texts: How do parenthetical if-statements work? E.g. "he is a happy, if quiet, boy."

texts:
I might even be using it wrong in the example. How are these statements usually structured, and what's the implication of using this construct ("he is a happy, if quiet, boy") rather than something more straightforward? The examples I can think of usually seem to have a adjective in the parenthetical that is somewhat counter to the main statement.

Can it be a verb instead of an adjective ("he is a quiet, if amused, boy")?

Sorry if this has been answered, it's a very difficult thing to search for without knowing the name for it (if there is one).


texts: Are "commentable" and "categorizable" proper?

texts:
Can I say "commentable and categorizable"? If not, what are some one word alternatives to use, to say that something can be commented on or categorized?

I would like to use the words for database column names, so there is no actual context. But if you want I could use this sentence:

  The content is commentable and categorizable.

I just wanted to know if these words are acceptable terms or if I misunderstood something.


texts: "He swept the floor with his jacket and lay down..." (Excerpted from "The Alchemist," by Paulo Coelho) is grammatically incorrect?

texts:
I am reading "The Alchemist," by Paulo Coelho.
And I found a text like this:
"He swept the floor with his jacket and lay down, using the book he had just finished reading as a pillow. He told himself that he would..."
As you can see, it is "lay down" instead of "laid down". So I would like to ask you guys for helps explaining more whether there is any other meaning for this one or whether I found it true that it is grammatically incorrect?

Thank you so much for your concerns.
Best regards.


texts: What is a two-letter language identifier called?

texts:
A list of languages might look like so:

English (en)
French (fr)
German (de)

What are the two-letter identifiers in brackets called?


texts: "the prince’s late mother’s iconic image"

texts:
I read the following from the Vanity Fair:

  Nearly a quarter century after Princess Diana famously sat on a bench now named after her, William and Kate re-enacted the prince’s late mother’s iconic image and took their places in front of the monument dedicated to love.

I understand that what the writer meant was 'Princess D's late image.' I am just not sure though if it sounds natural to say 'the prince's late mother's iconic image.': it seems a bit ambiguous to me.

Can anyone suggest an idea about it?


texts:
Is there any idiom or expression for someone who gets something without any effort?
like a guy got a job without doing anything.. I want a idiom by which i can mock him.


texts: "jam," "jelly," and "jello" in AmEng vernacular

texts:
What exactly is the fruit preserve called "jam" in the U.S.?

Is it what is referred to in France as "confiture"?

If so, then what would be the French for,

what is called "jelly" in the U.S. ("jam" in the UK)-
what is called "jello" in the U.S. ("jelly" in the UK)-

In other words, what would the average American commonly call the "confiture" and "gelée" preserves typically found for breakfast in every French hotel?

"jam" and "jelly"?
"preserve" and "jelly"?
"jelly" and "jello"?
"jelly" and "gelatin"?
something else?

  Fiches pratiques confitures, gelées, marmelades de fruits et produits similaires

  Google Pictures confiture de fraises

  Google Pictures confiture de groseilles

  Google Pictures gelée de fraises

  Google Pictures gelée de groseilles

  Ngram AmEng 2009

  Ngram BrEng 2009

  Videos:

  Red currant "gelée"

  Strawberry "confiture"

jam:

  a food made by boiling fruit and sugar to a thick consistency M-W

  n (to eat) confiture f

  strawberry jam la confiture de fraises Collins English-French Dictionary

  In English marmalade refers only to a food made from oranges, lemons, limes, or grapefruit. Don't use it to refer to a similar food made from other fruits, for example blackberries, strawberries, or apricots. A food like this is called jam in British English, and jam or jelly in American English. I bought a jar of raspberry jam. She made us jelly sandwiches. (Collins COBUILD English Usage © HarperCollins Publishers, Ed. 2012)

jelly:

  a soft somewhat elastic food product made usually with gelatin or pectin; especially :  a fruit product made by boiling sugar and the juice of fruit M-W

  n (=dessert)   gelée    f

  → In the middle of the table stood a large bowl of jelly.

  (US)   (=jam)   confiture    f

  → I had two peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Collins English-French Dictionary

preserve:

  fruit canned or made into jams or jellies or cooked whole or in large pieces in a syrup so as to keep its shape; a jar of strawberry preserve M-W

  n (=jam) confiture f

  → Brush top of pudding with apricot preserve or honey.

  → The store cupboard was full of preserves.

  → a plate of butter and a jar of rhubarb preserves.

  → strawberry preserve

  a spiced cranberry preserve to go with the turkey  de la confiture de canneberges épicée pour aller avec la dinde Collins English-French Dictionary

jello:

  Trademark. a brand of dessert made from a mixture of gelatin, sugar, and fruit flavoring, dissolved in hot water and chilled until firm. Random House

  n (US) (=jelly) gelée f  Collins English-French Dictionary

  jello/jelly/gelatin (AmEng/BrEng) WordReference Discussion

gelatin:

  an edible jelly made with gelatin M-W


texts:
Seen many sentences that had "as if to" and they had a comma before "as if to", which makes me think that "as if to" does not work as a preposition but as a clause. Is "as if to" the reduce form of "as if it were to"?

For example:

He runs, as if to flee a tiger.


texts:
I'm not sure whether to put is (number agreeing with the singular her whole family) or are (number agreeing with plural biologists) in this sentence:

  Her whole family is/are biologists.

After some more searching, it seems to make it correct, the whole would need to be removed.

Based on this other question, I think "Her family are biologists." is technically correct but "All of her family are biologists sounds better."

Still not certain.


texts: Compounds and Phrases [compound nouns vs free combinations, collocations]

texts: What is the difference between compounds and phrases? How do I know that "watch-maker" is a compound but "steel bridge" is a phrase? Does the "head" have anything to do with it (complement-head or attributive-head)?


texts:
What is another word for the opposite of process?

I am thinking of something along the lines of "end result." I am trying to say "... the [insert word i am looking for] of the imagination."


texts: Clarifying phrases that could be apposition

texts:
I have a question around apposition, and would like to ensure I’m not overlooking anything. I’m editing an article where there are multiple instances of phrases that I would usually cordon off with a en dash or colon, as while they’re clarifying what precedes, they’re also introducing a new point. However, is it possible that they’re just a variant of apposition that I’m not aware of, and are therefore grammatical?

Here are some (altered) examples from the text (phrases in question are in bold):

  ‘Finally, there is a pivotal point to make about this question of
  funding for stationary, the ‘funding war’ of this article’s title.’

and:

  ‘The next occasion was a surprise attack on the main funding body by
  Mr Squiggle, militant sketch artist, an attack that further
  demoralised the citizens of the Moon.’

Much appreciated,

Book Wormeo


texts: "Which" or "what" when there is a choice between implicit popular items?

texts:
How would you say the following questions:

What/which Mac OS X version do you use?

What/which graphic design software will you use?

?

I have read "Which" vs. "what" — what's the difference and when should you use one or the other? and the remark of the main anwer:

  requires a choice between a number of items.

but here it seems to be an implicit choice between a few popular items (such as Photoshop, GIMP, MSPaint, etc.)


texts: What does "not a place given to metaphors" mean?

texts:
Hayange is not a place given to metaphors, but memories. The relics of its shattered steel furnaces stand sentry to a new political age. Communists and socialists used to run this place together, but unemployment here has soared by 75% in the past decade and in its wake has come the Front National

I saw this on the BBC's Learning English  website. What does "given to metaphors" mean?


texts:
Consider this sentence:

"Hamlet is presented with the opportunity to kill Claudius when he sees him in the chapel BUT decides against it."

My question is, should I insert a comma before the "but?"


texts: Is there a word for exactly one hour starting on the hour?

texts:
The period 10:00 to 11:00 is a complete hour. So is the period 10:08 to 11:08.

Yet the first, 10:00 to 11:00 is somehow special in that it covers the exact clock hour of 10.

Is there a word or shorter phrase for this? One that I could use in a sentence such as "Only [fully complete clock hours] count towards your hours worked." with the word replacing the bracketed phrase.


texts: How did the "-ish" suffix come to denote the approximate meaning of the word it is attached to?

texts: I only know the suffix is currently informalish. What is its provenience? What was the original meaning?


texts: Are "I will have been going" and "I would have been going" rarely used today?

texts:
As far as I know these are tenses that you do not often use. Am I right?

  Will have been + verb+ing

  Would have been + verb+ing


texts: Idiom for something like vantage point / perspective, but for point in time rather than place

texts:
Vantage point is described by Merriam Webster as "a position from which something is viewed or considered".

In this definition, how literal is "position" to be taken? I have the feeling this is somewhat flexible, but I'm looking for a word that describes this concept, but specifically (and unambiguously) for a point in time.

Example:
When I finally delivered the book back to the library last week, it was already three weeks late.

Here I am considering the situation from the "position" of last week.


texts: can i use comma before 'and' when connecting a dependent clause

texts:
"The word is of Dutch origin, and is one of many Dutch words used to discuss barriers in the natural landscape."(https://m.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-berm.htm)
i learned that you shouldn't use a comma before 'and' when one of the clauses it’s connecting is a dependent clause. But "is one of many Dutch words used to discuss barriers in the natural landscape" is dependent clause ,so you shouldn't use comma before 'and' in my knowledge.
My question is :why does  this writer use comma? is it grammarly right?


texts:
I've been reading this text:

  When you define a type, you can define static data fields within it.
  The bytes that back these static data fields are allocated within the
  type objects themselves. Finally, inside each type object is a
  method table with one entry per method defined within the type. This
  is the method table that was discussed in Chapter 1.

  Richter, Jeffrey (2010-02-05). CLR via C# (Kindle Locations
  3546-3548). OReilly Media - A. Kindle Edition.

However, the bolded text made me confused. Should it be inside of instead of inside?


texts:
I found this word in the Github guide, and I don't understand it.

It is used in this context (emphasis added):

  By using @mentions and references inside of Issues, you can notify other GitHub users & teams, and cross-connect issues to each other. These provide a flexible way to get the right people involved to resolve issues effectively, and are easy to learn and use. They work across all text fields on GitHub — they’re a part of our text formatting syntax called GitHub Flavored Markdown.

