texts: What is "which" referring to in the following sentence?

texts:
In the following sentence, I'm confused about what "through which" refers to.

Following these transformations, companies brought market mechanisms
into their internal functioning on a massive scale, as attested by
waves of outsourcing, the dismantling of conglomerates, efforts to
refocus on their core business, the hiring of temporary workers, and
the emergence of global value chains, through which a myriad of
independent firms contribute to the production of a single product.

Considering the textual meaning, I presume which refers to the emergence of global value chains, but I'm not sure why comma is used between "global value chains" and "a myriad of independent firms contribute to the production of a single product".
That makes me confused whether "which" refers to the word right before "through which" or "which" refers to the whole sentence that came before "through which".
Could you give some tips on this?
Thank you in advance.


texts: How should I use the phrasal verb “to d**k around”?

texts:
To waste time

  Stop dicking me around and get to the point.
  Would you please stop dicking around with her?

  To take advantage of

  You're dicking him around, you know?
  Don't dick around with her.

As far as I know, this meaning can be used with this structure dick someone around and dick around with someone.

My actual question is about the structure. If dick someone around and dick around with someone could be used with the example meanings. I didn’t type any more meanings because I only know these meanings.


texts: What's the origin of the phrase "fresh off the back"?

texts: I often come across this phrase "fresh off the back of something" and although I could never find it in a dictionary, I figured out it means "right after something" but what does it really mean "off the back"? Why is the word "back" used in this phrase?


texts: Does 'invidious' imply hatred/malice for 'envy'?

texts:
invidious (adj) =  (Of an action or situation) likely to arouse or incur resentment or anger in others
Etymology: c.1600, from Latin invidiosus "full of envy, envious," from invidia "envy, grudge, jealousy, ill will" (see envy)
envy (noun)= A feeling of discontented or resentful longing aroused by someone else’s possessions, qualities, or luck

The definition of invidious centres around hatred/malice, but because invidious's etymology follows from envy, would someone please elucidate and explain if envy has ever meant hatred/malice? If not, then how did invidious connote hatred?
I am aware of the "Etymological Fallacy", but I'd like to know if the term invidious reveals another possible connotation of envy that I've overlooked until now.  Does the stated discontented or resentful longing for envy imply hatred/malice?


texts:
I wonder when verbs like think or know are followed by that; I encountered both forms, is there a difference?

For example,

  I know that he did it. // I know he did it.

Are the two sentences both correct?


texts: Alternative way to communicate "Fill Rate"

texts:
I am working with customers in an app that helps them visualize where their products are in the order management process. Recently with some testing I discovered that the users were confused by the status stage titled "Fill Rate". When explored further with users a pattern emerged where I found out that the terms "fill rate" didn't mean anything to them.

I expanded on the issue with users and unfortunately didn't come up with a clear verbiage to properly communicate what this stage is. Does anyone have any recommendations?


texts: What is the word for when one refers to another's action to lessen the severity of their own?

texts:
Suppose Person A is accused of an act, which in this case is a hate crime. Person A then points to the actions of Person B, who has committed similar but a more severe form of that action.

This is used by Person A to lessen the severity of their action by referring to Person B.

Ex. Person A has referred to an African American using a derogatory, racist term. When accused as a racist, person A states "Well, Person B has been using this all the time and no one says anything to him/her!"


texts: Would I need a gerund to make this sentence correct?

texts:
I have lived my entire life in the United States, and to learn more
  about the life my parents had lived as children was an incredible experience.

However, I then asked, "What was an incredible experience?" I realized that there is no noun to define what the experience was. Therefore, would I have to replace "to learn" with the gerund "learning"? Or is the sentence above completely fine? If it is already correct, why?

I feel as if the "to learn more about the life..." does not suffice as a subject for the latter independent clause in the sentence.


texts:
What is it called when you're living with your boyfriend/girlfriend but you are not married yet?

What is it called when a couple decides they don't want to get married but plays the role of a married couple?


texts:
What is a clustermug? I could not find the word in a dictionary.

  Duke stopped laughing, but he was still smiling. Unabashed. "It's a clustermug," he said.

The quote is from the novel Under the Dome by Stephen King.


texts:
Which one is correct in what case?

I have found someone suggesting that you use "at" for organizations and "in" for fields or disciplines, e.g.,

  I've got an internship at NATO, and he's got an internship at Red Hat, but she's going for an internship in engineering.

These are clear, but there are corner cases less clear to me. For instance, would you say:

"I've got an internship at the department of psychiatry at a hospital in Boston"; or
"I've got an internship in the department of psychiatry at a hospital in Boston"?

...since here we are speaking of a place, however the emphasis lies on the discipline. Or are both fine?


texts: Theories/reasoning without a unique outcome

texts:
I'm looking for a better word than, eg "ambiguous" or "undecidable" to describe theories or reasoning processes that do not point to a unique outcome (or possibly, that cannot be proved).

Some colloquial expressions come close, eg "double edged sword", "cuts both ways", but these suggest binary outcomes rather than open-endedness.

Examples of situations that raise a suspicion that such a "state" exists as described in the title above, and that we need (or must in human experience have) a word for it, are:

Various aspects of CG Jung's theory of mind, where forces pointing in different directions can be identified, but how to assess or weigh them up, and what outcome may follow, cannot.
Various legal tests which specify a list of factors to be taken into account, but how these are to be assessed or weighed up, and what outcome may follow, is not prescribed.  The "fair use" doctrine in US copyright law is an example, but there are many others around the world.

Perhaps the answer is that these situations involve intuition rather than reasoning, but most experts who purport to apply reasoning in these kinds of circumstances would be offended by that suggestion.

Any thoughts?


texts: Are “bunk” and “bunker” directly related?

texts:
When did the term bunk (in the sense of sleeping berth) arise, and what if any connection does it have to the noun bunker?

Merriam-Webster's Eleventh Collegiate Dictionary (2003) gives a first occurrence date of 1758 for bunk (in the sense of "bunk bed") and observes that bunk is "prob. short for bunker"; but that dictionary’s first occurrence date for bunker is 1839—which is 81 years after the first occurrence date that it reports for the noun bunk. MW also gives a first occurrence date of 1840 for the verb bunk (defined as “to occupy a bunk or bed”).

My copy of the Oxford English Dictionary (1985), in contrast, gives a first occurrence date for the noun bunk of 1815, and a first occurrence date for the noun bunker of 1758; but it reports that the noun bunk is “Of unknown etymology.” The OED’s first instance of the verb bunk is from 1861.

Can you shed any light on when bunk and bunker arose, and whether one is responsible for the other?


texts: "Sorry excuse for a" VS "Sorry excuse of a"?

texts:
Which of the two is the correct sentence:

You are a sorry excuse of a magician

OR

You are a sorry excuse for a magician

If both applies, then what is the difference between the two and when should we use one or the other?


texts:
I was reading in Wall Street Journal that says:

  ..., the company BlackBerry just doesn't cut it anymore.

What does the phrase mean?


texts: simple word choice ,unabridged or unedited version

texts:
I don't know I whether I need to use unabridged version or unedited version for a radio podcast. Please explain the difference.

Also, is "said" the right word in the clause below?

"As he said in unabridged/unedited edition,...".


texts: What is the difference between 'To study English is not easy' and 'Studying English is not easy'?

texts:
What is the difference (nuance) between these two sentences?

'To study English is not easy.'
'Studying English is not easy.'


texts:
I have been accused of a lack of reading comprehension in the following statement:
Irgun later on became part of the "Jewish authorities", specifically the IDF by a self-professed wordsmith.
To me, it basically states that Irgun became the IDF and I have been taken to task for that interpretation. However, I can see no alternative.


texts: Journalism style with too many personal anecdotes and too much subjectiveness

texts:
Is there a specific term in English for the journalism trend of attempting to create an intimate, relatable "personal experience" while telling all kinds of stories instead of just reporting the relevant facts in an impersonal fashion?

I'm talking about written pieces and TV reports that go in circles with personal anecdotes, interviews with non-experts, and so on.

For example, I recently saw on TV a report on utility bills that started with a reporter sitting at somebody's kitchen table, with all their bills scattered over the table, and he proceeded to talk about this person's struggles to pay them. I'm contrasting this to a general plain report on utility bill figures and stats without relying on emotion.


texts: Differentiate between different types of...: is it acceptable in written English?

texts:
Would be acceptable in written (academic paper) English to write "Differentiate between different types of ...". I once was harshly criticized when I wrote in the paper:  "Participants experienced the experience of ...".

Many thanks.


texts: What's the difference between "Cross Country Running" and "Trail Running"?

texts: "Trail running" shoes differs markedly from "road running" shoes and "track running" shoes. I can understand these categories. But I also found an event entitled "Cross Country Running Event". Can the "Cross Country Running Event" be treated as "Trail Running Event"?


texts:
Keep in mind that neither "A" nor "B" will change; only "C".
  Keep in mind that neither "A" will change nor "B"; only "C".
  Keep in mind that "C" will change ; but neither "A" nor "B" will.
  Keep in mind that "C" will change ; but "A" and"B" will not.

What is the correct way?
Further suggestions are much appreciated.
Thanks.


texts: What's the expression for the port of boarding of a flight?

texts:
What would be an appropriate formal expression to describe the place from which the plane is going to take off?

For e.g. a flight travels from London, Heathrow (LHR) to New Delhi, Delhi Indira Gandhi International Airport (DEL).

Terms I am thinking of are:

1) Port of departure (LHR), city of departure (London)
2) Port of boarding (LHR), city of boarding (London)
On the itinerary, usually short forms are used and the airport and city from which the plane is going to take off are listed under a column named 'DEP'.

