texts: Split horizontally or vertically – which one is which?

texts:
Given some object, you can split it with a horizontal cut into two objects that are laid out vertically (above each other), or you can split it with a vertical cut into two objects that are laid out horizontally (next to each other).

When you say "split horizontally" or "split vertically", which one is which?

Two pairs of examples from Unix/Linux systems:

The two probably most popular text editors (emacs and vim) disagree. Placing (split-window-horizontally) in .emacs, or vim's -O[N] Like -o but split vertically options achieve the same layout: two panes next to each other.

The two probably most popular solutions for having many terminals neatly arranged: tmux and terminator also disagree, the side-by-side layout is achieved in tmux by tmux splitw -h (quoting the manual: "Windows may be split horizontally (with the -h flag)"), and in terminator by remotinator vsplit or the "Split Vertically" menu entry.

My question is meant to be a generic one, not restricted to the computer world.


texts: How to describe a person who loves a very cold environment (below 20°C/68°F)

texts: Is there a word or two words that describes a person who loves to be in a very cold environment (for example, below 20°C or 68°F) and dislikes temperatures that are not very cold?


texts: Which tense should I use if for instance I'm talking about a curiosity and I want to ask if the person knew it?


texts: Word to describe the completion of a planned rail journey

texts:
I am a native English speaker with, what I consider to be, an excellent vocabulary but I recently ran into a problem whilst compiling my list of New Year's Resolutions.

One item on the list is to take my children aboard the West Highland Steam Train in Scotland however I really struggled to write it to a standard I was happy with.

Terms already considered

  Board the West Highland Steam Train

Indicates the achievement is complete once upon the train and does not consider the entire journey

  Complete the West Highland Rail Journey

Indicates some adversity to be overcome or a guiding part of the journey belongs to me

  Alight the West Highland Steam Train

Same criticism as 'board'

  Ride the West Highland Steam Train

Sounds close to surfer vernacular of Southern California

I know that we are into hair-splitting territory but what would be the most suitable phrasing of this sentence paying deference to the language of the United Kingdom?

Colloquial is fine.


texts: Why is endpoint a word while startpoint is not?

texts: My text editor complains when I type 'startpoint' and does not complain when I type 'endpoint'. Why does this difference exist and what should I use for each?


texts: Is there a pejorative word for a super fan?

texts:
Is there a particular pejorative word for super fans?

People who follow a celebrity religiously no matter what, even if that celebrity does something terrible.

People who'll always try and defend that celebrity/famous person even when they know they are at wrong.


texts: What is the name of that motion where one repeatedly bows to another with arms outstretched?

texts: What I'm thinking of is usually not performed as a very deep bow as the torso doesn't really move far from the vertical.  And when it's done, it's often performed in rapid succession, with kind of a facetious manner. The intended meaning is to pay homage, to say "I am in awe [of what you just did]."  Does a specific word describing this motion exist?


texts:
I saw both versions ("in figure" and "on figure"), however---what is more correct? And is there any difference?

EDIT: In scientific papers, standards and other publications, "figures" can be found. They are also denoted as "pictures" sometimes (informally). When someone wants to refer to a part of a figure, he or she can write either "in figure" or "on figure". I am interested in figuring out if there is any difference in these two cases.


texts: Is "forte" pronounced "fort" or "for-tay"?

texts:
I've always heard people say something like

  "Pronunciation is not my [for-tay]"

... but I feel that I've heard that the correct pronunciation is

  "Confusing people is my [fort]"

What is the proper way to pronounce this word?


texts: Is there any difference between "What are you doing here" and "What are you doing OUT here"?

texts:
A friend of mine asked me that question and I have no clue, nor could I google it myself. So now I am wondering, what the actual difference is as it has always seemed to me that there is none.
Edit: it is here, not there in the phrase
Edit: the context is the cartoon, where the kid is standing outside the house and the grandpa opens the door and asks him "What are you doing out here"


texts: Differentiate between past and present just by pronunciation when word is followed by d- or similiar sound

texts:
How can we distinguish, for example, these two sentences just by listening to the pronunciation?

  They first kill the trees.
  They first killed the trees.

When pronouncing kill the trees, we have one [d] that is for the. When pronouncing killed the trees, we have two [d] that is for killed and the.

Native speakers pronounce both sentences so that we just hear one [d], so we don't know  the tense by pronunciation in these cases. Am I right?

Is there any special stress or extension of a sound that signals the difference between them?


texts: What verb tense to use in the provided context?

texts:
It could not have easily been the case that Alan formed/has formed/had
  formed the view that X, and yet X was not true.

Which of the verb forms are correct in the above sentence: formed, has formed, or had formed?


texts: Choosing a section title for scientific papers: "How it works" or "How does it work?"

texts:
I am writing a scientific paper and confused with choosing the correct form to use as the section title.

Which one is the correct one?

  How it works

or

  How does it work?


texts: The first is convex, and the second is linear when x>2. is it ambiguity?

texts:
In my paper, I want to say, the first is convex all the time, and the second is linear when x>2.

I am afraid that some people will think that: The first is convex when x>2, and the second is linear when x>2.  How to avoid it?

The space in my thesis is very precious, so I combined the two simple sentences into one.

There are two functions F(x) and G(x). So I summarized the characters of them into a Lemma: Both the F(x) and G(x) are decreasing functions. The first is convex, and the second is linear when x>2.


texts:
If you want to inform someone in advance to do something early enough so the person won't be in trouble later, do you say on time or in time? It's not a specified time, like order it today between 12 and 2, it's more of a better do it now than later suggestion?

What's right here?


texts:
I am interested in the difference between spot (n) and mark (n).

These nouns have different meanings. I am only interested in the difference of the meaning of:

  mark: a small area on the surface of something that is dirty
  spot: a small amount of a substance that is on something

The difference between this two definitions is not always clear for me.

Here are some examples of this meaning:

What is the difference between:

1)
a) You have a dirty mark on your shirt. Have you eaten ice-cream?
b) You have a dirty spot on your shirt. Have you eaten ice-cream?

2)
a) The glass left a water mark on the wooden table.
b) The glass left a water spot on the wooden table.

3)
a) a scratch mark (Edit)
b) a scratch spot   (Edit)

4)
 a) a burn mark (Edit)
 b) a burn spot    (Edit)

5)
a) The tablecloth had a couple of spots.
b) The tablecloth had a couple of marks.

6)
a) There were mud spots on the back of his pants.
b) There were mud marks on the back of his pants.

7)
a) rust spots on the metal
b) rust marks on the metal

8)
a) a spot of grease
b) a mark of grease

9)
a) There was a tiny spot of ketchup at the corner of her mouth.
b) There was a tiny mark of ketchup at the corner of her mouth.

10)
a) There wasn't a spot of dust anywhere.
b) There wasn't a mark of dust anywhere.


texts:
Some days ago I heard a teacher saying the sentence:
I want to talk to you who thinks differently from the crowd.
It sounded unnatural, but if you consider that 'who' is the relative pronoun ruling the verb, he is right.
Can you clear that out to/ for me?
Thank you!


texts: Word that means "almost collide with me"

texts:
The red guy is looking at the blue guy.

Case one: The red guy violently dashes forward and collides with the blue guy.

The blue guy says:

  He collided with me!

Case two: The red guy steps forward, and almost collides, but doesn't.

The blue guy says:

  He ??? with me!

The most obvious replacement would be almost collided, but I am looking for a one-word solution. Is there a word that means "almost collide" that would fit in this context?


texts: How do you hyphenate compounds that already have hyphens?

texts:
For example, if something happened in the pre-Christian era, is it a

pre-Christian-era event, or
pre-Christian era event

To give another example -- we say "low-sodium diets", but would you say that a menu is "low-sodium-based"? It feels over-hyphenated.


texts: What is the noun in the second sentence?

texts:
This is a continuation of the question at A significant amount of zombies were detected in your city which raised further questions in my attempted answer.

  There were purchases. A significant number of them was/were detected.

From [Oxford Dictionaries][1]:

  Although the expression ‘a number’ is strictly singular, the phrase ‘a number of’' is used with plural nouns (as what grammarians call a determiner (or determiner)). The verb should therefore be plural:

  A number of people are waiting for the bus.

  This is not the case with ‘the number’, which is still singular:

  The number of people here has increased since this morning.

It can therefore be argued that "them" refers to "purchases". Is "them", "purchases" or "a number" the noun in the second sentence, and why?


texts: Adverb location according to auxiliary verb

texts:
Even though there are examples of location of adverb related to auxiliary verb, I am still doubtful about where to put the adverb in this particular example. I need to make a very formal sentence:

A good prevention knowledge in a society can significantly reduce contagious diseases.
A good prevention knowledge in a society can reduce contagious diseases significantly.


texts:
"Her face was not beautiful. It was long, and palely lighted, while the mouth crossed the lower half like a gash of fire. The lips were as voluptuous as before. Her brows were heavy..."

In this scene a woman is being described. Yet, I cannot understand the way her mouth looks: the mouth crossed the lower half like a gash of fire.
gash means wound, a deep cut. But it doesn't make sense here. A gash of fire?  Also, the mouth crossed the lower half of what? Of the face? How did it cross? Can you please explain what you visualize when you read the sentence in bold?

Thank you very much in advance.


texts:
So, I think we all know that one definition of trial is...
(from Merriam Webster
)

  The formal examination before a competent tribunal of the matter in issue in a civil or criminal cause in order to determine such issue

My question is how did trial get the definition

  a tryout or experiment to test quality, value, or usefulness — compare

?

Thanks!


texts: Why do we write $800 but say "800 dollars"

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  In which case are items written in a different order than they are read aloud?

Why don't we write "800 $"? This would be more straightforward -- just as we speak it.


texts:
According to all dictionaries I've seen the plural spelling of "corps" remains "corps". I guess the plural of "corps" is pronounced the same as the singular, meaning:

  (Military) a military formation that comprises two or more divisions and additional support arms
  Collins English Dictionary

So in the sentence:

  Three of their panzer corps attacked through the Ardennes and drove northwest to the English Channel.
  Dunkirk evacuation

Would sound like "Three of their panzer core attacked ..."?

