texts: How do I make this sentence sound better?

texts:
"They both agree that Athens wields and uses her power mistakenly."

They is Plato and Thucydides.

Athens is her.

Athens is the one that uses the power mistakenly.

I just wonder if there should be a different word used for "mistakenly."


texts: Name of a word where you can continually remove one letter from the beginning or end

texts:
This is possibly off-topic here - please redirect me if necessary

I am looking for the name of a type of word where you can continually remove one letter from the start or end of the word, until there is just one letter left, and every intermediate word is a valid word in the English language.

For example, brandy is such a word, because after each letter is removed below, we get another word:

brandy
brand
bran
 ran
  an
  a

What is the name for words with this property?

I'm new on ELU.SE; I can probably do with some help with tagging this question correctly.


texts: Is there a term for using a word twice in a row, but in a grammatically-appropriate way?

texts:
For example: "I could tell he had had a great time at the circus."

If you're not repeating the word for emphasis, is there a term for the sequential usage, other than "coincidence"?


texts:
I have a question about the phrase "make up for".

You can make up for the loss, the delay or someone's mistake, right? I used to think you can also "make (this/it) up for someone", meaning that you will do something nice to that person because you feel obligated for your not-so-nice conduct prior to this conversation.

ex) Hey, I'm sorry I'm late. I will totally make this up for you.

Since I can't seem to find a valid example for this usage, I noticed that I might have picked up this phrase mistakenly.


texts:
How would you interpret the message in the picture? I'm having a hard time understanding this black guy. I assume, the guy in the picture is trying to suggest that everyone could easily understand a black gay. On the other hand, perhaps he is calling for racial and sexual equality. What is the meaning in context, please?

The picture was taken from the CNN website. The context is about Baltimore protests over the death of Freddie Gray (a black man). The article named Baltimore Protests: Crowds, Police Stand Off After Curfew was published on the CNN website.
Please note that they regularly update the news on the website.


texts: How to say "great potential + university"?

texts:
I want to say...

I can see great potential for growth (in? at?) xxx university. I am looking forward to studying at xxx university.

What is the correct proposition here?


texts: Is there a word for someone that gets constantly deceived and never learns? ex. Charlie Brown always falling for Lucy's "pull away the football" gag?

texts:
I was thinking that it would be useful to have some potent way of expressing that a person, population, nation, organization, species.. Any entity. Is susceptible to being constantly duped by some trick and they either never figure it out or it takes a long time for them to slowly put the pieces together. If there isn't a word, how could it be phrased?

The classic example below.


texts:
What does "hype-driven" means in this paragraph?

  There have been a few examples of Internet criticism making an impact
  on American film culture. It’s aided the rise of South Korean cinema
  and mumblecore. In the case of Korean cinema, Filmbrain’s blog, among
  others, hosted interesting debates on the films of Park Chan-wook, Kim
  Ki-duk, and Hong Sang-soo. Bloggers like Tom Vick seemed to respond to
  the snobbery implicit in Tony Rayns’s attack on Kim in Film Comment.
  In the case of mumblecore, the blogosphere’s attitude was more
  hype-driven; when the IFC Center launched its mumblecore series last
  year, every blog affiliated with indieWIRE united to promote it. The
  only criticisms heard about the films related to their all-white
  casts, not esthetics. I’m not sure what Korean film and mumblecore
  have in common, although the parallels between the latter and the
  blogosphere are obvious, but I think bloggers like making discoveries
  they can claim as their own.

I Couldn't find the definition anywhere! Any help would be appreciated.


texts: What is a proper gender-neutral form of himself or herself

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  Is there a correct gender-neutral, singular pronoun (“his” versus “her” versus “their”)?
  Gender neutral reflexive pronoun — equivalent to “himself” and “herself”

I am thinking "themself" is a very old deprecated way of saying this.  What would be more proper?

An example would be:

One does not simply build Rome themself.

It just seems awkward with "themself."


texts: Which auxiliary should I use in this question tag?

texts:
Children sleep with a smile. Funny,_____?

