by some to be a subordinating conjunction. The Chicago Manual of Style doesn't capitalize any prepositions, excepting at the start of sentences. Additionally, conjunctions are not capitalized mid-line.

How would you capitalize a heading that includes "because" or "because of" according to the Chicago Manual of Style?

For example:

Eat because You Love Food
Run because of Your Future


texts: Is this sentence gramatically correct ? "There is no non existing"

texts:
I have been arguing with a friend for several weeks over this sentence. Is the sentence "There is no non existing" (or any other writings of the word pair "non existing" such as : "non-existing", "nonexisting") gramatically correct ?

In addition, is the sentence "There is no red." grammatically correct ?

And are there any grammatically differences between these two sentences ?


texts: Where does the phrase "egg on my face" come from, and what is its meaning?


texts: Is there a polite alternative to "No thanks, I'm full"?

texts:
English is not my native language, but when I was studying in the US, I was always trying to find an alternative to

  I'm full!

I felt that it was a very improper way to express that I have eaten enough, especially when I was invited for dinner. I remember having difficulties demonstrating my gratitude towards my hosts when using this expression.

Being full feels to me a bit like a car that has been filled with gasoline and gasoline is just used to continue working. That's not what I want to say...

Is there a better word I can use? I haven't found one in the dictionary. There are, of course, long forms:

  I have had enough [, thank you].

that I have learned to use, but I wonder if there is a short one.
Other Languages have rassasié (French), sazio (Italian) and satt (German). Should I use satiated?

Update: Thank you all for the overwhelming response! After 13 answers, I feel I got a better understanding of the phrase. I'm grateful for @Andrews answer, because he took the cultural aspect into consideration. This was the decisive part that I missed. I can also understand @MT_ Head that saying No thank you, I'm full while smiling isn't offensive at all. Thanks for that.

I conclude that there is not a single wide spread word I can use which doesn't sound stilted or strange (or even has a touch of sexual pleasure).

I now have a repertoire of polite responses available. I'm accepting the most helpful answer for me, but most of you got my up-vote. :)


texts: Alternative term for "birth order" for people English as Second language

texts:
Respected members, I live in Vellore, South India were people from at least 4 Indian states live. That means 4 different languages. Almost always, it is English which connects them in a public place like our child health  center. It is common to ask the number of children a mother has, and the birth order of the child brought to our center. Many educated mothers, with English as second language do not understand this term " birth order". They do not answer " what is the  childs birth order?". So I have to reframe it as " this is your first child or second child?".
Is there a alternate term for " birth order" in such situations?
thanks in advance


texts: This kind of things (has or have) sensors

texts:
which one is correct ?
1- this kind of toothbrushes (has) sensors to detect... etc
2- this kind of toothbrushes (have) sensors to detect... etc


texts: Is “pass peach seeds” an idiom or just a figurative expression?

texts:
I was drawn to the phrase “pass peach seeds” in Thomas Harris’s novel “The Silence of the Lambs,” which I started to read last month and from whose text I have posted several questions, including one relating to this passage:

  “Don’t spill that (Coke mixed with Jack Daniel’s)” in here, “Jeff said.
  “Don’t worry, Jeff” Mapp said. Quietly to Starling, “You should have
  seen my man Jeff waiting for me outside the liquor store. He looked
  like he was passing peach seeds.” When Mapp saw the whisky start to
  work little, Mapp said, “How you doing, Starling?” -ibid.351.

Though I gather from the context that “pass peach seeds” means “avoid / duck out of an undesirable thing / matter”, I’m unable to find this phrase in the dictionaries I have at hand. Google Ngram doesn’t recognize this phrase either.

However, I found the following example of “pass peach seeds” in Yahoo Answers:

  Will my dog pass this peach seed? -  If it's whole - not likely. You
  really ought to keep an eye on your dog and see how she does. If she
  continues to eliminate and eat normally, she's going to be fine.

What is the exact meaning of “pass peach seeds”? Why should it be "peach seeds," not apple, pear or grape seeds? Is it a popular idiom, or just a one-off figurative expression used by the author? Would you show me another good example of employing this phrase?


texts: Correct synonym for "original" in this context

texts:
I have the following text:

"I will be selling multiple copies of the different posters, fan art, ... that I made."
"I will also be selling original drawings".

