texts: Is it offensive to use "Red Tape" in a sentence?

texts:
I need to reply to an email and I wanted to clarify to the other person that:

  I understand exactly what needs to be done on the technical side but
  I'm not familiarized with the red tape involved in the process.

Would that be, somehow, offensive?


texts: Is it considered good style to use "retail" as a noun, rather than an adjective?

texts:
This paragraph from Wikipedia makes me cringe, because of the first sentence, using the phrase "in retail".

  Planograms are mostly used in retail. A planogram defines which product is placed, in which area of a shelving unit and with which quantity. The rules and theories for the creation of a planogram are set under the terms of merchandising. Manufacturers often send planograms to stores ahead of new products. This is useful when a retailer wants multiple store displays to have the same look and feel. Often, a consumer-packaged goods manufacturer will release a new suggested planogram with their new product to show how the product relates to existing products.

I work for a retail company, and realize that this is a conventional way of speaking within the industry.  But it seems to me to be on par with industry jargon, and out of place in  intelligent and thoughtfully edited writing.

Is my opinion widely held, or is this sort of thing considered acceptable?  (For instance, would the New York Times ever use language like this?)


texts:
Would there be a comma after the year here? As this is a series of prepositional phrases, I am uncertain that the comma should be inserted.

  The composer was alleged to have said this to his secretary in 1940, about a seasonal song.


texts:
Which one is right? "We show how formal models of

hardware peripherals improve the state-of-the-art security models."

or

"We show how formal models of

hardware peripherals improve the state of the art security-models."

Or something else?

I'm writing a paper about formal models of computer peripherals where the above term occurs.


texts: Winter — wintry; summer — summery; spring — ?; autumn — ?

texts:
wintry:
characteristic of winter, esp. in feeling or looking very cold and bleak: "a wintry landscape".
summery: belonging to or characteristic of or occurring in summer; "summery weather";

What are the words that mean characteristic of spring and autumn, respectively? For example:

a springly landscape; an autumnly landscape

What about American English, where one uses fall instead of autumn?


texts:
Is there a single word for witches and wizards both, regardless of gender?

Edit 1: Is there a single word for the category of people who do magic (like witches, wizards, warlocks, sorcerers, etc.)?

Edit 2: The usage example comes from a story I made up for my niece. She wanted to know why I was designating male cats who do magic as witches alongside the female cats. Shouldn't they be called wizards, she asked. I then wondered whether there's one word that encompasses everyone who does magic.


texts: Is the correct phrase "free run" or "free roam?"

texts: Is the correct phrase "free run" or "free roam," as in "the dog has free run of the house"?


texts: What's the name for when a word changes its pronunciation because of how people read?

texts:
With greater literacy in the past 100 years, most English speakers are also proficient at writing. Sometimes due to the great divide between English spellings and the true pronunciation, people will say words phonetically if they haven't heard them in speech before (particularly foreigners, but native speakers too).

Where words aren't often used in speech but people know how to spell them English speakers pronounce the word phonetically, even though it's technically "wrong".

My question has 2 parts. The first refers to words like cache, where the majority of people will read it as "kashé" (IPA symbols too much effort to insert), when it's actually meant to be read as "kash" due to its spelling. But, because of the sheer number of speakers that don't say it correctly, it becomes part of the language, and the original pronunciation seems incorrect. What is this phenomenon referred to? An example of other words are here http://www.vocabulary.com/lists/432678#view=notes. None of these are "mispronunciations" in modern English, which is why I'm adamant that the answer isn't just "mispronunciation".

The next part is for words that English imports from other languages, then mispronounces. In particular, words such as Qatar (which is a bad transcription of Katur), but also words like sudoku, which English speakers usually read as "suduku" rather than sudoku. What is this phenomenon called?


texts: Is there a generic expression for a "universal product"?

texts: In Lucky Luke vol 38, some character named Doc Doxey tries to sell a product that works for almost everything (elixir) like a Swiss army knife with very general reported usage. Is there a name for such a quack / hoax product, like a spam product that is promoted to have many uses for and against almost anything or good real life examples of actual such products?


texts:
I teach English, and regularly introduce students to "OSASCOMP", the mnemonic to help them with the "royal order of adjectives".

This is fine, for adjectives in the categories described by this rule (opinion, size, age, shape, colour, origin, material, purpose), but one question has stumped me. How do we determine adjective order, for multiple adjectives within the same category?

If I refer to my "fabulous, amazing, beautiful husband", will he be bowled over by the compliment, or aghast at my grammar?


texts:
Is it acceptable to put your first name initial followed by last name in a written document.

For example, if the name is John Smith to say J. Smith? Is it appropriate?


texts:
The Online Etymology Dictionary unsurprisingly says brainstorm is from the combination of brain and storm.

What I want to know is whether or not this neologism was an intentional pun on the word rainstorm and also whether or not, when people use brainstorm today, they think of it as a pun or an independent word from rainstorm.

I, for one, used brainstorm my entire life without thinking about rainstorm until last week when, as if in a thunderous mental flash, it suddenly occurred to me. Am I just late to make an obvious connection here? Or is this news to other people as well?


texts:
The word I'm looking for is strictly for an individual event where a player is trying to beat their opponent. In a game like ping pong you might call this event a "serve".

I considered "round" but that seems to imply a bigger part of a game, like at the very end.

Hopefully someone can offer a good word for what I'm trying to express.

Thanks!

Edit: Here is an example sentence:

  Just a few more _____ and we should start playing for points.

The exact game should not matter, but lets say I'm playing a racing game.. I suppose for that we would say finishes so "just a few more finishes and..."

Hopefully that clears things up.


texts: "I knew him for..." or "I had known him for..."?

texts:
I'm writing a short story, and I'm unsure about the right tense to use. The first two sentences are:

  I knew Mr. Brown for exactly 15 minutes. He had met me at the
  entrance and was now accompanying me to the meeting.

I'm not sure about the tense in the first sentence. Normally I'd write:

  I had known Mr. Brown for ...

However, then the first and the second sentence would use the same tense, which also looks weird. What is the right tense to use?


texts:
I was curious about the original structure of the sentences.

  It seems correct.

Original version:

  It seems to be correct.

Well, it is a very well known fact.

But what about the ones that use that clause and like/as if clause?

Is it possible to say that the original structure, or the implied structure is as below?

  It seems that he is hurt.

Original version:

  It seems to be that he is hurt.

and

  It seems like/as if he is hurt.

Original version:

  It seems to be like/as if he is hurt.

When I googled "it seems to be that", there were quite many examples, and it doesn't sound completely off to me, where as "it seems to be like/as if" returned barely any result at all and sounds completely off.

Is my analysis correct, or are these two sentences with seem as a linking verb something completely different?


texts: What is the rule for using "a" or "an" in a sentence?

texts:
Possible Duplicates:
  “A user” or “an user”?
  Use of “a” versus “an”

If I remember correctly back to my school days, the rule is to use "a" if the next word starts with a consonant, or "an" if the next word is a vowel.

For example:

This is a banana.
This is an egg.

If the above is correct, then why does this sentence sound wrong...?

The account requires an username.


texts: Thanks for checking this video out VS checking out this video

texts:
I heard both phrases in some YouTube videos and I am not sure which one's correct.

Apart from the answer, could you tell me what I should be googling for in order to understand the grammar related to this question?

I don't think it's a duplicate and I don't understand why it's marked as one. Please note that this is not the "check" vs "check out" question. I use "check out" in my example. The question here is the order of words; where comes the object,  between "check" and "out" or after "check out". As far as I know, it's a phrasal verb and I wanted to know where the object should come: before or after the particle? At the moment of asking this question, I didn't know it's called "phrasal verb" so it was difficult to find related articles on Google.


texts:
I've been reading Christopher Hitchens and I cannot understand, again, the exact meaning of a particular sentence.

Here is the sentence in context:

  Having no reliable or consistent witnesses, in anything like the time period needed to certify such an extraordinary claim, we are finally entitled to say that we have a right, if not an obligation, to respect ourselves enough to disbelieve the whole thing. That is, unless or until superior evidence is presented, which it has not been. And exceptional claims demand exceptional evidence.
  - god is not Great by Christopher Hitchens, p. 150

There is no way for me to get the meaning of the sentence in bold since I cannot even analyze the syntax.

Any help or suggestion would be appreciated.


texts:
Calf's liver as an item on a restaurant menu is certainly correct, but one also sees calves liver written down.

What certainly is wrong is calves' liver, except if one assumes that many calves were part of the contribution to what is being cooked and served (hardly the case, and even if correct, not worth mentioning).

What is the correct way of writing this?


texts: Famous phrase for something which is forbidden or impossible, but can be done if desired enough

texts:
In some languages (for example Russian) there is a very famous phrase about something that is forbidden or not possible, but can be done if very desired.

  Если нельзя, но очень хочется, то можно

Direct translation would be
"If it is forbidden, but very desired, then it is possible".

It can be applicable for anything, like for science/technology in a good way, for people relations in a bad way (like it is forbidden to have a mistress, but if you really want you can) etc.

Is there something like this in English?

I found one by Oscar Wilde "The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it", but can it be applicable not only to bad things like alcohol etc, but to science, technology?

For example, if it is well know that computer program cannot do this, but someone really did it. Can this phrase be used in that case?

Or maybe there is phrase which can be used in science/technology only. I am looking for this one (for science/technology).

Let's say (artificial example, of course) I am writing an article about possible ways to travel faster than light, or to travel to other stars, and I want to use it as an epigraph.

UPDATE1: Can I use phrase from Alice in Wonderland?
"The only way to achieve the impossible, is to believe it's possible."
but I think it is from movie, not from book.


texts: Dad, auntie, nana, grandpa, etc... What is this group of words used as informal family nicknames called?

texts:
When explaining to someone learning French when one has to use vous (the “formal
you” pronoun) or tu (the “informal you” pronoun), there is a basic rule of thumb I
find useful:

  Vous — Used when speaking to people you usually call by their last
  name, title, or occupation.

  for example: Ms Smith, Sir, Doctor, Officer...
  Tu — Used when speaking to people you usually call by their first
  name, nickname, or [? some word or phrase meaning informal/familiar family nickname
  ?].

  for example: Georges, G-dog, Grandpa...

