texts: Is the following idiomatic English: "At what time do you go to sleep?"

texts:
I once asked some English people the following question: "At what time do you go to sleep?"

They gave me a blank stare.

You see, I tried to avoid the standard expression "At what time do you go to bed?" because it is ambiguous. I may get into my bed but may not fall asleep right away. I may be reading or emailing on my iPad or watch TV.


texts:
What do you call someone who is easy to relate to?
For example, someone who has been through something you have been through, like similar life experiences.


texts: Meaning of 'swung around' in this context

texts:
I was chatting with my client, and he said the following sentence in between:

  Oh, also swung around with the CreditCard folks, we'll need to do some validation against their production system at somepoint to...not sure what is involved for that to occur

Although, the exact meaning of it is not required to understand the sentence, but when I looked it on dictionary, I couldn't find any verb that fits this.

I can only guess that it means "he had a chat or conversation with the credit card folks".


texts:
What do you call someone who is concerned with / active in practice and application rather than theory? That is, what is the noun opposite of "theoretician"?

I've looked on thesaurus.com, WordHippo.com, PowerThesaurus.com and synonyms.com, but to no avail.

Notes:

Adjectives won't do. So, "practical", "applied", "applicative" are not what I'm after.


texts: Is there any preposition before "next week"? Is it "I would send you the proposal next Monday", or "...on next Monday"?


texts: Commas after and before 'and consequently'

texts:
I have the following sentence and I need your help:

"The study shows the good results of Method A(,) and consequently(,) the need to apply optimization approaches."

Do I need the two commas there? Grammarly tells me to put commas there? I'd appreciate every comment.


texts: How to introduce new terms that may be used interchangeably in a formal context?

texts:
I am writing a scientific paper. I was thinking whether there is any difference in the following.

  Technique X, also known as technique Y, is the most commonly used process to ...

or

  Technique X or Y is the most commonly used process to ...


texts: Why is the article before "Wall Street" extraneous?


texts: What word describes things that are similar yet different?

texts:
There are two words on either side of the word I'm looking for: synonym and antonym. Of course, a synonym is a word that means the same thing (automobile vs. vehicle), and an antonym is a word that means the opposite (male vs. female). However, let's use the example of automobiles. There are different types: car, truck, van, SUV, etc. They're neither synonyms or antonyms of each other. But is there a word that describes their similarities, given they're all automobiles?

The word should fit this sentence:

  A car is a _______________ of a truck.


texts:
If I refer to a document that was written in 1988, which is correct?

  The document of 1988 mentions the birth of a legend.

or

  The document from 1988 mentions the birth of a legend.


texts: Difference between "at date" and "to date"

texts:
Two Examples:

It is the social networking giant's biggest acquisition to date.

The deal to buy it includes $4bn in cash... plus an additional $3 billion in stock to WhatsApp's founders and employees at a later date.


texts: Can you use two contractions in a row in a sentence?

texts: Can you use two contractions in a row?  For example, could you say, "Let's don't do that"?


texts: A term for 'thinking something evil is good'?

texts: So if someone is going to cause a lot of destruction/pain or any sort of evil/wrong act but they think that their actions are good and just.


texts: Are "skill set" and "skill sets" both acceptable?

texts:
Are the phrases skill set and skill sets both correct?

As I see it, set implies a single set of related skills whereas sets can be taken to mean multiple sets of skills around different concentrations.

Thoughts?


texts: What are these containers called for waste?

texts:
There are so many ways to call these containers for waste. (correct me if some of them might sound weird/unnatural to use)

  garbage can, trash can, rubbish can, pedal can, garbage bin, trash bin, rubbish bin, pedal bin

I'm totally confused. I know some of them might mean the same thing.

But please tell me which is which based on the following pictures by order? Please also let me know where you are from. (US, UK, Canada, Australia, etc...)

1:

2:

3:

4:

5:


texts: Hiding one's actions out of concern for offending others

texts: I was recently on an airplane reading Why I Am Not a Christian and Other Essays on Religion, by Bertrand Russell. I was concerned about how other passengers might feel if they saw me reading a book with such a title. So I tried to make sure no one could see exactly what I was reading. Is there a single word or short phrase that describes my hiding something out of concern for offending others? I haven't been able to come up with a word or short phrase that really works.


texts: Is it acceptable to begin a declarative sentence with "Am"?

texts:
I want to know firstly if it's grammatically correct to start a declarative sentence with "Am". For example:

  Am excited about the game today.

Secondly, if it is grammatically incorrect, then I wanted to ask how much "head room" there is for the above usage. I can't think of an example now, nor find one here at english.stackexchange. However I imagine there are usages of the english language that grammatically are illegal, yet have somehow become accepted as colloquial or idiomatic perhaps.


texts: What's a word for "looking for something to do"

texts:
I'm looking for a word (or short phrase) with a more positive connotation than "bored", meaning I am actively trying to find something to do.

If context helps, I'm thinking of a scenario along the lines of "I have nothing to do for the weekend, but I want to do something so I am "????".

Any thoughts?  The closest I can think of is "Itchy feet", but that is more related specifically to travelling.


texts:
How to pronounce 'hypocritical'?

http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/90495 states that it should be /hɪpəʊˈkrɪtɪkəl/.
https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/hypocritical and https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/hypocritical indicates otherwise as /ˌhɪpəˈkrɪtɪkl/

Which one is better and/or more common?


texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  When should I use “a” vs “an”?
  Does one use 'a' or 'an' before the word X-Ray?

As far as I understood, you prefix "an" instead of "a" before any proceeding word starting with a vowel when you wish to speak about an object (there's probably a correct term for this), but ie. a towel, a tree etc.

So why is it so common to say "a user clicked this" or "please enter a username" and not "an" instead of "a" like "an umbrella"?


texts: What is a "cike" as in "taking the cike"?

texts:
In the novel Dracula I came upon the following sentence:

  "But the old Chapel, that took the cike that did. "

Presumably that is an equivalent phrase to "took the biscuit". But a google search for "cike" just showed up this unlikely definition.


texts: What does “sank like a Chevy Volt in water” mean?

texts:
The Mesh Report (October 11) issue disclosed President Obama was confident that he won at the first Presidential debate with Mitt Romney in the article titled “Clueless: Obama thought he won debate until told otherwise.” It begins with the following sentence:

  According to an article in the Daily Mail UK, President Obama walked
  off the stage after his underwhelming debate performance convinced he
  was the winner. - - - Obama was content that he had delivered the
  rhetorical goods. He only realized he sank like a Chevy Volt
  dropped in water after his senior aides broke the news to the
  surprised, and disturbingly oblivious, Commander in Chief. Apparently,
  the most transparent President in history in also the least self-aware.

I came across the expression, “sink like a Chevy Volt dropped in water” for the first time. What does it mean? Does it mean something heavy that dropped deep under water and is unrecoverable? Why is it a Chevy Volt other than a truck, power shovel or bulldozer? Is this a well-used simile?

I’m also not clear with the meaning of the line, “President Obama is the most transparent President in history.” In respect to what – money matter, policy/agenda setting, his personal character, or his logic and rhetoric of speech – is Mr. Obama “the most transparent President in the history”?


texts:
My spellcheck doesn't complain about 'uniquer'. Is it a valid word?

Since unique means "one of a kind", 'uniquer' has no valid definition,
but that doesn't prevent it from being a valid dictionary word.


texts:
Australian children's book author Mem Fox has suggested she might never to return to the US after she was detained and insulted by border control agents at Los Angeles airport.

So far as I know, after a suggestion the subjunctive or infinitive is used. But here, "she might never to return to the US" is neither one. Should it be

Australian children's book author Mem Fox has suggested never to
return to the US after she was detained and insulted by border
control agents at Los Angeles airport.
Or,
Australian children's book author Mem Fox has suggested that she never
return to the US after she was detained and insulted by border
control agents at Los Angeles airport.

Which of these sentences are correct, if any? What would be the correct way to say this?


texts: Is Waltzing Matilda comprehensible outside of Australia? In Australia?

texts:
I'm American, but it seems to me that when I’ve encountered Australian speech or writing, I didn’t have much trouble understanding it. The words are mostly familiar to me. So what’s going on in the song Waltzing Matilda?

An excerpt:

  Once a jolly swagman camped by a billabong
  Under the shade of a coolibah tree,
  And he sang as he watched and waited till his billy boiled:
  "Who'll come a-waltzing Matilda, with me?"

Chorus snippet

  Down came a jumbuck to drink at that billabong.
  Up jumped the swagman and grabbed him with glee.
  And he sang as he shoved that jumbuck in his tucker bag:
  "You'll come a-waltzing Matilda, with me."

I think that a typical American reader or listener will understand almost nothing of the story without discussion due to the strange vocabulary. For example, did the average British speaker know the Australian meanings of waltzing (an itinerant worker on foot) and Matilda (an affectionate term for a swag) back in 1895?

For that matter, do modern Australians understand this vocabulary easily and is the wording natural?

In addition, does the use of a lot of Australianisms reflect something about social class, the way Cockney English would?

My question is whether anyone ever naturally phrases his thoughts the way the singer does.


texts: John's quite a hero versus John's quite the hero

texts:
I am a native British English speaker. I know how and when to use the following expressions. However I am finding it difficult to explain the difference.

John's quite a hero.
John's quite the hero.

On the face of it, the second means that John is somehow the only hero or that some hero has previously been mentioned. Yet in actual fact it means the same as the first.

I find that I cannot justify the usage of a definite article in (2) and yet it is a common idiom that I have used myself. Can anyone help me?


texts:
"customisation" vs "customization" Which is correct?

As per MS Word, customization is correct but Google Chrome correct it to "customisation"

Thanks in advance.


texts:
I am attempting to give a title to something I am writing but having a bit of difficulty finding a fitting verb to proceed the word 'art.' I am centering what I'm writing around this quote: "God's greatest work on earth is man; man's master art is leading men to God." I want my title to be "_____ the Master Art." As you can probably tell, my text deals with those who engage in the master art of leading men. I've thought of several possibilities—engaging, crafting, working, building, perfecting, etc.—but none seems to fit. I would be quite grateful for any suggestions.