What does cross-connect mean?


texts: Tables have turned or Tables are turned?

texts: I often get confused while using this idiom. Can anyone give the use case for each of them? Or is that only one phrase is correct among them and the other one is wrong?


texts: What is the etymology of the suffix '-ness'? I have come across it in OE texts but always  assumed it was a later borrowing.


texts: "You might not want to know " vs. "You might not wonder"

texts:
You might not want to know which student came. It would upset you.

  You might not wonder which student came. It would upset you.

I'm investigating the difference of meaning between wonder and want to know.
Sentence 1 should be no problem with an interpretation suggesting that the listener might not want to know (= think about, ask him/herself) who came, because if the listener finds out the answer, it would upset he/her. The pronoun it denotes the answer to the question who came.

But do you think sentence 2 has such interpretation too? (Not a native speaker myself.)


texts: You can ask me any question vs. any questions

texts:
I know the answer is any question.
But Do you have any questions is right, other than any question.
What's the difference here?


texts:
I am not a native speaker and get constantly confused which one to use when I would like to approve some statement or someone's sentence.

  A really nice one indeed.
    A really nice one in deed.
    A really nice one indid.
    A really nice one in did.

I guess the first one is correct, but others may be correct in some other contexts. When do we use each of these?


texts:
Apart from our palms and the soles of our feet, all human skin is covered with hair.

What is the word for the fine hair on a human being’s skin?

I would be especially interested in what you would call it on the shoulder of an adolescent girl — that is, skin that we normally perceive as “hairless” —, in non-medical terms.

“Vellus hair” is of course the correct answer, but it seems to me that the average person would not know what that term means. “Peach fuzz”, on the other hand, seems to apply mostly to the face; that is, it denotes longer vellus hair in a place that has terminal hair in most men and many women. “Down” also seems to denote longer hair, both vellus and very soft and light terminal.

At this point it seems to me that there is no word for this kind of hair, probably because mostly we are unaware of it, and that you would have to describe it, possibly as “(very) fine hair”.

Sorry for the low image quality. Googling for an image of this is surprisingly hard. (But please don’t replace this image with one showing a different body part.)


texts: A person or large groupe of people who came in my city from another city and stayed to find work or just to live but they are not really welcome

texts:
Almost like immigrants but they are not from other countries. In my language, we have a single word to describe such phenomenon, wanted to know if there is one in English.
Thanks!


texts:
Why do we say "Look at how easy it is" instead of "Look at how easy is it?"
I understand the second one sounds like a question, but if "it" is the subject of the clause what is "how easy?"


texts: Writing the most important part of a sentence (at the end, between parentheses)

texts:
I've seen this writing style several times, where the most important part of a sentence - or a twist - is put at the end between parentheses. This is typically used in titles and gives the sentence an ironic or cynical tone.
Examples:

The new ways to lose weight (that don't work)
The car of your dreams exists (but you'll never have it)
A simple recipe for happiness (that nobody follows)

Does this writing style have a name? Which prominent author used it first, if any?


texts: What is the equivalent of "susceptibility" in medical literature, but to a healthy condition?

texts:
In medical literature the word susceptibility collocates with negative adjectives or nouns -- negative prosody. Likewise, the word predisposing factors or state is mostly associated with negative nouns: cancer, disease, and so forth.

I want similar words, but for a healthy condition or a healthy phenomenon that can take place in some individuals after acquiring certain infection, let's call this phenomenon H. There is individual variation in displaying this healthy phenomenon.

so similar to below sentences, but in the context of health rather than disease:

  Some individuals are more susceptible to develop H in their stomach.

  Only subjects with a predisposing state will develop the H phenomenon.

  These factors are most likely to be responsible for having the susceptibility to H in some individuals.


texts:
Hoping to avoid all the ceremony that would normally be due his rank as a visiting sovereign, the tsar traveled incognito.

Since it's a past tense narrration the author might have used the third conditional ('would have been due'). As I see it if a native speaker uses the second conditional when talking about the past they look from the past into the future: when the third conditional is used they look at the past from the present .
Is this correct?


texts:
Very often in movies there are guests that insult their host or cause grief to their host on purpose or by just being clumsy for whatever reason, is there a word for such people? in either good or bad context?

Further explanation : Type of people that are good by their actions and deeds, but verbally they are abusive and unpleasant? They have a contradicting duality of not showing respect, yet they behave with best interest of the host.


texts: Does a direct object always follow the transitive verb?

texts:
I am confused as to whether direct objects always follow the transitive verb. When I searched for an explanation online, it always says that direct objects always come after the transitive verb. I can't find an example where the direct object precedes the verb.

In a sentence, the direct object is the noun or noun phrase that’s receiving the action of the verb. The basic construction works like this: Subject + Verb + Who or What.

https://examples.yourdictionary.com/direct-object-examples.html

I ate the hotdog that she had given me.

In the first sentence, can you consider the verb "had given" a transitive verb despite its placement?

"Goodbye!" she said.

I read one discussion that the direct object can precede a verb in a relative clause as long as it comes after the verb in the main clause. So, how can we explain the second sentence?  Is the verb "said" in the second sentence intransitive?


texts: Is there a way to indicate that the errors in a quote are in the source material without using many '[sic]'s?

texts:
If a quote has many errors in it, putting [sic] remarks will make the quote ugly and full of them. Is there a way to indicate that "all the errors are in the original material"?

For example, the quote:

  Hellow, can you tell with me in scype?

Will become

  Hellow[sic], can you tell[sic] with me in scype[sic]?

Is there a more elegant way to do this?


texts: A word to describe doing "good" things for "bad" reasons

texts: For example, someone helping their spouse find someone else to make divorce easier


texts: How old is the practice of hyphenating compound adjectives?

texts:
In Shakespeare’s Henry IV Part One at 1.3.230 Hotspur refers to Hal contemptuously as

  that same sword-and-buckler Prince of Wales

At Internet Shakespeare Editions the “Modern” edition hyphenates as above, but old-spelling transcriptions of the early printings show no hyphenation (but various capitalization, something that can also function to clarify when a group of words are to be parsed as one):

  that same sword and buckler prince of Wales [Q0]
  that same sword and buckler Prince of Wales [Q1]
  that same Sword and Buckler Prince of Wales [F1]

My question is, How old is the now standard practice of hyphenating compound adjectives (i.e., phrases used as adjectives to modify nouns directly following)? It is easy to find affirmations of this practice as a rule, but I have not succeeded in tracking down its history and age.


texts: In American English are the following three examples good to use for colon capitalization useage?

texts:
I know that a variant of this question has been asked before, and recalled what my Creative writing teacher told me about when to use capitalization after a colon, by using the following three example sentences for colon usage.

  In a complete sentence, the capital case is optional.
  1. This is what I think of cats: They steal your breath.

  In the following two examples, the capitalization is not optional to change, therefore the words after the colon must remain lowercase.

  This is what I think of cats: nothing.
  This is what I think of cats: scary, tiresome, snooty.

In other words, do the above examples properly illustrate proper colon and capitalization usage for American English, regardless of essay style, and usage for non-essay papers?


texts: What is the English expression for this facial expression?


texts: Possessive Pronoun or Possessive Adjective?

texts:
"I couldn't persuade Tim in spite of my begging him to come with us"
So, is it supposed to be "me begging him", or it is grammatical?
My teaher said the sentence was correct. But when I asked my different internet frineds, who claimed to be American and Singaporean, they all agreed "me begging him" was correct.
So is it "me or "my"? If both are interchangeable, please explain to me when to use each individually in different contexts.


texts: Can "casted" be the past tense of "cast"?

texts:
'The Hindu,' an Indian daily, reports:

  Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitely casted his vote at Chimanbhai Patel Institute opposite Karnavati club.

Does the verb cast have a form as casted?


texts: What are the South African words for crisps and French Fries?

texts:
Consider Exhibit A.

Consider Exhibit B.

In England, A is referred to as 'Chips' and B is referred to as 'Crisps'.

In the United States A is referred to as 'French Fries' and B is referred to as 'Chips'.

In Australia A is referred to as 'Chips' and B is referred to as 'Chips'.

My question is: What are the South African words for Crisps and French Fries?

(Curious about Canada too, but will stick with SA for now).


texts: Would you ever use "closed-loop" as an adjective without a hyphen?

texts:
Is it correct to use "closed-loop" as an adjective without a hyphen?

Example:

  Partners can serve as a recycling hub and sell the products in their
  stores, telling a closed-loop story.

Our marketing team really, really wants to drop the hyphen from "closed-loop". Can I let them?


texts: What is wrong in this sentence grammatically?

texts:
I am so sorry for asking such question. But my boss keep saying there are grammatical error in these sentences, and I for one, even after reading them over and over can't find one.

  However, these research works lack common methodology and definition
  of 'X' to measure its efficiency, has been diverse and subjective at
  best.

  Parallelly, 'Y' framework, primarily developed in climatology field to
  study 'A' and 'B', has been gaining traction, both in classification
  methodology advancements and its applications. The framework defines
  10 classes based on urban and natural features with existing research
  showing that each class to have its unique albedo profile.

I have retracted few field specific terms.


texts:
I know that "a herd of cattle" and "many herds of cattle" are correct, but what about "cattle herds"? For example,

  We drove by cattle herds.

Is that grammatical?


texts:
What would the early modern english/shakespeare equivalent of 'very'be in the sentence:
'That was very nice'
?


texts:
What are the differences between the following sentences?

The products are delivered.
The products have been delivered


texts: Difference between "harvesting" and "scavenging"

texts: What is the difference between energy harvesting and energy scavenging? Which is more appropriate when referring to an electronic device getting energy from the environment?


texts: Anyone helps me understand a sentence below?

texts:
In a recent article, I didn't fully understand the meaning of "on the books" in this context. Anyone with interests in ongoing presidential elections in the United States cares to enlighten me?

MCEVERS: And, Tamara, Bernie Sanders is not campaigning today. He went home to Vermont. Does this mean he is slowing down?