It seems to me that in the second sentence, the word "original" seems to mean "The artwork from the first sentence is not original"

I am looking for the perfect way to describe that I'll be selling both copies of digital artwork, but also single drawings that were made with traditional means such as markers, pencils, ... of which there exist no copies at all.


texts: I am having trouble finding a word similar to threadbare or worn out that represents a worn garment that has started to form a bead-like texture from extensive usage. Any ideas if such a word exists?


texts:
A question on split-infinitive

I encountered the passage below from a website presented just below.

http://audiobookbay.nl/audio-books/the-political-pope-how-pope-francis-is-delighting-the-liberal-left-and-abandoning-conservatives-george-neumayr/#more-57024

  But to Catholics in the pews, his pontificate is a source of
  alienation. It is a pontificate, at times, beyond parody: Francis is
  the first pope to approve of adultery, flirt with proposals to bless
  gay marriages and cohabitation, tell atheists not to convert, tell
  Catholics to not breed "like rabbits," praise the Koran, support a
  secularized Europe, and celebrate Martin Luther.

In the italic part "not to convert" and "to not breed" has the same grammatical role with disparate forms. One with adverb modifier NOT before to infinitive, the other with Not just before infinitive.

Is the difference between two forms just one of styles without any difference of role or is there any profound difference that I don't know about?

(I posed this question because students in Asian areas learning English as a second language are having English grammar tests asking to recognize the error of TO NOT infinitive and to correct it to NOT TO infinitive. But as the sentence in question manifests the sort of test is out of date and inappropriate. Am I right?)


texts: How to title number of days that were weekend days?

texts:
I am creating a table which shows spending on some kind of service. Price is based on the amount of usual and weekend days during period of usage of the service, and there is different price for usual/weekend days. So now I have a trouble titling column which will show number of days that were weekend.

Is "Weekend days" a right title? There were also proposals to use "Weekends" but then it is ambiguous if 10 in that column means 20 days or 10. Another one was "Peak/Non-peak days" but this seems to have different meaning: "peak day" may be a usual weekday, but i.e. Christmas.

UPDATE:

To clarify, non-working weekdays should not be included, so "Non-Business days", "Non-Working days" and similar phrases don't fit.


texts: Is there a gender neutral equivalent to mister/miss?

texts:
It's fairly common to abbreviate mister/misses/miss as Mr./Mrs./Ms. and I've seen a few people online using Mx. as a gender neutral alternative. Is there a full word that one could use in this case?

For example, if I saw this printed sentence

  This is Mrs. Smith

I would read it aloud as

  This is Misses Smith

How would one read aloud the sentence

  This is Mx. Smith


texts: Where did the term "doggone it" come from?


texts: Change "The boys kicked the ball through the window" into passive voice

texts:
I was wondering which one would feel more natural.

  The ball was kicked through the window by the boys.
  The ball was kicked by the boys through the window.

Personally I feel "kicked" should be followed immediately by "the boys". But I'm not a native English speaker, so I would like your opinion.

Also, it said in the direction that it's not always necessary to include who carried out the action. Should I include it here?
 Thank you.


texts: Wow vs Whoa, what is the difference between them in the US?

texts: I searched here wow and here whoa and they seem to be pronounced differently. I'm concerned only when the meaning is to signify surprise. However, I'm not sure when to use one or the other, since both seem to express surprise. Seems to me "wow" is for mostly positive surprise (although could be used ironically) and "whoa" for negative connotation. My question is specific to the US to make it more answerable and because I'm interested in that case.


texts: English pronunciation of proper Roman names

texts:
What are the correct English pronunciations of (Roman emperor) names such as Theodosius, Anastasius, Decius, Leontius, Gratian, Marcian...

I am having difficulties with -tiu vs. -siu, -tia vs. -cia. Should those be pronounced as [ʃə], [tɪə] or [sɪə]?

I was unable to find anything online. "tchrist"'s Wikipedia link on traditional English pronunciation of Latin does not provide an answer. My question is pretty specific about the pronunciation of proper Latin names containing -tiu, -siu, -tia and -cia. No such information is to be found anywhere on that webpage.


texts:
Is it grammatically correct to use whereas + a present participle?

For example:

I am disinclined to recognize my weak mathematical skills, whereas willing to admit my lack of English skills.

This sounds silly to me, but the reason I am asking is because this same sentence seems to work when using while instead of whereas

Same example with while:

I am disinclined to recognize my weak mathematical skills, while willing to admit my lack of English skills.

Are they both grammatically correct? Are they both incorrect? Is one correct, but not the other?

If the example with while is grammatically incorrect, then is the following sentence also grammatically incorrect?

He does the dishes while singing.


texts: What does the "limited" mean in this sentence?

texts:
The cytoplasm of all cells contains structures, limited to ribosomes on rough endoplasmic reticulum and vesicles.

The independent clause at the beginning makes sense, but it lost from "limited"... (and to think this is from my biology textbook).

Does it mean that the structures formed in cells are always limited to only having "...ribosomes..." (This can't be true based off of my existing biology knowledge). Or, does it mean that any structures can form except "...ribosomes..". Or, does it mean that the cytoplasm contains everything except "...ribosomes..."?

