texts: Why is it forbidden for English words to contain the same letter 3 times in a row?

texts:
I am wondering why it is forbidden for English to have the same three letters in a row, as in Goddessship?

Why is it that words like Goddessship, frillless, beeeater, and skulllike either are hyphenated (Goddess-ship, frill-less, bee-eater, skull-like) or have one of the letters dropped (Goddesship, frilless, beeater, skullike).

Why can't they have the same three letters in a row?


texts: Is there a word or expression for extrapolating an analogy way beyond the point where it makes sense?

texts: An analogy is used to explain some concepts, and the points of comparison are limited and contextual. What if I am extending that analogy way beyond the point where it makes sense. What is the word or phrase for this?


texts: Is this usage of "know to be" correct — "They want to eat food they know to be good for them"?

texts:
In the following sentence, is the construction know + to + infinitive grammatical?

  They want to eat food they know to be good for them.

The dictionary says that "know to do something" is a correct construction. But can it be used in the above example?

If correct, is the meaning of the sentence similar/identical to "They want to eat food they know is good for them"? If not, what's the difference? If yes, how do they sound to a native speaker? To me as a non-native speaker, the "...know is good..." one sounds OK, but the "...know to be good..." one is sort of clumsy.


texts: I do not know how else to put the question.  On my third attempt, what is the origin of the word "pink" in the English language?


texts: One-word or a phrase for 'Time changes perspectives'

texts:
There were certain things or people of whom you assumed the worst, and yet in hindsight, you look at them differently, probably realize what they had gone through, and why they acted so. So I am looking for a single word or a phrase to be equivalent to the reflection of "How time changes your perspective about certain (mostly negative) people or events"

This one is for my tough  ex-boss, whom I had hated so vehemently while I worked with her. But after 4 good years, I realize, no one has actually inspired me to be my best, as much as she has.


texts: What is the meaning, and origin, of the phrase "breaking windows with guineas"?

texts:
Regarding the phrase:

  Breaking windows with guineas

What is its meaning, and origin?

The 'guineas' part of it might mean more to the British audience on this site than the others.


texts:
What's the word or phrase for the situation in which you know about someone's secret and that gives you an advantage over them?

For example, when a child knows that his father has done something wrong and thus takes advantage of it (by threatening that he would tell the truth to his mother or so).


texts: Words for someone whose behavior is in question, and the person who is concerned

texts:
For our intentional community I am writing up specific processes that can be used when one or more people have problems with another individual's behavior. I'm having trouble coming up with comfortable words to label both the person with concerns and the person the concerns are directed at. It's hard in this kind of community setting because such a word as "complainant" could be taken offense to ... like "it's just saying I'm a complainer." I'm writing up a detailed policy, for which it would be helpful to have single words instead of a phrase each time the person is referred to. This is probably impossible to find the right words, but thought I'd throw it out here anyway.

Example:

  The ____________ ["person with the concern"] can request a third party mediation with the ____________
  ["person whom they have issues with"].


texts:
I'd like a metaphor/allegory which depicts a situation where one is compelled to not act. As an example (of such a situation), a company CEO, surrounded by and probably partial towards protecting certain parties accused in a company scandal and obviously partial towards protecting company image, being appointed to investigate the scandal.

Although the 'fox in the henhouse' metaphor is sometimes used to refer to conflicts of interest of all kinds, the situation it depicts is one where the fox is compelled to act (eat the chickens!) rather than not act, so it doesn't fit very well with the idea in that sense, and the result is that when translated into other languages the meaning gets lost (or inverted).


texts: Is “misogyny” only applicable to men? What is the antonym of misogyny?

texts:
I came across the following sentence in New Yorker’s (February 23) article, titled “In Defense of Liz Lemon”:

  “She behaves as if Jack Donaghy (Alec Baldwin) is her daddy. She
  doesn’t trust her own judgment, she’s bad at her job, and there’s
  something awfully misogynist about all this! Liz Lemon is pathetic.”

When I checked the word, misogynist on dictionaries at hand, OALD defines it as “a man who hates women.” CALD likewise defines it as “a man who hates women or believes that men are much better than women.”

But here it is used for Liz Lemon, a woman. Is misogynist used only for male as both OALD and CALD define, or for both sexes?

According to www. memidex com, misogyny derived from modern Latin, misogamia from Greek “misein” (to hate) + “gamos” (marriage). Then, what is Latin equivalent antonym to misogamy?


texts: "Goal of math" or "Goal of mathematicians"?

texts:
This is a sentence from a post I made on the math.se site.

  The goal of professional, research mathematics is simple: proving the strongest possible theorems.

At first, instead of "mathematics", I had "mathematicians". For some reason that sounded slightly off to me. Are both variants acceptable?


texts:
In my business, we accept monthly payments however the first monthly payment is higher than the 11 following payments. When the service renews the next year we change the higher initial fee again. I want to say something like this:

  $20 per month after an initial payment of $100

But that makes it sound like the initial payment is a one-off, but it recurs annually when the policy is renewed.

Is there a more succinct way to say "initial but recurring"?


texts: Question pretty self-explanatory. Should the abbreviation of the Latin term philosophiae doctor be written as PhD (no periods) or Ph.D. (with periods)?


texts: "Half of my heart is at my hometown" What is the part of speech of "half" in this sentence?

texts:
In this case, half would be a noun or would it be an adjective?
I see it describing the way the heart finds itself, in half.


texts:
Here is the sentence:
" I argue with you"

Most of the time I have been taught that ARGUE + WITH is the function that I have to remember. But recently I have read some books about lexicon and they encourage to modify with another preposition in any case because they believe if one can master the lexicon can make a beautiful sentence with words. That leads me to another sentence with similar meaning to my first example I guess.

The sentence I have change is:

" I argue against you"

I am quite not sure with the second sentence because I am not a native speaker.
Could you guy explain it for me? Thank you so much.


texts: Does "accrued great appreciation of his dedication" sound right?

texts:
Here is the sentence, During the 4 year collaboration, we accrued great appreciation of his professionalism.

My question is about 2 words, "accrued" and "of".

First, I never see such usage as "accrue appreciation". Does it sound right to you? The problem is, if this is not right, what should be the right expression to say, accumulated appreciation over a period of time.

Second, I am almost certain, "of" should be "to" so that it should be "we accrued great appreciation to his professionalism".

Please let me know how you think.


texts:
We daily use terms like "I was sitting in front of the television" and "Spent the all day behind the computer".

What is the most appropriate term to use and why is it that people sit in front of the television and will say they sat behind the computer? Which one is more appropriate to use? Does it depend? Why?


texts: What does this strange complicated sentence mean?

texts:
Blue rolled the sky...

What does this sentence mean?


texts: To Whom It May Concern, what's the best way to address a group?

texts:
I write emails to groups of individuals from time to time, and when I don't/can't address anyone in particular, I will begin the letter with

  To Whom It May Concern,

Is this the best way to equally address a group of people, in a professional setting?


texts: When describing living space/floor space, how should I read/say NxZ meters?

texts: Suppose I want to say something like: "This room is 6 x 5 meters" What word should I use to read the "x" between the two numbers? In Russian it would be "на", and in French "sur". Translating these words literally into English, it would be "on", i.e. something like "6 on 5 meters". Is it correct to say "This room is 6 on 5 meters" describing living space/floor space?


texts: The word landscape as modifying a head noun

texts:
I want to use landscape experience in sentences contrasting it with aesthetic experience and spatial experience .

The term landscape though is commonly taken as a noun.

How could I indicate that I intend it as an adjective which modifies the noun experience ?


texts: 'suffuse': How can you pour something (from) below?

texts:
I already understand so ask NOT about definitions, below which I instead purpose to burrow.
I heed the Etymological Fallacy.

ODO: Late 16th century: from Latin suffus- 'poured into', from sub- 'below, from below' + fundere 'pour'.
Etymonline entry for 'suffusion', to which the entry for 'suffuse' simply links: late 14c., from Latin suffusionem (nominative suffusio) "a pouring over," noun of action from past participle stem of suffundere "pour upon, overspread, suffuse," from sub "under" (see sub-) + fundere "to pour" (see found (v.2)).


texts: Help me to find a proverb about average being better

texts: I am looking for an American proverb which connotes that average is better than maximum or minimum. For instance, if you work regularly you are probably in some cases more successful than people who work to their utmost or than people who are relaxed.


texts: Is “Better never than late” the saying as popular as “Better late than never”?

texts:
There was the following sentence in Maureen Dowd’s column in New York Times (September 1):

  We all know Republicans prefer riches-to-riches sagas, and rounding up immigrants, if the parasitic scofflaws aren’t sensitive enough to self-deport. That’s why my heart swells to think of the herculean effort the G.O.P. put into pretending its heart bleeds.
  Even if it’s been bleeding for only five days. Better never than late.

I can easily understand the meaning of ‘Better late than never,’ and I can easily find the definition of this phrase on online dictionaries.

For instance Cambridge Online Dictionary defines it as a saying ‘that is said when you think that it is better for someone or something to be late than never to arrive or to happen.’

I understand "Better never than late" is the antonym to "Better late than never," meaning it’s better not to be done (or non-existent) from the beginning, But I can’t find the entry of ‘Better never than late’ in any online dictionaries I’ve checked. Is this phrase as popular as ‘Better late than never’ as a proverb?

In what case can I use ‘Better never than late’ for an example other than G.O.P Presidential tickets’ compassionate mention on Hispanic immigrants in G.O.P. Convention?


texts:
What is a word for viewing angle? For example,

  The color of a birefringent surface varies with angle you look at it
  from.

It would be something like attitude or aspect.


texts: Is there a term for negligent spelling of words such as 'you' as 'u'?

texts:
The age of texting and instant messaging as we all know has created a phenomenon of using shorter versions of words to save on keystrokes. On tiny keypads or phone buttons this obviously can be a time saver. However, in a medium where these shortcuts are not expected (for example, this very Q&A site collection), I find it aggravating and annoying that someone cannot be bothered to type two extra characters for word substitutions such as "u" (you), "r" (are), and "4" (for).