In other words, like a painter paints, what verb could be used for "(Master) Art"-ing?


texts: Where did "nightingale" get its second N from?

texts:
I noticed while searching the etymology of the word nightingale that it did not have the second N. The sources I checked only say intrusive N but don't explain it.
Wikitionary:

From Middle English nyghtyngale, nightingale, niȝtingale, alteration (with intrusive n) of nyghtgale, nightegale, from Old English nihtegala, nihtegale

Etymology Dictionary:

Middle English nighte-gale, from Old English næctigalæ, in late Old English nihtegale, a compound formed in Proto-Germanic (compare Dutch nachtegaal, German Nachtigall) from *nakht- "night" (see night) + *galon "to sing," related to Old English giellan "to yell" (from PIE root *ghel- (1) "to call").

As you can see, in Old English and Middle English, it did not have the second N so the present day N is not original.
Etymology Dictionary also says "With parasitic -n- that began to appear mid-13c." but doesn't explain the reason English people put it in "Nightegale".
Can anyone explain the reason?


texts: Why are unidentified people called John Doe?

texts: I observed this many times while reading novels and watching movies. Unknown people are always referred to as a John Doe or Jane doe. I am really curious to know how these terms originated?why John doe and not shane lee or something?


texts: What do you call a person who deems themselves unworthy when given criticism?

texts:
What is an appropriate word for a person who when criticized seems to think that they are completely unworthy in that particular category?

For example:

  Me: "I wish you could be nicer when you speak to me."
  Person: "Well I guess I am just a terrible person."

Another example:

  Me: "I wish you could pay attention to me when I'm speaking to you."
  Person: "Well I guess I am just the worst boyfriend to you."


texts:
I know that there are a few cases where we can use the adjective after the noun, which is called postpositive. Here are some examples:

  Attorney General / Secretary General / court martial

But I have noticed that some people generalize such a use outside its original idiomatic use. For example:

  The Directorate General of Democracy offers help to most European societies.

I am wondering why they didn't use General Directorate.


texts: Adjunct or Argument: "The bird flew over the lake"

texts:
In the title sentence, does "over the lake" serve as an adjunct or an optional argument? Here are the tests I tried using, though they weren't very enlightening beyond giving what kind of argument it may or may not be:

  The Omission Test (included for the sake of thoroughness)
  a. "The bird flew over the lake."
  b. "The bird flew." — over the lake is not an obligatory argument.

  The Relative Clause Test:
  a. "The bird flew over the lake."
  b. "The bird flew, which occurred over the lake" — to me, this sounds off, which suggests that over the lake isn't an adjunct but in fact an optional argument.

  The "Do So" Test
  a. "The bird flew over the lake, and the airplane did so across the ocean." — to me, this sounds fine, which suggests that over the lake isn't an argument but in fact an adjunct.

How is it that I'm getting these seemingly contradictory results? Might it have something to do with the sentence's telicity (i.e."over the lake" has the potential to indicate the location or the course of the bird's flight, depending on how you interpret things), or am I just misunderstanding something more fundamental in all this?

Any and all help is much appreciated~


texts: Fiction and non-fiction references together

texts:
What is the best way to mix fictional and non-fictional references in a text eg;

Billy and Mike are fictional and wrote a song (fictionally) that is sung by a singer played by an actress whose name is Dawn Waters.

Can I say that Dawn sang the song that Billy and Mike wrote. I know I could say this in certain informal situations but what would be more correct for a more formal situation without getting totally technical.


texts: "Gadhafi forces retreat" - how do you understand that?

texts: Our local newspaper had the headline today "Gadhafi forces retreat" and I read it with "retreat" as the verb instead of "forces" as the verb.  I know it is a poorly written headline, but which way is the more common way to read it?  (In other words, is it likely that no-one at the newspaper noticed the ambiguity?)


texts: Is there one word for knowledge and wisdom that has been obtained from different sources and from experience?

texts: Is there one word for "gathered wisdom", meaning knowledge and wisdom that has been obtained from different sources and from experience?


texts:
In a short story by Edward Page Mitchel entitled The Last Cruise of the Judas Iscariot, captain Cram, a sailor from Main, tells the story of him building a schooner with three masts, which was frowned upon by the people of the town and considered against nature. After running into many accidents and drowning many cargoes, Captain Cram decides to give her the name of Judas Iscariot because he believes she is possessed with a demonic spirit. While telling its story to a stranger he says:

  "She formerly showed the name Flying Sprite on her starn moldin'," said
  Captain Trumbull Cram, "but I had thet gouged out and planed off, and
  Judas Iscariot in gilt sot thar instid."

  "That was an extraordinary name," said I.

  "'Strornary craft," replied the captain, as he absorbed another inch and
  a half of niggerhead. "I'm neither a profane man or an irreverend; but
  sink my jig if I don't believe the sperrit of Judas possessed thet
  schooner. Hey, Ammi?"

  The young man addressed as Ammi was seated upon a mackerel barrel. He
  deliberately removed from his lips a black brierwood and shook his head
  with great gravity.

  "The cap'n," said Ammi, "is neither a profane or an irreverend. What he
  says he mostly knows; but when he sinks his jig he's allers to be
  depended on."

My question is about the meaning of sink my jig if I don't believe the sperrit of Judas possessed thet schooner which was repeated by his fellow?


texts: Prepositions - do I use "for" or "on" in this sentence?

texts:
This is for my resume so I want to use the right preposition here . . .

"Researched and drafted judicial opinions on/for a wide variety of civil and criminal cases"

I cannot tell if I should use ON or FOR in this situation.

Later in my resume for another experience I have been using on . . .
"Researched and drafted reports and recommendations on a wide range of issues, including . . . "

Now I am confused and don't know what to do.


texts: What word describes something that frequently switches between opposite states or views?

texts:
I have been searching for a word, which I'm beginning to doubt exists at all, that describes a person or thing that changes from one state to the opposite of that state frequently, i.e. an adjective describing the binary oscillation of some particular state.

Words like mercurial or capricious are similar but they only indicate that something changes in general, not necessarily to its opposite. I'm looking for something that indicates an antipodal change.

The closest word I have found is bipolar but, as this refers primarily to a mental disorder, I feel its application to things like the weather or someone's cooking is too poetic. I want a word that is more literal.

Oddly, and with great frustration, I find that while the definition of bipolar is something like "having or relating to two poles or extremities", which specifically implies opposition, all of the synonyms I find for "bipolar" are only describing a general tendency to change.

_____________ - a person or thing that frequently switches between opposite states or dispositions


texts:
1) He changes his facial expression while he says...

2) He changes his facial expression while he is saying..

3) He changes his facial expression as he says...

4) He changes his facial expression as he is saying..

Is it possible to use all four sentences in the context decribed below? Would they all mean the same?

A native speaker told me it is possible to use both (while he says/ while he is saying) with no difference in meaning. However, there
is one aspect that seems to be overlooked and makes it little confusing to me. In this situation the context is that I want to describe one situation in one certain video.
I want to describe what happens in one part of the video (that may take 5-8 seconds in total). Therefore I originally expected that only while he is saying would be the only correct choice. Why? Because in the following sentences it works as follows:

Don't call me when I do my homework. INCORRECT

Don't call me when I am doing my homework. CORRECT Here the "calling" happens WHILE something else is happening.

Similarly for my original sentence. He changes (in my context, it just happens once, it is a "one-time" moment) his facial expression while something else is happening (it has duration, it is happening while something else happens during that time).

Therefore I am surprised it is possible to use both while he says/while he is saying. I would expect "while he is saying" to be correct only. Maybe I would use "while he says" if I wanted a simple description of what happens in that part of the video without going into details. At the same time, I am not sure if the native speaker I asked understood what I was after. Is it really interchangeable or would I have to, if I wanted to express the context described above, use "He changes.....while he is saying" ?

Lastly, would using "as" instead of " while" change anything?

Thank you!


texts: What is the difference between "illness" and "disease"?

texts:
Are there any differences when those words are used? By whom they are used?

Google n-gram

All English

English fiction:

I would guess that "illness" is rather a term which is used in spoken language and "disease" is more formal as both seem to be equally common in fiction, but I am not sure about it.


texts: Is it correct to say "I realize my desire for fame"?

texts:
Does this sentence sound odd?

I realize my desire for fame by achieving the first
rank in the competition


texts:
There are phrases which pair things up. For example, "checks and balances", "bells and whistles",

What is the rational behind this construct? Any more examples?


texts:
I've been quoting Lolita (as well as Don Juan, Man and Superman, Pygmalion, Tom Jones, and various Mark Twain's witticisms) for a while now; some people might be annoyed by this, but I don't care anymore, for reasons that should be obvious to some people here):

From Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov:

  She sat right in the focus of my incandescent anger. The fog of all lust had been swept away leaving nothing but this dreadful lucidity. Oh, she had changed! Her complexion was now that of any vulgar untidy highschool girl who applies shared cosmetics with grubby fingers to an unwashed face and does not mind what soiled texture, what pustulate epidermis comes in contact with her skin. Its smooth tender bloom had been so lovely in former days, so bright with tears, when I used to roll, in play, her tousled head on my knee. A coarse flush had now replaced that innocent fluorescence. What was locally known as a "rabbit cold" had painted with flaming pink the edges of her contemptuous nostrils. As in terror I lowered my gaze, it mechanically slid along the underside of her tensely stretched bare thigh—how polished and muscular her legs had grown!

The way it's dashingly described, the condition is instantly recognizable in the sentence (let's give the author that, he is an artist, not just a linguist).

But. Is there a more common term for it?

Addendum:

"Locally known" would mean New England, or, to be more precise, Massachusetts, where the novel's "Beardsley School for Girls" is located, according to some reputable sources, including, but not limited to, the fellow who authored The Annotated Lolita (a volume that includes the novel's text and an index and comments whose length exceeds that of the novel).

A bright gal published an essay on the web in which she claimed she had definitely gone to the school that is described in the novel. The essay includes this photo:

In the French translation of the novel the "rabbit cold" is referred to as "le rhume des lapins" (courtesy of @Graffito): word-for-word, and just as puzzling as the original. The Russian translation of the same novel (penned by Nabokov himself) has it as "кроличья простуда", which, I'm told, is the exact same thing, and a quick google search on it turns up the exact same useless slew of references to sick rabbits and various methods of treating them as the original.


texts: Difference between present perfect continuous and present participle form in refering to regulation continued to the present

texts:
I'm giving two examples. I know we can use them in exchange but I want to know if there is any difference between them in professional point of view.