KEITH: Well, he's slowing down at least for 24 hours. His campaign insists that this was just a day to recharge and it's been on the books for a while and that he will have more events very soon, including - they've announced three events tomorrow. But there's no denying that the loss in New York and the size of the loss in New York is a devastating hit to his campaign.


texts: About how many people in the world speak English as a lingua Franca?

texts: Does anyone know of any reliable sources where I can find an estimated number or percentage of people in the world who now speak English as a lingua franca? I've read that anywhere from 1 1/2 to 2 billion people  can understand or use English to some extent, but this source wasn't very reliable.


texts: Difference between "persistence" and "perseverance"

texts:
Persistence and perseverance seem to have very similar definitions.

Googling shows

  persistence: Firm or obstinate continuance in a course of action in
   spite of difficulty or opposition.

  perseverance: Steadfastness in doing something despite difficulty or delay in achieving success.

What is the difference between them?


texts:
It's always drilled into us that we shouldn't use comma splices. They're bad, to be avoided and poor form.

But why? What makes the comma a faulty choice in something like this:

  I never liked school, it was boring and repetitive most of the time.

It could be replaced with a semicolon, dash, period or colon and be "correct." Yet to a fair amount of people, the comma seems fine. If it weren't, it wouldn't be found so often in online forums, text messages, emails and so on.

What makes the comma between two sentences an error?


texts: Where to place commas when a possibly parenthetical phrase follows "that"

texts:
Which of these three options is correct and why? I've included my best guess as to why each one could be considered correct.

He decided that despite the impending thunderstorm he was going to go for a run.

Why: despite the impending thunderstorm is not a parenthetical phrase and so should not have commas around it.

He decided that despite the impending thunderstorm, he was going to go for a run.

Why: despite the impending thunderstorm is not a parenthetical phrase and so should not have commas around it. However, adding a comma after the phrase adds emphasis and so is okay.

He decided that, despite the impending thunderstorm, he was going to go for a run.

Why: despite the impending thunderstorm is a parenthetical phrase and so should have commas around it.

I realize that the word order could be changed to:

He decided that he was going to go for a run despite the impending thunderstorm.

However, my question assumes that the word order needs to remain unchanged.

Here are a couple of similar questions, but none of their answers satisfactorily answer my question.

Comma after "and that"

Using a comma after "that"


texts: Difference between “combination of ” and “combination between”

texts:
I have read both two uses:

The combinations of a, b and c, taken two at a time, are ab, bc, ac.
We can not help but noticing a harmonious combination between classic and contemporary.

Are both uses interchangeable? Perhaps substitute combinations among for combinations of in the first sentence? Any idea is appreciated.


texts: Equivalences between Australian English and American English

texts: Where can I find a good source (book or web page) of equivalences between Australian English and American English? I am looking for ordinary words, clothing-related words, food-related words, etc.


texts:
Here is a sentence from a book published in 1970 in Britain.

  Ernest Bramah Smith ... was probably born in 1869 (it is curious that only two writers represented in this collection were not born in the sixties) and died in 1942.

And another, less remarkable one from a book published in 1957:

  Studies of the ætiology of cholera showed that water so filtered was much less likely to transmit the disease and the process was put on scientific basis in the 'seventies and 'eighties when the rôle of bacteria...

Now this being the year 2019, most would be comfortable referring to the 1920's as simply the twenties. My question is how long, in general, can a decade 100 years old or older be called by its short name. I'd be interested in attestations of short-hand decade names for decades more than 100 years old.


texts: Is it correct to write "junior year" in my email signature?

texts:
I am a third year undergraduate student in a four-year course. The last year my email signature was of the form:

[Name],

sophomore,

[Institute Name]

This year however, I doubt whether using "junior year undergraduate" instead of "sophomore" would be right. Moreover, I and my classmates generally do not write "Class of" because the students around my area are enrolled in degrees of varying durations, which is quite confusing when the recipient wants to know how many years I have completed so far and how many years are left to complete my degree.


texts: Should I say this forum is a free 'voting discussion' or 'voted discussion' site?

texts:
I'm building a forum where people can ask questions and get replies. Those questions and replies can get votes but no one can be targeted as best answer.

What's the right way of saying that?

This forum is a free 'voting discussion' or 'voted discussion' site?


texts: Where does the expression “money talks” come from?

texts:
According to the The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms  the saying “money talks” meaning:

  Wealth has great influence,

may derive from:

  The idea behind this idiom was stated by Euripides in the fifth
  century b.c., and some 2,000 years later Erasmus spoke of "the talking
  power of money" ( Adagia, 1532). The precise current locution,
  however, only began to be used about 1900.

and actually Google Books shows usages from late 19th century such as from:

The Chronicle - John J.W. O'Donoghue,  1883:

  Nobody supposes that the people of Connecticut are not strongly opposed to murder, or that they grudge the expenditure of money in the vindication of outraged law. “Money talks,” say the betting men, and its generous proffer is oftentimes the ...

Wiktionary gives a different suggestion about its origin:

  (Money talks): 19th century, from earlier forms such as gold speaks (1666, in full, “Man prates, but gold speaks.”), as translation from Italian by Giovanni Torriano, in Piazza Universale di Proverbi Italiani: or, A Common Place of Italian Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases, 179.

Though the suggested origins make sense, in both cases there is a gap of a few centuries between the supposed original phrases (whose usage appear to be quite  rare) and the current one which clearly and decidedly started, as shown above, in the late 1800s.

Can anyone give a more reliable source of how the expression actually took off?


texts: how to write list of survivors in an obituary

texts:
Obituaries often include lists with this grammatical structure:

  John Doe is survived by his children, Steve Doe and his wife, June; Will Doe and his wife, Janet; Susan Richards and her husband, Walter...."

It seems to me that the above is incorrect because, despite phrases like "his wife" and "her husband," the wives and husbands still fall under the rubric of "his [John Doe’s] children." So my first question is, am I wrong about this?

According to obituary convention, you could write,

  "his children, Steve (June) Doe, Will (Janet) Doe, and Susan (Walter) Richards."

However, many families do not like how this looks. Would "His children and their spouses" followed by their names be right? I have some doubts about this because, without the word "respectively," it’s potentially ambiguous.

This brings me to my second question: Other than using parentheses, what would be the correct way to write this list?


texts: Is there an English expression for the German phrase 'per Knopfdruck'?

texts:
I want to describe a use case for an app where the user can easily generate grocery lists from his recipes. The text should be something like:
Create grocery lists from your recipe collection
*) easily via click.
*) easily.
*) via simple click.
...

But this sounds like a one-to-one word translation. In German, I would write something like "Erstellen Sie per Knopfdruck Einkaufslisten aus Ihrer Rezeptsammlung". But "per Knopfdruck" (via clicking a button) does not necessarily mean that one click is enough to create a grocery list of a recipe collection. From a technical point of view, also two or three clicks could be needed for this use case.

Is there an English expression or phrase to describe a technical use case in an app or program, that describes that 'this use case is very easy and can be executed in very few steps'?


texts: What is the correct term for diagnosis in automobiles?

texts: I have to provide an English translation of my bachelor thesis' title and I couldn't find a term in the dictionary. At the moment I call it "Development of a car diagnosis application", but I am unsure if "car diagnosis" is the correct term. Maybe "vehicle diagnosis" or "automotive diagnosis" or ... ?


texts:
Consider the following sentence:

  In 2013 Tallinn, Estonia, instituted fare-free rides for city residents (becoming the largest city in the world to do so), but car use in Tallinn has only slightly declined: as a 2014 study by the KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden found that car traffic in Tallinn was down less than 3% since the policy was enacted.

My question is regarding the colon between the words "declined" and "as". Would it be appropriate to put a comma in place of the colon?  Take, for example, the following sentence:

  I received a cake and many gifts, as it has been my 21st birthday.

Why would it be inappropriate to put a comma instead of colon in the first sentence? If it is allowed, why would a colon be preferred over the comma?


texts:
Are for the sake of and for sake of both equally correct and idiomatic?

The dictionaries I know list only the former, while the latter also seems to be commonplace.


texts:
Charlene's song titled "I've never been to me" goes, in part, like,

Ooh I've been to Georgia and California, oh, anywhere I could run,
Took the hand of a preacher man and we made love in the sun,
But I ran out of places and friendly faces because I had to be free,
I've been to paradise, but I've never been to me,

What does "I've never been to me" mean and is this a common expression?


texts: What does 'are you caught up to the show' mean?

texts: I was texting with someone and we were talking about Game of Thrones. I said I just finished watching it and she asked "Are you caught up to the show?" I am not native speaker so I couldn't figure out what she meant. Can anyone help me?


texts: What does this saying of Lenin mean: "The Capitalists will sell us the rope with which we will hang them"?


texts: What is the name of these display machines used inside libraries?

texts: They are obsolete now, but I see them often in movies. They are some sort of slide-show projector with a rotating handle that flips to new slide? I uploaded pic of the machine and the displayed slide.


texts: What's the meaning of "should we be interested"?

texts:
I contacted someone and he replied:

...
I've passed your information along and someone will get back to you should we be interested.

After sending him another message he replied:

...
... will return should we be interested.

Is this a question?

I've passed your information along and someone will get back to you. Should we be interested?.

What do I have to reply? What's the meaning of this expression?


texts:
I'm looking for a word (or concise phrase) that describe a wish/desire that is too optimistic or demanding to be realistic.

Examples:

  To hope that human beings will always remain rational is a ____.

  A world free from scarcity seemed like a childish ____.


texts: What is a term for describing words that sound similar in a pleasing manner when used together?

texts:
I want to describe words which produce pleasure effect as they are similar sounding.

For example, I want to describe the similarity in the pronunciation of

Vinni, Vijji, Vikki
Amit, Sumit


texts: Is it grammatically correct to ask, "How to do something?"

texts:
"How to list files in a directory in C?"
"How to avoid special char(*,%,^..) in keydown event?"
"How to texture a quad in Gtk?"
"How to stop the title bar from blocking the main thread in Metal?"