I sometimes want to refer to this activity as something other than "lazy spelling" or "texty-speak..." Is there a term for this type of lazy word substitution?


texts:
Example:

  Pedro was standing on my left, his hair [...], watching the rocks being beaten endlessly by the waves.

I'm curious, is there a word that means being blown by the wind?


texts: Name of Semantic Relationship: "has-instance" / "is-instance-of"

texts:
I am looking for the name of the semantic relationship "has-instance".
For example: "swimmer" - "Michael Phelps". What is the correct name of this relationship?

And further: What is the name of the reversed relationship (is-instance-of)?


texts: I would like to know if there is a better statement for expressing the following statement in an email, "Please get back to me if you have any query".


texts: "My friend's, Tom's, object" vs. "My friend, Tom's, object"

texts: How does one combine possession and appositive comma usage in one sentence?


texts:
For some context, I'm a programmer looking for a good word to use to label a generic class of things that are all pieces of information that are "fetched" from somewhere.  These pieces of information may be fetched more than once.

Up to this point, I've simply referred to the chunk of retrieved information as a "Fetch", but there is confusion in the code since this also refers to action of retrieving the information.


texts: People talking about how something will be perceived sometimes use the phrase "to it". For example people sometimes say "It will have a nice color to it." instead of just it will have a nice color. Or when something sounds nice someone says "It has a nice ring to it." What is the function of "to it" in these kinds of sentences?


texts: What is the grammatical function of 'Celsius' in "ten degrees Celsius"?

texts:
In this sentence:

  Iron melts at around 770 degrees Celsius, 1,400 degrees Fahrenheit.

What is the grammatical function of the words 'Celsius' and 'Fahrenheit' ?


texts: What would you call someone who sells information?

texts: Is there an actual term? Just wondering since in movies or books there are those whom have information that other characters want or need and thus pay 'em for such information.


texts:
Is a noun "whereabouts" used not only for something moving (e.g. person)
but for something still?
For example:

Do you know his whereabouts?

vs

Whereabouts of the building they searching is still unknown.


texts: How can I express logical AND unambiguously but simply?

texts:
In colloquial English AND is often misused, or at least misunderstood, as meaning OR, and vice versa.

Thus, when writing a webpage instructing people to enter locations and distances from those locations to determine a search area by the INTERSECTION of those circles rather than their union, how might I express the instruction both clearly and simply?

I've currently got:


texts:
Tom had already eaten when his friend arrived.
Tom had eaten when his friend arrived.

Do I need to add "already" in sentences above?


texts:
Hedwig clicked her beak with a dignified disapproval (after seeing the small owl deliver the post.)

From Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

What does dignified mean here? How can being serious and formal make sense in this case?


texts: coordinating conjunctions with commas between multiple dependent clauses (rules/ usage)

texts:
Joining multiple clauses in a single sentence using comma?
Was a question on the other site, but he's chaining multiple dependent clauses with 'which'. But in contrast with that question: using  multiple coordinating conjunctions with dependent clauses and commas?
Most grammar sites state this:

Use commas to separate independent clauses when they are joined by any of these seven coordinating conjunctions: and, but, for, or, nor, so, yet.

But doesn't this contradict connecting dependent clauses connected with coordinating conjunctions with commas? Are there any rules?
Two  examples:

Although there was not a cloud in the sky, and because Mary arrived at the bus station,
partly because he was afraid of raising expectations even higher and he did not want to be distracted by interviews and adoring fans who would follow him into stores and restaurants demanding autographs and photo-opportunities, but mostly because he wanted to conserve his energies and concentrate on the job at hand.


texts: I am not sure if this sentence is grammatically correct. Is "He is 7-year-old" grammatically correct?


texts:
Spoiler (n.) is a very old term, but its usage referring to movie plots is quite recent:

  1530s, "one who robs or plunders," agent noun from spoil (v.)......meaning "information about the plot of a movie, etc., which might 'spoil' it for one who has not seen it" is attested by 1982. (Etymonline)

According to Wikipedia this usage can be found earlier, at least from the '70s:

  One of the first print uses of the terms was in the April 1971 issue of National Lampoon. An article entitled "Spoilers," by Doug Kenney, lists spoilers for famous films and movies.

The advent and the growing popularity  of the Internet has certainly contributed to the spread of its usage, especially  with the expression Spoiler Alert:

  The Usenet archives compiled on the Google Groups page reveals that nerds were bandying about the phrase as early as June 8 1982, when a commenter placed “(SPOILER ALERT)” before mentioning a detail about Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. The movie had been released just four days earlier, so he assumed many had not yet seen it.

Questions:

Was the above mentioned usage of spoiler first used by Doug Kenny, or did he just employ an expression which was already in use at that time?

What term or expression was previously used, given that movies and TV series had become very  popolar well   before the '70s?


texts: Need clarification as confusion between whom or who

texts:
Covid-19 patient was telling his story, how he recovered. govt officials always trace with how many people he made contact.

The Building I was staying in was quarantined and contact tracing was done immediately I was called by hospital and govt. officials and they found out who I was in contact with, how did i go from the airport to home.

Is this correct who I was in contact with.?
I think it should be they found out whom I was in contact with.


texts: Why doesn't possessive "his" have distinct forms like "her" vs. "hers"?

texts:
I'm trying to understand why there is a difference between the possessive determiner and pronoun for the female gender (her vs hers) but not for the male gender (his is used for both).

"This will be discussed with him and his parents will be informed" and "This will be discussed with her and her parents will be informed" both seem correct, but I'm wondering about the origin of the fact that 'male' gender does not have a distinction whereas the female gender appears to have one, e.g. we would not say "hers parents".

Is there an etymological reason for not using "hers parents", or just a stylistic one (e.g. "hers parents" sounds odd whereas "his parents" doesn't)?


texts: Is there any difference between "immune from" and "immune against" in the following sentence?

texts:
"His position as president renders him immune ..... criticism."

Any subtle difference concerning the viability and efficacy of criticism, according to the preposition used?

The Ngram shows that "immune against" has always been unusual. Still, we can find it now and then.


texts: Can you use the word "where" in a sentence this way?

texts:
Is it proper grammar to use the word "where" after a comma, or can I replace this word with something more appropriate?

"I was employed as a ______ at ABC Company, where I was responsible for managing a team of 20 employees."


texts: There are situations where it would be helpful to have people buzzing around enthusiastically.  Examples would be an open house or a book signing.   What would you call people hired to attend such events?  Shill seems too harsh.


texts: Why is Robert called Bob and John called Jack sometimes? What is the history of or reason for this practice in changing the English names of people?


texts: A positive-sounding word synonymous to 'dismantling'

texts: I want a word which means 'breaking down some concept and building it again'. To elaborate, suppose I have learnt a concept, but have missed a lot of intricate details in it. So, I want to start from the beginning. I want to dismantle that concept, but not in the sense of destroying or discarding it, or dismantling it because the concept itself is wrong. I want to break it down, and start building it from the basics. Is there a word for this? The Thesaurus suggested words like annihilate, demolish, destroy, tear down, etc. All these words have a negative-sound. I want a word that means the same in a positive sense. As an example, '___-ing Algebra' would be a good title for a book that teaches Algebra from the very basics and in a greater detail than usual.


texts: What would be another way to phrase "the moral of the story is..."?

texts: What would be another way to phrase "the moral of the story is..." ?


texts: Is it valid to use "literally" to mean "actually" when composing a hyperbole?

texts:
Whenever I see someone corrects another person on their use of "literally", it often seems to me like the corrector did not realize the sentence was supposed to be a hyperbole, and in fact depends on the correct usage of the word "literally" (to mean "actually") in order to be a hyperbole. For example:

"It is so amazing it will literally make your head explode".

Sure, nobody's head is going to "literally" explode from the sheer awesomeness of whatever "it" is, but isn't that exactly the point? If heads do not explode from something being awesome, then something would have to be extremely awesome in order to actually explode someone's head. This sentence basically says:
"The intensity of how amazing this thing is is so great, that your head will actually explode from it."

This seems semantically correct to me, but people seem to criticize this use of "literally", as if it actually isn't semantically correct. Why is that?


texts:
This is something that's been bothering me. Titular is an adjective which identifies an object as the source of the subject's name. According to Google:

  Titular: denoting a person or thing from whom or which the name of an artistic work or similar is taken.

It can be used in a sentence like, "Ivanhoe follows the adventures of the titular hero" or "Hey Hey We're the Monkees was written by the titular band". But how do you express the opposite relation, where the noun takes its name from the subject rather than gives its name to it? As in, "The adventures of Sir Wilfred of Ivanhoe are detailed in the ______ book, Ivanhoe" or "The Monkees wrote the ____ song"?

Eponymous doesn't seem to work, as it denotes the same relationship as titular. You could use "the book/song of the same name", but that would only really work if the source and the work had exactly the same name. It also doesn't really express the subject as the source of the name. I've looked for antonyms, but most online dictionaries only give antonyms like "real" or "actual".

Is there a word or phrase that works like this?


texts: Which one is correct? "Look here" or "Look at here"?

texts:
Between the following two phrases:

"Look here"
"Look at here"

which one is correct?

Is it advisable to use "at" in this case?


texts:
What's the difference between "tier" and "layer"?
When should I use "tier" and when should I use "layer"?


texts: indefinite articles in 'pose a threat' and 'cause harm'

texts:
Can I confirm that you always need the indefinite article in the phrase 'he poses a threat to his community'?
Can you ever instead say 'he poses threat to his community'?

Separately, do you always omit articles in the phrase 'cause harm'?
Can you ever say 'he caused a great harm to his community'?


texts:
I'm re-reading Wise Man's Fear. The University chancellor is chastising a colleague.

  You're as bad as the boy, Jasom, and with less excuse. You've shown you can't conduct yourself in a professional manner, so stint thy clep and consider yourself lucky I don't call for an official censure." (page 96)

I understand this to mean something along the lines of "shut up," but I can't quite grok the phrase itself.

