texts: What word is used to describe speech patterns?

texts: By speech patterns I mean writing out how an accent sounds. The form of writing used to analyze accents and ways of speaking in the past. I was watching The Lighthouse yesterday and I remember hearing that the director studied this type of writing when giving his characters accents. I’ve been trying to remember the word since I watched it. Any enlightenment would be appreciated.


texts: What noun describes the property of banknotes as a store of value and a medium of exchange rather than just a store of value?

texts:
Stocks, bonds, houses, and certificates of deposits (CDs) function as stores of value but not as mediums of exchange. It is not possible to steal houses, because houses are registered in people's names. In contrast, banknotes function both as a store of value and as a medium of exchange. It is possible to steal banknotes. If someone steals a $10 note from me, and I don't know who the thief is, I won't be able to recover the stolen $10 note.
What word describes this difference between banknotes and houses? I have seen this word before, but I cannot remember it. It is a noun (ending in -ity).


texts:
This is one of those colloquialisms that doesn't seem to translate to a complete sentence, but how would you properly punctuate and/or correct the following sentence?

  I'd like you to keep working, but if you want to quit, then fine.

My interest is on the last phrase "then fine" which I've heard before but can't seem to figure out how to write it down properly. Is it "then fine" or "then, fine" or something else entirely?

What kind of grammatical function is it?


texts: English notation for hour, minutes and seconds

texts:
I often see English notation about time using the " and ' symbols.
I have always mistaken about the two, and even their meaning.

I'm more used to "01:05:56", for example.

How do you represent the hour, minutes, and seconds using the apostrophe and quotes punctuations?
Which is for the hour, which is for minutes, and which is for seconds?

Is it the common way to write duration of time elapsed? Do they have a special pronunciation?


texts: Is "to share or to have a common interest" a tautology?

texts: I often read and hear "to share a common .." but it seems very pleonastic to me. Isn't it saying the same thing twice? In other words, is it a tautology, and if so, should it be avoided or is it acceptable, even in a scholarly context?


texts: Word for being the only one to volunteer

texts:
I'm looking for a word to describe a person or action where out of a group of people, there is a single volunteer to undergo a task or similar.

This is due to the task being somewhat undesirable, and there is only a single person willing to undergo it. For example:

  Scipio Africanus ______ to lead the Roman troops against the Carthaginian army in Spain.


texts: I've got a coworker that frequently uses the word, "abnomaly", not "abnormal" and not "anomaly", but "abnomaly".  While the types of these words differ (i.e. adjective versus noun), the meanings are clearly related.  Is there a term to describe this type of linguistic compound?


texts: I am confused about this word "attached" when I receive a letter begins like this: Dear XX, attached is a document for…… Here, the word "attached" is used somehow like a noun which means attachment, is that right?


texts: “on condition of his getting out of this then, come, and cutting it”

texts:
What is the meaning of the highlighted part in this excerpt from Bleak House?

  “Policeman at last finds it necessary to support the law and seize a vocalist, who is released upon the flight of the rest on condition of his getting out of this then, come, and cutting it—a condition he immediately observes.”

If I had to guess, I would say that “getting out of this then” means “leaving immediately” and “cutting it” “stopping (what he is doing)”.

Is that correct?
What is the meaning or function of “come” here?


texts: A word for 'to exist in the same place as something else'

texts:
I'm looking for a word that means "to exist in the same place as something else."

For example: two functions have the same points when plotted on a graph, so they __.(overlap? coincide? ... ?)

I used Google to translate (my native language is Dutch), and it came up with 'coincide'. But doesn't that mean to happen at the same time as something else?


texts: How to refer to a city (or town) that is not on the coast?

texts:
How could one convey the idea that a place is “in the middle” of the geographic area of a country, thus far from the seaside — whether city or town, rural or urban?

The fact that it’s a city or town or rural or urban is not relevant. The only relevant information would be: far from the sea; non-coastal.

This word (or phrase, expression) would be used in sentences like this: “I don’t go to the beach very often, I live [...]” — without needing to say one’s exact location or explain too much, if possible.

Does such straightforward expression (preferably a single word) exist?


texts: Is there a rule regarding the placement of "please" in a sentence?

texts:
Both written or spoken?

For example:

Please have a seat.
Have a seat please.

And how would the use of commas change the meaning or tone of the request?
Are there other options that I've excluded?


texts: Can -ed, -ing and -tion be added to the words positive, negative and advise? What rules would explain this?


texts: Looking for a certain gender-neutral word

texts:
This is going to be a bit tricky to ask correctly, so sorry for making you read long, carefully crafted sentences! Sorry if it seem like excess (and it kinda is, but better safe than sorry, as I don't want closure! If you have an edit that gets the point across but in a shorter length, feel free to suggest it!).

Sometimes, I don't want to use a specific gender, such "he" or "she", when speaking in a manner that speaks of a person in a third-person manner. Thus I use gender-neutral words that do the job of thso third-person reference.

During some of these instances, I wish to use the gender-neutral word to signify ownership. I often use the word "their's."

However, I dislike how the word "their's" can also mean that an object belongs to a group of people instead of a single person. I am looking for a word that does have this double-edged meaning

In short, does there exist a gender-neutral, third-person and ownership signifying word whose sole meaning refers to only a single entity?

Here's an example sentence to fill in:

"The Black player's queen was being attacked by "insert word here" opponent's  rook."

Sorry if this is a lot to ask!


texts: Why is "dingbat" used to refer to characters like "☺"?

texts:
Why is dingbat used to refer to characters such as "☺"?

(See for instance those at the Mozilla Web Developer FAQ.)

Doesn't dingbat mean a stupid person or something?


texts:
Are these sentences correct?

I have found this in a website.

Bananas plus water results in faster weight loss.

Laying off exercise and allowing afternoon sweets reduces stress.

Appreciate the help.


texts: Using degrees for directions: should it be singular or plural

texts: I am confused whether to use singular or plural for "degree" used in directions/bearings. Is it grammatically correct to write "1 degree East of South", and "0.23 degrees West of South"?


texts: Is the phrase "Thank you for your effort" is the best way to praise someone for the help he giving me?

texts:
Let's say that I'm doing my daily labor, and it's a pretty hard work in general.
And someone offer to help me, without I that asked for it, and surprisingly that person invested in that job a lot more than I could imagine.
Could it be possible that my only option to gratitude him is to say something like:
Thank you for your effort?

What I really want to know, if there is any better way to rephrase the word "effort" to something more suitable that can describe how much I appreciate what he had done.


texts: This sentence from the SAT seems to have a subject-verb disagreement (but it isn't)

texts:
From the SAT:

  A poetic form congenial to Robert Downing was the dramatic monologue, which let him explore a character's mind without simplifications demanded by stage productions.

The subject doing the let is the dramatic monologue, which is singular. So why would it not be lets?

Another question is what is the verb explore? Is it an infinitive or gerund? Because I don't think there is anyone doing the action.

Thanks!


texts: Meaning of "the C team analysts worry whether the divorce may not have side effects"

texts:
The key relationship in the C team model is the centrality of the link
  between political sovereignty and fiscal authority on the one hand and
  money creation, the mint and the central bank on the other. A key fact
  in the proposed Euro system is that the link is to be weakened to a
  degree rarely, if ever, known before. … There is to be an
  unprecedented divorce between the main monetary and fiscal authorities
  … the C team analysts worry whether the divorce may not have some
  unforeseen side effects.

I came across this sentence in The Economist but couldn't make out the actual meaning of it. Can anyone explain? What can we tell about "C team analysts"? Also about the usage of "whether...may not."


texts:
What is the plural of "API" (Application programming interface)

Is it part of English irregular plurals ending in "-i"?


texts:
Is there a more appropriate name for a boat like the one below?

Other than fishing boat, wood boat, rowboat, canoe.

Thank you


texts:
What do you call a phrase without a main clause? For example, answering a question:

Are you to blame for the increase in deaths?

Of course not!

The answer cannot stand alone. Is there a name for this?

Edit: Above is not a good example.
I am trying to explain spoken language as a written text. The text is an interview. The interviewer has asked a question, and the answer starts with 'because' and refers to information in the question, and alone does not make sense. So it cannot stand alone. Does this make this a sentence fragment/subordinate clause or something else?


texts: On what grounds does one determine the grammatical acceptability of a sentence fragment group?

texts:
I have seen some debate on EL&U about whether or not sentence fragments are acceptable to use, and under what circumstances.  I am not of the persuasion that they should be used, but if I must concede that they are permissible to use, I would like to know the rules that render them acceptable. For instance, it seems that most "acceptable" sentence fragment constructions function in a similar way to pronouns: they refer back to an antecedent.  With pronouns, the antecedent is a noun, and with sentence fragments, the antecedent is a subject-verb group.  Here is an example to clarify:

"The dog bit the child five times.  Every day."

While I would prefer to solve the issue by using a dash ("The dog bit the child five times – every day"), how would one who allows sentence fragments justify the construction?  What are general rules by which one can determine the acceptable construction of sentence fragments?  My intuition tells me that not even fragment-lovers would accept constructions such as "The dog bit the. Child five. Times every day." . . . on what grounds would such constructions not be acceptable?  To state it positively, on what grounds does one determine the grammatical acceptability of a sentence fragment group?  By "sentence fragment group" I am revealing a presupposition that a sentence fragment derives necessary contextual data from a nearby complete sentence.


texts:
I suppose a year number to be a proper noun, naming a unique year. Therefore, when written as text, it should be spelled with initial capital letters. But there does not seem to be general agreement about this.

Few authorities offer a rule at all, probably because year numbers are more commonly written as Arabic numerals. One source treats a year number as a common noun, like any number. A second agrees but says some authors consider a year number to be a pronoun when not preceded by the words "the year". A third says a year number names a unique year and must be treated as a proper noun, citing The Winston Grammar Program by Paul E. Erwin.

