texts: Is a comma required in 'No thanks' when it means 'No, but thanks anyway'?

texts:
Is this correct without a comma after 'No'?

  Mike: Would you like a slice, Joe?
  Bob: No thanks.

  April: Would you like a beer?
  Amy: No thank you.

Context seems clear to me without a comma in each.


texts: How do you differentiate between the uses for the words specious (apparently but not actually valid) and facile (apparently neat and comprehensive only by ignoring the true complexities of an issue). When I look them up in a thesaurus, they aren't given as synonyms, although to me they appear to have similar meanings. It seems that these words could be used interchangeably in sentences concerned with lines of reasoning, i.e., "His specious argument convinced only those with little knowledge of the facts."


texts: "It is worth mentioning" versus "it is worth to mention"

texts:
What’s the right way to use the phrase it is worth? Which of the following two approaches is right, and how they are different?

It is worth mentioning that [. . .]
It is worth to mention that [. . .]


texts: Is there a word for something loved by the masses but whose true value is lacking?

texts:
Is there a general word for someone or something popular or loved by the masses but that has not been proven to be effectual (like how some would use the term "pop psychology" pejoratively)? Examples would be how things like popular psychology or holistic medicine are accepted excitedly by numerous people while not being proven to be useful to the majority.

UPDATE: Thanks for you responses. I think the word "fad" (or "hype") would come closest to what I was looking for (thank you for that).

But is there a more general or appropriate term? I'm not American so apologies in advance (this is strictly for the sake of discussion): the only example I can think of is certain voters who were initially excited about Obama, but came to be disappointed after he failed to meet their expectations. Is there a word that could be used to describe Obama in this context? Something well-loved which turns out to be a disappointment.


texts: "I'm well" vs. "I'm good" vs. "I'm doing well", etc

texts:
The greeting How are you? is asking How are you doing in general?

—

  How are you?
  I'm well. [Misunderstood the question.]

because well as an adjective which means:

  in good health especially after having suffered illness or injury

This would be an answer to How are you doing physically, how is your health?

—

  How are you?
  I'm good.  [Misunderstood the question.]

because good as an adjective means:

  having moral excellence or admirableness

This would be an answer to

  How would you describe your character, superman?
  I'm good.

—

  How are you?
  I'm doing good. [Grammatically incorrect.]

because good is an adjective, not an adverb.

—

  How are you?
  I'm doing well. [Correct.]

because well is an adverb describing how you are doing.

  How are you?
  I'm doing fine. [Correct.]

because fine is an adjective which means:

  being satisfactory or in satisfactory condition

Why do so many people say one of the first three responses?


texts: Word to describe a native English speaker who mixes up words and miscommunicates

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  Is there a word to describe someone who often inaccurately uses words?

Sometimes when I speak from the gut I mix up words and convey the wrong message. Often times the words are similar in a number of ways (syllables, common letters/sounds).  Come to think of it, I'm not the only one who does this since I'm sure you can name a politician from either political party who does the same.

My question is: Is there a word, phrase, or even medical affliction that can describe the condition of mixing up words, but upon speaking or writing them, they are the "wrong ones" and end up causing a miscommunication?


texts: What is a synonym for the idiom: to make an omelette you have to crack a few eggs?

texts: Is there another idiom that conveys the same idea as "to make an omelette you have to crack a few eggs"?


texts:
Some of my colleagues have argued that when a statement/question uses the work "how", the reader expects to get a list of solutions.

Examples:

  "How could world hunger be solved?"
  "How can a search engine be implemented using Python?"

Is this expectation correct? Does using "how" implicitly indicate that the answer should be all possible solutions/answers?


texts: worried about doing something vs. worried about not doing something

texts:
Below are excerpts from well-known English-language media.

Forty-four percent of people who were interested in going to college said they were worried about not finding a job after they finished.
Kasich also provided some life lessons to the young people in the crowd, including those worried about not finding a job after earning a college degree.
A Peking University law student who was worried about finding a job and set up a noodle shop last month has become a social media sensation.
They also were worried about finding a job to pay off tens of thousands of dollars of student debt.
“I knew I wanted to fix stuff since I was a little kid.” He says he is not worried about finding a job.
Career Services was also present, hoping to help students who are worried about finding a job after graduation.

They have the construct "to be worried about ~ing" in common.

I believe the writers are all native speakers of English and, surprisingly to non-native speakers of English, they seem to be saying it exactly the other way round when, in fact, they mean the same thing. I was really wondering which of the contradicting expressions would be correct.

Many thanks in advance.


texts: Is it correct to use "climb down the stairs" in a sentence?

texts:
I was walking with my friend and when he went to take the lift to ground floor from the third floor, I suggested to him, "Let's at least climb down the stairs"; the word down taking some extra stress, meaning that since it is easy to run down the stairs, let us at least do that.

But he corrected that climb down cannot be used in a grammatically correct sentence. Is it true?

I always thought, climb up is a phrase that means to go up; similarly, I conveniently assumed that climb down is also a possible phrase that means to go down something.

Please clarify.


texts: Wording for error message when deleting an item

texts:
When displaying a message to a user from our software, is it better to say:

"Choose the case note that you want to delete, and then try again."

or

"Choose the case note you want to delete, and then try again."

Ie. is the word "that" required?

Thanks!
Chris


texts: Can anything be "bated" but one's breath?

texts: We are all no doubt familiar with the phrase "with bated breath," but is it ever used in other contexts?


texts:
A few years ago, we studied the London Paralympics Opening Ceremony with our English teacher. The following words (spoken by Sir Ian McKellen if I remember well) are still echoing in my mind:

Miranda, go out into the world.
Will you be for all of us gathering here, our eyes, our ears, and our hearts?

(see here for the transcript)
This quote is apparently somehow related to the Tempest by Shakespeare. Our teacher explained us how beautiful he thought the expression "to go out into the world" was. He took it as a motivation for us to: 1. read Shakespeare one day (even if we are not native English speakers), 2. actually go out into the world!
So a few years later, I actually went out a little bit into the world and started to read Shakespeare and in particular the Tempest. (He was a brilliant teacher!) But I was disappointed  not to find in the Tempest the beloved words. You can look at the text by yourself, they are not there!
And it also seems to me that it is not really implied that Prospero gives to Miranda such a great freedom as to go out into the world. Yes, she will escape her father's authority, leave the island and discover this "brave new world". But I don't see how she will be the "eyes, ears and hearts" of Prospero and others.
So I have a few questions:

What is the origin of the text pronounced at the opening ceremony if it doesn't come directly from the Tempest?

Is it at least consistent with the story of the Tempest? Why?

Was the expression "to go out into the world" actually coined by Shakespeare? In which text?


texts: Is there a word for the particular usage of the curly brace, or a shape like it, to indicate part of a diagram?

texts:
Or for measurements.

Consider the green things in this image:

Sorry if this ends up being a duplicate, the suggested questions to me seemed to address slightly different topics.


texts: Construction Company vs. Building Company

texts:
What are the main differences between a Construction Company and a Building Company? Are they synonyms? I've done some research on the internet, but couldn't find any relevant explanations.

I'm from Brazil, so I would like to know how Americans or British people refer to companies that build/manage constructions.

Thanks in advance.


texts: Punctuation of direct speech, edge cases

texts:
I recently learned that I have developed a consistent, but entirely wrong approach to punctuating direct speech in fiction. I am in the unenviable position of trying to relearn.

Previously I wrote such things as:

  "I'm done." She said.

when the quoted speech was definitely, absolutely the end of a sentence. So now I know I need.

  "I'm done," she said.

This follows the rule that a period is only allowed when the end of the spoken sentence is also the end of the sentence in the narrative. For example:

  "I'm done." She slammed the door on the way out.

So, it now looks odd to me when there are multiple sentences in the speech:

  "I can't take her. I'm done," she said.

Can you reassure me that is correct, or give the correct form? Please don't suggest rewriting the sentence to put 'she said' in the middle - I'm aware of that: I'm specifically asking about the punctuation rules.

The other odd case is speech ending with an ellipsis. Do sentence terminating ellipses (four periods normally) become:

  "I can't take her. You know, ...," she said, nodding towards Jane.

If so, are non-terminating ellipses dealt with the same way?

  "I can't take ...," she nodded towards Jane, "any more!"

or can non-terminating ellipses be used unadorned?

  "I can't take ..." she nodded towards Jane, "any more!"

I'd be very grateful if you could point me at references as well as answers. For the record I am a British writer writing for both British and US publication, so any variation is also interesting to me!


texts: Is there a word for "piano reinterpretation"?

texts:
I really love the idea of people taking a simple melody, perhaps a well known one, and making their own piano interpretation of it, implementing some parts of the original and adding their own bit, many times in free-form. I would like to be able to search for these, but I can't seem to think of a single word to use.

(Sorry if this was posted out of place, but I think "English" would be closer than "Music" in this case)

Rough examples:

BBNG - Bastard/Lemonade

Max Payne 3's menu theme  has two movements that play around with the original idea

Is "piano reinterpretation" really the simplest term to use?


texts: "Algorithmic ...ing..." vs "Algorithm ...ing"

texts:
Q: Question is general, but let's take some concrete examples:
Isn't

"Algorithmic Auditing" - about audits done by (or using) algorithms (and  subject can be whatever)
"Algorithm Auditing" - about audits (may be maid by humans) that subject of audit is algorithm

?

Background:

"Algorithmic trading" - is when trading is done by (or using) algorithms
"Algorithm trading" - isn't it trading (may be maid by humans) that subject of trade are algorithms ?

Now, let's generalise like in original question:

Isn't

"Algorithmic Xing" - when X activity is done by (or using) algorithms
"Algorithm Xing" - when X activity's subject are algorithms

?

Source of my confusion:

I am asking you for confirmation of my understanding, as I am finding regularly uses of above constructs that seem like opposite to my understanding.