I’m trying to find a word or short phrase to describe “family nicknames”
like Dad, Nana, etc., preferably one that doesn’t include the more formal
versions like Father, Grandmother, etc.


texts:
What is the term for an orchestra or group of musicians playing without sheet music? Essentially they are "winging it" or improvising.

Maybe I need to clarify the question. I recall a specific term for an orchestra or small group of musicians that do not use a score. The sound that the orchestra produces may not be pleasing to the ears. Essentially everyone in the orchestra just plays what they want.


texts: A word or a phrase for "completely optimised, thoroughly researched technology"

texts:
I am looking for a word or phrase which can be used in the sentence:

  It is a rather old, but _________________ technology.

The word or phrase should address a technology that is totally investigated, researched in detail, and thoroughly optimised, so there is nothing more to find out or improve.


texts:
I saw a joke on facebook today where professor cat states:

  There are two types of people in this world: Those who can extrapolate
  from incomplete data

My brother thinks that this really isn't extrapolation. M-W defines extrapolate as:

  to infer (values of a variable in an unobserved interval) from values
  in an already observed interval.

The joke seems to fit this definition, but I'm not convinced one way or the other. What do you think? Is there a better word for this kind of reasoning?


texts: Difference between "lore" and "folklore"

texts: What is the difference between lore and folklore? What are the best examples where to use one and not the other?


texts: Which one is correct? "I am suffering from fever since yesterday" or "I am suffering from fever from yesterday"?

texts:
I am not good in English literature.
From daily use of English language, it seems to me that the second from in:

1 I am suffering from fever from yesterday

is the correct word. But, my friend, a major in English, is saying that the correct word is since:

I am suffering from fever since yesterday.

I do not understand why he says that I must use since not from. Can anyone explain which version is right and why?
I am asking for the situation when using the present continuous construction: be + VERBing. I do not mean the present perfect continuous.
More explanation
I know that in the case of present perfect continuous case we can use since, for, from. However, in a sentence of present continuous structure, then what should we write, from or since?  Please explain the grammatical law that forbid me from using from.


texts:
I'm trying to figure out how to best punctuate this.  I'm torn between ; or ?

Have we looked at this paper? Do we intend to?
Have we looked at this paper; do we intend to?

I want to say the first is correct, but it feels awkward seeing "do we intend to" as a full sentence, because its not.


texts: How else can I say "Mary would be well served by...."

texts:
I'm giving feedback/advice to an individual and need to express it in a non-directive, non-prescriptive manner.  While it may seem a passive approach, the context is very delicate.  An example would be, "John would be well served by using less of an authoritative communication style with his team...".

What other ways can I express this?


texts: How often do people call friends "chum" so that you know they are not actually calling you "chump"?

texts:
I am not a native English speaker.

If my schoolmate yells at me "Hey chum!", I wonder if they are actually calling me chum or chump. How often is chum being used to refer to friends instead of "Hey bro/buddy"?

Please gives answer for US, UK and AU.


texts: What does the idiom/phrase "but I digress" mean?

texts:
Okay, so I know when to "but I digress"; I use it when I'm talking about something and then stray off topic and talk about something else, so in order to get back to the topic, I say "but I digress".

But the dictionary says that digress, a verb, means "to stray off of something, to wander from a path, or to turn aside, etc.". So when I say "blah blah blah, but I digress", it's like I'm saying "blah blah blah, but I stray off topic." So when I say that, do I mean:

  blah blah blah, but I'm a person that usually goes off topic, so let's get back to the main topic.

Or do I mean:

  blah blah blah, but I'm straying off topic, so let's get back to the main topic.

I'm pretty sure this (the second one) is what we mean when we say "but I digress", but shouldn't the correct English be "but I am digressing" or "but I digressed"?


texts: Is it as correct to say, "That closet will fit all my clothes" as it is to say, "All my clothes will fit in that closet"?


texts: It is well known that "Green et al." can be used to refer to the authors of a paper. Assuming that the number of authors is greater than three, can one use "Green, Grey et al." to explicitly list two authors' last names to refer to all authors?


texts: Comma after "intuitively" at the beginning of a sentence?

texts:
In the following sentence, do I have to put a comma after "intuitively?":

  Intuitively, it represents the concept of something.


texts:
I have a question about writing in journals.

  I would like to learn more Spanish words. Rojo means red.

Should there be something before the meaning of rojo is given? I've thought of using e.g., but it seem as though that would be better used in a situation like this:

  I would like to learn more Spanish words, e.g., rojo, azul, negro.

After thinking it over, I now feel that viz. would be the best fit, but I'm still unsure.

  This is a statement of my desire to learn x. This sentence is the record of my learning of a component of x.

What can I write before the second sentence to make it clear what is happening there? Would a colon here undesirably conflate the idea of an incomplete record with the idea a complete one?


texts: Can I write "...argue it sufficiently..."?

texts:
in a scientific paper written in American English, I am using the following sentence:
"...we would argue that it is sufficiently established that..."

Can the sentence be shortened to "...we would argue it sufficiently established that..."

Thankyou in advance.


texts: "You gotta love xyz": What is the formal version?

texts: "You gotta love xyz" is an often a sarcastic (and colloquial) way of pointing out a preference/like for something. Is there a more formal way to express similar sarcasm when describing a preference/like?


texts: Using "gunman" to describe a fifteen year old

texts: Can someone who is fifteen years old, and therefore not an adult, be described as a gunman?


texts: Grammar: "Just because A, doesn't mean B"

texts:
I hear this all the time, and often from writers, but it never sounds right. I found myself using it in something I was writing.
For example: "Just because I stopped eating doesn't mean I'm full." Just the "just because A, doesn't mean B" sentence structure in general. Is it grammatically correct? If not, why not?


texts: Is "Don't Nobody/Anybody/Anyone + verb" a double negative?

texts:
I was reading a passage in Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men and a character, a migrant farmer, says of another character's fighting ability:

  "Nobody don't know what Slim can do".

And then a little later, a similar statement:

  "Nobody can't tell what a guy'll do".

I'm quite familiar with slangy statements phrased like questions, such as: Don't nobody care, or Don't anybody want to hear that, or Don't anyone feel like talking to you, but the reversal of the first two words--which does not seem to change the meaning--sounds off.

My questions are, are constructions like

  Don't nobody/anybody/anyone + verb

and

  Nobody don't + verb

double negatives, and, if so, is that why the pieces (don't, nobody) can be moved around without changing the meaning?


texts: Meaning of "took a few feet" in the last line

texts:
Whatever the reason, the fact that sharks are still around 400m years later suggests that a soft skeleton is a highly successful strategy, evolutionarily speaking. Yet it may also be a limited one. The swim bladders developed by bony fish to modulate their buoyancy would soon be co-opted for another purpose: transformed into a primitive set of lungs, they allowed their bearers to breathe air, and therefore to colonise the land. Given that inch, early terrestrial vertebrates took a few feet, as it were. The rest is history.

The boldened line is written figuratively, I think, so I'm quite puzzled over the meaning. If you can explain the last line to me, that'd be great.


texts: I have a question that really confuses me. Imagine I was chatting with my friends in a cafe, and friendA walked out the place for whatever reason. FriendB replied "she was beautiful," in this case shouldn't it be "she is beautiful? Or is there any other meaning behind it?


texts: What are the parts of speech in "he's fifty years old"?

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  Adjective Pluralization

  He's a fifty-year-old man.
  He's fifty years old.

I'm fine with the first of these two sentences, in which "fifty-year-old" is a compound adjective.

In the second sentence, is "fifty years old" also a compound adjective? If not, is "fifty" an adjective modified by "years old"? I can't work it out!


texts: A diptych is a pair of paintings. What is a single painting called?

texts:
A diptych (from the Greek di "two" and ptychē "fold") is a pair of paitings. You can also say triptych for a group of three paintings belonging together, septych for a group of seven and so on. Polyptych is an umbrella term for these words.

Is there a word for a single painting that has similar etymology?

If not, is there a word for a single work of art that can be used when one wants to emphasize that it's a single independent work of art, as opposed to a part of a group (for example a diptych)?


texts: Does "I had done" make sense grammatically?

texts:
I was writing my CV but wasn't sure if this makes sense:

  At my old place of work I adapted to the new work very quickly (I had never done pub work before).

Does the "I had never done pub work before" make grammatical sense?

If not then why?


texts: What's a less offensive substitute for "rep-whores"?

texts:
This is a frequently thrown-around term on Internet forums in general and Stack Exchange specifically. Although it conveys a lot of meaning, I'd much prefer a phrase with a less offensive origin.

Urban Dictionary defines a "rep-whore" as:

  A person who is obsessed with their status on an internet forum so bribes/ does favours for members of that forum in an attempt to achieve higher rep points.

Is there a nicer alternative phrase?

This is not a Help Vampire, who is more concerned with having others solve their problems.

It's not merely What do you call someone who is addicted to a Q&A website?. I'm not interested in how to deal with "rep-whores", but what to call them.


texts:
He died a broken man.

One of my students came across this sentence in an article, and a quick search for "he died a * man" yields a plethora of similar ones.
I'm fairly certain this sentence is grammatically correct, and indeed it sounds perfectly correct to my ears. What's irking me is that I don't understand why. Is there a rule whereby intransitive verbs can become transitive in special circumstances?
To further complicate the issue, my student thinks that inserting an as in there will make it clearer:

He died as a broken man.

This sounds a little off to me, but again, I'm not sure why. If anything, the as-ified version sounds more grammatically plausible, as it were.
So my question is twofold:

What is the rule for this type of sentence structure?
What, if any, are the other verbs that can be used in this construction?


texts:
Can I use linking words several times in one sentence in order to build a one whole big sentence such as:

  "I want to improve my piano skills and play in groups with other
  pianists as well as meeting other young keyboard players."