On wedding invitations, etiquette authorities agree, the year is traditionally written as text. It is for this reason, I suppose, that some authorities think to address capitalization of the year. However, there is no consensus. It is more common to see the advice to capitalize the first word of the year (only). Most Google search results for [ capitalize year wedding etiquette ] give this advice. On the other hand, that paragon of etiquette virtue, Emily Post, specifically prohibits it, saying only the names of weeks and months are to be capitalized.

In short, I can find support for three different capitalization rules for year numbers:

no capitalization (written number rule), e.g.: "the year thirteen sixty-one"
capitalize first initial letter (wedding invitation rule), e.g.: "the year Thirteen sixty-one"
capitalize all initial letters (proper noun rule), e.g.: "the year Thirteen Sixty-one"

How should the year be capitalized?


texts: Numeric is to number as X is to string. What is X?

texts:
Synonyms are acceptable. In this context, "string" refers to a sequence of characters or letters (i.e. text).

Some initial suggestions: Stringwise? Textual?


texts: Does there have to be a comma before 'because'?

texts:
Grammarly thinks it's wrong to put a comma before the word because. Is that true?
On the other hand, it thinks it's wrong to put a comma before the word 'but'. Is that also true?
Examples:

I'm not aware of any spelling mistakes, because the title that I can see doesn't have any.
I'd like to ask something, but I'm reluctant to do so.


texts: What is the English phrases for "to bet/vote on a winning candidate"?

texts:
For example, betting Manchester United rather than a newly-promoted club.
This is not limited to sport and not limited to only two participants.

I've heard it's "to ride on a winning horse", is that correct?
But when I googled it, there's no such thing of it.

Could you help me?


texts: "Enabling ... during" or "enabling ... through"?

texts:
I want to say that:

  I worked on enabling Marketing and Engineering teams during several
  product launches.

Is "during" the right word to use here? Should it be "through"? How do I know which is the right preposition to use?


texts: What is a word to indicate a single item when multiple items are available elsewhere?

texts:
I have a website where I am directing users to take successive evaluations. In the default case, users see three options:

initial
follow-up
reassessment

However, not all entries have all three options. There are certain conditions where an entry can only take the initial evaluation. To avoid confusion, I've removed the "follow-up" and "reassessment" options in cases where the user can't take them. That leaves an "initial" option there by itself.

I don't feel that "initial" is the right word when it's the only available choice. I'd prefer to not remove the label, since the page is meant to show multiple entries in a dashboard arrangement.

What single, descriptive word could I use in this instance?


texts: Is there a single word to mean "rate of procrastination"?

texts:
Take the following contrived sentence:

  Our staff's productivity has doubled since we upgraded their computers.

And now this one:

  Our staff's [rate of procrastination] has doubled since we gave them new smart phones.

Is there a single word to fit within the italicised section of the second sentence?

As you can see I initially was looking for some sort of form of the word "procrastinate", but "procrastination" doesn't sound like it fits properly on its own (does it?), and I don't think the word has a valid form  that is equivalent to "productivity", by which I mean that: your productivity is a measure how much you produce, while [what?] is a measure of how much you procrastinate.


texts:
Can anyone tell me what the suffix “‑fu” stands for in the following sentence?

  If you want to take advantage of some other Spring-fu, like some of its aspect-oriented features, then you’ll need to use this heavy-handed, direct object management technique.


texts:
I've always known a type of sentences like this:

  He would do that, wouldn't he?

However, what about

  "He would do that, would he?"

Is this correct?

Maybe I'm wrong, the first one expresses a different thought?


texts: Is "as energetic as a stalk of whipped asparagus" an idiom?

texts:
I came across a sentence (shown below) and I'm wondering whether "as energetic as a stalk of whipped asparagus" is an idiom? I can't seem to find it in the dictionary, nor on the Internet.

  I came home from school the next day feeling as energetic as a stalk of whipped asparagus.


texts: Correct verb to be use with bow and arrow

texts:
What is the more accurate verb that should be used with shooting an arrow?
Should it be “shoot” or “launch”?
e.g.,

I shot an arrow.
I launched an arrow.

I used to think “shot” is the correct word for a long time, but recently I heard someone using “launch”.
English is not my first language, so it got me wondering.


texts:
Is sunlight a concrete or abstract noun?

What differentiates an abstract noun with a concrete noun?


texts: "Pardon" vs "Please can you repeat that"?

texts:
In a client/business conference call , when you do not hear, what the speaker was saying or the message was unclear due to noise disturbance, what is the professional way to say it:-

Pardon
Could you please repeat that?


texts: A word or expression for "Waiting until the opportune moment"?

texts:
I'm trying to find a word (that may or may not exist, I haven't found it yet) that describes waiting for an opportune moment. Something like a snake that hides from it's prey until it's the right time to strike.
Or like "not showing your cards too early", something like this.
In chinese there are 2 symbols that translate to what I'm looking for:
伺機 (English: Wait for an opportunity)


texts: What is currently the most obscene word in British English?

texts:
In a recent question, I realized that while I know what's currently considered the most obscene word in American English ("cunt"), I am told that word is much more unexceptional and workaday in British English, and I do not actually know what word does bear the distinction of most obscene in that vernacular.  So, what is it?

Looking for current rather than historical usage, obscenity rather than taboo for reasons other than obscenity (as with racial slurs in the United States), and obscene words rather than obscene concepts -- that is, the taboo attaches to the word itself.  If it varies between major British English dialects, give me whatever flavors you know.

For purposes of this question, "most obscene" means that somebody using the word in a context where obscenity is not normally expected will most commonly be thought to be performing the greatest violation of social convention for reason of the word's obscenity.


texts: "Hotel & Companies **that** we work with" VS "Hotel & Companies we work with"

texts:
'Hotels & Companies that we work with, in the UAE'

I have been told that I should not use that as it hampers the readability. Any Suggestions! Is it really wrong to use that in the above example?

The original sentence is - "Would you forward me the list of Hotels & Companies that we work with, in UAE?'


texts:
At university, we get problem sets, I work on them and hand them in. Then a tutor corrects them and gives them back to me. On my website, I want to provide both (since the former is digital, the latter is scanned).

What would be concise words for

“The version that I have handed in” and
“The version that the tutor corrected”?

Currently, I have “My version” and “Corrected version”. In German, I would use “Meine Abgabe” which is “My hand-in” or so, which I think is more expressive than “version”.


texts: Why is the stressed form of "of" different in American English than in other English?

texts: In UK English, of has the stressed pronunciation /ɒv/. In Australian English, it has the corresponding pronunciation /ɔv/. However, in US English, it is /ʌv/ instead of the corresponding /ɑv/. I get that in General American /ʌ/ and /ə/ are really the same phoneme, so that the stressed and unstressed forms have the same phonemes, but what happened to the old stressed form of of?


texts: Meaning of "The personification, of the natural is exactly the tendency I wish to suppress in myself, to eliminate for good."

texts:
I'm reading Desert Solitaire by Edward Abbey and there is this sentence in there that confuses me:

  The personification, of the natural is exactly the tendency I wish to suppress in myself, to eliminate for good.

Can you explain what it means?


texts: Guests are unwelcome. Is it passive or active? The verb here is tranisitive and the guests aren't the one that unwelcomes.


texts:
My question is provoked by a desire to better explain to my students grammatical conventions regarding "despite."  I am finding that my own explanatory resources come up short in this regard.

Erroneous sentence:

  Despite there are many critics of Halloween, it is important to
  take a look at its positive aspects.

I understand that "despite" is a preposition. A preposition must take a noun phrase or a gerund as its object. Thus the sentence can be corrected this way:

  Despite (the many critics of Halloween / the constant criticism of
  Halloween) , it is important to take a look at its positive aspects.

What I think is happening in my students' erroneous sentences is that they assume the usage of "despite" will conform to sentence structures that employ adverbs of contrast.  My students grasp that the function of despite is to set up a contrast, but then assume that they can employ it as they can "although" or "while" :

  Although/while there are many critics of Halloween, it is important to take a look at its positive aspects.

Here's where I begin to become entangled myself.  I want to be able to demonstrate to them that "although" and "despite" differ in that the first is an adverb which can modify a whole clause, but despite can only modify a noun phrase.  However, if I want to show them analogies with basic prepositions I run into difficulties.

What I want to show to my students as an analogy:

  "In / Slovakia's eastern region, / it is important to learn Slovak."

Preposition / noun phrase, / sentence

  "Despite / its many critics, / it is important to look at the positive
  side of Halloween."

Preposition / noun phrase / sentence

The trouble is in elucidating why it is so that "despite" is a preposition that sets up a contrast.  How is one able to think of the relationship of contrast given through "despite" as something analogous to what "in," "by," "through," "at," locate, all of which are so much easier to imagine spatially, which we think of almost statically?

How can one think, imaginatively or analogously or otherwise, of the way by which prepositions set up relationships of contrast? We can think of that already in "across from" and "beside" ?  Is it simply that one can think of a preposition as an "arranger" which places things into position, and so is capable setting up a relationship?
How is that different than how an adverb sets up a relationship of contrast?


texts: Frazil: Could this similarly be used to describe the ice which forms in liquids too close to the back of the fridge?

texts:
Frazil:

Soft or amorphous ice formed by the accumulation of ice crystals in water that is too turbulent to freeze solid.

.

Could frazil similarly be used to describe the ice which forms in liquids too close to the back of the fridge?

In these scenarios, it is seemingly the opposite: the turbulent blown cool air is cold enough to form a few ice crystals in say, your milk or grape juice, but the latent heat in the unshifting environment (just above freezing) rather than the shifting waters keeps ice from fully freezing liquids.


texts: Subject-Verb Agreement regarding two singular subjects

texts:
I overheard a conversation today regarding a random topic and one of them said:

    "There is one man and there is one PC in this picture ."

The other person tried to correct her friend by saying:

    "There is one man and one PC in this picture."