Google doesn't offer any helpful definitions of "clep" and the definitions of "stint" don't appear to fit the context. Can anyone pin down when and where these words are used in this way?


texts: Can the verb "to log in" be used to describe the process of selecting an answer to a multiple-choice-question?

texts:
I realize this question may sound a little weird. The reason I am asking is the following:

In a question I answered, someone linked to this Wikipedia entry about a certain game show.

In this article, the term "to log in" is used to describe the process of selecting one answer out of a number of possible answers. In fact it feels like in the following quote "to log in" could be replaced with either "chosen" or "selected".

The exact quote:

  [...] On the video wall, six precise categories (e.g. Africa, Olympic Heroes) appear, picking one of them triggers a four-choice question worth £ 2,000. As soon as all Pack Members have logged in their answer, the Control Player marks his move: [...]

I did not know the term "to log in" could be used this way. I couldn't really find anything about it, so I decided to check how many hits a Google search for the strings "to log in an answer" and "log in an answer" respectively yields. I was hoping I could use this information to determine how often "log in" is being used in this particular context.

A Google search for the string "to log in an answer" yielded only 7 (!!) hits.

A Google search for the string "log in an answer" yielded about 600.000 hits, but every hit I checked in the end turned out to be a mistyped version of "log in and answer". So that was not really helpful.

And while I generally trust Wikipedia as a source, this particular entry appears to be somewhat of a niche article as it's about one specific quiz show that ran for about a month.

So my actual question is this: Is "to log in" being used correctly in this particular context or not?

Also I'd like to point out that this is my first question, so criticism is much appreciated.


texts:
I'm looking for a simple word for a point in time for the name of a database column. The column is for "datetime" objects and it feels wrong to call the column "date", since that implies that the column only contains dates, and similarly it feels wrong to call the column "time". General programming principles dictate that it's also a bad idea to name a column simply by the value type it contains, so I don't want to name it "datetime".

Is there an English word for a "point in time", independent of whether we're talking about time of day, date of year or millennia? I want the word (X) to fit into the column name "creation_X". If you have another idea of a good naming choice I'd love to hear that too.

Edit: The table column in question should specify when the data was recorded. Think of it as a data point for Google Analytics. A row contains, for instance, site visits for 12:00 to 13:00 on 2013-01-01, so the field "time_span" is set to "hour", and the field for column X should be set to "2013-01-01 12:00:00". I can't figure out what to call the column though.


texts: What would you call the stylistic omission of punctuation?

texts:
I'm wondering if there's a name for a literary device in which an author intentionally leaves out grammar to make a sentence feel rushed, anxious, or continuous. I notice this a lot in memes, tweets, and Tumblr posts in particular. I feel like there's a definite effect on the way the language is interpreted, but I can't find any defined literary devices that properly encapsulate this idea. Some terms like "stream of consciousness" seem close but too vague.

For example:

"Wow Bukowski so profound do you also bathe fully clothed you idiot."

"One time I saw a guy eating a sandwich and skipping rocks and I don't know he just threw his sandwich in the water and put a rock in his mouth and I could just see him dying inside"


texts:
I would like to ask if any specific rules apply to the usage of some and some of phrases and especially in which cases either of them is not suitable for a sentence.

I understand that e.g. a phrase like some of my friends is grammatically correct, but what makes me hesitate is the following sentence from the field of physics:

  Some of relevant ideas were mentioned many years ago.

Can the of preposition be used in this case, or is the sentence incorrect?

(As a side note, I think that the word mentioned is not chosen very well and should be replaced by a more suitable verb or a construction saying that there have been scientists who stated important theorems such as the divisibility of atoms.)


texts: "may not do"/"you may abstain from doing"

texts: "May do" grants permission to do. "may not do" seems to deny permission, or at least not give permission to do. How do you give permission to abstain from doing something that was otherwise expected to be done? Is there a more concise way than saying "you may abstain from doing"?


texts:
I recently learned following phrases.

On your six
It means directly behind you. This is a military designation of location where 12:00 is directly in front of you.

Watch your six
It means to watch out for danger behind your back.

Are these well-known and frequently-used phrases ? If yes, in what kind of situations do we use these ?


texts:
What is the word for provoking some one in a good way to do something good? My research shows provoke is means to induce anger in a person to do something. I have found "inspired" but it doesnt give the same provocative :) effect.

Cheers


texts: How to say "we will consider job applications also before the deadline"

texts:
I'm looking for a common phrase or at least a more elegant way to say something like the following:

  The deadline for this job application is end of April. But we will consider
  applications before that deadline and may also already chose a
  candidate beforehand.


texts: Question about the meaning of the phrase 'tough room'

texts: While watching a movie, in a dialogue scene, Ive heard this character saying "you are a tough room, do you know that?". What is the meaning of tough room? Is it an idiom?


texts: What is a word for an entity or number that will not modify something else?

texts:
Is there a word for an entity or number that won't modify something?

Or in mathematical terms 1 won't modify another number if you multiply by it (2 * 1 = 2).

I would imagine you could also generalize this term outside of math but I can't think of an example.


texts: Did the phrase "to make money" originate in the English language?

texts:
I am currently reading Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand and I came across an interesting paragraph related to the English language and its history.

  If you ask me to name the proudest distinction of Americans, I would choose—because it contains all the others—the fact that they were the people who created the phrase ‘to make money.’ No other language or nation had ever used these words before; men had always thought of wealth as a static quantity—to be seized, begged, inherited, shared, looted or obtained as a favor. Americans were the first to understand that wealth has to be created. The words ‘to make money’ hold the essence of human morality.

Is this a true piece of history? Did we create the phrase and the idea of "making money"?


texts: Another word for potion that isn't a liquid

texts:
A potion (from Latin potio "drink", in turn derived from Greek poton "that which one drinks") is a consumable magical medicine drug or poison.

What about a substance that is a consumable magical medicine drug or poison? For example, alcohol is a potion that increases a user's strength, but also decreases a user's attack (hence, it's a poison and medicine at the same time). But ammonia can increase a user's strength, if sniffed in its crystalline form. What's the correct term?


texts: Essay Formatting Question: Use of examples

texts:
Good day everyone;

I hope I have signed up to the right forum because I am conflicted on a formatting issue.  As of now, I am writing an essay for one of my classes in the APA format.  Just for background, my paper is double-spaced, 12 point font, etc. the basics.

Essentially, I have two questions:
1) When you quote an example that is longer than a couple of lines, is it appropriate to indent it and bring it to size 10 font?
For example:

Blah blah blah blah blah blah blay; Bob(2008), an astrophysicist from the University of Boston, gives a perfect example:

       "blah blah blah blah blah blah" [imagine this part is in 10 font]

2) If the first question is: yes, it is appropriate, then: is it appropriate to do that with your own examples?  Examples that you, yourself have made?

Thank you for any help you can provide :)


texts:
I'm learning phonemes used in English.
And, I came to know that there is the phenomenon called vowel reduction.
Vowels get closer in the quality to schwa sound by this phenomenon.

Here is my question.
I wonder if the sound qualities of different phonemes are overlapped and similar; is it hard or even impossible to identify phonemes?

In Japanese, there is no overlapped phoneme and vowel reduction, so I'm wondering why words can be identified while the timbres of phonemes can be the same with each other.


texts: Is there a word for imitating language sound?

texts: There are many funny videos of people imitating speech in various languages by only focusing on the sound of the language rather than content. The speech is usually completely invalid in given language but sounds valid to someone unfamiliar with the language. Is there a word for such kind of imitation?


texts: Equivalent of using (s) to indicate possible plural for words using "ies" for plural?

texts: If I want to write how many of something I have that uses "s" to indicate plural, I can use (s), as in "Joe had X apple(s)". But say I want to write something like "The report contains 2 entries" or "The report contains 1 entry". Since the plural of entry isn't "entrys", it seems incorrect to write entry(s). What is the proper syntax for this?


texts: Ending a sentence with the noun, disapproval

texts:
Could I end a sentence with the word, disapproval? As in the paragraph below.
"Actually, I could imagine that happening. He conceivably released the shark that killed him and it gnawed at someone. He was incarcerated for it, but had to fake his death so nobody found out. But, Janet and Gaz could rekindle their affair and Johnny could appear as a ghost to show his disapproval."
Any help would be much appreciated.


texts: What is the meaning and etymology of the adjective "jammy", of Yorkshire English?

texts:
What is the etymology of the adjective jammy? As in,

  Thou art a jammy bugger!

I confess I've never seen the word before.  When I looked it up, I found confusing etymologies: one source says it comes from the construction jamais de guerre and an ordinary dictionary source says it comes from the word jam; I wouldn't imagine the two are related.  Which is it?


texts: Is this archaic usage or a mistake in the gutenberg version?

texts:
In the version of "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" available on gutenberg.org here, this appears:

"she told him at last that if he didn't quit using around there"

Is the use of the word "using" here a mistake, or was that the actual original word used there?

If the latter, what does it mean? Is it an archaic term for "messing about" or rural Missouri slang for something else, or what?


texts: “We have nothing to lose but our aitches”

texts:
George Orwell ends his essay The Road to Wigan Pier (1937) with (emphasis mine):

  And then perhaps this misery of class-prejudice will fade away, and we of the sinking middle class … may sink without further struggles into the working class where we belong, and probably when we get there it will not be so dreadful as we feared, for, after all, we have nothing to lose but our aitches.

Earlier in the same book, he comments that (again emphasis mine) In almost any revolt the leaders would tend to be people who could pronounce their aitches.

I am missing some context to understand this; probably both due to me not being a native speaker, and due to the comment relating to a situation 80 years ago.
In both cases, Orwell is discussing class distinctions and class prejudice, so pronouncing the aitches is presumably a pars pro toto for a larger sociolect belonging to a particular class (and to non-linguistic class distinctions as well).  But he chose to describe it by aitches, so that must be or have been a major characteristic.

