texts: I was sitting at the card table this evening looking gormless (as I am wont to do) when it occurred to me to wonder, are the other players gormful? Is there such a word? Is there such a thing as gorm, that one can either have or lack?


texts:
Is a comma required after "quiet" in the following sentence, as if it were a direct quote?  And if no, does "Yes" need to be capitalized?

Margaret curtseyed and spoke a quiet “Yes, ma’am.”


texts: Why is research called research if it is newly searched?

texts:
Why does the word "research" sound like one is "re-searching" if it is meant to product original findings? Surely it is just searching?

What is the etymology of the word research? Thinking about it, it doesn't make much sense to me. Its unlike other "re" words, for example:

Revise -  to visualise again
Redo - to do again
Reform - to form again
Retract - to follow a tract again?
Regain - to gain again

Clearly research seems a bit out of place with its definition.


texts:
I recently heard someone use the expression "Now that's a whole different bag of dog food". While highly unusualy, the meaning was well understood by the audience. I know there is an actual idiom/expression used more normally than this one, but I cannot recall what it is.

"Horse of a different color" comes to mind, but I don't think that's it. Is there another equivalent expression in common use? I'd prefer one centered around the words "whole different/whole new", since I believe this expression was a play one such a phrase.


texts: Is it a "driver license" or a "driver's license" or a "drivers license" or...what?

texts:
I've often wondered why my Ohio license is called a "driver license". It is awkward to say it like that.

Wouldn't something like driver's license be more appropriate?

Or driving license (like hunting license)?

(Note: image above shows driver, driver's, and drivers variations.)


texts: We meet at last vs we are meeting at last

texts: Is it possible to use the phrase: "We are meeting at last" when two people meet for the first time? For example, in a movie one person said: "We meet at last". Why did he use the present simple instead of present continuous? I mean, this was an action, which was happening at the moment of speaking.


texts:
I said to a person that she is "chubby" and, apparently, she took it very seriously. What I meant to say is that she's not skin and bones, she carried more pounds than needed but, precisely because of that, she should be actually more attractive.

In Italian I would say that she is "in carne" but I don't know its English equivalent. Is there a word for it in English?


texts:
I am using a sentence of the following form in a formal document.

  This paper shows strong, yet very circuitous, analysis.

The sentence is expected to express that the analysis is strong but circuitous.

I have always put commas as shown above. However when reading it aloud it appears that the second comma impedes the reading. Perhaps it should not be there, but then it may change the meaning of the sentence and emphasize circuitous instead of strong analysis.

What are the rules for commas for such yet/but phrases?


texts: What's the meaning of "the co-regulatory process must be sustained"?

texts:
It's really hard to understand the following sentence.
Maybe I can analyze the following sentence as the union of two sentences,

the co- regulatory process have first identified a framework for cooperative problem- solving and defining those areas where co- regulation complements the contours of the market and delegating primary responsibility for enforcing regulatory tasks based on the relative institutional competencies of potential regulators

the co-regulatory process must be sustained

I have no clue how first sentence and second sentence is related.
Is it okay to think as if there is "and" between two sentences to interpret the following sentence correctly?

Having first identified a framework for cooperative problem- solving
and defining those areas where co- regulation complements the contours
of the market and delegating primary responsibility for enforcing
regulatory tasks based on the relative institutional competencies of
potential regulators, the co- regulatory process must be sustained.

Thank you in advance.


texts: What's the distinction between "opposite" and "contrarian"?  Are they basically synonymous but the latter is more suitable for written English?


texts:
Good afternoon everyone!

I was doing a syntactic analysis of the sentence below and stuck at the adverb:

Bring as many books as there are students

(you) ---> subject

bring ---> verb

as many books as there are students ---> object, where:

books ---> "the core" of the object

as many as there are students ---> adverbial something:(

So I have two questions:

1) Are we dealing with a simple sentence here?

2) Can we break down the adverb any further?

Thank you in advance:)

Seva


texts: Speed, rate, pace, tempo: what's the difference?

texts:
I looked up these three words in Oxford Dictionary and I found that they seem to be interchangeable in some cases.

Here's the question: what's the difference between the three words?

  Rate: [countable] a measurement of the speed at which something happens.

Most people walk at an average rate of 5 kilometres an hour. At the rate you work, you'll never finish!

  Pace: [singular, uncountable] the speed at which something happens.

It is difficult to keep up with the rapid pace of change. We encourage all students to work at their own pace (= as fast or as slow as they can).

  Speed: 1 [countable, uncountable] the rate at which somebody/something moves or travels.

He reduced speed and turned sharp left.

  Speed 2  [countable, uncountable] the rate at which something happens or is done.

This course is designed so that students can progress at their own speed.

  Speed: 3. [uncountable] the quality of being quick or rapid

The train began to pick up speed (= go faster). Increasing your walking speed will help to exercise your heart.

The accident was due to excessive speed. Speed is his greatest asset as a tennis player.

  Tempo: the speed of any movement or activity

the increasing tempo of life in Western society

Don’t let the other team dictate the tempo of the game


texts: Using "not" versus the negation prefixes for negation

texts:
Let's take this sentence as an example

  He is able to move.

Now, what is the best negation of that action between those two?

  He is not able to move.
  He is unable to move.

And what makes one better or more correct than the other?

Edit: In case these sentences aren't good enough, give examples of your own if you please.


texts: What is the expression to suggest a few dates and times to meet?

texts:
Let's say a friend of mine tells me the following:

  Nice! Let’s meet up for a drink this week.

And I want to say, "Sure let's do it. I will propose a few ..., and you tell me if either of them works for you."

I cannot come up with an idiom or other expression that works.


texts: What word best describes someone who doesn't put up with other people's crap?

texts: I'm looking for a word that describes someone who doesn't put up with other people's crap.


texts: Passive tense difference between with be form and without be form

texts:
What's the difference between these two sentences?
Ex1:

information requested to be confirmed

information which is/was requested to be confirmed

Please translate them into active voice
Thanks


texts: Is "will/would" and "am/was going to" equivalent?

texts:
Please consider the following conditional statement:

If I would eat my lunch, I would remain healthy.

Some people say that the "would" after "If I" should be omitted for the following reasons:

1.) "If I would" raises two hypotheticals and thus harder to comprehend.

2.) For stylistic reasons, two "would" in one sentence don't read well.

But does replacing "will/would" with "am/was going to" address the first concern? Will it read as well as "If I eat my lunch, I would remain healthy."?


texts: How to distinguish old-fashioned textbook from online textbook?

texts:
My son's school has two versions of Geometry, which he will take next year.  One version uses an online textbook.  The other doesn't, in other words, it uses a ___________.  What word or phrase may I put in the blank, aside from "old-fashioned paper and cardboard" or "actual book"?

Sample usage (must not be deprecating tone):

  From your explanation of the difference between R and H Geometry, I would have thought R would be a good fit for my younger son.  But then I read that R uses an online text and H uses a ______________ book.  He has had a lot of trouble using online resources.  I step away for three seconds to let the cat out, and he's opened another tab and is watching Monty Python, NBA basketball, or what have you.  It's part of his OCD.

E.g. "an actual book" conveys my idea but I'm hoping for something more graceful.


texts:
Having an annoying skin tag on my back which I could not treat myself without impossible contortion, my G.P. gallantly offered to assist with his famed 'Cryogenic Clinic' available on Saturday mornings.

Halfway through the treatment he stepped back and asked (with some degree of irritation) 'Well, do you want this done or not ?'

Having liquid nitrogen applied to my skin at close to absolute zero (zero  Kelvin for afficionadoes of the art) had caused me to move a few millimetres and Dr X is used to absolute compliance on his Saturday morning tort... I mean treatment ... sessions.

The problem is it 'burnt'.

Please note, it did not 'freeze'. My skin did not become a solid.
Had it done so, my nerves would have transmitted no electrical signals to my brain and I would have felt nothing.

I have thought long and hard about this from a physics aspect and Googling has done nothing for me at all.

It is a 'burning sensation' but it is not a burn.

I winced with pain when the liquid caused a _______ sensation.


texts: My school (follows/runs/runs on) a British curriculum?

texts:
While trying to describe the curriculum my school uses I found myself struggling to find the appropriate verb to use.  Do I say:

My school runs the CIE curriculum.

Or

My school follows the CIE curriculum.

Or

My school runs on the CIE curriculum.

So my question is what is the most appropriate verb to use in this context?

Thank you in advanced :)


texts: Use of has and have with multiple examples

texts:
I wonder if someone could clarify this for me

His anger and irritation have or has affected me.

Thanks
Richard


texts: "Top 1 %" or "99th percentile" for formal usage?

texts: Which is more formal (i.e. on a resume), "top 1%" or "99th percentile." ?


texts: Is "power politics" countable or uncountable?

texts:
My sentence is

  The Cold War period in South-Asia was a period marked by changing power dynamics and a large amount of power-politics

My grammar check tool says that I should use "a large number of power politics". I am fairly certain that that is incorrect and my usage is right. I just wanted to confirm


texts: how it is vs how is it / how that is vs how is that

texts:
I'm very confused about how to use these. They sound pretty much the same to me:

  How is it possible?
  How it is possible (should I put a question mark here?)

  How is that possible?
  How that is possible

Is it correct if I say: We did it again! How it's possible?

Could you please tell me when should I use which one?


texts: Are there English figurative expressions equivalent to Japanese idiom 馬耳東風 meaning a person who doesn’t listen to other’s advice?

texts:
North wind tells the arrival of spring season in Japan. And incidentally, we  have an idiom, “馬耳東風,” of which literal translation is ‘the east wind to the ears of horse,’ meaning a person who doesn’t listen to, or respect other’s opinion, advice, and suggestion like a horse is insensitive to the meaning and tastefulness of east wind.
For example, we say “His boss’s admonition was just an east wind to Taro. And he was fired.”

I don’t know why it should be east wind, not west, south or north wind, but Chines have the same saying, “东风吹马耳.”