Which of the two sentences is actually correct? Thank you!


texts: I have heard a lot of people say "Yesterday night" is that considered correct? I have always said last night.


texts: Word that describes either a team or a single player

texts:
What is a good word for describing an entity (usually in a sports event) that can consist of one or more players?

The idea is to give a name to a class (in code) for such a group (or player) within a game.


texts:
Is one of these two right and the other wrong?

There aren’t many farms out here, but the few fields he does see have already been emptied of their crop.
There aren’t many farms out here, but the few fields he does see have already been emptied of their crops.

If both are right, how does the meaning change?


texts: what is the meaning of " treated observation"?

texts:
what are the meanings of "treated observation" and "non-treated observation" in this context ?

Further, propensity score matching is a more robust method of matching that quantitative accounting researchers frequently use (Rosenbaum & Rubin, 1983). With this technique, the researcher first estimates a logit or probit regression with the treatment effect as the dependent variable (i.e., S&P 500 membership, continuing with our earlier example) and independent variables that are known determinants of the treatment (possibly economic performance, firm size, age, industry, etc. in our example). From this first-stage regression, the researcher obtains propensity scores.
6 The researcher then matches each treated observation to a non-treated observation based on the distance between their propensity scores (i.e., those observations with the closest propensity scores are matched).
7 Hoi et al. (2013) utilize propensity score matching in their study that links irresponsible CSR activities with tax aggressiveness. They first generate predicted propensity scores for each firm-year using a model of the determinants of a firm engaging in a high level of negative, irresponsible CSR activity.
Then, they match a treatment firm (one with a high level of negative CSR activities) to a non-treatment firm (one with a low level of, or no, negative CSR activities) by matching observations with the closest propensity scores. Hoi et al. (2013) then re- test the relation between negative CSR activities and tax aggressiveness using this matched sample. These matching techniques help mitigate the researcher’s potential failure to consider certain firm characteristics that differ between treatment and non-treatment firms (Dhaliwal et al., 2012).


texts:
The sentence "I want it rather than him" could mean

I want to have it rather than him having it
I want to have it rather than to have him

Or are both meanings possible?


texts: The meaning of "clearing products or supplies through customs"

texts:
This is a quote from an anti-corruption manual. The quote says

  The company may not offer or provide a gift, meal, entertainment, travel
  expenses or other corporate hospitality to a Public Official or commercial
  counterparty as an incentive, or in exchange or as a reward, for granting a
  regulatory request, clearing products or supplies through customs, or providing
  any other improper benefit or improper advantage to the Company.

Does the word "clearing" mean "giving permission" or "removing"? I think the meaning must be "giving permission".

What's the meaning of that phrase? Does it mean "a public official granted permission for the company's products/supplies through customs department"?


texts: What is the literary term for the redemption act of a character?

texts: For example: in the story Star Wars, you have the story Darth Vader. In the second movie, a plot twist reveals Darth Vader as Lukes father. At the end of third, he then undergoes _ where he kills the emperor and saves Luke. What is blank? I believe the term is redemption, but is there a different literary term?


texts: Apologies for the title which sounds like the Shakira classic, but would you say "Thank you for providing help whenever possible" or "wherever possible"


texts: Singular and Plural Confusion While Listing Things In A Sentence

texts:
Ex. The Gift basket carries mangoes, bananas, pineapples, and a watermelon.

Or, it should be

Ex.The Gift basket carries mangoes, bananas, pineapples, and watermelons

Can I use both singular and plural nouns when adding things to a list?


texts: Does singular or plural form dominate when it is unknown which one will be applied?

texts:
I want to represent the idea that when handling exceptions there can be one or more catch blocks:

  The catch block(s) contain code to handle thrown exceptions.

Which form is preferred to use here if two scenarios are possible – singular or plural? Should the verb be contains or contain?


texts: Is there any difference between “a ... sense of purpose” and “a sense of ... purpose”?

texts:
There’s an English-Japanese dictionary giving identical Japanese words for “a common sense of purpose” and “a sense of common purpose.” I’m wondering if both of the expressions are the same in meaning.

Just out of curiosity, I used google search and found “a spiritual sense of purpose” (37,000 hits) and “a sense of spiritual purpose” (15,000 hits).

I’d like to know if both kinds of expressions are the same in meaning.


texts: Assume I have to use a Roman numeral to denote an ordinal number. Is it more correct to affix “-th” to it or not? That is, should I write “XIX century” or “XIXth century” to mean “nineteenth century”?


texts: What do you call the phenomenon where a rectangle □ is shown because a font lacks a glyph?

texts:
Is there a name to describe the situation where a particular character is shown on a computer screen in a particular font, but this font does not have a glyph for this particular character?

Usually, the result looks like this: □

A kind of empty rectangle. Sometimes it shows the code for that character within the rectangle.

What do yo call this phenomenon?

If there is no name, is there a common term referring to this "rectangle"?

Some Japanese people call this "tofubake" because rectangles look like tofu.

(It is not mojibake. Mojibake happens when character encoding meta-information is lost. It is not the problem here. Using a better font solves this phenomenon, but does not solve mojibake. Selecting a character encoding solves mojibake, but does not solve this phenomenon.)


texts: A noun that refers to attendees of a cocktail party

texts: I'm looking for a noun to refer to a group of people socializing, for instance a loosely knit group of work friends gossiping at a cocktail party.


texts:
Are these two words interchangeable? How do you know when to use one or the other?

For some sentences it is easy to know which one to use, but not for others. The type of sentences that are difficult are those that begin with "if" or "should."

Here's some example sentences:

  Should you ever break up with your girlfriend, wouldn't you become lonely?
  Should you lose this, won't finding another one be difficult?

Or any kind of sentence that is like "Should ___, wouldn't/won't ____?"


texts: Dual meaning in a sentence: fixation to? effects to?

texts:
On page 160 of his 1976 book, The Uses of Enchantment: The Meaning and Importance of Fairy Tales, author Bruno Bettelheim writes:

"This shows the limiting effects of fixations to primitive levels of development, engaged in out of fear."

Does it mean "effects to primitive levels..." or "fixations to primitive levels..." like "being fixated to primitive levels..."?

I really had difficulty in getting it the right way. To me, the latter is the correct one, but either way is possible.


texts: How is "Humans need not apply" a correct sentence?

texts: I saw this expression as a title of a short documentary on Youtube and was wondering, because it makes no sense to me grammatically.


texts: If I second a seconder, what am I doing? Am I "thirding"?

texts:
Say three people A, B and C are talking, with B and C agreeing with A.

  A: I think tomatoes are great.
  B: Yes, I second this.
  C: I third (?) it.

I think the obvious way to say this would be using second again:

  C: I also second this.

However, since we have the verb to second, do we also have a verb to express this seconding the seconder? I see that third can be an adjective, a noun or an adverb, but not a verb.


texts:
I would like to know which of the following is grammatically acceptable, please.

The first American students' scientific conference
The first American students scientific conference
The first American student's scientific conference
The first American student scientific conference


texts:
Whenever we go to Canada, we go self catering. Usually the cooker (English word for the combination of an oven with gas or electric burners on top which can be used when cooking with saucepans) we had the use of, was larger than the standard British cooker with much greater room inside and on top. I loved using them and I can’t seem to find anything like it over here in New Zealand.
I wondered if it is called something entirely different and I am just not using the correct name.


texts:
The term "the way in which" is very common in English texts. But usually "in which" sounds unnecessary to me. Is it accepted/proffered to just omit it.

Example:

  The different you sense between these two must has something to do
  with the different ways [in which] they are spotlighted.


texts: How can I answer this," How is life on work front?"

texts: I mean work front is just confusing me .


texts: Should the usual way to construct a comparative sentence be singular or plural?

texts:
Let's say I want to compare two animals

  A rabbit runs faster than a turtle

or

  Rabbits run faster than turtles.

Which one should I prefer?


texts:
I recently came across a sentence in an academic text that was similar in structure to "I eat what is considered healthy." I interpreted the grammar as "what is considered healthy" being a noun clause. Someone then pointed out to me that a clause needs a subject and verb, and "what" should be the subordinator, not the subject.

Can anyone explain this to me? Thanks!


texts: What's the phrase/expression for practising martial arts?

texts:
Recently, I took up Taekwondo and ended up with a question: How can I say I practise a martial art in English? Is it just practise or is there another verb for it?
In my mother tongue I say (roughly translated) "I fight Taekwondo" or "I train Taekwondo", but it sounds kind of weird in English.


texts: Word for "satiating" or "satisfying" hunger and thirst

texts:
I have a context in which I need to say that something meets or satisfies both hunger and thirst at the same time. The subject is abstract and I need only one verb a bit more formal, or let's say more sophisticated than "satisfy" if possible. To be more precise, here is an example:

Such words ... the hunger and thirst of their souls, you must not stop writing!


texts:
I am looking for a specific word for someone who watch only games of sports? I know he is a spectator but it is too broad to fit in what I am looking for. It is not audience too. Someone who watch games and not events other than games.

Thank you all.


texts:
I will analyze the number of incidents of traffic accidents which occurred last year.

I will analyze the incidences of traffic accidents which occurred last year.

Are these sentences using the words correctly?


texts: Between Present Perfect and Simple Past, which tense indicates a finished action?

texts:
When one uses simple past tense for some action, does it imply that the action is complete?

For instance, when you say “I wrote my article yesterday,” does this imply that at this moment you have a finished article or not? So it’s

  I wrote a bit of my article yesterday, but I still have to finish it.

vs.

  I started and finished writing my article yesterday and now I have a finished work, so I can publish it.

What about present perfect? Does it imply completeness? If you say “I have watched this film,” does this mean that you have actually watched it from start to end?

If both these tenses imply that the action was completed, do I have to use past continuous to emphasize the incompleteness of action? For instance, “I was watching this film,” so that the implied meaning is that I started watching it, but it’s not certain that I finished it.


texts: When can auxiliary "have" for a past participle in a modifier be omitted?

texts:
In the 1928 novel The Well of Loneliness, Radclyffe Hall writes:

  Arrived at the church, she and Wanda would stand looking down between the tall, massive columns of the porch, on a Paris of domes and mists, only half revealed by the fitful sunshine.