How did the pronunciation of the h within England in the 1930s depend on class, and is still still true today?

Edit: (I am aware that this is a reference to Marx' they have nothing to lose but their chains , but my question is rather about the sociolect he is referring to than about the historical or political context)


texts: what do you call a person who speaks in opposites; not just being contrary or being a contrarian

texts:
I am reading G.K. Chesterton's Heretics.
It appears to me that he presents his ideas in opposing view points in the same sentence.
It is almost like he is of the opinion that his opinions are the only truths.


texts: Can i use "the same" as a pronoun in this sentence?

texts:
He lent me some money on the condition that i should return (the same/it) before November.

Is it formal to use "The same" when we want to refer the previously stated thing after a conjunction or in next sentence.

Thank you.


texts:
If you could tell her, that would save me phoning her.

In the sentence above, what is the role of the gerund phoning?

Does it function as a part of the objective phrase (me phoning her)?

Or is it an objective complement (complementing the object me)?


texts: Meaning of Science Block (British English)

texts:
In the British radio comedy show, Cabin Pressure, the following exchange of dialogue occurs:

  Martin: Your doctor? What doctor do you know?

  Simon: Good old Doc Smiley, of course.

  Martin: What, Nathan Smiley from school?

  Simon: That’s right! Remember him, do you?

  Martin: Of course I remember him, he threw my briefcase on the science block - and he’s a podiatrist!

  Simon: And a bloody good one.

What does "science block" mean in this context? It seems to be some Britishicism, but I'm not entirely sure of the meaning.


texts: When watching medical television shows, I often hear the doctors (actors) using the term "stat", which I understand to mean "do [action] quickly/immediately". Where did this term originate, and where is it derived from?


texts: Is the sentence “ask any doctor — they'll all tell you that alcohol is a poison” grammatically correct?

texts:
I am not a native speaker and I find the following sentence pretty confusing.

  Ask any doctor — they'll all tell you that alcohol is a poison.

Here the speaker is referring to any doctor. Why is they used instead of he/her? Or to put it in other words shouldn't the correct form of the sentence be as follows?

  Ask any doctor — he/she'll all tell you that alcohol is a poison.`


texts: Meaning of "aesthetic lighting feature" in context

texts:
High-end retailers such as Tiffany and Hermes do their best to stimulate all the senses in building their brand experience, which may include aesthetic lighting features and enchanting aromas.

What does "aesthetic lighting feature" mean in this context?


texts:
What does "these things are in the ether" mean?
The context of the sentence is

  My own daughters' names are Freya, a more popular name across the pond than in the US, and Calla, which last trended as a baby name in 1880. Although the week Freya was born we learned of two other baby Freyas in our Brooklyn neighborhood. And a former colleague also had a little girl named Calla. So these things are in the ether somehow.

Thank you.


texts:
I have a picture that I am trying to give a caption to. Following is what I have come up with, but it just not sounding right.

It's picture of San Francisco downtown in the background and bay in the foreground.

So, your words are as tall as those Skylines, but your actions are as low as that water.

Is there a better way to phrase that?


texts: Proper term for going through something (an audio) quickly

texts:
I know that when you go through a book quickly you skim through it.

What is the exact term when I go through an interview i recorded quickly? listening different steps just to get the general idea and jot down a few notes before proceeding to the actual activity of transcription.

I've looked online but I wasn't to sure... could it be 'speed listening' ?


texts: 'By' vs 'in' before agent in passive voice sentence

texts:
I would like to know if there is any difference in meaning when you use "by" or "in" before the agent in the passive voice sentence.

The active voice:

  This shop sells all the vegetables.

Passive:

  All the vegetable are sold in this shop.
  All the vegetables are sold by this shop.

Is there any difference?


texts:
I am familiar with " at the end" and " in the end" constructions, but I have found in "English Grammar in Use" book, the following sentences that contain "on the end":

Question tags are mini-questions that we often put on the end of a sentence in spoken English.
Put a question tag on the end of these sentences.

Naturally, I would have used at instead of on.

What differences are between "at the end" and "on the end"?

Thank you!


texts: What is the meaning of the phrase 'dichotomous dilemma'?

texts: I have the idea that  'dichotomous' means conflicting and 'dilemma' is state of mind when one/many cannot simply decide between two options. But I'm unable to wrap my head around the phrase. Also if I've made any errors please rectify  but do apprise me of them in comments :).


texts:
I'm making a programming example for a summer camp, and I'd like to get my terminology right.  This example is a game that student will make where they will fire missiles to defend earth from meteor[oid|ite]s (a bit like old-school asteroids).

My question then: are the students trying to protect the earth from meteoroids, or meteorites?

My understanding so far seems to suggest that missiles will be fired at a meteoroid, but if it reaches the ground it will become a meteorite.  I've seen a few definitions that all seem to agree with wikipedia (emphasis mine):

  A meteorite is a solid piece of debris from an object, such as a
  comet, asteroid, or meteoroid, that originates in outer space and
  survives its passage through the Earth's atmosphere and impact
  with the Earth's surface or that of another planet


texts:
I noticed that, in the dictionary, the words True, Right and Correct can have a meaning resembling accurate or exact. ODO says:

  True (adj) = accurate or exact.
  Right (adj) = true or correct as a fact.
  Correct (adj)= free from error; in accordance with fact or truth.

and I'm writing about allegations made against a politician. I'm considering saying:

  The allegations made against [politician] were true (or correct or right).

I would like to know:

Is there a difference between those three? Would you imagine that allegations made against the politician are true has a slightly different meaning from allegations made against the politician are right or allegations made against the politician are true? (I have searched in ELU and read the post right vs. correct which doesn't help much to identify the difference particularly in this context).
All of those three words have other meanings in the dictionary. For example, right has other meanings like denoting or worn on the side of a person's body which is toward the east when they are facing north.

If all these three words are essentially the same meaning, is there any reason I should avoid using one word or the other?


texts: Why do these sentences all start with WHEREAS?

texts:
I am looking at the Democratic and Republican Party Platform documents, and noticed this strange wording:

WHEREAS, All platforms are snapshots of the historical contexts in which they are born, and
parties abide by their policy priorities, rather than their political rhetoric;

To me it doesn't make any sense how this is structured. Why is it done this way? It seems like a bunch of partial run-on and incomplete sentences.


texts: "To tell the truth" vs "to tell you the truth."

texts: What's the difference between the two? Which one is more common? When should I use the former and then the latter?


texts:
When we make text bold, we can just use the verb "bold".

When we make text underlined, we can use the verb "underline".

But which verb would we use for making text italic?


texts:
Even though she is angry, you should try _______ (talk) to her

In the question above I need to decide whether I should use talking, the gerund-participle, or to talk, a to-infinitive.

I’m confused since I don’t know whether this is basically a piece of advice about how to achieve something and I should go with talking or if try here means 'make an effort' and I should go with to talk.


texts:
My spellchecker insists on replacing "furthest" with "farthest". I was under the impression that farthest is strictly speaking in terms of distance, whereas furthest is more abstract.

A poster on this forum gives the following example:

  The further [quantity] you walk, the farther [distance] you get.

What gives?


texts: Correct usage among Won't vs Can't vs Couldn't vs Wouldn't

texts:
I have a meeting but can't attend due to other priority works.
So which one would be proper way to express in polite manner.

I have another important task so I can't join the meeting.
I have another important task so I won't join the meeting.
I have another important task so I couldn't join the meeting.
I have another important task so I wouldn't be able to join the meeting.


texts: Is "has made it his business to" polite or impolite?

texts:
In this sentence:

  He has made it his business to reintroduce the theory to a new
  generation of activists.

Is "has made it his business to" an impolite expression?
Is it a radical expression?
Has it any implicit meaning that he reintroduces the theory, but he shouldn't do it?

EDIT: These answers confused me, First sentence of Source article may help better understanding this expression in the context.


texts: Choosing right preposition before "top management"

texts:
I can't decide which preposition is right for this case. At, in, other? Is there some rule for this? Could you help me, please?

  ... and shows that mistakes are being made also at (the?) top management.

Whole paragraph as requested below:

  Thank you for your comments, guys! I'm adding a whole paragraph: After several discussions, we decided to publish our project. “A project which restores COMPANY's credibility and shows that mistakes are being made also in top management. However, the important thing here (comma needed?) is how we handle these (those?) mistakes. In this article, we present one possible solution of how could COMPANY go back to their purpose/vision/mission (doesn't matter now)”

Thank you!


texts:
What's the difference between

  a) Pursuant to your last email, I'd kindly like to ask you ...

  b) According to your last email, I'd kindly like to ask you ...

I found that 'pursuant' is rather formal style and most often used in a legal context. Would it be wrong to use it in a business email?


texts: Context for "He never DID like her" and "He always DID like her"

texts:
I am trying to understand the usage of focused do/does/did that are preceded by adverbs such as never, always, still, etc. Are the following conversions idiomatic?

A: John liked Mary before.
B: No! John never DID like Mary!

A: John didn't always like Mary.
B: No! John always DID like Mary!

A: John doesn't like Mary anymore.
B: No! He still DOES like her!

Thanks a lot!


texts: Separating present perfect verbs by a comma?

texts:
I know this might seem trivial, but I am not sure what to do with sentences like this. If I have a sequence of verbs that I want to be in the present perfect tense how should I write the sentence.

  I have sung a song, broken a window, and scared the audience.

or should it be

  I have sung a song, have broken a window, and have scared the audience.


texts: The first and most well-known example is/are the reserves in the United States

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  [Singular] Is/Are [Plural]?

Should the verb be is or are? I would say 'are', but a colleague says 'is'.


texts: Is there a word simplificate in English?

texts:
I wonder if someone can expound on this word simplificate.

Is that a word one can use in English?


texts: "all they need _is_ some words" or "all they need _are_ some words"

texts:
Which one is the correct form?