The context is just about cell organelles.


texts: Ambiguous (and maybe euphemistic) word or phrase for romantic partner

texts:
What is an ambiguous word for a romantic partner, which doesn't make it crystal clear that they are in fact a romantic partner rather than just a friend? A euphemism might be a rough approximation of this, although of course it doesn't quite fit the bill, and some are not ambiguous at all.

Genderless and gendered answers are both interesting, though I'm personally interested in one which could apply to a girlfriend.

Ideally it'd be something which leaves the possibility that it's a romantic partner open, perhaps quite strongly so. 'Friend' suffers in this respect, as it's often used to make clear that someone is "just a friend", and people have suggested to me that girlfriends or boyfriends might be offended by it.

Anyone familiar with British culture or certain subsets thereof would understand why all this is vitally important ;)


texts: What would be a proper synonym to "make habitable"?

texts:
I'm looking for a one word synonym to "make habitable". It would describe the transformation of a location where people can't live, such as the bottom of the ocean, or Antartica.

Most official synonyms I could find were more suited to simple adjustments to an already liveable space, such as furnish / fix up.

I'd like to hear your insights on what could be an unofficial synonym.

Edit: One I could think of regarding planets could be "terraform", but I'd like it to have more uses than just planets, and not necessarily be related to Earth


texts: Good phrase for a company being "self-centered"

texts:
I'm looking to replace the phrase "self-centered" in the following example sentence:

  The board members did not care about anything but their profits. The company was polluting the environment, but barely noticed because it was so self-centered.

The problem is, a company doesn't really have a "self". All of the thesaurus entries here: https://thesaurus.yourdictionary.com/self-centered make use of either "self" or "ego", neither of which apply very well to a company. What's a good phrase to describe a company as the opposite of society-focused or philanthropic?


texts: Need a comma before an adverb as last word in sentence?

texts:
When an adverb is the last word in a sentence, is it preferable to insert a comma before that word or to leave it as is (with no comma)?
For example:

How many employees, roughly? or How many employees roughly?
How long was the driveway, approximately? or How long was the driveway approximately?


texts: What is the proper way to write a letter in place of its full name? /a/, “b,” (c,) or ⟨d,⟩ or another?

texts:
I was in a conversation with a friend and he kept putting letters in forward-slashes -- I know and use the I.P.A. so to me that is confusing, but I have always seen letters put in English-Style Quotation Marks (“”) in English. Is there a proper way? If I recall, in when using the international phonetic alphabet, you separate the letters with the angled-brackets (⟨⟩) from the sounds they make which are put in forward slashes (//.) That is fine, however, this is general English, not a pronunciation lesson.

For example:
"Yesterday, Gary accidentally called a /G/ a /J/."

I would, and always have, written this:
"Yesterday, Gary accidentally called a 'G' a 'j.'"

Writing just the letter as opposed to:

"Yesterday, Gary accidentally called a dgee (gee and jee, I suppose, are also acceptable) a jay."


texts: Which one is the proper alternative ? niche / field / area / domain

texts: I'm developing software that asks user to specify a niche / field / area / domain of the document he is uploading. It can be business proposal, technical documentation, official stuff, correspondence, complain  whatever. How do I call this field ?  There will be a suggestion form field that will contain the most frequent expressions.


texts: How to make this sentence sound formal? (Not asking for proofreading!)

texts:
Say a girl who had spent six years in the U.S. and just went back to her home country. Because she spoke English for most of the time in the US, it takes a while for her to adapt to a new environment where English is not the most commonly used language.

I can see how hard she tried to not speak in English whenever she took a long pause during the speech.

Here's what came right off my dome when I first decided to make it sound more like things that a psycholinguist would write in his notepad.

I can see her efforts to resist the urge to speak in English whenever she paused during the speech.

Is there any more formal or academic way to convey the meaning here?


texts: Difference between 'went home by taxi' and 'went home in a taxi'

texts:
What is the difference between by and in? For example:

I went home by taxi.
I went home in a taxi.

Is there any difference?


texts: Is it correct to say "There is more to success than hard work"?

texts:
There is a phrase:

  "...more to life than..."

Is it possible to replace the word life in this phrase with something else?

Is it correct to say:

  "There is more to success than hard work"?


texts: What is the grammar of " a function of how socially connected you are to those around you"?

texts:
The whole sentence is "Loneliness is not a function of being alone, but rather, a function of how socially connected you are to those around you".

I don't know why not " how socially you are connected to those around you".It's what I think is usually used.What is the difference between the original sentence and mine?


texts: A term to describe something that has both an inbound and outbound connection

texts: (Pardon the jargon.) Suppose we have a directed graph of nodes. If one node points to another node then we might say the node has an outbound connection and the other node has an inbound connection. What term, if any, might one use to describe a node that has both an inbound and an outbound connection.


texts: A compound word with Latin or Greek roots

texts:
I seek a word with the meaning of "a (compound) word of Latin or Greek origin", as in:

  [...] words are commonly used in scientific terminology.