The arrived at the church struck me as equivalent to formulations such as [having] arrived at the church or [after they] arrived at the church, and when I first read it, it sounded awkward.

With some experimentation, I noticed that there were some cases where an auxiliary have could be omitted in a modifiers of this variety. I am not considering cases where the modifier clearly has a passive voice construction and where be is omitted. (An example of a construction that clearly uses passive voice: [Since she was] worked to the bone, she quickly ended up in a psychiatric ward. Since she was can be omitted without issue.) Examples include:

[After she/Having] Graduated from the university, she was left without a safety net.
[Having] Departed for work, he did not see his house burn to ashes.

Meanwhile, certain constructions are impermissible and require have:

Eaten the whole cake, he was stuffed.
Slept like a baby, she was well-rested the following day.
Sped while driving through the neighborhood, he got a ticket.

Constructions with been or become — e.g. Been sick for the last ten days, she was very behind on work. — are also unacceptable. (been appears to be special; one solution there is simply to drop been as well.) So are constructions with verbs related to wanting something:

Wanted to study at Chicago for a long time, he was disappointed when he learned that his application had been rejected.
Alternatively: Wished for her son to study at Chicago for a long time, she was disappointed …
Hoped that direct elections would eventually come, she was angry about the Central Government's decision.

What exactly governs the acceptability of these constructions, where auxiliary have is omitted before a past participle in a modifying phrase? (For instance, does this have anything to do with certain grammatical qualities of the verb being used? Alternatively, is my analysis of the acceptable constructions missing something?) I'm having trouble pinpointing that, so I'd like some input.


texts: Is a comma needed in "The tall, gray building is my company"?

texts:
"The tall, gray building is my company."

"The big, brown bear scared the children."

Comma needed in each sentence?

Thanks


texts: Adjective for combining some lower dimensional objects to form a higher dimensional object

texts:
Are there some English words that describe the dimension of objects changed, by combining some lower dimensional objects to form a higher dimensional object. For example, from the lower dimensional object (like a point in 0 dimension) to a higher dimensional object (like a line/string in 1 dimension)?

What I can come up with is the "dimensional transmutation." However, are there shorten single word for this concept? Any adjective for this concept? This is required to be used in a scientific or math article.


texts:
I'm looking for a word that is used quite often to mean something that feels real like you can reach out and grab it. Like it has substance.

It's used most often around me to refer to user interface or game design.

Like when a UI has weight and feels like it has substance behind it you say it's ...............

I originally thought of...

Visceral
Corporeal
Ephemeral (although I was looking for an antonym of this)

But none of them are correct. But it is a word with the same "al" ending I think.


texts: Is the 'th' sound usually reduced in spoken English?

texts:
I am working on my accent and pronunciation. I use American Accent Training and it says that in spoken English, speakers usually run words together.

For example, "Run them all together" turns into "Runnemalld'gether." I have two questions here.

Is there any rule when we can reduce th sound?
Is it acceptable in business meeting and academic speaking to reduce th and running word together?


texts:
If a set of parentheses lies between a subject and its verb, and the parentheses contain an substitutive subject whose singularity/plurality disagrees with the original subject, whose singularity/plurality should be chosen for the verb?

In other words, in the following example, should "questions" (and its verb "are") be singular, or should they remain plural as shown?

  Many (if not every) questions on this StackExchange are answered.

My intuition tells me that the two words in question should remain in plural forms, since the text in parentheses only interrupts the sentence (and the sentence would be grammatically incorrect if everything in parentheses were removed and the words were in singular form).  On the other hand, when read aloud (assuming one reads the text in parentheses), this has an uncomfortable sound to it, and I've seen others write in what would be the above example's singular-form case, so I'm curious to find out which is correct.

And, thinking about it, I suppose the same question would apply when commas are used in place of parentheses.


texts: Why "It is raining?" instead of "Rain is coming"?

texts: People will normally say, "It's raining". Why can't it be, "Rain is coming?"


texts: "each of us" VS "each one of us" VS "each and every one of us"

texts:
Is there a difference between:

"That would require her to send the document to ..."

each of us
each one of us
each and every one of us

Is one of them grammatically incorrect, or would they change the meaning?

Thank you


texts: What is an idiom for great start but cheap/pathetic ending?

texts:
I have to write an article which I want to end with an idiom, but unfortunately, I can't think of any.

Background:
A speaker of our "Event management committee" has spoken really nice about Humanity, being Human and Nature, but in the end, he used some poor examples which contradicted what he said and against Nature, humanity. He ended an amazing speech, with poor metaphor/analogy in support of castism, skin color, etc.


texts: What is the term for the type of answer "You should not do X. You should do Y instead. Here is how to do Y." to the question "How do you do X?"?

texts:
Just as a rhetorical question has the name "rhetorical", I believe there are types of answers with names, for example "non-answer". Furthermore, I believe I have come across their names before, but forgotten the terms, and cannot find them again with any amount of searching.

What do you call the type of answer of A0?

Q0: How do you do X?

A0: You should not do X. You should do Y instead. Here is now to do Y.

Also, closely related: What do you call the type of answer of A1?

Q1: How do you do X?

A1: I think you actually wanted / meant to ask "How do you do Y?". Here is how to do Y.


texts:
I would rather you were to do it
  (i would rather were you to do it)

1) is this sentence correct?

  I would rather you were to have done it

2) is this sentence correct?

I am trying to use subjunctive formal  structure in different grammar constructions.

  I wish You were to do it ( I wish Were you to do it)

  I wish you were to have done it


texts: Why doesn't the T of "lunatic" flap in American English?

texts:
I have never heard the T of "lunatic" become flap in American English. You can also listen to the data from Youglish. Compare "janitor" /ˈdʒænəɾɚ/  (Cambridge Dictionary gives /ˈdʒæn.ə.t̬ɚ/). The T in "janitor" is between two unstressed vowels and it is flap. The T of "lunatic" is also between two unstressed vowels: /ˈluː.nə.tɪk/ but it is never flap (as the data from Youglish show, and Cambridge Dictionary also gives /t/, not flap).
I also found another word in which the T is not flap in AmE, "heretic": /ˈher.ə.tɪk/
Why is the T never flap in "lunatic" (and "heretic") in American English? Is it an exception or is there some kind of explanation for it?


texts: Parallel structure "both from A and B" grammatically correct?

texts:
Can I write this?

His results, derived both from research and observation, are critical for the project.

Or will I have to write either of these?

His results, derived both from research and from observation, are critical for the project.
His results, derived from both research and observation, are critical for the project.

In my particular context, I tend to like the original version most as it emphasizes 'both', i. e., the combination of research and observation. However, I'm not sure if the parallel structure both from A and B is grammatically correct.


texts: Changing the place of the subject at the end with all verbs (is it possible?)

texts:
I know that when it comes to dialogue writing, we can change the subject of the sentence at the end, for example:

"Hello," said John.

"Hi there," replied Mary.

"How are you?" asked John.

"I'm OK," responded Mary.

And so on.

But can we do that with every single verb? For example:

"Stop right now!" ordered the father.

"It's a good song," recognized the girl.

"He'll be here tomorrow," guaranteed Thomas.

"I'll be all right," promised the boy.

In these sentences, is it understandable that the noun at the end is the subject and not the direct object of the sentence? Or is it confusing for a native reader of English?

Thank you for your replies.


texts:
In the absence of a clear context regarding how known or unknown is the number of books available for me to read, should I use what book to read or which book to read?

  I don't know what book to read (= I don't know how many books there
  are for me to choose from.)

  I don't know which book to read (= I know how many books there are
  for me to choose from, and choose one from that specified number.)

Are these assumptions correct or not? If not, why?


texts: Popular usage of 'c*nt' as a reference to a mate

texts:
For those unfamiliar with Modern Australian English (MAE), the British loan word 'Cunt' provides at least two popular meanings. While one of these is offensive, the other's best equivalent would be that of Mate or Friend.

Example: 'Johnathon you top Cunt'. - 'Johnathon you are a top Mate'

But note, usage such as 'Johnathon is one of my Cunts' is not valid.

What is the origin of the usage of Cunt as reference to a Mate?


texts: What term describes the replacement of a full description of an object with a reference to one of its specific features?

texts:
What term in literary analysis describes the process in which we replace the full description of an object with a reference to just one aspect of it, e.g. 'It is a Rembrandt' instead of 'It is a painting by Rembrandt'.

Thank you!


texts: Word to describe using sarcasm or a similar approach to lead someone to recognise their own mistake

texts:
When reading some work of a friend, I noticed the sentence "When in doubt ask me". Instead of simply pointing out that it could use a comma after doubt, I read the sentence aloud with no gaps or punctuation, as it is written.  When I was corrected that there should be a pause, I smiled and remarked that there was no punctuation to indicate this and my friend realised their own mistake.  When asked why I didn't just say that, I remarked that I was just being __ for the sake of amusement.

I used "spurious", but having re-read its definition, that is not the correct word to describe the way I acted, because it means: Not being what it purports to be; false or fake: "spurious claims".

I don't think "sarcastic" covers what I did either and I'm at a loss for the word to use.


texts: Is there an English equivalant to the Russian saying "the baker never buys his bread"?

texts:
I heard a good Russian(?) saying that I like, which is, "the baker never buys his bread," as in, "bakers aren't wealthy people, but at least they always have bread." Kind of like if you were a shop mechanic, at least you'd be able to fix your car when it breaks down.

The problem is, when I use it, people don't understand the idiom, then I have to explain it. Is there something similar in English? I feel like there is.


texts:
With "these days", can I use present simple and present continuous? If the answer is "yes", when can I use the present simple, and when can I use the present continuous?
Here are two sentences.

These days, this newspaper is criticizing the government's new foreign policy.
Sam plays basketball these days.