Presently, it is 3 months that we have been  working on it.

Presently, it is 3 months that we are working on it.


texts: Why can't to-infinitive be used as subject in "Not to learn French is my biggest regret."?

texts:
E.g. 1 "Not learning French is my biggest regret."
E.g. 2 "Not to learn French is my biggest regret."
I know that e.g. 1 is correct and e.g. 2 is wrong, but what is the grammar rule making e.g. 2 incorrect?
(At first I thought the rule was that you shouldn't use to-infinitive as the subject, but then I realized it couldn't be the rule as to-infinitive is sometimes used as the subject, as in "To tell the truth is always right.")


texts:
As a non English speaker, I'm writing a profile in which I want to say something along the lines of: I've long since developed an interest for.... In context I feel it flows better than the (more obvious?) Since a long time, I've developed an interest for...

I believe the former is an okay construction, but perhaps a but archaic and/or contrived?

What do you think?


texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  What is the meaning of “every other time”?

What does the phrase every other day/week mean? I got some hint from here. But, it is still not clear to me what is the need to add other.

Can we also say every alternative day/week?


texts: Is there a formal verb to describe the act of cheating on another?

texts:
I wish to say something along the lines of

  "after she found out her husband was cheating on her"

however I have realized that 'cheating' is colloquial. Is there a formal alternative that is a verb?


texts:
I know the must have/must had thing has been asked before but I have yet to see it in the context of this question.

Does "have" make grammatical sense in the following? It sounds like it conflicts with the "at that point in time."

"I remember clearly my seventh birthday (and my subsequent trip to the hospital). At that point in time, I must have been told a thousand times not to stick things in the toaster."

The main problem I'm having in my head is that if you take out the "must" then it would be grammatically correct to say "At that point in time, I had been told a thousand times..." Yet once you put the "must" in, it seems incorrect to use "had." This is my main question.


texts: What does "a drifty car" mean? Does it refer to capability of instant change in the speed of car?


texts:
Is it correct to use stative verbs in simple past tense

Ex:we all tasted the cake.

Is it gramitically correct to use in simple future and perfect tenses


texts:
I'd be glad if anyone can explain to me the usage of "chime" in the context of a person saying something. How does that come out if chiming means the sound of a bell?

For instance: 'Well' Lisa chimed happily.


texts:
Found this question about usage, but not origin.

Etymonline does not mention the expression and a Google search doesn’t yield anything useful.

Where did this phrase come from?


texts: What is the meaning of this sentence? "It hardly spares Mr Trump to call him “deluded” rather than a liar."

texts:
Does this sentence mean that rather than calling him a liar, it is more effective for journalists to call him deluded or deceived by someone?

  Journalists should be tough when powerful people say untrue things. When those statements first hit the headlines, “false” packs plenty of punch. Reporters should demand to know the reason for the false statements. In cases like Mr Flynn’s, with clear evidence, they can say “he lied”. In cases like that of Mr Trump and the murder rate, journalists should demand to know his sources, perhaps asking whether the president trusts conspiracy-theorist websites over his own FBI. It hardly spares Mr Trump to call him “deluded” rather than a liar. Finally, there is the possibility that the president simply has no regard for the truth at all, not even caring whether he’s right or wrong. In that case, the press lacks an easy term for this kind of falsehood. Many won’t print “bullshit”, one proposed suggestion.

A taxonomy of dishonesty, The Economist, February 18, 2017
http://www.economist.com/news/books-and-arts/21717019-and-why-lying-isnt-same-talking-nonsense-why-press-should-call-out-politicians


texts: What's the difference between 'foliage' and 'leafage'?

texts:
OED defines these words as:

foliage: the leaves (of a plant or tree) collectively; leafage
leafage: leaves collectively; foliage

Both of them seem to mean almost the same.
Google NGram gives the following picture:

So, aside from the fact that leafage is much less widespread in comparison with foliage, is there any difference between their semantics or the way they are used?


texts: Word for a person who knows two or three languages

texts:
A polyglot is a person who is fluent in many languages, but what do we call a person who is fluent in only two or three languages?

Is bi-glot a proper term for this?

I don't think the words bilingual / trilingual fit the bill, because I am looking for a -glot word.


texts: What word describes a person who signs an official document?

texts:
For example, I have a document that has the signatures of three people, all public servants: a tax collector,an inspector, and a school principal. How could I collectively describe these three people?

This entry offers signatory but it implies a party to a contract.


texts: Meaning of "the field in which I grow my [expletive]"

texts:
Lately, I read the following sentence:

  Behold! The Field In Which I Grow My Fucks

On the first I understood it as if it meant:

  Behold! The Field In Which I make my own business

The reason why I thought this is that, in my native language, the expression:

  I make my fucks

or better

  I make my dicks

means

  I make my own business

or better

  it is my business, not yours

Anyway, I suspect that the sentence of which I'm talking about doesn't have the same meaning.

You can please help me to grasp its meaning.


texts:
I confuse between finance vs finances, which word should I use for a domain such as mexicofinances.com or mexicofinance.com? What is different and which is right?

Any explanation?


texts:
Does anyone know the word for a question asked with the intent to injure or insult?  I know there is term for it, but I can't find it anywhere.  It's driving me crazy.

Example:  Are you blind, or just stupid?

Oh, and it's not rhetorical.  There is a more specific term.

Edit:  It's not sarcasm.  There is an actual grammatical term to describe this sort of question.


texts: Expression for (wrong) 'common knowledge'. A set of common misconceptions

texts:
When some knowledge is available to most of us, quite evident and widely accepted, we say it's 'common knowledge'.

Let's think about the same situation, except that this so-called knowledge is proven wrong, unfounded from the very beginning, or simple dogma.

'Common rhetoric' seems more like it: things people say all the time despite being wrong. But it implies that there's an outspoken support of those ideas and goes beyond the scope of the expression I'm after.

What should I call that 'common mindset', that erroneous 'usual way of thinking'?

e.g.

#1

-I'm reluctant to ask Sally to prom.

-And I can see why; the common rhetoric is you should go with Janet.

#2

The common rhetoric in the GOP is that tax cuts for the rich stimulate the economy so much that they pay for themselves. This unfounded, nonsensical claim has received the appropriate name of voodoo economics.


texts: What does Continuum Companion stand for?

texts:
Could anybody please explain to me what Continuum Companion means in the following title?

  The Continuum Companion to Systemic Functional Linguistics

Thank you.


texts:
What is the difference in these two sentences

If you went to bed earlier, you would not be so tired
If you had gone to bed earlier, you would not have been so tired

To me, both of these are talking about a condition in past, if that condition has occurred then outcome would have been different, then why the difference?


texts: Is the term "overwhelming majority" popular in English? Plus, what is the difference between it and "vast majority"?


texts:
In the following passage, I am (for now) using "...had had..." (bolded below for easier findability).

Is my usage that way correct? I'm not using a single "had" because it was a temporary name for his father.

  YOUNG MAN AFRAID OF HIS HORSES

  Living from 1836 to 1893, Sioux chief Young-Man-Afraid-of-His-Horses, was far from being a shrinking violet as one might surmise from his name. Young Man-Afraid-of-his-Horses took part in Red Cloud's War, acted as a negotiator for the Sioux after the Wounded Knee Massacre, and served as ambassador for his people during forays to Washington, DC.

  It should be noted that the accurate translation of his name is really “His horse is feared” or “They fear his horse,” meaning that even the sight of his horse elicited trepidation in his enemies, not that he himself feared his steed.

  It is interesting, too, that his father had had the same name; when the “Young Man” discussed here became chief and took that name, his father then became “Old Man Afraid of His Horses” - somewhat like a “Sr.” and “Jr.” father-son relationship.


texts:
When a language is only taught from the adults that speak it.
I know there's a word for it, but I can't for the life of me remember what it is!


texts: What's a word to describe "not okay with but not complaining"

texts:
What word would you use to describe "not being comfortable with something or someone, yet not complaining"?

A perfect example is when you don't enjoy your partner's meal but you are not complaining. A word like acquiesce is close in meaning, but I want the best word.


texts: Opinion/advice/knowledge/information: which to use?

texts:
I chose a wrong answer in a test from http://www.cambridgeenglish.org

  According to Richard's ...... the train leaves at 7 o'clock.

  opinion
  advice
  knowledge
  information

I chose knowledge.

The right one is information. Could you tell me why?


texts: How to describe all things we can do with an object?

texts:
I want to describe a set of functions (which belongs to a programming language) but i'm not really sure if my sentence is correct.

  This set of functions allows us to perform many mathematical operations which go from calculating the absolute value of a given number to returning a random number between 0 and 1.


texts: Given something in a state of not having been validated or invalidated, its validness is, as yet, unknown. Can it be said to be unvalidated? If not, what is the proper term?


texts: Is there a word for when someone's actions determine your life?

texts:
So in my story, the main character's mom had this boyfriend (he was this typically cliche bad boy) but they broke up and the mom obviously ended up marrying someone else via dad. But this boyfriend was stuck up on her like Snape in Harry Potter and he had a son and that son felt like his father was deprived of him because the father was heart-broken after years still and still loved 'mom'. So this son seeks revenge on 'mom' and her family. Killing basically all except for the main character- but he's out for her next.

I don't have a title for this yet, and I was thinking of a title that means when your parents' actions or past affects you. Or anyone's actions really. Like when someone's mistakes/past/actions/decisions affect someone's whole life.


texts: Is there a single word for a document containing an individual's contact information?

texts:
I'm looking for a single noun to indicate a document (or web page) that contains a person's contact information (phone, email, etc.).

The context is a navigation element on a personal website, for example:

  Home | Bio | Contact Page

I want to substitute the text "Contact Page" with the word I'm seeking.

Archaic, formal or loaned words are perfectly acceptable, even desired. The tone of the website is humorous.

A word that has a metaphorically connected meaning (similar to the way "Home" is understood to mean "The Home Page"), though less desirable, is still acceptable.


texts: Why is "the ball of the foot" called as it is?

texts: I understand the ball of a foot is  where the toes join with the rest of the foot. But I don't think it looks like a ball. Why is it called a "ball"?


texts: Apostrophes and caps in Happy Mother’s Day / Happy Mothers’ Day

texts:
So, I’m writing this as it is Mother’s (or maybe Mothers’) Day today, and I was wondering what would be a correct way to write that.