The structure of “East wind to a horse” resembles “Pearls to a swine,” but is pretty different in meaning.

Are there similar figurative expressions to describe a person who has deaf ears to others' advice and opinion, like an obstinate or insensitive horse?


texts: Is there a word that means "almost rhymes"?

texts:
Sometimes you'll see in poetry or song lyrics, that words don't exactly rhyme, but they almost rhyme. I thought I remembered a high school English teacher once telling our long ago English class that there was a word that means "almost rhymes".

Am I imagining things? If not, does anyone know the word?


texts: How to politely reply to: "I hope it didn’t cause you too much trouble."

texts: I've been emailing to someone who caused me trouble by sending me wrong answer. In the next email, he replied with "I hope it didn't cause you too much trouble." And I've been wondering how to politely answer. He did cause some trouble but nothing serious or unmanageable.


texts: How to introduce a related person's name plus a possessive?

texts:
How would I introduce a related person's name while also including a possessive? For example, if my father is called John Smith:

I borrowed my father John Smith's car.
I borrowed my father, John Smith's car
I borrowed my father's, Johns Smith's car.

The first one seems almost right but it doesn't quite read right. Some other examples with a friend called Jane Brown:

I went for a run with my friend Jane Brown's running group.
I lost my friend Jane Brown's husband's best screwdriver.
I lost my friend Jane Brown's husband Eric Brown's best screwdriver.

Are these correct? For comparison, talking about two different people and introducing their names and relationships, does this seems correct?:

I borrowed from my father John Smith, my friend Jane Brown's husband Eric Brown's best screwdriver.

Many thanks!


texts:
I just saw a quote by Audrey Hepburn that says "The beauty of a woman must be seen from in her eyes, because that is the doorway to her heart, the place where love resides."
I wonder is "from in her eyes" correct? why not just saying "in her eyes"?
are there any differences?


texts: What to call someone who is able to hold a conversation?

texts: So, think about being involved and present in the dialogue, but also someone who puts forward ideas and tries to look for ways to keep the conversation smooth and going, just like a flowing conversation. Who looks for solutions too and who is flexible to talk about something else.


texts: What is the meaning of "as of" in this context?

texts:
The moon shone on his face as he spoke, and the girl was pleased to
  watch it, it seemed to breathe such an innocent and old-world kindness
  of disposition, yet with something high too, as of a well-founded
  self-content.

What does this "as of" mean here?
I would need a sentence structure explanation.


texts: I'm off to the gym. vs. I'm leaving for the gym

texts:
Generally, you can say:

  a. I'm off to the gym.

to mean:

  b. I'm leaving for the gym.

But do the two mean exactly the same?

Let's say you're driving to the gym. Can you say either a. or b.?

How about when you've just arrived at the parking lot? Can you still say either?


texts: Looking for a word that describes a specific way to write code that does not have adverse effect if executed multiple times

texts:
I used to know of a word that is used to describe the impact (more lack of it) of running a programming script multiple times. To understand this better, let me try to give an example.
Let's say I create a script to drop a table from a database. If the table already exists in the database and I run my script, it will work OK and will drop the table. If, however, I run my script second time, it will fail as the script will not find the table. This can be avoided if I modify my script to drop the table only if it exists. If write my script to do IF-EXISTS-THEN-DROP then I can run it any number of times without an issue. There is a single word that describes this type of script but I can’t remember it now. I would appreciate if any of you can help.


texts: Should there be capitalization after an equation?

texts:
In continuation of this question, Should one capitalize the first letter after an equation which is not at the end of a sentence?

For instance in the following example, should the second 'the' be capitalized?

  In the equation:

z = x+y,

  the symbol z represents the last number.


texts: A single word for hardware and peripherals

texts:
I'm looking for a word that combines hardware and peripherals into one. Laptops, mouses, printers, projectors, (loud)speakers, headphones, power cords, chargers, extension cords... all of this I need to fit into a single word and neither hardware nor peripherals nor devices cuts it.

The word has to be concise yet descriptive, so that whenever anyone reads it, he/she will immidiately (without thinking) know what's behind this word. It also has to be appropriate enough so that the reader doesn't start questioning the name, e.g. "Why someone put printer ink cartridge in hardware category?".
The word itself will be used as a class name in a coding project, but I do not believe this information impacts the question in any additional way, as the rules for class naming basically boil down to: short, preferably one-wordish (since no spaces or such are allowed) and as descriptive as possible.


texts: Can the subject go at the end of a clause?

texts:
I've recently come across the following sentence:

  Round the corner walked Hannah, and nearly bumped into Louise.

The first clause sounds clumsy to me. I think the example above should be written like this:

  Hannah walked round the corner, and nearly bumped into Louise.

Is it ever right to put the subject at the end of a clause?


texts:
I looked up the synonym for previous up in the dictionary, and found

  preceding, former, earlier, etc.

Are there other synonyms for this word which can be used in writing a scientific paper? For example: In the previous studies...


texts: Hyphenate "powers that be" when used as object?

texts:
Here's part of my sentence: "I'm going to ask the powers that be whether[...]"
Should it be "I'm going to ask the powers-that-be whether[...]"?  Bonus points for why, of course..


texts:
What is a word for "each has a different preference/taste"

I know there are phrases such as: each to his/her own, different strokes for different folks, etc. However, I remember there is a word for it.


texts: (How) should redacted years be read aloud?

texts:
Related to but different from this question about the purpose of such redactions.

How should a passage such as this from Mary Shelley's Frankenstein be read aloud?

  St. Petersburgh, Dec. 11th, 17--

I have listened to a few audiobook excerpts and they differ on the convention: they may say "seventeen blank blank" or simply omit the year entirely. Omission is a reasonable option for the header of a letter, which is the context of this line.

However, what about this sentence from Thomas Mann's Death in Venice as translated by Michael Henry Heim?

  Gustav Aschenbach or von Aschenbach, as he had officially been known since his fiftieth birthday, set out alone from his residence in Munich’s Prinzregentenstrasse on a spring afternoon in 19.. — a year that for months had shown so ominous a countenance to our continent — with the intention of taking an extended walk.

The sentence doesn't make sense if "19.." is omitted. The audiobook I was able to hear a sample of used a different translation that doesn't include any mention of the year at all. How would "19.." be pronounced?


texts: Is the split in pronunciation of "detail" regional, semantic, or irrelevant?

texts:
Or maybe just haphazard? Something else?

When I want to refer to a small military unit put together to carry out a specific task, I'll call it a DEtail, accent on the first syllable.

When I want to refer to a particular portion of a larger whole, I'll call it a deTAIL, emphasis on the second syllable.

In my mind, in other words, there is a semantic difference between the pronunciations. Nevertheless, I have noticed that some speakers of American English tend to stress the first syllable, and some don't. Is there any rhyme or reason to the variation in pronunciation of this word?


texts:
I'm looking for an adjective to describe an effect which is the opposite of soporific:

  The insomniac's bedroom had a [???] effect: every time she went to bed, her tiredness disappeared and all she wanted was to get back up again.

Any ideas?


texts: How can I clearly express that I worked for two different companies, within a period of time, but not at the same time?

texts:
Here is what I've come up with so far:

In that year, I worked for two different companies, but not at the same time. (This version doesn't feel right)
In that year, I worked for two different companies in succession.
In that year, I worked for two different companies consecutively.

So for example, I had one job, then quit it a few months later to work for another company.


texts: Word or a phrase that means your results could be biased toward what you predicted them to be

texts:
In psychology I recall we used a phrase or a word that meant that because you predicted the outcome of an experiment, then your results could be biased towards your prediction.

Either subconsciously or by having your predictions at the forethought of your memory then these predictions would have some sort of influencing factor on the results of the experiment.

Is there a word or a phrase to easily express this?


texts:
What should I say to wish someone a happy Easter ??

1- Happy Easter to you and your beloved ones.

2 - Happy Easter for you and your beloved ones.


texts: What is the meaning of  the expression "blue ocean market" used in business jargon?


texts: Alternatives to use technical protocol terms as verb in a sentence

texts:
I find it much easier to say:

  I can RDP to your computer
  Please SFTP the files to me

than to say:

  I can use the RDP (protocol) to establish a connection to your computer
  Please send the files to me using the SFTP (protocol)

These technical protocol terms are not verbs: RDP, SFTP, SSH, telnet, VPN, email, etc.

How can I get around this to be grammatically correct and at the same time avoid the clumsiness?

Or, one day, (already?) will using these technical terms as verb be approved and added to modern English grammar rules?


texts: Is it correct to have two dependent clauses and one independent clause?

texts:
I am now trying new things, including this blog, a thank you to
  all those who helped me get to where I am today by sharing their
  stories, and my way of paying it forward by sharing my stories.

How wrong is the above sentence? Can I fix it by putting a "which is" between "blog" and "a thank you", should I remove the last comma? Or is this just a dumpster sentence? Or is it actually grammatically correct/gray?

What I think I see is one independent clause followed by three dependent clauses, two of which are dependent on the first dependent clause. I see rules about one independent clause and one dependent, and two independents and multiple dependents, but still nothing about one independent with multiple dependents.

https://webapps.towson.edu/ows/sentences.htm

Edit:

I ended up editing it to be

  I am now trying new things, including this blog. I
  hope that by sharing my stories and lessons learned along the way,
  this blog will help you in the same way that thousands of internet
  strangers unknowingly helped me with their stories and comments.

I think this is more correct but I'm still curious about the validity of the first example, if anyone has an idea.


texts: What should I call the part of car that influences the orientation of the wheels by moving left/right?

texts: I want to know the English word for stuurhuis as shown in the following picture:


texts: Let’s say I write: “Just send me those documents as is”. Is that correct? Should the "as is" idiom be pluralised into “as are”, which sounds so wrong to me? Or are they both incorrect, in which case I may write “as they are”?


texts:
I want to use this sentence, but I am not sure whether or not it is correct.