The word itself doesn't have to be a compound word of Latin or Greek origin, but I suppose it would be nice if it were. It doesn't necessarily have to have both Latin or Greek origin, just one (or both) of those.


texts: Do "Care to do something" and "Would you care to do something" sound equally polite?

texts:
Today on one of other stackexchange sites I've been reached with following comment: "Care to add some references for your claims?".

This sounds to me not only formal but a bit rude, so I've mistakenly initiated some unpleasant discussion, so shame on me actually.

Now, not to hit the wall twice I just want to learn
do phrases

Care to add some references for your claims.
Please, care to add some references for your claims.
Would you care to add some references for your claims

sound equally polite and/or formal?


texts:
I have come across the following the sentence : (I ripped my shirt on a nail )

Can I just say " The nail ripped my shirt " instead .


texts:
Is it common to use the phrase “meat” of one’s hand in the meaning of trace of one’s hand or finger print?

There was an interesting essay on eraser written by Marry Norris, titled “Erasehead” in August 9 New Yorker magazine. I was amused in the expression of “Stick erasers permit them to erase without laying the meat of their hand on the work.” in a part of the article, which reads:

  “I do not pretend to be an eraser connoisseur. While I don’t mind being known in certain circles as the Pencil Lady, I’d rather not be called Bride of Gumby. Friends who are artists are particular about erasers; the traces left by an Art Gum or a Pink Pearl can give texture to their work. Stick erasers permit them to erase without laying the meat of their hand on the work.”

I understand “meat” used here means the trace or print of one’s hand, though when logically thought, it’s weird to lay, put or leave one’s 'meat' on paper, not palm or fingers. Is it common to use the word ‘meat’ in this sense – trace or print?


texts: How do I express a time point which is a decade ago, counting from another time point mentioned in a passage?

texts:
E.g., I would like to say

  X was almost impossible to be used in research until 2000s despite being invented a decade ago

In this sentence, I would like to express that X was invented in 1990s.

Would this sentence be understandable? Or do I have to say

  ...despite being invented in 1990s?

I would like to emphasize the temporal relationship if possible.


texts: What is the meaning of "on or after the 1st of January in the previous calendar year"?

texts:
There is one view that, if applied today, the sentence means from 1st January 2013 to 31st December 2013.

There is another view that, if applied today, the sentence means any time after 1st January 2013 (ie 1st January 2013 until today (12th June 2014)).

My question is, is there a definitive meaning of the phrase?


texts:
I came across this term "state-bearing" yesterday and did not get it.
As in the following example: "There was an emergence of state-bearing elite groups (civil servants and bourgeoisie) – we get an upper class."

So, what distinguishes this elite? What does it do?


texts:
I have been thinking about the following sentence for a while:

  Let's say you have a room that contains a single light source and a single table, and that you choose a point on that table.

When I read it, I get the feeling that the that should be replaced with the. I feel this way because the sentence seems to be talking mainly about the room. Am I correct in my assumption? Or are the two interchangeable?


texts: do you know who is the most... person is or who the most..person is

texts:
I know we say "do you know who he is / I don't know who he is" but I saw this sentence in an article translated by a Chinese famous translator who was born in 1921 so it is unlikely to send him an email to ask him such a question.

At the beginning of the translation is :

  Do you know who is the most well-known person in China?

so

  Do you know who is the most ... is in C

or

  Do you know who the most... is in C

Which one is correct? Both?


texts: Single word for watching and/or tracking

texts:
On an online discussion forum, there is a count of "Unread" posts, but actually it's new activity in topics which are marked by the user as "watching" or "tracking" (which have specific consequences).

"Unread" is not really appropriate because there still may be unread posts which are not "watched" or "tracked". Is there a word (or two words?) which might communicate "new activity on topics in which you are active or have expressed interest"?

Thanks!


texts: Where do periods go when a statement in parenthesis ends in an abbreviation

texts:
I know that the standard use is that an abbreviation at the end of a sentence that would normally end with a period has just a single period.  I also know that a sentence that ends with a statement in parenthesis has a period on the outside of the parenthesis.  However, what happens if I have both?  Do I put one period inside the parenthesis and one outside, just one period outside, or just one inside?  For instance:

I need to go to the grocery store and pick up ingredients (flour, sugar, milk, etc.).

I need to go to the grocery store and pick up ingredients (flour, sugar, milk, etc).

I need to go to the grocery store and pick up ingredients (flour, sugar, milk, etc.)


texts:
Is there any difference between these two sentences? And how to sense the difference?

Where no man has gone before.
Where no man went before.