These are all examples of questions/comments I could/have seen on StackOverflow. Is the complete sentence, "How to do something?" wrong? I doesn't sound right, but is it wrong?
How to ask how to do something correctly?


texts: To get rid of "also" in the beginning of a sentence

texts:
Also, use them where you need to process multiple statements at once.

As I know, the use of "also" in the beginning of a sentence is somewhat debatable: Is it ok to start a sentence with “also”?
How to change this phrase to get rid of it?
A complete text:

If a function or a command returns or sets the ErrorLevel, use If (ErrorLevel != 0).
Otherwise, use Try and Catch.
Also, use Try and Catch where you need to process multiple statements at once.


texts: How to differentiate between a list and parallelism

texts: In the phrase "inhibition of reflexes and skeletal relaxation", what sort of punctuation is used to differentiate between the 2 possible meanings - "inhibition of both reflexes and skeletal relaxation" and "inhibition of reflexes and skeletal relaxation"?


texts: What is the word that means "the feeling of the scene"?

texts:
i.e., the atmosphere, but in a more encompassing sense of things. The bustling sights, sounds, and scents, the sweet feeling of a day, a carnival on the plains at sunset. Or even a gestalt impression of an event over 60 long days, the general feel of that period compressed into a single scene.
 I vaguely remember it like "siouziánne" or "soucienne" (nonsense word, but it had a similar feel... maybe French.)


texts: Proper way to include a single character in a sentence, "V," 'V,' or italic?

texts:
What is the proper way to include a single character within a sentence, double quotation marks, single quotation marks, or italicize it?

For example, should it be:

  The man's face resembled a "V."

or

  The man's face resembled a 'V.'

or italicize it like so:

  The man's face resembled a V.


texts: In an interview I heard " Examiner:  May I see your passport please ? Student: Yes, here you are. " Why wasn't the answer ', Yes, here it is. '? Is the full version of the answer " Yes, here you are going to have it" ?


texts: Use of the indefinite article before a day of the week

texts:
Can we use the indefinite article before the name of a day of the week?

  I was born on a Sunday.

Or

  I was born on Sunday.

Which one is more suitable and correct?


texts:
At the end of every episode of Serial, Sarah Koenig says:

  Serial is produced by Julie Snyder, Dana Chivvis and me.

The word "me" sounds wrong to me there. Is it?  If it's wrong, what is correct there - myself, I,  or me but in a different location?  And if it's not wrong - why not?


texts: Word to describe someone who is a lover of bridges

texts:
Is there a word to describe someone who loves or enjoys bridges (look at, go over, or appreciate engineering).

Something similar to the way oenophile means someone who loves wine.


texts:
I know the rule of pronouncing s at the end of words(plural nouns and singular verbs) that if s follows a voice sound(d, l, etc.), it will be pronounced as /z/ sound. For example,

"words" is pronounced as word/z/.

However, I believe that I have heard many native speakers pronounce it as /s/ sound.

Did I hear it wrong? or Americans simply pronounce s at the end of "words" as /s/ not /z/


texts: When is it appropriate to use the idiom "various and sundry"

texts: To my ears the term "various and sundry" sounds redundant. What is the proper use of this idiom?


texts: What's the name of the little number or symbol that refers you to a footnote?

texts:
The word footnote seems to only refer to the actual text that you are brought to if you follow the little number or symbol (such as '*') to the bottom of the page.

Does the actual superscript character have a name?


texts: Term for a person with no financial debts or obligations

texts:
How would you describe a tenant, for example, who has completed his contract term and paid all his bills and has no outstanding debts  - present or future?

I need a 2-3 word phrase, if not a one-worder.

The correct answer should be fitting for a Contract Status option, such as:

  Contract Ended - (tenant) ______________


texts: An alternative to "pray" without a religious connotation

texts:
When I write, I try my best to leave religion and words that carry some divine connotation out of it. I recently stumbled upon the phrase in one of my texts:

  [...] but pray it never happens.

I am wondering how to rewrite it, removing the connection with deities but keeping the same effect/meaning. Any ideas?


texts: "Jimmy did his homework and so didn't his brother" Is this correct?

texts:
Shouldn't it be "...and so did his brother"?  I got confused when I read the original sentence in an American newspaper some time ago. It read something like this:

  "US Representative from Massachusetts Jimmy McGovern voted for the Higher Educational Act and so didn't Bill Keating."

Misprints do happen and I shouldn't be surprised if this were the case. The phrase was used twice, though.


texts: What's the proper synonym for purchase when used in real-estate context?

texts:
How to say

Buying Price
Purchase Price
You name it

Note, I need the 'buying' term, as opposed to Sale Price.

It's for a form where the user should fill in how much he paid for the apartment and for how much he sold it.


texts: You should swallow all the class material

texts:
In my language, when someone studies and learns something in a perfect way, we say something that literally translates to, "she has swallowed all the material I have taught her". It means she has learnt them and "mastered" them completely.

Is there a similar expression in English which means you completely master the stuff/material the teacher has taught you?

Also, is material correct in this context?


texts: Is there a difference between the meanings of 'is a result of' and 'results from'?

texts:
I'm searching on the internet how to use result from, and I've found the examples:

His failure is a result of laziness.
His failure results from his laziness.

Wordreference.com.
Are both correct? Is there a slight difference in meaning?


texts:
I've seen many American and English people writing their sentences like this:

  I are...
  You is...

While the way I've learned it, and seen most widely used is like this:

  I am
  You are

Is this some kind of a slang, or have I missed an English lesson?


texts:
What is the meaning of "upon me" in the following excerpt of one of Whitman's poems? Dictionaries don't help in this case.

  Strong upon me the life that does not exhibit itself, yet contains all
  the rest,

What I guess is he means "the life that doesn't exhibit itself is strong and sits by me".


texts: Do I need to abbreviate plurals separately or can I just add an 's' at the end of original abbreviation?

texts:
I am writing an abstract for an article. I am using abbreviation Road Traffic Accident (RTA).

In the further sentences I need to use plural of RTA that is  Road Traffic Accidents (RTAs).

My question is, can I directly write RTAs when I need to use plural of RTA or should I abbreviate Road Traffic Accidents (RTAs) first then use its abbreviation.


texts:
If I were president...

Why don't we have article "a"  before "president"?

Thank you!


texts: What quality does a person lack who cannot understand another's point of view?

texts:
I am looking for a non-slang, non-colloquial word - a word that I can use when speaking to a professional therapist/counselor, to be exact.

Another way to ask this question might be "What quality does a solipsist (or maybe an egocentrist) lack?"

As an example, a young child steals a bicycle from another child. The child's parent asks the child why he stole it and the child replies "because I like it." The parent asks the child "Who else liked it besides you," and the child can't come up with an answer. What quality does this child lack?

This applies to many adults, but it's easier to recognize in a child.

At first I thought of "empathy," and that is correct at an emotional level. But I'm particularly interested in this at a rational level - an inability to understand another's thought process, available data, cultural influences, etc. and understand why a particular conclusion, decision, or action seemed right to him or her. So, the intellectual or rational equivalent of empathy (or possibly compassion) might work here as well.

Finally, I do not mean the inability to agree with or support others' viewpoints, only an inability to understand why they understand things as they do. This may sound like a lack of adequate analytical skills, but I know people like this who are otherwise quite capable of analysis and reason.

I am most interested in what quality such an individual lacks, but I secondarily welcome descriptive words for the individual other than "egocentrist" and "solipsist."


texts: Can "I would please prefer" be grammatical?

texts:
I got into a friendly argument with another user over whether a construction like

  I would please prefer to talk tomorrow.

can be grammatical. To my eye, that just seems plain wrong. I would instead use one of

  I would prefer to talk tomorrow.

or

  I would prefer to talk tomorrow, please.

or

  Please, I would prefer to talk tomorrow.

The I would please prefer... construct seems off to me somehow but I can't quite put my finger on why. So, why is this construct not grammatical? Is it, in fact, not grammatical or is it just me? Are there any dialects where I would please <verb> is acceptable usage and, if so, which?


texts: Etymology of the word 'roach' to mean the end of a marijuana cigarette?

texts:
I was contemplating the German word "Rauch" (smoke or fumes) and the closely related "rauchte" (smoked) and "Rauchen" (smoking). These are related to the English word 'reek', and I wonder if they might also be related to the use of the word "roach" to refer to the butt of a marijuana cigarette.

Any insights?


texts:
I came across the sentence below in a book:

  Now more than ever, leaders need to know how to navigate the rough
  waters of today's business environment.

I am struggling to figure out what kind of phrase is 'Now more than ever' and need some help.
Clarification: I am not looking for the meaning of the above phrase. I would like to know the type of the phrase itself like absolute phrase, participial phrase and so on. Also some explanation of why it is a particular type would be helpful.


texts: What is the abbreviation for "accept" or "acceptance?"

texts: What is the preferred abbreviation for "accept" or "acceptance?"  Is it "acc," "acpt" or some other abbreviation?


texts:
I am not sure about the preposition I used after "challenges" in this sentence. I wanted to point out the problem associated with using SLM technology, is "of" the correct choice?:

"The multiplicity of SLM parameters is one of the challenges of using this manufacturing technology"


texts: What word (past tense verb) means that people are scared of the noun being affected by the verb?

texts: I'm trying to write a single sentence to describe a whole story. There is mental illness and a woman is scared of the mentally ill man (this was in the 1950's) What word, similar to stigmatized, can I use in the following phrase: ... suffering of a mental illness in a world where it is misunderstood and ______.


texts: Capitalization for unique title and quotations trickiness in inner thought

texts:
So, I have been writing and wonder whether to capitalize the word "master."
No rush here, I know that without name the word like this won't be capitalized. But if it use as a substitute for one's name and it being a title of something like "Dungeon Master" then it should be capitalize, right?
I've been checking a few novels that used these words but they tend to capitalize them, however, quite a lot did the otherwise.
Also, I'm a bit confuse whether to capitalize the word "world's will" in this context:
The world’s will? Is she telling me the truth? But I remember reading about the theory of Gaia.