Second question: should a comma be added before or after the linker or not at all?


texts: Where does "Whatcha" & "Didja" come from?

texts:
Does anyone know where "Whatcha" and/or "Didja" originate from?
Watcha:   What did you?
Didja:   Did you?
Edit:
I cannot find these words in my English Grammar books and they are not in my English dictionaries.   I don't know enough about them to even ask sensible questions.  I myself use them.   Yet, when asked about them by a non-native English speaker, I found myself clueless as to why English dropped the word "you" for a sound that had no resemblance to the word "you".


texts: Should a semicolon precede an adverb that does not separate two independent clauses?

texts:
The sentence I wrote is as follows:

  The idea behind this technique was that the human eye could not differentiate between the individual colors of each point, thereby causing the eye to blend the colors together to form a more complete image.

My professor said that the "thereby" in that sentence should have a semicolon behind it and a comma in front, but as far as I know, a semicolon separates two independent clauses. I don't think "causing the eye to blend colors together ..." is a complete sentence, but she said it should be written as ";thereby,". Is she correct?


texts: Today I touched her hand (after / in / since / for) 3837 days

texts:
Today I met a girl after a long time. So I want to say the following:

  Today I touched her hand {after|in|since|for} 3837 days.

What is the more appropriate option?


texts: How should I use "not A but B" structure in my sentence?

texts:
I want to use the "not A but B" structure to focus attention on a certain perspective.

  I saw the dead bodies of a mother and her son.

This is the statement of fact. I want to use the "not A but B" structure to describe the fact and focus attention on an emotional hook, like the innocence of the child.


texts:
Which of the following is correct?

Context: I left AMD in early 2008.

  I have, since, been the CTO of a large software firm near Oregon.

or is it

  I have since, been the CTO of a large software firm near Oregon.


texts:
Could you ensure the work is completed for 20th-Jan? Or
Could you ensure the work is completed on 20th-Jan?
I see a native speaker use "for" and I don't understand why.


texts:
Could anyone tell me what a single word for mental endurance could be... I'm thinking something along the lines of willpower, but less ambiguous, it should fit in the following sentence:

"...has a great desire for improvement and puts a lot of effort in it, but has issues in terms of confidence and (?)"

Thanks!


texts: I have heard many times from many people saying 'it is love' or  'French is love' or 'Baltimore is love'. What does it exactly mean? Shouldn't they use lovely instead.?


texts: What should I call the disposable paper wrappers for straws?

texts: Just for personal reasons I would like to know what to call the disposable paper wrappers for drinking straws. If there is no name can I name it a paper? Paper wrapper?


texts: Word for a certain type of "quiet agreement"

texts:
I'm looking for a word which means a particular kind of feeling, of "quiet agreement".

Not being a poet, this feeling is difficult to describe in general. But I can give an example where this has occurred to me, which I think is common enough that anyone on StackExchange might be able to relate to:

  I see a comment on a picture or an answer to a question here in StackExchange. The question has a couple of answers, the best of which answers it satisfactorily.

  Then there is an answer with a score of -2
   and it is very incomplete, maybe even inappropriate. But it somehow aligns with my thoughts, I want to upvote it but I'd rather it didn't gain too many points because it is after all not a good answer per SE's guidelines.

The same would go with a racy comment somewhere: I want to -- and will -- upvote it but it'd really be best if its score stays negative. In other words, I wouldn't wish a bad answer to succeed, or be utterly destroyed, but to fail gently.

Is there a word for this kind of sentiment?


texts: Is there a more broadly applicable expression for "doth protest too much"?

texts:
In Finnish, there's a pithy expression Siitä puhe mistä puute, which literally if somewhat awkwardly translates as "talk is about what is lacking".
For example, if you fly into a country and find the streets full of massive billboards proclaiming that the many races of the country are united behind the Glorious Leader, who is making the economy strong and ensuring everybody has enough to eat, it would be reasonable to suspect that the billboards are attempting to paper over the reality that most people hate the Glorious Leader, there are racial tensions, the economy is terrible and there are food shortages.  But the expression can also apply to much more pedestrian situations, like a couple on the verge of divorce insisting publicly that everything is just fine, or the CEO proclaiming that rumors about discontinuing a badly-selling product and laying off everybody involved are completely false and untrue, or an oil company strip-mining the Arctic buying full-page ads to tout their investments in solar power.
Is there a way to convey this in English?  The lady doth protest too much comes close, but this seems more targeted at a specific individual: for example, the Glorious Leader could be accused of protesting too much if they go on CNN to repeatedly deny all claims of famine before the reporter gets around to asking about it, but this doesn't seem applicable to an entire state-run propaganda campaign.


texts: the phrase "Never mind" is three syllable [nɛv ər maɪnd]. The first and the last syllable gets stressed. Am I right? [2nɛv ər 1maɪnd]. I think that "mind" gets the most stress. I would like to know your opinions. Thank you!


texts: Do I need a comma when addressing someone in writing?

texts:
When I'm addressing someone in writing, such as on a forum or other public space, will I need a comma(s) before/after/surrounding their name?

For example:

  Thanks for that information Greg we're here to help.


texts:
On crisp autumn mornings we often see them covered in dew. Coming from South East England I have always called them cobwebs. Recently I increasingly hear them referred to as spider webs.
I prefer to hear cobwebs rather than spider webs, mainly because that's what I'm used to, but also because why would one use two words when one word will suffice, and also there is no ambiguity around the plural of cobweb as there is with spider web! I'm interested to know why anyone would say 'spider web'.
I'm aware some websites state that a spider web still has a spider in it, and a cobweb is dusty, but I've never heard that distinction made in reality. I'm interested to know people's individual ideas on this, so please don't just cut and paste from other sites to answer this.
Is it just that the usage of 'spider web' is overall more prevalent in US English?


texts:
The following is from the 12th chapter of Psalms in the King James Bible:

  5 For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy, now will I arise, saith the LORD; I will set him in safety from him that puffeth at him. 6 The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. 7 Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.

The anaphor "them" in verse 7 can be associated to either the antecedent "words" of verse 6, or the "poor" and "needy" of verse 5. It's clear in other translations that the proper coreference is "them" and  the "poor and needy," however verse six causes a disruption in the English language and introduces a new antecedent, "the words."

Verse six reads more like a side-note on verse 5 (specifically, the promise to arise and protect), a deviation from the direct message. Is there a name for these types of meta-statements that may show up from time to time in discussions. If so, what types of rules govern their usage?

I am trying to find out if it's possible to objectively demonstrate the correct antecedent when something like this takes place.


texts: Any Specific Term For Hiring Process Via Being Accommodated Together

texts:
I heard there exists some peculiar cultural hiring process of Asian countries such as taking possible applicants together and let them have one or two days of shared accommodation with human-resource affiliates to assess general aspects of applicants to cope with given situation or social intelligence of them.

Any specific English word to refer to this similar concept of process?


texts: Which of these words comes after a city name? Which or Where

texts:
This summer, Antalya, ______ a lot of people spend their vacation in, will be more crowded due to the new music festival.
a. where
b. that
c. when
d. which

I picked A but the answer key shows D.


texts: Improper use of a word - name of the action

texts:
Does the act of using a word incorrectly (using it to describe something that in fact it does not describe) have a name?

For instance, saying 'My head literally exploded when I read this page' when the idea I want to communicate would require the usage of the phrase 'My head figuratively exploded when I read this page'

I want to know if there is a word that describes the action of using a word incorrectly, with a meaning that it does not have.


texts: Being watched but not seeing the observer

texts: What is the word that describes the situation in which one is being watched, but cannot see the observer. As though the watcher resides in a tower, while the subject walks the streets.


texts:
I am confused about the usage of the words like and unlike in sentences.
Like and unlike make me confused because I see them being used everywhere almost interchangeably, and to make matters worse I even saw commas making difference in meaning.

Which of the following sentences is most correct, and least ambiguous?

  Unlike Xbox, Playstation can't play Halo.

  Playstation can't play Halo unlike Xbox can.

  Playstation can't play Halo, unlike Xbox can.

  Like Xbox, Playstation can't play Halo.

  Playstation can't play Halo like Xbox can.

  Playstation can't play Halo, like Xbox can.

  Playstation can't play Halo unlike Xbox.

  Playstation can't play Halo, unlike Xbox.

  Playstation can't play Halo like Xbox.

  Playstation can't play Halo, like Xbox.

In case you don't know what I actually wanted to say in those sentences: I'm trying to say that Playstation can't run the Halo video game and Xbox can run that game. I probably should have tried sentences with no brands but I can't imagine any meaningful sentences at this moment which contains like/unlike.


texts: Which preposition do you use when we have (adjective) and (adjective) (preposition)?

texts:
For example, you usually say "happy about something" and "proud of something", but when you want to say both, do you say:

  Happy and proud of something,
  Happy and proud about something,
  or
  Happy about and proud of something?

Is there a general rule to follow in cases such as these?


texts: Should I capitalize a contraction at the beginning of a sentence?

texts:
In the following sentence:

  'cause I know what you been doing on your weekends, girl.

Should the "c" in cause be capitalized or does the fact that the first two letters have been replaced by an apostrophe mean that it stays lower case?


texts: Help me understand "mortal man never smoked their superior in quality."

texts:
I am a Korean reading The Lives of the Great Composers by Harold Schonberg.

There's part of an article quoted from the New York Times describing how Americans welcomed Offenbach in his visit to New York.

It goes:

  Reporters swarmed around him before he had yet landed, and one of
  them, connected with a Tammany evening paper, was actually presented
  with one of the great man's private cigars and testified with much
  feeling that "mortal man never smoked their superior in quality.

What I am stuck with is the last sentence with double quotations. "mortal man never smoked their superior in quality." I really don't understand.

Does "mortal man" mean general human-being or the modest reporter who was presented with a cigar? What does "never smoked" "superior in quality"? Does it mean that the reporter was so honored that he forgot the superior quality of the cigar?


texts: A word for making idols from the dead ( Deadolatry ?)

texts:
Edit : To those who think this is a loaded question, it is based on historical facts. If you can please share your unloaded equivalent version of the question that would preserve the factual information, that would be great.