Thank you very much.


texts: "Describes me to the 'T'" - why not the to the "E" or some other letter?

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  Origin of “Fits [x] to a T”?

I was about to tell someone that the article they shared "described me to the 'T'" only to realize that, while I understand the message the expression is trying to convey, I have no idea where it came from or what it really means.

Someone, please describe :to the 'T'" the origin and meaning of describing something "to the 'T'".


texts: "On the one/other hand" vs. "on the one/other side"

texts:
There are two slightly different expressions which do mean the exact same thing, these are:

  On the one hand [...]. on the other hand [...]
  On the one side [...]. on the other side [...]

Is using side here correct? I'm sure the hand version is tremendously widespread, whereas the side version just shows up from time to time.

My English teacher always told me "'on the one side..., and on the other...' does not exist!", however I do see it sometimes.

So is it grammatical or not?


texts: Word for when people hallucinate because of emotions

texts:
Is there a word for when people(usually insane) hallucinate things based on their emotions.
Kind of like Synaesthesia but emotion to sense rather than sense to sense.

for example in "The Tell-Tale Heart" by Edgar Allan Poe the main character hands him self over to the police after he is driven mad by the sound of a man he killed's heart beating.

And in "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest" the narrator sees the size/strength of people based on how confident they are, so a timid person would be tiny and weak while a person who stands up to others would be huge.

I've tried googling for the answer and can't find one so any answer would be great even if there is no such word thanks :)


texts: Word to explain "the exact required quantity" neither too much nor too little

texts:
Is there a word in English a quantity of something that is exactly as much as needed, neither more, nor less.

For example: going into details exactly as much as it is needed, not more, not less...


texts:
I have heard and seen "only ever" used as in: "I only ever clean my car when the sun is high."
I live in Massachusetts and never heard this usage until recently. I understand the meaning, but wonder if this is a regional usage.


texts: What is an English word to mean “something that makes already strong one much stronger”?

texts:
We have a Japanese idiom, “鬼に金棒- oni ni kanabo,” of which literal translation is “let an ogres get an iron club,” or an ogres carrying with an iron club.

For instance, the United States of America has (or had) been seen as an “oni ni kanabo” country that owns vast land, abundant natural resources, extraordinary wealth, plus the world’s strongest military power.

If China endowed with vast land and huge population gets much wealthier and strengthens military power, it will be oni ni kanabo – invincible country.

Is there English phrase(s) to mean the same effect – something that makes already strong one much stronger or invincible, or something that adds a telling strength to already strong one?

P.S.

I’m looking for the saying to account for the strong gets absolutely strong, like Achilles gets iron tendons, not the average gets strong.


texts: How to understand the answer of decide not to see someone anymore?

texts:
The question is like " she decides not to see someone anymore ? "

If the answer is " Yes"

Does that mean: She is still willing to see someone


texts: How to make a citation for a sentence that is used in my own context?

texts:
I have read something from an author and I think I would like to use part of his idea in my own context. But how should I cite the author so that it isn't misleading? Let me give an example.

Suppose I have read this and wanted to use this idea from Dunne & Raby in my article:

  Critical design uses designed artifacts as an embodied critique or
  commentary on consumer culture.

Since my article is written in my own context, I may end up using the sentence this way:

  The design of Product X is an embodied critique on the consumer culture.

Now, if I were cite Dunne & Raby:

  The design of Product X is an embodied critique on the consumer culture (Dunne & Raby, 1999).

This may appear as if Dunne & Raby said that Product X is an embodied critique on the consumer culture when they were actually commenting about something more general.

I can't put quotes either since I'm lifting it entirely from its original statement.

Would how I have cited the author correct in the form of APA citation? If not, how should I cite it so that it would be clearer?


texts: Is there a name for the UK English repeating of a subject in a sentence - IE "I can do science, me"

texts:
The catchphrase of an old British science show called Brainiac is "I can do science, me." I've noted the likes of Karl Pilkington in the UK doing this sort of "double subject" structure. "I'm a nice guy I am", "He's a good guy him", etc...
I cannot provide any more particular examples but I have seen this enough to associate it with British English, perhaps northern in particular. I've searched to find what this might be called but can't find any other discussions of it. Any insight?


texts: Is there a common word for floor and ceiling?

texts:
Walls divide rooms but what do you call what divides stories?

Looking from below it would be the ceiling, looking from above it would be the floor. But when looking at it from the outside? Is there a common word?

I am looking for a word which describes structures that divide a space vertically as opposed to walls which divide the space horizontally.


texts: Only the online Cambridge dictionary marks the verb “to expatiate” as ‘formal disapproving’. Nowhere else could I find the reference to a ‘disapproving’ connotation, although all the online dictionaries agree upon its formality. Do you deem it to be used to criticize the act of “speak[ing] or writ[ing] about something in great detail or for a long time” or can it be simply used as a synonym of “talking at length”?


texts:
Does 'enter' take the preposition 'into' or not?
For example: She entered into the main gates and walked along the avenue.


texts: When cooking, and especially baking, there’s always seasoning or flour that spills around the work area and is left out of the final dish, is there a word for these discarded ingredients?


texts: Is there a single word for when two people have the same name?

texts:
Note: I'm not looking for namesake.

I heard a friend use such a word in the context of the following sentence, and now I've forgotten it:

  "Anna and my sister [Anna] may not have much in common, but they are [word]"

I am a hundred percent sure that the word wasn't namesakes, but I think it might have started with an n as well. I tried some reverse dictionaries, but couldn't find anything, so I turned here for help.

Are there any other single words to describe the situation of sharing someone's name (when not named after that person; or in a coincidental manner)? Thanks.


texts:
Is "make no mistake" proper grammar?

Isn't "no" being used as a quantifier? Aren't quantified nouns supposed to be plural when the quantity is none? For example, I was taught to say, "one egg" and "zero eggs". So, I might conclude that "make a mistake" and "make no mistakes" is also correct.

What am I missing?


texts: "Nobody will help you but me" vs. "Nobody will help you but I"

texts:
As has been shown in another question, in comparisons with than both the accusative and the nominative are possible and grammatical:

  He loves you more than I.
  He loves you more than me.

However, when we use but only the accusative seems possible:

  Nobody will help you but me. [Not I]

What I think is that the nominative case could be justified as well.

  Nobody will help you but I [will].

Why I am wrong? Any other examples and references will be appreciated.


texts:
I’m looking for a verb that describes someone who doesn’t just temporarily mimic someone else, they incorporate that person’s personality completely. I thought of unoriginal or carbon copy but those aren’t verbs.
To clarify, I don’t want any synonyms for imitate, I want a verb to describe perfect imitation.
For my purposes, I was thinking about how one person could completely embrace the persona of a parent or mentor. Here’s how I would use it in a sentence:

“He’s so unoriginal, it’s like he’s trying to _____ his father.”


texts: Are there any similar phrases that are popular in the US to express "penny dropped"?

texts:
I met the phrase penny dropped today and learned that it is mainly used in UK.

The Cambridge Idioms Dictionary via TheFreeDictionary.com defines it as

  if you say the penny drops, you mean that you have finally understood something.

Are there any similar ways that are popular in the US to express the same meaning?


texts:
In following sentence:

  From the perspective of a ‘cyber warrior’, cyber crime can offer the technical basis
  and cyber terrorism the social basis with which to execute nationally sanctioned attacks on the computer networks of enemy groups or nations.

  — National Cyber Security Framework Manual, NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence, Tallinn (PDF, 3.8MB)

What does 'nationally sanctioned attacks' mean? Is it going to approve attacks throughout the country and cyber attacks against enemies are nationally allowed?
Or does it mean 'attacks which are sanctioned inside, but can be used as a tool for foreign affairs'?


texts:
I am translating a text set in Ireland and there are some Irish phrases that I do not understand.

1- Bartley Butt-end-of-the-village: I could only find one reference in the internet. Does this mean a village idiot?

2- "Shut your face, or I'll shove down a spud down your neck!": Is this an idiom or does it literally mean shoving down a potato down someone's neck?

3- jam-jar of a cottage: What does jam-jar mean?

Thanks in advance.


texts: Is "dear" commonly used to describe something that costs too much?

texts:
Can the word dear replace expensive, as in "That new T.V is too dear"? The dictionary says so, but I was completely unaware that it had that connotation. I want to use it in writing because it's a shorter, simpler sounding word with a regular comparative/superlative, dearer and dearest, but it doesn't sound idiomatic at all. No one round these parts would say that.

Does anybody else in the English-speaking world say this? I tried searching a corpus but all results came back with dear used as a term of endearment.


texts:
Is it correct to say "between you and me" or "between you and I"?

I am not a native English speaker, so please bear with me.


texts: Is there a word to describe an appearance between pretty and ugly?

texts: Is there a word to describe an appearance between pretty and ugly ?


texts: Which one has primacy in English: "vermilion" or "vermillion" (as a color) ? Both have entries in various dictionaries. Is the difference concerned with AmE/BrE ?


texts:
Disregarding passive voice and vocabulary choice, which of the following sentences is most correct? "Joyful notes were issued from the saxophone." or "Joyful notes issued from the saxophone."

My impression is that the latter is not a complete sentence, but I did find an online dictionary entry for "issued" giving the example sentence "Exotic smells issued from a nearby building."

Thank you!


texts: What do these two figures of speech mean? Embrace the grind and lower your shoulder

texts:
I came across these two figures of speech:(a) Embrace the grind and (b) Lower your shoulder in one of the Instagram posts of Dwayne Johnson(The Rock)

Since I am not a native English speaker I just need to know what do these two terms mean?


texts: Using "to" versus "for" between two nouns ("key to success")

texts:
Another user provided an example and I have added others:

  Key to exercise
  Key for exercise

  Answer to a problem
  Answer for a problem

  Bullet to a gun
  Bullet for a gun

  She bought a taser to self-defense.
  She bought a taser for self-defense.

  We give alms to the poor.
  We give alms for the poor.