Should the apostrophe come be between the r and the s, or after the s?

And are the following capitalization correct?

  Happy Mother’s (or Mothers’) Day!

and

  I wish you a Happy Mother’s (again, maybe Mothers’) Day!

and also

  I sure spent a nice Mother’s (maybe Mothers’) Day with my momma!


texts:
What's the opposite of eye candy?

I heard someone say, "Eye broccoli," but that's not very accurate to those of us who love broccoli. Any other ideas?


texts:
What is the word for someone who tries so hard to get to something but he can't and it's not his fault?
For example a person wants to buy a car. He works hard and saves money but by the time he saved enough money the car he wanted gets more expensive because of inflation or something like that.


texts: What does “For over 20 years, I have illustrated the absurd with absurdity,” exactly mean?

texts:
There was the following quote of Rush Limbaugh’s apology (or nonapology) in the New York Times’ article (March 2nd) reporting that he sorried for his denouncing a Georgetown University law student as a “prostitute,” under the title “Obama backs student in furor with Limbaugh on birth control.

  “For over 20 years, I have illustrated the absurd with absurdity, three hours a day, five days a week. In this instance, I chose the wrong words in my analogy of the situation. I did not mean a personal attack on Ms. Fluke,” Mr. Limbaugh wrote.”

What does “illustrate the absurd with absurdity” exactly mean?
We have idiomatic phrases “愚を重ねる- overlay the folly (with folly), and “恥の上塗り-overlay shame (with shame)” in Japanese.

Does “illustrate the absurd with absurdity” mean to repeat or overlay one’s absurdity, or to prove one’s being absurd by committing another absurdity?

Is the phrase “illustrate the absurd with absurdity” a set phrase, or just a Limbaugh’s special rhetoric?


texts: Can I read dates using a number for the month instead of the name of the month?

texts:
I am a Finnish speaker and in Finnish it is very common to speak out loud a date, say 7.9 or 13.2 or so, as (translating directly) seventh of ninth or thirteenth of second and so on. This assumes the day/month order.

I have never seen this type of reading for dates but I know I have always had troubles mentally calculating what the name of some given month is, usually having to iterate through the list of months. Is saying something like "twenty-sixth of eighth" ever fine in English?


texts:
“it would not be fair to everyone else for me to eat all the oranges.”

Is that correct? Why there is "FOR", would it  not work simply with "WHEN"?

  “it would not be fair to everyone else when/if I eat all the oranges.”


texts:
Woman: Who would need to have a robot follow you around? I can certainly carry my own basket.
Man: Robovie is not for you. It is developed to provide living support for the elderly. Perhaps you will want one when you are 60!


texts: Is it okay to use 'to name a few' with a colon

texts:
Is the following sentence correct?

The list had a variety of foodstuffs: oranges, apples, bananas and sardines to name a few.

Is it okay to use the phrase 'to name a few' with a colon, and also do I need to put a comma before 'to name a few'?


texts: What are some alternatives to the expression "take a page from"?

texts: The sentence is "For more in depth stress-management techniques...I like to take a page from cognitive behavioral theory."


texts: How and why have French words arrived in the English language?

texts:
I've just finished watching Stranger Things, and in one episode, Nancy mentions a cul-de-sac, which is essentially a French word (I'm French and we recognize when English uses French words, with this beautiful accent). And this made me think about why the English language uses French words, and whether there any equivalents for these words in English (cul-de-sac, rendez-vous, etc ...)?
A third [arguably] question is: at what point in history did these words begin to be used in English?

(Of course, the same questions for borrowings in the other direction may be asked, about English words now assimilated into the French language, but I believe this not to be a suitable topic for ELU.)

Thanks for any response :)

EDIT: Let's forget the third question, I didn't think it was that old.
So, my only question is: why does the English language use French words?


texts: Irish slang word for working and taking state welfare payment

texts: I think I heard this somewhere before. Is there an Irish (British maybe?) word for taking money from the state for unemployment, but then actually working a job secretly on the side.


texts:
Something + -cracy/-archy (“strength, power”) produces a word meaning ‘rule by those who are/have/were whatever the something is’. For example, ‘plutocracy’ is pluto- (“wealth”) + -cracy and means ‘rule by the wealthy’, whilst ‘ptochocracy’ is ptocho- (“poverty”) + -cracy and means ‘rule by the poor’.

However, say one wanted to make some sort of point by describing different types of rule based not on who has the power, but who doesn't. How would you do so?

Theory 1: Is there a suffix in English, or that can be derived from Greek, that is antonymic to -cracy (meaning “weakness, powerlessness”)?

Theory 2: Is the answer to stick an a- somewhere, for example in either ‘aptochocracy’ or ‘ptochoacracy’ to mean ‘a situation in which the poor have no power’? I feel like -acracy would make more intuitive sense, if this is the case.

This question was inspired by the discussions on this one, but was distinct enough that I wanted to ask it separately.


texts: How would one describe "wood" with a gradient, yet somewhat striped color?

texts:
I am currently attempting to describe a painting of wood for an assignment, but I quickly ran into an issue, as I'm required to use different diction. To be more quick to the point, how would I describe wood that is somewhat striped, but at the same time somewhat blended in color? I can't call it oak in color because of the obvious color changes throughout, but at the same time I cannot call it striped because of the blend and somewhat smooth transition in colors.

How would one describe this?

Note: This isn't a famous piece of art, in case any of you are wondering (or might wonder or will wonder?), its just a painting at a local art exhibition. Additionally, I was unfortunately not able to get any kind of picture due to certain circumstances, so this description is the best that can be done.


texts: Origin of the name 'Knickerbocker Glory'?

texts:
A Knickerbocker Glory is a type of ice cream sundae, but I'm having trouble finding out where the name originates. Searching on the internet has given me several conflicting answers (e.g. it's named after a hotel in New York, or a man named Knickerbocker, or because it's often made with red and white stripes that look like girls' knickerbockers).

Why is a Knickerbocker Glory called a Knickerbocker Glory?


texts: Term for a word that's a different word when spelled backwards

texts: Palindromes are words, sentences, numbers that are the same forwards and backwards. Is there a term for words that are one word forwards but a different word backwards? For example, star backwards is rats, or god is dog.


texts: Is "gadget" always an electronic device?

texts:
The Online Etymology Dictionary explains the origin of the word gadget as follows:

  1886, gadjet (but said to date back to
  1850s), sailors' slang word for any
  small mechanical thing or part of a
  ship for which they lacked, or forgot,
  a name; perhaps from Fr. gâchette
  "catchpiece of a mechanism" (15c.),
  dim. of gâche "staple of a lock."

This means that the word was not used for small electronic devices in the beginning. After all, it would be quite hard to find any Blackberrys, Kindles and IPods back in the 1850s...

What about the current usage of the word gadget? Is it restricted to electronic devices? Or is it still used more generically as in the original meaning of the word?


texts: Is there a word for someone who is not aware of how pretty or handsome he/she is?

texts: Is there a word or an idiom that describes someone who is beautiful but unaware of it?


texts:
Is there a word for trying to eat things that aren't food?

I'm thinking particularly in the context of babies, where it's a normal part of the learning process, but I dare say it is a disorder that can occur later in life too.

My own punt at a word was panphagia, but that turned out to be a dinosaur...


texts:
I checked the grammar of my research article using a leading software. This is my sentence:

A total of 12.3 million sequences was used for the establishment of database.

The error is: 'Potential issues with passive voice usage'

Anything wrong here?

(NOTE: Er, the OP's question is about passive voice, but the "duplicate" linked thread is about subject-verb number agreement. Perhaps there's a related issue here, on subject-verb number agreement (which is debatable), but the OP's main question on passive voice ought to be addressed. Anyway, a short answer post here would probably be more appropriate than a related link. -- F.E.)


texts: finished / unfinished progressive actions

texts:
I am new here, so forgive me if I do something improper. I've been wondering what makes it clear if the action was ongoing and completed or ongoing and uncompleted.
Short dialogue:

X: Oh, you look wet.

Y: I've been washing my car.

Is the action of washing the car finished and progressive for some time in the past ( the person was cleaning the car for some time and finished it) or progressive but unfinished ( the person was cleaning the car for some time, but for some reason didn't complete the job )?

Or maybe we can't clearly spot the difference?

Thanks in advance!


texts: Plural of nouns like "sensitivity", "software"

texts:
This question has the same background as my previous one. I am struggling with countable/uncountable nouns. I am reviewing a document, containing the following sentences:

Cross-verification of softwares for ...
Sensitivities of A and B to the variation of C have been investigated.

My gut-feeling tells me neither software nor sensitivity should be used in plural here. But while software is simply uncountable, sensitivity is not. So I am struggling to find an explanation for this feeling.
Typically I'd say, that if we are talking about two different kinds of sensitivity (though I'd struggle to think of an example), then sensitivities is possible. But when it's just how sensitive A and B are to the variation of C, it's so to say one sensitivity type and therefore cannot be used in plural.
Am I right? Is there a way to determine it next time (they love using plural like this over here in my company) without asking on SE?
Note: I know how to help my colleague avoid "softwares" and also the motivation (uncountable noun). The question is about "sensitivities", and I keep the "softwares" sentence in to provide the context: People over here like using plurals a lot, and I often feel they are overdoing it. The problem for me is that I am afraid I can overdo it the other way round. I don't want to ask the document author to rephrase "sensitivities" unless it is really wrong.


texts: A superset of contractor, employee and businesses?

texts:
I need a single word to define an employee, contractor or any business entity (e.g. sole-proprietorship, corporation) that provides services in exchange for pay.

I saw https://english.stackexchange.com/a/14187/152901 but the terminology is too vague for my liking.

https://english.stackexchange.com/a/248668/152901 suggests "Vendor" which comes close to what I'm looking for, but I don't believe the definition covers employees.

UPDATE: I am looking for a word which is the union of a "Vendor" (which refers to a company) and "Worker" (which refers to an individual). Ideally the word should be stated from the perspective of the individual/company (what would they call themselves?) and should imply some sort of business relationship.


texts: Heavy usage of synonyms in English or not?

texts:
I am a native German speaker and in German it is considered very bad style to use a word more than once in a sentence or even in close proximity. So you usually have a big list of synonyms in your head and you always cycle though these words while writing or even change complete sentences so you will not have to use the same words.