The first sentence is the title of episode three of Star Trek the original series.

Thanks in advance


texts: In the phrase "to see how something fares / fairs", is it "fare" or "fair" that should be used?

texts:
"To see how something(someone) fares, or fairs".
Which is the correct one to use in this expression? And what is the etymology, or history behind the expression?


texts: Word with meaning of "taking advantage of somebody"

texts: I need one word with the meaning of "take advantage of somebody for personal benefit", is there any one?


texts:
I'm refactoring a function I had to show relative dates like StackExchange does, eg.:

  relative unit of time (second/minute/hour/day/week/month/year)[s]
  (ago/from now)

However, I started wondering if the expression "from now" is the most logical / appropriate for general purpose futuristic use - perhaps "to go" (this kind of makes me imagine a space shuttle launch...) or some other expression would be a better choice?


texts:
I read "Helter Skelter", by Vincent Bugliosi, and I didn't understand this excerpt:

"We certainly know, from the unerring rearview mirror of twenty-five years later, that Manson and these murders did not represent a foreboding extension of the direction in which the anti-establishment movement was going"

What does "extension" mean in this context?


texts: "technical Support of" vs "technical support for"

texts:
We created a software, but we run a business that provides technical support. In other words, we receive fees for providing technical support. We need to specifically imply that the support is limited to only the software that we created. How do we say it in a sentence? Do we say

  We are in the business of providing technical support for Software X.

OR

  We are in the business of providing technical support of Software X.

Is there any difference between the two forms?

I suspect the first form is the correct form, but I have received draft documents from the legal team that use the second form. I am in correspondence with them on this, but they are slow to respond, sometimes taking months just for such a simple question.


texts:
In Alice Cooper’s song “Hey Stoopid” from his 1991 album, there is a verse that runs like this:

  Now I know you’ve been kicked around.
    You ain’t alone in this ugly town.
    You stick a needle in your arm.
    You bite the dust, you buy the farm.

How can anybody, a junkie apparently, “buy the farm” when he is giving up in life?

What does the verbal phrase to buy the farm mean or connote in contemporary English?


texts: "Germany's" or "German" Ministry of Defence?

texts: What are the rules for referring to a ministry (or any other department, organisation, etc) of a specific country? I found both on Google. Are the US and UK exceptions (as it's the US Ministry of Defence)?


texts: How refer to the "strands" of algae and their movement in a current?

texts:
I'm referring to the algae attached at the bottom of a river. The one with long "leaves/stands." How are those "extensions" called? And which verb to use to describe their movement with the flow of the rive (I need everyday terminology not scientific one.)

Examine:

  I saw some algae at the bottom of the river. Their [...] were [...] with the current.


texts: changes we have felt it necessary to make [parse of "necessary to make"]

texts:
From a textbook:

  The analysis of content clauses presented in this chapter differs in significant ways from that found in traditional grammar: in this section, therefore, we explain some of the changes we have felt it necessary to make.

Is "necessary to make" an adjectival phrase?

Is "necessary to make" the object complement of "it"?

Thanks!


texts: How to specify from "this" college in "this" university?

texts:
I am confused how to write
"B.E. with 80% from this college at this university"
in formal language


texts:
I tried to translate text:

  Offer Declined - Candidate staying at his current job.

  Recruiter - Why? This is a great offer. Did you accept a counter offer?

  Candidate - NO counter offer. The hiring experience was terrible and lengthy - 6 weeks.

  The environment is stale, the team was not welcoming, 4 rounds of interviews (2 phone and 2 in-person) the job description was not anywhere close to what I interviewed for and there is no flexibility or room to advance.

  Recruiter - The current offer offers 10K more

  Candidate - If you read through the reasons why I declined the offer you'll see that money is not that important.

  Employers must realize and acknowledge that the hiring process is broken and flawed.
  Post jobs that make sense.
  Treat candidates like Talent, not job seekers.
  Cut your hiring process by 50% or 60%.
  Be welcoming, informative and supportive throughout the hiring process. Make us feel welcomed, wanted and appreciated. Not strangers asked why are you here?

  No appreciation for our time and interest. No urgency

  I said it before and will say it again. To all the EMPLOYERS, RECRUITERS and MANAGERS out there
  "Attracting talent is a talent. You must have the talent to attract talent" Mike Daly

Well, I clearly got everything except bold line.

He says that employers dont appreciate candidates time and interest in context of advice to employers?
and "no urgency" in the same time...

I believe that I miss something here, could you help me?


texts: "All you need is a good pair of glasses": What is the subject, and why?

texts:
What is the subject in the following sentence? And why?

  All you need is a good pair of glasses.

is the subject All you need OR a good pair of glasses?

If it's 'ALL', then, in a different context, we can be saying 'All you need are two pens'. Shall it be right?


texts:
What are the differences in meaning and usage between "to start" and "to get started"?