What is a word for turning dead into idols , e.g. making shrines to them.
It was something that was happening during the dark ages in Europe, where a bone was attributed to a Saint was used to make shrines/churches.
The Arabs after invading countries had a similar setup, where they forced the local populous to make shrines for their dead Arab invaders and ask them for miracles and healing ( A practice that is still going on at least in Iran ). The best word I can think to describe this is deadolatry  ( Dead Idolatry )


texts:
I came across the following sentence in an American novel:

  "Hey, sugar," he says. "I'm just here to help you is all."

I take it that the sentence means, "I'm just here to help you and that's all."

It is there something missing in the sentence or is this correct grammar?


texts:
What is the difference between the usage of dream of and dream about? For example,

I dream of becoming a doctor.
I dream about becoming a doctor.
I dream of going to places.
I dream about going to places.

If I mean dream as in dreaming while I am asleep, then which is preferable?


texts: Is there a word for a message that is intended to be intercepted by an adversary?

texts:
There is a kind of message in espionage that is meant to be intercepted by an adversary for the purpose of spreading false information: For instance, by sending a letter stating that troops are moving north when they're really moving west.  As an example, this tactic was used by the British during the American Revolutionary War, according to the National Library for the Study of George Washington website.

  British Generals Burgoyne, Clinton, and Howe, several times during the
  war, created letters with false information that they hoped would fall
  into American hands. They hoped the Americans would be deceived by the
  information.

I'm wondering if there is a word to describe this kind of message, colloquial or otherwise.  My initial research centered around the term false flag, but that term refers specifically to disguising an activity by making it appear to have been carried out by a different party.

Q:

Is there a term of any kind that means "a message sent that is meant to be intercepted by an adversary for the purpose of spreading false information?"

An example sentence would follow from the description above:

  Though the letters appeared to describe British troop movements, they were ______, giving Washington an inaccurate picture of the battle lines.


texts: What is the difference between dialogue and dialog?

texts:
I am American, and I always thought the difference between dialogue and dialog was one of meaning, the way Merriam-Webster has them listed:

2 entries found:

dialogue (noun)
dialog box (noun)

According to Merriam-Webster, dialogue means conversation, and dialog box means a window on a computer screen.
This is how I use/spell them.
However, at least some people see them as differences between British English and American English.
So my questions, I guess, are:

First of all, is my understanding, and Merriam-Webster's definition, correct?
Is dialog used with any frequency by Americans to mean conversation?
Is dialog not used in British English for the window on a computer screen?
Is there any other difference I'm not aware of, or perhaps a better explanation for the two versions?


texts: "You have successfully registered and logged in." vs "You have been successfully registered and logged in."

texts:
After the user press the submit button and everything in the registration form is correct he is automatically registered and logged in. And the message is shown in a pop up window. However, I am not sure which form is better to use. Please, explain which sentence is better and why. Thanks.

  You have successfully registered and logged in.

or

  You have been successfully registered and logged in.


texts: What is a word that means "omen" but for something that has already happened?

texts:
Just as the subject says, I'm looking for a noun that is similar in meaning to "omen," but that refers not to something that will happen, but rather to something that has already happened.

Is there something more precise than "sign?"

  "Lemminkäinen’s mother receives a ___ that her son has been killed, and journeys to the underworld to resurrect him."

Note that the mother is far away from the place of her son's death, and only learns of it through a sign, or a "reverse omen," if you will.


texts: Word (or words) that mean "types of property"

texts:
I'm writing an application that lists properties, and I've noticed that there are different types (or categories) of the types of a property:

Detached
Semi-detached
Terraced
End terrace

Then there are:

House
Bungalow
Flat or Apartment
Cottage
Barn
Mobile or Static Caravan

I'd like to know if there is a name for each of the two types above, my initial thought is that the top list are like "attachment types" but I'd like to know if there are an official name for these list types please?


texts: Should “to mean” take an infinitive or a gerund for its complement? Does it make any difference?

texts:
Which of the following sentences is grammatically correct:

  To be human means to have a choice.      INFINITIVE CLAUSE means INFINITIVE CLAUSE
  To be human means having a choice.       INFINITIVE CLAUSE means GERUND CLAUSE
  Being human means to have a choice.        GERUND CLAUSE means INFINITIVE CLAUSE
  Being human means having a choice.        GERUND CLAUSE means GERUND CLAUSE

Reading through each of them, I find all of them acceptable; but at the same time I get all the more confused.

I am aware of the rule that to mean to do something is an idiomatic expression expressing intent. But I think that this rule doesn’t apply in this context of giving a definition.

Do these mean the same thing, or is there some difference between them?


texts: Can “beefcake” serve as a verb to mean showing off big muscles?

texts:
I was confused by the ending line of the following sentence from the article titled, “The last, disposable action hero” in the February 28th edition of Time magazine:

  “American movie market now makes up less than a third of global
  box-office receipts, studios tend to favor projects featuring
  explosions, car chases and doomsday scenarios — a universal language
  of violence that translates easily in China, India, Brazil and Europe.
  Almost without exception, the movies stars some beefcake with pecs
  that make Ben-Hur’s seem puny.”

Oxford Advanced Learners’ English Dictionary defines beefcake as:

  Noun: (slang) men with big muscles, especially those that appear in sex show and magazines.

But the text drops a "be" verb between 'the movie stars" and "beafcake." It doesn't appear to me somehow flow smooth.

Is “beefcake” being used here as a verb to mean showing off their big muscles?

Why is the word “some” necessary, after emphasizing “Almost without exception,”? What meaning does the word, “some” add to here?

P.S.

As hindsight, I came to realize that “the movies” is the subject, “stars” is the verb, and “(some) beefcake” is the object. In my above question, I took “the movies stars” a subject as I thought it should be “star,” not “stars,” if the ‘star” is a verb, because the subject (the movie) is in the plural form. Is “The movies star*s* some beefcake with pecs” grammatically right expression?


texts: Conditional sentence without conditional conjunctions, is that possible?

texts:
Sometimes I hear sentences that sound conditional to me, just because of the (unassertive) ordering of the words. I don't know if I can come up with a proper example. Consider this:

  I'd be a lot better, had she stayed with me.

And I guess it's equivalent to this conditional form:
If she had stayed with me, I would have been a lot better.

So, this is my question:
In what ways can you make a sentence conditional without using conditional conjunctions (if, unless, etc)? And what are their equivalent conditional forms?


texts: Is this use of 'chuse' a spelling mistake, a digitization error or the correct spelling for the time?

texts:
I am currently reading Emma, by Jane Austen. The version I am reading is the digitized ebook version and in chapter 12 the word choose is spelled chuse:

  "My dear Isabella," exclaimed he, hastily, "pray do not concern
  yourself about my looks. Be satisfied with doctoring and coddling
  yourself and the children, and let me look as I chuse."

Since I don't have the physical book, I am unable to determine if this spelling is an error introduced during the digitization process, which is sometimes the case. If it is part of the original, is this spelling correct for the time period or is it a spelling mistake?


texts:
A guest is invited by a host to visit their home, although they are not very close. The host doesn't intend to invite the guest to eat, but they intentionally send a signal to the host that they are hungry so that the host invites them to stay and eat. Whether the host acknowledge this or not, or whether they do share their meal or not, the important thing here is that the guest knows that they shouldn't do that, but they just don't care.

What is the word for using someone's hospitality unashamedly?


texts:
My immediate thought is that the term is generic, and yet I read recently a verbal brickbat described as ad feminam. Was that just a po-mo back-formation, or is there some merit to the distinction?

[Mind you, it's likely I saw it in the same office where a proofer once changed an unrelated text I wrote to read ombudsperson, so ....]


texts: Is "So far as concerns something" the same as "So far as something is concerned"?

texts:
The following excerpt is from an article of Harry Frankfurt who is a professor from Princeton University:

  Especially by pretentious word or deed: There are two points to notice here. First, Black identifies humbug not only as a category of speech but as a category of action as well; it may be accomplished either by words or by deeds. Second, his use of the qualifier “especially” indicates that Black does not regardpretentiousness as an essential or wholly indispensable characteristic of humbug. Undoubtedly, much humbug is pretentious. So far as concerns bullshit, moreover, "pretentious bullshit” is close to being a stock phrase. But I am inclined to think that when bullshit is pretentious, this happens because pretentiousness is its motive rather than a constitutive element of its essence.

I know that "so far as something is concerned" is an idiom which means " in considering something". But what does "so far as concerns bullshit" mean? Is it the same as "so far as bullshit is concerned" which means "in considering bullshit"?
I am not sure what "this" in bold refers to. Is it "when bullshit is pretentious"?


texts: Verb meaning "to approach [someone] in a threatening manner"

texts:
What would be the appropriate one-word verb for describing the act of threateningly approaching someone? For example, a boxer, a fighter or a person of the likes approaching a physically inferior person. Which verb would capture this situation?

The context is:

  This shows how she will continue to defend her point of view, even if she is being [approached] by a large, burly man.


texts:
I may not be incorrect in my knowledge about speech, but Dialects or accents that drop sounds from words, syllables from words, or just completely change the sound from words are they correct?

I see pronunciation in the dictionary so by default I assume that is a correct way to pronounce words. Though this may be faulty reasoning.

I've heard many people say that there are millions of way to pronounce something yet whenever I open a dictionary I see the break down on the "standard" way to pronounce words

So I'm wondering if a dialect veers from the standard then are those speaking it speaking correct English?

If an accent veers from a dialect's standard then  are those speaking it speaking correct English?

This may just be a lack of understanding on my part but I endeavor to learn more.


texts:
I found the following sentences in the Cambridge textbook,and I don’t know why there’s only “a” with “until”.
・until a quarter to five
・at quarter after four
I think “at” means the specific point, so it doesn’t need “a” before quarter, and “until” means more longer in time, so it needs “a” before quarter...but not sure.
Please help me!


texts:
I'm curious as to why an emphatic pronoun isn't set off by commas. For example, "I, myself, completed the puzzle."

Everything about this seems like "myself" should be set off by commas, but the style is not to use them.

Thanks for any insight.


texts: What's a good adjective for "possessing integrity"?

texts:
Fill in the blank: "The most ____ person I've ever met."