But is there a term used in the airline industry for this?


texts: Which word is better to use in the sentence

texts: Which word is  it better to use in this phrase: “A few generations ago people with rheumatism used to carry hot potatos in their pockets as a means of ( cure / recovery)”. I’m confused and I  think both words are possible here. But I  have to choose  between “ cure “ and “ recovery “.


texts: Is there a word for when someone tells you to do what you're already doing?

texts: Is there a word that describes when someone tells you to do the thing that you are already doing?  It seems there should be a word for that.  Or at least there should be a word for it so that you can tell people to stop doing it to you.


texts: Is “curiouser” in fact a word (like in the famous phrase “curiouser and curiouser”)?


texts: I'm looking for a word/term that describes someone who creates conflicts that don't exist

texts: I have heard of people who create conflicts (non-violent) in their minds (and nowhere else) with other people that don't exist (the conflicts don't exist, not the people involved) and for no particular reason.  I remember seeing a word with that definition and I cannot remember it.


texts: noun+adverb or adjective+adverb or adverb+adverb

texts:
There was a sentence and it ended with this:
(bla bla bla) ______ equally.
And the options are:

Exception.
Exceptional.
Exceptionally.

I wish I could provide the whole context, but this is all I can remember from my previous test.
Anyway, I chose exceptionally equally which sounds awkward to me. It doesn't matter to know the previous words, I mean, my point of my question is which one precedes the adverb "equally"?


texts: Idiom for something that is well designed but not commercially viable?

texts: Is there a word for something that has been well-designed, looks good but can't sell. This can be an object or an idea..


texts: How to pronounce the family name "Penhallow"

texts: How to pronounce the family name Penhallow? I'm translating the story "A Tangled Web" by L. M. Montgomery into Russian.


texts: What does ‘short but concise’ or ‘short yet concise’ mean?

texts:
If a text is short and concise at the same time, I would expect it to be referred to as ‘short and concise’, because concise implies short.

There are, however, quite a few occurrences of ‘short but concise’ and ‘short yet concise’ online. Is that kind of usage grammatical? What does it mean?

It sounds to me like ‘dark but black’, meaning ‘despite being dark it is black’, which does not make sense. (I’m not a native speaker.) Is there any reasoning behind ‘short yet concise’ that I’m missing?

P.S. Here is a random example (source).

  Please provide a short yet concise brief overview of your project. e.g service required, web design, SEO, e-commerce etc, as well as your project objectives, goals, audience demographic, and potential budget.


texts:
In a particular episode of The Big Bang Theory, Sheldon shows Amy how along the years he has hoarded every single thing he has ever encountered or used in life (basically from the past like books, games, PCs).

I believe this is OCD, but I wanted to know the particular name of the OCD. Searching online I have encountered, "Compulsive Hoarding," but it seems too generic given that it is from the point of view in hoarding everything not essential items from the past.

"Compulsive Hoarding" is more of hoarding everything and not essentials from the past.

If anyone could help me with this.


texts: How to say one person does not share another person's fascination with either of two topics (using "neither...nor")?

texts:
A is fascinated with reading and writing.
B is not.

This is the sentence structure I want to use but I'm not sure if it is possible:

"B shares A's fascination with neither reading nor writing."

This sounds as if we are talking about sharing one object with another, like B sharing A's toys with neither Jack nor Jill.

So is there a way to use this sentence structure or have to break them up?

thanks


texts: "the other two of which" or "the other two"?

texts:
Is "the other two of which" in the following sentence correct?

"Neurons may be categorized into four types, two of which are strengthened and rise to dominance, while the other two of which are weakened and become negligible."

Or should we omit "of which"? I.e.

"Neurons may be categorized into four types, two of which are strengthened and rise to dominance, while the other two are weakened and become negligible."

The former seems more grammatically correct to me, but I'm not so sure.


texts: What is equivalent of "pottakkannente Maaveleru" means blindman throwing stones in a waterless well, but he thinks he is throw stones at mango tree

texts:
What is equivalent of Indian saying "pottakkannente Maaveleru" means while actually the blind man is throwing stones in a waterless well (a job in vain), but he thinks he is throw stones at mango tree (where he will get mangos in return. mangoes are suppose to be valuable)

Example:

A expat community (from India) in a foreign country (say USA) is discussing about their home country rate (USD vs Indian Rupees) exchange rate). Everyone says the current exchange rate will remain the same (not exactly beneficial to the expat community). A person among them predicts that by end of the month the rate will increase (he does not have any proof or rationale) and so what he means is the expat community can get a better rate and end up earning better deal than today. One another skeptic amongst them say "pottakkannente Maaveleru" which in this context mean he is shooting in the air (same as stoning in a waterless well - no result) and that the rate will not improve (not benefit the expats).

Now according to the skeptic, but like a blind man the predictor's see himself stoning at the mango tree (which means predictor thinks his prediction will be true). The skeptic indirectly means that the predictor does not have any basis to say what he is predicting.

Importantly the general meaning is that

  if his prediction comes true it is a fluke and if not than like any politician he will vanish into obscurity when the day comes.


texts:
I need grammatical explanations for the following two sentence structures:

  The mistakes children make in learning to speak tell linguists more about how children learn language than do the correct forms they use.
  Freedman's survey showed that people living in small towns and rural areas consider themselves no happier than do people living in big cities.

If noticed, would someone explain me why "do" appears after "than" in the both of the sentences above?

So, would it be correct if I say, "You explain it more clearly than do I"?


texts: Idioms for a 'obvious' or 'needs no explanation'

texts:
I need to find an idiom for the following situation.

I am talking to the HR department about a particular policy. I did not know about the policy beforehand and HR had never explained it to me. For HR people, all the policies are obvious, I presume.

I want to say to HR:

  HR people discuss HR policies with employees on a daily basis and so for them the relevant facts are very obvious or need no explanation but for me they are completely new

I want to replace obvious or needs no explanation with an idiom or phrase.


texts: Usage of "might" and "would" to indicate doubt

texts:
Do the sentences

  She might be only 28, but Jodie
  Whittaker....

and

  My parents would have walked along the
  Barrow

wrongly suggest doubt, or are they normal usage? Are there names for these constructions?
Taken from An Irishman's Diary.

I googled "would have spent their time".
Many cases were counterfactuals ("... otherwise they would have spent their time...”)
But plenty simply describe past events, as the in the usage sited above.
I couldn't detect a regional bias.
As an Irish-English speaker this usage is unremarkable.

For example, I might say

  This is the exact spot where Caesar
  would have crossed the Rubicon

I think the intention is to evoke the event rather than just record it.


texts: Does this past perfect tense mean ‘completion’ or ‘continuity’ of his doing?

texts:
In years to come, Harry would never quite remember how he had managed
  to get through his exams when he half expected Voldemort to come
  bursting through the door at any moment. Yet the days crept by, and
  there could be no doubt that Fluffy was still alive and well behind
  the locked door.

  It was sweltering hot, especially in the large classroom where they
  did their written papers. They had been given special, new quills for
  the exams, which had been bewitched with an Anti-Cheating spell.
  (Harry Potter)

Does the past perfect tense mean ‘completion’ or ‘continuity’ of his doing? Consulting MacMillan dictionary, if I understand ‘get through’ as ‘deal with something difficult,’ it seems like having the meaning of ‘continuity,’ yet as ‘finish doing something,’ it seems like ‘completion.’


texts: Is "On January 17th our team had represented" correct English?

texts:
My team recently posted a status update,

  On January 17th, our team had represented [organization name] at [place].

Though I am unable to explain why (I have never formally learned tenses), I am convinced that the 'had represented' part of the sentence is incorrect, or at the very least weird-sounding English (I'm open to being proven wrong). I have tried bringing it up but all it brought about was an endless argument.

Someone claimed that the sentence is formatted in past perfect tense, referencing this page: http://www.englishpage.com/verbpage/pastperfect.html

I am sensing a difference between the formatting of the question and the examples of past perfect tense given in the page, but I can't quite point it out convincingly.

Is the status correctly written?

As a side note, does it matter if it's British or American English?


texts: A word for a question that in fact consist of two more particular questions?

texts:
The question I have asked is "what is A's bearing on B?". But the question in fact involves two separate questions, it is both about A's positive bearing on B and A's negative bearings on B. What such a question is called? For example what should be put in the following blank space?

  Does A has any bearing on B? The question is ..., involving both the positive and the negative bearings A might have on B.

The words I have come up with so far are two-sided and twofold. But I am not sure if they are good enough.


texts: What's the name of the part of the dentist's chair used for pouring water into a glass so the patient can wash his/her mouth?


texts: What does "he got to the job by drinking rocket fuel" mean?

texts:
The following is a quote from the CNN news:

  I just don't see how the leopard changes his spots," said one GOP operative, who declined to be named because this person didn't want to appear to be rooting against the President. "He got to the job by drinking rocket fuel, and now people are wondering if he can sit down and delegate and be a responsible executive.

What does he mean by saying "he got to the job by drinking rocket fuel"?


texts: What do I call a person who reads documentation or guides in a cursory or superficial manner?

texts: What do I call a person who reads documentation, guides or tutorials in a cursory or superficial manner, i.e. without doing so thoroughly?


texts: Should I use the word "that" in a sentence when it is not required?

texts:
In this sentence

  My sister told me that she didn't want pancakes for breakfast.

The sentence would still make sense even if the word "that" is taken out. How would one decide to use the word "that" in a sentence? Is it considered better writing when "that" is not used when it is not required?


texts: Is "kindly reminder" a correct expression?

texts:
Can I use the phrase "kindly reminder" to remind of something?
I saw people using it, but it doesn't seem to be grammatically correct.


texts: What is the difference between these conditionals?

texts:
It's often said that non-native speakers have a poor understanding of the English tenses. I'm not one to disagree, but on the whole I've always thought tenses weren't that hard, until I got to the conditionals and the subjunctive. Since trying to learn a bit more about them, I've gotten really lost. At this point, I'm trying to understand the differences between these four "constructions":

If ever there were to be held a vote on X
If ever there was to be held a vote on X
If ever one were to hold a vote on X
If ever we'd (decide to) hold a vote on X

For clarity: I'll be refering to these examples as "constructions", when I mention an "action", I'm talking about the verb or word group that follows the auxiliary verb(s). In the examples, the action, then, is to hold a vote.
I'm thinking these constructions are expressing four different things:

Whatever follows this, will deal with the outcome of this hypothetical action. Even so, the action is likely never to take place. Something like: "If ever there were to be held a vote on the intelligence of sheep, The international community would really think we've lost the plot".
This , to me, expresses that at some point in time, it would have been possible for the action to take place, but it didn't. Though the rest of the sentence deals with the run-up to that action in a sort of know-it-all, historian trying to put things into context sort of way. "If ever there was to be an all-out nuclear war, the Cuba crises was when that would've happend, and people were truly terrified."
Simply expressing something that is, in theory possible, but will never become reality. The action is either tedious, requires too much effort or authority you don't have: "If one were to get every able bodied person to jump down on the ground at the same time, the resulting earthquake would be massive"
Same as 3, only in this case, it would be possible to undertake the action, but either its outcome is considered a given, or it's possible that the result of that action is something one would avoid, so it's never going to happen. It's a phrase that a politician might say: "If ever we'd hold a vote on our raising taxes, people would be livid, we'd get the first unanimous result in democratic history and never get re-elected again"

I'd like to know if I'm completely wrong here, and what these conditionals mean to the native speakers. Some sort of reliable on-line resource on the matter would be most helpful, too.


texts:
I'm not sure if I need an 'it' in this sentence.