I need a question tag. Which one is it: isn't it or aren't they or don't they?


texts: What is the origin or reasoning behind calling someone inside an organisation feeding information to people outside it a mole?


texts: Word for a boss who demands the best and also does the best himself

texts:
I need a word for a boss/ leader who demands the best and also does the best themself.
Examples:

He asks the team to work late until 1am and he does it himself too.
He demands that every member of the team meets a ridiculous sales target and he meets it himself and surpasses all.
He asks his employees to come to work even if they're ill and it turns out he himself comes to work even though he's severely ill.

The word could be an adjective or a noun.


texts: Can a plural noun be followed by “due to it”?

texts:
Is it correct to say, for example

“You would put your health at risk by smoking cigarettes, due to it containing toxic chemicals.”


texts: Schwa insertion into the bi-consonantal onset for emphasis?

texts:
I want to know if American English speakers have regional differences in inserting the schwa between initial consonants of words such as great, crazy, professional, and crash for emphasis. For a case in point, Americans that are born and raised in Maryland do not insert the schwa for emphasis whereas Americans that are born and raised in Los Angeles CA and Texas do insert the schwa for that purpose in the plosive and liquid clusters.

E.g. (1) Gareat! /gə'ret/
and   (2) Carazy! /kə'rezi/


texts: Information given to a patient when he or she is diagnosed with a disorder

texts: Is there a word for the information given to a patient when he or she is diagnosed with a disorder? What would a native speaker call such information? "Initial information"?


texts: What does an apostrophe before a word mean?

texts:
I am reading The Rifters Trilogy by Peter Watts and wonder, what does it mean, when the author sometimes uses words with an apostrophe before them? As I have figured, that is some sort of way of making the word special, but what way exactly?

For reference: the text is available online for free, I am talking about the third book in the trilogy, the "Behemoth". If you search the page, you can easily find occurences of 'skin, 'lawbreaker, 'scaphe and maybe several others.

UPDATE

As per the request, here are three use cases:

  Clarke turns her head sideways for a better view; the muscles in her neck tighten against the added drag. Erickson's flesh, exposed through the tear in his diveskin, is fish-belly white. It looks like gashed, bleeding plastic. His capped eyes look even deader than the flesh beneath his 'skin. He gibbers. His vocoder cobbles nonsense syllables together as best it can.
  ...

  A comm panel decorates the bulkhead within easy reach. He taps it. "Ambient channel. Grace. How are you coming with those 'skins?"

-

  He dragged her to safety, to an evacuation 'scaphe hovering uncertainly over a station already emptied of personnel.

-

  But her friends had set their sights a lot higher than Achilles Desjardins; they were out to liberate every 'lawbreaker on the planet.
  ...

  Sudbury's senior 'lawbreakers had worked between floors twenty and twenty-four. It had been lucky that Desjardins had managed to raise the alarm before they'd been hit.


texts: If the use of the word "Exes" being the plural of the word Ex is fine [ 2 ] How come former boy/girl friends are also described as Ex?

texts:
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2015 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved defines the word "ex" as below:
"ex 3  (ĕks)
Share:
n.
Slang
A former spouse or partner."
x 2  (ĕks)
Share:
n.
Exes:PLURAL:
The letter x.
tr.v. exed, ex·ing, ex·es
To delete or cross out: He exed each item off the to-do list."
[https://ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=exes&submit.x=20&submit.y=34]

I have two questions here. {1} is if the plural "Exes" is being normally used say in poetry or short stories etc. Doesn't it look odd? For example"She called all her  "Exes" on her birthday party this times." One may like to substitute it with the term "ex-spouses". This query is raised by me as a writer/poet.
{ 2 } The above dictionary although restricts the use of the above word to only a former spouse, it is being used for a former boy/girl friend or for a former live-in-relation.
Do we justify this usage. Even I read a former GP being referred to as my ex- GP, and a former maid-servant as ex-maid.


texts: Adjective describing something to be for those with special knowledge or interests

texts:
Some months ago I watched a video on a tech YouTube channel (Level1Techs, if you were curious) and Randall used a word like in the following sentence:

  I did a video about it, but it's a bit <blank>

I Googled the word, and basically it meant something targeted at or interesting to only those with special knowledge or interests.