A second problem I found was about emphasizing a thought.
For example:
She's older than me despite how she looks, but she still calls me 'uncle' and still call this stand owner 'mister'...
She's older than me despite how she looks, but she still calls me "uncle" and still call this stand owner "mister"...
I know for sure that single quotation mark only used inside a dialogue that already has a double quotation mark in use. But inner thought on the other hand didn't use the double quotation mark and just plainly used italic. Is this just a style choice or there is something deeper?
Any help, please? Thanks in advance.


texts: Does the phrase "... the both of us" change the meaning of the sentence if it was already plural to begin with?

texts:
Someone mentions they've found an old photograph with them and myself depicted on it, and says "We looked so different, the both of us".

Does this mean:

We looked different from each other, but now we look more similar.
Each of us individually looks different from how we looked like back then.
Both of the above, requiring further context.

My gut instinct tells me that just saying "We looked so different" suggest #1, but adding "the both of us" shifts it more in the direction of #2.


texts: Is it impolite/incorrect to start an email with "Namaste [name]"?

texts:
When writing an email, should I start with just "Hello [name]" or can I use other greetings, such as, "Ni Hao [name]" or "Namaste [name]"?

I feel like it might be okay, but wonder if there is a cultural norm that I would be violating and I want to be respectful.

If this is the wrong SE, please let me know.


texts: Is it correct to say that something is "claustrophobic" if it makes someone feel claustrophobic?

texts: For example, people often refer to an elevator as claustrophobic, but I'm curious whether it is more accurate to say that an elevator causes its occupants to feel claustrophobic.


texts: Is there an easy way to identify whether or not a pronoun is ambiguous?

texts:
It seems like I have the most trouble with ambiguous pronouns. I wrongly assume that a pronoun is ambiguous very often. Consider these three examples:

  The city of Conway, Wales, now surrounds the medieval walls and castle
  that originally enclosed and protected (it).

  True chalcedony is different from blue agate in the purity of its
  pale-blue color and, of the two, (is) the gemstone preferred by
  jewelry makers.

  The essayist writing on art in America was less concerned with why
  funding was decreasing than with whether (it) was becoming less
  popular with the public.

Apparently, there is no ambiguity in the first two examples, but the "it" in the third example is, in fact, ambiguous. Why is this so? Is there a simple way I can identify whether or not a pronoun is ambiguous?

I have put the words that I think are ambiguous within parentheses.

In the second example, I thought that the "is" should have been replaced with "chalcedony is."


texts: Are there any general rules or guidelines for creating abbreviations for words?

texts:
Are there any general rules or guidelines for how to create abbreviations of a word when there isn't any established abbreviations of it already?

Context: I'm writing an article in which I have to abbreviate the word "questionnaire" (it's going to appear in a figure and have to be cut down to size) and I just don't want to wing it if there actually is a more or less proper way to do it.


texts: "In [noun] terms" vs. "in terms of [noun]"

texts:
What are the differences in meaning between the followings?

  In society terms
  In terms of society


texts:
Is there a term that means you are both a night and a morning person in the same spirit as night owl and early bird?

I've seen the joke 'permanently exhausted pigeon', which I like.


texts:
For example, if I say "How is your day going" I can abbreviate that to "How's" (How is).

But if I said "How has your day been" can I abbreviate that to "How's" (How has)?


texts: Why do we say "it's not even funny" after something that is not funny at all?

texts:
"My head hurts so bad, it's not even funny." Why would my head hurting be funny in the first place? It's already clearly not a joking matter. Why "guard" it from being a laughing matter, then?

I get it if it's something that may be regarded as funny at first but is actually not once we realize or find out circumstances. For example, "that old man passes gas so loud for so long, in bass, it's not even funny." It may be funny to witness, but it's not because it might be due to a medical condition.

This expression doesn't make sense. Someone please explain.

I'm so clueless about this, it's not even funny.


texts: ...how it reacts, adding to the difficulty

texts:
'Also, the wind can significantly alter the direction of the ship and how it reacts, adding to the difficulty of anchoring the ship.'

What does "it" refer to in 'how it reacts,...?
What is the subject of the clause of 'adding to the difficulty of..."? How should the sentence be rewritten if one doesn't use 'adding to...'?

Thank you for the help.


texts: I have a doubt about the pluralization of irregular family names. What if the family name is an irregular plural form like "mice"? Should you say "the Mice" or "the Mices"?


texts:
I would like to know if the following short sentence is valid (correct English, I'm not asking for stylistic advice):

  She proposes that novelty does not arise through external forces but is the result of a speculative tendency at the heart of computing.

Or if one must be verbose:

  She proposes that novelty does not arise through external forces but that it is the result of a speculative tendency at the heart of computing.

I don't really like the duplication of 'that', so I am wondering if the first version is allowed.


texts:
Which one is more correct, if everybody knows that I am talking about all the students in a specific classroom.

  assignments must be done by all the students
  assignments must be done by all students
  assignments must be done by the all students


texts:
I've determined that almost all of John Clare's "I am" is in iambic pentameter. But I'm having trouble identifying the meter of the following line:

  But the vast shipwreck of my life's esteems

My reading was the following:

  - - x x x - - x - x (i.e., anapest, spondee, anapest, iamb).

Please let me know if you agree or disagree. I'm open to any and all suggestions.


texts:
How can I grammatically explain gerund "seeking" in this sentence? Can I use "to seek" instead?

  I am Sharron Biggs, CEO and founder of BiggsGraphics. I recently came across your advertisement seeking the partnership of a graphic design company for a number of your projects.


texts:
In his most recent monologue on The Late Show, the comedian host Stephen Colbert, gently mocked a New York Times reporter's style of writing (watch the excerpt on YouTube)

  “500 words” she whispered, her silken robe sliding to the floor as the morning sun hit her bedude form.

I think that's how the word "bedude" is supposed to be spelled, if word it is. I looked and searched online and found nothing. It's my guess that Colbert misspoke, and I would normally shrug it off; however,  seconds later he repeated the term bedude [?], quite emphatically I may add. Saying

  Even (This is getting sexy, this is kinda getting sexy. I like “bedude”). Even people at the White House don't know what to do, there is no war room…

Mr Colbert is an educated man, a fine wit and appears to be extremely well-read, on more than one occasion he has cited poetry and literary passages by heart, so maybe I am wrong and maybe bedude is a "word".

I have checked online but unearthed nothing of value. So, bedude could be an inside joke, a malapropism,  a spoonerism for denude, it could be that I have misspelt it, or it might be none of the above.


texts: Be told - does it mean 'heed the advice'?

texts:
From Bucket Nut by Liza Cody:

None of your tricks now, Eva,' he said. 'You play this one by the book. If you fuck up on this one I'll see you never work again in this business.'
I looked at him, and behind me Ramses started growling.
He said, 'Look Eva, do me a favour. Be told.'

Does it mean, 'Take what I'm saying seriously'? If so, is that standard usage?


texts:
I'm writing my resume right now and I was wondering what is the correct way to use capital letters in it.
I will give few examples of sentences that I'm not sure whether should be capital or not:

John John award of excellence in research: Aircraft Structure Monitoring using Optical Sensors.

Do I need to capitalize each word in the title of the research/ do I need to capitalize the sentence Award of Excellence?

Developing in MATLAB and Simulink a full aircraft simulation including guidance, control, and aerodynamics to prove the results.

Do I need to capitalize the words Guidance, Control and Aerodynamics?
Thank you


texts: What do we mean by the phrase 'conventions of standard written English'

texts:
A question came and it had one of its options: correct according to conventions of standard English.
I don't remember the question but the question was from a grammar section.

I do not have an idea that there are actually some conventions in English language and would be grateful if anyone can tell me what the different conventions in the English Language are.


texts: Why is this marked ungrammatical? "A new CD player was wanted by Ed."

texts:
Why is the second sentence below marked as being ungrammatical?

  Ed wanted a new CD player.
  ✲ A new CD player was wanted by Ed.

                      —Bas Aarts, English Syntax and Argumentation

Although the second sentence is marked as an ungrammatical one, it seems to make sense. Why does the author mark it as being ungrammatical?


texts: What are "asses' ears" in this sentence from Moby Dick?

texts:
I was reading through Moby Dick and found this sentence:

  Two enormous wooden pots painted black, and suspended by asses’ ears, swung from the cross-trees of an old top-mast, planted in front of an old doorway.

What does "asses' ears" mean in this context?


texts: What is the term for schools where students stay in one class all day and the teachers change rooms?

texts:
In some parts of the world, such as the USA, secondary students switch from classroom to classroom, while teachers stay in their own classroom the whole day.
In other parts of the world, secondary students stay as a group in their own classroom, and own desk, for the entire day, while their teachers have to move from classroom to classroom.
Is there a name for this latter mode of structuring the day?


texts:
What is a single word for a title and short paragraph? for example:

  Lorem ipsum

  Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Phasellus
  sagittis dictum nisl. Duis ac dapibus diam. Maecenas porta non dolor
  in commodo. Aliquam feugiat nisl non enim vulputate semper. Cras
  imperdiet aliquet eros sed fermentum. Etiam vitae arcu ac lacus
  viverra iaculis ut cursus magna. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet,
  consectetur adipiscing elit.

This could be at the start of a page or multiple times one under the other.
Is there a word that defines this?


texts:
I wonder how to pronounce something like "2000-01 season". I checked the entries on pronouncekiwi.com for British and American English, but came across too many variations.

For example:

  two thousand and one
  two thousand to one
  two thousand zero one

Is there any reason to prefer one of them, or are they the same? Which one is more formal?

Note: "2000-01" implies the years 2000 and 2001.


texts:
Is the following statement grammatically correct?

"I'm loving isolation. A little too much."

I think the statement is grammatically incorrect, but someone, a professional writer/editor, made that comment on Facebook, and after I called them out on it, insists that it is correct.
I see that it is trying to replicate natural speech, but the way to introduce a pause would be with a dash or an ellipses, not a full stop.
So which one is right, a period or something else?


texts:
I wanted to ask what is the meaning of "see more of", or does it have few meanings?

I've read that "see more of someone" equals "see someone more often", but I've also seen the phrase being used in other examples, like in this(http://czy.li/Zj12F) page of a Spider-Man comic.