I always automatically assumed that this is also the case in English. Now someone told me that this is actually nothing you have to be concerned about.
(This sentence is actually a good example for this. I could have written: "Now someone told me that this is actually not the case in English." but I already used "the case in English" in the sentence before that and such repetitions are considered to be extremely clumsy writing in German.)

Could someone please comment on this?


texts: liking/disliking people or choosing friends. Freedom of ....?

texts:
I want to tell my old brother that he should give the freedom for his son to be friends with, like or dislike, whoever he wants to.

What freedom is that? Is there one word/expression that I could use.

I asked one of my friends and he said you could say: Freedom of amity and enmity

I Like it a lot, is there a better expression?
It doesn't have to be commonly used, as long as it is correct and has a nice ring.

Edit: I'm looking for an expression that is appropriate for freedom of liking whoever he wants. - not only being friends with whoever he wants.


texts: The health, safety and well-being of our employees "is"/"are"

texts:
What is more correct?
a) The health, safety and well-being of our employees is mission priority #1.
b) The health, safety and well-being of our employees are mission priority #1.


texts:
I plant vegetables.
I need to see if it is a phrase or independent or dependent


texts: Where does the phrase, "to stop on a dime" come from?

texts: I grew up hearing phrases like, "X can stop on a dime," meaning that X, presumably at the controls of some kind of vehicle, can bring that vehicle to a stop in as short a distance as the diameter of a U.S.A. 10 cent piece (a dime, a very small coin little more than a centimeter in diameter). When and where does this phrase come from? As far as I can tell, other questions on this site refer to other uses of the word dime, or they mention this phrase in passing without explaining its origin.


texts: Meaning of "available soon" (from a test item)

texts:
stackexchange!

I've been referring to this site for a while now and have finally decided to join you all.

This is a semantics and use question about the phrase "available soon" that appeared as part of a test item for EFL students. I'm curious about what answer native speakers of English would select. I won't say too much here as I don't want to influence how one reads and answers the item.

I would like to ask interested individuals to read the following dialogue and then answer the multiple choice question. If possible, I would like to hear the reasoning behind your choice.

Thanks for your time...

Woman:  Have you looked at this catalog yet?

Man:    Yes. Which car do you like?

Woman:  I’m interested in the Roadmaster. It’s environmentally friendly and has great safety features plus a navigation system.

Man:    I don’t really want an electric car.

Woman:  How about a hybrid like the Supersonic? It has a rear-view camera, and I heard it’s the only model in stock.

Man:    Hybrids are too expensive.

Woman:  Then which car were you thinking of?

[This part omitted but not necessary for the answer.]

Man:    I’ve got a better idea. How about the Grand Adventure? It’s a hybrid like the Supersonic so it’s environmentally friendly. And it’s got the safety features too.

Woman:  That seems like a good compromise. Let’s take a test drive on Saturday.

Man:    Good idea.

Question: Which car is available soon?

(1) The Grand Adventure.
(2) The Roadmaster.
(3) The Supersonic.
(4) The Tiger Minivan.


texts: What is the difference between Countenance and Mien?

texts:
I've never heard the word Mien before until today, and I am wondering how it might differ from the word Countenance.

From the OED:

  Mien (noun)

  A person's appearance or manner, especially as an indication of their
  character or mood.

  ‘he has a cautious, academic mien’

  Countenance (noun)

  A person's face or facial expression.

  ‘his impenetrable eyes and inscrutable countenance give little away’

While it seems that countenance is simply their facial expression, I can't think of a situation where a person has a facial expression for any other reason than indicating how they are feeling, since it is indeed an expression. Therefore it gives it to me the implied same definition of being an indication of their character or mood.

So I am left thinking the only difference could be appearance/manner vs. facial expression. So you could perhaps say:

  His hat was tilted to obscure his face, giving him a distrustful mien.

But I sorta feel like you could use countenance for non-face related expressions, it feels like a countenance is a kind of 'read' you get on a person.

If you're outright, then I can feel it might not make sense, like this:

  The scars and tattoos on his arms gave him an evil countenance.

Which I am not 100% sure is incorrect but it feels like it's heading that way.

Whereas,

  His grin, along with the scars and tattoos on his arms gave him an evil countenance.

Yes, his grin works but the rest of the sentence isn't connected to countenance. It feels like it'd be the same as saying 'His raspy voice and scars and tattoos made him sound evil', like the scars and tattoos don't have an effect on the descriptive noun.

I am a bit puzzled. I also wonder if Mien is actually a word in common-usage. It isn't suggested as archaic but I have never heard of it before today.

Likewise with Mien, could you use it without an indication of their character or mood? It says especially, but it feels odd to say

  The long yellow scarf and pink high boots gave him a colourful mien.

Or even

  His mien was plain, he was of average height, weight, and was very unremarkable.


texts: Does "Forgive me" need a pronoun before the object?

texts:
I used to say "Forgive my behavior" and I am quite sure you can say this in English. I am quite sure, if you need to use that phrase too often, there might be a social issue and any grammar issues are less important. However, in a recent conversation, just before sending out a message to a lot of our customers, I suggested using the following sentence to ask for understanding in case the message was received multiple times:

  Please forgive us the duplicates.

A colleague pointed out that this is not proper English and we ended up with

  Please forgive us for any duplicates.

Which definitely sounds better.

Is the former version of this sentence (without the pronoun) really invalid? Does it sound bad to a native speaker? Would the following, without pronoun, work too?

  Please forgive us any duplicates.


texts: Is IOU an abbreviation, an acronym, or an initialism?

texts:
IOU stands for I owe you and we pronounce each letter separately. But how do we classify that construction"?

abbreviation: a shortened form of a word or phrase
acronym: an abbreviation formed from the initial letters of other words and pronounced as a word
Initialism: an abbreviation consisting of initial letters pronounced separately
back-formation: a word that is formed from an existing word which looks as though it is a derivative, typically by removal of a suffix

 All definitions provided by Oxford Dictionaries Online

It can't be an abbreviation because there is no shortening, clipping or back-formation. Take for example phone which is an abbreviation of telephone, or edit which is a back-formation of editorship and editor. I would argue that abbreviations are words that have been shortened, a faster way of writing or saying something. Another example would be Prof for professor.

It can't be an acronym because we don't pronounce IOU as one word, whereas we do with NATO and RAM.

It can't be an initialism because if it was, it should be written as IOY (I Owe You)

Other examples that spring to mind is CU for see you and YRU for why are you, where initialism would dictate that the proper forms be SY and WAY.

How do linguists define this structure? Is there a more specific term than abbreviation?


texts: When distinguishing 'in which' and 'which' is ambiguous

texts:
I'm a Korean high school student (who really likes reading English novels), and I'm curious regarding the usage of 'in which' and 'which' in a sentence. Which one do I have to use in the following sentence?

  There is clearly a point beyond (which/in which) running the exercise becomes running the art.

I thought that 'in which' would be better, but my teacher disagreed. Can't I use in which in this case?

Plus, since this is a sentence from a textbook written by Korean authors, I wonder if it has even the slightest awkwardness, when viewed from a native speaker.


texts:
Is there a difference in meaning between, "in respect of" and "with respect to"?

Is it grammatically correct to use, "in respect to...."?

The full context I am concerned with currently reads:

"My recommendations in respect to the features available are summarised below."


texts:
The title sentence is a dialogue from "Friends" (the sitcom):

Monica has become acquainted with a man named Paul. On a date Paul says to Monica: "Since my girlfriend left me I haven't had sex with any girls for two years" (of course he was lying for attracting Monica's pity) and Monica believes him and pities him. And then one night she invites him to her home and ... Then when Monica finds that he is a liar, she tells the story to her friends. Joey (Monica's friend) says laughingly: "Of course, it was a line".

In the "a line", is "a" an article or something else? And what meaning does "it was a line" have?


texts:
Can anyone confirm that there is an archaic use of the word "and" meaning "if" or "as long as"? For example:
"Yes you can, and you do no harm."
If you can confirm, please point me to a resource that describes the usage. Thanks.


texts:
What is the difference between "Hope you don't mind" and "Hope you won't mind"? What could be a contextual difference between the two? In a situation like the following, which one seems more appropriate?

  Expect me to knock on your door sometimes. Hope you don't mind -or- Hope you won't mind (my knocking on your door)


texts: "in Figure 1 to Figure 3" or "in from Figure 1 to Figure 3"

texts:
I have 3 figures to demonstrate some process. Which one should be used?

  The process is shown in Figure 1 to Figure 3.

or

  The process is shown in from Figure 1 to Figure 3.

I feel that the first one is more natural. Or should we use

  The process is shown in Figures 1 to 3.

Edit

What if the # of figures is more than 10? Is there any succinct representation?


texts:
According to one online dictionary, get can mean “to go to another place and come back with something or someone” (word choice).  If so, then why do you sometimes use “go get something”, prefixing get with go?

Examples:

  May I get some water?
  May I go get some water?

  Get the soap!
  Go get the soap!


texts:
I've come across the - more or less - following sentence in a book (American publisher):

"They have done it in the past"

I've always thought that "PAST" and "PRESENT PERFECT" can't go together. The proofreading for the book is generally rather poor so it might be a simple mistake. Or there's more to it, is there? Like the PresPerf is there to stress completion? Or - aware of the US tendency to replace PresPerf with Past Simple - the author tried too hard and ended up hypercorrect? Or am I reading too much into it?


texts:
If a capacity ceases to exist due to a sudden change, would it be appropriate to talk about "a collapsed capacity", or "the collapse of their capacity"?

Later edits:

I mean capacity in the sense of 'capability'.
If this phrasing sounds odd, which word could possibly deliver the idea of an abrupt deterioration in one's capacity to do something?


texts: Is "Have we a menu?" a correct sentence?

texts:
Is this a correct sentence?

  Have we a menu?

It sounds a little bit strange to me.


texts: Where to put an adjective to avoid ambiguity?

texts:
The essence of this question is not about style. It is foremost about avoiding ambiguity.

The sentence is "She called me." If I want to use the word "sniffling" to describe the caller, where should I put it? I don't want to use the adverb "snifflingly".