Another example:

  On October 14th, Lieut. Gen. A.P. Hill’s corps stumbled upon two corps of the retreating Union army at Bristoe Station and attacked without proper reconnaissance.
  Battle of Bristoe Station

I don't suppose that as "one corps" is pronounced "one core", "two/three corps" is pronounced as "cores"?


texts: Is the word "finicky" appropriate to describe fine, important, details, that may escape the inattentive eye?

texts:
In the sentence:

In case you learned the language, you may be interested in these finicky details, as they often go unnoticed by the untrained or inattentive eye.

Consider we're talking about fine-grained detail about a language, which may escape a less experienced person's grasp (like the connotation of finicky does to me, as a non-native speaker).
Now, consider as well that the detail - despite seemingly trivial - might be or become interesting to look into, although it is often ignored. E.g, dialectal word usage specific to your town, that a foreigner will pick a 100% in its normal sense.
Also take into account that my question comes from the apparently disparate connotations I found in the dictionaries.
See:
Oxford Learner's Dictionary

(disapproving) too worried about what you eat, wear, etc.;
disliking many things
needing great care and attention to detail

Merriam-Webster

extremely or excessively particular, exacting, or meticulous in taste or standards

My teacher is finicky about spelling.

requiring much care, precision, or attentive effort

a finicky recipe

[disapproval] Even the most finicky eater will find something
appetizing here.

So it appears to me that there are a neutral and a disapproving connotation.
I also found the similar fussy, fastidious, exacting and to a lesser extent dainty, among others. All had definitions that seemed to imply an actor rather than an object, mostly with a disapproving connotation.
In my phrase, I am concerned whether 'finicky' doesn't feel neutral. I'm also interested in alternatives that fit this context.
Thanks.


texts:
What does prisoner of birth mean?

I was reading a Jeffrey Archer novel of the same name, but couldn't figure out what this phrase really means.


texts: Long vs. short vowels in English words of Latin origin

texts: Is there any way to determine if a vowel is short or long in English words of Latin origin? I've noticed that u is usually long in Latin words (e.g., Jupiter) but what about other vowels?


texts:
PREPOSITION WITH VICTIM
Please tell when to use victim of and when to use victim to.
For example He became victim .... circumstances.
Please tell the right prepostion to be used here.


texts: Can I use "Before Since" in my sentence?

texts:
I want to say I love to watch scientific documentaries. And I started to watch them before I started kindergarten.

Is it right to say:

  "I love to watch scientific documentaries before since I started kindergarten"

?


texts: What's the meaning of "When the pig has had a belly full, it upsets the trough"?

texts:
The proverb "When the pig has had a belly full, it upsets the trough"  is from

  A Dictionary of English and French Equivalent Proverbs and
  A Dictionary of English and Italian Equivalent Proverbs by Teorod Flonta.

Does anyone have more information about this old saying?

but mostly:

What does it mean?


texts: Is it ever acceptable to pluralize the word "encryption" to "encryptions"?

texts:
I am trying to revise the grammar of someone who insists that the following sentence is correct

  In Cryptology, encryption is the process of encoding messages or information, and there are different methods, levels, and types of encryptions

His rationale is that it's a noun, and nouns can be pluralized.  It feels wrong, and I want to modify that to say the following:  (more edits are needed)

  In cryptology, encryption is the process of encoding messages or information, and there are different methods, levels, and types of encryption formats

where the final word is formats, schemes, systems ..but then I realized that there probably several modifiers that I would use after the word encryption.

Question

Is it ever acceptable to use the word "encryptions"
When using a phrase such as "encryption ____", what are acceptable plural words and their meanings?


texts: Is there a better word or phrase to describe a tangible and usable product?

texts: I'm a graphic designer and I'm working on a new website. I want a category for things that you can touch, hold, and use such as booklets/books, car wrap, gift certificates, product packaging, etc. My other categories are 'Digital', 'Print', 'Video', and 'Web'. Would 'Tangibles' be best?


texts: electronic music-incountable nouns vs uncountable nouns with adjectives

texts:
I know that "music" is an uncountable noun, but can I write:

My favourite music is an electronic music.

Can I pyt "an" before music in this sentence and why?


texts:
Some of the desktop wallpapers I have are photographs and some of them are "non-photographic"; meaning they are not the product of a camera,but are instead the product of someone "drawing with a computer" or "generating graphics using a computer".

Is there a term that means what I'm trying to say besides "non-photographic"? I'd like to tag all my wallpapers (that are not photos) with the correct term.

UPDATE: I decided to label these wallpaper: "CGI" (which is an abbreviation for: Computer Generated Imagery). Ultimately, I concluded it is better to label something by "what it is" than by "what it is not".


texts: Requesting in a more subtle/formal manner

texts:
I am writing a formal email. In the end, it goes like this:

  If this..... were to happen, then it would be great.

I am actually asking sth which I am not entitled to and depends entirely upon the receiver to consider it.

So, this is a request, and if accepted it would mean a lot to me (yes, I mean it).

I wish to write in a more subtle way. I wish to change "it would be great" to a more formal manner.


texts: If you decided, felt, etc in the past before something happened, does it become Past Perfect?

texts:
For instance, a girl is talking about her past. For example,

  when I was enrolled at a graduate school I needed money so I set up a small business. But I earned so much money that I decided to leave school. [...] Then I felt a strong need to leave that business and start a new one.

For the words "set up", "decide" and "feel" what tense would be correct here?


texts: What does "The power to be strong" mean, and is it valid English?

texts:
I was reading Microsoft Encarta and in a part of it, Nietzsche’s ideology was put forward as:

  "For Nietzsche the power to be strong was the greatest value in life"

Isn't "the power to be strong" ridiculous? I mean, "the desire to be strong" makes sense to me. Also "the power was the greatest value in life" is reasonable, but "the power to be strong" seems a kind of tautology to me. Power is something like being strong.

Is this sentence semantically correct?


texts: When should I use 'side' in relation to a cube/cuboid?

texts:
Suppose I have a cube, and want to number each side from 1 to 6 in the following fashion: "number X corresponds to the [name of side] of the cube".

Is there any guide to whether I should use the word side in relation to the front/back/left/right/top/bottom of the cube?

Here is what I think:

Number 1 corresponds to the front/front side of the cube. I am not sure which is more idiomatic.
Number 2 corresponds to the back/back side of the cube. I am not sure which is more idiomatic.
Number 3 corresponds to the right side of the cube. I think I should use "right side" rather than just "right".
Number 4 corresponds to the left side of the cube. Same as "right side"
Number 5 corresponds to the top / top side of the cube. I am not sure which is more idiomatic.
Number 6 corresponds to the bottom / bottom side of the cube. I am not sure which is more idiomatic.

I am only talking about the outer surfaces of the cube. The correct answer should be applicable to rectangular cuboids as well.

Side note: It seems there's a little bit of misunderstanding. I'm not asking whether the more correct term to refer to the surface of a cube should be "side" or "face". I'm asking whether one should drop the word "side" in the case of the phrases above considering you would need to present all 6 phrases (in a presentation for example).


texts:
What does it actually mean when people say "Not everything is about you."
when they use it?


texts: Is there a term like PTSD for an event you haven’t experienced yet?

texts: Is there a way to describe a dread over an event in the future, which is nearly pathological?


texts: What does "The Quality of Mercy is not Strained" mean?

texts:
I think I know what Shakespeare meant for Portia to be saying when he wrote this dialog between Shylock and Portia, and I found a decent discussion on the web here.

What I want to know is, what do people mean, when they quote this figure-of-speech by itself. It seems to have acquired a meaning of its own, a proverb that in the end, embodies some meaning which maybe is supposed to be clear to everybody, but which is not clear to me.

Is it used by those who quote it, for example, meant as a rejoinder or insult against someone who seems stubborn, recalcitrant, and uninterested in the mores of the larger society?  Has anyone seen a cataloging of other places in literature where this quote is used, or is the quote largely used in conversation only?


texts:
If it is in regard to rules/guidelines, is it

In accordance with the rules

or

in accordance to the rules

Which one should I use?


texts: Word choice in this sentence: trajectory vs. vector

texts:
I'm editing a short piece of fiction where the author has left brackets around specific items that they want looked at, and this one has me a little bit stumped.

In the scene, a character has jumped out of an airborne vehicle and is wearing a jet pack that will allow her to travel additional distance and, obviously, not crash into the ground. This jet pack has been malfunctioning, so she has been falling straight downward, but then it suddenly kicks into gear. Here's the sentence:

  The repulsion system kicked in and she shot forward, flinching as she came within meters of clipping the edge of a building. She was still traveling faster than she should have been, but at least now the majority of that speed was on a horizontal trajectory [vector?].

There are those brackets included around "vector" and I'm not sure whether it or "trajectory" would be the best word choice, since it's addressing the forward momentum more than it's actually addressing the character.

Trajectory definition:

  The path followed by a projectile flying or an object moving under the action of given forces.

Vector definition:

  A quantity having direction as well as magnitude, especially as determining the position of one point in space relative to another.

I probably wouldn't have thought twice about the word "trajectory" if those brackets hadn't been included, but now I'm second-guessing (and I assume the writer was, too). Since this character has both speed and direction, would "vector" be the best word choice, or should I just leave it as "trajectory" since it's also sort of talking about the path she's following? Which word would most accurately fit here?


texts: Is there a name other than "absolute" for this kind of construction?

texts:
In some languages there are absolute constructions like the Genitive Absolute in Greek:

Καὶ ἤδη ὥρας πολλῆς γενομένης προσελθόντες αὐτῷ οἱ μαθηταὶ αὐτοῦ ἔλεγον ὅτι ἔρημός ἐστιν ὁ τόπος καὶ ἤδη ὥρα πολλή·

Where the genitive phrase (in bold) is grammatically independent from the rest of the sentence and is translated as a dependent clause ("When it had already become late...").

In English as well there are absolute constructions like, "All things being equal," and so on.

Is there a name for a construction that is actually a part of the main clause but is nevertheless seemingly unaffected by the grammatical rules?

I am thinking of instances of compound subjects and objects that do not get inflected (in some speakers' speech) for case, such as:

My dad got tickets to the premiere of the new Star Wars tickets for he and I! Early birthday gift!!
Please stop asking what happened out of respect for she and I. Just know it’s over.
Ask not for whom it tolls. It tolls for he and she.
Nothing’s gonna change not for we and you.

In all of these cases (all of which were recorded from statements made online) it looks like the compound objects are unaffected by the prepositions that proceed them.