Also you can quite often hear "See more of their adventures next monday" or something like this, and it doesn't fit with "see someone more often" definition, I mean it wouldn't even make sense "See one of those spider-man more often this summer" or "See their adventures more often next monday".

So "See more of" can be used in few different meanings or something? Could someone please explain it to me? Thanks


texts: Should you capitalise "eBay" at the beginning of a sentence?

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
How do you capitalize a proper noun such as “iPhone”?

Which is correct?

On the internet you can buy stuff. eBay is one place where you can buy stuff.
On the internet you can buy stuff. EBay is one place where you can buy stuff.


texts: Is "He then moved to Y and started Z University's W program, from which he graduated ..." correct?

texts:
He then moved to New Haven and started Yale University's Environmental and Natural Resource Economics program, from which he graduated earning his Master of Philosophy degree in 2010.

Is the above sentence correct? Is it correct to write that someone graduated from a university's program? The reason why I phrased it that way is that I want to avoid repeating environmental and natural resource economics, likeso:

He then moved to New Haven and started Yale University's Environmental and Natural Resource Economics program. In 2010 he graduated from the university with his Master of Philosophy in environmental and natural resource economics.


texts: What is the different between "display" and "be displayed" in using?

texts:
This part is the introduction, which won't be displayed on the document.

This part is the introduction, which won't display on the document.

Which one is more correct?
And what is the difference between the "be displayed on" and "display on"? Would you mind offer me some instances to help me understand the correct way?
Thanks for your reading.


texts:
I was reading Florence Lamborn's translation, from Swedish, of Astrid Lindgren's Pippi Longstocking (the translation appears to date from 1950). I read the following sentence:

  ... Just at that moment the gate of one of the cottages nearby opened
  and a boy came rushing out. He looked scared, and that was no wonder,
  because head over heels after him came five other boys. ... (emphasis mine)

I had never seen the phrase "head over heels" to mean, as it seems to from this context, "immediately after." I looked it up and found, in my Shorter Oxford, and on dictionary.com, only the meanings I already knew (topsy-turvy and intensely infatuated). On Wiktionary I did find this second definition, which does seem to fit the sentence:

  At top speed; frantically

This question and this question both discuss "head over heels" but not with this meaning. Is it commonly recognized, today? And is it more British English? (I do not know, but assume that the translator of this edition was British, based on other expressions in the book).


texts: "left- and right-hand side" vs. "left and right-hand side"

texts:
I'm trying to find the correct way between
"left- and right-hand side" or  "left and right-hand side".


texts:
I am trying to find the proper word for a verse of the Quran.
Background info: The 12th chapter of the Quran tells the story of prophet Joseph. The third verse says:

We relate to you, the best of narratives in what We have revealed to
you of this Quran although you were, before it, among the unaware.

To me, “unaware” sounds like “ignorant” (in fact, some translated the verse as “you were among those who knew nothing about it”). The original Arabic word which is translated as “unaware” actually means, “something that one had some surface knowledge; or he thought he knew; or what he thought he knew was not the complete account (some of it was falsehood).” In short, it is not something one is completely ignorant of it.
Is there a single word in English that would relate the same sense?


texts:
''I was assisting at the general happiness.''

''I assisted at the general happiness.''*

Is there any difference between these two sentences? Are both grammatical? From what I know, the imperfect ought to be used when we're talking about a repeted action in the past, and the past progressive when talking about an isolate event. We'd use the first, with the progressive, if the narrator would only take part one time to that happiness, and the imperfect with ''assisted'' if that was a habit of his, to usually assist at that happiness.

I'm a bit confuse.
Could anyone help me?


texts: Using "that" to describe everything.. Is this incorrect, or poor grammar?

texts:
I'm not very English literate, but I am annoyed by the use of "that" during the CrossFit games. Announcers, coaches, and athletes all said "that" more times than I can count.

Move that bar.
Use that hip.
Pick up that weight.
Tell me about that workout...

"That" is consistently used in place of what I feel should be "the".

I do not think I know enough to even ask a good question here...

What role does "that" play when describing an object?


texts: What are the higher variations of 'couple'?

texts: If a couple is a pair or a group of two, what does one call a group of three, four, etc.?


texts: Connotations of "hungry for X" and "thirsty for X."

texts:
Does "hungry for X" have different connotations than "thirsty for X"?

I did a few Google searches and found that "hungry for X" outdoes "thirsty for X" by about 250% with most values I tried for X.

On the other hand, "Thirst for knowledge" beats "Hunger for knowledge"; but "Thirsty for knowledge" loses to "Hungry for knowledge."

If you had to choose between the two phrases, what would you consider?

Perhaps thirst is more related to need, and hunger to desire?


texts: What does "BlackBerry-ing during a gorgeous party" mean?

texts:
I came across the word "BlackBerry-ing" in this New York Times article introducing New York governor Andrew M. Cuomo’s "Kitchen Diplomacy."

  More grizzled legislators were less impressed, with one senator recalling that during a question-and-answer period, "I was in the middle of BlackBerry-ing."

Though I guess it's a figurative remark insinuating "sit on the fence," I may be wrong. I have no clue where to find out what "BlackBerry-ing" means from the context of the above sentence. Can anybody tell me?


texts: Using commas after clause starting with 'not'

texts:
I have the following sentence:

He wanted to go to the park, not the city, for lunch

Is the second comma needed?


texts: A phrase that means to use language to make someone else look bad you don't agree with?

texts:
I recently saw in a post online someone use a phrase that essentially means something like when a journalist uses a word with a negative connotation when trying to frame an idea they don't like but if someone they do like does it then they might describe it with more positive wording.
It's similar to hypocrisy, spin, or propaganda but it contains the name of the person who coined it, like "smith verb" or something like that. I remember reading about the phrase and it was coined by a journalist.


texts: Which is correct: "rack my brain" or "wrack my brain"?

texts:
Which is the correct usage: "rack my brain" or "wrack my brain"? Google turned up pages with conflicting recommendations.

One argument is that to "rack a brain" comes from the torture device known as a rack.

Another is that wrack means damage or destruction or punishment and thus is correct.

Since I'm a SE user I'm inclined to immediately discount the second opinion from Yahoo Answers, but the logic seems plausible enough that I wanted to be sure.

On a related note, if rack is indeed correct, does the song Wrack My Brain by Ringo Starr simply have an ungrammatical title or is the error intentional?


texts: Simple past tense agreement in noun clauses: "I heard you are the best..." vs. "I heard you were the best"

texts:
Supposing that the subject of the noun clause is, in fact, presently, and intrinsically, the best, would the correct sentence be:

  I heard [that] you are the best man for the job.

or

  I heard [that] you were the best man for the job.

or perhaps either?

The argument for the former is that "is" more accurately represents the time window during which the subject is the best, whereas the argument for the latter is that tense agreement between "heard" and "was" is aesthetically pleasing.

Perhaps also supporting the latter is that "was" does not contradict "is"—per Hedberg, 1990s: "I used to do drugs. I still do, but I used to, too."


texts: I wonder whether there are rules or guidelines regarding plural nouns in nominal compounds. For example a compound university students list. If there are many lists and many universities is it grammatically correct to say universities students lists? Must all elements be in the plural form or can some be left in singular, even though the meaning is plural? I've seen an expression universities student lists; is it correct?


texts: How common is the word 'den' (for a room)?

texts:
I was wondering how common the word 'den' is in English speaking countries (I'm refering to the definition like on wikipedia for a room: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Den_%28room%29)?
Do people use it to describe a room, or is it more associated to other things, like an animal's den?
Thank you.


texts: What is the correct way to write the statement "Employed from September till date"?

texts:
I want to add the following statement in an email:

  This is being written to confirm that Mr. XYZ has been employed in our organization from September 2013 till date.

The "till date" part sounds incorrect to me. Is there any alternate term I can use that has the same meaning?


texts: Which is grammatically correct: "Trader Town" or "Traders Town" (or both)?

texts:
Let me put this in context for you: I'm developing a project which will be called Trader Town or Traders Town. As you might have noticed it's a space dedicated for traders; analysis, statistics, etc.

But I don't know which one sounds right in English. Riders Town or Rider Town.

Maybe both sound good?

Actually now I'm thinking this is pretty much a opinion-based question.

Let me be clear, I'm not asking for an opinion, I just want to know whether Traders Town or Trader Town are grammatically correct.


texts: A single word for overreaching / overestimating ones own abilities?

texts:
Is there a single word slang or otherwise that can describe

  A person who continually overreaches or overestimates their own abilities.

and example usage

  "Bob's such a word: He always injures himself."

The closest non-slang term I could find was narcissism, however, this isn't really appropriate. Rather, an expected characteristic for someone with this trait.

In sporting slang, there are several terms:

Kook (generic extreme sports, slightly abused in this context)
Jerry (in snowsports e.g. "JerryOfTheDay")
Tryhard (strictly two words in my opinion)


texts: Looking for a word or words meaning to change something so it's more widely used and more efficient to use

texts:
I'm writing a proposal regarding website development work and would like a meaningful name for the proposal. I currently have a system for developing websites that isn't the most efficient and costs a substantial amount for each site. I'm hoping to redevelop my system so that the bulk of the set up effort is automated or more efficient. My intention is to enable use of the system by hundreds of people rather than the dozen or so that are currently using it, without an increase in support needs.

I think something like "Website Generalisation Project" is on the right track, but doesn't really communicate the message I'm looking for. Optimisation isn't really what I'm looking for (it implies no further room for improvement), though "streamlining" might be ok. However, there might be a more suitable word relating to the increase in the number of people using the system.

Related question: Word meaning "to make more efficient"?


texts: 'And they are bought, like...'. Extra meaning of the verb 'buy'?

texts:
Please help me to understand the beginning of this sentence (before "as soon"). I guess it doesn't carry much meaning but i still wonder what this part means:

  "And they are bought, like they run from, well from they don't, as soon as they learn to walk they're running and they run their whole lives and they run like a hundred miles is just like a walk in the park to them. "

The whole dialogue is here: http://elllo.org/english/1151/T1200-Julia-Sport.html


texts:
My 5 year-old daughter wrote this sentence for one of her spelling words the other night:

  The butterfly's sight was hot grass.