  She gave the order to the cook.
  He put in the order for dinner.

Some of these seem pretty clear to me. I would select {to, to, for, for} for the first four, but the last two made me wonder if there is some rule at work, or if I'm basing it off what sounds better from repeated hearing. For instance, I might give "alms to the poor," but if I were poor then I'd bother passerby with "Alms for the poor?"

Is there some "pairing" going on (i.e. an answer is always to a question/problem/etc.)? Perhaps by plugging words into "this goes to that" or "this is for that", one could determine the proper usage. I'm looking for an explicit description or "rule" of what feels like an innate quality of the words. I believe Spanish has a similar dichotomy with para and por, but I'm not sure whether this translates (no pun intended) to English.


texts:
This essay question [PDF] prompts:

  Read the letter carefully. Then write an essay in which you analyze the rhetorical strategies Lewes uses to establish her position about the development of a writer. (Question 1)

I am unsure what is meant by "development of a writer", much less what strategies are used to "establish her position".

Any advice on where to begin would be helpful.


texts:
Despite having heard enough times already that upon is an archaic version of the on preposition, I'm still struggling to thoroughly understand its meaning and usage.

In the quoted sentence, wouldn't it make more sense to use after?

  Consider the possibility of activating accounts automatically upon a new dataset creation.

Is this just another way of expressing the thought, a more formal one?


texts: Past tense ending for verbs ending in -a

texts:
The ability to verbify is well known in English and on this site. Occasionally a verbified non-verb will end with -a. Occasionally that verbified non-verb ending with -a will need to be in the past tense.

How do you inflect a verb that ends in the letter a to make it past tense?

The task is easy enough in spoken English: you just add a -d. But what about in written English?

I suppose I know of no rule that prohibits just adding -ed like you otherwise would, except it looks terribly awkward. Even added to familiar nouns, it would throw off my pronunciation as I read (cf. bandanaed, which Wiktionary attests to).

The other possibilities that makes some sense to me is to use an apostrophe, 'd, or, a bit more provocatively, to just drop the -a.

Examples? Here is a list of words that end in -a. Many are technical, but plenty enough or common in everyday spoken language. As I scrolled through, two that stuck out as likely candidates for verbifying were alleluia and barista: alleluiaed? barista'd? diplomed? eureked? I have not been able to think of any words that are already commonly verbs that end in -a, but it seems odd that a whole class of words are excluded from becoming verbs just because of their final letter.

I looked on this site and beyond, into the depths of the scary and dark world that is the rest of the web, but the common use of the article a made queries difficult. Also, my inability to find anything may just indicate no special treatment is necessary. If so, though, I would still appreciate some evidence of actual usage. Can anyone point to a verb with ending in -a that is commonly made preterite with -ed?

Here is an article from Oxford Living Dictionaries about exceptional cases of inflecting to the past tense. It says nothing of verbs ending in -a.


texts: Noun describing movement through an area

texts:
I'm looking for a noun that describes a single movement through a pre-defined area. Up until now I've been able to use pass, as in "the person made a single pass through the room," but on its own I feel that "pass" is not descriptive enough, and "pass through" gets too long/awkward.

For context, this will be used to name a construct within a program, where a RoomPass would be an object describing one person's movement through a Room.


texts:
I think training mostly refers to the physical related process as it used frequently in sport context, however I found instances in which verb teaching is used in such situations. Am I right? and is there any substantial difference between them.

Merriam-Webster says:

  Train : to teach (someone) the skills needed to do something (such as a job), to give instruction to (someone)

and

  Teach : to cause or help (a person or animal) to learn how to do something by giving lessons, showing how it is done, etc.

Based on the M-W definition, the movie "How to train your dragon" could be retitled as "How to teach your dragon".

As another example, in the following sentence:

  Select the methods for implementation. - Study how to implement a selected machine learning method to teach soccer player an individual skill.

I think it would be better to use train instead of teach.

And one more example in a different direction :

  ...research shows a connection between the missing penmanship discipline and the failure to train the brain for impulse control.

Any idea on how to use them properly?


texts: Using many / much / a lot of with *population*

texts:
In an English course book that I use for my Intermediate class, I encountered this problem. The exercise required students to complete the sentences with 'many' or 'much' where possible, otherwise use ' a lot of '. Now, there is this question which I am not sure of its given answer. The question is : Is there ----- population in your country?
The answer from the course book is : 'much'

I have checked the dictionary for the word 'population'. It is an countable noun. Why is the answer 'much' and not ' a lot of ' ? If the answer is 'many', the whole sentence sounds weird to me. Of course, I might be wrong.

Would you please advise me?


texts: What do you call it when the arrival platform of a train changes?

texts:
I am not used to English conversation, so I have a question about the language normally used for a specific situation.

For example, a train is supposed to arrive at platform #3; however, it arrives at platform #9 instead. What would this situation be called?

Does calling this a platform alteration sound ok?


texts: Is there another interjection that can be used in this example?

texts:
'O people!'

Can anyone give me an alternative interjection for 'O' in this example?


texts: Word for Impossible Solution to All Problems

texts:
I'm looking for a word to describe a solution that solves all problems, but such a solution is impractical or impossible.

For example, let this word be X: "Having a billion dollars is the X that would solve all my problems".

What candidates for X are there?


texts:
In King James Bible, John 12:6 we read:

  This he said, not that he cared for the poor; but because he was a
  thief, and had the bag, and bare what was put therein.

As said here, bare is archaic past simple form of verb "bear".
But in all modern versions of this line the meaning of this phrase "and bare what was put therein" is that Judas used to pilfer what was put into it.

So the question is: what is semantics of this old form "bare" in original KJV John 12:6? Does it mean "carry" ("bare" = "carried"), or it has something similar to modern verb "bare" (="open to view")? or "carry" in sense of "carry off"?

UPD: I'm not asking about interpretation of this particular New Testament text, but about how this archaic form of verb "bear" was used and should be interpreted with direct and first reading.


texts: Comma Problem: I removed the commas from this sentence because I can't determine where to put them and was hoping for some help

texts: Your relationships change based on the decisions you make when talking with each crewmember and in a few specific instances with decisions you make on which mission to take or how to resolve a particularly difficult decision during a mission.


texts: Question about what kind of, which~ever, what~ever

texts:
I want to express the following:

We made an algorithm
The algorithm can be applicable to A system.
The A system can have any protocols.

Is the following sentence grammatically correct?

We made an algorithm applicable to A system which routing protocol ever it has.


texts:
In the "About the author" page of a book published by Wiley (for dummies) there is a sentence about Joelle Jane Marshall, the author of the book, like this: Jo has been featured in "The Career Stylist's Inspiration Lounge" and has held workshops for "Girl Summit" alongside "Childline" and the "NSPCC"
My question is: What is "The Career Stylist's Inspiration Lounge"? Is this a name of a magazine? Or sth else? And what do we mean when we say somebody has been featured in ....?
I would be very grateful if you help me.


texts:
On Hinduism Stackexchange, we have mythology a most popular tag. Since the word can have two different meanings i.e somewhat ambiguous nature, users often raise discussion on meta to rename or remove the tag. You can see the first question that discuss the issue with the tag at here.

Quoting the introductory part of the answer:

  Here's the thing: the word "myth" has two uses in English:

  A pejorative usage, referring to "a widely held but false belief or idea"
  A non-pejorative usage, "a traditional story, especially one concerning the early history of a people or explaining some natural or social phenomenon, and typically involving supernatural beings or events."

  The word "mythology", however, only has one meaning and that's a meaning that's related to the non-pejorative usage of the word myth.

  So when we tag a question about a Hindu story as mythology, we're not saying that the story is false or fictional. We're simply saying that the question concerns one of the "stories that are part of Hindu religious beliefs", as the tag description I wrote says.

Though it's clear from the description or the excerpt of the tag, however user often find the word immediately convey the meaning "myth" and hence often try to avoid or rename it. You can find similar discussion here and here.

Recently we've an ongoing discussion on meta: New Community Consensus on use of Mythology Tag in which we're discussing to either completely remove or rename the tag or keeping it as it is.

Looking at it's ambiguous nature or looking at higher chances of getting wrong meaning by visitors, I feel it should be avoided like GNU suggests to avoid some confusing words. So, I'm thinking for a better alternative (in a single or two word) which can indicate something like sacred scriptural historical ancient stories

Note that the word choice "Legend" would not work since it indicates "a traditional story sometimes popularly regarded as historical but unauthenticated." in which unauthenticated part again create problem similar to the indication of myth in mythology.


texts: Exclamations that aren't appeals to a deity

texts: I'm looking for words or phrases that are not appeals to a deity ("oh my God"), but still show strong emotion. Please don't give phrases that are exclamations but don't show strong emotions (who says "oh (my) gosh" in a fit of rage?). I also think we can take vulgarities for granted.


texts:
I once came across a name of a personality disorder or phobia that would translate to english as "Unfortunate fear", or similar.

The condition would lead the sufferer to procrastinate or worse, self sabotage to avoid beginning or succeeding at a task to confirm his/her preconceived outcome.

After many a query I have yet to come across the name of the condition again. Is there a word fitting this description?


texts:
I am trying to look for a word that means: a person that organizes communication between two or more parties.

For example: If I work with a group and we must communicate with a company and a professor, and I were to make sure everyone is on the same page and communicate between the three groups, what would I be?

I can only think of mediator. However it seems to imply that these groups are in conflict.


texts: Correct capitalization when starting a sentence or headline with a parenthesized word

texts:
What is the correct way of capitalizing the following sentence?

  (Most) people are good.

Should people also be capitalized? Or is it incorrect that most is capitalized?

Finally, does the same logic apply to titles and headlines, for instance the following title?