"all they need is some words"
"all they need are some words"


texts: Are contractions like "didn't" forbidden in written English?

texts:
Possible duplicate of:
  Using contracted forms (“don't”, “let's”) in a formal text
  Usage of contractions like “it's” and “that's” in textbooks
  Should contractions be avoided in formal emails?

In Germany, our English teachers always taught us that contractions like "didn't", "he's", "won't" and so on are perfectly valid to use also in written English. The only difference to writing the long version, consisting of two words, was that it would only count as one word.

However, in Singapore, where I currently am for an exchange year, if you use these contractions in a test, they will be marked as a mistake. The teacher says it is not allowed to use them in written English.

So my question is: Are the German or the Singaporean teachers right? Is there any official rule on this? How is this marked in other countries' schools?


texts: It was the third time I had gone to Rome or It is the third time I had been to Rome

texts:
I tell a story to a friend.
I want to say that I was in Rome for the third time.
Do I need to use be or go?
I know the difference like in this example:
 - She has just been to the shop. She brought some cakes. (she is here now)
 - She has just gone to the shop. She will back soon. (she is not here now)

I get confused when it happened in the past.
Could anyone help me?
Thank you.

The question is about the two sentences:

  It was the third time I had been to Rome

or

  It was the third time I had gone to Rome.

I speak in the  past. I tell the story from a past point of view.
In the past I wasn't back when I spoke.
What does that change? What is the meaning of the two forms?


texts:
I need some synonyms of talk about.
For instance, “today I will talk about two topics.”

The context is the speaker at a conference is talking about three topics to the audience. It is a speech. I am sick of using "talk about" so I wanted to use another expression.

Right now, I am thinking of “express”, “address” or “deliver” but I am not sure whether they are desirable.
Could you please advise me?
I need some very formal words.
Thank you.

If this post has any problems, please let me know.


texts:
There are many sentences like this:

  This man, I thought, was a man with great manner!

What is this "I thought" part called in grammar?


texts:
Don't insert a space before a colon.
Don't insert multiple consecutive colons.
Follow the same rules for commas, periods, and other punctuation marks.

Don't insert a space before a colon.
Don't insert multiple consecutive colons.
Apply the same rules to commas, periods, and other punctuation marks.

Is there a difference between "follow the same rule for" and "apply the same rule to"?
Which one is more idiomatic in such a context?


texts: Can "Can you, please, help me" be followed by "as to which"?

texts:
Can "Can you, please help me" be followed by "as to which"?

For example,

  Thanks for telling me which button on that website I need to click.
  Well, I clicked on the needed button, but what I got then was a new
  page written fully in Korean. I don't read in Korean. I am sending a
  screenshot of that page to you. Can you, please, help me as to
  which button there I should choose now? Thank you.


texts: Is "bring grist to the enemy's mill" the same as "play into somebody's hand"?

texts:
I would like to know if

  bring grist to the enemy's mill

and

  play into somebody's hand

are idioms or proverbs and if their meaning are the same?


texts: I just need to know the term for what people pay for the war.


texts: Past Simple or Present Perfect with "Never"?

texts:
I have this example in my practice book where I need to use the Past Simple or Present Perfect:

  My grandfather died before I was born. I have never met him.

The right answer is "I never met him".

Shouldn't we use the Present Perfect with "never"?


texts:
I have come across the expression game in hand in an article on England Premier League, as follows:

  Third-place City has a game in hand but the surprise result against Sunderland, coupled with Sunday’s 3-2 loss at Liverpool, may be a setback too far in its bid for a second championship in three seasons.

I do not quite understand what game in hand means in this context.
What would be the correct meaning?


texts:
The context is a course scheduling and the process in creating one: course scheduling. I have looked up, that schedule is typically used American English and timetable is typically used in British English, is that correct?

Then my question would be, how would a native speaker experience it when both terms are used in the same context? Because currently I have the feeling, that I could express myself better when using both.

Schedule seems to be the overall structure, the whole course schedule of the university for example and timetable, more as the timetable for this week: Monday to Friday.


texts: How to use "to a large extent" in a sentence?

texts:
I formed below statements with "to a large extent". Which one is correct? and What is the most common and formal way of agreeing with something?

I to a large extent agree with the given statement.
I agree with the given statement to a large extent.


texts: What does "hunting" mean in the following sentence?

texts:
I was reading a review for a camera lens. I found the sentence there.

  Slow focus on my 300D, noticeably better on a 400D... Shallow focus field, with lots of hunting.


texts:
It drives me up a wall when people use "most well" instead of "best." However, it's such a common habit, I'm wondering if I'm missing something.

Is it grammatically correct to say "This is the most well-represented mammal order" rather than "This is the best represented mammal order"? Another example is "This is the most well known carnivore" vs "This is the best known carnivore."


texts: How to describe Bipolar-like behaviour in a positive sense?

texts:
Little bit of background that might seem technical - I'm looking for a name for this common pattern in web design - if you are not logged-in, the homepage shows a marketing landing page. But once you log-in you see a completely different homepage e.g. Facebook shows a sign-up form first - and your feed once you are logged-in.
Design pattern names are typically nouns (for e.g. Visitor Pattern). I like to avoid terms with negative connotation like Bipolar or Split personality.
Some of the names I could think of were:

Dual Homepage
Duplex Homepage
Ambiverted Homepage
Janus-headed Home

I am not entirely happy with any of these. I am pretty sure I am missing some obvious word to describe someone who behaves in two different ways depending on the context. Appreciate any help in my search to find a proper name.


texts: A synchronizes with B - which direction is the synchronization?

texts:
I read in a document that A will synchronize with B after a procedure.

My question is:

After the synchronization, will A be equal with B, or will B be equal with A?

Edit:

I want to clarify why I ask this question.

The document I am referring to, instructs me that I should change the content of A.

After the change, A will then synchronize with B. I find this a bit odd, as my change would be reverted. I would expect the synchronization would be in the other direction.

I need some clarification on this matter. I not yet sure if the procedure is correctly described.


texts:
I'm just wondering whether both sentences would be correct:

I look into the eyes of anyone who looks at me.

I look into the eyes of everyone who looks at me.

Would it be correct to assume that when I used anyone in that way it would mean I am questioning whether anyone looks at me. However when using everyone I'm just stating the fact that I look into everyone's eyes.
If both are correct I really like the distinction. Not possible in many other languages.


texts: Can it mean the same as 'act at will', like whenever it pleases one? Can you think of a context when 'act on will' could be used?


texts: Why isn’t a verb’s transitivity considered only a matter of meaning, not one of grammar?

texts:
After reading some examples of intransitive verbs, I get the impression
that transitivity is not a grammatical concept.  It seems that it hangs
on the meaning not the structure of the verb in the sentence.

Consider to swim, often listed as an intransitive verb which takes no
direct object and cannot be used in the passive.

He swims the backstroke every morning.
The backstroke was swum by all the winners.

Furthermore, almost any verb can be used without a direct object, thus
making the claim that transitive verbs require a direct object rather
hollow.

  to harpoon: How do I have such muscles? I harpoon (daily).

So I guess I'm asking why the concept is described as a grammar concept.
It doesn't seem to help in forming or not forming valid sentences.


texts:
Someone says I need to use "was", someone says to use "were". Which one is correct?

  What I saw were a driver and an attendant.

or

  What I saw was a driver and an attendant.


texts: Meaning of "like a mountain breaking lather"

texts:
"...And there is another smell, too, yonder beneath the fresh pine and cigarette smoke—hay, blood, something big and wild and musky. An old reek, like a mountain breaking lather. Once you've gotten a whiff of it, you never forget the smell of an elephant."
source: Brooke Bolander. The Only Harmless Great Thing

The smell in the first sentence refers to the smell of an elephant.
Could you please explain the sentence in bold? Here, is reek used in the sense of "smell"? Break lather means sweat, I guess, here does the mountain sweat and emit a smell, figuratively of course? Is the smell likened to it? Or is there another meaning here that I cannot figure out?


texts: What is the difference between "tithe" and "tenth"?

texts:
Is it correct to use the term tenth with the sense of tithe (payments to the church)?

What are the differences between the two terms? Is the first one more generally while the second one is specific to the church tithe payments?

Are there any other related terms which I can use instead of tithe, but with the same meaning?

Can tenth replace tithe in the church payments context (e.g. I payed the tenth to the church I belong to)?


texts: When does the phrase "Some of us..." include the speaker?

texts:
I do not recall ever hearing anyone say "Some of us..." without including themselves. It appears to me that oneself is assumed to be part of the subject. However, some of is usually used to denote an arbitrary subset of something. Indeed, if I say "Some members of my book club..." no one will presume that I am including myself.

When is the speaker included when saying "Some of us..."? What are some examples where "Some of us..." does not include the speaker?


texts: Should "relationship(s)" be singular or plural in this context?

texts:
I want to say that I used Neural Networks for approximating functions.
 My doubt is in the following line :
I was amazed by their ability to learn the underlying relationships across a wide array of mathematical functions.

Underlying relationship of function x is different form that of y. So I mean to say that it learnt the underlying relationship in x as well as in y as well as in z. I want to make a generalized statement that across a wide array of functions it was able to do so. So in my original statement should I use relationship or relationships?


texts:
In two fields that I've worked I've heard the term "Conversational Postulate" used to refer to a yes/no question that is expected to elicit some behaviour in the listener.

Questions such as "Can you close the door?" used in place of "Close the door please".

I haven't been able to find a reference to the term outside of those fields.

Is there a standard categorisation in English for the kinds of words that are yes/no by nature but are pragmatically understood to require some action?


texts: And if not, is there an adequate gender-neutral term that isn't 'executioner'? I'm studying the poem "The Hangman" by Maurice Ogden, the opening line of which is "Into the town, the Hangman came." The word has loaded connotations, so I'm wondering if there's any suitable replacement.


texts: "...my passion for teaching and my knowledge of the English language makes me" or "...make me..."?

texts:
I am working on my resume. I don’t  know if I should use make instead of makes in this sentence.