However, it seems unlikely that the speakers of these sentences would say, "My dad got tickets to the premiere for he" or "Please stop asking out of respect for I" or "Nothing's gonna change for we."

It looks like it's a function of being in the compound object that renders the constituent parts impervious to the requirements of the sentence structure. In this way, it's like an absolute but is still nevertheless part of the main clause.

Is there a term for such a thing?


texts: Is it correct to say products line or product line?

texts: If a company has several products, is that a products line or a product line?


texts: Does "for the record" come from legislatures' us(ag)e of the term?

texts: So, what you'll hear sometimes is people saying, "for the record" before they say what they're going to say. Now, I know that in Congress and other similar institutions around the world (including in courts of law), a variety of people will say, "for the record", due to there actually being a record of everything that's said. Sometimes they go "off the record", another common saying. So, my question is: do the sayings (in America), "for the record" & "off the record", originate from the halls of Congress?


texts:
Several times I've heard sentences like You are not to be here. whereas I'd expected something with should. Or He is absolutely not to know..

What is this form? When should I use it?


texts:
My teacher said today that it's incorrect to say "I need more time" in English.
She said it is used widely but it is a slang.
I don't agree with that as I encountered it often in English books, but after some searching in Google I didn't find confirmation or denial of this.

Could you help me, please?


texts: How can I better word the phrase 'possibility of reality'?

texts: I'm writing a paper about a sci-fi movie and one of my criteria for the movie being a good movie is the possibility of reality. How can I say the movie has a never ending thrill with the possibility of reality without actually saying possibility of reality?


texts: Is "I can't stop laughing" the same as "I can't help laughing"?

texts:
I know "I can't help laughing" means I can't stop myself from laughing.

What I want to know is "I can't stop laughing"* also means the same.

Thank you guys for helping me out especially prem, your explanation cleared my doubt


texts: What does " I doubt we’ve heard the last word on quality models." mean?

texts:
I read this sentence in the IEEE essay "A New Standard
for Quality Requirements".

In the article, the author, Jørgen Bøegh, says;

  Indeed, researchers have proposed several quality models with various sets of characteristics over the last 30 years. I
  doubt we’ve heard the last word on quality models.

I don't actually understand what the sentence "I doubt we’ve heard the last word on quality models" means in this paragraph.


texts: How would you punctuate a separate sentence within parentheses with an ellipsis at the end?

texts:
For context:

  I think the whipped cream really helps cut through the strong alcohol taste, and >it also adds some fat, so give it a shot! (No pun intended…)

Do I need to put a period/full stop after the closing parenthesis? I tried this and feel it looks a bit off, but I'm not sure how else to change this sentence around.


texts: What does it means 'keelhaul the mizzenmast'?

texts:
Please explain the meaning of the phrase 'keelhaul the mizzenmast'.
I guess it means to drag someone through the water under the keel of a ship and to begin so it do at the third mast named the mizzenmast. Right?
Thanks.


texts:
What should a reply to "What's up?" be?
How should you reply to "what's up?"


texts: a word that describes this phenomenon : 'the constituents are attributed a term, but the usage of the term does not imply the constituents'

texts:
Here's a puzzle : I'm looking for a word (or a phrase) that describes the case where the components belong to a term, but the term does not essentially map back to the components.
I think it has something to do with a term whose underlying taxonomy is not-yet well defined, but the term is still used in everyday parlance.
Consider the entity 'alien' - unlike the word 'primate' or 'mammal', the use of the word 'alien' does not tell us anything about the creature itself - what it looks like, its limbs, abilities etc. It's a place-holder for an entity that needs to be defined each time in a specific context (of a book, film etc.). So, an 'alien' could have nine legs or twenty, or none at all, and yet be called an 'alien'.
EDIT: I think I found it - 'a catch-all term' seems to fit, a 'metaphoric dumping group' as Wikipedia defines it.


texts: adjective for commissioned salesperson behavior

texts:
What's the most descriptive adjective available for the way a salesperson acts when they are paid on commission? "Pushy", "smarmy", "self-centered", and "disingenuous" all come to mind, but none of them really paints the whole picture. Would anyone care to suggest a candidate?

Obligatory example sentence:

  "I found the interaction off-putting because of the persitistently and
  unmistakably ________ behavior of this stranger towards me, despite
  this being a social occasion"


texts: Is there a name for this: an idiom that ambiguously refers to itself?

texts:
Two examples I can think of:

The athlete's Achilles heel was her Achilles heel.
The chef's bread and butter is his bread and butter.

In both cases, the order of the idiom and the thing it refers to is ambiguous. Is the first occurrence of 'Achilles heel' supposed to be figurative or literal? Same with the first occurrence of 'bread and butter.'
Does this construction have a name?


texts: "When I return to Tokyo, we are going to visit the same places we visited on my birthday"

texts:
A German guy said this sentence was wrong:

  When I return to Tokyo, we are going to visit the same places we visited on my birthday.

He said you can't use the past to define places because the whole sentence is in the future.

What do you guys think?


texts:
What's the difference between the two. For example, should I say:

  I thought the dynamic of our relationship had been enough for her.

or

I thought the dynamics of our relationship had been enough for her.


texts: What is the earliest recorded pun in the English language?

texts:
So, I'll admit I love a good pun. Done correctly, it is humor for the clever that builds up rather than tears down. Plus, it beats an emetic in the right situation.

That said, I wonder how far back puns go.  My assumption is that all languages have puns, but even still, it would be fun to know how far back they go. Is there a commonly accepted "Ur-pun" that could be considered the first in the English language?


texts: A word to describe someone who acts contrary to self-interest?

texts:
I remember seeing this fancy word last week that describes people who act opposite or contrary to their self-interest. I can't remember the word and it is driving me insane.

The word "akrasia" seems like it might have been it.


texts: Is it as common to say "Why not?" to mean yes when people are asking for your permission; such as, "Can I borrow your pen?" as when replying to an invitation; such as, "Let's go to the movies"? What are the nuances of the first situation?


texts: Repeating "to" and "will" in enumerations of verbs

texts:
Should I use the second "will" in constructions like this one: "it will definitely help you and will make the text more readable"

And should I write "to" before every infinitive in enumeration, or only before the first one, e.g. "it helps to develop and test" or "it helps to develop and to test"? Could this example be influenced by the fact that "help" can go with to-invinitive and bare infinitive, and with other verbs the rule would be different?


texts: Term for embracing technology that puts you out on a limb

texts:
A thousand years ago, agriculture was a relatively simple and stable enterprise, aside from fickle weather. A war or famine might cause local hunger, but nothing on a continental scale.
With the industrial revolution, farmers began using expensive machinery, fertilizer and pesticides. The "Green Revolution" produced high-yield crops, making agriculture more productive than ever.
The tradeoff is that farmers needed money to buy expensive tractors, fertilizers, etc., and all those chemicals take a toll on the soil. During the Dust Bowl, the Great Depression and the WWII era, millions of people around the world starved to death.
And so one might argue that the more you beef up agriculture with technology, the more you turn it into house of cards.
What is the term for this process of carelessly embracing technology that puts society out on a limb, so to speak. I think there's a common term, but I can't remember it.


texts:
I'm not a native speaker. Apologies if the question is obvious.

The scenario is:

I'm not doing A, and
I'm not doing B.

In order to communicate this joint event in a single sentence: should I say: "I'm not doing A or B" or "I'm not doing A and B." (I know I can also say "I'm doing neither A nor B" but that is a seperate solution.)

The source of my uncertainty is that the logical negation of (A and B) is [(not A) or (not B)] so I don't know whether "I'm not doing A and B" can be interpreted as

I'm not doing A, or
I'm not doing B.

which is not my original scenario.


texts: "... multiple of **the** Lebesgue measure." vs "... multiple of Lebesgue measure."

texts:
I read in mathematical texts the two different versions of the same sentence, depending on the author. Which one is correct?

If a measure is translation invariant then it is a multiple of Lebesgue measure.
If a measure is translation invariant then it is a multiple of the Lebesgue measure.

Note that there is only one Lesbesgue measure.


texts: What are the substitute verbs for the modal auxiliary verb 'may/might' when talking about possibility?

texts:
He can play. = He is able to play.
He cannot play. = He is unable to play.
He must not play. = He is forbidden to play. He is prohibited from playing.
He must play. = He is compelled/forced/obliged to play. He has to play.
He should play. = He is advised to play. or He is likely/expected/supposed to play. It is probable that he will.
He may play. = He is allowed to play. or He is ??? to play. It is possible that he will.
Is there an ordinary verb, an adjective, or a past participle, which can replace 'may/might' in a sentence that has a personal noun or pronoun, and not the preparatory 'it' as subject?


texts:
Why is someone who is pedantic called a pedant and not a "pedantician"?
If a person working in obstetrics is an obstetrician, why is not a person working with words not a pedantician?


texts: Meaning of "They say! What say they? Let them say."

texts: I've heard this quote in the past, but have never really found any reference to the meaning of it. "They say! What say they? Let them say." was the personal motto of reclusive millionaire Edward F. Searles.


texts: In the OED, are definitions that don't explictly indicate it is figurative use always with literal examples only, or can they be figurative?

texts:
In the OED, are definitions that don't explicitly indicate it is figurative use always with literal examples only, or can they be figurative?

My recent answer has caused quite some confusion among high rep users, apparently because they think that my answer makes no sense, and the OED is listing figurative examples without saying so.

e.g.

  "speak for"

  To indicate; to betoken.

  1832 Philol. Museum I. 335 The great mass of evidence that speaks for an intimate affinity between the Pelasgians and the Hellenes.

is this literal use?


texts: Term for a function that is deliberately excercising edge cases

texts:
This is a single word adjective that is in general use, but which has a specific use as a semi-technical term in mathematics.

It's something like a "pessimistic" function, or a "lethal" function?

It has the connotations of a function that only exists in order to prove that an edge case could in principle exist. A function that has been deliberately designed to try to break something.


texts: Which of the following sentences is correct ; basically I don't understand where to use gerund and where infinitive, and why

texts:
It is snowing; will you like to go skiing on Saturday or Sunday?

It is snowing ; will you like to go skii on Saturday or Sunday?