  (Almost) a Good Day


texts: Is there a more formal phrase or word for "practice what you preach?"

texts: I am trying to think of a non-colloquial word or phrase that means "practice what you preach." I would appreciate any suggestions. Thank you!


texts: "Tab Tree" or "Tabs Tree" (-s at the end)

texts:
I created an extension for Firefox and named it "Tabs Tree". The extension is for managing browser tabs and representing them in the form of a tree structure. But now I think that I should have named it "Tab Tree" (without "-s"). Like "apple tree" or "orange tree".
But I used google and found usages of "Elements Tree" (https://docs.tibco.com/pub/spotfire/5.5.0-march-2013/UsersGuide/id/id_elements_tree.htm) and "Nodes Tree" (https://documentation.devexpress.com/#eXpressAppFramework/CustomDocument113328) expressions. But also usage of "Element Tree" and "Node Tree".

Are both variants correct to use with that meaning? Or those people who used "Elements Tree" and "Nodes Tree" were wrong? And can I leave "Tabs Tree" as it is as it would be troublesome to change the name now?


texts: What do you call person who create products or things?

texts: What do you call person who create products or things like cars, drones, airplanes, tables, chairs, etc. This person is someone who really does it, like cutting some material, measuring, uniting, welding, nailing, carving, drilling, painting, etc.


texts:
The removal of Alok Verma as Director of the Central Bureau of Investigation is a disconcerting denouement to an unseemly episode.

Why has "to" been used here after "denouement"?


texts:
I heard this on a TV series, just don't know what it means:

  But now I get this crazy idea, and I can't shake it.


texts:
Take the word tumble - by prefixing it with a single letter you get a whole new word stumble with a slightly different meaning.

When it occurred to me I tried thinking of other words like this but could not find any. Is this unique to this pair of words then? Also, any history of this pair of words will be welcome.


texts:
In English, the phrase "features and characteristics" is often used.
However, I, as a non-native English speaker, can't understand the difference between them.

Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English says:

  feature: a part of something that you notice because it seems important, interesting, or typical

  characteristic: a quality or feature of something or someone that is typical of them and easy to recognize

As the definition of "characteristic" shows, the word "characteristic" entails "feature".

In spite of this fact, you don't use either of them, but you often use the two words at the same time. Why?

Also, when you say "human features and characteristics", does "features" mean "someone's face" and "characteristics" mean "character"?


texts: How do I explain the grammatical construction of 'The dog had to be taken to the vet'

texts:
The following test question appeared for turning regular sentences into questions without using 'wh- words':

The dog had to be taken to the vet because he had eaten a whole shoe.

The answer should be: Did the dog have to be taken to the vet because he had eaten a whole shoe?

However, many students mistook 'had' for an auxiliary verb, and turned the sentence into: Had the dog to be taken to the vet. (Switching the auxiliary verb and the subject.)

I have been trying to think of a way to explain this to them when we come to discussing it, but I'm having trouble picking apart the grammatical construction of 'had to be taken'.

It looks like the present perfect, but then why wouldn't the auxiliary rule work, and I am not sure how to place the 'to be'.

I feel like I should know what this is, but I can't figure it out.


texts: "scroll up something" or "scroll something up"

texts:
I'm trying to find the right way of expressing myself in a code comment. I have a list and I'm basically scrolling up/down in this list.
Should I use scroll things up/down or scroll up/down things for this instance? Does the meaning change with these two usages at all?


texts:
We say a medium-sized pan/book/house, but medium height/amount/size.
But I came across an example in Cambridge Advanced learner's Dictionary: "Chop one medium carrot."
I wonder if we can use medium instead of medium-sized in the above examples, or it is just an exception.


texts:
A teenager is acting in a very silly and annoying way making faces and rapidly changing his postures. His father gets really annoyed by it and tells him "Stop aping!"

Does "Stop aping!" go okay here or it's a bit unnatural? If the latter is true, what would you say in that situation? (American English preferred)


texts: Life in itself is neither good nor evil. It is the place of good and evil, according to what you make it.


texts: Are poetic contractions, such as "e'er", "o'er" and "ne'er" (and other less common ones), English?  As in officially recognized?


texts: What's the word that means "The following assumption is true if it gives the right result"?

texts:
What's the word that means "I'm assuming this for the time being and upon using the assumption, if I get the correct answer, then it proves that the assumption is true"
Our teacher regularly assumes stuff and use them in a formula and if the result is correct then we know that the assumtion we made is true. He uses a word that sounds something like 'Asphases' but turns out it's not a word as per dictionary so can anyone tell me what he actually means when he says that or if there is another word which has same meaning that would be also great.


texts: Word for a moniker that you use to address friends

texts:
What is the word for the words we use to address a person or people to whom we stand in a particular relationship.
For example I usually address my friends as "boss". I greet them with "Hey boss, how are you doing?"
Neighbouring words or terms include term of endearment which doesn't fit as endearment seems too affectionate a word for the context to which I'm referring.
Similarly pet name is too affectionate and it's also used to tag a specific person rather than a collection of people.
NB: Apologies if my wording is unclear.
Edit: Emphasised collection of people to clarify why pet name or nickname aren't appropriate in my context.


texts:
I read the following sentence:

  We can defer a resolution, but not a decision.

...and I would like to know what the differences are between "decision" and "resolution" in that context.


texts: Difference between 'accident' and 'coincidence'

texts:
I am wondering about the usage of accident. In some behind the scenes material of 'Fast and the Furious' Vin Diesel made a joke. He is obviously a good driver, also in real life, so he said:

  It is no accident the name is Diesel.

Could you also use coincidence instead of accident and would it still have the same meaning?

Also, when do you use accident and when do you use coincidence?


texts: How to formally state that parents have not raised their children well

texts:
I'm writing an article about the family and how it can change a person's life in the future.

I need a word that tells the readers about a family in which the parents have not been good enough to teach their kids social skills and generally those things they will need in the future to be able to live well.

The word must be formal (and polite).

I searched the dictionary for some words, but I'm not sure if they are the right words to be used with family. I found the following:

  Inefficiency, incompetence, inadequacy, ineptitude, inefficacy

None of the dictionaries I checked (Longman and Oxford) mention whether or not this is the right word to be used with family. Ineptitude of family?


texts: Can anyone please explain the difference between words: moraliser and moralist? Which one has got more positive meaning? Which one would be more appropriate, for example, in such a sentence: Charles Dickens was a great moraliser/moralist.


texts: What are the rules for parsing negation before "all", "any", and "every" in English?

texts:
My question is about how a negated "all", "any", and "every" statements are usually and correctly understood in English.
I have just realized an apparent parsing ambiguity in all such statements (i.e., two different possible readings). Consider the following examples, each containing not and then all/any/every:

"The giraffe was not standing on all/any/every one of its legs."
"The talk was not understood by all/any/every member(s) of the audience."
We do not live far from all/any/every one of the best museums in the city.

The ambiguity is, in each case: (1) is either "The giraffe was standing on none of its legs" or "The giraffe was standing on less than 4 legs"; (2) is either "The talk was was lost on everyone" or "The talk was lost on at least one person"; (3) is either "We live close to every museum" or "We live close to at least one museum."

But the word choice all/any/every seems to give some indication:

Using all seems to imply less than 4 legs. Using any seems to imply 0 legs. Using every one could go either way for me.
Using all seems to imply at least one person was lost. Using any seems to apply everyone was lost. Using every could go either way.
This one breaks the pattern. Using all, any, or every one all seem to imply being close to every museum.

So my question:
What general rules can be used to determine which of the two interpretations is valid? What are the patterns involving all, any, and every? What are the patterns based on the placement of not within the sentence?

Bonus: Is there any data on the usage and interpretation in English of negation before an all/any/every statement?

Postscript

P.S. It may clear things up to consider the logical parsings of the statement. The two interpretations of (1) are (roughly)

(The giraffe) (was not) (standing on all of its legs)

and

(The giraffe) was (not standing) (on all of its legs).

Although it is confusing to wrap one's mind around the two readings, they both seem equally valid to me and the logical form makes it clear they are distinct (I hope I have also communicated that to some degree in the examples above).

Postpostscript

I originally noticed this based on an excerpt from a legal document defining unattended vehicles:

  Motor Vehicle...That is left unattended on or along a highway or other public property for more
  than forty-eight (48) hours and does not bear all of the following:

  a. Valid registration plate.

  b. A current certificate of inspection.

  c. An ascertainable vehicle identification number.

So I asked on Law StackExchange. Amusingly, the answer they gave contains exactly the same not...all ambiguity as in my original excerpt. So I decided to take it here, with more simple and clear examples.


texts: Where should "just" go when describing possibility?

texts:
Which is the grammatically correct way to write this sentence?

Ask, we may just have what you are looking for.

Ask, we just may have what you are looking for.


texts: A better word than "babysitter" for an adult

texts:
In today´s issue of the Chicago Tribune, there appeared a column by Dahleen Glanto entitled:

  Help Wanted: White House Babysitter
  Must be able to calm the 70-year-old president down when he has a temper tantrum. No government experience necessary, but expertise in seven key areas is mandatory.

It then goes on to enumerate the 7 areas in which the president needs  supervision such as compassion, protocol, news (fake and otherwise), tweeting and so on.

He already has a plethora of aides, counselors, and advisors. What would be a more respectful (but still descriptive) term for such a position (should one actually exist)?


texts:
Alice is throwing a party.  She invites Bob to come to the party, and says he may bring another person with him.  Bob arrives at the party accompanied by Carol.  We could say Carol is Bob's guest.

What's the reverse of this relationship?  Bob is Carol's _______.

Usually host is the reverse of guest, but that doesn't seem to fit here.  As Alice is throwing the party, Carol's host would seem to refer to Alice, not Bob.

Escort could work but sounds overly formal, and moreover it seems to me that it carries connotations about Bob's relationship to Carol.