With 'it':

  I believe that it has a great potential to propel the progress of
  computing and it can significantly change the way we interact with
  computers and other devices.

Without 'it':

  I believe that it has a great potential to propel the progress of
  computing and can significantly change the way we interact with
  computers and other devices.

Do the two sentences sound the same? Do I need an 'it' or is it redundant?

Thanks for your time!


texts:
What is the difference between huge and big?

For example:

  He made a huge difference to the team.
  He made a big difference to the team.

Is there a difference in meaning?


texts: I am looking for ways to say "low class" and "high class" that would be used in the 1920's on the East Coast of the U.S.  I am writing a story narrated by a young girl who is very class-conscious and embarrassed by her family's poverty.  I can use many time-appropriate ways to describe status.  Thank you!


texts:
The situation I am thinking of is where someone within a company runs queries on a database and formats the information (with or without commentary) into a report.

Is there a single word that describes such a person?

I was originally thinking reporter but that seems too tied to the profession: a reporter is a type of journalist who researches and presents information in certain types of mass media.

The word analyst seems to cover the with commentary part, but I would like to see if there is something else.


texts:
I am writing a research paper. It is about game design. Does this sentence blabber on?

  Throughout designing my game, I drew many concept pictures, but I would often go onto the Internet to search for images and videos of games that were currently on the market in order to compare them to the type of product I was aiming to create.

I feel as if it does.. :/


texts:
Suppose I want to use the phrase "many, many" to compound the "maniness" of the thing I'm describing.

There are many, many people.
The people (of which there are many, many)

The first one is standard, but the second one is contended. Can it be used in that way?
An example of one that wouldn't be so awkward is:

There are lots and lots of people.
The people (of which there are lots and lots)

Each one can be properly used in its singular form, but once repeated, one of them falls apart. Why?


texts:
Both nursery rhymes, selected by James Orchard for a folklore society in 1842, and collection of fairy stories which were written by Grimm Brothers, swiftly translated into English in 1823, soon rocket to popularity with the young, quickly leading to new editions.

Dose “Swiftly translated into English in 1823” modify both nursery rhymes and fairy stories? Or just modify collection of fairy stories.

And the same question, does “quickly leading to new editions.“ modify both of them or just fairy stories.

I’m appreciate for your help!


texts: What is the word for something close to you in a way that you want to have it?

texts:
Something that is conveniently close to you that makes you want to have it.
Example: the apple in the tree was ****ly close to me.

I just cannot remember the word. It is something along "tentatively" or "tenacious".


texts: Is the correct phrase 'never has so many people' or never have so many people'?

texts: I can't see the logic in choosing one over the other. What I read in a news article was ' never has.... Thanks


texts: "Enter a market" vs. "break into a market"

texts: Could you please shed light on the difference, if any, between "enter" vs. "break into" a market? Are they synonyms and interchangeable, or does the latter of the two imply more force?


texts: What word can I use when I need help to accomplish my task?

texts: What is a word that I can use when that I need help to accomplish my task? For example, a situation where I want to learn another language and I am in need for native speakers of that language to help me.


texts: A word for an inescapable and pointless situation?

texts:
I've heard this word used before but I can't remember it!

I've heard it used to describe wars like Iraq and Vietnam. Something you can't escape easily and is causing large problems, like a pit? Here is an example:

  The American government has decided to pour extra money into the war in Iraq, unable to escape the ______ it has entered.


texts:
What does "for all their colour" mean in the following sentence?

  Standing immobile throughout the day, these vivid objects, with their
  fantastic shadows on the wall behind them shifting and elongating hour
  by hour with the sun's rotation, exuded a kind of darkness for all
  their colour.

Excerpt from Gromenghast by Mervyn Peake.

I have not been able to find the meaning of this expression in online resources.


texts: How to punctuate an answer to a question when the answer is also a question?

texts:
The title to this question is sort of long-winded but the example here should clarify it.

Which of these is correct?

Who should be baby-sitting your children, your neighborhood teenagers or professionally trained people?
Who should be baby-sitting your children? Your neighborhood teenagers or professionally trained people?
Who should be baby-sitting your children? Your neighborhood teenagers? Or, professionally trained people?

I think option 1 is definitely wrong. Option 2 or 3 could both work but I am not sure.


texts:
He bought two books for her.
He bought the laptop for his nephew.
He bought the bananas for his sons.

Thank you for your help. This question is about 'for her', 'for his nephew', and 'for his son'. They are prepositional phrases. By the way, what is the part of speech of each? Are they adverbial phrases or adjective phrases?


texts: "can't afford to (or don't want to)" or "can't afford (or don't want) to"

texts:
Is one of the following preferable to the other:

can't afford to (or don't want to)

can't afford (or don't want) to


texts: Need help with comma placement in relation to sense of sentence

texts:
I'm puzzling over the following sentence from a chapter I'm proofreading:

"We all have homes, and jobs to go to in the morning."

My brief is to only make changes where it is absolutely necessary i.e. only if it is necessary in clarifying the sense, not simply improving the style.

I'm guessing the author probably put the comma in to clarify that the speaker is going to their home tonight and to their job the next morning. But I still think it doesn't quite work and will be a bit jarring for the reader.

Would the sense be clearer if it was changed to:
"We all have homes to go to and jobs in the morning." ?
(Does this need a comma before 'and'?)

If there is agreement that the original sentence is perfectly acceptable then I will just let it be!

Any help much appreciated.


texts: Standard searchable term for "in person" (of a meeting)

texts:
For example, if I were to search Google for support groups and wanted to filter out everything that wasn't in person, what word is my best choice?

The words "in" and "person" are individually too vague, so combined as a multiple word symbol seems less efficient as an identifiable category of meaning attribute.

This should be an adjective, replacing "in-person".
Probably a more accurate question would be what to do when you feel you're using an attribute that doesn't belong. Which is the case here. It's a reasoning problem not a language one. The category of adjective needs to change. Perhaps to a locale attribute, which would imply in-person.


texts: SAT grammar question, why "using" is incorrect?

texts:
SAT grammar question:

(It appears) that natural rubber was first processed (by) the ancient Mayan people, (using) it to make sandals, figurines, and even some rundimentary sports equipment. (No error)

The parentheses designate areas where the grammar of the sentence may be incorrect. You have to select the area which is in error (or select "No error" if there is no error in the sentence).

(using) is the error in the sentence.

Can someone explain why (using) is incorrect?


texts:
Should I say "xx is subject to hotel's confirmation" or "xx is subject to hotel confirmation"?

Thanks!


texts: Dropping a first person subject pronoun in a conditional sentence

texts:
Is it possible to drop the 'I' before the verb in a sentence where the object comes before the verb?
A few examples are:
If my journey (I) restart, then I do waste my time.
If my folders (I) delete, then I do lose my files.
This sentence structure strikes me as being unorthodox. I'd like to know whether or not it is acceptable, and if so, in which contexts.


texts: Word for outdoor area on the side of a ship

texts: What is the term for the narrow uncovered walkway that fringes the sides of a ship? It's enclosed by a railing. I wouldn't call it a deck, because deck implies a larger open area. It's a passageway from the bow to the stern, or between different decks.


texts: I’m stuck with a and the. What is the mental process to choose between them?

texts:
If the word isn’t specific, so need ’a’.
Or
If the word isn’t common, so need ’the’.

Which way your mental process works?


texts: What is the name for a person who betrays their country?

texts: A person or a group of people who betray their country, practises treason.


texts:
What does it mean when " would have " is used in if clause, according to the general form of the third conditional sentence - had + past participle is used with if clause .
But in this sentence -
" If I would have known it, I would have stayed at home.
What's the implication in such sentences


texts: Usage of indefinite articles in a sentence

texts:
Should we use articles highlighted in bold in the sentence below?

  A video, that not only engages but also impresses target audience with a unique story, worldwide achievements, touching revelation, and in the end, a new hope for a better future.


texts:
I've been living in Ireland for almost a year now and I start noticing they use the word "mens" a lot. I can see it used in:

Shops, to denote the area where you can find men's clothes
In sport, when they talk about "mens team".

My guess is just that they are lazy about the use of quotes, so that mens should actually be men's.
However, there may be some rule I'm not aware of. So, is "mens" only limited to Irish English? When I'm allowed to use it?


texts: Words that are members of multiple classes of words (without changing form)

texts:
By "class of word" I mean a noun, verb, adjective, adverb etc. This notation came from reading the definitions of these words themselves. For example

noun grammar any member of a class of words that can function as a ...
verb grammar any member of a class of words that function as the main elements of predicates, that typically express action ...