(plz reason the answer in simple and discernible way)


texts: how to say action x causes y and nothing but y

texts:
Background

I once witnessed this conversation between two software engineers.. something like:
eng1: I just gave you the api
eng2: are the results deterministic when I enter key i?

I'm not sure if the term was deterministic, although its definition online makes sense:

  In mathematics and physics, a deterministic system is a system in
  which no randomness is involved in the development of future states of
  the system. A deterministic model will thus always produce the same
  output from a given starting condition or initial state.

Question

I have an engineer who gave me a piece of code that generates random results (ie of how a website behaves as it receives requests). I want to instruct him to provide me a command or instructions that can make the site behave in a deterministic way.. ie when I gave a site instruction A, I will only get result B and nothing but result B.

I don't feel like the term deterministic is right here.. since it's describing a system as a whole.. I want it to apply more specifically to action A causing action B and nothing but action B


texts: How to suggest that I'm sumarizing the previous text?

texts:
I am writting a scientific paper. It goes like this:

  Statement 1 (citation). Statement 2 (citation). Statement 3
  (citation). Overall, the evidence in literature shows that ...

So with the "Overall, ", I want to suggest that I want to summarize the previous text. Is the word "Overall" good for this purpose or is there a  better way to do this?

Thanks a lot!


texts: Is Jutland so-called because the region it describes 'juts out' into the ocean?

texts: I know that 'Jutland', a part of Denmark, comes from the Danish 'Jylland', which describes the same region.  But was that name just invented at random, or does it come from the verb 'jut', as the land juts out into the ocean?


texts: Is it " on Mondays to Fridays" or " from Mondays to Fridays"?

texts: I want to state that I cook on Mondays, Tue, Wed, Thur, and Fri, in my house every week. Should I say "I cook on Mondays to Fridays" or "I cook from Mondays to Fridays", or something else?


texts: How is "admire" used in "to admire them a great deal"?

texts:
I knew that admire can be used in phrases like "admire somebody" or "admire somebody for something", but recently I have found the following sentence in my Collins dictionary:

  If you emulate something or someone, you imitate them because you admire them a great deal.

Is the meaning of "admire them a great deal" is "admire them, because they've made a great deal"? Would it have a different meaning, if I wrote "admire them for a great deal" or "admire their great deal"? What are other examples of the use of admire in the same way?


texts: Which is standard: "log on/off" or "log in/out"?

texts:
Possible Duplicates:
  Logging in or on?
  UI Terminology: Logon vs Login on Stack Overflow

On Windows computers, the terminology log on/off is used.  In SE and on many sites, log in/out is used.

Are they both correct and equally appropriate for any situation, or are there differences?

If they are exactly synonymous, which is standard?


texts: Can a sentence mix with present tense and past tense?

texts:
I think the presentation is good so I shared it with you.

Is the sentence grammatically correct? I am confused whether a sentence can mix with present tense and past tense or not.


texts: Word for folding/tucking socks together?

texts:
When folding shirts and things like that the word 'folding' makes sense. Is there a word for when placing socks on top of each other and then folding/inverting the top so they get stuck together?

Perhaps rolling is the proper word?

Here's an image for reference:


texts:
What would be the right position of "substantially" in the following:

  1). Before verb: These optimal values substantially contribute to the success of the methodology.

  2). After verb: These optimal values contribute substantially to the success of the methodology.

Here is my issue:

Fact1: When I use Google Ngram, I get this, 0 occurrence of option 1.

Fact2: I found an excellent Grammar book that discusses Adverbs, their types and prefered positions. The author defines some rules that I'll summarize as follows:

Connecting adverbs, eg: however, then,..., Position: Beginning of clause.
Indefinite frequency, eg: always, usually,..., Position: Mid position (after auxilary verb, before other verbs) sometimes beginning of clause.
Focusing adverbs, eg: mainly, only,..., Position: Mid position.
Adverb of certainty, eg: clearly, obviously, Position: Mid position.
Adverb of completeness, eg: almost, nearly,..., Position: Mid position.
Adverb of manner, eg: fast, slowly, nicely,..., Position: End clause, mid and beginning.
Adverb of place, eg: upstairs, around, Position: End clause, sometimes beginning.
Adverb of time, eg: daily, weekly, ... Position: Mostly end clause, sometimes beginning and mid position.

I think that "substantially" is an adverb of completeness. Therefore, the right position is before the verb "contribute" (option 1). However, Google Ngam indicates that option 1 is not widely used.

What do you think? Any suggestions?


texts: What word could you use for seeing a picture then seeing the real thing later?

texts: I have been searching everywhere for a verb that means seeing a picture of something then seeing the real thing later.


texts:
I have run into a conundrum.

When I go to get some friends cans of beer I say:

  You guys want a beer?

When I am referring to going to a bar and drinking some I say:

  Let's go get some beers!

When I go to a store to buy beer I say:

  I am going to get beer.

How can I work this out? My friend is a native Chinese speaker and this is the sort of plural thing that trips her up. How is this explained?


texts: Three hours ( or three thousand pounds ) is or are?

texts:
When can three hours or three thousand pounds be considered singular and plural ?

e.g. Three hours ( is - are ) a long period to wait for you.

e.g. Three thousand pounds ( was - were ) collected for charity last week.


texts: What does “tearing your résumé apart” mean?

texts:
I gave my résumé to a person and she replied back as follows:

  When you look at the below list of issues, you’ll probably think I'm tearing your résumé apart. I guess I am, in a way. But, I swear, your résumé is pretty good.

Now I am confused whether she meant she had “torn it” literally or that she had analytically broken it up into pieces.


texts: How to simplify this complex syntax and ambiguous word usage?

texts:
I couldn't understand a sentence in a literary work which is too complex and containing too much terminology. Can you help me understand the sentence by just simplifying or re-organazing or re-arranging or paraphrasing the sentence? I couldn't get where are the verb, the object, the subject and evereything. I'm also having problems with the usage of the words like what words used to mean what.(For example 'reflection' or 'object'. Reflection for 'echo' or 'thinking'? Object for 'protest' or 'aim' or 'thing?') My head's become a mess. The sentence I need to understand is written in bold and I am also quoting the context:

But, for these reasons, shall we be justified in imagining the atoms heterogeneous, dissimilar, unequal, and inequidistant? More explicitly—are we to consider no two atoms as, at their diffusion, of the same nature, or of the same form, or of the same size?—and, after fulfilment of their diffusion into Space, is absolute inequidistance, each from each, to be understood of all of them? In such arrangement, under such conditions, we most easily and immediately comprehend the subsequent most feasible carrying out to completion of any such design as that which I have suggested—the design of variety out of unity—diversity out of sameness—heterogeneity out of homogeneity—complexity out of simplicity—in a word, the utmost possible multiplicity of relation out of the emphatically irrelative One. Undoubtedly, therefore, we should be warranted in assuming all that has been mentioned, but for the reflection, first, that supererogation is not presumable of any Divine Act; and, secondly, that the object supposed in view, appears as feasible when some of the conditions in question are dispensed with, in the beginning, as when all are understood immediately to exist. I mean to say that some are involved in the rest, or so instantaneous a consequence of them as to make the distinction inappreciable. Difference of size, for example, will at once be brought about through the tendency of one atom to a second, in preference to a third, on account of particular inequidistance; which is to be comprehended as particular inequidistances between centres of quantity, in neighboring atoms of different form—a matter not at all interfering with the generally-equable distribution of the atoms.

Thank you.


texts:
So I looked up the actual definition of having a 'catholic taste', and it appears that I'd gathered the wrong contextual meaning for it.

  (especially of a person's tastes) including a wide variety of things; all-embracing.

I'd like to know the/a descriptor for having monogamous, boring, standard, reliable, consistent, never-varying, rigid, limited, what-you're-already-familiar-with, unadventurous, self-consistent, taste.

Obviously, I could use one of those words, but I'd liked the flavor of 'catholic'.  I'd also wanted a word which implied many/all of those things together (in varying degrees), without requiring a couple of sentences of explanation.

  He had catholic tastes in sandwiches.
  He had catholic tastes in movies.
  He had catholic tastes in girlfriends.

Conservative, moderate, and conformist as substitutes only work for some varieties of a-catholic tastes:

  He had an acatholic taste in girlfriends; namely blonde, blue-eyed, corn-fed wholesome Midwestern girls.

Doesn't work out so well, when you say:

  He had an acatholic taste in girlfriends; namely pierced, heavily tattooed, emo girls with radically dyed hair.

Which is not a standard, conservative, or moderate type of taste — but it is consistent, reliable, and unvarying (in this description). Getting the second guy a date with Sienna Miller would only work for someone with catholic tastes, not someone with a [blank] taste.

But, I'd like a go-to word, that I could use for both guys.

Or, example-wise: sandwiches. movies (scathing expose documentaries vs. summer blockblusters)


texts: When talking about something, where do we place its name in the sentence?

texts:
In Computer Science papers (and I'm sure that in papers in many other fields, too), we often have to describe a new tool or method that has a name.

Let's talk for instance about Eclipse, and its wide adoption among programmers. Which of these sentences is better?

The Eclipse development environment has been widely adopted among programmers. (name first)
The development environment Eclipse has been widely adopted among programmers. (name last)
Eclipse, the development environment, has been widely adopted among programmers. (description between commas)

Of all three, the first looks better, but why? Also, the last one is similar to this other sentence:

John, the new intern, was always late.

Also, when do I use each of these structures?


texts: Should I use the spelling (and punctuation) 'day-to-day', 'month-to-month', and 'year-to-year' or 'day to day', 'month to month', and 'year to year'?


texts: Is there an Extended Backus–Naur form (EBNF) that covers all of English?

texts: Is there an EBNF (Extended Backus–Naur form) that covers all of English, and if so, what is it?


texts: Which one is correct "et al.’s" or "et al."?

texts:
I want to use the possessive noun form with et al.
as in

et al.'s versus et al.


texts: Clarification for the usage of 'should' in this sentence

texts:
The phrase comes from a song named Black Oak by Slaughter Beach Dog.

"Magnetic letters neat, and now arranged in such a way that they should spell his lover's name."