I thought it was fine.  My wife did not.  What say you - is this proper English?


texts: Which one is correct: "wish I was here" or "wish I were here"?

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  “If I was” or “If I were”. Which is more common, and which is correct?

Which one is the correct form: "Wish I was here" or "wish I were here"? I've heard both of them many times but I don't know which one is correct.


texts:
Twitter has a "who to follow" button on the upper side of the screen. Shouldn't it be "whom to follow"?

Wikihow suggests that whom is the correct usage in a case like this.


texts: 'Prevaricate' as a synonym for 'vacillate'

texts:
There's a lot of motivation here.  It boils down to a two-part question:  is the usage of 'prevarication' as a synonym for 'vacillation' common, acceptable, and/or preferable; and is there any reason that it might crop up particularly often in the history of Austria and Germany?
I am currently reading Max Hastings's Catastrophe 1914, which I am very much enjoying, except for this usage, which jars me.  Some example quotes:

Russia's prevarications about the exact pattern of its mobilisation were almost certainly irrelevant to the European outcome.
But if German policy had vacillated earlier in July, now the march to war had attained its own momentum.  In Berlin on the 29th, Falkenhayn sought to force the pace: he declared that the time for prevarication was over ….
Gallieni fumed at the prevarications of bureaucrats, who seemed incapable of adjusting from the tempo of peace to that of extreme national peril ….

Unfortunately, this book isn't previewed on Google Books, so you'll have to take my word that the surroundings make it clear that 'prevarication' here is not meant to refer to deception, but rather to what I think of as vacillation.  Note particularly the second quote, where 'vacillation' is even used in the previous sentence, to describe the behaviour the time for which was over.  For an example sentence with more context, and also to note that this usage is not peculiar to Hastings, see https://books.google.com/books?id=9Y0osRlmQcIC&pg=PP47#q=prevaricate:

Some officials and politicians thought that Hitler would continue to prevaricate ….

(Here you really probably will want to check the context to verify that it is not a reference to prevarication as deception, in which Hitler certainly engaged wantonly.)
To my shock, when I went to the OED to back up my distaste with this usage, I found it saying very much the contrary (http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/151057#eid112455102):

3b. To behave evasively or indecisively so as to delay action; to procrastinate. Now the usual sense.

However, a hallway survey of several colleagues produced the uniform reaction "no, that's not what it means at all!"; and I noticed that the second quote is clearly about Nazism, while the first refers to—I don't know what, but clearly some conflict involving Austria.  So, I am back to the question at the beginning:  is this usage really 'usual', and is there any reason that it seems to crop up so often in the history of Austria and Germany?


texts:
In a scene from the second episode of the TV miniseries Top of the Lake, the lead character (a New Zealand police officer) discovers a dead body floating in the sea. She does not enter into the water, but calls for her male companion, and shouts instructions:

  Don't touch him… all right, just bring him into shore. I'm going to have to stay here, I'm OCB.

In a further scene she tries entering into the sea, but experiences sth. that looks like a panic attack and is forced to draw back.

Though I found a couple of terms called OCB, they do not make any sense in this context.


texts: What is the difference between "definite" and "definitive"?

texts:
I still get confused between the two as English is not my mother language.

I tried the following links to understand but still couldn't:

thefreedictionary.com/definitive
grammar-monster.com/easily_confused/definite_definitive.htm
world-english.org/definite_definitive.htm


texts:
if I have a voucher, what are the two "states" of the voucher. Like is it "free" or "unused" when I haven't used it yet and "used" or "redeemed" when I used it?

Example sentence:

  "Susi doesn't have her tickets yet, but she has an unused (?)
  voucher."

  "Susi got her tickets with the voucher, the voucher is now
  redeemed (?)."

It's actually hard to put it in an example sentence, as I need a voucher object in software development. Maybe it's more clear this way:

Voucher.State = Used;
Voucher.State = Free;

Thanks for your help.


texts: Which is correct: "What kind of CDs" or "What kinds of CDs"?

texts:
Is it correct to say:

  What kind of CDs do you have?

or

  What kinds of CDs do you have?


texts:
I'm giving a presentation, and the content is specific to one particular area. However, the ideas behind the content are applicable to other contexts as well.

What're good alternatives to "broadly applicable" or "applicable elsewhere?"

By the way, it doesn't have to be a single word.


texts: To refrain or to restrain for internal emotions

texts:
I'd like to ask if there would any differences between if I changed the word restrain with the word refrain or vice versa in the following sentences?
The definition is for restrain in Oxford Learner's Dictionaries:

2 to stop yourself from feeling an emotion or doing something that you would like to do
● restrain something John managed to restrain his anger.
● I restrained the urge to punch him restrain yourself.
● restrain yourself (from something/from doing something) She had to restrain herself from crying out in pain.
● I was tempted to answer back, but I restrained myself.

He deliberately refrained from expressing his opinion on the matter.
I refrained from laughing.
Priscilla could barely refrain from clapping her hands together.


texts: Is "catch up" used in formal language as in "We will catch up sometime"?

texts:
I wrote "we will catch up sometime" to one of my new friends. When I searched the Internet I found that people used it in informal situations. Is it okay to use this in formal writing as I did since the friendship is very new? What else could I have used? I tend to think that the answer depends on culture.

My purpose in context:

I want to put the decision of when and where to meet, to the other person.


texts:
1.

Enabling the 'show-copy-button' option adds the 'copy' button to the toolbar.

2.

Enabling the 'show-copy-button' option adds a 'copy' button to the toolbar.

This is just of the one examples, but I came across similar sentences relatively often. On one hand, there are multiple buttons, and you are adding another kind of a button, just like every other button. Perhaps this button can even be configured such that it can be basically the duplicated version of an existing button.

On the other hand, the exact 'copy button' refers to a specific thing.

So which is it?

Thanks in advance.

(Please don't close this question as a duplicate, I know how the articles are applied. I just can't apply it to this case because it somewhat differs from some languages I speak, I really am not sure whether this item would be considered specific or generic)


texts: I'm interested in learning Archaic English. As a starting point, I guess simple texts that are easy to comprehend would be a good choice. I would appreciate any suggestions.


texts: Is the sentence "My pain look like my pride" grammatically correct?

texts:
I am a native Spanish speaker but I have been speaking English for more than ten years.

That sentence is part of the lyrics of a song. I get the feeling that it should be "My pain looks like my pride" but while I think that is correct it might be that there is another rule that I am not aware of.

So, is that sentence correct or not?

edit:

I am sorry i had not read the lyrics before this post, i had only listened to them hence why i missed an important aspect of it.
the full sentence is a question and it looks like:

"Why do I feel like I deserve this?
Why does my pain look like my pride?"
-linkin park, no roads left.

in which case there is the help verb to do and for that reason the second verb is not conjugated.

the whole question is irrelevant. sorry about that.


texts:
This question is part of 5 lb. Book of GRE® Practice Problems Verbal Question Directory.

The following is a GRE-style sentence-equivalence question, where two of the six given options fit the meaning of the sentence as a whole.

  James Joyce, the author of many novels, including Lady Chatterley’s Lover, saw deeply into the hearts of his characters, but, in a life irony as subtle yet piercing as those endured by his characters, he himself could barely _________ text well enough to proof his own galleys.

  a) see

  b) feel

  c) walk

  d) move

  e) distinguish

  f) interpret

The correct options are A and E.

Can anyone explain me why option F is incorrect?

Moreover, I've never seen the structure "as .. yet ..". I've looked that up on the internet, but couldn't find any relevant explanations.

I would appreciate your help.

Thanks in advance.


texts: What's the first known use of 'Crabs in a Barrel'

texts: I'm looking for the first known use of the phrase to describe human behavior, i.e. Pulling successful people back down to crowd level.


texts: What would you (negatively) call a person who insists on repaying even a small amount of money?

texts: Let's say you paid for a friend's bus ride, and he insists on paying you back rather than just let it be and stop worrying about it. You even find it rude on his part that he won't just forget about it. Is there an adjective or a phrase for such kind or a person, or for such kind of a behavior?


texts: What does *say* mean in "Say, could you bring us the knife?"?

texts:
What is the meaning of say in the following sentence:

  - Say, could you bring us the knife?
  - Knife?
  - Yeah. Thank you.

  (12 Angry Men, 1957)

I can guess that it is some kind of filler word (I don't think filler is the right word). But, I couldn't find anything on the web. Can you give some reference about this kind of usage?


texts: English idiom for learning a skill by observing someone else doing it

texts:
I've had this silly obsession for a while: I can't seem to find a proper phrase in English that is as expressive and 'colorful' as the idiom in my native language that describes learning a new skill by watching someone else doing it, without being actively/intentionally trained how to do it.

In my native language (Romanian) we have a fura meserie — it literally means 'to steal someone's trade'.

Is there an English equivalent? This question has been bugging me a bit more that it should.


texts:
I'm looking for a word to use in an academic proposal that conveys the idea that the individuals are fighting, potentially violently, and immaturely (optional component of the meaning) and should be separated.
I found the word "squabblers" only, which isn't really suitable for academic language.

I'd be happy to receive hints (ideally British English words).

Best,
Ivo


texts: "have been" versus "had been" in questions

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  How do the tenses in English correspond temporally to one another?

"I can tell that he's not English, but I wouldn't had been able to tell that he's french if you didn't tell me first"

it was told me that this kind of usage is wrong, and that I should have used "I wouldn't have been able to tell that"

When should I use "had been" and when "have been"?


texts: What are some good books on articulation?

texts:
I am fully capable of speaking, reading and writing (British-)English and my native language, but I find that I tend to mumble and muffle my voice. Furthermore, I would love to perfect my speech in all the ways possible, and I find that the science of articulation (articulatory phonetics) would be the best ways to do this.

I don't want to hit up random books on Amazon, so do you know which books are the bibles within this areas?

Maybe theatre-oriented books would deal with articulation and contain some exercises?


texts:
What does accessing schedules mean?