My sentence is:

  "It has been a long time since we are working on the same topic"


texts:
There may not be anything better than in my title, but I have an idea I'm missing something. Is there a good way of expressing close friends of a family.  The original and closest friendship may be with a generation now passed on, but a family-like relationship still exists.

The best I can come up with is honorary aunt/uncle/grandparent, but that's a little specific.


texts: What is the "bolillero" called in English?

texts:
In lottery games or bingo games, sometimes an object like this is used:

What is the name of this? In Spanish we call it bolillero but I couldn’t find the definition in English.


texts:
Is there a verb meaning "to make likely or probable" or "to make unlikely or improbable"?

I'm more in need of the latter, but I assume that if the former exists, the latter might too.

Edit: I'm looking for something that is a less-absolute form of prevent. Example:

  The old jacket at least prevented me from catching a cold.

is too absolute. So, instead I'm trying to use a word meaning "to make unlikely or improbable".

  The old jacket at least [———]ed me from catching a cold.


texts:
which form is correct in the following paragraph?

...his training as an industrial engineer...

...his training as industrial engineer...

The Scholarship in Petroleum’s program is certainly the best chance Dilia has to learn new techniques and technologies that are not available in our country to take advantage of one of the main sources of energy for human use. Using this source is necessary but it needs to be done carefully to avoid draining it all, which is the reason I think his training as an industrial engineer can be complemented with this Master's to form a researcher with the capability to find sustainable alternatives of use.


texts:
Doesn't an infinitive phrase placed at the beginning of a sentence anaphoric to something mentioned previously in the discourse make it a connective (sentence connector)?

Example:

  He wants to be a singer. To achieve this goal, he is working very hard.

Here "To achieve this goal" can be said to be a sentence connector.
Otherwise, it will be only a purpose adjunct,
which can be placed at the end of the sentence.

Can "To achieve this goal"/"to this end" be called sentence connectors?


texts:
What is the opposite of “simultaneously”? Either a single word or a short phrase would do.

  Add A, B, and C to the mix simultaneously or ????.

Also, if there are useful opposites, having both formal and informal versions would be helpful. And, if there is any opposite, does it entail any specific order in which A, B, and C are added?


texts: Usage of "Indeed" in "Thank you very much indeed"

texts:
I constantly hear the expression "Thank you very much indeed" in the BBC, both TV and radio. However, I never listen to it on day-to-day conversation, either formal or informal. Moreover, when I say it myself, I am sometimes being told that using "indeed" after "thank you very much" is a sign of "snobbery".

Please advice.


texts: "What is your name and height" or "What are your name and height"

texts:
When searching on Google, I found that it's a lot more common to use is than are in phrases such as "What is/are your name and date of birth?".

Why is that? To me, it feels more natural to use is in the sentence; however, seeing as we're asking about both name and date of birth (i.e., two things) I wonder why the plural form (are) isn't used.

What's grammatically correct in the following sentences, and why?

What is vs. what are your name and height?
What is vs. what are your favorite possession and dream car?

Thanks.


texts: Shorter name for “non-blocking with background synchronization?”

texts:
What would be a short, human name (so that support dude can spell it) for a concept where user action is non-blocking and state is synchronized in the background?

In my case I mark some clients as having really crap network and thus force them into such mode of operation.

Normal mode of operation is on-line, synchronous, blocking, live, soft real-time and ignores cached data.

Modern "offline html5" application do this, AJAX does it, Unix AIO does it, but what is it called?

Candidates so far

asynchronous (spelling)
non-blocking
offline (unclear)
batched (incorrect)
network-challenged ()
cached (Tomasz)
delayed
...
...
...

(cross-posted on stackoverflow)

(too bad lads decided to close this down, "human word for technical term asynchronous" is a valid question, and will continue to be pertinent until the whole world goes online)


texts:
Example:

  [...] to her is the thing I should have done back then.

I'm not particularly referring to love. It could also be a lesser feeling like affection or gratitude.


texts:
Denmark:

  For Shakespeare’s Prince, and the Princess of Wales,

  To England dear. Her royal spirit quails;

  From skating faint, she rests upon the snow;

  Shrinking from unclean beasts that grin below.

  .

  Italy:

  Thou model chieftain — born in modern days —

  Well may thy gallant acts claim classic praise.

  Uncompromising friend of liberty!

  Thy Photograph ennobles Italy!

These are from a book called Geographical Fun published in 1868 (See. https://archive.org/details/geographicalfunb00harv/page/n7/mode/2up).
Each quatrain describes Denmark and Italy.
Here's what I'd like to know:

Is there an idiom 'for someone to someone' as in 'for Shakespeare’s Prince, and the Princess of Wales, to England dear?' If so or not how can I understand this line?
Does 'skating faint' mean 'fainting rapidly'?
Can I interpret the first two lines of the second part as you will claim praise by making a modern leader?


texts: Does ‘overleaf’ necessarily imply turning over paper?

texts:
I have a sneaking suspicion that I may, for a long time, have been using the term overleaf in an unorthodox way, but I cannot really find a good way to search for corroboration or refutation.

The definition given in dictionaries all seem to run along the same course, more or less what the ODO definition has:

  On the other side of the page.

This is clear enough when something is actually on the back of the paper. In a normal book, where odd pages are on the right in a spread and even pages are on the left, a reference on page 53 to a figure on page 54 could very obviously use overleaf.

I’ve always extended this to also apply to cases where the reference is to a figure on page 52 instead—that is, where the figure is on the opposite page on the same spread—but I cannot find any evidence that this usage is common—unless the opposite page on a spread also counts as “the other side of the page” (which, to someone not involved in book production, is not inconceivable, but to most people would probably be a stretch).

Looking through some of the concrete examples of the word overleaf in actual use on Google Books didn’t really tell me an awful lot. A lot of the instances were people who were—in my view—clearly misusing the term by using it to refer to things that were several spreads away from their references; many had no page numbers, making it nigh impossible to tell what would originally have been left and right pages; and in the majority of the instances, the thing referred to was either not included in the preview or something not numbered that you’d have to read the whole thing to find.

A book I’m currently editing has quite a lot of figures and illustrations that consist of several images, many of which straddle a spread. All figures are accompanied by descriptive captions, and multiple images in one figure are described separately. If they’re on the same page, they are referenced easily enough with top/bottom, above/below, left/right, etc.; and I’ve been using overleaf/this page thus far when they are on opposite pages on their spread.

Am I misusing the term?
Can the opposite page on a spread be called overleaf?
If not, is there a more elegant term for it than just opposite page?

(Bonus question: This page also irks me a bit as being not very elegant. Is there a more elegant term for content that is on the same page as the reference and not on the opposite page?)


texts: A semi-colon before a "comprised of" list, or a new sentence?

texts:
I'm writing something along the lines of

  The service is comprised of two parts; detailed tracking, and logging.

Should I employ the semi-colon, as above, or is a colon more appropriate? Or should I start a new sentence? My feeling, because this is such a short list, is that a new sentence would be somewhat clunky. This is a follow up to the helpful answer I found about comprise.


texts: If a “cooking show” is grammatical, why not a “cooking book”?

texts:
I enjoy cooking,  and I've been told I'm  quite a good cook. I have several  cookery books 1 at home, mostly on Italian and British  cooking, but not one is written by a famous cookery writer 2. I've never taken a cookery class 3  in my life, but I have learnt a lot from TV cooks such as Jamie Oliver, Nigel Slater and Delia Smith, and I'm an avid fan of their cookery shows 4.

In numbers 2, 3, and 4, cookery can be substituted with cooking with no change in meaning, which suggests the two terms are virtually interchangeable. In fact, cookery is  the skill or activity of preparing and cooking food
while cooking is defined as the activity of preparing or cooking food by Cambridge Dictionaries.

Nevertheless, the best alternative for cookery book is the compound noun cookbook. The instances of cooking book, which Google Ngrams  turned up, were vanishingly rare, and mostly, false positives.

American English Ngram chart

British English Ngram chart

Since the 1970s, the expression food writer has superseded that of cookery writer, but cooking writer, although rare, is still used . See Ngram

  When a cooking writer pens his autobiography it is invariably written with a freshly baked, rosy glow. Tales of baking at their mother's knee is what is expected.
  Toast: The Story of a Boy's Hunger by Nigel Slater

The following graphs clearly illustrate the phenomenal boom of cooking shows, and cookery programmes in the last forty years or so.  The BrEng corpus demonstrates that both titles are commonly used...

whereas the AmEng corpus displays a distinct preference for cooking show. The description cookery show barely makes a visible dent on the chart

To sum up, if cooking show, cooking class, cooking skills, and to a lesser extent, cooking writer are all acceptable, what is about cooking book that makes it sound so ‘weird’?

Questions

Why is the term cookery rarely used for TV shows and books in American English?
Although recipe books are about cooking, these publications are practically never referred to as cooking books. Is there a grammatical or semantic reason for this?


texts: Why use the word "copy" in "do you copy that"?

texts:
I notice "do you copy that?" is used in movies to ask for confirmation in telephone/interphone conversation.

I only know copy means make things duplicated, so why use it in "do you copy that"? Is there a history about it?


texts: The relation between "temporal" and "time"

texts:
The word "temporal" is the XXX form of the word "time". What is XXX?
I can't find the answer anywhere, I don't even know where to look.


texts: Word/slang for "I have just committed the source code, please update your working copy"?

texts: I usually send this message over SMS to my coworkers, well, very frequently. I think maybe there is a slang term that I can use so I can type less.


texts: One of the directors of a company is being appointed as chairman. He shall remain so for his life term.  Is there a particular term/word to describe a person holding a position or office for life?


texts: A word or phrase to express "écrivain engagé", a committed writer?

texts:
I'm looking for an English expression as I'd like to form a special interest group on the international level. In French, the expression is écrivain engagé.  This is along the lines of "literature of commitment" which is defined as follows:

  "Literature of commitment" is the act, for a writer or artist, to formulate commentary or criticism, even though he is supposed to write up a dissertation with beauty being the only objective, this commentary being a way to serve a human ideal. This concept is opposed to that of art being carried out solely for artistic purposes and mostly developed around the twentieth century.