I'm curious about the usage of the word 'should' in this context. It seems like an odd word choice in this context. Can someone share some examples of similar phrases? Thank you!


texts: "Can I add sugar in/to milk?" Which preposition is correct?

texts: I want to say "Can I add sugar in/to milk?" Should I use "in" or "to"?


texts: single word to describe futuristic and modern building

texts:
what would be a word to describe a building that is modern and futuristic.

a term that would mean something like 'building of the next decade/century'


texts:
I am confused about the following use of then:

  «I can't come to Bristol in the afternoon, sorry» «Let's meet around
  noon, then.»

  «I can't do it, I am sorry.» «Well, I'll do it, then!»

I normally say sentences like these when I speak, but it may be just out of imitation, because I am still not sure whether this use of then is correct.


texts: Is "Less than perfect" always used in a sarcastic and negative way?

texts:
I always use the phrase less than perfect in a sarcastic way, meaning that something is not good at all. For example:

  My date was obviously less than perfect. She was late and in a hurry, and she kept talking about her ex-boyfriend.

But I start to wonder if this phrase can be used in a non-sarcastic way, as a parallel to almost perfect. As an example, could it be used in this context?

  Enjoy your day to its fullest. If anybody in the office makes your day less than perfect, go and talk to them.


texts:
As a native English speaker, I have always struggled with this type of sentence:

  I have eaten pancakes and I have (drunk/drank/drunken) coffee

"I have eaten pancakes" sounds perfectly natural to me. However, none of "I have (drunk/drank/drunken) coffee" sound correct at all to me, although I suspect the correct answer is 'drunk'. Which is actually correct, and is there any reason why, as an (American) English-speaker, none of them sound natural to me?


texts: I would like to know if the word "plot" would have been used in Victorian times (ca. 1880) to describe the story of a play, novel, etc. I've tried some online dictionaries with etymologies, but they only give the etymology, not when the usage as meaning a "story" began.


texts: Should there be any punctuation marks in this sentence?

texts:
other than full stop.

The sentence is "Sample B must be isolated." Is it missing a comma or a hyphen between the words Sample and B?


texts: Is there a verb for 'unconditionally beats or takes priority over'?

texts:
Sometimes people use trump in this sense.

  Human rights are legal trump cards, you can make whatever laws you want so long as it doesn't violate one.

The relations between rock, paper, and scissors in the handgame also fit what I mean to describe.


texts:
I've been reading research.
But I don't know word ring-fenced.

  Local, state and federal governments—will require “private” clouds,
  which are ring-fenced infrastructures that use cloud technologies

Is it a financial term or technology term?


texts:
I'm looking for a more general term to describe a bigoted action committed covertly by a member of a minority group against his/her own target group, in the hope that it will be assumed the act was committed by bigots of the dominant/majority group, enhancing visibility, escalating the perception of tensions, and stoking people's sympathies.

It needn't be exclusive to race; it might be an LGBT person leaving homophobic graffiti near an LGBT social centre, or Jews or Muslims defacing their cemeteries or places of worship, for example.

The closest word I can think of is self-sabotage, but this implies to me a set of largely subconscious and self-defeating attitudes, whereas I'm looking to describe something deliberate and overtly political.


texts:
The train just arrived at platform six is the delayed 13.15 from       Hereford.

Q; In the above sentence, I assume "13.15" means hour and minute. But do you think writing hour and minute like this is right?


texts: In American English is it okay to say "that" followed directly by "the" or "there"?

texts: As an example, would it be proper to say: "What would you do if you found that the people you wished to seek guidance from were secretly undermining your goals?" Another example could be: "We decided a trip was in order. The problem was newspaper reports that there was a dangerous criminal where we wished to travel."


texts:
Which preposition follows the word curiosity?

Ex. To explore their curiosity (for/about/with) science?


texts: How to describe the various ways in which one can experience something?

texts:
I'm looking for a word that means "The various manners in which one is able to enjoy, gain fulfillment from, and/or experience a given activity."

For example, you could say "The <filler noun> of paper and pencil role-playing games includes the inherent social interaction, applying tactics to combat situations, puzzles, role-playing situations, immersion, and the story." You could also say "Joe appreciates a different part of the <filler noun> of clubbing than Susan; he likes to drink and meet new people, but she likes to dress up and be the center of attention."

I think that most activities are probably like this, in that they can be appreciated for different reasons. However, I'd find it useful to also have an adjective that describes how diverse a particular activity's manners of experience are. For example, you could say "Reading is a very <filler adjective> activity. It's much more <filler adjective> than boxing."

Is there an existing word that conveys the concept that I've described above?

Slang and short phrases are also acceptable, if there isn't a more formal way to express this concept.

The first thing that I considered was the phrase "diverse experience." However, "experience" does not convey the idea of there being multiple facets to the experience. "Diverse experience" seems to connote instead that the activity might be different every time, rather than that on a single occasion there might be five distinct facets of the activity that can be appreciated.


texts: "To give someone the 411" is short for information but is this phrase common in the US and/or in Britain and is it still up to date or outdated?


texts:
In a video game, there is a female character named Keqing. You can read up about her here, although for the purposes of this question I assume her name alone is all that matters. This game was developed by a Chinese company, I'm not sure if this matters (i.e. perhaps her name was influenced by that fact and may be helpful).
What is the proper way to pronounce her name?


texts:
Sentences such as:

  So says the preacher.

  So began the fight.

Are they an example of inversion? I searched around, but all I could find was that the inversions with so can happen with only auxiliary verbs, not the whole verbs. But I know for sure these sentences are grammatical. So what grammar structure was used with these sentences?


texts: Do you use "to whom it may concern:" with "Dear Mr./Mrs" or only pick one?

texts:
I've seen example where people use both, for example:

To Whom It May Concern:
Dear Mr.,
I am writing to apply...

OR is the correct usage this:

To Whom It May Concern:
I am writing to apply...

Secondly, should "to whom it may concern" also be put into the address portion of the cover letter? That is, in the first line above the address of the employer? For example:

To Whom It May Concern
RBC Bank
123 Bank St, Suite 1
City, State 13235

OR, should it just be:

RBC Bank
123 Bank St, Suite 1
City, State 13235

Thank you in advance


texts: Is there a proper name for counting with letters?

texts:
How should one refer to the practice of using letters instead of numbers for counting?

I'm referring to this:

  "A, B, C, ... X, Y, Z, AA, AB, AC, AD, AE, AF, AG... ZX, ZY, ZZ, AAA,
  AAB..."

Microsoft Excel uses this notation for spreadsheet columns, but I'm unaware if there's a proper name for this. "Alphabetic numbering" sounds rather nebulous, but it's the closest I can think of.

UPDATE: Found the name with the help of FumbleFingers' answer; it's called bijective hexavigesimal or bijective base-26, a type of bijective numeration:

  In the bijective base-26 system one may use the Latin alphabet letters "A" to "Z" to represent the 26 digit values one to twenty-six.

  With this choice of notation, the number sequence (starting from 1) begins A, B, C, ..., X, Y, Z, AA, AB, AC, ..., AX, AY, AZ, BA, BB, BC, ...

  Each digit position represents a power of twenty-six, so for example, the numeral ABC represents the value 1\times 26^2 + 2\times 26^1 + 3\times 26^0.

"Hexavigesimal" itself seems to refer to any numbering system that uses a radix of 26, rather than one that uses strictly alphabetic characters alone. So while it wasn't quite correct, it put me on the right path.


texts: Is there a term for the phenomenon of adding more words to a sentence makes it less clear?

texts:
This article ends with "Judicial races in Washtenaw County are nonpartisan ...". This is technically accurate, but is also misleading (or is it?) as it implies races elsewhere (such as Wayne County) are partisan.  (They are not, all judicial races in Michigan are nonpartisan). Writing the sentence as "Judicial races in Washtenaw County are nonpartisan ..." is also correct, and with fewer words; and presumably (?) less misleading.

Is the original sentence misleading?
If so, is there a name for the unintuitive phenomenon where adding words makes a sentence less it accurate?


texts:
Should two different sentences with subject and predicate be separated with a comma?

  Self documenting code is not your thing I get it.

  This is so obviously homework it hurts.

Is there a rule for this? Or maybe these examples are grammatically incorrect?


texts:
As far as I can find, there's this set of words for burying things and digging them up:

inhume and inter, both meaning put into earth

disinter (and apparently disinhume) meaning unput into earth

exhume, meaning take out of earth

But exter is missing, which I find peculiar. After all, it's all just putting things in and taking things ex of terra or humus, so you would expect a full complement, but this does not happen. The same pattern may emerge in other words as well, though none come to mind at the moment. Is there a subtle linguistic reason for which constructions pass into usage, or is it just an accident of history?


texts: What is the difference between sparsity and sparseness? Is it that the latter emphasises the extent to which something is sparse? I'm not sure I can see the thin line that separates them.


texts: How might an Indian speaking English understand "two axles spaced not more than 1.2m centres"?

texts:
I am currently reading a code of practice called IRC:6-2014, which is the Indian standard for highway loading. It is written in English, but much of the phrasing doesn't scan well for me, as a native English speaker.

One phrase which I am particularly having trouble with is:

  two axles spaced not more than 1.2m centres

Firstly, to clarify for non-engineers, "centres" is commonly used in engineering to mean "the distance from the centre of one object to the centre of the next".

My issue is that I read this phrase as meaning "two axles with a centre-to-centre spacing of between 0 and 1.2m". Given other clauses in IRC:6-2014, this would be inconsistent. I am therefore wondering whether in Indian-English, the phrase should be taken to mean "two axles with a centre-to-centre spacing of 1.2m or more". 1.2m itself is clearly valid, as the spacing is labelled 1.2m in a nearby figure.

Can anyone (especially any natives of India) confirm whether the latter is a possible interpretation?


texts: Do "Query" and "Quarry" have smiilar etymological roots?

texts:
To "Query" is the primary method to extract information from a database.  A "quarry" is the place where minerals are extracted from the ground.  I'm curious if these share similar etymology as they both have very similar sounds and very similar uses?

Thanks.


texts:
I wrote "No error or issue since 2013".
I feel this is natural when I say so. But, in written English, because of the first "No", I wonder the "or" should be changed to "nor". Or, maybe "Neither error nor issue since 2013" will be better. What is better?

Thanks in advance!


texts: Why is "there" a subject while "here" isn't?

texts:
The question about "the role of infinitive in this sentence" prompted me to ask the following question.

English uses a "dummy" such as it and there to start a sentence when there is nothing else to start an extra-posed sentence in the linked question or a sentence starting with "there". Please read the comments below the answer.