Let's take following example I came across recently:

  Title "Auditing Algorithms"
  (...)
  I’ve started a company (...) which stands for (...) and Algorithmic Auditing

in https://mathbabe.org/2016/07/22/auditing-algorithms/ at 2016-07-23

Also refers to :

  Algorithmic Auditing

in https://oneilrisk.com at 2016-07-23

It sounds to me like "Algorithms Auditing" not "Algorithmic Auditing".


texts:
"Only by playing fair, and also without fear, will you ever win."

What is its meaning?

I don't understand the last part "will you ever win". Is it a question?


texts:
I was reading Without Feathers by Woody Allen and came across this sentence: "I keep wondering if there is an afterlife, and if there is will they be able to break a twenty?"

The phrase is usually understood as "have change for a twenty dollar bill", but in this case I think it's kinda bizarre to apply this meaning.

Could you please explain to me what it means in this sentence?

Thanks!


texts: How many morphemes are there in "assertion"?

texts: Is it "a+sert+tion" or "assert+tion"? I found an article here that says its the former, but the answer key of the quiz which this question is in says otherwise, Help?


texts: How to form possessive for a list of people? "(Jane Doe and I)'s"

texts:
I'm writing a sentence, and I'm not sure if it's grammatically correct.

  Here are my partner, Jane Doe, and I's completed assignment.

Would this be alright? I never know how to properly use possessives when I'm including myself and someone else.

Also, in case you didn't see my comment below, I need to include my partner's name. It can't just be "me and my partner's completed assignment". Otherwise, I wouldn't have an issue.


texts:
"I sigh, having all hopes to stall dashed."

Is this a correct usage of 'dashed hopes'? If not, how could I better show this person's inner struggle as she resigns herself to her fate?


texts: What do you call someone who hates Christmas?


texts:
My friend and I got into an argument about English grammar, so I was hoping maybe you could help us out. Okay so we want to know if the following part of the sentence is correct, "People who are satisfied and feel self-fulfilled like I" rather than "People who are satisfied and feel self-fulfilled like me". I have already provided many sources to my friend showing that the first way is a formal and a grammatically correct way, however he wants an answer with this specific part of the sentence.

Please help us out

Thank you


texts: EWhat could be the more technical term for code written in one place or one file?

texts:
I have come across the term local concession that one person used in the Clojure community to describe the code written in one place. Like step by step in the form of a procedure. His argument was the it increases the code readability as changes that belong to one place remain in the same place. I wonder what would be the more technical term to describe this?
Example
Conference topic: agility
When it comes to agility, local concession is a desirable trait and that is why functional programming is gaining popularity.
I believe his argument was about the fact that in functional programming we are much more free about defining the encapsulation, cohesion and coupling boundaries.


texts: ''Wassup, can a loc come up in your crib''?

texts:
I think, in the first mission of Franklin in the video-game GTA 5, Llamar says this to Franklin in front of a house:

Wassup, can a loc come up in your crib?

What does that mean? I just can't even guess it's meaning.
For more context:
Franklin responds with:

Man f*** you, I'll see you at work.

And here is the video


texts: When did "brilliant" become a general term of approval in England?

texts: When did "brilliant" become a general term of approval unrelated to radiance or cleverness, e.g., as applied to a rural scene, a dish, or a sunset?


texts:
I came across the following sentence here in this community:

  It is a slangism for "optimal" or "tuned".

I was about to edit it to the following:

  It is slang for "optimal" or "tuned".

I realized that the following could work too:

  It is a slang-ism for "optimal" or "tuned".

Which of the three is the most correct?  My guess was the second one "slang" since neither "slangism" nor "slang-ism" are words.


texts: How strong is the connotation behind the word "implore"?

texts: For example, in the sentence "The social worker implored the child to express his feelings about his new home", does the word "implore" make it seem like the social worker is more or less on his/her hands and knees begging the child, almost in a gaudy way? Or could it simply be interpreted as the social worker asking, but with passion in his/her job, for feedback?


texts: Logical meaning of the word "understand"

texts:
To understand something means to be aquainted with it, to know it very well, know how it "ticks". This is one of the basic words that has a direct "meaning" in mind.

However, if we "dissect" it, is seems like it means to stand under something. Isn't knowing something would logically be called abovestand and not understand, since when you are under something, you are less informed about it then when you are above it.

This may seem senseless to you, but I am sure a native English speaker will get the idea of what I am trying to say. Why under, not above?


texts:
How can I describe the marathon event more make sense?

Assumed that I want to describe an marathon event:

Item: full, half.
or Category: full, half;
Or Dis: full, half;
or Group: full, half;

Which one is better to describe a marathon event?

BTW, I noticed that from the official London marathon website, it divided by master category, etc... not by full or half.


texts: It hadn’t properly registered yet with Arthur that the council wanted to knock it down" - what's the meaning of register with someone here?


texts: How to say "Thanks for being my friend" for past friendship

texts:
I need to send a card to refer to past friendship. Is

  Thanks for being my friend!

grammatically correct? I would not like to use the past perfect tense to express this (e.g. had been).


texts:
A professor of Anatomy told his students that

  “Ignorance of the human body is the surgeon's cardinal sin, sirs!”

I'm not sure about the meaning of "sirs" at the end of the sentence. I'm actually confused about it. Please help me with it. (Dear) Sirs meaning here.


texts:
To my ear "We recommend that he provide an appropriate response" sounds better than "provides"

what is this tense/construct called and which is right ?


texts: Comma usage with respect to coordinating conjunctions

texts:
I have a simple question, and I am hoping for a simple answer: Do you ever use a comma after a coordinating conjunction (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so) when you are using the coordinating conjunction to separate two independent clauses?

Example:

  This is slightly earlier than I'd propose for most students, but [do
  I need a comma here] as we discussed, it is important to me that we
  have her well prepared for the October PSAT - a test that has little
  to no import to the average student - because of its national merit
  scholarship qualifying status.


texts:
I'm no English major. And I'm no poet either.

But I love to read and I really like poetry.

Anyways I found this Poem, and I hadn't seen anything like it before.

Sky. Clouds sailing the soft blue Ocean.  Endless waves break on the Sand.  Infinite expanse of tiny Diamonds.  Buried deep, handheld Stars. Specks of light that dot the Sky.  Clouds sailing the soft blue Ocean.
~Anonymous

It seems to be a loop of definitions. where each line defines the last word of the line before.

Do any of you know what type of poem this is?


texts: What is the origin of the word “shot” with regards to the drinking term “Give me a shot.”

texts:
Title of the question says it all. This is spawned by this question I posted on Skeptics regarding the economic validity of an internet image meme regarding booze and ammunition.

So to expand on that—and better focus on the language aspect—what is the origin of the word “shot” with regards to it’s usage as someone saying “Give me a shot…” in connection to getting an alcoholic drink?


texts: I often hear people using the term "beensya".  I am assuming they mean "being as".  How is the term "being as" correctly used in English.


texts:
Is there any difference between these two? Can I say:

  He had a row and stormed off/out?


texts: Abbreviation "mm o.c." in construction (spacing of ducts etc)

texts:
What does o.c. stand for and what does this mean?
These are some examples of its use:

Space end bells approximately 250 mm o.c. for 125-mm ducts.
Space fasteners at 10" (250 mm) o.c. on intermediate supports for single layer floors and 12" (300 mm) o.c. for subfloors.
Cold joints in flat insulating concrete form foundation walls shall be reinforced with no less than one 15M bar spaced at not more than 600 mm o.c. and embedded 300 mm on both sides of the joint.

It seems to be impossible to find a definition for this term, but it's widely used in construction-related papers.


texts: What slang words and colloquialisms are likely to embarrass an American in England or an Englishman in the U.S.?

texts:
An Argentine or Mexican tourist in Madrid, or A Brazilian tourist in Lisbon, will certainly hear phrases he has never heard before and may find some of them offensive.
I myself have a list of Portuguese colloquialisms which may embarrass an uninformed Brazilian during his first trip to Lisbon. Likewise, there are slang words and phrases that may embarass or sound offensive to a native speaker of the English language visiting another country, if he has never heard them in such contexts. e.g.

  A California girl to an English lady: "Oh, shut up!"
  A Londoner to a young man in Kansas: "Will you have a fag?"

I don't expect swearwords or an exhaustive list, and I don't mean the knowleadgeable and well-informed tourist either. This type of person certainly knows most foreign colloquialisms.


texts: What's the reason for using quotations with titles of works?

texts:
I have seen that in some styles for documenting sources quotations marks are used for the titles of short works.
What's the reason for setting this as the convention? This seems like a use-mention conflation.
e.g. One of Robert Frost’s most famous poems is “Mending Wall.”
Why isn't capitalization of the title a sufficient indicator that it is a proper name? Why require the additional quotations?


texts: How do you pluralize the first letter of acronym?

texts:
How does one pluarlize an acronym (or initialism) when the first letter of the acronym is the one to be pluarlized?
What acronym is to be used for "ways of reasoning" if WoR is "way of reasoning"?


texts:
I hear phrases like

  I very almost fell over!

often and to me they sound awkward. Is the word, "very", wrong, just superfluous or completely valid? Should this wording be avoided?


texts: More up-to-date alternative for "avoiding something like the plague"?

texts:
In Europe, the last Plague pandemic took place quite some time ago, so, personally, I have never had to avoid the plague. Yet we still say, "avoiding something like the plague". Is there an alternative expression I could use that is based on something more recent and familiar?

For myself, "avoiding something like Facebook" would work, because I avoid Facebook ... uh ... like the Plague. But since Facebook has "1.79 billion monthly active users" (according to a source used on Wikipedia), that expression might confuse a few people.

What alternatives to "avoiding something like the plague" could people use that are based on something more recent and familiar? Creativity is allowed.