By "not changing form", I mean the noun, adjective, verb etc. forms are spelled (and possibly pronounced) exactly the same. An example that doesn't fit this would be late, which is an adjective and has an adverb form of lately.
I thought of the example word 'complex' last night and wondered if there were a noun that encompasses such words.
com·plex  [adj., v. kuhm-pleks, kom-pleks; n. kom-pleks]
adjective 1 - composed of many interconnected parts; compound; composite: a complex highway system.
noun 6 - an intricate or complicated association or assemblage of related things, parts, units, etc.: the entire complex of our educational system; an apartment complex.
And in researching this, I discovered that there is also a verb form of complex specific to chemistry:
verb (used with object) 12 - Chemistry . to form a complex with.
This leads to using a situation where a the word in question can be repeated immediately in a sentence and still be grammatically correct (but admittedly confusing).

My apartment is part of a complex complex.

Interestingly, I found a brain teaser game which fits what I was looking for, providing 24 other examples, but doesn't define things any more precisely. I also found this interesting tutorial covering the case where nouns are used in their exact nounal meaning but take the place of an adjective in a sentence. One of their examples: horse race.
So my question is this: Is there a word which describes or defines words such as these exactly? It would have a definition like this:

<mystery word> noun

A word which itself may function as various parts of grammar without changing spelling or meaning.
A word which has reached such widespread usage that it has definitions or meanings as a noun, verb, adjective, and/or adverb, all of which have the same origin or root word.
A word that is a homonym of itself.

I have thought of and dismissed homonym, homograph, homophone etc. because they stipulate variously that the spelling, pronunciation or both are the same but differ in meaning and/or origin. I'm specifically looking for words that sound and are spelled the same and also have the same (or very similar) meaning and origin.
Excellent examples from the quiz I linked (spoiler alert):

I have a sore sore.
That mammoth is mammoth!
I've never told anyone the combination, so my safe is still safe.


texts: Why do we "shed" blood, sweat or tears but not other things?

texts:
I found the following definition of shed (the verb):

  chiefly dialect :  to set apart :  segregate
  to cause to be dispersed without penetrating
  a.   to cause (blood) to flow by cutting or wounding

  b.   to pour forth in drops shed tears

  c.   to give off or out sheds some light on the subject
  to give off, discharge, or expel from the body of a
  plant or animal: as

  a.   to eject, slough off, or lose as part of the
  normal processes of life a caterpillar shedding its skin, a cat
  shedding hair, a deciduous tree sheds its leaves in the fall

  b.   to
  discharge usually gradually especially as part of a pathological
  process shed a virus in the feces
  to rid oneself of temporarily or permanently as superfluous or unwanted shed her inhibitions, the company shed 100 jobs

Here, I am primarily interested in the third usage. We can shed blood, sweat and tears but not much else. Obviously, we can also shed our clothes or shed light upon but these are different meanings.

The etymology of the word is:

  shed (v.)
      "cast off," Old English sceadan, scadan "to divide, separate, part company; discriminate, decide; scatter abroad, cast about," strong
  verb (past tense scead, past participle sceadan), from Proto-Germanic
  *skaithan (cf. Old Saxon skethan, Old Frisian sketha, Middle Dutch sceiden, Dutch scheiden, Old High German sceidan, German scheiden
  "part, separate, distinguish," Gothic skaidan "separate"), from
  *skaith "divide, split."

  According to Klein's sources, this probably is related to PIE root *skei- "to cut, separate, divide, part, split" (cf. Sanskrit chid-, Greek skhizein, Latin scindere "to split;" Lithuanian skedzu "I make
  thin, separate, divide;" Old Irish scian "knife;" Welsh chwydu "to
  break open"). Related: Shedding. A shedding-tooth (1799) was a
  milk-tooth or baby-tooth.

  In reference to animals, "to lose hair, feathers, etc." recorded from c.1500; of trees losing leaves from 1590s; of clothes, 1858. This
  verb was used in Old English to gloss Late Latin words in the sense
  "to discriminate, to decide" that literally mean "to divide, separate"
  (cf. discern). Hence also scead (n.) "separation, distinction;
  discretion, understanding, reason;" sceadwisnes "discrimination,
  discretion."

As far as I can tell, the third meaning of shed (in the quoted definition) is restricted to blood, sweat and tears. Why is that? What is the origin of the idiom to shed blood? I would guess that shed blood comes from the meaning to scatter abroad of the Old English word sceadan, if so, why is it so restricted today? Was it once a more common term? Could we once say that I shed water on my garden or I shed the seeds in my field?


texts:
Although King George III of Great Britain did respond to a Loyal Address using the personal pronoun I:

My Lords,
I thank you for this dutiful and affectionate Address. The satisfaction which you express, on the intended marriage of my sister ...
[A Parliamentary History, Hansard, 1765–6]

some thirty years later he had progressed to using the Royal We:

By the KING,
A Proclamation.
GEORGE R.
Whereas, on the Twenty-ninth Day of this Instant Month of October, divers Persons, riotously assembled in different Places in Our City of Westminster, proceeded to commit certain daring and highly Criminal Outrages, in gross Violation of the Public Peace, to the actual Danger of Our Royal Person, and to the interruption of Our Passage to and from Our Parliament: We therefore, with the Advice of Our Privy Council, in pursuance of an Address from Our Two Houses of Parliament, do hereby enjoin all Magistrates, and all other Our living Subjects, to use their utmost Endeavours to discover and cause to be apprehended, the Authors, Actors and Abettors, concerned in such Outrages, in order that they may be dealt with according to Law: And We do hereby promise, That any Person or Persons, other than those actually concerned in doing any Act by which Our Royal Person was immediately endangered ...
[Journals of the House of Commons, 36 Geo III (1796)]

Now, it's plain that a Proclamation is more official and weighty than a reply to a Loyal Address. But the King obviously knows he's only one person ("Our Royal Person") so apart from that one person, why does the King refer to himself in the plural? Who or what is the "other" who is included in Our and the Royal We? The Proclamation would have been just as effective if "My Royal Person" had appeared with capital letters.

As a side issue, it's interesting that proper nouns like George, October and Westminster get italicised, presumably to differentiate between them and common nouns which get capitalised (rather like modern German). But Our is always capitalised as well.


texts: Is there a broadly-accepted term for the stylized scene separators in novels, like ⁂?

texts:
Often in novels (and other written works, though I'm personally most familiar with them from novels), within a chapter you'll find a little glyph that marks a transition to a different scene.

Usually it is centered, and has at least a couple of blank lines both preceding and following it, thus:

                                                                                ⁂

or:

                                                                                ❧❧❧

I had thought there was an official name or at least broadly-accepted term for these marks, but Wikipedia's article on Typographic Sections claims:

  Space between paragraphs in a section break is sometimes accompanied by an asterism (either proper ⁂ or manual * * *), a horizontal rule, fleurons, or by other ornamental symbols.

  An ornamental symbol used as section break does not have a generally accepted name. Such a typographic device can be specifically referred to as dinkus, space break symbol, paragraph separator, paragraph divider, horizontal divider, thought break, or as an instance of filigree or flourish.

Is that true?

Please note: I am asking for the name of the general typographic convention, not the specific glyphs. So the symbol names asterism (⁂), or dinkus (***) are inadequate.


texts:
In a certain context, I wanted to say that good designs make us feel like born with the abilities to interact with a software. So the idea is the user feels like a talent while using the software. I phrased my sentence this way:

  The examples unfold that a good design is what makes us feel a
  natural in software interactions.

The word "natural" in this case is used as a noun rather than an adjective. I checked the dictionary and the meaning seems to fit the idea of a talent. However, I am not sure if my usage of the word natural is appropriate and conveys my idea or not. When read aloud, I find it sounds slightly awkward but I cannot figure out what's wrong.

Is my usage of the word natural here correct in this phrasing?


texts:
Merriam-Webster and Oxford Dictionaries give similar definitions of the word courtly:

Merriam-Webster:

  of a quality befitting the court: elegant

Oxford:

  very polite or refined, as befitting a royal court.

Other than that, each source has a slightly different addition. Merriam-Webster adds "insincerely flattering." Can anyone shed light on why that part exists? Can it also be used to describe someone who is overly polite?

Lastly, if you Google "Courtly Definition," it spits out a definition that includes "given to flattery." Can that be used to describe someone who accepted a flirtatious advance? For example, "The amount of chivalry exuded by this well-dressed man rendered the girl courtly."


texts:
I participate in other SE forums where it's common practice for experienced or knowledgeable participants to simultaneously submit both a question and an answer. This can be very helpful in technical forums frequented by inexperienced users who tend to ask the same questions, but word their questions very differently. This practice is encouraged for all SE sites.

When I became aware of this practice, it felt familiar, but I did not have a word for it. After a brief search, I found the word "hypophora" in a Wikipedia article. It seems to perfectly describe the practice of the same writer (or speaker) asking, then answering, a question. I have since learned that at least some of the SE forums refer to this as a "canonical question".

I became interested in the word hypophora because of its ancient origins, and because it's not in wide use. It's not included in most of the online dictionaries. Collins does list the word hypophora, but an interesting footnote states, Approval Status: Pending Investigation since early in 2016 when it was submitted. Even in this forum, a question was asked, "What do you call it when you ask a question but you actually know the answer?", but none of the answers mentioned the word hypophora. In fact, the question was closed as unclear what you're asking.

Can someone explain the status of the word hypophora, and/or provide some insights into its lack of usage?


texts:
I don't quite understand why they use "due to" in this sentence. Can somenone explain it to me?

  Unesco's World Heritage Committee is due to consider adding the reef to its list of sites that are "in danger".

Lexico/Oxford's explanation of due to doesn't help:

  Caused by or ascribable to.
  Because of; owing to.

If I substitute any of those four phrases for due to in the quote about Unesco, it still makes no sense.


texts: "He is the sinner of the main creation of the despute"

texts:
It sounds off and slightly wrong to my ears. Is it grammatically correct?

  Ryan is the sinner of the creation of the third dispute.

  Ryan is the sinner of the creation's third dispute.

I am trying to communicate that "Ryan is the one who started the third despute; he initiated it."
I am simply trying to write creatively.

To my knowledge, what I wrote is grammatically correct, however, it is written poorly. How can I rewrite it to make it sound more pleasurable, while still maintaining the "creativity". (This sounds weird.)


texts: What does David Cameron’s “You did Britain a service, and kicked that useless voting system off,” mean?

texts:
British Prime Minister David Cameron delivered a speech to the annual Conservative Party Conference held on October 5th in Manchester.