If a noun is used instead of the pronoun 'She', it's very clear to say "a sniffling child called me".


texts:
I'm trying to translate a video on TED into my native language (Latvian). At the very start there is an expression I'm unfamiliar with - "animal warmth". I think I kind of understand the idea intuitively, but I can't think of any similar expressions in my native tongue (short of direct translation). It would be nice if someone could explain the concept to me, or give some more examples of usage. Here's the context:

  ... Because in my family, reading was the primary group activity. And this might sound antisocial to you, but for us it was really just a different way of being social. You have the animal warmth of your family sitting right next to you, but you are also free to go roaming around the adventureland inside your own mind.


texts:
I am curious whether 'on Sundays' and 'every Sunday' are interchangeable.
Can you think of any examples that prove they are not?

What about "He usually goes to church on Sundays' and 'he usually goes to church
every Sunday'?

"He does not go to church on Sundays' vs. "He does not go to church every Sunday"

Thanks!


texts: Is the sentence 'The student who will score the maximum marks will win a prize' correct?


texts: Is "we sang and danced" a compound sentence?

texts:
Is the following a compound sentence, and why?

  We sang and danced.

What I understood of compound sentences was that they are made of two independent clauses, connected by a coordinating conjunction or comma or semicolon. But the concepts of compound subjects and compound predicates got me all confused.  How does a compound sentence differ from a sentence with a compound predicate or a contracted predicate?  How can I clearly differentiate between compound sentences, compound predicates and contracted predicates?


texts: What does "just between you and me" function as?

texts:
We are trying to figure out the parts of speech in the following sentence and have been stumped by the first phrase:

  Just between you and me, those boots aren't cool this year.

I say interjection, but we think maybe it is some type of adverbial phrase.  What do you think?


texts: Specific terms for the tray and the bus-like cart used by vendors in theaters, stadiums, trains, etc

texts: Is there a specific word in English for the bus-like (sense 2; sense 3 on AHD) cart and the tray used by vendors to carry their products through the aisles of trains, theaters, stadiums, etc.?


texts: metaphor of "lily" and the meaning of "emerging from the mire"

texts:
I ran into this:
"And you, Madame Lucrezia, flower of the Borgias, if a poet painted you as the catholic Messalina, a skeptical Gregorovious turned up and almost completely absolved you of that quality; so that, if you have not become exactly a lily, at least you have emerged from the mire."

I would like to know if there is a metaphor of lily in this text. if so, what does it mean?
more over, what does "emerging from the mire" mean?
I understand from the text that Gregorovious absolved her from the reputation for promiscuity.


texts: How do we control the "Wish Agreement" when changing "wish" to "wished"?

texts:
I remembered that I learned this 20 years ago, but now couldn't find any information relating to it even searching the entire internet.

Ok, Here is how to use Wish (source)

Wish + (that) + past simple:
We can use 'wish' to talk about something that we would like to be different in the present or the future. It's used for things which are impossible or very unlikely.

Ex: I wish that I had a big house (I don't have a big house, but it's a nice idea!).

Ex: I wish that I could speak Spanish (but, unfortunately, I can't speak Spanish)

Wish + (that) + would:
On the other hand, we use 'would' with 'wish' in a little bit of a special way. It's generally used about other people who are doing (or not doing) something that we don't like and we want that person to change. It's not usually used about ourselves, or about something which nobody can change though, exceptionally, we do use it about the weather.

Ex: I wish that John wouldn't eat all the chocolate. (John does usually eat all the chocolate and I don't like it. I want him to change his behaviour!)

Ex: I wish that the neighbours would be quiet! (They are not quiet and I don't like the noise.)

Wish + (that) + past perfect:
We can use 'wish' with the past perfect to talk about regrets from the past. These are things that have already happened but we wish they'd happened in a different way. This use of 'wish' is very similar to the third conditional.

Ex: I wish that I had studied harder at school. (I didn't study hard at school, and now I'm sorry about it.)

Ex: I wish that I hadn't eaten so much yesterday! (But I did eat a lot yesterday. Now I think it wasn't a good idea.)

Now, we got 6 above sentences that use "wish" in simple present tense, then the question is that how to change the verb form if "wish" in simple past?

Ex: I wish that I had a big house (I don't have a big house, but it's a nice idea!).
--->I wished that I had had a big house

Ex: I wish that I could speak Spanish (but, unfortunately, I can't speak Spanish)
--->I wished that I could have spoken Spanish

Ex: I wish that John wouldn't eat all the chocolate. (John does usually eat all the chocolate and I don't like it. I want him to change his behaviour!)
--->I wished that John wouldn't have eaten all the chocolate.

Ex: I wish that the neighbours would be quiet! (They are not quiet and I don't like the noise.)
--->*I wished that the neighbours would have been quiet!"

Ex: I wish that I had studied harder at school. (I didn't study hard at school, and now I'm sorry about it.)
--->I wished that I had studied harder at school

Ex: I wish that I hadn't eaten so much yesterday! (But I did eat a lot yesterday. Now I think it wasn't a good idea.)
--->I wished that I hadn't eaten so much yesterday

This is what I think:

if the verb in main clause is simple past--> change to past perfect"

if the verb in main clause is "would do" --->change to "would have done"

but if the verb "in main clause is past perfect, then don't need to change because there is no tense far further back after past perfect.


texts: Why do some people speak like they are speaking as the person they are speaking to?

texts:
I know that question sounds confusing, but let me explain.

Alice was walking down the street when she met John. Instead of saying, "John, please listen to me.", Alice speaks as if she is John, "Will I listen to Alice, please?" Its not third person, because in third person it would be "John, please listen to Alice."
At home, if Alice wants to know if her son has finished his homework, she looks at her son and asks, "Did I do my home work?"
Alice's husband Bob comes home and to enquire if Bob has gotten the eggs, Alice asks, "Did I get the eggs?"
Alice when teaching her 3 year old daughter how to write the letter 'E' says, "I will draw three horizontal lines and then a vertical line to the left."
Alice wants to go to the movies, so she asks Bob, "I shall get two movie tickets when I come back from work tomorrow."

What kind of speeh is Alice using? It's not third person. It is more like Alice is assuming that she is the person she is addressing and speaks like she is them. And why do some people talk like this? I have noticed that this most common among teachers. "To produce this chemical compound, I shall add this base to this acid", " To integrate this function, I shall do a partial fraction decomposition", etc. They speak as if they are the student.

What is this form of speech and why do some people speak this way?


texts: Is it correct to say "I'm not urgent to do something"?

texts:
I know it is correct to say "Something is not urgent for me". But it is correct to say

  I'm not urgent to do something.

If not, how do I state that I really want some problem to be resolved – maybe the problem is quite important in the future – but solving that problem is not urgent, and I would rather wait for some days or some weeks to find the best answer.  That is, "I" is the subject, and the object of the verb or term I'm seeking may be a long phrase with long clauses.


texts:
What is the difference between "pander to" and "cater to"?

I've googled both of them, but they seem pretty much same.

Can anybody give me some examples?


texts: Why use the past simple tense in: "before I died"?

texts:
It's The Simpsons Movie, again. Bart says this to Flanders right after he's entered the church Flanders was in.

  Bart: Listen, I was wondering if before I died I could pretend I had a father who cared for me.
  Ned: Come here, son. There's always room for one more in the Flanders clan.

Wouldn't it be okay if died was replaced with die?
Why should it be in the past tense?


texts: Combination of different types of nouns results in which pronoun?

texts:
When I combine a noun that refers to a person and another noun, do I use whom or which? Like in the following simple example.

  Jesus was crucified because of Caiaphas and the Roman Empire, whose (/which?) power he undermined.

I know this is not a perfect sentence, but you get the idea? Caiaphas is a person so we use who, but the Roman Empire is not so we use which, however in a sentence we can only put one. Which one is it? I think it should be the latter for better flow.


texts: Order of universal and existential quantifier

texts:
In mathematics we use the universal and existential quantifiers (represented symbolically by ∀ and ∃, respectively) to make our lives easier. We can also use them in English. From a logical standpoint, these two sentences mean different things:

1. There exists a car for all people such that condition A is satisfied.
or
2. For all people there exists a car such that condition A is satisfied.

(Sentence 1 specifies the existence of one (not necessarily unique) car for the whole world satisfying A; sentence 2 means that each person can find a (possibly different) car satisfying A.)
However, when I use these constructions, I find that people either misunderstand me or do not understand the difference between the two. It seems that these types of sentences are often fraught with ambiguity in real-world communication, as I have discovered by reading these questions.
Nonetheless, this is an important distinction! For instance, a relativist might say "For all people there exists a god that they believe in" (meaning everyone believes in at least one god from the set of gods), but she would likely disagree with the idea that "There exists a god for all people that they believe in" (meaning everyone believes in the same set of gods, which set has size at least 1).
Question: Is there some way to phrase these two sentences that emphasizes the difference between the constructions? The problem is that using for all and there exists is the proper way to express the desired meaning, but it is very confusing. (Just read the comments below to see how confusing it is!)
Idea: I thought of clearly specifiying the "one"-ness in sentence 1 and to emphasize the "choice" in sentence 2, but I don't know if that is clear enough.


texts:
Which is more correct to use here? During or in? A PhD and MA holder are having a disagreement.

  During 1966, the program expanded to Gulkana and Wolverine glaciers in Alaska (Meier and others, 1971) and more recently to Montana’s Sperry Glacier [during]  [in] 2005 (Clark and others, 2017) .


texts: "natural and artificially flavored" or "naturally and artificially flavored"?

texts:
I saw a food label that read:

"natural and artificially flavored"

A friend suggested this was the correct wording:

"naturally and artificially flavored"

Which is correct and why?


texts:
It's a sentence from Bartleby, the Scrivener.

  He lives, then, on ginger-nuts...he must be a vegetarian then; but no; he never eats even vegetables, he eats nothing but ginger-nuts.

What I cannot understand is why the comma has been used between two clauses "he never eats even vegetables, he eats nothing but ginger-nuts." I thought there has to be period instead of comma so that the sentence will look like this:

  He lives...he never eats even vegetables. He eats nothing but
  ginger-nuts.

Is there a specific grammar rule that allows a comma between two clauses that are not connected by coordinate conjunctions? If there is any, please let me know.