A reformulation of the sentence might be "The person with the most integrity I've ever met" (which in itself has problems as a sentence,) but I want the adjective form.

Wikipedia suggests "integrous" which I'm not sure is in common use.


texts: Web site providing tailored content... and the negative social side effect

texts:
What's the (slightly pejorative) word for the way some websites provide content tailored to the "interests" (belief systems, etc.) of users, thereby preventing them (or at least greatly diminishing the opportunities) to discover other points of view?

Google does it. Twitter does it.

I regularly receives emails from Twitter, with suggestions and the latest "activity on the network" and it usually right on the money, introducing me to tweets on human rights, activism, social issues.

My problem with it is that those who need to hear of such things (the very people to whom I, as an activist, would like to reach) are those who, by the very same algorithm used by such web sites, would be prevented from coming across it.

I once saw a specific term for such an algorithm for "tailored" content.

Somehow the following questions feels connected to the feeling behind my question:
Has the term ‘weapons of mass distraction’ gotten currency as a metonym for web sites and lowbrow mass media contents?


texts: Multiple quantities of an object that has a descriptor and units of measure

texts:
My question is probably best illustrated with an example:

  Four 2.25 hp electric motors were used to propel the vehicle.

Is that correct? I feel like it can't be, but my friend is saying otherwise. I'm also finding contradictory rules on the internet so I'm not sure. I think it should be:

  Four 2.25-hp electric motors were used to propel the vehicle.

    or Four 2.25-hp-electric motors were used to propel the vehicle. ?

I know similar questions have been asked but they were simpler than mine. Hopefully someone can help me. Thanks.


texts:
I am writing a blog post, which includes code snippets with repeating "import" statements. These statements look "noisy" so I decided to omit them in the rest of the post. So I am writing:

  Technical note: from now I am omitting all these "import" statements in the rest of the post for clarity.

This sentence above seems a little awkward but I don't know how to correct/improve it. What is a better way to write it?


texts: Is “Down to the word” a popular phrase as an idiom?

texts:
I found the phrase, “the message is the same every time, almost down to the word” in the article titled “As debates loom, Romney grasps for a closing argument” appearing in October 1st Time magazine.

The article reports that everywhere he goes lately, President Obama begins his stump speech with a story about a four-year-old boy named Samm. When Samm’s parents asked their son if he recognized the leader of the free world, he did. “What does Barack Obama do?” they asked Sammy, and Sammy replies: “He approves this message.” Then the writer follows:

  “It’s a funny little ice-breaker. But it’s also a bridge to the
  message itself, which is that Obama wants to emphasize the middle
  class as the foundation of a strong economy, whereas Romney’s top-down
  economics benefits the rich. The message is the same every time,
  almost down to the word.”

From the context, I guessed “almost down to the word” is synonymous with “almost verbatim.”
But I don’t find “down to the word” in any of Cambridge, Oxford and Merriam-Webster dictionary as an idiom, though they register “down to earth,” “down to the wire,” “down to the present day,”and “down to there.”

On the other hand, Google Ngram registers “down to the word.” It shows usage of this phrase existed ever since before 1840, but its currency has been declining sharply after peaking during 1860 to 1920.

Is my understanding of “down to the word” as synonymous with “verbatim” right?
Is “down to the word” an idiom, or a simple set of words. Is it still a popular phrase , or pretty old-fashioned expression because I can’t find it in any dictionaries I’ve checked?


texts:
I have a question.

Does this mean the consequence or the continuous state?

  A half century past the beginning of the movement, it's been invested with an aura of mystique.

I think it can be both...
What is your take?

Thank you.


texts: Is, for example, "pp. 1567–93" an acceptable way to denote pages 1567 through 1593?  In what contexts must you always write it in long form "pp. 1567–1593" instead?  Also, what about in the case of smaller numbers, e.g. "pp. 54–7," or more complicated ranges, e.g. "pp. 6, 23–5, 7, 67–8, 94–117"?


texts: What does "none the worse" mean in these cases?

texts:
Dictionaries say 'none the worse' means 'not damaged or hurt despite something' but I cannot understand following 2 cases from the novel LoTR in this way.

case 1

'...This Treebeard at any rate has not starved you.'

'He has not,' said Merry. 'But Ents only drink, and drink is not enough for content. Treebeard's draughts may be nourishing, but one feels the need of something solid. And even lembas is none the worse for a change.'

Translation version of my tongue says even lembas couldn't make me content.
But if it is right, I think 'none the better' would fit more though I'm not sure.

case 2

But if I am a murderer on that account, then all the House of Éorl is stained with murder; for they have fought many wars, and assailed many who defied them. Yet with some they have afterwards made peace, none the worse for being politic. I say, Théoden King: shall we have peace and friendship, you and I?

Translation version of my tongue says being politic wasn't bad choices.
contextually it may be right but I couldn't figure out how come...

If you explain those in detail, I would really really appreciate. Thanks:-)


texts:
I have a question. Which sentence is better?

I have sent electronic copies of all my documents to your
University.
I am sending electronic copies of all my documents to your University.
Could you please review my documents and determine whether I qualify to be admitted to postgraduate studies.
Would you please review my documents and determine whether these qualify me for admission to postgraduate studies.

Thank you in advance for your help.


texts: Are any two words that are synonyms and homonyms of each other

texts:
Are there any examples of any English words that are both synonyms and homonyms of each other?

I would guess that over time one would become considered an alternate spelling and die out, so perhaps were there ever such words?


texts: Why past simple has been used in the conditional?

texts:
Why is the if clause written in past tense instead of past perfect in this sentence?

  “they would have not done that if it was not safe”


texts: How to call a person who gets transcendental very easily and continuously?

texts:
I am looking for a word to describe a person who gets metaphisically transcendental very easily.

That is, getting in a very deep mood quite fast, even though the situation is not that serious, like:

  A: I think we should have dinner now.

  B: Yes, life is too short to wait.

  A: Yes, B, but don't be that X, no need to be that transcendental :)

Is there a word for this? I was thinking in "transcendental" but I wonder if some other adjective may fit better.


texts: Meaning of “It is not intelligent, though it is the work of genius -- in the most nocturnal and Germanic sense of that bad word.”

texts:
The last sentence of Jorge Luis Borges’ review of “Citizen Kane” (in selected non-fictions) is:
It is not intelligent, though it is the work of genius -- in the most nocturnal and Germanic sense of that bad word.

I cannot figure out what Borges meant by ... genius -- in the most nocturnal and Germanic sense of that bad word.


texts:
It's Dave's 40th Birthday on Saturday and there have been emails and texts sent with the headline - "Dave's 40".

Not sure if this is correct, can anyone help?

Thanks.

Pete


texts: "its having been entrusted" -- Rather odd construction

texts:
''The present book is designed differently from any previous collection of Pound's essays; so I believe there is justification for its having been entrusted to another hand than that of the author.''

I've happened about this sentence in a preface by Eliot to a collection of Pound essays. What does it want to say? That the fact that it had been entrusted to another hand than that of the author is justified? How is this kind of construction called? Where is it used? I must confess, it sounds so fancy!


texts: When somebody is watching something for so long they stop seeing details

texts:
In a scenario where somebody is watching trees go past out of a window looking for something they might stop noticing details and then miss what they are looking for because they have become accustomed to the mass of detail going past them.

What is the term to describe this? Word or phrase.


texts: What is the difference between "Registry" and "Directory"

texts: We are building a software system that maintains a collection of participating entities, and I'm trying to determine if it is more appropriately termed a registry or a directory.


texts: Is there a word for "the sunlight that streams into a room through the window, or a crack in the curtain or through a skylight"


texts: A word for someone who has more skill than a code monkey to be at just the next level

texts:
A Code monkey is a computer programmer
  or other person who writes computer
  code for a living. This term may be
  slightly derogatory, meaning that this
  developer can write some code but is
  unable to (or not supposed to) perform
  the more complex tasks of software
  architecture, analysis, and design.[1]
  It is usually applied to junior
  programmers.
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Code_monkey

If a code monkey has dedicated his efforts to improve his knowledge and skill, what should we call him after at the next level/rank?


texts:
I've found around the web sentences of this form, which are using model verb "would" as a main/conjugated verb.

  I would to be ...

Or

  I would to eat this food.

I think those are ungrammatical. However for making sure I am asking this question.

Questions:

Are those in English grammatical?
If not, how about in casual writings and speakings?


texts: Present perfect or simple past in combination with past perfect?

texts:
I am grading student assignments and I ran into some unforeseen complications:

  Children have been suffering from post-traumatic stress and depression, more than six months after the city had been heavily flooded.

a) Is the use of the present perfect progressive acceptable. b) How about the past perfect after "after"?

  Teenagers have begun to suffer from depression after they had seen their grades drop.

Is the past perfect acceptable?


texts: What's the synonym for when two things are switching places and you don't want to rewrite it?

texts:
Say I'm describing what a program does. Say it converts roman numerals to decimal and decimal to Roman numeral.

I could say, in the description, "Converts from Roman numerals to decimals and from decimals to Roman numerals". I could also say "Converts from Roman numerals to decimals and [blank]". It's not conversely or likewise. What is the word, I know what it is but cannot remember?


texts:
Would you differentiate which are relatives and which are interrogatives? (And I want to know the sub-category (sub-name) of each below, if they are.)

  “You can keep it,” said Harry, laughing at how pleased Ron was. (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone)
  Disgusted that the Slytherins had lost, he had tried to get everyone laughing at how a wide-mouthed tree frog would be replacing Harry as Seeker next. (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone)
  His questions showed me how complex and mysterious were certain institutions of the Church which I had always regarded as the simplest acts. (James Joyce, Dubliners)
  "I don't give a damn how you lost it as long as you keep it hidden." (Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man)
  We revenged ourselves on Leo Dillon by saying what a funk he was and guessing how many he would get at three o'clock from Mr. Ryan. (James Joyce, Dubliners)
  The duties of the priest towards the Eucharist and towards the secrecy of the con-fessional seemed so grave to me that I wondered how anybody had ever found in himself the courage to undertake them. (James Joyce, Dubliners)
  I noticed how clumsily her skirt was hooked at the back and [8.] how the heels of her cloth boots were trodden down all to one side. (James Joyce, Dubliners)

As Dr. McCawley says:

  It is often difficult to distinguish free relatives from interrogative complements, and indeed many examples are ambiguous between the two interpretations. (James D. McCawley, 1988. p.431)

It’s very difficult to distinguish which is relative and which is interrogative. A Korean blogger says, how in “How I spend my free time is a private matter.” is a nominal relative [free relative or fused relative], but in “I want to say how pleased I am to receive this award.” it's an interrogative.