Any ideas? It's driving me crazy.


texts: When is it better to use "would" rather than simple past tense?

texts:
Which of the following reads better:

"With the exception of this past Sunday, I could not attend church for the month of January and February (mostly due to the flu), but I rested assured knowing I could return any time I wanted."

Or

"With the exception of this past Sunday, I could not attend church for the month of January and February (mostly due to the flu), but I would rest assured knowing I could return any time I wanted."

Does meaning change in either of these sentences? Which one would be "proper" English -- to write would rest or rested assured? What are the rules for using would as the past of will?


texts:
Considering the sentence:

  Investor perception on active funds will be ______ too expensive.

I am struggling to find the right wording. The message is clear in my mind, but I can't make it clear with grammar or word choice. The above is the closest I got.

The message is supposed to be investors will think active funds will be too expensive. I just want to change it a bit so I use the smarty-pants phrase "investor perception." However, I can't seem to make the rest of the sentence coordinate.

Question

Is there an appropriate word choice for this sentence and maintain a formal/professional tone?

Note: You may take slight creative liberties with the other portions of the sentence if need be.


texts: Is there a proverb for “if there's a simple solution for solving a problem don't choose a more complicated one”?

texts:
Is there an idiom/ phrase/ expression or proverb that conveys this meaning:

"As long as there is a more simple solution for solving a problem don't choose a more complicated one."
or: "when you can do something in a more simple way, why do you use a  more difficult way?"

we  use this proverb in Farsi:

  "When you can open a knot with your hands, you don't have to open it with your teeth!"

Suppose that there are some different ways for solving a problem (and all of them will work),  if you choose the most complicated solution among those available ways, instead of trying the more simple ones at first, you'll be criticized by being told this proverb. (It doesn't necessarily mean that your making the problem bigger, it just mean that you postpone solving the problem by using that complicated available solution).

You can use this proverb specially in political issues, for example; as long as negotiation can work, there in no need to use military actions.

Edit( sep 25th):

I just found this proverb:
"Cross the stream where it is shallowest."

Do you think that it could be the answer to my question?


texts: What's the meaning of “Take me for my ride”?

texts:
"It's all right with me," she announced, "so long as Goodbody's is hanging the rap on me -- somebody I can sue for a million when it flops. I've got nothing to say. Take me for my ride."

It's a part of Dashiell Hammett's novel The Assistant Murderer.

For the above case, the ride means to be in the car of police (to be arrested)?
I'm not a native speaker of English, so this easy word is pretty difficult for me to
translate.

Please give me advice!


texts: Correct Grammar Surrounding "Asylum Seeker Children"

texts:
I was wondering what the most appropriate wording would be for the following instance.

  Today I will be illustrating the complexity of the issue that is
  whether or not asylum seeker children should be retained in Australian
  detention centres.

Should it be 'asylum seeker children', 'asylum seekers' children', or should I choose a different route altogether and merely go with, 'children of asylum seekers'?

I assumed it would be 'asylum seekers' children' but the wording on my essay handout says the former.


texts: Looking for an idiom or expression synonymous with "where force fails, skill and patience will prevail"

texts:
I am looking for an idiom or expression, conveying the same meaning as this one - Where force fails, skill and patience will prevail. I do not know whether this one is used in English, so I am looking for a different one. The implication is that  one finds another way to do something, using his wit and acumen, instead of doing it with physical force. For example:

He is a sharp-witted person. Instead of carrying wood logs down to his basement by hand, he came up with an idea of using a treadmill to finish the job.


texts: What is a word for an adventure or escapade that is negative?

texts: I can only seem to find antonyms for this word which is not applicable because it certainly is not stagnation.


texts: Trouble understanding a passage from the Scarlet Letter

texts:
Pg 1 of “the Custom House”
“... fittingly be addressed only and exclusively to the one heart and mind of perfect sympathy; as if the printed book, thrown at large on the wide world, were certain to find out the divided segment of the writer’s own nature, and complete his circle of existence by bringing him into communion with it.”