Are there any cases in which these variants are not interchangeable? I feel that there are. For example, this page looks less natural with its Start tab than it would with a Getting Started tab. I cannot see why there is a difference. Could you please explain?


texts: Does the word 'retrospection' have the plural form 'retrospections'?

texts:
I'm getting mixed results from Internet searches. It looks like plural forms are used, but some dictionaries say "retrospection" is a "mass noun".

Can I use the plural form "retrospections"?


texts: Second conditional for the past condition

texts:
Here is the sentence that confuses me grammatically:

If nobody bought some milk yesterday, I will not be able to have breakfast tomorrow.

Now, I do understand the usage of the first conditional here, but the condition itself is pretty tricky: on the one hand, I'm talking about the past hence I need to use the 3rd conditional, but it is NOT unreal (quite possible, that nobody was able to pick up some milk), on the other hand I'm pretty used to the idea that the second conditional is used only when we talk about something unreal for current/future situations.

Does it mean that we need to use the 2nd conditional when we talk about the past possible conditions, or there is some other explanation to that?


texts: A word for (a lens which is) "able to see in the dark"

texts:
Example Sentence:

  The shutter clicked noisily, its ______ lens able to discern the
  shapes and structures of the ruin.

I'm looking for a word which means that the (camera) lens is able to see in the dark and the answer is not "Night vision" because it seems to imply that it works against night. I'm looking for a word which means that the lens is able to see in low light conditions and not just in the night time.


texts:
Which one is correct:

  To perform a task is necessary to do some things.

or

  To perform a task it is necessary to do some things.


texts: How to structure a question using "where" to ask about a path/intermediate location

texts: In Portuguese, I can ask literally "Por onde vais?" meaning something like "What is the path you are taking?" I would like to know how to ask this in English, using "where", possibly a preposition (by, through etc.) and possibly the verb "TO GO".  Is there such a question structure in English? Many thanks.


texts: Where should "onboard" be put in "Where is the onboard oil spill removal equipment stored?"

texts:
Hi everyone,
Actually, this is my first question with this amazing community, I've been reading and getting answers for most of the things that come up.

I'm wondering if the following phrase better to be
"Where is the onboard oil spill removal equipment stored?"
or
"Where is the oil spill removal equipment stored onboard?"

Appreciate your help.


texts: Is "East or west India is the best" grammatically correct?

texts:
In India there is a popular slogan:

  East or west India is the best.

Is this slogan grammatically correct?
I know directions have the before them.

  The east or the west India is the best.

Is this how the slogan should read?


texts: Example using "doing" as an auxiliary verb?

texts: My textbook lists the forms of "do" including "doing" as auxiliary/helping verbs. I can't think of any example where it would be used as such. Can you?


texts: Word describing a person's momentary pleasure, but overall discord

texts:
I once read an article that used a single word to describe a frame of mind in which a person experiences momentary pleasure amidst overall discord; or perhaps the word was describing the opposite: A unified, holistic mind without discord.

The word may be related to dysphoria or equanimity. Any ideas?

As an example of such a frame of mind, in the discussion of the OCD condition Trichotillomania [1] here [2] there is a phrase:

  “Immediate pleasure may be experienced but in the long run the person feels frustrated and embarrassed.”

This is a good example of the sense I’m looking for in this single-word-request.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trichotillomania

[2] http://www.biobehavioralinstitute.com/viewarticle.php?id=7


texts:
Are there any widely used modern synonyms for turnstile? You know, the gate you need a ticket, badge, or barcode in order to pass through. Nowadays, I don't see any with an actual metal-pole turning mechanism, just a little set of doors that opens and closes when you scan your ID, so using the word turnstile seems kind of antiquated.
Example sentence:
"For our trip tomorrow, let's meet at the station just outside the turnstiles."
Except they're not turnstiles, because it's no longer a "post with a number of short poles sticking out from it that have to be pushed round as each person walks through the entrance" (https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/turnstile)


texts:
Can "astride" be used in the figurative meaning of "half one on side and half on the other side"?

The specific concept I'm trying to express is that a certain span of values with a certain length is centered on a given value, so I'm saying:

The range is 200 MHz astride the central frequency.


texts: What's the word / way to describe the sound we make when we get irritated?

texts: What's that sound called which we make when we are irritated or disgusted, when we press both our lips together and make a sucking sound, with our teeth closed. It's similar to a kissing sound, but in that the lips move out. While here, the lips spread open like in a smile.


texts: I need a word in the sense of “to category”

texts:
I need a word that fits this case:
I have a book; and any User may apply some tags to it, like 'dark' or 'happy' [..]
Anyway, how would I call this action, using a short term?


texts: Why does appraisal have so little to do with praise?

texts:
Appraisal and praise can be traced back to a common Latin root: pretiare (“to reward”). One thing that I do not understand, though, is how they came to have such different meanings: praise is positive, while appraisal is entirely neutral.