I've come across "committed writer" but the hits on Google seem to indicate that it isn't used in the same fashion.  George Orwell is the kind of writer we're thinking of here.


texts: I am confused about the use of “that they” in English. When should we use “that”?

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
Are there rules about using “that” to join two clauses?

I have seen the car that they bought.
There is more than one option that they can take.

Which is correct?


texts: Can I start a text using by + ing form? Ex. By recognizing the difficulty of the material, the teacher took extra time teaching it to her students.


texts:
The one political outlook to which it(general will) remain
  fundamentally inimical, not surprisingly, was that of royal
  absolutism-which is not to say that there were no attempts to
  confiscate the "general" will for royalist ends, but merely that these
  arebetter seen as desperate signs of the growing prestige of the
  formula in this period than anything else.（The French Idea of
  Revolution ed. by Dale Van Kley: 215)

I get confused about "desperate sign". The sign of growing prestige of the "general will" is very positive. Desperate may be used to describe the royalists' attempt to confiscate the "general will". But can it be used to describe "sign"? What does it exactly mean?


texts: grammatically correct or double negative?

texts:
If I write "I have absolutely nothing to do with him and never will." is that clear and grammatically correct in meaning that I will never have anything to do with him? Could it be interpreted/construed as a sort of double negative in the future with "I will never have nothing to do with him" or "I will never have absolutely nothing to do with him"?

Also, I believe "nothing to do with" and "to do with" are considered idiomatic. But if you say someone has "nothing to do with Buddhism and never will" the message seems clear that person will never have anything to do with Buddhism, I think.

I'm also aware of something called a negative polarity item. If you use a phrase such as "nothing.. at all", the "at all" indicates scope for negation that ends with the clause it's located in. Does using "absolutely" also indicate a negative polarity item?

When using "never will" without further elaboration, does it automatically imply/generate the positive meaning of the negation before? In this case "have absolutely nothing to do with" and "and never will" would generate/imply "never will have anything to do with"? Does the morpheme "nothing" change to "anything"? This seems true for when you say "X has nothing to do with Y and never will" but I'm not sure. The "and" also suggest continuity in meaning.

I found usages online with similar structure but that don't include the word "absolutely":
"she has a story that doesn't belong to my world, has nothing to do with it and never will"
http://www.shortstoryproject.com/biography-of-a-dress/

"It is entirely possible that these islands are part of a land reclamation project for agricultural or other civilian purposes which has nothing to do with military applications and never will."
http://thediplomat.com/2017/05/north-koreas-mysterious-new-islands/

Does the meaning change if you use "ever" instead of "never"? Person A has absolutely nothing to do with Person B and ever will.


texts: Is the usage of comma before "and" and again later on correct in this sentence?

texts: I have told her what to watch out for, and should she develop any worrying features in the future, please do not hesitate to contact me.


texts: Should I use the subjunctive mood in these sentence?

texts:
Last night, I was asked by a non-native speaker if this sentence is correct:
"Would you mind if I sent you messages while you were away?"

I replied "no". This is what I would say:
"Do you mind if I send you messages while you are away?"

She got discouraged and told me that she was practicing making sentences in the past subjunctive mood. To which I said (1) there are much more fundamental points of grammar you need to study, (2) I'll try to get to the bottom of this "past subjunctive" issue.

As of now, this is how I would put the sentence in the normal subjunctive:
"Would you mind if I were to send you messages while you are away?"

But, I am not sure about this normal subjunctive. And, I've never even heard of past subjunctive.

Are all of these sentences correct:
(1) Would you mind if I sent you messages while you were away?
(2) Do you mind if I send you messages while you are away?
(3) Would you mind if I were to send you messages while you are away?


texts:
What is the origin of the phrase "two nations divided by a common language"?

I have seen it attributed to Oscar Wilde, George Bernard Shaw and even Winston Churchill.

The most likely looking source I found said:

  ‘Was it Wilde or Shaw?’ The answer appears to be: both. In The Canterville Ghost (1887), Wilde wrote: ‘We have really everything in common with America nowadays except, of course, language’.  However, the 1951 Treasury of Humorous Quotations (Esar & Bentley) quotes Shaw as saying: ‘England and America are two countries separated by the same language’, but without giving a source.  The quote had earlier been attributed to Shaw in Reader’s Digest (November 1942).

So, I wonder if the phrase which has come into common usage is just a commonly used paraphrase, or whether it has a specific source of its own.

Also, although I have only heard it used in the context of Britain and America, I wonder if that's its only usage.


texts:
I am looking for an alternative to the term productionalize. I believe the generally accepted definition of the word says that it means "to make a software prototype ready for production". In a sentence:

  In our work we will productionalize the ideas of XYZ to great effect.

Is there such a term that can be used as a drop-in replacement?


texts:
Suppose an idea or an artistic work A is derived from another idea or work B. We would call A the "derivative" or the "derived". What would we call B?

I looked for antonyms of derived on thesaurus.com * and couldn't find any.

* - although I'm really looking more for the converse of derivative rather than the opposite of it.


texts:
I was having a conversation with a friend and happened to say "You know a lot about me."

She responded with "And you, me." I've heard this construction before, meaning something along the lines of and same with you to me. However, I'm wondering is this is a grammatically valid construction? It seems too minimalistic to be valid, but it conveys the idea perfectly.


texts: When should you use "to" following a "why"?

texts:
I've always wondered why some people add a to after Why when framing a question. I have always wished to know this, but I keep forgetting to ask and today I came across a tweet that made me post this question here. The sentence that I came across on my twitter feed is:

Why To Treat Your Product Like It's Finished?

Isn't it more appropriate to ask:

Why Treat Your Product Like It's Finished?

I know that all the words in the sentence above have a capital letter in front because this was a title of a post. But that is not the point.

My question is: When do we need to use a preposition like to after a question word like Why? Are there any grammatical rules regarding this usage? If so, what are they?

Why To Treat Your Product Like It's Finished (Even Before It Is) http://t.co/eLiY1VBYDT— Buffer (@buffer) June 4, 2014


texts: 'Whoever' or 'whomever' in a more complex sentence

texts:
I understand the difference between 'who' and 'whom', but in the following sentences I'm not sure whether to use 'whoever' or 'whomever':

'Give wh-ever did that a pay rise.'
'Tell wh-ever is teaching the class that I will be a little late.'

I look forward to reading your responses!


texts: How do you describe something bad, that everyone wants?

texts: Like - trying to catch a disease on purpose.


texts:
There is a common Russian expression, literally translated as "winners are not judged". The meaning is that one can get away with cutting corners and/or employing less-than-wholesome means in pursuit of some goal, provided one actually achieves the goals. In other words "the ends justify the means, so long as you actually achieve the ends".

Is there a compact English idiom for this notion?


texts: What is the exact technical word to describe the relationship between a verb and noun with the same root?

texts:
I'm editing a paper and the sentence I need to fix is, "Thus, the word and its_________ appear seven times in the chapter."

The word in question is a Hebrew word meaning to "rejoice" but the noun form, with an almost identical root meaning "gladness," is part of the seven occurrences. I thought of using "cognate" but that seems to be emphasizing a word "descended from the same language" which is not the emphasis here. I need a word that describes the relationship between a verb and its noun form, e.g., "to fly" and "flight."


texts: get, have etc a grasp of something vs a grip on something

texts:
Is there a difference between having/getting etc a grasp of something and a grip on something, when you mean knowledge/understanding?

Merriam Webster defines grip , in this sense, as "mental grasp", which makes pinpointing any difference, if there is one, even harder.

A few examples:

can't seem to get a grip on calculus (Webster)
a remarkable grasp of the subject (Webster)
Her grasp of the issues was impressive; Steve has a good grasp of the European legal system; We're still trying to get a grasp on the situation. (Longman)
I’m just trying to get a grip on what’s happening; She was losing her grip on reality. (Longman)


texts:
What is the longest lexicographic English word?

In other words, what's the longest English word who's letters are in alphabetical order?


texts: I am wondering if using "I concur" in a formal context is OK. I am writing a formal email; I want to use I concur, at the same time don't want to sound ghetto. Maybe I shouldn't bother and use I wholeheartedly agree instead. I still want to learn if it is OK to use "concur" in a professional email.


texts: How to distinguish 'technique' and 'technology'?

texts:
Also, how should I decide when to use classic and when to use classical?
What is the difference between these terms with regard to how they are used?
Should I use 'classic music' or 'classical music'? 'Historic event' or 'historical event'?


texts: (the) project BankABC, BankABC project or the BankABC project?

texts:
I struggle with proper usage of articles in the following situation: I have a project for a customer, let's call the customer BankABC. Is the following then correct?

  This is the description of the BankABC project. //I guess here BankABC
  acts like an adjective

or

  This is the description of project BankABC.


texts: What does “pass over somebody for the nod” mean?

texts:
I heard AP Radio News reporting Republican presidential candidate, Newt Gingrich won the endorsement of New Hampshire’s largest newspaper, which can reset the going of presidential race. The news was aired via AFN Tokyo at 7:00 am (Tokyo time), Monday.

I think I heard:

  “Republican presidential hopeful, Newt Gingrich wins the endorsement of New Hampshire’s largest newspaper, which passed over front runner, Mitt Romney for the nod. The New Hampshire Union Leader’s editorial potentially resets the race in the state with its first-in-the nation primary.”

What does “pass over somebody for the nod - the newspaper passed over Mitt Romney for the nod” mean? Is this popular phrase?


texts: How to say "mix of two language" in a bad meaning

texts:
I think there is a invective for "mix of two language".

But the word slipped my mind.