This differentiation is somewhat easy: for the first how functions as CGEL says “combines the function of head of the NP and precuclear element in a modifying relative clause.” And the latter how functions as not referring to something known, something concrete, which can be specified (source).


texts: Origin of the phrase "Now we're cooking with _"

texts:
I have heard this phrase as:

Now we're cooking with gas.
Now we're cooking with grease.
Now we're cooking with heat.
Now we're cooking with fire.

Which of these is the original version, and where/how did it originate?


texts: When/Where possible vs. When/Where it is possible: is it required to use "it is"?

texts:
Examples 1a and 1b:

Be realistic when possible.
Be realistic when it is possible.

Examples 2a and 2b:

When possible, be realistic.
When it is possible, be realistic.

Are all of these examples correct? Is there any difference between 1a and 1b, and between 2a and 2b?


texts: Sapu Lidi: A broom made of many wooden sticks

texts:
For many Indonesians, the name sapu lidih or sapu lidi is somewhat familiar. Well, this "sapu lidih" is actually a broom made of many wooden sticks. If you translate the name directly to English, it will be broomsticks. However, broomsticks give an impression of Harry Potter with his witch broom that he used to fly around. The sapu lidih does not look like it at all. Its sticks are made from dried coconut leaves and there is a whole bunch of them bundled them together to form a broom.

We use this broom to clean our beds. We use it to sweep the dust or other debris on our bed to the floor. So what is this type of broom called and what is the action of sweeping the bed using the sapu lidih called in English?


texts:
What is the word for taking effect before something happened? like in time travel?

i.e. Because I killed my grandpa, I ****ly became non existent.


texts: Is there a specific word for burps/belching from alcohol?

texts:
This might be a bit pedantic but just working on a translation at the moment and it got me wondering if there is any specific word for alcohol(ic) belching/burps?

Searching only gives results like:

burping and alcohol
belching and alcohol

In Chinese there is the word 酒嗝 which literally means alcohol burp.

Is there an equivalent in English?

I guess it would more likely be a beer burp more than anything else, as there isn't often belching from Wine or spirits.


texts: What do you call someone who likes controversial things?

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  What do you call a person who does/thinks the opposite of the crowd for just that reason?

For example, there is an almost-normal person, but this person has a special quality, (s)he likes things that go against "normal people", for example he likes Hitler, but stating that will begin and endless debate about morals.

Hipster may be a word, but is there a better word for that?


texts: What is the correct word to describe a turn or a bend — "hard", "sharp", "heavy"...?

texts: If there is a very sharp turn or detour or bend — in a piece of plastic, for example, — what is the correct word to describe it (hard, sharp, heavy...)?


texts: Should we repeat the verb after "rather than"?

texts:
Super AMOLED Plus uses a traditional RGB RGB (3 subpixels) arrangement typically used in LCD displays rather than the PenTile RGBG pixel matrix (2 subpixels) used in Super AMOLED.

or

  Super AMOLED Plus uses a traditional RGB RGB (3 subpixels) arrangement typically used in LCD displays rather than uses the PenTile RGBG pixel matrix (2 subpixels) used in Super AMOLED.


texts: I visited someone in the hospital today and was struck by some unpleasant associations from seeing "Patient Discharge" on a sign. Surely there is a better word for this...what do they call it in UK countries?


texts: Is the letter "d" sometimes pronounced like a glottal stop? For example is the letter "d" in the word "wouldn't" pronounced like a glottal stop?


texts: Is there a word or phrase for a person who is easily outraged (or fakes it) for the sake of attention in English?

texts: This person gets agitated and outraged, so as to get attention as a moral torchbearer for an issue. Often they forget the issue and move on to next issue with out making any effort to support or resolve the issue with in few hours.


texts: Multiple parenthetical citations from different sources mid sentence

texts:
I'm trying to keep with MLA format 7th edition and I'm not sure how to properly parenthetically cite a complex sentence.

I have sources S1, S2, S3 where S1 and S2 have the same author, but different texts, and S3 is from a different author. The sentence looks like:

We know that [fact 1 from S1], [fact 2 from S2], and [fact 3 from S3].

I would like to write

We know that [fact 1 from S1] (S1), [fact 2 from S2] (S2), and [fact 3 from S3] (S3).

so that it is clear which reference each fact came from. However, the guides I found online say to always put parentheticals at the end of the sentence, like

We know that [fact 1 from S1], [fact 2 from S2], and [fact 3 from S3] (S1; S2; S3).

I don't like this format because it isn't clear where each fact came from, and it is further complicated by S1 and S2 having the same author.

What do you suggest I do?


texts: The "process" of long-term excessive use of alcohol

texts:
This is the kind of a Winter Holidays related question:
How is the "process" of long-term excessive use of alcohol during the holidays called in the US and GB?

The Multitran dictionary gives me these phrases:

barrel fever
skull cramps
hang-over
bottleache

But I don't really sure if these words are of a wide use in the US.

P.S. I'd also like to know how is the "recovering" from the "process" mentioned previously called.


texts: Is "I'm of several minds about it" valid English?

texts: I've heard this in a TV show (Westworld), but I couldn't find anything about this phrase specifically, in Google. What does it mean exactly? Is this a common/acceptable way to say it?


texts: Someone who gives unsolicited explanations in a condescending way

texts:
Usage in sentence:

Person A: Ooh - look at that crow!

Person B: Well, actually, as someone who is a scientist who studies crows, I am telling you, specifically, in science, no one calls jackdaws crows. They're not the same thing. If you're saying "crow family" you're referring to the taxonomic grouping of Corvidae, which includes things from nutcrackers to blue jays to ravens. It's not one or the other, that's not how taxonomy works.

Person A: Are you always such an XXX?

"Pedant" is close, but not quite.

It would be a mix of "know-it-all", "condescending" and "arrogant".


texts: Hyphenation of non-combat-related injury

texts:
As I understand it, we are to hyphenate phrases which consist of several adjectives strung together to form a single thought. I would, therefore, assume "non-combat-related injury" is the proper hyphenation of the phrase.  "Non-combat" should be hyphenated, without question, but should the hyphen exist between "combat" and "related"?  Normally I would assume so, but attempting to Google it, I find that most of the top hits suggest "non-combat related injury" is standard.  It sounds like it is a related injury (!?) of the non-combat variety (umm...), but apparently, it's standard.

I was just going to run with it until I realized I also had to use the phrase "combat-related injury" wherein the hyphen does, commonly, come between combat and related - as expected.

Should I stick to the standard hyphenation ("non-combat related injury") or try to smooth things over grammatically by saying "non-combat-related injury"? Or am I overthinking it?  Or am I missing something obvious?


texts: What's the difference between the verbs "recruit" and "employ"?

texts: What's the difference between the verbs "recruit" and "employ? Why is it used so in sentences "Our company is flourishing and we recruit more than a handred workers. Every year we employ 10 more."


texts: Synonyms and antonyms for "lacking" or "missing" when something is mandatory

texts:
I am searching for the correct term usage in my Java code, although you don't need to know anything about programming to answer my question.

My "something" can be "required" (mandatory) or not (optional).
If it's required, then I want a term that indicates if it's missing or not
If it's not required, then it obviously cannot be "missing"

I know the terms I stated are "correct" but I'd like to know other synonyms or even antonym that would express that logic better.

I thought of "lacking", "absent", or "missing"
or the antonyms "filled", "exists", or something like this.

I know the semantics are about the same, but I'm sure there's a better way to describe it!


texts:
What is the plural form of "S.Sgt."?
Is it "S.Sgt.'s" or "S.Sgts."? Thanks.


texts: Should it always be "when someone did action X someone else HAD done action Y?"

texts:
I have encountered this sentence: "She was dancing when he started to play music"

From what I know, it should be: "She had been dancing when he started to play music"

My question is: is the first sentence grammatically correct? I know that in a daily conversation people might not be aware of it, but in a formal, correct language, should not it be only like sentence two?

Thank you!


texts: What is the origin of “putting yourself in someone else’s shoes”?

texts:
I hear this term everywhere I go and from almost everyone I meet. I know this means to be more empathetic.

I wonder why this expression was even coined and what was its origin?


texts: Word for making a sound out of the side of your mouth

texts:
It is hard to describe the action, so here is an example:

What is the word or phrase that best describes this noise made by a person?


texts: Origin of "I fart in your general direction"

texts:
I grew up knowing the insulting phrase "I fart in your general direction", and recently saw it used by John Cleese in Monty Python and the Holy Grail (apparently its most famous usage):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWBUl7oT9sA

What is the origin of this phrase? Was it invented by the Monty Python crew, or was it already in general use before then?


texts: I've stumbled upon this piece of text from ''Stormy Weather'' by Carl Hiaasen and I'm trying to understand why in the sentence ''On paper he seemed an ideal candidate, a bold fresh voice in a cynical age.'', there's no comma between ''bold'' and ''fresh''. Could someone explain?


texts: Open annotation vs Closed annotation for business writing

texts:
For business writing (mail and letters) which one is more preferred annotation?

Open annotation:-
Hi James
......
Thanks
Vikas

Closed annotation:-
Hi James,
......
Thanks,
Vikas


texts:
Some grammar rules say "All of ... are not" and "Not all of ... are" have the same meaning, yet they are different from "None of ... are".
For example:

  1) Not all of the books I have are science fiction novels. (PARTIAL Negation:  some may be science fiction novels)

  2) All of the books I have are not science fiction novels. (PARTIAL Negation: some may be science fiction novels)

  3) None of the books I have are science fiction novels. (FULL Negation: not a single one is a science fiction novel)

Is this correct?