  I believe that my passion for teaching and my knowledge of the English
  language makes me an ideal candidate for a teaching position at your
  school


texts: What is the etymology of "blackguard"? Does this British-sounding word have subtleties in its use?

texts:
The following is from My Fair Lady, where Eliza Doolittle's father, a man of working-class origins, is about to make his appearance. Prof. Higgins and Col. Pickering, our primary interlocutors in this dialogue, sense that Alfred Doolittle is after money for their use of Eliza to settle their little sociolinguistic experiment.

  HIGGINS [promptly] Send the blackguard up.
  MRS. PEARCE. Oh, very well, sir. [She goes out].
  PICKERING. He may not be a blackguard, Higgins.
  HIGGINS. Nonsense. Of course he's a blackguard.
  PICKERING. Whether he is or not, I'm afraid we shall have some trouble with him.

What is the etymology of this word? Wikitionary, usually extremely handy, informs me that it comes from "black + guard", which is just too thin gruel for my taste.  I mean, duh!  The question is why are those terms combined to apply to "scoundrels" and "unprincipled persons", as Wikitionary defines it. Can some make the history more detailed for me? Also, would one find this word current in British English, and does it always have a "chummy" or "lighthearted" quality as used in the quotation above?


texts: Is usage of "Than that of" vs "Than those of" case agnostic?

texts:
I've seen many cases of "than that of" and "than those of" switched with one another. Are they both really same and can be interchanged? Or do we follow some specific rules on where to use one of the either?

PS: Some seem to be of the opinion that "than that of" must be used when not referring to humans. Is it correct? Any examples otherwise?


texts: How did "right-on" become pejorative in BrEng?

texts:
In The Guardian, I read the following passage

The former Leicester, Everton, Spurs and Barcelona striker, also vowed to continue to “speak up for refugees and immigrants and British values of tolerance and free speech”.
The [Daily Mail] article  devotes 17 paragraphs to recounting what the rightwing newspaper calls Lineker’s “leftwing take on global politics” and “oh-so right-on views” before first mention of the 55-year-old presenter’s alleged tax affairs.

It seems that in British English, the expression "right-on" is used to mean:

(chiefly Britain, often pejorative) Possessing political and social views that are considered to be fashionable and left-wing.

However, how did this phrase come to have this meaning in the first place? IMO there doesn't appear to be such a clear link between the original expression "right-on" and this pejorative meaning.
Edit: Sources

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/right-on
https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/right-on
https://www.theguardian.com/football/2017/feb/09/gary-lineker-hits-back-at-daily-mail-over-tax-accusation


texts: What does "OP" mean, as in "massively OP version of force telekinesis"?

texts:
In the answer to another question, user Daft suggests that something is "a massively OP version of force telekinesis".  What does OP mean or stand for?
(All users should take the hint that you should not use abbreviations in your answers; it defeats the purpose of answering a question if you just cause confusion.)


texts: Difference between the prefixes, "mis" and "dis"

texts: What is the difference between mistrust and distrust?


texts: How to describe the following situation in one sentence without using conjunction "and"

texts:
Suppose that there is a cat in the room, and it suddenly starts running towards the bed. A few seconds later, the cat is underneath the bed.

I want to describe this situation in one sentence without using and.
What I think makes this difficult for me to translate, is that it uses two types of prepositions; one for the direction pointed to the bed, and the other is for the location of the cat.

For the first one, to, towards might be used, and for the second one, under or underneath might work (although I am not sure and I am not a native English speaker). I wonder if you could say the following:

The cat ran to/towards underneath the bed.

This one uses 2 prepositions in a row, making me think it might not work. However, removing one changes the meaning.

The cat ran towards the bed.

sounds like the cat is going to the bed, but not "under the bed". The cat might just go by the bed too, but that is not what I want.

The cat ran under/underneath the bed.

can mean the cat was already under the bed in the first place, and just ran, staying under the bed during the course of the action.

Can someone please help?


texts:
Can someone give me a perfect sentence which clearly shows the difference between paradigm and example?

Have read about it in the below site.
 https://wikidiff.com/paradigm/example

As nouns the difference between paradigm and example is that paradigm is an example serving as a model or pattern; a template while example is something that is representative of all such things in a group.  Suppose if I say Bill Gates is the world's richest person and I can refer him as a paradigm and say to my son , you should become like Bill Gates.!? And I can refer to top richest men as examples and ask my son to become like them. Is that even valid.!?


texts:
What does "a day's work" mean? Does it mean  a full day's work?

The quote below is taken from Charles Dickens' The Haunted House

  In the summertime, I often rise very early, and repair to my room to do a day’s work before breakfast.


texts: A word that can refer to an address but also for a contact in general

texts:
I'm creating a database that includes so-called sites. Those sites have an address and a shipment address; the addresses include phone numbers, but the postal part is the most important.

On the other hand there are service people you can call on the cellphone. They don't necessarily have any relation to the site, in particular not with the main address or the shipment address.

To keep my database lean, I want to have three fields of the same general type: "Main Address," "Shipment Address," and "Service Guy Address."

What would be a better word in this context? I thought about "contact," but "Shipment contact" doesn't make much sense for the delivery people as they have their own database with much more extensive contact information.


texts:
I want to write a summary about a reading and a listening passage that both discuss about the same subject and I'm wondering which sounds better; should I keep the word "both", should I place it in the beginning or in the middle? Also is the phrasal verb "touch upon" appropriate?

The reading and the lecture both touch upon the issue of...
Both the reading and lecture touch upon the issue of...

Do you have any suggestion how to make it sound more eloquently?
Maybe if I start this way: Touching upon the issue of ...., the author of the reading passage suggests that ...., whereas the lecturer suggests ....


texts: Does the word "evolution" connote "upgrade"?

texts: Does 'evolution' means 'upgrade' ? 'downgrade' or just 'gradient'?


texts: No article is used before a noun used in phrases as: to leave home, to send word, to catch fire, etc etc. Examples: He sent me word to see him. He left home. Here is my question: why do not these phrases take articles like 1. He sent me a/the word to see him. 2. He left a/the home.


texts: Meaning of "that friendship will not continue to the end which is begun for an end"

texts:
Can someone explain the meaning of this quotation?

  That friendship will not continue to the end which is begun for an end.


texts: Is it not nice to describe self as "shrewd"?

texts:
Here is how I described our firm in brief:

  is a group of shrewd professionals who went through myriad business situations and are passionate about understanding business objectives and solving business issues using application software and services

One of my former colleague sent me an unfriendly note saying,

  people want to deal with nice professionals not shrewd ones

Does the use of the word "shrewd" in this context reflect bad people or not-nice people? If yes; please suggest alternative.


texts: what does the word "process" mean in this sentence?

texts:
I would like to ask this question to an IRS representative for getting information about whether my application is still in progress or if the process completed without any problem? Is this the right way to say that?

  I filled out an SS-4 form to obtain an EIN and faxed it on [date you sent it]. I would like to know if the application has been processed yet.

Could you please explain the definition of process in this sentence.


texts: Word for when a comedian makes an indirect joke which makes it funnier

texts:
What do you call it when a comedian uses an indirect joke that require interpretation i.e. takes a second to interpret which makes it funnier. Some people won't understand it which gives it an exclusivity which makes the person laugh more as opposed to a common joke where the punchline is easy to understand

Simplified example

  What do you call a dog with no legs? It doesn't matter what you call him he isn't coming.


texts:
Which preposition is correct?

  This video shows the effect of freezing on water.
  This video shows the effect of freezing of water.


texts: "Out" after "to be": adverb, not adjective?

texts:
"Out" is listed as an adverb in the Cambridge Dictionary in the following example.

  I came around to see you this morning, but you were out.

Does anyone know why it isn't an adjective?


texts:
According to Wikipedia, sprezzatura means

  a certain nonchalance, so as to conceal all art and make whatever one does or says appear to be without effort and almost without any thought about it.

But has the word taken on a meaning more related to just "indifference" as opposed to the one above?


texts: Should one stick to American style of placing punctuation marks within quotes if one uses the American spelling?

texts:
According to Wikipedia, there are two ways to use punctation marks when it comes to quoting. Basically, we have the British style, where punctation marks that don't come from the quoted material "is put outside the quote", like I just did. In the American style, on the other hand, punctation marks that belongs to the original sentence, that the quoted material is put within, should be "placed within the quote itself," like I just did.

Now, I really, really, prefer the British style, since this is the way I've always done it, including when I write in my native language. However, at the same time, I prefer to use the american spelling and usage of words. Is this mixing behavior on my part acceptable?

It is mentioned in the Wikipedia article linked to above that "many American style guides specific to certain specialties, such as legal writing and linguistics, prefer British style." However, is there a general rule (or maybe a strong recommendation), for example if I'm just writing an essay or, I don't know, a blogpost, regarding how I can mix the different spellings and punctation mark rules?


texts: What is the opposite of "cooking the books"?

texts: I'm trying to describe being on top of things accounting-wise but can't quite find the words. Is there some kind of idiomatic antonym for "cooking the books"?


texts: Might "equivocal" be applied to our scientific understandings?

texts: I just read the question and answers about the meaning of "equivocal".  Might "equivocal" be used to describe the wave and particle appreciations of light?  The results of all inquiries and investigations that continue to be lit by doubt?


texts: Word for something that is a perfect replacement of another

texts:
I'm looking for a single word (or phrase) to point to something that is a perfect replacement of another.

e.g.

  This tool is a (perfect replacement/ ?) of a recently produced one.

Update:

The new tool in fact is an alternative to the previously produced (and there are some essential differences between them). So, it is more efficient and specifically eliminated drawbacks of older product. Moreover,it is not necessarily made by the same manufacturer.


texts: Term or phrase for simply moving a problem from one area to another

texts:
I'm trying to come up with (and coming up short) a term or expression that is used when one is simply moving a problem from one area to another (instead of solving it).

Something similar to;

  robbing peter to pay paul

... in the sense that it's a zero-sum game, but speaking more to moving issues instead to taking resources.


texts: Word for dead or dormant, but not definitively one or the other?

texts:
Is there a word that means dead or dormant/sleeping/inert but potentially alive?