Can you tell me how to say it?
I'm not intend to use it, I only want to remember the word.


texts: Can someone tell me if "we can able to" or "we are able to" is the correct usage? I feel the latter is correct. However, I noticed the former usage in a few write ups and emails.


texts: What's the word Copyright and `(C)' mean?

texts:
In the lines:

  Copyright (C) 1994 Tom
  Copyright (C) 1995, 1996 Cruise
  Copyright (C) 1997, 1998 Louis

Here, what's the original meaning of "Copyright"? And why the mark "(C)"?

And, what is indeed granted by the Copyright string? For example:

  Copyright (C) 1994 Tom

Does this mean that Tom has the right of copy, e.g. copy something mentioned to everyone in the world in the year of 1994? And after the year 1994 he won't have the copy right anymore?

What's the difference between the following?

  Copyright (C) 2000–2010 Lily Ponder
  Copyright 2000–2010 Lily Ponder

And, Can I write something like

  Copyright (C) 2000-3000 Lily Ponder

to protect the copyright forever?


texts:
What is the noun in this sentence:

  Some of our greatest innovations were launched during tough times.

I know that of our greatest innovations is a prepositional phrase and as such cannot contain the subject of the sentence. Some just doesn't strike me as a noun—or is it?

If it is, what is the easy way to recognize these type of nouns?


texts:
I know that much is used with uncountable nouns and more with countable nouns.

There is no connection between much and more with the comparative and superlative, right?

For example, if we take the word better, what would be its corresponding comparative and superlative forms?

Comparative would be much better, but what is the superlative? Is it most better?

Also, is it same with more when talking about its own respective comparative and superlative forms?


texts: What's the origin of "this is going to come to a head"?

texts:
I have used the phrases "This is going to come to a head" or "coming to a head". I think I know what they mean, I think I'm using them correctly.

So...where do these phrases come from? And, ahem, what do they (really) mean?


texts:
In books written in the nineteenth century, you can come across sentences like this (quoting from Ambrose Bierce's The Devil's Dictionary):

  A Pilgrim Father was one who, leaving Europe in 1620 because not permitted to sing psalms through his nose, followed it [the pilgrim] to Massachusetts, where he could personate God according to the dictates of his conscience.

Another well-known writer in whose works I'm certain I found this kind of usage is Jane Austen.

I'm not sure I understand this usage.


texts: Any difference between 'strongly recommended' and 'highly recommended'?

texts: Is there any difference between 'strongly recommended' and 'highly recommended'? Or both one is totally same?


texts: "next generation of" or "next generation"?

texts:
What would be the correct way of saying "X is the next generation of Hockey stand"?

Some possibilities I thought of:

"X is the next generation Hockey stand"
"X is the next generation of Hockey stands"


texts: What does 'to lose countenance, with a good countenance' mean?

texts: I know countenance means appearance, behavior, and composure.  What does the phrase 'to lose countenance, with a good countenance' mean?


texts: "You didn't build that" — but what was Obama referring to by "that"?

texts:
During the opening night of the Republican National Convention, many speakers took to the podium and took advantage of a phrase spoken by President Obama that some are calling a grammatical error.

In a July 13 campaign appearance in Virginia, the president told an audience:

  “If you’ve got a business — you didn’t build that. Somebody else made that happen.”

At least that's all the GOP would have you believe he said. The party has repeatedly used just those two sentences in campaign materials. In fact, the excerpt is part of a larger message:

  “If you were successful, somebody along the line gave you some help. There was a great teacher somewhere in your life. Somebody helped to create this unbelievable American system that we have that allowed you to thrive. Somebody invested in roads and bridges. If you’ve got a business — you didn’t build that. Somebody else made that happen. The Internet didn’t get invented on its own. Government research created the Internet so that all the companies could make money off the Internet. The point is, is that when we succeed, we succeed because of our individual initiative, but also because we do things together.”

In a video released in late July, the Obama campaign says that "that" refers to the compound noun "roads and bridges."

But as the sentence is constructed (is that an em or an en dash?) mustn't "that" refer to "business"?

And who put the dash in there? Is it from an official transcript provided by Obama's team or was the speech put into print by the press or the Romney campaign?


texts: Usage of sound /ʒ/ in English (not /dʒ/)

texts:
I'm trying to explain to an English speaker how to pronounce the letter j in French, and was looking for cases where it appears in English. It seems that j is almost always pronounced /dʒ/. Examples of the /ʒ/ without /d/ in English are very rare: Asia, vision (many words ending in -sion), measure. In those words the vowel after /ʒ/ is always the same.

Where else in English does this consonant appears?


texts: What do "not on my watch" and "not on my turf" stand for?

texts: I deduce those mean "not on my field of interest" or "simply I don't care", are those correct?


texts:
The earliest use of the phrase I can find is Horatio Nelson, urging his commander, Sir Hyde Parker, to attack the combined fleets of Russia, Sweden, and Denmark, moored off Zealand.  When Parker dithered over the two choices of approach, Nelson burst out "Let it be by the Sound, by the Belt, or any other way, but lose not an hour."

His exclamation is famous, in its way, but was it original? The strange phrasing (even for 1800) suggest it was not.


texts: Word for presage/portend but with a positive context?

texts: For example, doing well in school ____ future success. Predict doesn't have a positive connotation, like presage and portend have a negative one.


texts: A phrase/preposition for monitoring something

texts:
I want to use the sentence 1

  They monitor the security of the device.

and make the sentence 2

  I don't know how they monitor the device ---- the security.

What should I put in the blank?

The options I have in mind and have been used here or there are "in terms of", "concerning" and "regarding".

Are any of this options correct in such sentences? Any other suggestions?


texts: How do I decide whether I should spell the word "idolator" or "idolater"? Apparently, both are considered acceptable forms of the same word, so how do I determine which spelling I should use?


texts:
I am quite confused about the usage over infinitive verbs and gerunds when talking about nouns.

For example:

  A car for transporting people.

and,

  A car to transport people.

both have the same meaning.

The same goes for,

  A video for teaching kids geometry.

and,

  A video to teach kids geometry.

But why is it that when I say,

  A person to talk to.

and,

  A person for talking to.

the latter does not match in terms of meaning with the former? The way I'm constructing the sentences hasn't changed compared to the first two examples, yet "a person for taking to" does not have the same meaning as "a person to talk to", while also being quite an awkward expression by itself.

Could anyone explain why this happens?


texts:
I have a sentence where I need to express a few ideas, and I'm not sure about the correct choice of the vocabulary and if the use of insert clause here sounds acceptable enough.Here is the sentence:

  Global experience shows that availability of manuals, which have
  been in abundance in Europe, may have a “lulling” effect.

I'm not sure if the clause in bold, both with regard to the choice of vocabulary, and the sentence structure. I was thinking also about leaving out "which" and using only "abounding in Europe", or maybe "which have abounded in Europe", or "of which have been in plenty supply in Europe" or something to that effect. Also, is it possible to use "and" in this clause, so it sounds as an insert, for instance, ",and there has been a rich selection of them in Europe,"
I'd like to know which of these phrases would best fit this slot in the sentence, and also if the sentence as it is, sounds readable.


texts: Why are "quite few" and "quite a few" opposites?

texts:
Consider these two sentences:

How many people came?  Quite few.
How many people came?  Quite a few.

The first means few people came (less than expected), the second means many (more than expected).  Why the difference, and what exactly is the "a" referring to?


texts: Why do we sometimes use nouns without articles?

texts:
Why is the adjective "nonsensical" not used in the following sentence? And why is the noun form correct? Why do we never use an article before the word "nonsense"? Isn't it a noun? has it something to do with the fact that it's uncountable?

  "The translation of the instructions was so poor they were just nonsense."

Or

  "The story he told us was nonsense."

What about the word "luxury"? What is the difference between "a luxurious car" and "a luxury car"? I believe the latter one is more common for some reason I can't find. I mean "luxury" is a noun, why do we use it to modify another noun when we can use the adjectival form "luxurious"?

I hope I was able to convey what I mean well enough.
Thanks in advance.


texts: Where did the English 'indefinite article' come from, and why?

texts:
I came across a previous question (Why does English have an indefinite article ?) about the origins of the English indefinite article which question was closed due to it being posed in an - ironically - indefinite manner, without a real focus to the question.

I have an ongoing interest from a conceptual point of view.

Daniel B Wallace in his Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics states of the Greek article (there is only one in Greek) :

  One of the greatest gifts bequeathed by the Greeks to Western civilization was the article. [p207.]

Daniel Wallace states of the article (that is to say, the idea of an article per se) that it identifies.

  The function of the article is not, primarily, to make something definite.
  The article intrinsically has the ability to conceptualize.

He argues that without an article one is discussing a quality that can only be described. The article, by its very presence, indicates that a concept is identifiable. If identifiable, then the entity or object may be titled or named, and may, thus, be conceptualised as a thing rather than as a quality.

This division between quality and identity is a strong feature of Greek.

If what Wallace says is true, concerning the gift bequeathed by Greek to Western civilization, then why was it necessary (conceptually) to introduce other articles  ? And, if Peter Masters also is correct (and I do not doubt that he is so) why do we now have five articles in English (zero-some-a/an-the-null) ?

Why do we need, conceptually, more than quality/identity in English ? is my question.


texts: Is there a grammatical term for two "conditional" subordinate clauses being combined with "and"?

texts:
First off, sorry if my question is confusing. Or just plain wrong for what I am actually asking. But I am confused. I'm trying to figure out why there are no commas in two specific sentences. I don't think these sentences are wrong, but I want to understand why they are right. I am looking for a rule, but I lack the terminology to search for a rule.

Here are the sentences:

  Because the topic covers several issues and because I was already working on one of the sub-topics for another article, I thought I’d answer the question in an article rather than in the comment section.

and

  I’m going to focus on adverbial clauses since they’re usually the ones that cause the most problems and because the example in the reader’s question uses an adverbial clause.