This latter was a surprise to me, when I first heard it, because I tried to figure out its meaning from the root I knew, and wondered why my boss would want to have an “yearly appraisal”: why would we meet one-on-one once a year, to give him the opportunity to praise my work? Or was it working the other way around, was I supposed to give him praise?

Anyway, with that anecdote out of the way, the question is: can this evolution in meaning, from a common Latin root, be traced through history? Can we know (or guess) when the meanings started to diverge?


texts: How do native speakers of English say "To inherit a behavior"?

texts: I was trying to translate  a text from Brazilian-Portuguese into english and I got stuck at a slang phrase we have. Here in Brazil, we use the word "puxar" ("to pull" in English) with an additional meaning close to: "to inherit or mimic a parent's trait or behavior". I'm not sure if there is an equivalent word or phrase in English.  Can anyone help me find a verb or a verb-like expression that means it?


texts: What does "I am married with three kids" mean?

texts: Where did this come from? It sounds nasty to me (I am not a native speaker). But it seems correct. Can somebody explain this?


texts: "because it is she that I have watered": not "her"?

texts:
In the book The Little Prince, there’s

  because it is she that I have watered; because it is she that I have put under the glass globe

Why “she” instead of “her”?


texts: Use of a comma after a phrase in the middle of a compound sentence

texts:
I want your suggestion on what is the correct punctuation:

  My test was finished  within 3 days, and right after that, my dad and I took the earliest flight to come back home.
  My test was finished  within 3 days, and right after that my dad and I took the earliest flight to come back home.

I found some sources in which the first option was used. The second option is, however, also available.


texts: Please help me determine between "you and I/me"... but with an interjection

texts:
I've found a few related questions, but none that specifically answers this quandary:
"To people like you and I/me—those who face uncertainty, trials, and trouble—the apostle Peter wrote these words."
Without the interjection, "me" would be correct because "you and me" is the object, Peter is the subject. But the interjection makes "you and I" the subject and "uncertainty, trials, and trouble" the object in this sentence within a sentence.
Would the rule be that the interjection does not change the grammar of the surrounding sentence, and therefore I should go with "me"?
(While we're at it, is the part between the dashes truly called an "interjection"? I'm not sure what else to call it.)
Thanks in advance.


texts: Is there an idiom that implies that you reach me when I was planning to reach you?

texts:
I was planning to send an email to someone when actually this person reached me first!
I wanted to say "oh I was planning to reach you when you actually reach me first" Like in my native language we have a phrase we use. Is there anything like this in English literature or idiom?


texts: Is there a term for the phenomenon of people becoming desensitized to people's suffering? See body for full question

texts:
Is there a term for the phenomenon of people becoming desensitized to people's suffering, or used to dealing with it without becoming emotionally entangled or upset, in the way that, say, doctors or policemen or even firemen do? I am sure I have heard someone say something like

  "When you see this type of pain and suffering every day you become "<___________>".

I don't mean detached or dissonant, and I can't find what I'm looking for in the standard thesauruses (thesauri ?). Please help, it's bugging me that I can't remember it.


texts: Many businesses create new words for themselves or their products. Is there a term for these words? For example, in the movie, "Bladerunner," androids are called, "Replicants." So the word Replica + the suffix -ant.


texts: Adverb or adjective when used to describe an infinitive?

texts:
"To play basketball" is an infinitive phrase. An infinitive phrase is generally used as a noun. Is the word "professionally" as in "To play basketball professionally..." an adjective or an adverb?

Is it an adjective because it modifies an infinitive phrase?

Or is it an adverb because it modifies the verb play?


texts: Does the phrase "born and bred" usually connote a sense of pride and eminence in any way?

texts:
I recently had to update my profile for a job role and I used the phrase "born and bred in xxxx" to indicate that I was born and raised in a certain part of the world. I always thought born and bred generally means that the person was born and brought up in a certain place and has typical cultural characteristics that are usually associated with that place.

However, someone pointed out that it also denotes a sense of pride, eminence, and perhaps social superiority. It was also pointed out to me that the phrase would typically be used by someone who does have a sense of social superiority but never by someone who comes from not so affluent a background.

I tried searching, but couldn't really confirm this connotation. Is there such a connotation associated with the phrase born and bred?


texts: What word means "to make something obsolete"?

texts:
What word means to make something obsolete?

For example, the automobile made the horse and buggy obsolete. How would the word obsolete be applied as a verb?

obsoleted

  The automobile obsoleted the horse and buggy.

bleech.

made obsolete

  The automobile made obsolete the horse and buggy.