I think that 2) and 3) should be FULL negation and have the same meaning that "not a single one is a science fiction novel" whereas 1) is PARTIAL negation　and indicates "Some may be science fiction novels".  Am I wrong about this?


texts: Does the verb in the sentence indicate subjunctive or indicative mood?

texts:
I am learning grammatical mood currently and I am a bit confused about this sentence.

  We were hoping you could have a cup of coffee with us.

So does the verb "were hoping" indicate subjunctive or indicative mood? I mean, it is obviously a polite proposal but it's not typical usage of the verb in the subjunctive mood, is it? Then can we consider the verb to be in the indicative mood?


texts: I've heard it in several finance movies and the sentiment is kind of clear but what does it actually mean, "a run on a bank"?


texts: Is there any word for a place full of confusion?

texts:
I am searching for a word for a place which is full of confusion. I tried searching but couldn't find any link.

This website mentions nothing.

https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/confused

Merriam-Webster says Labyrinth, but I find that a bit mainstream.

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/labyrinth

I am looking for some mythical or literary reference. Can anyone help me?

EDIT:

I am looking for something which I can use in a sentence like

  "The attractive offers sent me into a ..........".

And I am desiring a mythical reference.


texts: Is it "to be left free to do something" or "to be let free to do something"?

texts:
I know "to leave someone alone" and "to let someone be on their own".

What happens when the adjective is followed by a verb (in the infinitive)?

Is it "*Leave me free to do whatever I want." / "*I was left free to do whatever I wanted."

or

"*Let me free to do whatever I want." / "*I was let free to do whatever I wanted."

?


texts: The meaning of "write your story on a treadmill desk"

texts:
The passage below comes from a BBC article.

  Prof Gurven said: "I would say we need a more holistic approach to physical exercise rather than just at the weekend. Bicycle to work, take the stairs, write your story on a treadmill desk." (I didn't)

I'd like to ask the meaning of the phrase write your story on a treadmill desk.

I don't understand what write your story implies.

Is it just about writing any story while exercising or does it imply any specific writing, like, taking the record of exercise?


texts: What is the difference in meaning between when using "the risk" and "risks" in the following sentence?

texts:
"Habitual physical activity reduces the risk of hypertension and diabetes."
"Habitual physical activity reduces risks of hypertension and diabetes."

What is the difference in meaning ?


texts: How to correctly use the present perfect tense

texts:
This link states that:

When you use the present perfect tense you have to be talking about a period of time that you still consider to be going on. For example, if it’s still morning, you can say, "I’ve shaved this morning." If it is afternoon or evening, all of a sudden "I’ve shaved this morning" sounds really weird.

"I've shaved this morning" sounds more like past perfect, and indication of specific time (in the morning) makes this sentence incorrect.  Am  I spot on?
Then what is the difference between the construct of past perfect, present perfect and future perfect?


texts: I know that there's a film with this title, but is it also a common English expression with stable meaning?


texts: Should I use "We then" instead of "Then we"

texts: In one academic paper I wrote "Then we ...", but the editor suggested me to change it into "We then ...". I would like to know if the former is really unnatural or both are acceptable.


texts:
'Chick lit' is a term that applies to literature that appeals mainly to women.
So, what's the term for 'literature that appeals mainly to men'  ?
'


texts: Is there a name for an argument that is also a counter-argument?

texts:
A person states an argument to support a position, but that argument could equally support the opposite position.

Is there a name for such an argument?  Or a phrase to describe the concept?


texts: Need a word for "something that requires many tries and attempts."

texts:
I'm working on this English homework where I have to translate a text from my native language into English. There's one word that means "something that requires numerous attempts" or "something that requires retrying."
I cannot say "trial and error" because the original text didn't really mention anything about errors.
It is basically a sentence literally translated into something like " X requires retrying.".
So my question is, is there a word to describe that? For example,

  X is ___.

or

  X requires ___ [something better than retrying].


texts:
Is there an appropriate way to shorten the phrase "upgrade and downgrade"?

I am writing a paper and have to use this combination frequently. I am trying to find a succinct way to let the reader know I'm referring to both upgrades and downgrades without making them read the phrase over and over again.

I was thinking something like up-/down-grade, but if that is the case, I'm not sure what the appropriate punctuation would be.

Edit: Forgot to add that this is for a scientific paper so meaning and brevity take precedent over style.

Here is a sample sentence:

  An up/downgrade refers to an objective comparison of the consumer’s currently owned product and its potential replacement.


texts: Term to describe users' initial dislike of user interface change

texts:
What is the best term to describe the fact that most users have an initial dislike of any change to a UI even though it may really be net better over time?

Note: Question originally appeared as a  Google+ post here.


texts: "I wonder, if I pushed the top of her head, would aerosol spray out of her mouth."

texts:
In Kathryn Stockett's The Help one of the main characters Eugenia "Skeeter" Phelan speculates about mate's hair:

I wonder, if I pushed the top of her head, would aerosol spray out of her mouth.

Intuitively this sounds just right, but..

Here come my questions:

Why aerosol would is inverted? To avoid using of two "if"?
I wonder if aerosol would spray out of her mouth, if I pushed the top of her head.
Is it correct?
How to explain this from grammatical point of view?

Kind regards


texts:
In Captain's Courageous, the crew of the We're Here returned to port with "1500 quintal" in their hold.

I know that a "quintal" is  a "hundredweight" which is 100 pounds, but I do not quite understand why.  Doesn't "quint" come from Latin, meaning "5"


texts: Is there any difference between "how it is doable" and "how it can be done"?

texts:
I have a phrase which can be written in two ways:

  This page contains information about orders, like how they are traceable after production.

Or

  This page contains information about orders, like how they can be traced after production.

The first version even feels wrong to me. Is the second sentence better? Is there even a difference?


texts: When do you capitalize a reference to a specific instance of a general concept?

texts:
This question generally pertains to the legal context in the US. Reviewing this page I gather that capitalization is used to refer to a specific instance of an item whereas capitalize is not used when referring to the general concept. For example, "a judge typically sympathizes with the defendant in court" in contrast to "the Judge refused to listen to what the Defendant argued, against traditions of that Court".

Is this a good way to think of it? Is such a capitalization distinction only used in the legal world?


texts:
Is this event ironic or a funny coincidence: (explain why as well)

  Bob is walking with Jerry outside after it has just finished raining.
  Bob starts on about this time some "stupid, aloof" guy walked right
  into a puddle because he wasn't paying attention. Right as he is
  finishing the story, he himself walks directly into a puddle of water.

A buddy and I were debating whether that's irony or funny coincidence, so we decided to poll the audience to get some clarity on the issue.


texts:
Today I have encountered a phrase:

  If not for you, I would be poor.

I would think it is like "if there were not you", is it like that?

On the other hand, how would I say the following as the meaning would be different:

  If not for you, whom do I cook the cake for?


texts: Which is correct: "All the media is" or "all the media are"?

texts:
I think I know that media is a plural word.

So then which of the following is correct?

  All the media is...
  All the media are...

When you search Google, both seem to appear at the same frequency.


texts: Feeling like something impossible or paranormal is happening

texts:
I am trying to categorise sub-genres of Horror. For example I have "suspense", "gore", &c.

Now I feel like one genre consists of producing an emotion that I cannot put a word to. Feeling like something paranormal or impossible is happening, and feeling fear because of it.

What is the word for a fear that directly results from witnessing something that the witness cannot explain, or that challenges the accepted reality?


texts: Can words be removed from language? Are there examples of such?

texts:
My research has shown that lexicographers typically look to determine whether a word is currently widely used and whether there is a gap by no alternative being available before it being considered for usage in dictionaries.

On the other side of this, is anyone aware of words that have been removed from the English dictionary based on the same criteria?


texts: What's a term for a motivational phrase?

texts: What is a term for a motivational or inspirational phrase that one repeats to oneself?  For example, in the movie Cars, Lightning McQueen psychs himself up by saying to himself: "I am speed...I eat losers for breakfast."


texts:
Look at these examples:

  You should clean the milk seen as you spilt it.
  You should clean the milk seeing as you spilt it.

Which one is correct, and how is it grammatically defined/termed?


texts:
I want to say something similar to this:

  Founded in April of 2005, and incorporated in 2006, Example Company is now the leading news site.

But my company is not incorporated, we are an LLC. How can I say something with the similar feel as the above statement?


texts: "The first issue of Life magazine had a photo of a what on its cover?" Is "a what" correct here?

texts:
Is this question grammatically correct?

  Published in 1936, the first issue of Life magazine had a Margaret
  Bourke-White photo of a what on its cover?

Can words like "the", "a", or a number be followed by the word "what"?

Can the word "what" in my question posted act as a noun itself?


texts: What is the difference between the terms "mass murder", "massacre", and "genocide"?

texts:
Please, help me to understand the following terms along with proper definition and example.

I found some references, but most of them are not clear.

Genocide:

  Wikipedia: Genocide is the systematic elimination of all or a significant part of a racial, ethnic, religious, cultural or national group.

  OxfordDictionary: The deliberate killing of a large group of people, especially those of a particular nation or ethnic group.

Example: Holocaust, and, Armenian Genocide.

Massacre:
 ? not clear ?

  Oxford: An indiscriminate and brutal slaughter of many people.

Example: Nanking Massacre.

Mass Murder:

  Wikipedia: Mass murder (sometimes interchangeable with "mass destruction") is the act of murdering many people, typically simultaneously or over a relatively short period of time.

  Oxford: The murder of a large number of people

Example: ? not clear ?

Mass Killing: ? not clear ?

Example: ? not clear ?

Homicide:

  Wikipedia: Homicide is the act of a human being causing the death of another human being.
  There are both unintentional and intentional homicides.
  Homicide can be classified into:

  (a) Murder,
  (b) Manslaughter,
  (c) Euthanasia, and,
  (d) Execution.

Murder:

  Wikipedia: Murder is the killing of another person without justification or valid excuse, and it is especially the unlawful killing of another person with malice aforethought.