They are both taken from this article: http://theeditorsblog.net/2014/07/30/commas-with-subordinate-clauses-a-readers-question/

The parts that, for some reason or other, confound me are in bold. Both are subordinate/dependent clauses, and both begin with a subordinate conjunction. At least, I believe that is the case.
But what do they turn into when the construction is done like the above? A "compound subordinate clause"? And why would there be a small voice in my head, asking me why there is no comma before the "and" in the bold parts of my quotes?

Additionally, would the same grammatical "state" (yes, I am obviously lacking terminology, I apologize) still apply if, in the first quote, the subordinate conjunction was not repeated? As in:

  Because the topic covers several issues and I was already working on one of the sub-topics for another article, I thought I’d answer the question in an article rather than in the comment section.

And again I feel like there should be a comma here between "issues" and "and".

Someone please help me out here.

Thank you.


texts: Must present perfect tense be used if the action takes place more than once?

texts:
I was told that if an action is completed once in the past, the simple past is used.
Ex:  I saw that movie.

If the action is completed more than once, the present perfect tense must be used.
Ex:  I have seen that movie twelve times.

So, "I have seen that movie twelve times on Tuesday." is correct and "I saw that movie twelve times on Tuesday." is incorrect?


texts: What is the etymology of "run like a dog"?

texts:
I've used the phrase "runs like a dog" to mean that my car is on its last legs and can't, sometimes, run anywhere near as fast as a dog can.

Can anyone shed light on where this meaning of the phrase came from?

The Google NGram viewer says that "work like a dog" is much more common.


texts: What term is used to refer to quiz bowl players?

texts: Is there a special term for quiz bowl/knowledge bowl/trivia game-show competitors or people who otherwise spend their time remembering trivia for such competitions?


texts: Good English translation for French military term "Baptême du feu"

texts:
In French, "Baptême du feu" is a military term that refers to the first combat experience of a new recruit.

Literally translated, it would be "Fire Baptism" or "Baptism of Fire". I don't think an English audience would understand what's meant by that though. It seems that "Baptism by fire" also has strong religious connotations in English.

What is the English military term for this?

Is there a good English translation that maintains some of the "poetic" characteristics of the French version?


texts:
I have heard many things that could be valid ways to express the past tense of the word "bullshit" and other words derived from "shit".

Some examples:

"I bullshit my homework"

"I bullshitted my homework"

"The dog shat on the rug"

Im just curious as to what the accepted past tense of these words is?


texts: You are one or you are a one, which one is correct?

texts:
Should I use 'a' before the word 'one'? Is it grammatically correct?
For example:

There are many intelligent people, tell me if you are one.
There are many intelligent people, tell me if you are a one.

Which one is correct?
Also same question arises when I try to say something like "I am (a) one"


texts: Which verb should be used in front of Twitter?

texts:
Updated in responding to some comments

When I say I was using my phone to 'read' twitters. Which verb should I use? Is 'reading' a good choice?

  I was reading twitter this morning and saw a tweet from Bria. I replied her with the following picture.

Just to give the above as an example.

I am asking because in Chinese we use a different verb for this behaviour. We don't use 'reading' unless it is a really long one. In Chinese, most people would say "刷微博", where "微博" is kind of copy of Twitter. The direct translation of "刷" would be "brush". I believe it gets this meaning because the way we move fingers on the touch screen is like brushing the screen, although it also applies to reading on desktop or web.


texts:
Sogou is a Chinese search engine, which can search text, images, music and maps.

Is a comma required before "which" in the above sentence?


texts: 'compare [something] with/to [something]' vs. 'compare'

texts:
Should I always compare something with/to something? In many texts you see structures like this one, from Maciej Paszynski, Fast Solvers for Mesh-Based Computations:

  After several steps, we end up in the root tree, compare Figure 8.18.

Is it correct to say "compare Figure 8.18"? My understanding of the word compare is that you always compare something to/with something. I think it is more correct to say "see Figure 8.18," or "check Figure 8.18." What do you think?


texts:
Is it natural to say "change someone to do something instead of something"?
For example, I would like to say
"I changed my program to use linear layer instead of convolution layer".
In this sentence "my program" is the subject of "to use". So I am not using "to use" as a purpose. My program is actually something using 'linear layer'.


texts: Why are location words like "here" adverbs rather than adjectives?

texts:
In learning another language, I realized that in English, location-related words are adverbs, not adjectives like I expected.

"I'm cold/tall/fast/young" - these words are adjectives, modifying "I"
"I'm here/around/behind/inside" - these words are adverbs, so they modify "am"?

My main question is "why aren't these adjectives?"
In case that's too general, here are the related points that come to mind:

is there a simple concept or test sentence that would clarify the difference? I'm guessing "I am" is the most confusing example.
is it true that this applies to all/most location-related words? what makes location special? or is that just how the language developed?
are there any other classes of words like this? I checked out time-related words, like "I'm early/late", but I think those are adjectives in that usage, is that right?

Related answers that don't do it for me:

What part of speech does “here” have in “I am here”?
https://ell.stackexchange.com/questions/197217/here-adverb-or-adjective


texts: Can I use two series of commas in the same phrase or sentence?

texts:
Example phrase: Which one may be correct?

  rich, strong, and fast man, white woman, boy, and girl

Coordinating four nouns "man, woman, boy, and girl" whatever the places of modifiers.

  rich, strong, and fast man and white woman, boy, and girl**

The conjunction "and" is coordinating two noun phrases whatever the places of modifiers.


texts: What's it called when you suspect people think bad about you

texts:
Imagine you are with a group of friends. You say something and you get reactions back, which you think are negative but are actually the truth. You constantly think/worry people are thinking negatively about you.

What is this called? And I am not referencing to worrying because that is too abstract.


texts: Did "et cetera" gain its popularity from "The King and I"?

texts:
Is it possible that et cetera gained its popularity thanks to the 1956 movie The King and I?

Since I wasn't around before 1956, I'm not sure how common "et cetera" was in day to day speech. Or was it still as common in everyday speech back then as it is today?


texts: Why is the common meaning of logical terms ('and', 'or') incongruous from that in math?

texts:
If someone wrote that they want "nuts and bolts", they would get a bunch of hardware they could attach things with.  If this was software or math, they would only receive nothing, because things are (generally) nuts or bolts.

If someone asked for "vanilla or chocolate", they might be given one or the other; "exclusive or" in the math.

Why is there this mix-up of logical operators between normal language and math?


texts: What's the difference in meaning between "variation" and "alteration"?

texts:
I am studying biology. While studying I have come across this paragraph:

  Mutation is a phenomenon which results in 'alteration' of DNA sequences and consequently results in changes in the genotype and the phenotype of an organism.In addition to recombination, mutation is another phenomenon that leads to 'variation' in DNA.

Can anyone explain the difference between using alteration and variation in this paragraph?


texts:
I've seen "awhile" defined as "for a time," and I've seen examples like "Go play awhile" and "stay awhile." But what about the phrases, "Do you want your salad awhile?" or "Would you like your coffee awhile or with your meal?" They seems to define "awhile" as "while you wait" instead of "for a time."

Do these phrases correctly use "awhile" or are they more in line with a colloquialism?


texts:
I don't know if this question really has an answer, but it's been bugging me for a while: When did it become fashionable to start sentences with the word "which"?

Here's a short example:

  I drove straight home after work. Which means I didn't stop for groceries.

These two sentences could easily be combined into one sentence with a comma between them.

Here's a longer example that seems to occur in almost every magazine article:

  The president on Wednesday ordered a massive bomb strike against the rebel stronghold in an attempt to drive them out of hiding, killing hundreds and creating protests around the world. Which won't look good in the November election.

Are writers trying to be fancy? Is this a new writing style that's being taught?


texts: What is the origin of the idiom "to be sure"?

texts:
I want to know the origin of the idiomatic phrase "to be sure".

None of the definitions I found on online dictionaries mentioned an origin, and I also didn't find it asked anywhere on the net (though the second definition in idioms.thefreedictionary.com does mention that this phrase was first recorded in 1657.)

To be clear: the meaning of the phrase I'm talking about is the one listed under the subheading "to be sure" here:

  1   Used to concede the truth of something that conflicts with another point
        that one wishes to make.

  1.1 Used for emphasis

as in the sentence:

  That was unfortunate, to be sure, but certainly not intentional on his part


texts: Identify the grammatical name and function of each of the expressions italicized/bolded below

texts:
I met the only student of the newly established Technical University located at Ibadan.
My friend is a man to beat.
The boy who stole the book is running like a deer.
Sighting the owner of the book, Kola ran away.
Backbiting and gossiping led him to prison.
The fact that he showed you love is not enough to tell him your secrets.


texts:
Any error in the following statement?

Scenario :

Earlier, I have informed the other person that the event is not yet approved but later on I realized that I am wrong and I need to convey it. So I used the following statement. But I had a question about whether "is" or "was" should be used and whether "already" should be placed before "approved "

  I am sorry it is approved already!


texts: Can I use "scheme" when referring to electronic drawings?

texts: When talking about electronic drawings is it correct to use scheme or should I only use schematic?


texts:
When two words are hyphenated do they always become one word?  Or does it depend on why you use the hyphen?

For example 'four-wheeled carts'.  Has 'four' become a prefix or is the purpose of the hyphen to simply imply the relationship between the two words?

Cheers


texts: Is it correct to say the the bag is sitting on top of the table?

texts: Can you say. The bags are sitting on top of the table?


texts: A word that conveys that an act or expression or object had failed to fulfill its purpose

texts:
I'm looking for a word that can be used to refer to something (an action or expression or object) that has failed to fulfill its raison d'être.
Examples:

Action: A charitable organization collected donations to be allocated to a hospital. But the organization bought a painting with the collections and then donated that to the hospital. I wanna form a sentence like:
"The _____ donation was never meant to be made in good faith."

'Failed' can't be used in the blank as technically a donation was made and technically it's not illegal either. But still the donation didn't serve its intrinsic purpose of providing an asset that would broaden the reach of medical facilities.