I object to calling "there" a subject of the sentence in the following:

  There is a man at the door.

There is redundant as it could be rephrased to "A man is at the door/A man is there (pointing at the door)" as "at the door" indicates the place where a man physically exist at this moment. Here, "there" is a dummy which means nothing.

Another example:

  There was no snow yesterday.

In this sentence, there means nothing and just indicates the existence of "snow" yesterday.

Oxford Online Dictionary classifies this dummy "there" as an "adverb"

  3 (usually there is/are) Used to indicate the fact or existence of
  something: ‘there’s a restaurant round the corner’

Let's say two people are engaged in a phone conversation:

  A: There was much snow yesterday in our town. Was there much snow?
  B:
  Here was not much (snow).

If "there" in the abvoe is a subject as a dummy, why is "here" not a subject?

Note: I read the linked previous question with an interest but it doesn't address why "here" cannot be a dummy subject like dummy there.


texts: Where is the stress in the word "commenting"?

texts: Where is the stress placed in the word commenting?  Is it on the first or the second syllable?  How do you pronounce it?


texts: Need synonym for beginning something eagerly

texts:
I am trying to find a one-word synonym for the phrase, "They threw themselves into [an activity]", or "they launched ambitiously into..," or  "They zealously began to...".
The actual phrase that I am trying to complete is,

  "The boys immediately ______ to construct an arsenal of snowballs."

The word "began" would work, but it's a weak word. I want something more passionate; more earnest. A word that suggests that the boys dove wholeheartedly into this effort. Any suggestions? (Or perhaps a way to reword the sentence altogether?)

"Endeavored", maybe, but this is for a kid's book, and I'm not sure how accessible that word would be.

UPDATE: Wow, I never expected such a flurry of fantastic suggestions. You all are a veritable snowstorm of thesaurania. I find myself now in the position of overthinking this phrase even more than I was before -- writer's freeze, as it were. But that's the life of an author, eh? Thank you all for your input.


texts: Can any adjective be used as comparative?

texts: I was talking with my friends the other day about what is heathy to eat, I brought up the fact that something can be healthy if you compare it to something that is not healthy. You could say a doughnut is healthy if you compare it to bacon but you can say a doughnut is very unhealthy if you compare it to a salad. Likewise, I could say that I'm tall, but in comparison to my house I'm not very tall at all. Are all adjectives comparative?


texts: Did anyone actually use the expression "Go to Jericho!"?

texts:
https://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/go+to+Jericho

go to Jericho
    Go away.
        Oh, go to Jericho, you're annoying me here!

I found this expression randomly.

But I could not even find one case this expression was used.

Has anyone ever heard of this expression???


texts: What to call "casual" or "commonplace" death?

texts:
In a science fiction future, people naturally live forever, although accidents and murders are still possible, even if much less common as there's a lot to lose.
Suppose a future person looks at our time, when death was commonplace, when people died left, right an centre, when everyone has dead relatives (e.g. grandparents, those lost to cancer or car accidents), when everyone knew their death was inevitable.
What would future people call our death? Common? Casual?


texts:
Is there a word for someone who starts things but doesn't finish them?

Similar to a procrastinator who delays starting things, but this person has no problem starting new projects.


texts: A word/phrase for someone who finds significance in anything/tries to rationalise anything

texts:
I'm looking for a word to describe someone who makes themselves believe that anything that happens to them is for a reason, or believing "it's a sign!!"

For example: "that person is a (noun)." or "they are so (adjective)/ such a (noun)." or "that person (phrase)".

I must stress, the type of person I am trying to describe is not religious, if anything they could be spiritual (think astrology), but this isn't the kind of description I'm looking for. The description would also not really be 'superstitious'.

This type of person also does not believe in coincidences - for example if they saw an advert on TV for something they were just thinking about buying, they'd be amazed but more than a regular person. They would believe that that happened for a reason and that they have some kind of divine- or universal-level of importance!!

I also need to add that if they saw anything which could potentially be metaphoric, they will make that significant. For example, seeing a plant growing out of a crack in a concrete pavement, they would just inflate the importance of it, saying how 'life finds a way~~' or something.

I'm sorry if this is a long, confusing request, but I have searched everywhere lol.
I don't mind if you provide multiple words for the various parts, or one answer as a whole though I'm doubtful such a word exists.

Thank you in advance!


texts: I argue that if a person refers to marinated meat, as pre-marinated, the use of pre-   is not necessary   am I correct or incorrect?


texts:
'uncondition learning' refers to forgetting the conditioning, society has given us.
Also suggest related words.


texts:
What does a parenthesis mean, "(" or ")" or "(...)" ?
In (abc), do I say that abc is inside the parentheses, or inside the parenthesis?


texts: Is the usage of the word "features" in this sentence correct?

texts: I just came across this newspaper article titled "PM Modi features in Netanyahu's election campaign in Israel". I was wondering if the word "features" can be used this way or should it be "featured"?


texts:
In the following two paragraphs the phrase went missing was originally supposed to be was missing. Can I still use it as is?

  We went to the cinema yesterday. When we were about to leave, I saw this scarf hanging down from the handrail just at the exit doors. Everyone was just walking by; no one seemed to notice it.

  For some reason, I couldn't just walk by. It looked like it belonged to me. Then I realized that my scarf went missing. It's strange, because I couldn't quite remember when I lost it or why.


texts:
I have these sentences (both of them are in a book series, and are written by Indian):

1)Which football team wins the game?
2)What materials are used to make it?

I wonder if they are grammatically correct? I think "what" and "which" in this case are interrogative adjectives. I have got some similar sentences on various websites, but I'm still not sure:

a)Which coat is Paul’s?
b)which book belongs to you , this or that ? (This one is from a Vietnamese's website, it says that "which book" plays subject role)
Hope to receive your help. Thanks a lot!!


texts:
In the Stargate franchise they use the preposition "to". Shouldn't it be "of"? Mother of the leader and First Prime of Apophis

From the transcript on Stargate Wiki:

  LANDRY
  (sighing):
  As the former First Prime to Apophis, Teal'c provided valuable insight to the enemy's resources and tactics.
  DANIEL:
  And as the mother to the leader of the Ori army, Vala may hold the key to stopping them.


texts: Changing meaning of osmosis to mean symbiosis

texts:
Recently, I thought I caught an autocorrect-type error in a discussion of an important (English) press release from a French company. The quote is about the latest Volvo Ocean Racer V60 for team Charal.

  "The Charaaal [sic] came out of construction this Tuesday, August 21, 2018 in port-LA-Forêt.
  In the presence of all the teams involved - the Charal sailing team, its partner Charal,
  the architects of vplp, the teams teams - until no more training than a united group which, behind the doors of cdk technologies, worked hard during Almost 12 months in perfect osmosis.

This appears to be a quote from Jérémie Beyou, the new boat's skipper. Presumably translated from French.

I thought this was pretty funny since osmosis, when talking about boats, means only one thing to me — gel coat blistering, a sort of hull degradation cancer.

When I mentioned this on a boater's forum, I got some responses saying it is the normal way to say it in French, and is also used this way in English in Australia.

  [...] But auto correct strikes again? From the first link - "worked hard during Almost 12 months in perfect osmosis." I'm pretty sure that's not what they meant to say. (me)

  "En parfaite osmose" is a French common expression to describe the functioning of a team and I think the best translation is "in perfect harmony". (Dolfiman)

  Erm, so what do the French attribute gelcoat blistering to? Really, someone ought to clue them in that osmosis has basically one literal meaning in English, and any metaphorical extensions are both informal and off the mark. Symbiosis has the metaphorical sense they want and isn't informal, but it still sounds a bit off, and isn't all that common either. (me)

  I can confirm you that "osmose" is also the french name for osmosis as regard its first meaning. And osmosis of GRP hull is also a matter of concern, here is a complete overview of the subject by Gerard Boulant, a full time expert on this issue, you can click on each blue texts to have the pdf of all the chapters :{snip}  (Dolfiman)

  Down here in Oz we use osmosis in the French way. (CT249)

So has osmosis begun to take over the metaphorical space that used to be owned by Symbiosis? None of the dictionaries I checked mentioned this meaning.

  2 : a cooperative relationship (as between two persons or groups)

"Symbiosis." Merriam-Webster.com. Merriam-Webster, n.d. Web. 14 Sept. 2018.

Some examples of working in osmosis that I found —

  2) State of affairs, brainstorming and prospecting

  Our studies help understand the past to better visualize the future,
  while accompanying you during your entire thought process:

  grasping the brand’s patrimony, heritage and functioning crossing the
  fundamentals with our knowledge of trends, markets and competition
  working in osmosis with our clients, we aim to provide made-to-measure, unique work

http://www.edelkoort.com/consulting/

    LE QUOTIDIEN, May 2010

  Performing this score for the first time, the Luxembourg Philharmonic
  Orchestra were led by the baton of the energetic Benjamin Pope....a
  conductor working in osmosis with the dancers....

http://www.benpope.com/Site/Reviews.html

  We have described strategic planning as a proactive and dynamic process, directed toward the culture of change working in osmosis
  with its environment. It goes without saying that the process includes a determined and effective implementation.

https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/4a8a/0fc080533322c23ecd7af2ec2d2b3fc56d9f.pdf


texts: If someone tries to help, but their actions are not just useless, but actually damaging, is that "less than useless" or "more than useless"? Or would both be correct and understood in the same way?


texts: Is "What can I help with?" proper English?

texts:
"What can I help with?"

Part of our team is claiming it is not proper english and another part is claiming its the correct way for us to say it.

For context this is in reference to working on a chat bot that will be helping customers so we are trying to keep it concise and at a simple level to be approachable to all users.


texts: Looking for a word meaning "attempt" or "bid" or "campaign" specifically in a legal context

texts:
If there is an exact outcome I am hoping for, in specifically a legal context, but where I'm not necessarily either suing or defending or appealing or prosecuting (but where I am devoting resources and making decisions in the direction of a wanted outcome), what would you call that?  Perhaps "making a case", but is there a single word which also carries the idea of the effort involved?

Approximate or woolly example sentences might be:

  I'm keeping a diary of these events just in case. Doing that will be part of the case I'm _____ for.

or

  ... the case I'm _______ to make|prove|demonstrate


texts:
I'm trying to analyse the following sentence.