Example:

  "I carefully approached the __________ [dead, or alive-but-at-rest]
  mouse in the corner."

Inert or quiescent come close, but they can't also mean definitively dead, if that is found to be the case. If the mouse were found to be dead, "inert" wouldn't be the appropriate word. Is there a word that approximates both simultaneously?


texts: The "Nobody claps, one person claps, everyone claps" Phenomenon

texts: What is the word to describe the phenomenon where at first nobody has the intension to clap (after a performance, lecture, etc). But suddenly one person starts clapping loudly, breaking the silence, and there goes the applause! Everyone starts clapping!


texts: Where does the expression "carrot and stick" come from?

texts: I thought it was a Tantalus-like metaphor, suggesting a donkey will walk toward a carrot dangling from a stick forever, given the stick is tied to the donkey. It seems to be used as reward versus punishment metaphor. Why would the average Joe find a carrot a reward?


texts: Difference between "did + verb" and just "verb+ed"

texts: This is something I always get confuse with (native language German). As far as I know "did + verb" is something done and finished in the past. But isn't it the same with "verb + ed"?


texts:
I was wondering.
A word can be a verb, adjective, adverb, noun, etc. Is a word its own name? So the word “jump” (verb). Is it also a noun?, but only for the very special case of naming itself.

Why I was thinking this.
I was explaining to a colleague, how to name parts of a computer program (variables, functions, procedures, etc). I stated that procedures should be verb phrases; functions and variables that are boolean should be adjectives, and functions and variables that are not boolean should be nouns. We did not get to adverbs (that is lesson two).
My colleague said that because they are names (variable name, function name etc), then they should all be nouns. This got me thinking. There must be something wrong about what we were taught at school (no surprise there).


texts: Be careful for what you eat or Be careful what you eat

texts:
I usually hear "Be careful what you eat" and also Google is telling me that but it seems "Be careful for what you eat" to me right.

Could you please explain which one is right and why please?


texts: What does 'have a whiff of sg ABOUT IT' mean?

texts: I could google what the first part means yet I can't see what "about it" adds to it. Does the expression mean the same without the last part?


texts: What's the origin of "beta" to describe a "user-testing" phase of computer development?

texts:
It occurred to me that I use the term "beta" to describe a "release candidate" of a computer product that has passed all expectations of the development team, and is now being given limited exposure to users at large for comment.

However, I have no idea how the term came to be, or what context it originally was used in. If we use "beta", then "alpha" must have been used at some point (possibly to refer to the internal QA testing period).

Was "gamma" ever used? Who came up with this nomenclature for the QA process?


texts: Qur'anic Studies: Meaning of the word "tooth"

texts: In the meantime, Luxenberg has made two proposals that relate to the question of how the text was first written. First, he argues that the “Ur-Qur’an” sometimes used a single “tooth” as mater lectionis not (or not only) for long i, as it does today, but to indicate long a, rather than the alif that later was introduced to mark it; but knowledge of this early convention was subsequently lost, so that the “tooth” was then mistakenly pointed to represent y, t, or another letter that the “tooth” could represent.


texts: Lexical class of "walking" in this sentence

texts:
Reading the sentence shown in the sign below got me thinking about what part of speech, or lexical class, the word 'walking' is.

"In grammar, an adjective is a 'describing' word; the main syntactic role of which is to qualify a noun or noun phrase, giving more information about the object signified." So I thought 'walking' was an adjective.

But, "In grammar, an attributive verb is a verb which modifies (gives the attributes of) a noun as an attributive, rather than expressing an independent idea as a predicate." So, at second look, 'walking' seems an 'attributive verb'; therefore the word is a participle. Is it?

Or is the word a gerund?


texts: How does one find a word with a rhyming middle syllable?

texts:
In conversation today I wanted to find a  set of words that have an "or" sound in their middles, as in "torrent" and "sorcerer".

I couldn't find one. Most rhyming dictionaries I found only concerned themselves with the last syllable.

I think that part of the problem is that I'm not aware of the correct term for what I'm looking for. "Rhyme" almost always means the final syllable, not anything in the middle of the word. Thus, I'm hoping English.SE can help.

Is there a term for words which share a common middle syllable? Do you know of any sources that contain sets of such words?


texts: "To mentor someone during a project" vs. "to mentor someone on a project"

texts:
..., whom I mentored during his final semester's project.
  ..., whom I mentored on his final semester's project.

Which of these two is grammatically correct? Since I am not talking about the final semester but the final semester's project, I am not very sure about during. Can someone help me with this?


texts: Is there an idiom for when two things are the same, like tomayto-tomahto, that works well in written form?

texts:
"Tomayto-tomahto" /təˈmeɪ.t̬oʊ - təˈmɑː.təʊ/ is a spoken idiom playing on the different US and UK pronuncation of the word "tomato", used to express when two seemingly different descriptions in fact refer to the same thing.
I'm looking for an idiom for this case that works well in writing too, instead of relying on pronunciation. As the cited idiom inherently works only in spoken language, written versions of it feel somewhat dull and far-fetched. How to write it down was already discussed in two questions, here in Correct, clear, concise way to use “potato-potato” in writing, and on ELL in  Expressing potayto-potahto, tomayto-tomahto correctly in writing, but these ask how to represent this exact idiom in writing, not for an alternative.
So, is there any?


texts: Is "electronic" or "electronically" correct in this sentence?

texts:
I think there is an error in the following sentence:

  The government has asked individuals with income of over  ₹10 lakhs to
  electronic file tax returns for the year 2011-12, something which was
  optional till last year.

In my opinion, the correct sentence would be one of the following:

  The government has asked individuals having an income of over ₹10
  lakhs to file tax returns for the year 2011-12 electronically,
  something which was optional till last year.

or

  The government has asked individuals having an income of over ₹10
  lakhs to file tax returns electronically for the year 2011-12,
  something which was optional till last year.

But some people are arguing with me, saying that the use of electronically is wrong here and insisting that the following sentence is right:

  The government has asked individuals with income of over ₹10 lakhs to
  file electronic tax returns for the year 2011-12, something which was
  optional till last year.

I searched for this on internet I found the usage as,

  The government has asked individuals having an income of over ₹10
  lakhs to electronically file tax returns for the year 2011-12,
  something which was optional till last year.

But my book says electronic is correct.

Which is correct among them? What is the correct place to use adverb in a sentence?
Can we split infinitives? Some books are objecting split infinitives.
Please explain the relevant points of grammar. Also, if these are incorrect, please explain to me any other possible corrections for this.


texts: What does "when in doubt, lay out" mean?

texts: So, what does it mean? "When in doubt, lay out." It seems to be an advice.


texts: Difference between "then" and "just then"

texts:
What is difference between "then" and "just then".

  Thank goodness you were there just then.

I guess "just" is pointing to a short time period between some moment in the past and moment of saying the phrase.


texts: Someone who "despite the disgrace, still refuses to admit mistake and instead portrays the event as a victory"

texts:
What is the English idiom, expression, or proverb to express that even if I am proved wrong by all the members in the room, still I flaunt a false pride as if nothing happened?
In Hindi, there is a saying, "Gire to gire phir bhi tang upar!" which literally means "Even if you fell, still you act [to naive people] as if you have won." The meaning is that a snob always acts as though he has won the debate, game, or election when everyone else around him knows within himself that he has lost it.
Example:
Jim and John are coworkers working for the same boss. John the snob has returned from the boss's office bringing along his termination letter for blatant incompetency, screwing up on a project, tardiness, and having a negative effect on other staff members' morale. While behind closed doors John grovelled to his boss, begging to give him another chance. Once outside he brags to Jim. Here is that conversation:

Jim: How was your trip to the boss's office?
John: Oh! the boss. I back answered him and came out. I don't care.

So here the expression means "Even after John's setback, still he portrays himself (primarily to convince naive, unaware bystanders) as unbothered or unfazed by the whole episode and implies that, on the contrary, he went into boss's cabin and gave him a piece of his mind and then came out.


texts: What is the meaning of the line "Upon a homely object Love can wink" in this context

texts:
What's the meaning of the last line of this extract from Shakespeare's Two Gentlemen of Verona?

  Valentine. This is the gentleman I told your ladyship
  Had come along with me, but that his mistress
  Did hold his eyes lock'd in her crystal looks.

  Silvia. Belike that now she hath enfranchised them
  Upon some other pawn for fealty.

  Valentine. Nay, sure, I think she holds them prisoners still.

  Silvia. Nay, then he should be blind; and, being blind
  How could he see his way to seek out you?

  Valentine. Why, lady, Love hath twenty pair of eyes.

  Thurio. They say that Love hath not an eye at all.

  Valentine. To see such lovers, Thurio, as yourself:
  Upon a homely object Love can wink.


texts: "While most of us associate it with the supernatural or magic, thus reject its existence, it’s been studied by researchers since years." - do you think that this sentence is correct? I'm reading about "thus" and commas and I got totally confused.


texts:
I found the use of the verb pivot in a context I can't quite understand:

  We will now pivot the company's effort to date and focus on becoming a comprehensive provider of ...

What is the meaning of the verb pivot in this context?


texts: When talking, for example, about an apartment building, you ca say "The building has eight floors". But when talking about a house that got two "floors", do you still call them floors in English? Or is there a different word for "floors" in a regular house?


texts: Letter-writing tone as perceived by other nationalities

texts:
A question that has been bugging me for quite a while was raised by some communication between my employer and a partner organisation based in Dubai. It turned out that more than once, it's been noticed that this other party tend to use a particular tone of address in letters and emails. Whereas they will address male members of staff as 'Mr Bloggs' - which is quite acceptable and polite, even somewhat deferential given that it's quite uncommon and most other third parties tend to address you by first name after it's been quoted at least once in the exchange - they rigorously insist on referring to female colleagues as Miss Helen, and so on. That is, declining to use the individual's (known) surname, and presuming unless corrected that she is unmarried.