  Digital technologies provide access to schedule for employees.

or

  That digital technologies have access to schedule.

Source:

  Some examples include tracking food costs, accessing schedules and
  scheduling labor and using barcode scanners to check inventory.


texts: Verb agreement for "Capturing one knight or three pawns"

texts:
In a game of chess, capturing one knight or three pawns yields/yield the same result

What should be the answer — yields or yield? The rule says if one of the items joined by "or" is singular and the other plural, the verb becomes of the subject which is after "or".

The answer according to that should be "yields" but the book says "yield".


texts: Seek for help: Now I'm doing a translation work. How can I describe "people beat with their feet according to music rhythm" in English? Maybe one word or a few words.


texts:
I've recently encountered this message: "Invalid arguments' number". My brain has immediately corrected it to "Invalid number of arguments", but this got me thinking about the nuances of using the Saxon genitive here.

My intuition is that the use of Saxon genitive for a plural noun implies that each of the entities in the plural set is separately in some relation described by the genitive phrase, and not that the genitive refers to the whole set as one entity.

Is my intuition correct? Are there any popular examples of this specific difference between Saxon genitive and the "of" preposition?


texts: Term for when someone gets overly pepped up and thinks he/she can do anything

texts:
What is it called when someone gets encouraged by people around him/her or gets pepped up by the atmosphere around to the extent that he or she gets a wrong impression about his/her powers and capabilities (physical or mental), and probably gets out of control and starts doing crazy things in an effort to do the job right.

For example, I'm looking for something similar to filling in the following sentence:

  Don't get/be _, you can't drink all that in one go"

If there are various related words or expressions to be used in different situations, I would like to have all of them with appropriate examples. Thanks.


texts: Why do we pronounce Dean as /diːn/ but Sean as /ʃɒn/?

texts:
The following words which end with an ean are pronounced as /*i:n/ whereas Sean is pronounced as /ʃɒn/:

  bean, dean, lean, mean...

Why is Sean not pronounced as /si:n/ but as /ʃɒn/? Where does this irregularity come from? Are there known rules in English for such cases?


texts: "is no longer working" vs "does not work anymore"

texts:
Mr.John does not work in plaza hotel, anymore

vs

  Mr.John is no longer working at plaza hotel

Which one is correct to say? If he's not working, currently.


texts:
In the sentence below:

Please tell me what does "that" function as here. I do not think it is a relative pronoun or something similar.


texts: Two single word (if possible) each to describe two different Leave types

texts:
There are two scenario as follows:

Person who receive "Leave Credit" when attending some events.
Person who "Request Leave" when they want to take time off.

I was thinking of using "Credit" to replace "Leave Credit" and "Request" to replace "Request Leave but to the user, they find it quite "ambiguous". Some more, they want single word instead of two words to describe the type of leave they are applying.

So, may I know if there are single word each to replace "Leave Credit" and "Request Leave"?

Update

Let me rephrase my question:

I am looking for a single word alternative to replace the following words:

Leave Credit
Request Leave

Update

Insert the table below describe my questions further.

|------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Name               |   Leave Type           |        From    |       To      |
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Jack               |   Leave Credit         |  2010 06 06    | 2010 06 07    |
| Jill               |   Request Leave        |  2010 07 16    | 2010 07 17    |
| John               |   Leave Credit         |  2010 08 20    | 2010 08 21    |
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

Based on Hugo, it is difficult to use single word like 'Credit' or 'Request' (as shown in the table below) as it will increase confusion.

|------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Name               |   Leave Type           |        From    |       To      |
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Jack               |   Credit               |  2010 06 06    | 2010 06 07    |
| Jill               |   Request              |  2010 07 16    | 2010 07 17    |
| John               |   Credit               |  2010 08 20    | 2010 08 21    |
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------|


texts:
I want to write:

  Please ignore the message stating—noun form of not received—of the mail.

What is a single word for the noun form of "not received"?


texts:
I frequently run into uses of quotation marks on public display that simply baffle me. I have no idea who or what is being quoted, what the original reference is, or why it's necessary to indicate that this is a quote.

Clearly it's no accident: the quotation marks take effort to add. Someone had to go to the trouble of putting them there, someone who felt he had a reason to do so.

If it were a one-off occurrence, I would chalk it up to miscommunication. But this is so common a practice that I wonder if there's some common misconception, or perhaps convention in a foreign language which leads people to place quotation marks where they are not, in English, traditionally expected.

Alternately, is there some meaning communicated here that I am missing? Do these quotation marks actually indicate something of which I wasn't aware?


texts: Can you exhume anything other than a body?

texts: Synonyms for exhume include unearth and disentomb. The definition says "Dig out (something buried, esp. a corpse) from the ground". I've only ever heard it in context of a body, is it possible to apply this to other contexts. For example, would it make sense to exhume a treasure buried at sea?


texts: What do you call a day that is different from the usual days?

texts:
I am looking for a noun or adjective that describes a day that is different from the other usual days, in terms of routine.

My usual routine every day is to stay in the house, do the household chores, feed my dogs, or sometimes go to the mall, stroll, and went back to the house, rest, and the like. My normal days are uneventful and unexciting.

What do you call a day when there's an exciting event happen that made you hyped up and energize?

For example, today I went to the mall and suddenly caught a swindler in the act  of asking money from a student, a part of his modus operandi. I caught him, confronted him, and reported him to the authority. We went to the mall's underground basement and helped the security guards file a complaint to the swindler.

My day was different and extraordinary from my usual, boring days.


texts: One word to describe this type of embarrassment

texts: I have searched for a single word in English that expresses this condition: If I watch something on television ( most notably "slap-stick humor" ), I find my face flushed, hot and prickly; there is an extreme embarrassment and involuntary turning of my head away; my mind registers the input as being incredibly stupid and revolting; my stomach turns with a sickening pain; the feeling is extreme enough to be considered physical pain, as well as psychological. Imagine sitting in a chair watching an old Jerry Lewis comedy on TV, and the silly tone of his speech, as well as his body antics, make me cringe with the above condition. Any words to describe this?


texts: The "Elephant and Apple" - Phonetical Spelling of NY(C) with normal letters

texts:
Some toponyms change over time:
Be it by pronunciation (Los Angeles, New Orleans) or by changing the wording/spelling to either make more sense to the speaker (the London district "Elephant and Castle" from "La Infanta de Castilla") or no sense in current language at all (like German München/Munich, from old German/Latin apud Munichen = near the monks).

I have a dystopian setting in the remains of NYC post WW3.
I am looking for a name that is rooted in the location while emphasizing how distinct it is from our world (an archipelago).

My approach was to spell the pronunciation of the acronym NY (New York City) as a written out name that could have naturalized over time, with the C having developed into Sea, misheard over generations and much more plausible for the speakers in this world. (One written word, only normal letters, no phonetic alphabet, maybe a stress for accentuation).
However, as a non-native-speaker I was unsure about the inconsistent English spelling/pronunciation. Furthermore I had heard the y pronounced differently (as i and as uh). Therefore I chose to ask the question here to the language experts and native speakers and not on Worldbuilding Stack.

As it turns out, NY(C) is not commonly used.This actually makes sense as it does not shorten New York in spoken language (compared to LA for Los Angeles). In fact, NY seems even more laborious to pronounce than New York.
I am still wondering whether to nonetheless go with this approach (to keep the sea as part of the name).  The written abbreviation NYC exists in "historic" texts so there is the possibility (even though not the likelihood) that this name got picked up by the survivors.
My favourite NYC-rooted version had been the Enway Sea (thx to cpit): A name fit for an interregional trading post on the trade routes of merchants from everywhere, bound for the floating markets on the massive, protected square body of water in the heart of the archipelago. The en could either be pronounced like the English pronunciation of en route, maybe even having the written name bastardized to Onway Sea. I even thought about pronouncing it the Away Sea, based on the (Canadian) French pronunciation of en (route). This offers interesting connotations to the vanishing of the old city and the oasis it offers as resting place for travelling merchants in the middle of the ocean. This will depend on the influence of the Canadian merchants and culture on the trading post.
While making up my mind I might go with a descriptive synonym, maybe the city that (forever) sleeps (under the surf) or sleeping beauty.
Thanks for your all your input, correction, inspiration and help.

Honorable mentions

The archipelago of Enwy   / the Enwy Sea, thx to cpit
The archipelago of Anwai  / the Anwai Sea, thx to cpit
The archipelago of Enwigh / the Enwigh Sea, thx to juhasz


texts: Is this Cambridge Dictionary example of "felicitate" valid?

texts:
Cambridge dictionary defines "felicitate" as

  To praise someone and say that you approve of or are pleased about a
  special or unusual achievement.

Then the  first usage example given is:

  Modern developments in collecting language data, including
  taperecordings, have felicitated the growth of corpus analysis and
  increased the objectivity of this work.

Is this example valid?


texts: What's the difference between a vicar and a pastor?

texts:
What's the difference between a vicar, preferably of the Church of England, and a pastor?  I browsed Wikipedia, but most of the gist of the article is that vicar is an ecclesiastical office, and oft-invoked title (e.g. the Pope is known as the Vicar of Christ), but there's not much else there except for it going into mind-numbing details of the hierarchy between they and rectors and curates, which I don't much care about.

[The reason I ask is that through reading various novels and histories, I noticed that quite a many famous scientific figures and intellectuals were sons of vicars, or married vicars' daughters — in the other words, the office of vicar seemed to have significant social prestige, and require a formidable mind to achieve it, but I can't figure out why, because I don't know what their official duties were or what they were in charge of.  What does it mean to be vicar, and how is it different from being a pastor?]


texts: 'World Cup' or 'world cup' in these particular contexts

texts:
The Under-19 World Cup takes place every 4 years.
The 2014 FIFA World Cup takes in Brazil.
He is the highest scorer in the world cup history.
Cricket world cups are fun.

Lastly, what to do when you refer to it for the second time in the same paragraph.

The 2015 Cricket World Cup takes place in Oceania. Australia will go into the world cup as favourites.

Am I right in referring to them this way?