The New Yorker magazine (October 5) introduced some of clips from his speech with sarcastic notes in the article titled, “David Cameron: An Annotated Guide.” Because it was a simple collection of fragmentary quotations, it was hard to guess any gist of his speech from this article.

Among them, there was a clip followed by the following annotation:

  “You did Britain a service and kicked that useless voting system off the political agenda for decades to come.”

  Points for style: American politicians should adopt “useless,” more often heard here in reference to philandering husbands and remote controls, as a term of public contempt.

I don’t understand what “You did Britain a service” in Cameron’s line means. What is “a service” in this context? I mean what service did “You” - Conservative Party or the nation offer Britain?

And what is a connection of “philandering husband” and “remote controls” in the annotation? Can somebody decipher for me?


texts: What is placing name with something called?

texts:
Recently, I'm watching the Chinese port version of The Voice (not sure if I can call it that since they differ greatly at least in my opinion), 中國好聲音 (The Voice of China).

Every time the name of the show is said, it's referred to as 「加多寶 中國好聲音」. 「加多寶」 is the name of a drink. They sponsored it so the company name is placed every time with the show's title shows up. In Chinese, we call this 冠名贊助. Direct translation would be "name-placing sponsorship". 「冠名」 means literally placing a name on top somthing.

I know in America, there are lines like "<company>'s <show>", "<company> presents, <show>", or "<show>, brought to you by <company>". What is this called in English? What is this action of putting the company's name with the show's title called?

Upon further research, I also don't think this is an example of eponym, so I'm not looking for eponymize.(now whether or not that's a legit word is debatable)

Edit: I edited the title to avoid confusion since, per some dictionary, the meaning of eponymous is exactly bearing name of something or someone.


texts:
It is absolutely common in Malaysia, especially within a large community here, to use the phrase "I was made to understand ...."  It can be heard in daily conversations as well as as read it in formal written pieces.

Examples:

  I was made to understand that the flight will be delayed due to the bad weather conditions.
  I was made to understand that your hotel does not have family suites.

While most people here understand the meaning and why this phrase is used, I would like to ask if peoples in other parts of the world understand it.  What is your interpretation when you hear this phrase?


texts:
When I want to express the count of something, can I say "xxx number" instead of "the number of xxx"?
For example:

"Location number" to mean the number of locations.
"Apple number"  to mean the number of apples.

If putting the word "number" after the counted thing like this applies conditionally, what's the conditions?
Thank you for your help.


texts: Difference between using a gerund and using to + verb root

texts:
As an objective (or subjective). "Being a teacher" vs "to be a teacher". What is the difference between gerund and 'to' + verb root ?

My dream is being a teacher.
My dream is to be a teacher.


texts:
The price estimates include both state and national taxes, neither not delivery charges.

Is this corrected?

I know 'neither' and 'not' can't use together.


texts: Can anyone translate this text from the Wessex Gospels of 1175, please?

texts:
I would be grateful if someone could translate the following text as I am doing some research on Luke 1:35 and the various historical readings of the text in English :

  for þan þt halig þe of þe akenned byð; byð godes sune ge-nemned.

Luke 1:35 - The Wessex Gospels - 1175

EDIT : I am particularly interested in whether the Wessex translation contains the words 'of thee' after the words 'be born' or 'be begotten'. The Stephanus, Erasmus (1519) and Elzevir Greek texts do not have 'of thee' yet Beza does. I am uncertain what text the Wessex translates (it may be from the Vulgate) and this is part of my enquiry.


texts: Sentence construction, adjective position

texts:
I need to phrase a title, and I am not sure what the best option is:
Detect visited page without analyzing its features or  Detect page visited without analyzing its features


texts: Why are there multiple quotation marks in a long quote?

texts:
I came across an issue when reading Dr Seuss's How the Grinch Stole Christmas!

(Image via Daily Nutmeg)

  And the more the Grinch thought of this Who-Christmas-Sing,
  The more the Grinch thought, "I must stop this whole thing!
  "Why, for fifty-three years I've put up with it now!
  "I MUST stop this Christmas from coming!
                                                                                ... But HOW?"

The writer adds quotation marks to the start of each line in what might be a block quote needing only quote marks once right at the beginning and once at the end.

Can anyone please explain why this is done? Is it a stylistic choice? Or is the writer following some type of rule with the use of punctuation?


texts: What is the name of the V/Y-shaped sign used when adding something (a letter, word, etc.) to a sentence?

texts:
My father is police officer.
For example, when editing my student's writing (which is handwritten), this is what I do:

           a

My father is Y police officer.
If anyone happens to know how to do this in a word processing software, I'd be even more grateful.
Thanks in advance


texts: Appropriate reply to "Thank you for your time"

texts:
How would native speakers reply to someone who says "Thank you for your time!" when ending a conversation.

I could think of the following phrases but I'm not quite sure:

"Yours too!"
"You too"

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!


texts: Can the word "communion" be used outside a religious context?

texts:
I am looking to find a noun that can be used to describe the social setting/activities going on around a dining table when a family is eating dinner. I find that "community" might refer to a larger group of people related more to activities out in the society and not so much within a family setting.

I then found the word "communion" to refer to

  1) A joining together of minds or spirits.
  (https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/communion)

which will fit my case quiet nicely.

However I found that "Communion" (spelled with a capital 'C') might only be used in a religious context (https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Communion)

What are your thoughts on this? Can I use the word "communion" like this:

  The whole family enjoyed the communion they had around the dining table every evening.

Thank you.


texts: "They are not simultaneously positive, negative nor even"

texts:
What is a sensible, correct and non-ambiguous way of rephrasing the following?

  The numbers a, b and c are not simultaneously positive, negative nor even.

The idea is that the three numbers are not all three positive, they are not all three negative and they are not all three even. Saying it like this is too repetitive, but the first option is silly because it can also be read as saying that each of the numbers is not positive, negative and even at the same time.

This is for a research math paper, by the way. Note that a, b and c are not really numbers for us to apply special properties. They are called numbers merely for illustration here.


texts: Italicizing a word within a quoted sentence

texts:
When quoting someone, is it allowable to bring attention to a particular word by italicizing it if it wasn't originally italicized by the author?

I have two quotes from different people on the same topic in one paper. They both use a word I want to bring attention to. One is "selves" and the other is "personae".

I am bringing attention to these words to tie something together. Can I italicize a word in a quoted sentence?


texts: Is singular or plural standard for state of none of something?

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
There are no comments /  There is no comment

Which of these is more standard?

There are no balls in the room.
There is no ball in the room.

Or if both can be appropriate, which would be used to discuss the requirement that one or more balls is required to be in the room, but at present none are in the room?


texts: How to appropriately use the word "baby" as in the pattern " ____ baby ___"; for example, "run baby run"?

texts: As a non-native English speaker, I am not sure what is the meaning of this pattern "_ baby _" as in "run baby run"? Another example: "USA continues to "drill baby drill" (referring to oil). What other verbs can I use for this pattern?


texts: Writing numbers that are less than two digits in length

texts:
I was told that numbers under two digits should be written out alphabetically (e.g. one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine), and that anything two digits or over should be written out numerically (e.g. 10, 20, 100, 200, 1,400).

Is this best practice, and if so, how come? I feel that it looks better but I'm not quite sure why this is objectively better than writing them all out numerically (e.g. 1, 2, 3, 10, 20, 100 etc.)

Thanks


texts: What does "All round him the long scar smashed into the jungle was a bath of heat" mean?

texts:
I don't understand this sentence:

  All round him the long scar smashed into the jungle was a bath of heat.

What does it mean? Can a scar be a bath of heat?


texts: Are "act quickly" and "gives you" grammatically correct?

texts:
Is it correct to use "act quickly" and "gives you" in the following sentence?

  Xpto tracks xyz bounces. It gives you real-time statistics and details so you can act quickly.


texts: What Punctuation mark should I use to answer a question

texts:
What’s the making or breaking factor? –an understanding teacher vs. one who likes to eat souls for fun.

This is part of a speech that i am currently writing (I'm a gr. 11 student btw)


texts: Largest Fee vs Highest Amount when referring to a monetary (USD) amount

texts: Given an array of dollar amounts called 'Fees,' what is the proper way to refer to the largest number? Is largest fee or highest amount preferred?


texts: What is the antonym of 'quoin' -- a single word to describe an interior angle

texts:
I'm looking for single words to describe interior (as in 'corner of a room') and exterior angles (as in 'corner of a building').

For the exterior angle I found quoin which is (according to Merriam-Webster) 'a solid exterior angle (as of a building)' and '(architecture) solid exterior angle of a building; especially one formed by a cornerstone' according to the Free Dictionary, so it's spot on.

Now, how could I describe an interior angle? If there's no single word for this, perhaps a phrase sounding better than 'concave corner' or 'interior angle corner'?


texts:
Considering such things as

telephone calls {with/to/from} Raj
text messages {with/to/from} Raj

I want a term that includes calls, texts, emails etc. I can come up only with

communications with  Raj

but that seems too “unmemorable” and formal for the software user interface in which it must appear; in this case, the user has to remember the term himself.


texts: What's the difference between the various dialects of English?

texts: I've read and heard "British English", "American English", "Australian English", etc. I know there are differences in accents and word choices but is there a larger difference that makes nationally-named Englishes any different than regionally-named Englishes? For example, I grew up in Pittsburgh, PA, USA and that area speaks Pittsburgh English. Is that still considered American English, or is it a dialect within American English? Is there a family tree of sorts to show how/where all the different Englishes arose from?


texts:
In this article paragraph five reads as follows: -

  Like the trend for “wellness” and clean eating, attachment parenting
  posits that the modern world has corrupted what was once pure, through
  scientific intervention. Rejecting modernity has become the ultimate
  aspirational signifier, from fetishising cycling over driving to
  praising farmers’ markets over supermarkets; after all, in order to
  reject something, you not only need access to it, you have to have so
  many options, you don’t even need it. It also has about it a touch of
  anti-intellectualism, an increasingly popular stance in everything
  from politics to nutrition.