  To understand the importance of this event you should know all the facts.

It seems to me that this sentence is complex, and «To understand importance of this event» is dependent adverbial clause. But then, as my grammar book says, it would require a comma before «you», since the dependent adverbial clause comes before the independent clause.

So, please help to do the syntax analysis of this sentence and to understand whether the comma is needed.


texts: Hook someone up with vs fix someone up with something

texts: Is there any difference between the two, meaning to provide someone with something they need or want? Which is used more often, and is it a British/ American difference ?


texts:
"Patrick Wethered was as well known as the proverbial town pump;
  his mysterious and tragic death filled all Dublin with dismay. The
  lawyer, who was a man sixty years of age, had been struck on the back
  of the head by a heavy stick, garrotted, and subsequently robbed, for
  neither money, watch, or pocket-book were found upon his person, ....

(From "The old man in the corner" by Baroness Orczy)

What is pump in this sentence ?
Proverbial means famous or renowned, I believe.


texts:
In the following question, why can’t answer three be the right answer to fill in the blank? The correct answer is supposed to be choice one.

  The new skyscraper was ____________ the buildings around it look like dollhouses.

  so tall that it made
  so tall and it therefore making
  so tall, making
  tall so much because it made
  this tall, it made


texts: What does "smoothing" mean in the context?

texts:
Google Ngram Viewer

On the page above, there is such a sentence:

  Graph these case-sensitive comma-separated phrases between 1800 and
  2000 from the corpus English with a smoothing of 3.

What does smoothing mean in that context?


texts:
In statistics, the t-distribution is important. It is an approximation to the normal distribution. Of course we don't say "normal-distribution" (with the dash).

Well then, what exactly is the grammatical justification for calling it

  t-distribution

as opposed to just

  t distribution

?

Or to put it another way, is there a good name for the practice of using a dash in this kind of context?


texts: When did the media start to pronounce 'nuclear' as 'nucular'?

texts:
I first noticed George W. unable to pronounce the word nuclear, when he was in office. But now I am hearing nucular from various media commentators.

Was it 'W' who started it ?

[Note: I worked in the UK nuclear industry (making products for medical research and cancer treatment) from 1986 to 1994 and I never heard the word 'nucular' once.]


texts: Difference between a "self-serving individual" and "self-centered individual"

texts:
Is being "self-serving" the same as being "self-centered"?  While looking for an answer to this question, I saw this previous question on the difference between "selfish" and "self-centered".  I generally agree with the top three answers in that question (i.e. the answers provided by @FeralOink @Bill and @mozen), but want to know if and how "self-serving" differs from "self-centered."

Are the connotations or actual meanings different, or are the words essentially interchangeable?  I think "self-serving" implies something about purpose, while "self-centered" implies something about focus, but I am not sure, and I have not been able to flesh out the difference in a satisfying way.


texts:
Most dictionaries list the pronunciation of issue as
/ˈɪʃuː/ (ĭsho͞o) in American English and /ˈɪs.juː/ (ĭsyo͞o) possibly alongside /ˈɪʃjuː/ (ĭshyo͞o) and /ˈɪʃuː/ in British English. One informal poll gives equal figures for /ˈɪʃuː/ and /ˈɪs.juː/ in British English.

Is there any manner to how these three pronunciations map out in British English? Is it a regional variation, a class variation, purely individual variations?


texts: Appropriate to start business email or letter with just "Dear,"?

texts:
Is it appropriate to start a business letter or email with just "Dear,"?
I specifically refer to the case where there is no noun following "Dear,", so no "Dear All,", or "Dear Mr.,", or "Dear Colleagues,", ... (which is covered in other english.stackexchange.com questions)

Or would "Dear," only be appropriate between lovers?

(I am unsure about this because in Dutch, it is common to start an email or letter with 'Beste,' or 'Geachte,', which could be (and is often) very loosely translated to something like 'Dear,')


texts: Abbreviation of day of week in non-U.S. (little-endian) long-format dates and date ranges

texts:
According to Location of day of week in non-U.S. long format dates?, days of the week should be placed before the rest of the date and separated by a comma:

  Wednesday, 26 September 1832

How does one abbreviate the day of the week and month? Are there periods or no periods?

  Wed, 26 Sep 1832

or

  Wed., 26 Sep. 1832

What should you do if the year is omitted?

  Wed, 26 Sep

or

  Wed., 26 Sep.

And what if there is a range of dates that needs to specify both the day of the week and the month?

  Wed, 26 Sep, to Tue, 2 Oct

or

  Wed., 26 Sep., to Tue., 2 Oct.

I'm from the U.S. and can find plenty of date-related information in Chicago Manual of Style et al, but the Oxford Style Guide doesn't fully answer the question. Oxford does say to avoid mentioning days of the week at all, but in this case, I am required to specify them.


texts: Is "Five dollars is all I have" correct?

texts:
I want to emphasize that I only have 5 dollars, so can I use the sentence:

  Five dollars is all I have.

Or must it be:

  Five dollars are all I have.

Please give the explanation as well.


texts: Using the oxford comma to separate two entities of which one has an article

texts:
Considering that I do not want to switch the positions of the italicized nouns in this sentence:
"Taken as examples are the Limboagan effect, and hysteria."
Will it be correct to use the oxford comma to isolate the noun with the definite article to the other noun with zero article?


texts: Is “Mecca” capitalized when used figuratively?

texts:
Waleed made his pilgrimage to Mecca.

This is a given.
But I would write:

  Bombay is India’s entertainment mecca

Is this correct, or is Mecca capitalized in its figurative use, as well?


texts: An adjective that describes written form of something without technical details?

texts:
I recently posted this comment on a question in StackOverflow:

  This is my personal opinion, but I think that this is an advanced enough topic that anyone looking for a reusable solution to cache optimization for dynamic graphs would benefit more greatly by tailoring a concrete code snippet to their particular use-case than by implementing a general explanation of the solution from scratch. (Emphasis added)

Initially I wanted to use the word "verbal" in the bolded section to imply there was no explicit code in the answer, but I realized that "verbal" implies spoken, not written.


texts:
I have been thinking about a title for a post on another website that I'd made all day. At first, I had worded it like, "Reasons That [character one's name here] and [character two's name here] Are Similar", but I started thinking about it, and I thought that maybe "Reasons How" would be best here?

I'm not sure... Can someone help me and explain to me which one is grammatically correct?


texts: What does "from Point A to Point B" mean in this sentence?

texts:
I've read a text on http://www.nytimes.com and a sentence from it confused me a lot.

  I didn’t understand then that I had used him, too, to learn how to get
  from Point A to Point B again, and, let’s be honest, to simply eat at
  times.

What does "from Point A to Point B" mean in the above sentence? Now that it's a text about love and the lovers fell into love and finally parted with each other, I thinks the Point A here should refer to "the process they fell into love", while Point B means "the result that they parted". Am I right in this?

Considering that you might lack the context, here is the text:

Getting to that safe place


texts: What is the archaic Canadian word for a chesterfield throwover?

texts:
So in a casual conversation with other Canadian writers, I asked the question because I was told by my parents that there was a specific word used by their parents for the throwover you place on the chesterfield.  I asked my parents and they said they forgot.  The writers I was talking with said that they knew of this word too but also forgot.

Perhaps someone here knows.  What is that word?  I have to assume that this word was used in the first half of the 20th century.


texts:
I need to measure if someone sends status updates about their current activity.

The best I came up with was “Status Update Frequency”.

Does this describe that measurement? Is there a simpler term? (I'm not a native English speaker.)


texts:
Imagine a time when a woman tells you "I'm trying to stay clear of you...", may it carry any positive kind of meaning? Or this sentence is just showing that the one saying this phrase is trying not to get close to you and has totally a negative meaning? Or in other words you are annoying...?
I'm asking this question to have a better idea of this phrase and what it really means.


texts:
I read this line in a book:

  The dried grass loads the wagon.

As far as I know it should be passive:

  The dried grass is loaded the wagon.

I have never seen this structure that something loads something. Always the subject of this structure is a person:

  David loads the wagon.

Can anybody tell me in the first quote what is the meaning of "to load"?


texts:
I don't know if many of you watched the new Matt Damon movie Hereafter. Near the end of the movie, the little boy who lost his twin brother meets Matt Damon in the Book reading room, and says something like: "Hey, I know you, you are a sight[?]". Indeed, I'm missing the word between the brackets, how did he refer to a medium?

He said something like sightkey, sightkick, sightsikh, but none of these are the correct words, I've tried looking it up on the Internet but I'm truly unable to come across this synonym.

Can you help?


texts: Is there a difference between "cheers" and "thanks" in colloquial British English?

texts:
In colloquial British English today you hear "Cheers" (to mean "thank you") more often than "Thanks."

Is the choice of one or the other determined by regional, class, or education differences, or is there some vague distinction in meaning or implication, or is this just one of those random things?


texts: Why is "the" used before "smoke" in this sentence?

texts:
Dalinar charged through the smoke, trusting in his padded armor and thick boots to protect him.

In that passage, there was no mention of smoke before. It was introduced in this line only but it was written before that it was a burning field where the action was happening. My question is, why 'the' is used before smoke?


texts: A word for 'monotonous' or 'repetitive' with a positive connotation

texts:
For some time I have been looking for a word that describes a repetitive or monotonous task in a positive light. In particular, some people find simple tasks like grocery shopping, counting pennies, or making highly detailed drawings to be soothing. The closest thing I've found to such a word is the phrase 'comfortingly repetitive.' Synonyms for 'monotonous,' 'comforting,' 'soothing,' and 'repetitive' have turned up nothing close.
A vaguely related word might be 'stereotypy,' though this word is a noun that (negatively) describes a pathological behavior, whereas I am looking for a positive adjective. Maybe someone with a stereotypy would describe the tasks they do using the sought-after word.
A noun for a 'comfortingly repetitive task' would also be helpful, so long as it had a positive connotation.


texts: What is the origin of "choke in the clutch"?

texts:
I've seen this phrase in several sports stories recently, and I believe it goes back several decades. The phrase can probably be broken into two parts: choke and clutch.

I know choking refers to failing in a critical situation. I'm curious how that term came about when we don't see people physically choking (or do we?) when they lose their composure or mess up. Clutch probably originated in baseball ("clutch hitter"), but the Wikipedia article links clutch to a car's transmission (timing?). I disagree and would consider this link a folk etymology. Instead, clutch is synonymous with pinch (i.e. putting pressure on something).