If possible, the term should:

be gender-neutral (so that it also works if Doris arrives accompanied by Edward, or Frances arrives accompanied by Glinda)
not carry connotations about any relationship between Bob and Carol (e.g. it should not imply that they are friends, spouses, in a romantic relationship, etc.)
make it clear that Bob, not Carol, is the person originally invited by Alice.


texts: Is "Based on a true story" a grammatically correct sentence?

texts: Is "Based on a true story" a grammatically correct sentence if it was at the end of a paragraph discussing a story? I view this as a proper sentence with an implied subject and as grammatically sound. Is there a good way to explain this if this is correct?


texts: Consider this Ngram. Why is the word "great" declining so rapidly. It seems to me such a common word that would be used everywhere.


texts: I am working with company in Germany. I requested some documents, and they replied that they will send it 'next days'. What is meaning of 'next days'? I confused because of 'days'. Does it meaning within following next few days? or Tomorrow?


texts: Parallel Structure: Can you improve this sentence?

texts:
I'm currently writing something and this sentence seems pretty ugly. How can this sentence be improved? Any help is appreciated.

"Day after day, you wake up early to make sure we get to school, bring us any homework or lost material that we constantly forget at home, come to all our school plays, winter concerts, sports events, and competitions, and are altogether the center of the Academy community."


texts: When back, if I say "Out of office until Thursday"

texts: I am always confused when I get an email stating "out of office until Thursday". Is the sender back on Thursday or still out of office (o.o.o.) on Thursday and only back on Friday? Is there a good reference that defines the meaning? Please do not tell me that it would be better to state "back on Thursday", since this does not answer the question.


texts: What do we call something that assigns a weight to each case study which shows the importance of that case?

texts:
I am writing a scientific paper.
I have a neural network (assume it as a black box) which takes a case study (a patient, or any other type of data) as input and provides a weight for the input case study that shows its importance between the other cases.
I am wondering what I should call this black-box. I first called it a weighing network, but my friend said that weighing means measuring weight. In our case, the network is not measuring something which already exists, but it provides an appropriate weight for it.
My other candidates are "weight-provider" and "weight-giver". Which one is more appropriate in this case? Any other suggestion is really welcome.


texts: Can I say a "voice 'rang' with irritation"?

texts:
Can I say that a "voice rang with irritation", as in the following example?

“Get into the stance!” for the first time that day, the old man's voice rang with irritation, so familiar to Jack.


texts: Origin of "chemistry" in reference to that between two people

texts:
What is the origin of the term chemistry when used to refer to chemistry between two people? Of all words why is it chosen to describe the feeling?

Searching for the term gives different kinds of chemistry that exist between two people. Aren't they describing the same thing?


texts: Is "I have Asperger syndrome" grammatically correct?

texts:
I'm trying to write my first book. In it, the protagonist has Asperger syndrome. It was going well until I encountered this sentence (the boy is confessing to another person) and became confused.

Is it a coherent sentence? Are there any other appropriate ways to say this?


texts: English equivalent of the figurative sense of the German word "Beißreflex" (bite reflex)

texts:
The German word for bite reflex, Beißreflex, has an additional figurative sense. Let's say Herr Ausraster has a massive hatred for the Ecological Democratic Party. Every time he reads something on a news site about the party, be it totally trivial and/or inoffensive, he simply has to write rants about this party. Herr Ausraster has a Beißreflex regarding this party.

So I'd like to know whether there is a word that does not just mean hating sth./so., but "acting knee-jerk fashion" when confronted with that person/thing etc. For example "As to the Democrats/Republicans/Libertarian Party, Jules has an XY (Beißreflex) — every time he reads about them on the website of the Podunk Enquirer, he writes offensive rants resulting in the deletion of his posts."


texts:
English is not my native language and I am unsure of the nuances of the word "comparable".

In the sentence:

  It is not expected that the power-effectiveness will equal the
  effectiveness of dedicated hardware, but it is hoped that it can be
  comparable.

How similar do the two values that are compared need to be for them to be "comparable".

"within the same order of magnitude" has been suggested, but my values are within 250% of the original value, and I feel that "order of magnitude" is too pessimistic. Any suggestions for a different phrase/word I can use?


texts:
In the following sentence, what is most appropriate: in 1977 or of 1977?

  For Oprah, April Fools' Day in 1977 wasn't funny at all.


texts:
The following is from some software documentation we are writing:

  NOTE: Refreshing a report may be necessary or helpful when:

  you believe the data in the report has changed since it was last executed
  you'd like to return the report to its initial state/condition

My question is this. Should 'you' in the first bullet item and 'you'd' in the second bullet item be capitalized?


texts: How to express surprise when you do not expect something and forced to do it

texts:
A friend and I booked a table at a restaurant in the expectation of being there for the whole evening but, once we had begun our meal, the waiter told us that we had to vacate the table by 9:30 as the table has been booked by someone else from that time. There was no mention of this in the booking conditions.
How I can best describe or express my frustration in this situation to this server. If I say,
"I understand this is a Friday night, and you must be really busy, but this has caught me off guard: we did not expect to have to leave so early."
Does "catch me off guard" fit in this situation?   Is there an alternative?


texts: What is the meaning of the phrase 'to the extent to which'

texts:
The following is an excerpt from the newspaper 'The Hindu'.

  The Supreme Court on Friday gave the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) “a last oppotortunity” to withdraw a November 2016 Disclosure Policy to the  extent to which it stonewalls revelation of every other kind of information under the Right to Information Act, including the list of wilful defaulters and annual inspection reports.

I couldn't understand the usage of ' to the extent to which ' in this context. Can it mean 'as long as ' because the court actually wants the bank to disclose more information. Please explain.


texts: What exactly the word afraid means for Americans?

texts:
There's a platform where I asked a American gamer girl if the game she is playing on PlayStation available for PC? She replied something like no it's not available, I'm afraid. I don't remember exact wordings as she said it veritably.

In my country afraid means scared; someone would use it when they are scared.

For example, "My girlfriend was afraid after watching a horror movie." In this sentence she is scared after coming out of theater but when that American gamer said I'm afraid it was a different meaning. Can anyone explain this please with a context, when exactly Americans use the word afraid?


texts:
guys. I would like to ask whether a clause should always be in the past if it follows another clause starting with after in the past. For instance: After she read the note, she understands/understood the situation.
Should we use understood here even if the person still understands it?

Another question
Is it possible to use a clause in the present before a before-clause in the present to indicate that the person has started to do it and still does it. For instance: He loves me before he sees me.


texts:
In certain video games, such as World of Warcraft and Diablo, as well as various card games like Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh, you can find a quote at the bottom of an item tooltip or the associated card in a card game. This text is usually surrounded in quotes, printed in italics, and contains witty or lore-expanding information.

You can also find the Wikipedia page here: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flavor_text which explains it in more detail.

My question is, what is the Etymology of the term "Flavor Text"; where did it come from? Who first used it? Etc.


texts: Why the "of" in "The Lady of the shroud"?

texts:
In Bram Stoker's book "The lady of the shroud", why is the preposition "of" used instead of "in" like "lady in red", "lady in clothes"?

What does the phrase mean exactly?


texts: Is there an expression for only offending the recipient?

texts:
Suppose one makes a statement that is likely to be offensive to its recipient, but will not offend most third parties. Is there a word or expression for this type of statement?

Example: I see someone picking a pocket or "shoplifting," and yell, "Stop, thief!" The perpetrator is likely to be offended, but neutral third parties would likely applaud, rather than be offended by my yelling.

Counterexample: I call you a "sob." You're likely to be offended, but so would many, if not most, third parties.

The expressions that come to my mind are "calling a spade a spade," or "if the shoe fits," but neither quite "rings the bell" for me. Is there a better way to express what I'm describing?


texts: What are the differences between 'albeit' and 'although'?

texts: The lexical and direct meaning of albeit seems approximately equal to the meaning of although. I would like to know what the practical differences in usage of the two aforesaid words are in sentence making.


texts:
While reading the satirical novel A Confederacy of Dunces, I was struck by the protagonist's habit of expressing his vexation with the phrase "Oh, my God."

I don't recall seeing a comma inserted into this phrase anywhere else; it's certainly not how I'd write it myself.

The book was written, I believe, in the mid 1960's. Does anyone know if the comma was frequently present in older literary renderings of the phrase, or whether it's deliberately used by the author to denote a particular tonal pronunciation (a brief pause between "oh", and "my God"), unique to the protagonist, or whether I'm making a big old fuss about nothing?


texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  “Whereäs” as an alternative spelling of “whereas”
  Is it spelt “naïve” or “naive”?

Someone I talked to used two dots in this word:

  Naïvely

I thought that it's my screen having dirt on it, but the dots in fact are part of the glyph. Can someone explain that?


texts: What's the meaning of “in virtue of itself”?

texts: Therefore, as Aristotle expressed it, things are what they are only relative to other things, and nothing is what it is simply in virtue of itself


texts:
MS-Word strikes again: In the following test, it has green underlined the phrase "number who have" and suggested either:

numbers who have
number who has

Here is what I've written (slightly paraphrased for you non-statistics experts

  So if you want to find Probability that "a subject tests positive" or
  "subject uses" by adding the column and row totals, you have counted
  the 44 people in the top left twice. So, to get the correct number who
  have tested positive or used drugs, you have to subtract the ones you
  counted twice. The total number of subjects who use or have tested
  positive is 50+134-44=140 (same number as before).

See, there's only one number: the number of people who test positive or used drugs. So clearly the first choice above is wrong.

The second choice just sounds plain wrong (but I can't put my finger on it).

Who's right? Me or MS-Word's fine grammarian?


texts:
So live with it you will

I wonder how this structure called, when "will" or "shall" are put at the end of the sentence. Is it just re-arrangement of parts or has any special name? Is it only recommended for spoken english?

I've heard this in one of Letterman's episodes (TV show)


texts: What type of clause is the given sentence?

texts:
Is the sentence "Then the staff assembled the units." a dependent or an independent clause?

Well, according to me, since there is subordinate conjunction "Then" in the sentence with no other sentence, so, therefore, it should be a dependent clause.
And also it kinda sounds incomplete when we speak out loud. :)

But my book says that its the main clause or independent clause.

Any help would be appreciated.