The writer uses the word ' signifier' but based on my understanding of a 'signifier' , it usually means ' sound-image'.

For example, when I write the word ' dog ', it produces the inscription 'dog ', but also the concept of a dog: a four-legged canine creature. The first is thus called ' signifier' based on Saussure's understanding of a sign. But what does the word 'signifier' in this article  mean or imply in the article? Or can I replace the word 'signifier' with another word like 'objective' or 'goal'?


texts:
Li-Mei Lin. Lin as in forest, and Li-Mei as in beautiful, but with the
  characters reversed.

Chinese names (and the language in general) is made of characters. So, in order to explain it to people, you have to point out which characters the name has.

Does this count as spelling? If not, what's a more suitable word? "Explaining"?


texts:
They abandoned the project due to lack of mobilisation.

They abandoned the project due to a lack of mobilisation.

Do you need the article here?


texts:
Does the rule of the oxford comma change when there are merely two items in a list?

For example, dogs, and cats or would it be dogs and cats?


texts: I'm looking for info on how this idioms origin was documented to the USA? Can I grammatically eliminate any tie to the german book listed below. Could a latin spanish or Russian form translate well enough to our non literal meaning ?                                       Malleus Maleficarum, (Latin for "Hammer of The Witches) was an infamous witch-hunting manual written in 1486 by two German monks, Heinrich Kramer and Jacob Sprenger. It was used by both Catholics and Protestants[17] for several hundred years, outlining how to identify a witch, what makes a woman more likely than a man to be a witch, how to put a witch on trial, and how to punish a witch. The book defines a witch as evil and typically female. This book was not given the official Imprimatur of the Catholic Church, which would have made it approved by church authorities, but was used by the Inquisition nevertheless.


texts: How do you describe somebody who was judged and found wanting?

texts:
"The King judged the man, and the man was found wanting".

Is it correct to say that "the man failed the judgment", or is there a more appropriate phrasing than "pass/fail" when discussing the result of a judgment?


texts:
As in:

  Many factors are to blame for this disaster, such as: «bulleted list»


texts:
The country had rushed into a carnival of wild industrial
  speemodustriculation, of rising prices, of "labor scarity" and the
  highest wages ever paid.

The word/sentence comes from a private collection book.


texts: Is the phrase, "one and half an hour" correct?

texts:
For example:

  It might take one and half an hour to do this.

Is this correct?


texts: What's the meaning of the mentioned sentence?

texts: What is the meaning of the last line in this paragraph. It would be helpful if someone would make me understand the last line simply in context of the whole paragraph.


texts: What's the word for software that benefits third parties at the expense of the user?

texts:
A few examples of what I'm talking about:

Android has a permissions system that allows two values for each access request from installed software: yes or no. However if Android tried to benefit the user as much as possible, it would also have a "pretend" mode where the user could fake the permissions in order to run the software.
Android likewise has a "managed" mode, where users can give access to their phone to a third party in exchange for access to certain encryption keys. This is most commonly used for corporate email. But Android could also have a "fake managed" mode, where it only pretends to give out third party access for maximum benefit to the user.
Google Chrome has a managed mode, where corporations can force it to behave in ways that are detrimental to the user, such as preventing it from accessing certain websites. But once again - Google could allow the user to invisibly override any such restrictions.

Is there a word or an expression that describes what I'm talking about?


texts:
Background:
I am writing a computer application which can understand English sentence. For that purpose, I was preparing frames of each word. For example:

send something to recipient|place

Since to can be defined as separate frame;

to recipient|place

So the frame for send can be defined as

send something

Now I found a phrase;

"Send him my love"

Question
Is there any grammar rule which transforms Send my love to him into Send him my love, or it is word-specific?

send recipient something
send something to recipient


texts: What is an idiom for better than "textbook case", "by the book" or "best practices"

texts:
Something indicating above and beyond the standard best practices, superior to by-the-book-experience.

For instance, I would like to use it in a blog title The non-textbook / non-standard / beyond best practices / virality of XYZ, to indicate that XYZ is doing a better job and not following standard textbook techniques.

The following does not indicate more effective or positive.
"The non-standard approach to organic discovery and viral loops in XYZ"

Alternatively, I'd like to say XYZ does not follow the best practices of virality but it doing way better. An idiom, phrase or even a word would work.


texts: What is the term for a person that feels the urge to read everything?

texts:
It seems there could be more than one term, to describe different flavors of this urge:

The urge to read may stem from inherent curiosity, so "bookworm" may fit. It is not precise enough because the feeling may extend not just to books, but also newspapers, journals, educational material, Q&A on Stack Exchange, etc.
A kind of "mania", for example a person that can't ignore advertisements, posters, or any other form of random text that catches the eye.


texts: What do you call the new pattern that we perceive in the relative movement of patterned objects?

texts:
Sometimes a purely static image will appear to be moving because of some design feature.

That’s not what I’m asking about.

I’m asking about an illusion that arises only through real movement involving patterned objects. This movement can be supplied by the movement of one object with respect to another; or the movement can be supplied the changing point-of-view of an observer moving past two objects that are stationary with respect to each other.

For example, sometimes as you pass a fenced yard along the north edge, you look at the north face of the fence, and through the gaps in the fence you can see the west face of the fence. As you pass, the two faces seem to move with respect to each other (a phenomenon known as parallax – also not exactly what I’m asking about) and something weird seems to happen. This weird thing – exactly what I’m talking about – seems to be a pattern of light and dark with contours different from those of the real fence. You can sometimes see curves where you know all of the real objects are straight, and if you just stop moving for a moment the illusion also stops and you see things as they are.

I believe that I’ve had a similar experience with hubcaps and with circular fans, which can appear to spin backwards or at the wrong speed.

I would be interested in any clear name or description of this experience, and further examples if you've got 'em.


texts: what is the meaning for "shoot for the moon"?

texts:
In a public statement, I heard the phrase, "shoot for the moon".

  We should work hard and play hard. Our product specification should be geared to shoot for the moon.

When do you use shoot for the moon? What is the meaning in the above example?


texts:
I'm reading an old WSJ and can only guess at the meaning of "venusian".  Does it mean "out of this world" or "isolated", "hands off", or something else?
Here's the quote from a Wall St. Journal article dated 11-21-15 referring to Obama's strategy:

The flip side of European pleasure at America’s newfound Venusian outlook is the perception, widely shared around the world, that the U.S. is a declining superpower, and that even if it is not objectively weaker than it once was, its leaders’ willingness to deploy power on behalf of its interests, and on behalf of the West, has greatly diminished."

Here is the Webster definition:

of or relating to the planet Venus


texts: Could reside be used in the sense of a user having an account on a website?

texts: When a user creates (for example) a blog on a website, I am wondering about if a user (not the person behind the user) could be said "to reside" on the link of the Web page. For example, if a blog is at GitHub at the link /catcoin10, could it be said that the user catcoin10 resides at https://github.com/catcoin10 ?


texts: Word for someone who can't keep up with the times?

texts: Is there a word that means roughly 'someone who refuses to accept change and insists that things should be done in the old established way'? I'm looking for something like behind the times or has trouble understanding the flow, but preferably a single word - or stick-in-the-mud, which won't really do since I'm writing in a formal and slightly archaic style.


texts:
In Slovak language there are these two words:
láska (love) and skala (rock)

If you keep repeating any of above words, it kind of merges into another one, e.g.:

la[skala][skala]ska...
ska[laska][laska]la...

Does English version of this word play exist? Can you think of some English words?


texts:
Why do we put letters in some words which are silent in pronunciation? If they make no sound then why we waste space in words? For example:

"Knife"; 'K' is silent

"Doubt"; 'b' is silent etc.


texts: can the pronoun I be use alone to answer a question who?

texts: If I am asked, who is going to the wedding? can I just say "I"?


texts: Quoting text that omits Oxford commas in a paper that includes Oxford commas

texts: I'm writing a paper, and I quote several lists from a source that doesn't use Oxford commas. Sic seems way too strong for the situation, since there's no real error in the quotes, just a different convention. I could change my own paper to be consistent with the quotations, but then what would I do if I had to quote a source that did use Oxford commas? I could sneak the commas into the quotes. Finally, I could just leave the quotes inconsistent with the rest of the paper. What's the correct way, if any, to address this?


texts:
I am confused between these two: "Who am I" and "Who I am"

I read this phrase: "Do you know who am I?" - The person was threatening someone.

But what is the main difference in using these?
"Do you know who am I?" or "Do you know who I am?"

Please explain in which case we use what?


texts:
What does Sir Kazuo Ishiguro mean by a humbling experience in the following?　”Humbling" in this context cannot mean "something makes him feel insignificant or inferior" as some dictionaries define, can it?

Sir Kazou, 64, was today knighted　for services to literature by Prince Charles at Buckingham Palace.
Speaking afterwards, the best-selling author described it as 〈a 'humbling experience'〉.
He added: 'It is all part of my story of coming from a different country and growing up in this country. ' 'It is part of my big love affair with Britain and British culture.'


texts:
In the following sentence, should the word "doctor" be treated as a common noun, or should it begin with a capital letter?

  The doctor will see you now.


texts: A word that entails the meaning of "the trait of being public"

texts:
I'm looking for a descriptive word to use when referring to something that is public.

It's better if I give an example:

Consider the adjective red. When something is red you could say it shows some redness.

The same thing with public, but I'm not sure if publicness is a word, and even if it is it just sounds weird.

Edit: Just found out that this class of words are called abstract nouns.


texts:
Here is the first definition of prolepsis by Merriam-Webster:

the representation or assumption of a future act or development as if presently existing or accomplished*

My questions:
1. Is existing there a gerund?
2. Is accomplished there in the passive form?
3. So  as if does not have to be followed by a clause?


texts:
I'd like to ask about the meaning of the following sentence from "The Science Delusion" by Rupert Sheldrake

  "This increase of entropy gives an arrow to time, and means that spontaneous processes are always running 'downhill' from a thermodynamic point of view".