It seems that baseball used the terms clutch and pinch interchangeably at the start of the 20th century, but I'm not sure if they're still equivalent today. It would make sense for other sports to borrow from baseball, though no additional examples come to mind.

Can anyone shed some light on how far back this expression goes and the terms it uses?

My source is Lajoie's Official Base Ball Guide (1906), which provides some definitions on page 51.


texts:
Of course, I am not a native English speaker nor a good one (or at least not as good as I would like to be). I know there are some differences between UK and US English, but, from my perspective, they aren't fundamental differences (I probably mix them, unfortunately).

My question arises from the fact that there is a great effort these days to make websites available in as many languages as possible. As I am a technical person, I know how hard is it to do this. So, is this worth it? Does it matter for a native English speaker whether is it UK or US English?


texts: Pronouncing the "N" as separate syllable at the end of words like "known" and "pattern"

texts:
Over time, I have heard people pronounce the "n" on words like "known" (NO-en) and "pattern" (PAT-r-en), as though it were a separate syllable. The instances of my hearing such have been rare ones, but I can't help but think this is a remnant of some regional dialect, or perhaps due to European roots.

Where did this pronunciation originate?


texts: What do you call those divisions of a book bigger than a paragraph but smaller than a chapter?

texts:
In printed books, or at least in novels, there are often major breaks within a chapter more important than paragraphs.

Often they are separated by a greater amount of whitespace than paragraphs and sometimes this whitespace will contain special symbols such as ⁂ or * * * or even a custom symbol.

So is there a specific term for these, perhaps used by authors or in the publishing industry? Or are the more general terms like section and subchapter the best we have? Some online sources at least seem to say this is used for subdivisions smaller than a subchapter, which doesn't help much.


texts: Is there a standard for English print writing?

texts:
I want to know the 'correct' or 'standard' way to write print if there is one.

For example;
hook vs loop in lowercase g,
hook vs loop vs straight line in lowercase q,
horizontal bar vs no bar in uppercase J,
etc.


texts:
Apparently, when a gentleman has forgotten to zip his pants, in the US they remind him thusly

  Your fly is open

Dictionary.com lists the noun fly meaning: 20. a strip of material sewn along one edge of a garment opening for concealing buttons, zippers, or other fasteners.

But in the UK a trouser zipper is also called flies,

  Your flies are open

Huffington Post, edition UK, has the following title in their light-hearted article dealing with the social faux pas:

  “Your Flies Are Undone!”

The article then mentions a British euphemism that was commonly heard before WWII that signalled the gentleman to fasten the buttons on his trousers.

  “There’s a star in the East”

The British writer, and The Times journalist Philip Howard, seems to confirm the validity of this phrase.

Questions

Are the terms  "fly" and "flies" interchangeable? Are Americans and British generally aware of the two expressions?
What is the origin of "fly" and "flies" (i.e. men's zippers)?


texts:
In Chinese, when we want to express the idea of "change A which is erroneous to B which is correct", we usually say "correct A to B"; very concise, right? But is it the proper way to express that meaning?

If so, please cite a web page containing that expression; if not, present the correct way please and cite a web page too.


texts:
Is it proper English to make a statement such as the one below?

  I am train averse.

As a native English speaker, it seems to be correct but when I take a closer look at the structure, it doesn't seem like a grammatically correct sentence.


texts: Is “There are perks, but there’s also baggage” a popular English adage?

texts:
I was interested in a phrase “There are perks, but there’s also baggage” in the following passage of Washington Post (March 7) article that came under the title, “Marco Rubio Implodes On Super Saturday.”

  “Here’s a hard truth for the D.C. political class: There’s almost no
  appetite at the grassroots level for an establishment nominee this
  year, and Rubio is now undeniably the establishment candidate. There
  are perks that come from being the establishment’s guy – the most
  money, seasoned staff, etc. – but there’s also baggage. This year more
  than ever. Super Saturday results show Rubio collapsing, Trump
  stoppable and Cruz gaining momentum.”

We Japanese have an idiom, “損得両用” meaning “There are both merit (profit) and demerit (loss),” and expressing possibly the same idea with “There are perks, but there’s also baggage” in four characters.

I’m curious to know whether “There are perks, but there’s also baggage” a quite common turn of phrase that I can use elsewhere with confidence of its currency, or just a creation of the writer.


texts: Why "go to the movies" and not "go to a movie"

texts: Why do we use Do you ever go to the movies?  and not Do you ever go to a movie? Is the latter also correct?


texts: What makes 'St-n-c-tt-r' a 'smirking pun'?

texts:
This passage comes from Walter Isaacson's “Benjamin Franklin: An American Life.”:

  Franklin wrote about a husband who caught his wife in bed with a man
  named Stonecutter, tried to cut off the interloper’s head with a
  knife, but only wounded him. Franklin ends with a smirking pun about
  castration: ... Some people admire that when the person offended had so
  fair and suitable opportunity, it did not enter his head to turn
  St-n-c-tt-r himself.

The above passage can be found in Google Book here: https://books.google.com.au/books?id=aWwUBAAAQBAJ&lpg=PA425&ots=O1Kchfi-2t&dq=St-n-c-tt-r&pg=PA425#v=onepage&q=St-n-c-tt-r&f=false

The complete listing of the original Benjamin Franklin's article: http://www.historycarper.com/1731/06/17/a-certain-st-n-c-tt-r/

I don't quite get how St-n-c-tt-r works as a pun here. How does the spelling of St-n-c-tt-r relates to the act of castration? Did Franklin use the absence of some character to mock the removal of the body part of the victim? Or is there something deeper to it?


texts: Which preposition should follow the adjective 'learned'?

texts:
Consider the definition of learned (as an adjective) as provided by the Cambridge Dictionary:

  A learned person has studied for a long time and has a lot of knowledge

I am interested in the case that is followed by a preposition. For example:

  He is learned in/on/about mathematics

Which preposition should be used after the adjective learned as in the above example?


texts:
I am unable to find the correct answer. Please advise which one is correct?

Seek help from Mr.A
Seek for help from Mr.B


texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  Should I put a comma before the last item in a list?

In the following example, should there be a comma?

John has a car, and a motorbike.
John has a car and a motorbike.

Are both correct? What about the first sentence with comma?

Edit:

I have been told that I should use comma to join two complete sentences. So I'm confused if "a motorbike" really considered a complete sentence?


texts: Translation for Dutch "tot en met": until and including?

texts:
In Dutch language we use the expression "tot en met" to signify a quantity between two measures including the last measure. So, for instance, the following:

woensdag 22 juni tot en met vrijdag 24 juni

... would mean:

Wednesday the 22nd of June until and including Friday the 24th of June, whereas:

woensdag 22 juni tot vrijdag 24 juni

... would mean:

Wednesday the 22nd of June until but not including Friday the 24th of June

I'm unsure of what the correct expression would be in English language to imply the former.

Is either until or maybe through enough perhaps? Or is there some other term which expresses this more correctly?


texts: Structure of "the talk was of 'smart' sanctions"

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From an article named "Iran’s nuclear programme: A red line and a reeling rial":

  SIX YEARS ago, when America and Europe were putting in place the first raft of measures to press Iran to come clean over its nuclear ambitions, the talk was of “smart” sanctions.

Does "The talk was of 'smart' sanctions" mean "It's the talk of the 'smart' sanctions"? It's the first time I have ever seen this turn of phrase. I mean, of course I know "He can be of help" means "He can be helpful", but they are not the same case here, are they? I would like to know more about its structure.


texts: Colon between "that is" and formal definition

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Is it appropriate to use "that is" followed by a colon when defining something formally? I have the following example:

Let γ be the set of groups that hold variables accessed by C, that is:
γ = {g : ∃v accessed by C, such that v ∈ g}.

Would that be appropriate in terms of punctuation and style?


texts: "Continuous walk" or "Continuous walking"?

texts:
The full sentence is
"30 minutes of continuous Walk."
or
"30 Minutes of Continuous Walking."

Thanks.


texts: So I know that in modern English, the word "google" is considered a proper verb now. Can the same be said for the word "tweet" (i.e. to post a 140-char message to Twitter)?


texts:
What are the differences between "scream", "shout" and "yell"?

My first impression from Webster's definitions was that "shouting" is more like uttering loudly something meaningful (like "Crowds shouted slogans during the protest") while "screaming" is more like uttering loudly something more emotional than anything meaningful and, therefore, often doing it sharply or in harsh high tones (like "The crowd screamed with excitement"). But then I checked the definition of "yell" and got totally confused.


texts: Why does the sentence "Glimpses do ye seem to see of that (...) ?" starts with 'glimpses' instead of with regular 'do'?

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I cannot make much sense of glimpses in the following passage from Moby-Dick:

Know ye now, Bulkington? Glimpses do ye seem to see of that mortally intolerable truth; that all deep, earnest thinking is but the intrepid effort of the soul to keep the open independence of her sea; while the wildest winds of heaven and earth conspire to cast her on the treacherous, slavish shore?

Why did Melville begin this somewhat lengthy question with glimpses instead of with do?
The following would make more sense to me:

Do ye seem to see that mortally intolerable truth;(...)?

The research I've done so far does not clear up anything to me.


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A ringing of the bell in, say, the kitchen might be caused by the mistress calling for service from upstairs, but it might also caused by someone pulling the wire in an intervening room.

What do pulling the wire and intervening room mean in that sentence?


texts: When is "Mains" or "grid" no longer the correct electrical term?

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In a related question about the term for "mains" in the US (here), it was determined to be more often called a "grid" or "line-power".

My question is: If in let's say a customized car, that uses 12v, 120v, 24v, and the normal 5v for accessories, are all of them considered "mains"? If I build a robot that runs on 12v, but put in voltage regulator for parts that require 5v, are those still the mains?

In shorter, is "Mains" a standard for the whole grid regardless of voltage, or only the main rail before the voltage jumps or drops?

I'm sorry if this belongs in another section, I just thought I'd put it in the same as the related category.


texts: Do I need to include the preposition "with" in the sentence below

texts:
Our professional, personable staff is committed to providing you the best services and support.

Shouldn't it be:
Our professional, personable staff is committed to providing you with the best services and support.