Thanks.


texts:
Is using the word "singular" to describe someone or something unique an outdated adjective?

E.g.

  By a singular piece of good fortune, Mr. Athelney Jones, the
  well-known member of the detective police force, happened to be at the
  Norwood Police Station, and was on the ground within half an hour of
  the first alarm.


texts: When a situation is risky or one isn't sure whether things are going to be OK, one might say that a situation is "touch and go".  What is the origin of this phrase?


texts:
Someone spitted the soup on th ground, so I slipped and fell down.
Is 'fall down' followed by 'slip' necessary?


texts: Which preposition to use when considering the "social media" as a virtual counterpart of the "real" world?

texts:
So, what is then the correct distinction between the "in"and "on" preposition, when connected with the "social media" as a virtual space/entity - in oppposition to the "real" - physical reality...

Example sentence:

  "the reality is to live in, and not to shine up to others {in/on} social media..."


texts:
I write a report that is a degree project in computer science. I put a glossary in the beginning and called it "Terminology and Definitions". Should it be called "glossary" instead?

The actual part looks like this and is right after the abstract and before the table of contents.

Terminology and Definitions
CPU - Central Processing Unit. It is the center of the computer and performs calculations.
FPGA - Field-Programmable Gate Array. It is a device suitable for hardware prototyping.
HID - Human Interface Device, e.g. keyboard, touchscreen and mouse.
MMU - Memory Management Unit.
Nios2 - Nios2 is a brand name for a softcore CPU to which one can download a custom CPU design.
RAM - Random Access Memory.
RS-232 - Recommended standard 232 (IEEE) serial interface for UART.
SDRAM - Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory.
SoC - System on a Chip. It is an integrated circuit that integrates all components of a computer or other electronic systems.
UART - Universal Asynchronous Receiver / Transmitter. It is a hardware for serial data transmission.
uClinux - Linux distribution suitable for embedded systems and for FPGA

.


texts: Are both "foodstuff" and "foodstuffs" valid?

texts:
I suppose that I could probably summarize that to "Is foodstuff a mass or count noun?" but I wasn't entirely certain if that would get me the wrong answer. I've always used "foodstuffs" when referring to actual components for recipes, but I could see an argument only using the singular since, after all, it's a noun which covers all of the components at once. I thought of submitting it to "The Word Detective" but it seems like more of a case of usage.

Dictionaries seem to indicate it in the singular without noting pluralization, but there are also many example sentences which use "foodstuffs" such as the Tarzan quotes I found here: "The she was for Tarzan--all that he desired was to bury his snout in the foodstuffs of the Tarmangani." and "They appeared to be raiding parties, for they drove goats and cows along with them and there were native porters laden with grain and other foodstuffs."


texts: What is the word for "literature lover"?

texts: Is there any word that describes someone who loves literature? Not a lover of books (bibliophile), lover of words (logophile) or someone who loves to read(bookworm) but a single word which translates exactly to "literature lover".


texts:
This is my first post on the English Stackexchange so please point out any mistakes :) .

After much research on malapropisms, I am back to square one. Why would anyone use malapropism on purpose? I know that there are people who use it accidentally but what is the motive of using it on purpose? I have often found myself reading texts that use malapropisms on purpose, which have always confused me.


texts: Which pronoun is appropriate when the subject of a dependent clause is implied?

texts:
The context is:

The point always is to remember what it was to be [me/myself].

Joan Didion

The writer is addressing herself here, so that the subject of remembering is implied. The original text uses the object pronoun me. I suspect this may be wrong.


texts: For reports written in present tense, which time is usually used for "citations"? Present or past tense?

texts:
In German reports, most of the time the present tense is used when followed by any kind of citation.
E.g.
- There is a need for more biocompostable plastics. The XYZ CEO says that...
- The CEO explains "...".
However, I have noticed that in English in most cases the past tense is used
- He said that...; "....", he explained.
So, if I have a complete text in the present tense, do I nevertheless HAVE to use the past tense for these examples in English? Or is it my choice?

Thanks a lot!


texts: Meaning of "suits trading airport stories"

texts:
It's still from this sentence in New York Times,

  Despite all the sartorial trappings, guests dressed like any in your typical off-the-rack hotel. On a recent Monday, there were F.I.T. parents in the slate-gray lobby, and suits trading airport stories in the elevator. There’s a chatty cocktail scene at the lobby bar, but Rare, the fiery orange dining room, was desolate.

If suits is a verb here, I think this sentence is grammatically incorrect, right? But if it's a noun, what's the meaning of suits here? I don't understand the part in bold completely. Can you help break it down and make it clear?


texts:
The news is shocking to me.

vs

  The news is shocking for me.

and

  For me, the cooking style is useless

vs

  To me, the cooking style is useless.

I think these two sentences are exactly the same. Is there anyone who can help me to tell the difference?


texts: Correct punctuation when "I was wondering..." (or similar) is used to imply or restate a question?

texts:
What is the correct punctuation when repeating a question as a statement?
See the following example, and my best guess:

John: Sorry I missed your phone call. What's happening?
Bob: I was wondering if you wanted to get some lunch.

My discomfort with Bob's response is the following: Bob's response very strongly alludes to an underlying question, but because it is technically a statement, it doesn't get punctuated with a question mark.
Question:
If I wanted to communicate this response but include a question mark (to more obviously visually communicate that there is a question that needs answering), how could this be done?
My best idea is to simply restate the question in its entirety and join with a colon. For example (please correct me if any part of is incorrect):

I was wondering: "Do you want to get some lunch?"


texts: Word for doing things overly complicated in order to disguise simplicity

texts:
Steven is solely responsible for maintaining the machines at the factory. Fixing problems with these machines is not trivial, but should be relatively quickly understood by most people with adequate experience after some effort.

Steven is concerned about his replaceability at the company and is over time building up many complex processes and rules for maintaining the machines. He still manages to do the work quite efficiently, but doesn't hesitate to let his colleagues know how difficult the machines are to maintain and that they are lucky to have him there.

Anyone else trying to follow Stevens guidlines for maintaining the machines when he is on vacation is overwhelmed by the apparent complexity of taking care of the machines, so they are all glad when he is back.

  Steven is afraid of his job so he [...].

  [...] is unfortunately common in profession X.

  That manager is all about hand-waving and [...].

Any suggestions?


texts: The item being recalled can be memory, when using it as remember, but there are other contexts as well. I was wondering if there is a more general word, perhaps utilizing the "recall" root.


texts: What's a phrase for looking over your accounts?

texts: I'm looking for a phrase that means "to look over your accounts," but I know that's not how it's said in English. The phrase banging around my head is "take account," as in "He took account of all of this year's financials." A more likely possibility is "take stock," but I'm looking for a phrase specifically having to do with finances or accounts. Is there such a phrase? I haven't been able to find anything on Google or here.


texts: What is the meaning of "relate better to"?

texts:
Is it same as "having a better relationship with" ?

e.g.

I do not think the arena's architecture should relate better to the context.

This frees their imaginative capacities, and lets them relate better to the world around them.


texts: I'm looking to replace the phrase "dynamically driven". Bit of context from where is from/going: I'm describing a bit of tech that is essentially inert, it's not pre-recorded, but at runtime uses that data to generate output.


texts: I'm confused that people use "big and yet small" rather than "big yet small." The reason I find this confusing is that but, which kind of resembles yet, is used differently--"big but small." Why can't I just say "big yet small?"


texts: what is the sentence pattern in following sentence, specificcally what is the function of 'consistent with'?

texts: Consistent with maximizing the impact of rewards, managers should look for ways to increase their visibility.


texts:
Here's an alternative/clearer version of my original question:

Consider the following sentence:

  Instead of his being stationed on a plank, I want him on a pedestal.

This shows the possessive gerund. However, the "I want him..." being juxtaposed with "his being..." seems awkward (as was pointed out in the ensuing comment section).

It is the stationing that I want to discuss. So, to make it less awkward, instead of using "him" for the subject, since we are using "being stationed" as a noun in the first part, can we use a pronoun for it in the second part?

In other words, can I make the sentence

  Instead of his being stationed on a plank, I want [his being stationed] on a pedestal.

where the [text] is replaced by a pronoun (and appropriate grammatical changes).

Is an alternative path better (and what)?

ORIGINAL:

I was writing a question in a different Stack Exchange site and had a doubt about my sentence structure. This is what I typed:

  instead of its being defined on an interval [maths], its definition is on an  interval [maths]

The first part of the sentence shows the possessive-gerund. I was wondering if I could restructure this sentence as

  instead of its being defined on an interval [maths], I want it on an interval [maths]/it is on an interval [maths]

where it refers to the "being-defined"-ness? The reason behind my asking this question is that the reason we use the possessive form is because we are discussing the particular characteristic ("being-defined"-ness) of the subject under scrutiny, so in the next part of the sentence, can we use it to refer to the characteristic without ambiguity? Or can it be confused for the subject? Or does using it make sense only when it is referring to the subject (which makes the most sense to me).

To be honest, using "its definition" in the sentence I originally typed also sounds a little weird to me (I was going to put in "I want it to be defined on..." instead), but I do think that it grammatically agrees with "its being defined".

Ultimately, what I am asking is if "being defined" may be used exactly as a  noun might. Because the second sentence certainly makes perfect sense if I had used "definition" instead of "being defined" (with the necessary grammatical changes).


texts: Who translated "He's a muddled fool, full of lucid intervals."

texts:
I have revised herein my question of Aug 18 and update my research based on the most helpful suggestions of Peter Schor and tchrist of Aug 18, 2013.

I'm not a Cervantista and don't speak Spanish.  I've just been fond of this phrase for a long time and, in opinion, it still remains the most pleasing, concise description of the loveable Don Quixote.
Cervantes wrote Part I in 1605 and 10 years later in 1615 Part II.  This quote comes from his Part II Chapter XVIII (2:18.)
The exact quote is not found in any of the major translations which I list below.  The exact quote actually appeared first in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations 14th Ed. 1968, Emily Morison Beck, Editor, p. 196. Footnote 3 says the editors used for reference Motteux's translation published by the Modern Library Giant edition, New York 1930. I just now bought my copy.  Of the 114 Quixote quotes, 112 (97%) are verbatim quotes from the book, only four are different.  Interestingly, one of the four is our quote in question.
So, who translated this quote?  As Peter Schor has so kindly contributed, "It's possible Bartlett...translated the Spanish themselves..." I'm also greatly indebted to tchrist, "The origin of the choice of translation lies always with the translator...is all open to the translator's choice of nuance..."