Is this due to some antiquated perception of propriety in English correspondence, or is it a custom originating from the culture of the people involved? I would lean toward guessing the latter; since in parts of the Middle East having women in the workplace is less common and perhaps one might presume that a female employee is unmarried, unless it is determined otherwise. Is it thought by the demographic that we are talking to that using the maiden name of a woman known in a professional capacity is in some way vulgar?


texts: Position of manner adverbs within verb phrases

texts:
I have found the following sentence in a book:

  A firm's sensory marketing approach should be deliberately and
  strategically based on the five human senses.

I have a feeling that the adverbial phrase deliberately and strategically should be put in the verb phrase should be based as should deliberately and strategically be based. However, I am not sure whether this is just a matter of style or if in fact there is some slight difference in meaning between these two options.


texts: Artist's term for contrast of detail and empty areas

texts:
In art:

if contrapposto is an aesthetic asymmetrical arrangement of the human figure
and chiaroscuro is an effect of contrasted light and shadow.

What is the term for a sculpture or painting that has a balance of fine detail and areas that are left rough (ébauche) or without any detail.

And yes, I see the irony in asking on a English language forum for a word might be of Italian or French extraction.


texts:
The author used a comma in the following text; I would have used a colon. Any thoughts?

  "She is one of only a few lawyers with the necessary skills to advise on such deals[:][,] a significant achievement for a mid-level attorney."


texts: Is ‘Political gold’ a cliché or just a compound noun?

texts:
I found the word, ‘political gold’ in the following sentence of the article of Boston News (August 13) titled “Romney sees gain in ‘Corporations are people’ remark.”

  “Romney's response that "corporations are people" to a liberal heckler during an exchange over fiscal policy at the Iowa State Fair immediately lit up the argument The Democratic National Committee jumped on the comment and saw its own political gold in trying to score points against a leading contender for the GOP nomination.”

As I was unfamiliar with the word, ‘Political gold,’ I checked Google and found a couple of examples of the word in use, e.g.

Kathy Hochul found political gold in Paul Ryan plan. – Buffalo News May 25, 2011
Belgian stalemate spun into political gold. - Financial Times – April 25, 2011

From the word “Romney sees gain in ‘Corporations are people’ " remark, I can easily guess ‘political gold’ means political gain, advantage or opportunity.

However I wonder whether political gold is a intertwined cliché (or idiom) or just a compound word of ‘political and gold’ that allows application to any other compounds like ‘business gold,’ ‘scientific gold,’ ‘cultural gold,’ or ‘technology gold.’


texts: Is there a word for the concept of not repeating your parents' mistakes?

texts:
This is such an odd question, I know, but I'm curious if such a thing has a one-or-two-word name. This may get Freudian, though I'm not expert there.
For example: person Y, a descendant of X, did not have a close relationship to X. Therefore, Y's behaviors and needs are formed by what they did, and didn't, get from X. This catalyst may move them to try and obtain that thing, or if they have children Z of their own, to not pass along the same mistakes. Though, they'll probably pass along new mistakes instead, thus repeating the cycle from a different perspective.
What is this cycle called? The Cycle of Convictions? Generational Upcycling? Something not explicitly saying "cycle"?
I just don't know. It feels like there should be a word out there for this concept.
Any suggestions are appreciated. Thanks!


texts: A synonym for 'decision' that refers to the question only, but not the answer

texts:
All of the typical synonyms I can think of refer both to the act of making a decision and what you came to as your conclusion.

original

Decision (I made a decision, and it resulted in my decision)

options

A choice (I made a choice, and what I picked was my choice)
A selection (My selection resulted in a selection)

Is this an inherent flaw in English that the noun to describe a question with options is also a valid noun for the answer you pick? If not, can anyone find a synonym which works in this context?


texts:
I was wondering

  Is bread a material noun or not?


texts: What is a negative word to describe people that love showing off their knowledge?

texts:
Similar to this question: One's brilliant vocabulary and a tendency to show it off and
What's the word for "overly proud of your education"?

But the word I'm looking for is not limited to vocabulary.  These people often drop words and also random fact tidbits even when it's:

A) obvious to everyone in the room
B) it's obvious that he/she just wants to show off the fact that they know it
C) not always founded on knowledge or fact

Also, I'm looking for a word that has a negative connotation.


texts: What's the verb for making that "pffft" sound?

texts:
I have a dialogue like this:

  "All I wanted to do was to keep a low profile"

  "Pffft. That worked well, we not only have the entire police force but also the entire mafia chasing us"

I don't want to have the "pffft" written out in dialogue, so I'm looking for a verb to replace it with. "Making a sigh of disapproval" seems to be a good description, but just doesn't have the same impact.

Is there a good verb for this?

Edit: To clarify, the intended emotion is a mixture of sarcasm, disapproval, annoyance and resignation. It doesn't have to exactly be equal to "pffft", but it needs to convey the same meaning, with the same strong impact.


texts: Game arena or gaming arena or gamer arena?

texts:
I am going to present a proposal to build a gaming arena for my English class.

I couldn't find any proper answer online.

Many websites use gaming arena, some of them use game arena or gamer arena.

  As a gamer myself, I believe a gaming arena will allow students to practise their
  gameplay.

OR

  As a gamer myself, I believe a game arena will allow students to practise their
  gameplay.

OR

  As a gamer myself, I believe a gamer arena will allow students to practise their
  gameplay.

Any idea which word is more suitable?


texts: Term to define the phenomenon of explaining poorly by assuming your audience is more knowledgeable than it is on a subject

texts:
Before I get started, I am not looking for "layman's terms". That involves "dumbing down" concepts to make them simple to understand, but often result in the analogies and descriptions being inaccurate.
What I am referring to is the phenomenon of a subject matter expert writing a poor or unclear explanation due to not realizing that some aspects of what they are describing are not obvious. or common knowledge in the target audience. It is something that I see repeatedly happening when reviewing software documentation and SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures) but am unsure if a word to describe the whole thing without having to explain it every time exists in english.
For example, you may write extensive documentation on how to resolve Alert 1875 on System X. Your document goes into extensive detail about what logs you are looking for in order to establish the root cause of the alert, etc. And a neophyte to the team raises their hand and asks "Ok, how do I check the logs?" because the expert took for granted that people reading the document would be familiar with what convention/system/application is used to access said logs.
If such a term exists in english, I would want to use it when telling someone I want my SOP to be reviewed by a person who is my contemporary but is not knowledgeable on the subject in order to catch myself being guilty of <insert-word-here>
Or "Dan hasn't touched System X yet, be sure to have him review your SOP to avoid <insert-word-here>"


texts: "Real": adjective or adverb? "Real" or "really" as an adverb?

texts:
According to Oxford Learner's Dictionary:

  real adverb

  (North American English, Scottish English, informal) very

  That tastes real good.
  He's a real nice guy.
  I'm real sorry.

So, is it correct to use "really" instead of "real" in the examples above?

Now, let's put some other examples:

  a. It's a real small town

  b. It's a really small town

  c. It's really a small town

Are all these three correct? Do they mean the same?


texts: how do I transform "that can be used" into active voice?

texts:
Consider the following sentence:

  The SuperAPI is the API that can be used to configure a Higher-Order
  model.

When this sentence exists in a Microsoft® Office 365 Word document, the grammar checking functionality flags the fragment, "that can be used," as passive.  How would I rewrite this as an active-voice sentence?

However, Grammarly.com does not complain about this.  I see plenty of examples using the sentence fragment, "that can be used," in describing the proper grammatical formation of active-voice phrases!  (For example, see this page on the online MacPhaidin Library website in which exists, "Semicolons are one type of punctuation that can be used to link two independent clauses together."

I believe ignoring the warning doesn't diminish the strength of the containing document.  If it does, what rule guides me in rewriting this into an active-voice version?


texts: Word or phrase for 'they shouldn't care, and if they do, it doesn't matter'

texts:
An example of a relevant situation:

  Person A: "Should I announce x? I'm worried that y people won't (like/understand/accept) it."

  Person B: "I don't think y people will mind. And if they do, they're not your (target audience/their opinion isn't relevant/it shouldn't matter to you personally)."

In this example, instead of person B saying one of the three options above, they could state something like 'Indeed, it's a foo' or 'Don't worry about it, it's a bar.'

The key idea is that the word Person B uses is:

Reassuring and sympathetic to Person A
Follows the logic that, by having a negative perception of Person A's action or statement, the critic is either missing the point, lacking awareness, or not the intended audience for the action or statement by Person A.

A word with similar usage would be conundrum, as in, 'Indeed, it's a conundrum', however, instead of offering no clear opinion, this word would indicate that if the negative outcome were to occur, it would not be problematic.


texts: What does “a mission to make the 1 percent 100 percent able to indulge in car elevators” mean?

texts:
Further to my previous question on the word, “profile in courage” in Maureen Dowd’s article of NY-Times, “Of Mad Men, Mad Women and Meat Loaf,” I was puzzled with the ending line of the following sentence of the same article just like a high school boy who stumbled at the last question of English reading comprehension test:

  “It shouldn’t be a surprise that many women support Romney, even
  though he has somersaulted on reproductive rights and his running mate
  sponsored a bill with Akin giving fertilized eggs the “legal and
  constitutional attributes and privileges of personhood.” Just as it
  shouldn’t be surprising that Romney has the support of a huge swath of
  blue-collar white men, even though he’s on a mission to make the 1
  percent 100 percent able to indulge in car elevators.”

What does Romney is “on a mission to make the 1 percent 100 percent able to indulge in car elevators” mean? What does “car elevators” signify?

If a “car-elevator” is the symol of the rich, can’t the very richest people who already stand among top 1 percent of all income classes afford to get it if they wish to own it, without being subsidized by Mr. Romney?


texts: Using 'a' or 'an' before a word that started with 'H'

texts:
What should we use before a word that started with 'H'?

'A' or 'An'? and why?

Sometime using 'a' seems right, sometimes using 'an' seems right, I am confused