Updates:

In response to a comment by @WS2 ("Why would you need something current?"):
"Avoiding something/someone like the plague" is an example of language that has lost its once powerful meaning because people have no experience with the phenomenon it mentions. And it is overused. See Avoiding clichés on the Oxford Dictionaries blog and Clichés: Avoid Them Like The Plague.
I originally asked, "What alternatives to "avoiding something like the plague" would make more sense today?" However, since my intention is not to replace the expression in the English language as a whole, I have reworded the question.


texts: Name of the low wall at the edge of a loft

texts:
A loft overlooking the main floor. The loft is not a complete floor so there is an edge that has a low wall maybe one third or one half the height of the room...
I think of 'parapet', 'bulwark' but these seem heavy-handed for an interior wall.
See for example, the wall for the bedroom that overlooks the living room in this image taken by JP Image of a Brazilian loft apartment:


texts: What kind of noun is the 'Royal College of Surgeons'?

texts:
Would it just be considered a compound noun or is there another name for it?

And even though surgeons is plural, would it still take 's to make the possessive (i.e. the Royal College of Surgeons's dinner party vs the Royal College of Surgeons' dinner party)?


texts: What is the term for a cat who is bossing other cats around?

texts: In a multicat house, there is often a cat who is the boss for other cats. What is the proper  term for such cat? Is it "dominant cat"? Are there any other, less formal, terms for it?


texts:
Reading Fowler’s Dictionary of Modern English Usage, I came across this sentence under “subjunctive mood:” “It was as if Sally were disturbed in some way and was translating this disturbance into the habit of thought—A. Brookner, 1986 (UK).”

Am I to understand the subjunctive ends above with the past progressive “was translating”? Otherwise wouldn’t the subjunctive “were” apply and the phrase begin “were translating”?


texts: Do another pass through a list of things

texts:
Is it right to ask someone to "do another pass through the questions" when you want them to take another look/check/examination at a few questions?
For example:

Bob: I think we are done now, right?
John: We are mostly done, Bob; before you go, could you please do another pass through the question we discussed earlier?


texts: Words or digits? What is good style for numbers in mathematical writing?

texts:
What is considered good style for writing small numbers as words or digits in mathematical texts?

I have three concrete examples, are there any differences between those?

"M is a matroid of rank six" vs. "M is a matroid of rank 6"
"There are six elements in the set" vs. "There are 6 elements in the set"
"The numbers a and b differ by one" vs. "The numbers a and b differ by 1".

Are there any general rules?

Edit: Not to influence your answers, but I'm asking the question because a copy-editor of the London Math. Society changed all the above to use the digits while we had words in our manuscript.  I'm not a native speaker, but I usually use words for small digits.


texts: Etymology of "computer" before computer referred to a machine

texts:
Before the term "computer" referred to electronic analog or digital computers, it was said to be used to describe people who did computing.

Was "Computer" actually a formal job title?  How long did the usage as a description of a person last into the era of electronic computers?  (Was there ever a period of confusion?)


texts: Is a prefix any set of letters that could be the beginning of a word?

texts:
For example, is it accurate to say that unac is a prefix of unacceptable, or is un the only valid prefix?

If it is not a prefix is there a word for what unac would be in the above case?


texts: Does "things went south" sound offensive for someone from the Southern United States?

texts:
As a non-native speaker I've been using this phrase without thinking about how neutral it is actually. In Russian, for instance, we have "незваный гость хуже татарина" (an uninvited guest is worser than a Tatar) and someone who'll say something like this in Tatarstan or Bashkortostan can offense people.

So, should I avoid phrase with "went south" in specific regions of USA?


texts: Is there any word/term for when we not only don't know something but don't even think about it?

texts:
Sometimes we don't know something but we know that we don't know it.

  I don't know what is his intention, whether he intends good or bad. I should find out.

But sometimes we even don't know that we don't know. We are just empty-minded about the matter. We are behind the point where we start to consider it.

  She ... on his intention. She is totally ... about it. Or maybe there are other ways to say that.

What is the word/term?


texts: I'm a bit confused here. Could you help me to differentiate between the meanings of these words?


texts:
There is a Czech proverb which translates roughly to "different countries, different customs".

Is there an English equivalent?

Thanks!


texts: Idiomatic expression for being totally off in ones statement/belief

texts:
I can put that as wading in the darkness, being totally lost or taking a shot and missing big. However, I'm looking for a far more metaphorical expression.

The subject of the epithet should be assumed to have stated an opinion or attempted an action of a very well defined aim. For instance:

  - "You can say your home or you're home - it doesn't matter which because we get your point."

or

  A shooter trying to erase all the data in a computer by shooting the screen.

In the local language, we say they're out bicycling and it means just what the above expression do but unless the interlocutor can infer the meaning from the context (or knows it from elsewhere), they'd have little chance of getting it right and any guess in that regard would be, well... being out bicycling... (tiny whoohoo-wave for the circular reference).


texts: Should I describe a book I've read in the past or present tense?

texts:
For example, should I say, "Recently, I finished a novel that was called The Pyrates. The plot of it was that a hero called Avery was sent by the King of England blah, blah, blah."

OR

"Recently I finished a novel that is called The Pyrates. The plot of it is that a hero called Avery is sent by the King of England blah, blah, blah."

If the sentence should be a mixture of past and present tense verbs, be notify me. For example, it was called The Pyrates, the plot of it is that blah, blah, blah,


texts: Is thanks a countable noun? Many thanks or much thanks?

texts:
A colleague of mine recently wrote in an email "much thanks for your efforts."   Does this usage make sense?  How does "much thanks" differ from "many thanks"?

This is similar to "Is “Many thanks” a proper usage?"


texts: "The X and (the) Y": When should I repeat the definite article?

texts:
I am a bit confused about the rule of setting the definite article in a sentence when it is associated to two nouns.

  The beginning and end of the channel.
  The beginning and the end of the channel.

  The arguments belong to the request and to data function.
  The arguments belong to the request and to the data function.


texts: I am "friends" with John, then John is "x" to me

texts:
I'm looking for a word that defines the direction of friendship between two people.

For example, when I say "I am friends with John" or "John is my friend". How would I describe the same thing, but from John's perspective.

The reason I ask is that I am trying to write a database schema that uses words to define the direction of friendships. One possible option is to use two phrases "friend with" and "friends to". So that I could describe who John is friends with from both directions.

If this doesn't make any sense, sorry ;)


texts: Is it incorrect to refer to a set of things by using the singular form of the objects it contains?

texts:
I'm sorry I couldn't word that better, the following example will hopefully clarify:

As you can see, the teacher refered to the bank of words as "word bank", as opposed to "words bank". Which one is correct? If "words bank" is the only correct usage then wouldn't it be fair to say that the exercise was resolved perfectly?


texts: OED Appeals: Antedatings of "headhunter"

texts:
The OED has made a public appeal for help in tracing the history of some English words, including:

  headhunter

  noun earlier than 1960

  The tribal practice of decapitating enemies and preserving their heads gave us the first sense of headhunter around 1800. Nowadays we’re more likely to think of the less gruesome recruitment practice of targeting highly skilled or experienced personnel. The evidence suggests that this sense emerged in the United States, where our first example of headhunter, in 1960, comes from:

    1960 Harold Wentworth & Stuart Berg Flexner Dictionary of American Slang 248/2

  The executive type of headhunter was surely active prior to the word appearing in this slang dictionary. Can you find any earlier examples?


texts: In IPA, what is the difference between ə and ʌ?

texts:
In all the examples I've seen they seem to be the same sound.

Examples of ə:

a in about
a in comma

Examples of ʌ:

u in run
o in won

I am trying to decipher the difference between these sounds but they seem identical to me.  Is it because of my dialect (American English), or is there a very subtle difference that I should look out for?


texts:
In my grammar book, in a chapter on subject-verb agreement, the author said that when two nouns, joined by and, are suggesting the same idea or person, we consider the nouns as one unit and use a singular verb, e.g. in
The novelist and poet is dead.

Among many examples he gave, I caught attention of this one:

  Time and tide waits for none.

This didn't appear correct to me. I think it should have been:

  Time and tide wait for none.

I went on to look on the internet and found conflicting resolutions to this. Different references said differently. What do you think is correct? And what's the reason behind your answer?

EDIT

A possible duplicate has been raised for my question: Time and tide wait for no man. However, in the mentioned duplicate, the OP is not interested in knowing which construct is correct. He's rather interested in knowing the nuance between tide and time. Hence, the answers provided there also talk about that nuance, rather than answering which construct is correct.


texts:
...for the descriptive linguist?

I've noticed that some users on English Stack Exchange, and some reference works, tend to answer questions about word usage by referring to how words are used in practice.  From this perspective, it seems like any use of language is considered valid simply by virtue of being used.  Yet in practice, there are some uses of language which are considered incorrect.  How does descriptive linguistics deal with the concept of language errors?

Examples:

"begs the question" to mean "raises the question"
"disinterested" in place of "not interested" or "uninterested"
"loathe to" instead of "loath to"


texts: A word for "modern" that doesn't imply "best"

texts:
I am thinking about textbooks in technical fields, whose titles are things like "modern computer technology".  These books may have been written many decades ago, so their contents very much do not reflect anything "modern" anymore.  Imagine such a book where there is a line like this:

"Modern hard drives can store megabytes of information and are so small that they can be lifted by a single person"

To us this sounds painfully archaic, but at the time the book was written that was really a marvel.

I was wondering if there is a word that could be used to future proof such writing, without using the word "modern" or "state of the art", which will become obsolete very fast in certain fields.


texts: Let's say I'm doing some research on something on Google. Do I say I'm searching on or searching for something on Google?


texts: Term or Phrase for evidence converging or overlapping on one possibility?

texts:
I'm trying to find a term or phrase that will be widely understood to refer to a range of evidence and possibilities when all put together pointing to one or a few specific options.

Imagine twenty Venn Diagrams overlapping on one tiny spot.

The term or phrase does not have to be simplistic, it can be technical as it would be used in a possibly more academic or serious setting. At the same time, it's meaning should immediately be understood by a diverse audience, self explanatory even.

Usage example:

  "The Detective thought through every possibility; through every piece of evidence they had gathered. As he put the pieces together, he began to see [insert your answer] pointed to only one scenario that fit."

To clarify, I not looking for simply "complete the sentence". Also, I am not looking for just a preponderance or consensus of evidence, but rather something that conveys the idea of a complexity of possibilities that don't necessarily agree except on one point or only fit together in one way.


texts: What usage and meaning of "else" is this

texts:
What is the usage and meaning of "else" in this example?