The first part of the sentence is unclear to me. So far I have been unable to find no idioms with "give an arrow" so I presume I should consider only literal meaning which is rather vague for me. I hope it is not necessary to be a PhD in physics to understand it. The only one reasonable guess I can think of is that it's another way to say that the time is limited thought I'm discontent with how it coincides fully with the 'arrow' metaphor.


texts: Word for "Get the last values" in the context of coding

texts:
I'm translating the documentation for a program, and I want to write that a certain function gets the last values you've entered. I'm stuck on the word "Query" (as in "Query of the number of found 3D points of the last call of DisplayPosScan") but I don't like this sentence at all. There are too many "of" somehow, and it just doesn't look good. I think it's because of the word query, but I've looked at this single sentence for so long that it doesn't make any sense anymore.
So to clear things up a little bit, the function I'm writing about (NumberOfFoundPoints) gets the amount of 3D points of the last time the function DisplayPosScan has been called, then it returns this value as a String.


texts: Word or phrase for wanting someone to fail, but only for the lesson it will bring

texts:
I am looking for a word or phrase for wanting someone to fail, but only to teach them a lesson.

It's not easy to explain. For example, when you tell a child, "Don't run down the hill or you will fall," but they continue anyway. To prevent them from doing this in the future on a bigger hill with a much more harsh outcome, you want them to fall so the lesson can be learned.


texts: Is "bankroll" preferred to "fund" as a verb in formal writing?

texts:
In formal, factual writing, is it more appropriate to use as a verb the word "fund" rather than "bankroll"? [Example: "An anonymous donor [bankrolls/funds] the food pantry."]

To me, "bankroll" has a slightly unsavory connotation that "fund" doesn't. If the context is simply to provide factual information, would "fund" be a better choice, or am I being too sensitive?


texts:
"She came by way of Archer, Bridgeport, Nanuet, worked off 95 in jeans and a denim jacket, carrying a plastic bag and shower shoes, a phone number, waiting beneath an underpass, the potato chips long gone, lightheaded."

This is the first sentence of the novel. What does "worked off 95" mean?

http://www.kcrw.com/news-culture/shows/bookworm/atticus-lish-preparation-for-the-next-life/excerpt-from-preparation-for-the-next-life - that is a larger piece of the first chapter if some more context is needed.


texts: "The world forgetting, by the world forgot."

texts:
This is from Alexander Pope's Eloisa to Abelard, also appeared in the movie Eternal Sunshine of Spotless Mind(2004).

Could anyone parse this sentence for me? Where's the predicate? What does "the world forgetting" mean? I think if it means two worlds forgetting each other, it should be something like:

The world is forgotten, by the world (that has been) forgotten.

Thanks, you guys really illuminated me.

Can you talk about your thoughts on the following lines?

  Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind!
  Each pray'r accepted, and each wish resign'd;


texts:
I cannot decide whether to add -s after words like "No.", "Fig." etc. For example, in my paper, usually I need to express:

"Fig. 1, 2 and 3 are illustrations of xxx", "This figure shows the results of frame No. 1, 2, 3 in our video"...

As you can see, there are multiple numbers after the words like "Fig.", "No.". In my option, words like "Fig." or "No." never have plural. But someone said they have. I have confused. Which one is correct?


texts:
When someone gets taken advantage of, we would say "he got stiffed", where "stiffed" means "cheated".

What is the etymology of the word "stiff" used this way?


texts:
I'm writing a short story for my own when I came across this dilemma:

  "And the question was immediate to a point of self-acknowledgement of either one’s inability to formulate abstraction into comprehensibly concise sentences… or just pure stupidity."

or

  "And the question was immediate to a point of self-acknowledgement of one’s either inability to formulate abstraction into comprehensibly concise sentences… or just pure stupidity."

It really bothers me because there is a difference between the length of "inability to formulate abstraction into comprehensibly concise sentences" and "just pure stupidity." However, since I'm trying to create contrast + anticlimax through "or just pure stupidity," I am trying to use as few words there as possible, thus trying not to put another "one's" there (it sounds redundant too).

Can someone tell me which one is correct? It would even be better if a better alternative is proposed.


texts: Not to mention the amazing embellishments that are sure to spark the interest of our well-healed clients: flowers, butterflies, crystals, and feathers.


texts: word meaning sort of... deceivingly important. seemingly irrelevant but very vital

texts: something that seems very irrelevant at the time but turns out to be extremely useful later on... almost like deceitfully important. an example of this would be like in the Legend of Zelda (if any of y'all are familiar) and the Lost Woods is a wood that you traveled to as a child all of the time as sort of a secret hide out spot. Then when you get older, it turns out that those woods are the entrance to a temple you knew nothing about. I sound so nerdy and I don't care. Do you know what I'm saying though? It's like something so vital, yet seemingly so innocent.


texts: What rules govern the romanisation of Greek υ

texts:
English is troubled by what appears to be an unsystematic plethora of spelling rules, not to mention the rules for pronunciation. In general, there seems to be a consensus on how Greek and Latin is romanised in English, but now and then something pops up to remind us that it is not so simple. Greek κ, for instance, is often romanised as c, apparently being based on the Latin spellings. The letter υ, however, is more problematic: Mostly it is (problematically) romanised as u,¹ but in some combinations, the y is preferred, e.g.:

words with the prefix syn-, such as syncopate
words with μυ-, ψυ-, φυ-, such as myth (but music), psyche, physics
words with initial hard breath followed by upsilon, such as ὑποθήκη → hypothek

But there are so many situations in which the expected romanisation of Greek → English υ → y is instead turned to υ → u, such as in αὐ to au, ευ/εῦ to eu, not to mention the standard romanisation of Greek words where English u is (to the best of my knowledge) always used, such as:

hypothec
[…]
Origin
Early 16th century from French hypothèque, via late Latin from Greek hupothēkē ‘deposit’ (from hupo ‘under’ + tithenai ‘to place’).
― Oxford Dictionary: ‘hypothec’

Thus my question: When should Greek υ be romanised as English u and y? I suspect the rule is that words that have been taken into the English language prefers y for monophthongs and u for diphthongs, whilst any romanisation of unassumed Greek words prefers u, but I am not sure this observation is correct, based on words such as music. My working hypothesis is that the following applies:

If a monophthong and borrowed either directly from Greek or via French, the preferred spelling during the great spelling reform was y.
If a diphthong, the preferred spelling was u.
If borrowed directly from Latin, the word having been naturalised in Latin, the preferred spelling was u.

Notes
¹ By this, I also refer to the transliteration rules that usually are followed, as per the quote, in which υ → u is the standard method.


texts: When referring to a page in a text, should the reference be e.g. "see page 2", or "see Page 2"? Since I write "see Section 2", I would lean towards the latter, but I think I have seen the former more often in the texts of others.


texts: I'm looking for a noun meaning "one who is adroit" or "one who is clever/skillful".  Can I use the word "adroit" as a noun?  All my googling has only turned up the noun-form "adroitness", which is clearly not what I'm after.


texts: Can we say "we will talk about" in a book?

texts: I am writing a somewhat technical book about construction, and sometimes I want to say "we will talk about this term soon" etc... Can I say "talk about"? Or I must say discuss etc...? I ask because this is a book, nobody is talking... Everything is written. The more I think about it, the more I am confused. Although at first, I used it without hesitation.


texts:
Can I use "grinding" meaning "screeching"?

For example,

  Jack, you need to add some oil to your bike's hubs. The cogs are
  grinding so loud, they are really annoying me!

or it sounds awkward?


texts: What is a word for an action that you did but did not mean to do?

texts: So, I am reading this book called Animal Farm where this stallion named Boxer is forgets he has iron-shod hoofs and he gives this stable-lad a blow to the head, which knocked him lifeless, though he had no intention of doing so. What one word, if there is any, would describe that sort of action... one that you did not mean to do?


texts: In India we generally use heroine as the female counterpart of a hero in a film. Is it grammatically acceptable? Further, is there any feminine counterpart for a villain either in tinsel world or in real life?


texts: Is there a word for feeling like a memory is manufactured?

texts:
Often in normal conversations I have moments where I say "Oh I remember that!" and then think to myself, do I really remember or have I manufactured that memory based on current conversation?

I'm a developer, and this comes out a lot in my daily work, I think because we see so many interrelated concepts that it's easy to convince ourselves we heard of XYZ class.

I could give at least one specific, but I don't think it relevant to this site to talk about code.


texts: Is putting more than one punctuation mark in a single question grammatically allowed?

texts:
I came across a sentence the other day which was structured along the lines of this:

'We trundled down the road, and suddenly, we hit a huge... deer? and it rocked and crumpled the car.'

Even after the question mark, the sentence continues.
Considering that the narrator is in first person and is having a bit of inner dialogue, would this be grammatically permissible?


texts: What is the origin of the progressive form of the english verbs


texts:
We have accepted adjective-noun phrases in English, such as "small talk" and "big business."  I ran across this sentence in a local paper last week:
Johnson said,"There's a lot more hope.  And there's a lot more less uncertainty."
It seems the speaker was trying to create a new adjective-noun phrase here by saying "more less uncertainty," with "less uncertainty" being his new adjective-noun phrase.
Is there a grammatical name for accepted adjective-noun phrases in English?
Thanks.
Addition--
I think I was imprecise when I used the word "accepted" in conjunction with noun-adjective phrases. I meant to say something like "standardized" or "idiomatic," like "boom town" or "dirty business," that is, adjective-noun phrases that most native speakers understand as having a shared meaning among users of English.
I certainly agree that litotes can take the form of adjective-noun understatement, but I'm still wondering if there is a grammatical name for an adjective-noun pair when the combination has a set, understood meaning, like "big ask" (which seems to have an understood meaning in the private equity and capital markets in the US).


texts:
I know with time clauses we only use either Present or Past tense like

If it rains, I will bring an umbrella

but NOT

If it shall/will rain,I will bring an umbrella.