Expression: The organization will have to apologize, I guess.
Here, the intention is to serve an apology, none is expressly served. I wanna refer to it as:
"The ____ apology implies a lack of actual remorse on the directors of the board."

Again, either failed or more such words can be used but they don't convey that the expression of guilt didn't serve its apparent purpose and only hoodwinked some into believing that an apology has been rendered while deceptively avoiding delivering one.


texts:
What is the meaning of the phrase “at their/his/her disposition”?

For example:

  He left the apartment at the old’s man disposition.

Please explain with a few examples.


texts: What does the expression "creamy shell" mean?

texts:
Today I participated in an English contest. The fourth subject asked us to translate a text into our language. The text had some expression I didn't know and I wonder what does this one mean:

“The boy came close and peered down at Ralph, screwing up his face as he did so. What he saw of the fair-haired boy with the creamy shell on his knees did not seem to satisfy him.” (Golding, William — The Lord of the Flies)

So, what does "creamy shell" mean here? I know shell means the "house" that a snail has on his back or shells from the beach.


texts:
Should I say "I derive the equation", "I derivate the equation" or "I differentiate the equation"?

I mean in this context:

Here is equation (1).
I _____________ equation (1) and get the following result...

another context

Equation (2) is the derivative of (1) or
Equation (2) is the differential (1) ?

When should I use one term or the other for contexts like that?


texts:
I am having trouble finding the right way to describe the following: a man not having a revolver "tucked away in the pants." I would like this to include the idea that "if he had one, you wouldn't see it anyway, but he doesn't," I also need to include the "in the pants" or "in the belt"(?), as this is for a translation.

Is there any phrase describing this situation?


texts: Which sentence is correct? first one or second one?

texts:
For their viewers, it's not matter which university they graduate from.
For their viewers, it's not matter which university they were graduated from.


texts: How should I understand "There is no way around the fact that ..."?

texts:
The question is based on the following text:

  Approaching crafts from the point of view of function, we can divide them into simple categories: containers, shelters, and supports. There is no way around the fact that containers, shelters, and supports must be functional.

Here are my questions:

How should I understand the words in bold?
What kind of a dictionary should I refer to when I get similar questions?
Can anyone tell me in which dictionary I can find such a phrase?


texts: Is there a term to describe the physical location of an object, as well as the time in which it exists?

texts:
Where such a term would reference the location/time of an object, almost like it was of a property of the object. That is to say, if a duck is red, blue, yellow etc, we describe it has having a certain colour. If it's a nanometre, or 10km big, then it's property of size.

Now I know that where/when an object exists an object isn't a property of an object, but it is something unique to that object, so I think it would be useful to have a shorthand for 'geographical location', and 'time of existence'.

There are terms describing both time and location, such an event, or rendezvous (which I think is used to describe the when and where of a meeting between two humans) but I wan't a term that just describes one of each.


texts:
What does take imprints mean in the following passage taken from CNN?

  People who approach the Wall have been known to break down in tears.
  They touch the engraved names delicately, as if the letters are
  inscribed with an electric charge. Many take imprints; others
  leave flowers and mementos.

Does it mean to make a copy of the imprints and then take it away?


texts: Use of same word for the verb and object

texts: What is the grammatical term when the verb and the object are the same word? Examples: Plant the plant two inches deep. He dreamed a dream about Christmas.


texts: I am looking for a word for "position" on gas station, or on car wash, when you can say "I have washed my car on 2nd --position--" or when you say on gas station "I have get fuel from 2nd --position--". I think "position" is not the best word.


texts: Historically, why is "to" added to the start of every verb? E.g. "to go" "to run"? Why don't we just say "I want run." "I need go."?

texts:
Historically, why is "to" added to the start of every verb? E.g. "to go" "to run"? Why don't we just say "I want run." "I need go." ?

I'm not sure how to make a Google search about this so I came to ask the question on this forum.
(BTW why don't we just say: I'm not sure how make a Google search about this so I came ask the question on this forum.?)

Is it to distinguish what we are saying from commands? E.g. I'm going run ->! I'm going. Run!

Or maybe it distinguishes verbs from nouns? I want Run ->! I want to run.


texts:
In this question, John Y refers to a printed version of a book as "dead-tree book". I found that amuzing and started to wonder what the opposite of such term would be.

Of course, the popular term would be "electronic book". However, I'd like to retain the style of the original wording.


texts: The word that meant "a small desire, less serious than a dream, goal, passion or a desire." What was it?

texts:
I distinctly remember the word having the connotations of a weak desire, a very passing dream, momentary wish or a capricious desire. I can also recall that it had 2 or 3 syllables.

It probably ended with the character "E."

Example sentences:
1) Throughout the day I have many Xs, but none of them come to fruition.

2) A goal is serious thing, it keeps you on track. An X is just something I would like to accomplish but it is not important enough to justify my efforts.

3) If only more people paid due attention to Xs, they would see the light of the day. But alas, they dismiss it casually.


texts: What word can be used if I mean to forcibly open a nailed crate?

texts:
Two kids have put a cat in a large crate and nailed it shut. Now I want to free this cat.

  These brats have nailed the cat in this crate. I need a tool to ... this crate.

Open? Sure, but there must be a better word. Crack? Break? Force?


texts: 'Patriotism' is to 'Country' as _______ is to 'City'

texts: The title's pretty self explanatory! I can't seem to find a word which means exactly this, but I would be amazed if it doesn't exist.


texts: "Not X so much as Y" vs. "not so much X as Y"

texts:
E.g.

  which don't describe an action so much as describe a state of being
  which don't so much describe an action as describe a state of being

Are both constructions grammatically correct? I have no clue.


texts: Is there a literary term which refers to works of art which include false statements or implications about the reality outside of the text?

texts:
Like, for example, the book The Princess Bride, which claims to be an abridged version of a book which never existed by an author who isn't real, and contains a variety of fabrications about the content that was removed, legal troubles with the publishing, etc.
Or the youtube series Petscop, which the narrator says is an investigation of an unfinished video game, but the game is fictional. Or some ARGs that create shell companies or fake websites for the players to "investigate".
I feel like I remember there being a word specifically for this kind of thing, but after poking around on the internet a bit I can't seem to find it. My best guess would have been "hypertextuality", but according to Wikipedia this means something different.


texts: Word for stating something as fact when narrator and audience knows it is untrue?

texts:
I am looking for a literary term that is similar to irony. Basically, the narrator say something in an almost sarcastic way by stating something that everyone knows is untrue. The quote I am going off of is “...nothing mattered except that Lupin stop pretending that Sirius, who was standing feet from them behind that old curtain, was not going to emerge at any moment...”
Sirius of course has just died, and the narrator says that he is “standing feet from them behind that old curtain” when everyone knows that is simply not true. Is this some type of irony? Rhetorical statement? I need to know!


texts: What is wrong with expressions like "leave no stone unturned"?

texts:
In George Orwell's Politics and the English Language he says:

  Silly words and expressions have often disappeared, not through any evolutionary process but owing to the conscious action of a minority. Two recent examples were explore every avenue and leave no stone unturned, which were killed by the jeers of a few journalists.

What exactly is wrong with these expressions? They seem perfectly fine to me.


texts: In this sentence "because Amazon Suggest keywords are so laser-targeted, they tend to convert great.", what does "laser-target" mean?


texts:
I found an example in Cambridge Dictionary(https://dictionary.cambridge.org/grammar/british-grammar/adverbs-and-adverb-phrases-position):

You can definitely never predict what will happen.

In the above example, what is the adverb "definitely" modifying?

a) You can [[definitely never] predict] what will happen. ('definitely' modifying 'never') Or

b) You can [never [predict definitely]] what will happen. ('definitely' modifying 'predict')

Can I write the original sentence the same way as b)?


texts: using present progressive with present simple in subordinate clause

texts:
There are two corrects answers in this sentence according to the answer keys, but I don't know why and when (like in a certain situation) which one should be used.

Before the train departs, all the tickets --------- collected.

are being --correct
were being
had been
will have been --correct

I understand that number 4 is correct if the writer wants to say that tickets will be collected in the future before the train departs.
As for number 1, under what circumstance is this used? Does the writer want to say that all the tickets are being collected not before the train departs?

Thank you.


texts: Is the expression "moderator's set" used in English? What would you call it?

texts:
We are talking about a small suitcase which contains different presentation materials like markers, felt pens, post-its, paper in different shapes, laser pointers etc. for convention organization.

Is the expression moderator's set used in English for a set of materials like this? If not, what would it be called?


texts: Yod coalescence across words - only with "you(r(s))"?

texts:
I'm asking specifically about Yod* coalescence when connecting two words together.

Some very (neat) phenomenon in American English is to "fuse" you/r/s when the word ends in t/d/z:

I was thinking about you  -> aɪ wəz θɪŋkɪŋ əˈbaʊtʃu
what did you do? -> wʌt| dɪʤu du?
close your eyes  -> kloʊʒəɹ aɪz

From my observation, Americans only coalesce some or non of the t+y, d+y and z+y combination, depending on their regional accent and how articulate they want to sound (the more they coalesce, the informal it sounds).

Another observation I have is that across words (I'm not talking about inter word combinations like future, solider and vision), it can only happen when the second word is you/your/yours.

Am I correct? are there any other words which start with y and can be coalesced? or the only "valid" coalescence is when the second word is you/r/s?

I mean, one can't say "but yeah, you're right" as something like "bucheah, you're right" without sounding very awkward.

If anyone wants to answer about different dialect of English (British, Australian,etc.) they are welcome, but the question is about American English, with bias toward Midwestern/West coast/General American accent.

*hey, that's a Hebrew letter!


texts: I saw/looked at the girl singing on the stage

texts:
a. I saw the girl singing on the stage.
b. I looked at the girl singing on the stage.

Does (a) mean "I saw the girl who was singing on the stage" or "I saw a scene where the girl was singing on the stage" or either (depending on context)?
Similarly, does (b) mean "I looked at the girl who was singing on the stage" or "I looked at a scene where the girl was singing on the stage" or either (depending on context)?