  The key difference between a program and a project is the finite nature of a project - a project must always have a specific end date, else it is an ongoing program.

I thought "else" could only be an adverb, in which case it wouldn't be grammatically correct to connect the two clauses "a project must always have a specific end date" and "it is an
ongoing program".


texts:
I was translate a page on Wikipedia, but i couldn't understand the meaning of "popular discipline".

During World War II, the Air Ministry had forecast that Britain would suffer night air bombing attacks causing large numbers of civilian casualties and mass destruction. It was widely agreed that navigation and targeting would be more difficult if man-made lights on the ground could be extinguished. As early as July 1939, Public Information Leaflet No 2 (part of the Air Raid Precautions (A.R.P.) training literature) warned of the need for popular discipline to ensure that the blackout regulations were fully enforced during the blackout periods.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackout_(wartime)#World_War_II)


texts: Synonyms for "open" or "exposed" pages on a table?

texts:
Here is my sentence:

  The pungent smell of all the different pages exposed gave a pleasing coat to the chaos.

I feel as if "different pages open" would work better than exposed, but still that feels too informal and lazy. This is an important emotional description in the writing so I want to be as precise as possible.

"Pages" refers to textbooks, notes, and homework. I am open to hearing sentence variations!


texts: Comma before a with-prepositional phrase. Which one should I choose?

texts:
It also broke down racial prejudice with the crossover appeal of its music.
It also broke down racial prejudice, with the crossover appeal of its music.

Apparently, the correct one was sentence 2 but I disagree. It's a complex sentence and separates an independent and dependent clause.

The reason for marking number two as correct was: "the comma incorrectly splits the prepositional phrase and the noun that modifies it".

First, which one is correct. If it is number 2 can someone explain to me why? I'm not sure the reasoning "the comma incorrectly splits...." makes sense. What does that mean?


texts: Term for a syndrome where someone falls in love with their rescuer?

texts:
Think of a scenario similar to your classic fairytale, where a damsel in distress is rescued by the prince, and she falls in love with him. Is there a name for this as a syndrome or similar? Nightingale syndrome seems to come close, but that seems to be specifically for when someone falls in love with their caregiver. I'm not sure if it applies to a rescuee falling in love with their rescuer.

Some clarification: The term I'm after wouldn't necessarily imply the rescuer and rescuee form a relationship. Merely that as a result of being rescued the rescuee forms an attachment to their rescuer. It might be unrequited. And it wouldn't necessarily involve any sort of inappropriate behaviour, such as the rescuee stalking the rescuer, or the rescuer taking advantage of this effect to form an inappropriate relationship. If anything, the rescuer may recognise the rescuee's feelings are just due to this effect, rather than being genuine, and therefore use this as a reason to rebuff any advances from the rescuee, until such time as the effect has faded. Similar concepts include a patient developing a crush on their nurse (Nightingale Syndrome/Effect), or a student developing a crush on their teacher (transference effect?).

Also, it doesn't need to include the word 'syndrome' or similar. It would also be acceptable if it is a more general term that applies to a number of situations, not just the rescuer-rescuee scenario I've described above.

If such a term doesn't exist, it could perhaps be called something like 'damsel in distress effect', although ideally without implying the rescuee is helpless or female.


texts: What does "high" add to the meaning of this sentence of Tagore's poem?

texts:
Do not seat your love upon a precipice
  because it is high.

What is the meaning of the word high in this sentence?


texts:
I am writing a recommendation for a project. My recommendation may or may not be followed, so I have been using conditional present throughout.

Examples:

The module would be responsible for ...
The service would interact with...

However, the recommendation is several pages long, and it feels tedious writing everything in this tense, so I'm wondering if it would be tedious to read as well. Additionally, when writing compound sentences that require tense agreement, I sometimes have trouble trying to find the appropriate tense to match with the conditional tense (even as a native English speaker.)

I am thinking about changing to simple future:

The module will be responsible for ...
The service will interact with...

or even simple present:

The module is responsible for ...
The service interacts with...

Is there a standard to use when writing recommendations/proposals/etc.?


texts: "She didn't get married nor had children". Is the use of "nor" correct? I know we can use "nor" without "neither" but I'm doubting in this case.


texts: What is the expression " an early ironclad morning" mean?

texts: In Sherlock Holmes stories there is an expression somewhere "on one early ironclad morning" what does it mean?


texts: Where does the term "heads or tails" come from?

texts:
I recently obtained a Silver Angel collectable coin, where the back side bears an image of an angel fighting a dragon:

I sort of realized, as I was looking at it, that for probably the first time in my life, I was holding a coin where the image on the back actually portrays a creature with a tail prominently displayed.

Everyone's heard of "heads or tails?", the traditional invocation for a coin toss.  The head is obvious: most government-issued coins, from antiquity to modern times, have borne the bust of some famous ruler on one side.  But most coins do not come with some tailed animal on the back, so where does the ubiquitous expression come from?


texts:
what's the word 3 letters answer to:
came to know or understand, recognized


texts: What is a single word which means "To flow or cause to spread every part of the body"?


texts:
I've read in several articles that we don't usually use state verbs with the present continuous

But our Professor said that we do use some of them in the present continuous to emphasise that a situation is temporary or for a period of time around the present

and he gave this example :

  Ella’s with us at the moment. The children are loving having her here

and now I'm confused ..


texts: When there is a noun phrase with "or" with 1 singular noun and 1 plural noun, should the verb be singular or plural? Example: "UPS or others"

texts:
Example Sentence:

  Can Amazon stock go down if the UPS or other Amazon shipping partners suddenly jack up their shipping prices?

Is it plural, jack, or singular, jacks? Usually with two singular nouns combined by or, I'm pretty sure it's a singular verb like The book or pen is in the drawer. But how about two nouns, one singular and one plural, combined by or?


texts: Is there a verb that means to inject with poison?

texts: Is there a verb that means, "to inject venom," or, "to inject poison?"


texts:
My son is using Spalding phonogram cards in his kindergarten class. I like them for the most part, aside from a few weird examples and explanations that aren't quite right, but that I can live with.

But we got to the cards for ey and ie, and these get me. It says both can be the short "i" sound (pin, tip, bit), and gives the examples of "valley" and "lilies".

I've never heard either of those or similar words pronounced with a short "i", in any English dialect - they're always pronounced with a long "e".

I'm probably overthinking it, but I don't like the idea of my kid learning to mispronounce words. Am I wrong on this? Or did the phonogram people make a huge mistake?


texts: What does the phrase "in order to" function as?

texts:
I was wondering what function the phrase "in order to" has.
I have thought for quite a while that it was used a a conjunction. However, I have recently seen sentences that use this phrase in other ways such as a clause or an adverb.
Is "in order to" a conjunction or an adverb or some other clause or phrase?


texts: "It would be better if you drink/drank all the water"

texts:
Which one of the following is grammatically correct?

  It would be better if you drink all the water.

  It would be better if you drank all the water.

The question is, obviously, about the use of the past tense.


texts: Interpretation of H. P. Lovecraft's racist poem

texts:
While I'm researching an America's influential gothic/horror genre writer, H. P. Lovecraft, and his racism, I found his poem called On the Creation of N*****s. I hope someone helps me to clarify some parts.

When, long ago, the gods created Earth
In Jove's fair image Man was shaped at birth.
The beasts for lesser parts were next designed;
Yet were they too remote from humankind.
To fill the gap, and join the rest to Man,
Th'Olympian host conceiv'd a clever plan.
A beast they wrought, in semi-human figure,
Filled it with vice, and called the thing a N*****.

What does bolded 'for lesser parts' mean?
Does bolded 'the rest' refer to all creatures except beasts?
Does bolded 'th'Olympian host' refer to gods of the Olympus?


texts: Are both forms possible? Present perfect vs progressive

texts:
I'd like to know if both sentences could be possible.

We've gone / We've been going to the same dentist since we were children.
You've worn / You've been wearing that coat for years.

Thank you in advance.


texts: Is there an English word(s) which can act as a synonym for the words parent, guardian, or carer?

texts:
I am opposed to referring to the person(s) who looks after a child, especially full-time, but I want a generic word ideally, as parent, carer, or guardian, as I want a noun that is inclusive, one which can refer to the person(s) who is caring for a child, but who may not be their parent(s) or whatever.

Frankly, using parent, guardian, and or carer to try to be as correct as possible can be a little bit of an irritation, so is there a modern word which can be used to refer to a child who is being cared for by someone who may or may not have any legal, biological, etc., relationship to them, but is still unequivocally inclusive, so once one knows of what relationship the child is to the person(s) who is caring for them they can use the parent, carer, or guardian, etc., configurations?

According to my research, the closest words which I could fine were charge and ward, however I think using these in, for example, a letter from, say, a school or a similar institution to people who are caring for children regardless of their relationship to the child(ren) for whom they are caring sounds far, far too outdated, as families nowadays are far more diverse, thus I think we need a language which reflects that.

Any (preferably modern and (mostly) commonplace) suggestions?


texts: Answering questions with a negation at the end

texts:
How are you supposed to answer a question like this (assuming you're from Minnesota)?

  You are a Minnesotan, no?

Are you supposed to give the same answer as your answer to this question or give the opposite answer?

  You are a Minnesotan, yes?


texts:
Do we say extension of a period of time or extension for a period of time?

For example:

They requested an extension of a few days

Or

They requested an extension for a few days

I'm leaning more towards the former but I can't be sure. Thanks!


texts: Can to-infinitives be used after the verb “dislike”?

texts:
Can to-infinitives follow the verb dislike? I know they can follow the verb like that way, but what about dislike? I ask because my school grammar textbook says the following:

    The verb dislike takes only the gerund form of verbs after it.

There is something amiss about that statement. As far as I know (mind you, my knowledge may not go too far), dislike can be followed by both to-infinitives and gerunds. I have read some writings where the to-infinitive construction has been used (giving specific instances isn't quite possible at the moment). I simply can’t convince myself to agree with what my school textbook says.