But in this below example I don't understand why "should" is used instead of Past tense.link

"John left for the front; by the time he should return, the field would have been burnt to stubble."


texts:
I've been reading William Manchester's book "American Caesar", which is about Douglas MacArthur, and I found that he uses a strange convention for pluralizing the family name. When talking about the MacArthurs as a whole, he writes MacArthur' with an apostrophe, as in "After the war, the MacArthur' lived in Tokyo while the general was proconsul" (yes, he uses that term to describe him).

I have never seen or heard of a rule that would prescribe this. Manchester is a bit old-timey in his style: for example, he also writes "in behalf of" instead of "on behalf of", which is the only one I have ever seen. So perhaps this is similar. Where does he get this apostrophe from?

Edit: There seems to be some difficulty finding examples, which is odd.  Here is a direct link to a page from Google Books that shows the apostrophe.


texts: Definite article in front of button names

texts:
I am writing a manual for an application. The manual describes how to operate a piece of software. Often I write sentences like:

  Press "Compute" button, then change to "Statistics" tab.

My colleague has added definite articles in front of each control's name.

  Press the "Compute" button, then change to the "Statistics" tab.

I feel like it is wrong. Since neither of us is a native speaker, we are not sure whether to put or omit the definite article "the" in front of names of buttons. I could not find a rule on the web that applies to buttons and tabs.

What is the correct way to formulate such a sentence: with or without the "the"?


texts: What is the expression for "high fever"?

texts:
It can not be high/low according to my understanding.
Fever is fever.

  He is suffering from fever of high temperature.
  He is suffering from high fever.


texts: Is there an English equivalent for the Indian saying " A wandering monk and running water never get polluted".


texts: Two past verb(or past participles) arranged side by side in news headline

texts:
De Lima ordered arrested by RTC link

From this answer

I somewhat understand of Headlinese. However, I still don't understand ordered. I mean, I can understand was is omitted in following sentence.

  De Lima (was) arrested by RTC

But in the sentence, two past participles are arranged side by side. I tried to study Headlinese but I couldn't find answer clearly.

Could somebody make a perfect(normal) sentence from the headline? I read someone said it can be various cases. Then could you make some sentences which is possible to suppose.

So far, my best attempt is that

  De Lima (was) ordered (to be) arrested by RTC

I'm not sure, though.

Thank you in advance.


texts: I want to ask a question about London areas

texts:
I am an international student; I study in London. I am looking for a place to stay so that I can complete my dissertation. I plan to find a place where is near to London. I am looking for a quiet and safe place. But I have no idea which town/area I should lookup. Is there anyone can give me any advice?

Kind Regards,

Donald


texts: Which vs. What in regards to Continuous Numbers (like Temperature)?

texts:
As this question makes clear, "which" is used when there is a set number of choices available, while "what" is used when there is not a set number of choices available.

Which term do we use, however, when we are referring to continuous numbers as opposed to discrete numbers? How about numbers that are technically continuous but are in practice discrete?

Discrete number example: Which parking spot were you assigned to? (There are a discrete set of parking spots which one could be assigned to).

Continuous number example: Which/what temperature do you brew your beer at? (There are an infinite amount of temperatures available; however, brewers typically brew between the ranges of 40*F and 85*F, so it would seem to be discrete. On the other hand, there are an infinite amount of numbers between two consecutive integers, i.e 41.1, 41.2, 41.22, 41.3333 ...)

When referring to time, which is another example of continuous or discrete (there are 24 hours in a day, but an infinite number of units in between two consecutive hours), I always hear people use "what"-- "What time is it? What time shall I pick you up?"


texts: Is it correct to say 'This behavior is because'

texts:
Can we use 'because' in the following sentence:

  [After discussing the behavior of a technique T] We believe this drop is because T fails to find the right number of classifiers to include in the final ensemble.

Here I am trying to explain a behavior discussed in the previous paragraph.

Is this correct? If no, any suggestion?


texts:
I'm looking for terms that personify cold.  For example, 'the cold bit at my nose'.  They will be part of a post/article on the cold weather, so the more options the better.

Edit: see comments below, which both answer the question and indicate why this is flagged as 'too broad'.


texts: Adjective for an individual that takes intentional steps for a decitful outcome

texts:
'Ulterior Motive' comes to mind, but that doesn't describe the individual.

Example:
I was complaining about a specific behavior a co-worker exhibits that makes our peers request to work with me over him. My girlfriend suggested he was intentionally exhibiting the specific behavior with the intent of generating more work for me and less for himself. I told her I didn't think he was 'smart enough' to practice such deceitful forethought.

Whats a good adjective for this type of behavior? I don't think Machiavellian or deceitful is what I am looking for. What do you all think?


texts: Is it common to use “grocery” as a verb?

texts:
My favorite NY-Times columnist Maureen Dowd who consistently supplies me the material for posting questions in EL&U site begins today’s (December 8) article titled “A Lost Civilization” with the line:

  “My college roommates and I used to grocery shop and cook together.
  The only food we seemed to agree on was corn, so we ate a lot of
  corn.”

All of Cambridge, Oxford, and Merriam-Webster dictionaries register “grocery” as a noun meaning “grocery store (Cambridge),” “grocer’s shop or business (Oxford)” and “(1) grocer’s store, (2) groceries sold by a grocer.” However, none of them lists “grocery” as a verb.

I know a noun are often used as verbs like 'bicycle a trip,' 'pen a letter,' and 'market a new product,' but is “grocery” widely used as a verb meaning ‘to visit a grocery store,’ or simply ‘shop around’?

Is the use of "X-shop" as a verb 'trendy' and universal?

Can I say “I barber shop once a month," "He golf shopped to buy a new club," "She used  to barger shops for a lunch," "I sport shopped to buy a new ski wear," "I computer shopped a new i-phone model yesterday," "I book shopped for a Jeffery Archer's paperback yesterday," and "I pawn shopped to loan $300," without being frowned?


texts: In the sentence "My house is down the street", which word does the adverb "down" modify?

texts:
My house is down the street.

Does the adverb down modify is, or street?


texts: Which tense is (more) correct in this sentence, the present perfect or past simple?

texts:
The sentence is: "These investigations have seen several officials arrested."

I'm not sure which tense I should use, the present perfect here seems more natural to me but I can't seem to find a rule that confirms it, maybe someone here can help me out.

Thanks in advance to whoever tells me the answer to this.


texts:
The product description of a sneakers,

Your little one can feel like a mini-me when you both rock your favorite kicks.

What does "rock one's kicks" mean here? I searched dictionaries but couldn't find a relevant result. Kicks seems to mean shoes, but I don't know the exact overall meaning.


texts:
It is the first time that I ask a question, thanks in advance to whoever is going to reply.
I am studying conditional sentences and I cannot find anywhere a structure for a hypotethical future situation with a future result. I am giving you an example to understand if it is possible to express what I want to say, please correct me if I am wrong.

"If I were going to the concert tonight, I would be fulfilling the dream of my life"


texts: History/origin of the pronunciation/spelling of "Butcher"?

texts: The pronunciation of the first syllable of butcher as /ˈbʊt͡ʃ ..../ is for non-native speakers astonishing. From spelling alone, one would probably guess that it's pronunciation would be more like that of "but" /bʌt/. Surely there must be historic reasons for this (guessing sound-shifts, time of borrowing from french, etc.). What are the reasons for butcher being pronounced the way it is today?


texts: What do you call when you offer someone to help but they don't know that your intention for helping is for your own motive

texts: Suppose i tell you i will help you in something. Or i offer you something as a gift.  You are delighted.  But you don't have any idea that i am not ingenuously helping you.  I have some sole-purpose with you


texts: Wanting to know the word for 'one rule for me, another for them'

texts: Is there a single-word term that expresses 'one set of rules/principles for me, and another for everyone else'?  I.e. the opposite of universalising your principles, and what is implied by authoritarianism.


texts: Are the following sentences correct/idiomatic?

texts:
"I'll see you at the top of the x street/alley."
"I'm at the bottom of the x street/alley."
Or should we just say "at/around the corner of the x street"?
Thank you


texts: 'My Swift and my Armour' from Hemingway's "The Snows of Kilimanjaro"

texts:
'If you have to go away,' she said, 'is it absolutely necessary to
  kill off everything you leave behind? I mean do you have to take away
  everything? Do you have to kill your horse, and your wife and burn
  your saddle and your armour?'
  'Yes,' he said. 'Your damned money was
  my armour. My Swift and my Armour.'
  'Don't.'
  'All right. I'll stop that. I don't want to hurt you.'
  'It's a little bit late now.'

  Ernest Hemingway. The Snows of Kilimanjaro

I'm pretty puzzled. What's the meaning of that 'my Swift and my Armour'?

I can't help to notice those capital 'S' and 'A'. Is it a reference to the Swiss Army knife or what?

Swift is usually an adjective and here it's a noun, but as a noun is an animal or a part of a machine. That doesn't make sense (to me at least).

How come this is supposed to be offensive/hurting?

By the way, Hemingway was born in Illinois. Isn't armour British English? I thought in America they write armor. Is this made on purpose?


texts:
I've searched this term on internet. It shows various meanings of sarcastic which means that this word is a slang. However i just want to know the meaning of sarcastic in this very particular line

  I was trying to be sarcastic.


texts:
I am writing a cover letter for a resume that will be sent to a hopeful job of four years at my university. I am short on cash and would be beyond ecstatic to receive this job but this sentence or phrase just doesn't look right. English is not my first language, grammar and punctuation are almost impossible for me. Please help me rephrase or even fix this mess.

Looking in I would like to review my use of comma and semicolons:

" I am reliable in any task that is put against me; be it cleaning, explaining, leading, or helping, I am certain to put my best into it."


texts:
I'm interested in the etymology of the word "doozy". And primarily whether it is a good or bad thing?

I always understood it to mean something exceptionally bad.

e.g.

  Watch out for that first step. It's a doozy.

But I've just read it used in a positive sense here.

  "[Kerber hits a] backhand winner from behind the baseline, that's a doozy."


texts: "It's been a blast working with you guys for 5 years now." or "It's been a blast having worked with you guys for 5 years now."?

texts: I think both are correct, but which one is better-structured and more suited for a formal context?