Not bad, but there's room for improvement.

EDIT: I'm looking for a verb that has an edge; that captures the upheaval and aggressiveness involved in displacing a product or industry. Killed is a bit strong.

killed

  The automobile killed the horse and buggy.

A bit overstated.

ran out of business

  The automobile ran the horse and buggy out of business

marginally better, but still not good.

disrupted

  the automobile disrupted the horse and buggy

Better applied to an industry, like so

  the automobile disrupted the transportation industry in the early 20th century; particularly the horse and buggy.

Wordy.

smashed

  The automobile smashed the horse and buggy.

More along the lines of what I seek, but a bit improper.

XXX

  The automobile XXX the horse and buggy.

What verb fits best here?


texts: What is the American version of the word ''tearaway''? (a young person who behaves in an uncontrolled way and is often causing trouble)

texts:
I was looking for a word (a noun) that describes a young person/a teenager who is stubborn, acts recklessly, and likes to show off to draw people's attention (as they think it's cool).
I've found the word tearaway, which somehow fits the definition, and would like to know if there is a similar word which is commonly used in American English (besides the word hellion, as I think that doesn't wholly fit what I was looking for like the word tearaway)?


texts: Is this correct: ".. get us one of them thousand foot perimeters."

texts:
In a recent Daily Show episode, Jon Stewart said this (position: 00:40 in video):

  Can the rest of us get us one of them
  thousand-foot gun-free perimeters?

I am not a native speaker, so I am interested whether or not the above sentence is grammatically correct. Please be specific.


texts: Am I thinking right about "Front", "Near-Front", "Central", "Near-Back", "Back" position of IPA vowel chart?

texts:
See this Standard IPA Vowel chart

Source

I am confused of the "Front", "Near-Front", "Central", "Near-Back", "Back" position of the tongue. If you draw a straight line from the position "Near-Front" down, you can see that the /ɛ/ in the "Near-Front" position. See the picture bellowed:

But click on /ɛ/, it takes us to page saying it "Open-mid front unrounded vowel" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open-mid_front_unrounded_vowel)

So, is /ɛ/ in "Front" or "Near-Front" position?

I think it is in "Front".


texts: "Is it not raining" vs. "Isn't it raining"?

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Possible Duplicate:
  Tag Questions “is he not”

Which is correct:

  Is it not raining today?
  Isn't it raining today?


texts: What do you call a person who takes pleasure in the success of others?

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Possible Duplicate:
  What's the antonym for Schadenfreude?

I often like to watch the successful moments in the events of sportsmen and I take great pleasure in seeing them succeed so much. What is this called?


texts: Is there a single word for "Use the contribution of"

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Is there a single word (or more elegant word) for "Use the contribution of"? Ok, some more context:

I'm looking to make a more-dynamic alternative of:

  The team will be composed of analysts.

Too static, there is no notion of contribution. So I'm trying to use contribution is my sentence.

  The team will use the contribution of analysts.

I'm not a native speaker, but this sounds bad to my ears. Trying to formulate it as an active sentence:

  Analysts will contribute to the team.

Which is not good because the original meaning has been lost (I wanted to indicate the composition of the team.)

Other attemps I tried that failed:

  The team will be powered by analysts.

(Not sure this this correct English, or if the meaning is respected)

Could a native speaker suggest a correct formulation that contains the two main ideas I want to convey?

This team will be composed of analysts (and analysts only)
People will not be seating on their chairs, but be contributing to the team success


texts: Shorter way to say "conversational partner"

texts:
I'm looking for a proper English word to say "conversational partner".

Is "interlocutor" a word an average person would understand?

Are there any other words or shorter expressions which could describe a person you are having a conversation with, but who is not your friend and is basically unknown to you?


texts: Source for tracing evolution of specific polysemes, e.g. "catamaran"?

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Does anyone know a dictionary (or other resource) that traces the etymologies of words in such detail as to show how two, three ... different meanings may have come to apply to a given word?

This question has come up many times before, and today came up in the word "catamaran," which somehow means a "two-hulled boat" or "yoked boats" but also a "quarrelsome woman."

Knowing the Tamil origin, "kattumaram" for "tied wood," isn't helpful for the latter sense. I don't want a dictionary merely listing polysemes (most do), but an historical tracing of how they came to be.


texts: Can "a person" be considered a collective noun

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If used in the sentence:

"Once a person has become X their psychological state becomes Y."

does the "a person" count as a class and thus make the use of the plural "their" correct?


texts:
I often encounter people saying "you right" instead of "you are right". Is it correct?

UPDATE. I meant I often encounter things like "yes, you right" in written form.


texts: Can parallelism be defined as a syntactic structure? In my course, we study parallelism as an example of syntactic patterning. However, would it be ok to call it a syntactic structure?