Is this a wrong sentence then? (To me, it doesn’t seem so.)

  I dislike to go there.

And this the correct one?

  I dislike going there.

My question is: Can to-infinitives ever be used after dislike?


texts: Word or expression for something that's very "funny", but doesn't make you laugh

texts: I'm sure you know of this feeling. When you find something very funny, but it doesn't make you laugh out loud. Perhaps it's even "funnier" than other things that make you chuckle profusely. What is a word to refer to this phenomenon specifically? If not a word, then an expression is also acceptable.


texts: "Room" versus "space" (in the sense of unoccupied volume)

texts:
Space: Place, having more or less extension; room.
  Room: Unobstructed space; space which may be occupied by or devoted to any object (…)
  (from Webster's)

The general guiding his troops wants space to manoeuvre, but most people want room, breathing room. There's no space for a new file on my hard disk, but no room for a new book on my shelves. Maybe there's room for argument here. (Are my examples idiomatic? I am not a native English speaker.)

What guides the choice between room and space in this sense? Are there other words to consider (such as place, which I would have thought to be a Gallicism)?


texts:
What is the rule that allows us to treat a phrase as singular, like in the examples below?

Years of practice is responsible for the honing of that skill.
Years of practice has helped hone that skill.

Would it be incorrect to use are/have instead of is/has?


texts: Word for false, self-perpetuating "cure"?

texts:
There are situations where a short-term remedy actually perpetuates the underlying long term problem.

For example, drinking more coffee is a kind of false cure for a caffeine withdrawal headache.

Similarly, scratching at a rash can make it feel better in the moment, but often perpetuates the rash.

Is there an adjective or phrase for these activities that seem good, but are actually deceptive and counterproductive?  (E.g. "Scratching an inflamed rash is an [something] activity.")


texts:
I often hear sentences in movies like "Fight back, you coward!", "You filthy, dirty hippy", etc. And I had thought it sounded like this only to me but when I found the subtitles for those movies, I made sure there's really not "to be" verb after "you". Can I delete "are" word in that case in informal language if I learn AmE?
P.S. I think I gotta say that my friend from UK said he didn't ever hear same thing in the speaking of his mates. And all movies when I've noticed the absence of "are" are American, British-American or Canadian.


texts:
In response to someone elsewhere eggcoining the phrase "whet one's whistle," I just found myself wanting to write that

  An appetite is whetted until it is sharp; but a whistle is wetted until it is ____.

I feel like the word-to-go-in-the-blank is right on the tip of my tongue, but I can't quite place it.

What is it that a sip of water does to one's lips, either as a verb or as an adjective?

a whistle is wetted until it is damp?
a whistle is wetted until it is moist?
a whistle is wetted until it is moistened?
a whistle is wetted until it is satiated?
a whistle is wetted until it is quenched?
a whistle is wetted until it is wet?
a whistle is wetted until it is wetted?

I disqualify the last two on the grounds of tautology: "wetted until it is wet" doesn't work for me.

Besides not sounding quite right to the ear, neither "satiated" nor "quenched" works semantically — if you merely wet your whistle, you don't go all the way toward quenching your thirst.

"Damp" and "moist" both kinda work, but neither is very pleasant.

Is there a word for essentially "no longer bone-dry" that I'm missing?


texts: A noun which describes how well understood something is

texts:
I have a list of components and I'm putting a paragraph together which describes that these components have a wide range of values for various properties.  So far I've got:

  Currently we have a series of reporting solutions, from various eras, written in various languages, deployed throughout the organisation.  These reporting solutions have various levels of documentation, adaptability and [how-well-people-understand-them].

I need a word for the [how-well-people-understand-them] and I'm drawing a blank!


texts: Is it correct to say: please refer to my resume?

texts:
In my cover letters, I give a summary of my resume. Then, I want to say that if you need more info about my resume, please refer to my resume.

I feel that this is not the correct usage. If that is the case, then are there any other words I can use instead?

And how about introducing a paraphrasing tag?


texts: Punctuation rules around quotation marks

texts:
I am trying to figure out which of the following would be correct (even though I have a preference for my second snippet). Should I place the parentheses inside the quotation marks

  The first law of thermodynamics states, “Energy cannot be created, nor
  destroyed (roughly summarized for the sake of this answer).”

or outside?

  The first law of thermodynamics states, “Energy cannot be created, nor
  destroyed.” (roughly summarized for the sake of this answer).

Also, if the latter example turns out to be correct, where should I put the period? I think it's odd to put one inside the quotation marks to indicate the end of the phrase, and one after the parentheses -- again.

Just by curiosity, is the following sentence correct? And if so, is it any better than the previous examples?

  The first law of thermodynamics states, “Energy cannot be created, nor
  destroyed.” -- roughly summarized for the sake of this answer.


texts: Word for a zero score in sports -- BrE/ AmE

texts:
What would be a word for a zero score in sports in BrE/ AmE?

Suppose, in a game of baseball or football (soccer), a team (Team A) scores one point, but its opponent (Team B) scores none, so Team A wins.  In my experience, in the US, one would usually say "Team A beat Team B one to nothing", and the score would be written "Team A 1, Team B 0".  In the UK, on the other hand, one would usually say "Team A beat Team B one - nil", and the score would be written "Team A 1 - 0 Team B".  Saying "zero" for 0 when giving scores is, I believe, very rare in both the US and the UK. Do other readers find these observations to be true or mostly true?


texts: Analysing a sentence taken from a lesson

texts:
Children and adults alike are fond of folktales.
What is the part of speech of 'alike' ? What does it modify?


texts: Is there a word for seeing without being seen? I want to write about those on the advantageous side of tinted glasses. Visual/optical eavesdropping is the closest phrase I can think of.


texts: Difference between "considered to be" and "considered as"?

texts:
Is there any difference between considered to be and considered as?

For example:

Adam is considered as a good teacher.
Adam is considered to be a good teacher.


texts: What is the difference between the syllabales "super" and "supra"? An example would be in the usage of "supranatural" / "supernatural".


texts: How did 'up to' evolve to mean 'regardless of', in maths?

texts:
Even the OED seems not to have featured it. I couldn't find an explanation on Etymonline.

  [Wikipedia:] If X is some property or process, the phrase "up to X" means "disregarding a possible difference in X".

So how did up + to combine to mean thus? This especial mathematical meaning seems to jar with its regular meanings in English (which connote some upper bound).

Footnote: If anyone knows of a better reference than Wikipedia, please advise.


texts: Someone whose aspirations exceed abilities or means

texts: What would be a clear and concise way to describe someone whose ambitions or aspirations far exceed his means or abilities?


texts: Can you use the expressions "my gears are grinding" when trying to say that you are thinking?

texts: If not, what other idioms could be used to express that one is thinking?


texts: What is the origin of "Pipped at the post"?

texts:
Why pipped?

I guess that the post is to do with horse racing - as in the post was the finish line? I could be totally wrong there.


texts:
Meanwhile vs. meantime

Are they really the same? I've been using them interchangeably...


texts: "For how long have you been..." vs. "how long have you been..."

texts:
Ante-scriptum: The question should be quite a frequently arising one, so this might be a duplicate. If it is, I haven't found it previously asked here

I don't know if the title is meaningful, but here's the question, anyway. What I want to know is whether the for at the beginning of the following question should be removed or not:

  For how long have you been eating?

I consider the sentence to be correct, but some days ago, a teacher (not mine) told me that it was not. And then I remembered that someone else had told me that while it is OK to use the for, the tendency is to get rid of it.

So what's your take on it?


texts: Adjective(ADJ) vs Addjective Phrase(ADJP) in phrase structure trees

texts: In phrase structure trees, single adjectives are sometimes written as ADJ, and sometimes as ADJ and ADJP. What is the difference? I've notice the same also applies to adverbs. When is an adjective both ADJ and ADJP? I don't get it.


texts:
I'm fairly aware that who is used for subjects and that whom is used for objects. However, what about when the object is actually being modified by a clause? I have the sentence

  We can determine this by solving for the location of a consumer, ______ is indifferent to each of these stores.

Would who or whom be more appropriate in the blank? Would it be who because the customer is indifferent, or would it be whom, since it is the location of a customer?


texts: How to describe someone who speaks a language "as if it is his mother tongue" in a CV?

texts:
Let's say English is not my mother tongue, but I claim in my CV that my English level is "as if" it was my mother tongue?
Is natively the word for that?
As in:

Languages:

Hebrew: mother-tongue
English: natively

P.S.
It's quite paradoxical and funny, asking how to say in English "my level of English is like a native speaker"; if my level was really like a native English speaker, I wouldn't have needed to ask.


texts: acceptable options when dropping and including hyphen in some phrases?

texts:
There are many commonly used phrases where hyphen is implicit and it's common to drop the hyphen.

p1: computer based approach

p2: computer-based approach

p1 is where the hyphen is implicit and is acceptable.

How ok is it to drop the hyphen in the first and last phrase of the following but include it in the middle?

Is the following acceptable, why/why not?

S: predatory patenting-versus-excessive process argument

In S, "predatory patenting" and "excessive process" are phrases common without hyphen.

Please don't just say it's ok or not and cite the style source


texts:
In the following sentence

  "I saw my old classmate on the first day of the vacation. That was an awkward situation, as we had never had a private conversation before."

Can I replace "awkward" with "shy" in the sentence?

My personal opinion is no. I also checked the dictionary. Please confirm if my opinion was correct. Thank you.


texts: I came across this colloquial phrase: "the young go getters". What does that actually mean? Does it refer to a young child/adolescent who is supposed to be a creative thinker?


texts: Usage of colon versus ellipsis when restating a definition

texts:
I'm editing a paper and came across a sentence which uses an ellipsis to separate the main idea from a restatement as follows:

  The suspicion that the butler committed the murder was just that... a suspicion.

My editing experience tells me that it would be better to use a colon:

  The suspicion that the butler committed the murder was just that: a suspicion.