1620  Thomas Shelton, first English translator,
He is a curious madman, and hath neat dilemmas

1712 Peter Motteux, 1719 Ozell's revision of Motteux's translation,
Modern Library Giant Ed. (New York 1930) p. 557,
He is Mad past Recovery, but yet he has lucid intervals

1742  Charles Jarvis,  Vol IV p. 129,
His distraction is a medley full of lucid intervals

1755 Tobias Smollett, Modern Library 2004, p. 366,
he is a party-coloured maniack, full of lucid intervals

1881  Alexander J. Duffield,  p.76,
he is a mingled madman, of many lucid intervals

1885  John Ormsby, 1981 Douglas/Jones revision sans lenghty notes, hence ODJ,
he is a madman full of streaks, full of lucid intervals

1888 Henry Edward Watts,  Vol IV p. 209,
He is a fool interlarded.1---full of lucid streaks.
Footnote 1:  Un entreverado loco.  Entreverado is generally applied to bacon, meaning fat and lean commingled.  See Donoso the poeta entreverado, in the prefatory verses to Part I. (Vol II. P.26)

1949  Samuel Putnam,  Modern Library p. 624,
He is a streaked madman, full of lucid intervals.

1950  J. M. Cohen, Penguin Classics, Collector's Library reprint 2008, p. 625,
He is mad in patches, full of lucid intervals

1957  Walter Starkie, Signet Classics p. 652,
He is mad in patches, full of lucid intervals

1968 Bartlett's Familiar Quotations 14th Ed. 1968, p. 196,
He's a muddled fool, full of lucid intervals, III, 18, p. 556.
 P. 193 footnote 3:  Translated in 1700-1703 by Peter Anthony Motteux (1660-1718). Page numbers are those of the Modern Library Giant edition. (note 2 typos: Motteux was born 1663, correct page is 557)

1995  Burton Raffel,  Norton Critical Edition p. 453,
he's plainly an off-again on-again madman, shot full of lucid intervals

1999 Oxford Dictionary of Quotations 1999, p. 200,
He's a muddle-headed fool, with frequent lucid intervals

2000 John Rutherford,  Penguin Classics p. 604,
he's mad in streaks, complete with lucid intervals

2003  Edith Grossman,  HarperCollins p. 511,
he is a combination madman who has many lucid intervals

2005  Tom Lathrop,  Signet Classics 2011, p. 637,
He's a crazy man with periods of lucidity

2006  James Montgomery,  Hackett Pub. Co.  I don't have

The old Italian proverb, Traduttore, traditore, did warn that interpreting translation phrases can be treacherous.


texts:
Which sentence is grammatically correct? Which one sounds the most natural to you?

1. He spent his formative years in one country, and I in another.

2. He spent his formative years in one country, and me in another.

3. He spent his formative years in a different country than me.

4. He spent his formative years in a different country than I.

I'm confused because Grammarly shows them all as being correct, but some seem outright wrong to me.


texts:
I'm translating a text I wrote in Portuguese (I'm Brazilian) and I'd like some help.

In my story, a boy around 13 years old is at the school and encounters a janitress, a woman in her late forties. She complains about the fact of him being until late in the school, then he answers her. My question is: what would be the most "natural" word he'd use to refer to her? I thought about using "Ms" or "lady", but I'm in doubt. In Portuguese, for example, he'd use "tia", which means "aunt", but it's also an informal way children/young teenagers call older unknown women. I'd like to have my translation to be as accurate as possible, so any help will be greatly appreciated.


texts: What kind of morphemes do you call -ish and -y? How would you describe their function?

texts: In the context of neologisms and/or teenspeak: e.g. soon-ish, tumblr-y


texts:
Suppose you want to say something like

  There are two crates, having three and one balls respectively.

How to say this correctly?

Is it ‘…one balls’ or ‘three balls and one ball’, or something else?


texts: What is the right word / an analogy for a "pendulum" that gains momentum with each swing?

texts:
I'm trying to find the right word / concept to describe the following effect:

Consider a pendulum, except with each swing it gains momentum.  The exchange of potential and kinetic energy is not equal, instead increasing with each shift.

Another way to describe the concept: you're trimming a bush and you want it to be symmetrical.  You take a little off the left, you take a little off the right, then you step back and --crap, it's uneven.  So you take a little more off the right and --crap, uneven on the left now.  You keep going until you don't have a bush anymore, just a weird amalgamation of branches.

Surely there is some physical or social scientific term that describes this concept.  I've exhausted my Googling capabilities, can anyone offer guidance?


texts:
Some people use "inaugural speech" instead of maiden speech. For example, from the Twitter account of the Australian Sex Party:

  From one year ago, the Inaugural Speech of @FionaPattenMLC
  http://fionapatten.com/parliament-item/fiona-patten-inaugural-speech/ … #SpringSt

Looking at Google NGrams for British English (presumably more relevant than US English for Westminster Parliamentary systems), I can see that "maiden speech" is on the decline, and "inaugural speech" is on the rise.

Some conservatives suspect it's because "maiden speech" is regarded as politically incorrect. How political correctness threatens Australian culture claims as an example of political correctness "A member of parliament's maiden speech is now called their "first speech"" and Paul Fletcher's blog post on his maiden speech says "Being something of a traditionalist, I referred to it as my “Maiden Speech” even though this is now thought to be somewhat politically incorrect.  Apparently the preferred term is the rather more prosaic “First Speech”."

Is this suspicion true? Is "maiden speech" regarded as politically incorrect?


texts: What part of speech are non-human "interjections" like "oink" and "bang"?

texts:
As a spin-off from this comment:

If a human exclaims something like "ouch!", I believe it's considered an interjection.

But if a pig exclaims "oink!", what is the part of speech?

And if a bell goes "bong!", what is the part of speech?

You could speak of "an oink" and "a bong" as nouns, but I mean in a context like

  The man went "ouch!", the pig went "oink!" and the bell went "bong!"

Are interjections only for humans?


texts: Prefixing a two-word technical term with "sub-"

texts: I have the term "verification code" and need a term for a particular code that is part of it. Normally, if the term were only "code", I'd use "subcode". How would I correctly prefix "verification code" with "sub-" such that the meaning is clear?


texts: With the introduction of the iPad 2, I find myself hesitating when trying to refer to several of them. Is it iPads 2 or iPad 2's?


texts:
I am trying to write a job application with a sentence about my averaged evaluation. But, I don't know which expression is correct or more appropriate in the formal letter.

1) The overall performance evaluation is an average of 5 out of 6 since the fall 2011.

2) The overall performance evaluation is a 5 out of 6 on average since the fall 2011.

Thank you so much for your help in advance.


texts: Single-word quantifiers for "zero or more"-like cardinalities

texts:
I'm on a trip to map different cardinalities to single-word quantifiers. In that context, I'm wondering if there is a word to say "zero or more", e.g. the same as what once is to "one and only one".

For instance, instead of having to write "In the input, letters can be separated by zero, one, or many spaces", it would be shorter to write "[...] letters can be separated by ??? spaces".

According to Thesaurus and Cambridge Dictionary, several and its synonyms could fit:

  Several
  An amount that is not exact but is fewer than many.
  More than two and fewer than many; some.

  Few
  Some, or a small number of something.
  Small number or not many.

  Any
  Some, or even the smallest amount or number of something.

  Many
  To mean "a large number of".

  Manifold
  Many and of several different types.

  Sparse
  Small in numbers or amount, often spread over a large area.

My understanding of these definitions leads me to think that the words could be approximately ordered:

0 < 1 < 2 < *
  |       | |- many
  |       | |- manifold
  |       |- several
  |       |- some
  |       |- few
  |       |- sparse
  |- any

I'm already following a path, but I was hoping to find better candidates here.

0        >   None
0 .. 1   >   Optional
0 .. N   >   Any
1        >   Once
1 .. N   >   Several


texts: Do you need to repeat the word "sector" for clarity in this sentence?

texts:
Is the following sentence okay as is, or is it necessary to repeat the word "sector" to make clear you mean "private sector and public sector organizations."?

  Trust in private and public sector organizations has been shrinking in recent years.


texts: What are the differences between the storage things?

texts:
What are differences between the words wardrobe, cupboard, closet, drawer, cabinet, and other terms used for objects in which things are stored? (I can't think of other terms right now.)

For me wardrobe is only for the storage for clothes.  Cupboard is for the storage of anything.  Closet is more like part of room or a small room. Drawer and cabinet are similar; cabinet has drawer(s) and/or some other openings, and drawer for me is a single pull-open storage place.


texts: Present or Past tense to describe a past condition which is still present?

texts:
Scenario: My friend John has a personality disorder, intensely paranoid for example.

Can I say:

  There were three events last year that told me John had a problem.

or can I say:

  There were threee events last year that told me John has a problem.


texts:
I wonder why the word order of this phrase is reversed in the sentence below: won't everyone be amazed.

  But if he somehow can pull off this trick, boy oh boy, won’t everyone be amazed. This is ultimately what makes North Korea so irresistible to Mr. Trump. There are indeed lots of bad actors and dangerous regimes and looming threats on the world stage. But which regime is seen as the most unpredictable, the most isolated, the craziest of crazy? If Mr. Trump can crack this nut, he’ll surely get the adulation — not to mention the Nobel Peace Prize — that he is so desperate for.


texts:
How should I say when I am telling someone about things I did yesterday?

1) Then, I do my homework.

2) Then, I did my homework.

Of course that when we are talking about past we should use a past tense word but for this I'm a little bit confused.  For this I will normally use a sentence like I did my homework yesterday.


texts: How did the term "up-and-coming" emerge? Shouldn't it be just "upcoming"?

texts:
I frequently read or hear the term "up-and-coming", e. g. "the up-and-coming superstar". I understand what it means, and that it is often used colloquially. But how does the "and" make sense here? This superstar of the future is neither coming nor up.

It seems to me that "upcoming" (i.e. rising) would fit much better, and I also have heard this used before, so I think it is probably the origin of the term. I am mostly interested in how this term came into place and whether it is grammatical.