Example: ? not clear ?

Manslaughter:
not clear ?

Example: ? not clear ?


texts:
Why is the word "hectare" abbreviated as "ha" and not as "he"?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hectare


texts: Using "present perfect" for things that happen in future

texts:
Is it grammatical to use "Present Perfect" tense for something that is going to happen in future? As far as I know, the Present Perfect is used to say that an action happened at an unspecified time before now. Google Chrome however, is showing me the following message:

  When Adobe Shockwave Player has finished installing, reload the page
  to activate it.

I wonder if the above sentence is correct because the installation process is something that will finish in future.


texts: killed with gun vs killed by gun difference(Which is more natural or both are correct)?

texts:
On a language learning app I corrected someones following sentence

I'm afraid I will be killed with gun.
to
I'm afraid I will be killed by a gun.
But then he told me we can also use with for the same. I though use of with instead of by in this sentence is a little unnatural sounding.

Do native speaker use with instead of by in this case?


texts: Is 'ghost' etymologically connected to 'guest'?

texts:
It appears they are both from a Germanic root, and the original sense for the root of guest was stranger, which would fit ghost as well as guest. (Amusingly in Latin, it ended up as hostis - enemy!)

This is a simple question, one I'm not sure belongs here. Feel free to delete it if it doesn't.


texts:
"Homework is what I hate to do." "Homework is what makes me sad."

In the first sentence, "what I hate the most" is clearly a noun clause. It functions as a subject complement. And it begins with a subordinating conjunction (what), has a subject (I), and a predicate (hate).

In the second sentence, is "what makes me sad" a noun clause? Is it a clause at all?

It starts with a subordinating conjunction (what) and has a predicate (makes me sad), but what is the subject? Does what function as both a subordinating conjunction and subject?

Please help! lol


texts:
"In 2002, a British chain of supermarkets announced a genetically modified carrot" - Does the article 'a' in this sentence have a generic function?

In "Practical English Usage" by M. Swan It is said: We can also generalise by talking about one example of a class, using a/an (meaning "any") with a singular countable noun
- A baby deer can stand as soon as it's born

But you can't say here "In 2002, a British chain of supermarkets announced ANY genetically modified carrot"
So is it generalisation or not?


texts:
In Britten's "Deo Gracias" (from A Ceremony of Carols) there are a few sentences and words which I don't really know how to pronounce:

  clerkes finden
  the appil take ben
  that appil take was


texts:
Let's say a group of journalists from abroad visit an institution in your country and you'll write an article about them. What would you call them?

  International Journalists or Foreign Journalists or in another way.

Remember that these journalists do NOT belong to a specific group or association like "International Federation of Journalists". They are just random journalists from all over the world.


texts: What does “the little guy” in “(Larry Summers) would be an enthusiastic enforcer of bank regulation to protect the little guy” mean?

texts:
In New York Times’ (August 13) article titled, “Summers of our discontent,” Maureen Dowd manifests her objection to the possible nomination of Larry Summers by President Obama by asking, “Does the fact that we’ve had no female Fed chairs and no female Treasury secretaries mean that Summers was right when he said women are less likely to have the kind of brains that would allow them to get top jobs requiring math skills?
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/14/opinion/dowd-summers-of-our-discontent.html?hp&_r=0Summers

And she asks;

  “But the idea that it is somehow historically inevitable that the
  chairmanship of the Federal Reserve should go to Summers, that it
  belongs to him, that he would be an enthusiastic enforcer of bank
  regulation to protect the little guy? I have my doubts.”

Who is “the little guy”? Does it mean the weak, or small loan borrowers? Is it a single person or entity? Why is it in the singular form when it refers to guy, a countable noun - I mean, why it is 'the guy," not "the guys" when it indicates guys in a social group or class?


texts: Does “disheartening” have sadder connotations than “discouraging”?

texts:
Let’s say someone has a sibling whose company they enjoy, but this sibling is really bad at keeping in touch, and if it weren’t for the effort this person put in, they would only ever see the sibling at family gatherings. Eventually the person decides to stop trying, since the effort is never returned.
Now of course you could say that the person found the lack of investment from the sibling discouraging and thus changed their own behavior, but would “disheartening” be an even better suited word, since they also feel rejected by the sibling? Or is that distinction between the two words something I made up in my head?
Also, as I don’t live in an English speaking country: is “disheartening” a normal/common word in everyday language or is it a little old-fashioned/formal?


texts:
Our software needs to correctly state that the filled in value can be either a domestic partner or spouse. Using this terminology "Domestic partner or spouse" throughout the entire application isn't preferred (there's a lot of forms related to this).

Is there a word that describes a domestic partner or spouse that can be justified legally (no ambiguity)


texts: How do I interpret "Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent"?

texts:
Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent.
  - Salvor Hardin

This sentence has always struck me as a bit off. I see two ways to interpret it:

If violence is your last option, you are incompetent. (rephrased in terms of competent people: The competent always have another option beyond violence.)
If violence isn't your first option, you are incompetent. (rephrased in terms of competent people: Violence is the first refuge of the competent.) Here, the usage of last is similar to that in it's in the last place you look: once you reach this option, you won't have to fall back to another. Therefore, this should the first option.

The author obviously meant the first. But, somehow, I can't shake off the feeling that the latter is also a valid interpretation. Is it? Or am I missing something?


texts:
Is is acceptable to use "different" as a preposition, as you would use "unlike" or "in contrast to", like in the following example?

  Thus, different from previous work, we aim to answer those questions.


texts: What is the correct pronunciation of SQLite?

texts:
I seem to be hearing many different vocalizations of the name, and I'm not sure which one is correct. The last thing I want to do is "erroneously" drop the name in a meeting, and someone feel the need to correct me. So is it pronounced "Ess-Cue-El-ight", or "Ess-Cue-El-Eye", or something else entirely? Is there a citation from one of the project developers lurking around the internet that explicitly states the correct pronunciation? Would really appreciate some clarification!

Two video sources:

https://youtu.be/Jib2AmRb_rk

https://youtu.be/giAMt8Tj-84

Edit:

Kind of embarrasing, but I didnt even realize that the first video link was actually the creator of SQLite, Dr Richard Hipp, and he pronounces it as "Ess-Cue-El-Ight/Eye". So that pretty much confirms the correct pronunciation is somewhere in that modicum of a ballpark.


texts:
From BBC / Travel / Where a simple photo changed a life

A white-haired beggar sits outside the 13th-century Konark Sun Temple in Odisha, India, a wide smile spread across his face. His hands, deformed by leprosy, cradle the first photo of himself he has ever seen.
Swapna, a young mother in Kolkata, lives in a grass hut without electricity or running water. She has no photos of her wedding, but thanks to Hollywood film editor Bipasha Shom, she owns a portrait of herself and her five-month-old son, Neeladri.
These two are among hundreds of impoverished Indians that Shom has gifted with a photograph. “Many of these people are surviving on a dollar a day or less, and a photo is a luxury item,” she said. “They do not have the means to buy cameras, let alone afford to make prints.” Some have cell phones but they are very basic models, with no photo capability or with extremely low resolution images.
Born in Kolkata, but raised in New Jersey, Shom, 47, was in her teens when she first began giving away photographs while visiting relatives in India.

Does "give away" mean shoot or just present something?


texts: Why are integral probabilities read as "n to 1" and not "1 to n"?

texts: Why, when the chances of a certain event are 1/10, it's read as the probability is ten to one and not "the probability is one to ten"? Like there's a 10/1 probability of occurrence, which is not possible, since it's limited within 0~1 range. The way it's written in arithmetic notation is pretty straightforward, reading it backwards doesn't make sense to me. How did it come to be like that?


texts:
I'm writing a formal legal memo and could not find any explicit form of writing a plural letter grade (as in the example below).

Timmy made one C. His other grades were all As and Bs. (A's and B's?)


texts: "The last movie I played" vs "the movie I played last"

texts:
On a chat channel today I was reading two people talk about some of the more popular movie formats and movie players available. One of the interlocutors said something that got me thinking. I will cut quick to my question. Is there a semantic difference between the following two phrases:

  ... the last movie I played ...

and

  ... the movie I played last ...

To my non-native English ears and eyes, I fail to see a difference. But reading these two phrases again and again makes me uneasy. The more I read them, the more I feel that the first phrase gives off a whiff that would suggest that the speaker/writer does not watch movies very often, while the latter would identify someone who watches movies all the time. What do you folks think?


texts: What does "to give out" mean when talking about a person?

texts:
Billy Joel, in the song She's Always a Woman, writes,

  Oh, and she never gives out, and she never gives in. She just changes her mind.

I understand that by "give in" he means "cease fighting or arguing; admit defeat." What does he mean by "she never gives out"? The only meaning of this phrase that I am familiar with is "be completely used up," but that doesn't seem to make sense here.


texts:
'Abstract noun' is defined by Oxford as follows:

  A noun denoting an idea, quality, or state rather than a concrete
  object, e.g. truth, danger, happiness.

Are abstract nouns always singular?
Or are there such things as 'plural abstract nouns'?

Do any of these qualify as 'plural abstract nouns'?

  We all want to see this criminal get his just deserts.

  Levels of earnings are still rising.

  There's a chance it could rain, but odds are that it'll be sunny tomorrow.

  The judge awarded her $5,000 in damages.

  Please accept my condolences.

  When it comes to men, she prefers brains over brawn.

  No guts, no glory

EDIT

In no way am I asking about these specific nouns, as the title clearly indicates. So please take these nouns simply possible examples of plural abstract nouns (if there are such things), and try to answer the general question about the existence of plural abstract nouns.


texts: What is a word for whether a value is gross or net?

texts:
I am writing an API description and have to include the information about whether a numeric value is a gross or net value in the context of it being a price. I could make it a Boolean flag named "gross" and then have it be false for net, but then the name of the flag doesn't actually describe the possible states. Is there a neat word I can use that specifically describes the set of words "gross" and "net" in the context of pricing?

TL;DR: I am looking for a word that describes the state of "grossness" of a price, whether it includes or excludes VAT or sales tax.