However, I cannot find any definitive justification for this, and would like to know if there is a rule or guideline for this case.

My impression is that the ellipsis is better suited for ideas and lists that trail off (such as a moment in literature that is meant to linger or fade), whereas the colon in this usage is intended to sharpen or focus the reader on the intended upcoming point.

Is the colon the correct choice for this usage? Note that this example is over-simplified and the context is in technical writing of an instructional nature.

A similar question has been asked, but does not consider ellipsis usage.


texts: When creating an acronyms/initialisms in a document which will be referenced throughout the document, what is the proper way to display it for the first time? ("Word") or just (Word)?


texts: Is it correct to identify the cause of a vagary?

texts: If I write, for instance, "Variation in sleep quality is responsible for the vagaries of students' academic performance," is this a correct use of the word vagaries, which is defined as an inexplicable change?


texts:
According to dictionaries, "assert" means "to state categorically". Longman Dictinary of Contemporary English says:

  (1) to state firmly that something is true

  (2) assert your rights/independence etc.
      to state very strongly your right to do or have something

However, I don't understand what "assert" below means.

  (3) the promise to assert more control over the army

In (3), "assert" does not seem to mean "state", but "use" or something like that. How should (3) be paraphrased?


texts:
We often use "cool water". But can we use "cool water" or "cold water"? Which is correct? Examples:

  I drink cool water only.
  People always like cool water.

In the above examples, instead of the word cool, can we use cold?


texts:
I'm a web developer and in our project we use the word unsubsription to talk about making someone no longer subscribed to our maling. I know we can use the "subscription" word to talk about someone's intention to subsribe to a mailing or something similar. Is there a word which has the opposite meaning? I tried to find unsubscription, but neither of the following dictionaries don't know that:

oxford

cambridge

macmillan


texts: Can I use "The question then arises" to pose a question and give an answer myself? I am writing the introduction to technical report

texts:
The text is as follows:

  However, such technicalities have sophisticated these structures, because they are now more dependent on the individual behavior of their multiple components that they are made of, and each of these could affect the functionality of the structure. The question then arises as to how we could build a structure that is least affected by its separate parts and has the ability to adjust if any particular part malfunctions. Hence, to improve the reliability of any structure, we require the concept redundancy.

Also, can I know a better connecting clause that is better suited than "hence".


texts:
I know its been over a year since this track of Charlie Puth came out but the lyrics of this song set me thinking on the use of the phrase

We don't ___ anymore

To me, the only word that sits perfectly in context is 'talk'. The speaker intends to tell that They don't talk with each other.

While words like 'smile' doesn't do the same trick. That would imply both would never smile at all, not just restricting its domain to themselves. This would've worked better: 'we don't smile at each other'.

Am I getting it wrong? Or is he just using the poetic license in these lines?


texts: Term for this category of counterintuitive "facts"

texts:
I am trying to find a term (single word or brief phrase) that describes a particular kind of "fact" that people often say.  I think that "factoid" is close, but that it doesn't contain enough implied doubt about the truth of the "fact" (and is a little disputed in its usage).

Here is a description of the "facts" I am referring to and would like to have a term for:

Most importantly, they strive to have a kind of counterintuitive nature or aspect, sometimes "shock value"
It's probably safer to assume that they are false until proven true (see first point), especially when evaluating them against common sense or general knowledge
They often contain the word "actually". They could be presented as "Did you know..." sentences
They are akin to overly-shared Facebook posts with questionable legitimacy
They might have begun as a complex truth, but, when presented in short form, they are misleading or no longer true (either because they cannot be shortened, or the speaker did not understand the long form and now believes something false that was not originally there)
Some news outlets try to compose these types of sentences for their headlines, even though the body of the article reveals the truth (and makes me frustrated that the news outlet was unethical enough to title the article in this manner)

At the risk of inciting debate, here are some examples of these types of sentences:

"Actually, Diet Coke is worse for you than regular Coke." (possibly an example of point #5 above)
"Actually, drinking caffeinated drinks dehydrates you." (have also heard with 'carbonated')
"Working out is actually bad for you."
"Electric cars actually harm the environment."
"Everything you see in the world is actually on a 10-15 second delay."

Please refrain from arguing about the truth of these particular statements- I only provide them as examples to show the type of sentence I'm talking about. I hear sentences like these all the time, but I don't know how to describe them or lump them all together succinctly.

The next time I have a friend walk up to me while I'm tying my shoes and say something stupid like, "Actually, tying your shoes makes them fall off more easily," I want to be able to say, "No, that's just a ________________,"* and keep tying my shoes.

*it doesn't have to fit the blank in that sentence exactly


texts: Are "one" and "won" homophones in Australian English?

texts:
My friend and I are both native speakers of Australian English.

He thinks "one" and "won" sound different and feels "a one-liner" sounds wrong and should be "an one-liner". He does think the two words rhyme, which would indicate they have the same vowel but only "won" begins with a consonant sound, to his ears.

("Won" here is the past-tense of "win", not the currency of Korea.)

So does my friend have a point, or is his thinking affected by spelling, or does it depend on region or speaker after all?

I grew up in Melbourne and he grew up in Brisbane. Australia is well known to lack regional accents though. We both grew up among what linguists call "Broad Australian" speakers, but we are both speakers of "General Australian".

I have always taken an interest in linguistics and my friend has not. I have travelled the world a lot. My accent has changed, and I'm not currently in Australia to go out and listen to people.


texts:
Does this sentence make sense:

"After all other people had already boarded the bus, the bus conductor came to the hotel cafeteria and warned us to hurry up, or we would have to get to the airport BY OUR OWN MEANS."

And in case the sentence before makes sense and is correct, what do you understand by "by our own means"?


texts: What is the difference between "as per" and "according to"?

texts:
See the following two sentences.

  As per my knowledge it is right.
  According to my knowledge it is right.

Are both the sentences right?
What is the difference and use of "as per" and "according to"?


texts: Is it "They are  friends of my son and I" or is it  "They are friends of my son and me" or is it this which I think correct "They are friends of mine and my son"?


texts: Is there a specific word, or phrase, that describes or denotes the phenomenon of multiple places or objects in an area sharing a specific, usually regional, name or title? The best example present is in the third Pirates of the Caribbean film, which features the town of Shipwreck in Shipwreck Cove of Shipwreck Island.


texts: In the movie "Meet the Fockers" does the word "Focker" really sound different?

texts: In the movie "Meet the Fockers" does the word "Focker" sound really different from the four-letter word? I don't hear any difference. Do all the actors pronounce this word really differently from native American English speakers?


texts: Origin of the similarity of "god" and "good"

texts: In all the Germanic languages the words "god" and "good" are homomorphic - they sound almost identical: God and goed in Dutch, Gott and gut in German, guð and gott in Icelandic, Gud and god  in Norwegian, and, finally, Gud and god or gott in Swedish. What is the Proto-IndoEuropean root of this word, and where do we see it in other languages?


texts: Introduce a concept versus give an introduction to the concept

texts:
Looking for a shorter way to write In this chapter, I give an introduction to concept A in an academic text, I realized a subtle difference in (academic) English:

I introduce concept A: I am creating/suggesting a new concept A
I give an introduction to concept A: I am explaining in gentle terms the already existing concept A.

Is this distinction correct? If so, what would be a shorter way to express I give an introduction to? I summarise? (but a summary is not exactly an introduction...). Maybe I could say, I introduce the reader to concept A, or this chapter introduce concept A?

Thanks!


texts: How do I choose between "can" and "could"?

texts:
Where can we go?
  Where could we go?

  Can you pass me the salt?
  Could you pass me the salt?

Which sentence is more appropriate and why? What are the differences?


texts: If two clauses are connected by "and", do they necessarily have the same tenses?

texts:
If two sentences are connected by "and", do they necessarily have the same tenses? For example, is the following sentence correct?

"I enjoyed the trip, and I like the food"


texts: Name of lines drawn to indicate movement?

texts: This is a bit of a cryptic one; I was wondering whether English has a word (or at least a phrase) to describe the lines typically drawn on a cartoon to indicate movement?  A good example is the Windows XP 'Run' icon (in the top-left):


texts: What is the time period between midterms called?

texts:
During a term, my students have to take two tests, which I call midterms*.

Therefore, the term is divided into three periods

1) From beginning of the term till the first midterm exam
2) From the first midterm exam till the second midterm exam
3) From the second midterm exam till the end of the term.

What can I call these periods? Maybe sub-terms? Is there maybe a better word?

* My additional question is: is it OK to call them midterms if they are not in the middle of the term but rather at 1/3 and 2/3 of the term?


texts: “Although in poor health, she continued...” vs “No matter how poor her health, she continued…”

texts:
The following is grammar question from an English as a second language exam
My girlfriend was showing me a copy of the exam she took several years ago after finishing high school. We were looking at the questions for fun, and one question was to pick the phrase that completed the sentence correctly.

a. Although in poor health, she continued to carry out her duties.
b. No matter how poor her health, she continued to carry out her duties.

The italicized portions are the choices for how to correctly complete the sentence. Of the four options, two were easily eliminated. The last two are above. I cannot decide which is correct.
I have a suspicion the first is correct. However, the prepositional phrase "in poor health" doesn't seem correct without a noun before it. It seems better to say "Although she was in poor health, she continued to carry out her duties."
If I were to say the second aloud, it feels more natural to add was, saying "No matter how poor her health was, she continued to carry out her duties."
Is it possible both are correct? This question seems pretty difficult for a high school student learning English as a second language.
EDIT: According to this exam's answer key, a is the correct answer.


texts:
Is the sentence "Won't you come, either?" right? Why? Is the sentence "Won't you come, as well/too?" right? Which one is correct? Why?
Can you tell me if all the sentences are right? If there is just one correct, which one?


texts: What do "socially supplied patterns" and "raw materials..." represent?

texts:
I have about four A4 pages of email correspondence to convert into Italian, but there are parts which I am struggling with.  The author of the emails is  Polish  but has lived many years in the UK. The person for whom I have to translate this is a young journalist and would-be-apologist, who is experiencing difficulty in understanding most of it. I am translating it into spoken Italian and the young journalist records me.