In case the questions are unclear, the above questions can be rephrased in terms of syntax as follows:
In (a), is singing on the stage complement of the noun girl, thereby constituting the NP the girl singing on the stage, or is it complement of the verb saw, or is it either (depending on context)?
Similarly, in (b), is singing on the stage complement of the noun girl, thereby constituting the NP the girl singing on the stage, or is it complement of the verb looked at, or is it either (depending on context)?


texts: What is the correct way to punctuate this?

texts:
There were forty-nine messages, the first of which was “Is it true that you moved to Florida?” sent to my cell phone.

It seems like there should be another comma after Florida, but you've already got the question mark and quotation mark there. Is it okay like this?


texts:
This might be a pretty basic question.

I'm writing a song.
It's usually written as New beginning,
but I thought that I might have heard people saying New begin.
It would sound better in this case, but is it proper English?


texts:
Is there any difference in politeness or formality between the following sentences?

Please can I borrow your pen?
Can I please borrow your pen?
Can I borrow your pen, please?


texts: Title Capitalization of Keywords in Programming Languages

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  Capitalising a sentence whose first word is explicitly lowercase
  Should I change the structure of a sentence/add filler words to make sure that the sentence always starts with a capital letter?

In programming language documentation, it is common for keywords to appear in titles. Assuming that the keyword is strictly lowercase in the language, how should that keyword be capitalized if it is used as the first word in a title?

For example:

int
int is used to specify an integer type.

-- or --

Int
int is used to specify an integer type.


texts: Could you please explain to me the difference in meaning and usage of  in such case  vs.  in such a case ?


texts: Does changing the word order in these sentences alter the meaning?

texts:
Impressions are often made better by deeds than by words or money.
Impressions made by deeds are often better than by money or words.

Do you think these two sentences can be seen the same grammatically and in meanings?


texts: Word for an person/actor who shares an article

texts:
Is there a word that can be used as the role of sharing an article (without it being specific to a platform like social media, phone or mail)?
I've come to understand that "sharer" does not suit this role.


texts: What do you call something that once existed but no longer does?

texts:
I'm writing a story in which certain objects no longer exist. I was going to refer to them as "relics" but a relic is something from a bygone age that survived the passage of time and now exists in our time.

What do you call something that no longer exists. I need a word that conveys the idea that these inanimate objects did once exist but no longer do.

Edit: I didn't want to reveal too much but I guess I need to add context.
A character in my story is ancient. He is from a time when stars still existed but the stars have long since faded away and have been forgotten by everyone except him. In passing he mentions how he misses the stars and another character asks him what stars are. He says something along the lines of "Relics of a bygone age".

I'm looking for a word that replaces "relics" and implies that the stars did not survive the passage of time.


texts: Can I use a comma before "for" in this sentence

texts:
Is there any reason why I can't use a comma before "for" in this sentence?

See Section 3.1, for further detail on MBI incidents.

My reason? Its easier to read with the comma when reading through the lengthy content where it lives.

I would often use this comma in user manuals, to refer to pages, but now I'm editing content for a government institution.


texts:
A co-worker and I disagree on how to phrase the end of this sentence:

  (1) MDA-MB-231 cells, which are highly invasive, are more than 20 times less
  sensitive to gradients than neutrophils are.

or

  (2) MDA-MB-231 cells, which are highly invasive, are more than 20 times less
  sensitive to gradients than are neutrophils.

One of the sentences sounds wrong to me, and the other sounds wrong to him. Is one or the other incorrect? Are both acceptable? Is one preferable? What is the name of this kind of construction?


texts: Perfect tense + +'for' vs. Perfect tense + 'over/during'

texts:
Page 423 of Collins Usage Guide reads,

If you want to say how long something has been the case, you use
for: We've been married for seven years.

If you want to mention how long something has been happening, you use
during or over:
A considerable amount of rain has fallen during the past two years. Things have become noticeably worse over the past two or three months

What's this difference due to? different type of verbs?


texts:
I am drawing a blank trying to think of the phrase or verb you use when you name someone or something. Like when you name a child or you name a ship.

Something like:

  I gave him the name "John"

But with a verb or phrase, like:

  I ______ed him "John"

I am looking for a verb like "named" or "called", but with a more archaic feel, like "bequeath" or "bestow", but those didn't sound right to me.


texts: How to convey turning something into something else, without using pronouns?

texts:
I'm trying to figure out the proper grammar for conveying that something is turning something into something else, without using pronouns. Consider this:

  Socrates poisons the tranquil so that they become rabid.

I don't want to use the word they, or any other pronoun for that matter, because I think it sounds a bit pedestrian (this is part of a quasi ye olde english poem).

Would the phrase below be a valid alternative?

  Socrates poisons the tranquil as to become rabid.

It sounds okay to me, but I'm pretty sure it's not proper grammar. Any suggestions?


texts: What are words similar in spelling but differing in meaning called?

texts:
I frequently encounter "vs" words like:

prodigal vs prodigious
ingenuous vs ingenious
affluent vs effluent

These words are very similar but not identical in spelling, and have different meanings.
(Since the words are not identical there are not  heteronyms)

Is there any term that describes such pairs of words?


texts: How many speech sounds (phonemes) are there in English?

texts:
Is the following statement correct especially the section about there being 44 individual speech sounds as I'm thinking there's actually a lot more sounds than that?

"English words are produced using a combination of 44 individual speech sounds called 'phonemes'. These phonemes can be represented in writing using the 26 letters of the English alphabet, either individually or combined with other letters. There are numerous spelling choices (graphemes) for each phoneme."


texts: What effect does the article 'a' have on this fragment?

texts:
What do you think is the difference between:

  Achieve better work/life balance

and

  Achieve a better work/life balance

The discussion may be academic, but I know what my preference is, and I need to be able to defend it.


texts: What does the phrase "We'll keep you whole," really mean?

texts:
I understand it to mean possibly the following things

If you've been wronged, the person / entity which wronged you will reimburse you or replace what was lost or broken.
"Keep you alive" as in "Stay whole"
Something else entirely?


texts:
The basement was overflowed by the redolent aroma caused by various
  flowers growing out the ground.

  The basement was overflowed by the redolent aroma caused by various
  flowers growing out 'of' the ground.

In the above sentence, I removed 'of' because the sentence looked complete without it. One of my friends said that it is grammatically wrong and 'of' should be added here.

Here's another example-

  Screamed the man in pain as blood spurted out his mouth.

  Screamed the man in pain as blood spurted out 'of' his mouth.


texts:
The old woman reduced the self-esteem of the speaker.

My question is why it is the self-esteem.


texts: Reference for oral expression of mathematics

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  How to speak mathematics

I am a narrator and have been asked to read several technical papers which have mathematics expressions in them. Is there a reference to help me express these in a meaningful and correct way? I have a limited higher math background.


texts: What word means "not straight, white, and male"?

texts:
I'm looking for a single word that refers to the entire group of people who:

identify as anything other than heterosexual OR
racial identification is other than "white" OR
sexual identification is anything other than male?

I would ideally find a single word, but even two words that work well to describe this.

P.S. I would appreciate sensitivity in your answers. This isn't a place to discuss politics, merely the English language.

P.P.S. If there is a word that you're aware of in other languages that mean this, feel free to add as a comment; I would appreciate it.


texts: Is the author of the lyrics talking to a newborn baby or a young kid?

texts:
Please elucidate:

Comfort - Deb Talan

Lyrics Link : https://genius.com/Deb-talan-comfort-lyrics

verse 1

  When everyone has gone to sleep and you are wide awake
  There's no one left to tell your troubles to
  Just an hour ago, you listened to their voices
  Lilting like a river over underground
  And the light from downstairs came up soft like daybreak
  Dimly as the heartache of a lonely child

verse 4

  So cry, why not? we all do
  Then turn to one you love
  And smile a smile that lights up all the room
  Follow your dreams in through every out-door
  It seems that's what we're here for

Who is the singer talking to? a newborn baby? or a kid?
who are 'their' referring to in first paragraph? (Third Line)
What does the 'Light' mean in first paragraph? (Fifth Line)
Baby? Hope? Positive Thoughts?
What does 'It seems that's what we're here for' mean? (4-5 Line)
I know what does 'it seems that's' mean
but I can't understand 'what ~ for' part
Follow your dreams in many ways.
I think following own dream is why we are living?

I'm not fluent in English. I apologize if I come across as rude. I don't mean to.


texts: Can I say "What I have, I give others", or do I have to say "What I have, I give it to others"? In the latter case, the object is repeated: 'it' and 'what I have'.


texts: Sentences ending with both a colon and a question mark

texts:
How should sentences that end with both a colon and a question mark be formed? Two examples are below, both questions, but one in which the colon presents a piece of information and the other in which it begins a list.

  Is this the one you meant?: http://blah.com/somebody/blog/article/foobarbaz.gif

  Do you have any of these symptoms?:
    •  Headache
    •  Nausea
    •  Dizziness

Obviously a question-mark—colon combination is no good, and at best, looks odd. Putting the question mark after the item(s) is no good either. Do they have to be rewritten in a more pointed way such as below or is there another option?

  Is the one in the following picture the one you meant?

      http://blah.com/somebody/blog/article/foobarbaz.gif

  Do you have any of the symptoms below?

    •  Headache
    •  Nausea
    •  Dizziness


texts:
Could this clause be interpreted in both Adverbial clause and noun clause?

Maria will tell you when David gets home - In this one, Maria says that she will tell someone when David gets home.
Maria will tell you when David gets home - In this one, Maria says that she will tell her friend something only when David gets home.

These both are examples of adverbial and noun clauses, the first one is a noun clause (When David gets home is the direct object of the verb tell)
and the second one is an adverbial clause.
Could they be possible confused? I guess the only way to differ both would be if it were: Maria will tell you it when David gets home - since "it" is the direct object.