The following excerpt that I am having trouble translating is written as a single sentence.  The only corrections I made were the removal of a second colon (::), and the spelling of Goffman which were obvious errors in typography.  Otherwise what you see is exactly what I have.

  All the new and striking, and all of them short-lived (though all of them, as Charles Baudelaire observed already more than century and a half ago, aiming at capturing eternity in a fleeting moment) copy-cat modes of manipulating the public appearances of one’s body - or imprinted on the body part of the “presentation of self in everyday life”, as Erving Goffman preferred to brand them), which you [the Italian journalist] noted and listed above so perceptively, have their roots in the modern, all too human recasting social identity from a given into a task: one expected now, needed and bound to be performed by its individual bearer, while deploying socially supplied patterns and raw materials in a complex operation of “creative reproduction”, known under the name of “fashion”.

Imprinted is the author's way of referring to tattoos.

How would you describe this type of writing? It's not written in jargon, but the entire text ambles (not rambles) and often I have to reach the end of a sentence before I can fully grasp its meaning.
What are socially supplied patterns? Is "patterns" the social framework or diagram  which society chooses to follow or not?
What does raw materials refer to? Although translating it into Italian is easy enough (materia prima), is the author referring to the human body, our physicality, as if it were a crude or rudimentary resource? Or does it simply stand for clothes?


texts:
There was the following passage in New Yorker’s January 23rd issue that came under the title, “Parting words.”:

  “The key word of the speech was “citizen,” which Obama called “the
  most important office in a democracy,” one that he’ll embrace in his
  post-Presidency. His exhortations and implications of blame were
  nonpartisan: conservatives might have heard their denial of science
  called out, while liberals might have been stung by the allusion to
  fair-weather activism. Whites and non-whites alike were urged to
  imagine inhabiting a different person’s skin.”

I know the expression, “comfortable in one’s own skin,” but I don’t know the idiom, “inhabit different person’s skin.”

To me, to live different person’s skin is felt like to live wearing a mask of somebody else.
What does “inhabit a different person’s skin” mean? Is it a popular idiom or turn of phrase?


texts: What is a term that talks about non-firearm weapons?

texts: I am currently working on a presentation and in part of it, I will be talking about non-firearm weapons of the shooting type like bows and arrows. What would be a easily understood term that is not cumbersome to say that is a general statement about such weapons? This word or two should be able to fill in the place of the word "firearm" in such statements as it is used like: "Firearms training" to "(non-firearm) training".


texts:
I have had this question for a long time and I couldn't find any answers for it. I have often heard this sentence from an American interlocutor and also in some movies:

  "Would you mind not to do something?"

I would like to know if it is correct to use this sentence in this way.


texts: “employer” is to “employee”, as “mentor” is to what?

texts:
If FOO is mentor to BAR, what term describes BAR's end of that relationship — specifically as “a person to whom FOO is mentor”?

Analogously:

FOO is employer to BAR,
⇒ BAR is employee to FOO.

What is the equivalent term for the recipient of a mentor relationship?

Terms already considered

“mentee”

Some people, recognising a need for a term, use “mentee”. I'm pretty sure that is incorrect – there is no “ment” verb, so a mentor is not “one who ments another” and a “mentee” is not “one who is mented by another”.

So if that's your answer I'd like some strong support for its normal use more than any other.

“student”, “pupil”

A mentor is not the same role as a teacher. To describe BAR as a pupil of FOO would incorrectly imply that FOO is a teacher. So this term doesn't meet the required meaning.

Already answered

“protégé”

As later discovered, the question is already answered on this site. The correct term is “protégé”.


texts:
What is the the/a proper citation style when I'm citing something online?  The reason I ask is because some styles use underlining, but underlining online should only be used for links.

To be clear - the source I'm citing can be a book or a magazine or an article.  The place I'm putting the citation for people to see is on a website.


texts: I want to say that in a plot, not all the points are drawn. Instead we draw some of them with a specific interval (k). For example, with k=3, points 1, 4, 7, 10, 13, etc. are drawn. I think that for k=2 the correct way of saying that is to say "every other point is drawn." But for other k I don't know how to say that. Maybe something like "every other three point is drawn"? How should I say that?


texts:
And as he ate it, she looked at him steadily.

In this sort of grammatical constructions, "she" works as a subject of the sentence with active voice.

Now, consider a sentence which I read in The Hindu:

  And as the nation heard and saw him, a sense of India's greatness stirred within it.

Now, in this sentence "a sense" is working as  noun but the part "within it" is making this sentence passive unless there were "was" before "stirred". So, is this sentence correct?


texts:
Can you use "I digress" after you rant, even if it is an excess rant of the original topic?
Example:
Person 1:
I got banned from league of legends
Person 2:
ok
Person 1:
Evan you're really making me angry. I hate you
Others:
talking for a while
Person 1:
"I was getting tag teamed by a circle jerk duo who both lost lane by themselves
If I can't type back to those scum f*ck degenerates league can kindly screw off I digress

My friends and I are arguing if this is a valid use of "I digress" (excluding wrong grammar). Thank you.


texts: "Identify as" or "identify themselves as"

texts:
I came across this paragraph in a newspaper. "He explains the significance of these diverse realities: 'An occupational identity, where people identify as farmers, is emerging in States of the first kind, such as M.P., Maharashtra and Gujarat. In States such as U.P. and Bihar, while agriculture is central to rural life, caste and religion remain dominant identity markers in the absence of strong market linkages of agriculture. In Rajasthan, in the near absence of agriculture as a key rural vocation, identity markers are still tied to caste.'"

Can the phrase "where people identify as farmers" be replaced, without changing its meaning, with " where people identify themselves as farmers"?
If not, why? If yes, in what cases?


texts: Difficult construction with Past Perfect + have to

texts:
I'm a little bit confused with grammatic construction which includes Past Perfect + "have to".

The first question which appears here is: if this construction is grammatic or not?

  The law changed in October 2018 and before the change the vehicle
  drivers had had to have a document of liability insurance on them.

The second question: can we use the word "before"? Doesn't it interfere with the usage of Past Perfect tense here?

Also, the third question is: can we somehow blend Present Perfect with Past Perfect here (if the first part of the sentence is connected to the present and the second is connected to the past), in this very situation?

I'm almost sure that mixing Present Perfect (which is not connected to a specified moment in time) with Past Perfect (which is connected to the unspecified time before another event in time) might be ungrammatical.

But in this case, what other kind of grammatical construction we can use to say the same (when the one part of the sentence is connected to the present but second part must be connected to the past)???

Example:

  The law has changed and before that change the vehicle drivers had had
  to have a document of liability insurance on them.

Is dividing of the sentence a good idea (???):

  The law has changed. Before that change the vehicle drivers had had
  to have a document of liability insurance on them.

I apologize for silly questions and thank you in advance for your response.


texts:
I'm unsure of which verb I can use in a sentence where I am talking about how something enables someone to have a sharp focus on an issue. Here is a sentence that are possible:

  It enabled him to have a sharp focus on the issue.

This sentence sounds a bit strange, though. I feel like I could replace "have" with a better verb. Does anyone have any ideas?


texts:
I am used to spelling "naïve" thus - "naïve". I am also used to Microsoft Word automatically changing "naive" to "naïve". Hence, I was surprised when it didn't change "naivety" to "naïvety". I then decided to work around this by letting it correct "naive" to "naïve" and then tacking on "-ty". Word then underlined "naïvety" in red and suggested a correction to "naivety".

Whether this is a typical case of "it's just a quirk of spellcheck" I am not sure, hence my question.

So:

Is it incorrect to write "naïvety"?

Alternatively:

Why is "naïvety" incorrect when "naïve" is correct?


texts: Clarity when it comes to active and passive voice

texts:
I have been using Grammarly for a while now. I have decided to work on the clarity of my writing. One thing that pops up often is the passive voice error. However, I find that the passive voice seems to portray my intention clearer. Here is one example:
Passive voice:
A bug is defined as a problem causing issues in production.
Active voice:
A problem causing issues in production defines a bug.
In this situation I am trying to define what a "bug" means for our company. So that we are all using the same terminology to describe things.
The passive voice sentence focuses on the definition of what a bug is. It also lets the reader know that the sentence intends to inform the user on what a bug is. In contrast, the active voice sentence is harder to parse.
What do you think is the more straightforward sentence?


texts: Is there a word that describes "honed but in a short period of time?

texts:
The exact definition of honed according to here (english.stackexchange.com link)
and other sources declare the meaning to be "Refine or perfect (something) over a period of time". Is there a word that means to refine or perfect something over a short period of time? The verb should indicate a consistent and time-committed refinement and/or perfection in a short amount of time. The subject of the sentence would be an event or small moment of time (few days/weeks/maybe months) in someone's life.

eg. That childhood experience (insert_verb_here) the boy's ability to interpret the microscopic cries for help his parents had unintentionally exposed.


texts: Can the word “pester” be used as a noun?

texts:
I want to know whether the verb pester can be used to describe a person.

Can a sentence be made like this:

  Don’t be a pester.


texts: children as adjective as opposed to child

texts:
In computer science we talk about binary trees as connections of nodes which of which have either zero or exactly two children.  Furthermore we talk about "the parent node of a child", "the left child node of a parent", and "the right child of a parent".   If I want to talk about both left and right, should I say "both child nodes" or "both children nodes"?   As a native English speaker, "both children nodes" sounds more natural.  Furthermore I'd say "both these nodes", not "both this nodes".

Another example is if I'm talking about member of a club:  I'd say "This rule applies to all women members", not "This rule applies to all woman members".

My guess is that if I'm using a noun as an adjective, and the noun has an irregular plural form, that plural form can be used as an adjective.  However, if I'm using a word which is an adjective only the singular form of the adjective can be used.    "all women members"  but "all female member" and never "all females members". Here female is really an adjective, not simply a noun being used as an adjective.

Or does it rather have to do with the fact that the "en" ending marks an irregular genitive form in Old English, and this usage as an adjective is just a vestige that old usage?

Or perhaps is this just an artifact of my particular dialect, and not standard English?  Whatever that means...

Which is correct?  "both child nodes" or "both children nodes"?  Or do they perhaps have different meanings?


texts:
I was reading a pamphlet from the year 1592, published in London, and came across a rather obsolete and bewitching phrase:

  "The Foxe on a time came to visit the Gray, partly for kindered cheefly for craft, and finding the hole emptie of all other company, sauing onely one Badger enquiring the cause of his solitarinesse: hee described the sodaine death of his dam and sire with the rest of his consortes. The Foxe made a Friday face, counterfeiting sorrow: but concludinge that deaths stroke was vneuitable perswaded him to seeke som fit mate wherwith to match. The badger soone agreed, so forth they went, and in their way met with a wa[n]ton ewe stragling from the fold..."

Does anyone have an idea what "Friday face" would have meant in Elizabethan London's context, since today it certainly has borne a context most different?


texts: Single word for when you've just met someone but you experience a kind of sad nostalgia after they leave

texts: What is a Single word for when you just met someone but you get kind-of a sad nostalgia after they left?


texts: Need to know the difference between these questions

texts:
1   a. Do you trust them?
b. Don’t you trust them?
2   a. Has anyone told you what to say?
b. Has someone told you what to say?
3   a. She is quite clever.
b. She is quite clever, isn’t she?
I need to know the difference in meaning of each one, thanks in advance


texts: Why doesn't the second verb agree with the subject of that verb?

texts:
In
"We watched Obama speak," what is the technical reason for it not being
"We watched Obama spoke"?


texts: Does something form the basis "of" or the basis "for" something else?

texts:
I am writing some technical documentation and I'm wondering whether of or for is the best word to use in the following sentence:

  The framework and architecture will form the basis {of|for} our web applications.

This is a fairly specific example. Is there a general rule for this? Or is it more of a case-by-case decision?


texts: Neither you nor I are going to the show, or, Neither you nor I am going to the show


texts: How should I use "eponym", "eponymous" and "namesake"?

texts:
I was in London and visited the Tower Bridge. Afterwards, I went to a pub called The Tower Bridge. Just to be clear, the pub is named after the bridge.

Which of the following are correct?

The bridge is the eponym of the pub.
The pub is the eponym of the bridge.
From the pub, I could see the eponymous bridge.
After I saw the bridge, I went to the eponymous pub.
The bridge is the namesake of the pub.
The pub is the namesake of the bridge.


texts: Can the relative pronoun "whose" be replaced by "of whom/which" in relative clauses?

texts:
I'm a Chinese and have learned English for many years. These days I've started to teach English to other Chinese people. But I get confused about the usage of relative clauses and I really want to know whether the following sentences are grammatically acceptable. If the answer is yes, then are they frequently used in everyday English?

The engineer whose design is selected will be offered a contract.(Can the relative pronoun "whose" here be replaced by "of whom the design"?)
This is the scientist whose achievements are well known.(Can I say "This is the scientist, the achievements of whom are well known"?)

further question: can "of whom" be used in defining relative clauses to express the concept of possession?

Thanks a lot!


texts: "Spontaneous", "voluntary" and "involuntary"

texts:
I was looking for a synonym of spontaneous, and voluntary naturally came to my mind. In an attempt to understand the difference between them, I tried to google spontaneous vs voluntary. To my surprise, nothing really interesting popped up from search results.

Then I decided to look them up respectively. As expected, voluntary is listed as a synonym of spontaneous according to many online resources, and vice versa. However, to my great shock, involuntary is also listed as a synonym of spontaneous by major online dictionaries.

Although the fact does not necessarily imply voluntary and involuntary are synonyms, I continued to look further into voluntary vs involuntary due to confusion.

I found that a voluntary action is something that is done voluntarily or with meaning to do so, while an involuntary action on the other hand is done
automatically.

Now I'm even more confused. The word automatically just reminds me of spontaneously, convincing me to believe involuntary is indeed a synonym of spontaneous while voluntary seems less so.

Could someone please justify or explain the contradictions mentioned above? I'm totally lost.


texts: Bimestrial - frequency of use or alternatives

texts:
I would like advice on the word bimestrial.

Here on Brazil its equivalent is commonly used, but I've noticed it might not be so used in English. But what would be the alternatives?

For example, in this sentence:

  "The course modules are distributed throughout two years in bimestrial (two months) periods, as shown in the following chart:"

Is it so sparingly used by natives that would require that I put under parenthesis its meaning, as precaution?


texts:
Can anyone tell me why the Tuscan city of Livorno used to be called Leghorn in English?

An increasing number of British writers, artists, philosophers, and
travelers visited the area and developed the unique historical ties
between the two communities. The British referred to the city as
Leghorn.
Wikipedia

I believe nowadays English brochures, foreign travellers etc. call the city by its traditional Italian name. So did the name Leghorn simply fell in popularity or disuse as suggested by Google Ngram? Did the Livornese hold a petition or protested?! (I've been living in Italy for over thirty years, and I don't recall ever hearing them complain.)

What term is commonly used when an anglicized city's name reverts back to the original?


texts: Is it correct to use "a news" in the given statement?

texts:
We generally don't use "a" or "an" before the word "news". However, I have suspicions about the following sentence.

Is it correct to say "What sad news for us" or do we need to use an "a" and say it like "What a sad news for us"?


texts:
In Italian a "libro parlato" is an ordinary book which has been recorded with a person's real voice (thus giving the book a pleasant "mood" listening experience which cannot currently be achieved through a phone's Text-to-Speech function, however good that may be.

My question is, how would you translate "libro parlato" in English? I need to ask a question about these on a stackexchange site but do not know what to call it. Thanks.


texts: How can “for” be classed as a coördinating conjunction in the following instances?

texts:
How can for be classed as a coördinating conjunction in the following instances?

I cannot give you any money, for I have none.
He deserved to succeed, for he worked hard.
Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.

In those sentences, for can easily be replaced with because. When because is used as a subordinating conjunction, how can for be classed as a coördinating conjunction? Just look at the first sentence for example:

I cannot give you any money.

I have none.

The second sentence derives its meaning from the first sentence. It is subordinate to the first sentence, and therefore 'for' should be a Subordinating Conjunction in such a case, shouldn't it?


texts: take someone down a peg vs. cut someone down to size?

texts:
Which phrase is more common in English? "To take someone down a peg" or "to cut someone down to size"?
I know they both are used in English to mean "to show someone that they are not as important as they thought", but I'm wondering how they are different in usage.


texts: This is gonna bother me because I know the word is escaping me, but I believe there's a word in english language that expresses something to the effect of "this is a [trying to convey dull/pedestrian but still quite intriguing/delightful] painting"


texts:
A person who can read lines of "hand" ?
Is there a word of such a person. As far as I am concerned there is that I am missing?


texts: What's the origin of the phrase "around the horn"?

texts: Yesterday as we were sitting in traffic, my husband said he would have gone "around the horn" had he known traffic was so bad, meaning to take a longer way.  What is the derivation of this phrase?


texts: What is it called when you tell the truth in a misleading 'nice' way?

texts: Basically when you try to put makeup on the truth, for example when instead of calling someone autistic they call them special?


texts: Is this a verb phrase or simply an adjective?

texts:
The quote is usually attributed to him.
In the following sentence, does 'is...attributed' count as a verb phrase, or is 'attributed' simply a subject complement (as in '[t]he quote is usually attributed'), with 'to him' simply acting as a prepositional phrase?
I'm a little stuck!
Thanks in advance for any answers!


texts: "The Arthur's code" or "The code of Arthur"?

texts:
Arthur is a very good doctor and he created a good conduct code for all the other doctors in the world.

Should he call its code "The code of Arthur" or "The Arthur's code"?


texts: Do Canadians say 'go to hospital' or 'go to the hospital'?

texts: Do Canadians follow the British in saying 'I need to go to hospital', or do they say "He needs to go to the hospital'?


texts: Can a participial construction modify an adjective?

texts:
It was a very dark, cloudy night, and they were a bit late arriving at
  Hagrid's hut because they'd had to wait for Peeves to get out of their
  way in the entrance hall, where he'd been playing tennis against the
  wall. (Harry Potter)

In the example, a participial construction seems to modify an adjective, late. Can a participial construction have the same function as a to-infinitive does, or does this have the role of something else?


texts: A word for someone who occupies a position

texts:
Is there a lexicalization for someone who holds a position, for example, in a company, in the army, in an organization, etc.?

  All of the relevant ___________ should be promptly contacted and updated.

Position-holder seems so awkward.


texts:
I was just researching its etymology and turns out that it comes from calceus the Latin for shoe! How did Latin for shoe end up as the Italian (and subsequently, English) for a snack? They seem so unrelated!

Here's what Merriem Webster says about its etymology:

  Origin of CALZONE

  Italian, from calzone (singular of calzoni pants), augmentative of
  calza stocking, from Medieval Latin calcea, from Latin calceus shoe,
  from calc-, calx heel First Known Use: 1947


texts: Is “Not to generalize or anything” an idiomatic parenthesis?

texts:
September 18 Time magazine’s article titled “How Mitt Romney’s Luck Ran Out” introduced GOP Presidential nominee Mitt Romney’s observation covertly recorded at a Florida fundraiser to the effect that:

  ... the 47% of Americans who pay no federal income taxes will never vote for him because they "believe they are victims" entitled to endless government support and will never "take personal responsibility and care for their lives.”

It is followed by this sentence:

  Not to generalize or anything. This, just days after Romney’s rash statement late on the night of Sept. 11 suggesting that the Obama Administration sympathized with the violent mobs in Cairo and Benghazi.

What does “Not to generalize or anything” mean? Doesn’t “Not to generalize” suffice? Is “or anything” necessary? Is this a common idiomatic phrase, or parenthesis?

In passing, I don’t find a verb that explains what “This” that follows “Not to generalize or anything” in the above excerpt. What is the predicate of “This”?