I don’t understand this passage at all...
Book is only suitable to people who...
- Have a heart and mind in sync with that of the author?  I’m assuming sympathy = “in sync “ because if it’s = “empathy” it is nonsensical.
- Why does the author have a divided segment?  What is this divided segment?
- Circle of existence = reincarnation?


texts: In an expression of wish, desires, containing 'If' and 'had', should 'would have' necessarily come after that or simply 'would' would do fine?

texts:
Are both of these correct?

"If I had to choose one, I would have to say it's red that I prefer the most among all the colours."
"If I had to choose one, I would say it's red that I prefer the most among all the colours."


texts: Would you consider "sound idea" (usable as) a pun?

texts:
Today I read this comment in the Csound mailing list see full post (emphasis mine):

  The interface could be polished, IMO, but the idea is sound [...]

it took me (as a German native speaker) a while to understand its meaning. Then I remembered that there is also the adjective sound. Because the Csound mailing list is dedicated to sound and also the post subject could be meant here, I thought it could be also an intended ambiguity.

Is it therefore reasonable to expect that the pun "sound idea" (for "idea for a specific sound" and "reasonable idea") would work for English speakers?


texts:
Elsewhere on Stack Exchange I noticed the word 'distinctive' used as a noun and its plural expressed :

  How can we educate new users about our site distinctives ?

Bible Hermeneutics - Meta

The OED states that the word 'distinctive' is both an adjective and a noun but it lists references to the noun only up to the nineteenth century.

I can see that the word has a different meaning to 'characteristics' in that 'distinctives' refers to particular characteristics which distinguish something from others of its type.

So, a word which may be useful and a word which someone has used in living memory but is it, officially, an obsolete word ?


texts: Used with permission/by permission, which is correct?

texts:
On a lot of small print notices you see things like "ABC is a trademark of XYZ Corp., used by permission" or "used with permission". To me, "used with permission" sounds correct.

Is either (more) correct? Is this a British/American difference? Or do they have slightly different meanings?


texts: Converting a sentence with "perceived" into an active voice

texts:
I'm trying to avoid passive voice, so instead of writing "as perceived by a patient" I want to write:

  A symptom is any change, typical for disease, as a patient perceives it
  and describes it.

Does anyone think this sounds terribly wrong or creepy..?


texts: Why there is no "of" in "Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada"?

texts:
My inner implicit grammar compass tells me that there's an "of" missing in  "Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada" and it should be "Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Of Canada", but I think that the possibility that a government of an English speaking country being wrong is far less than me, as someone who never lived in an English speaking country and never had a formal learning experience of Englis, being right.
So, What am I missing here?

You can see the name ("Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada") here.


texts:
Is it incorrect to phrase a comparison in the following way:

  Men are prone more than women to depression.

Or must the adjective always follow more?

  Men are more prone than women to depression.


texts: Is there a word that includes/encompasses both ‘mouse button’ and ‘keyboard key’?

texts:
Is there a word that both describes keys on a keyboard as well as mouse buttons? They are quite similar, as in you press down on them, yet it is still called press a key and click a mouse button.

Three words I thought of are

switch
button
key

but these all are a bit generic and don’t show that both the keyboard and the mouse are meant.


texts:
I bought a car manufactured by Toyota.

How would you say "a car manufactured by Toyota"?

  I bought Toyota's car.

or

  I bought a car of Toyota.

or

  I bought a car from Toyota.

or

  I bought a Toyota.

or is there a better alternative?


texts:
I am not a native speaker of the English language but have been living in United Kingdom for last couple of years.

Once I was with my friend who was an Irish and I said "Its cold outside" and he said that I was wrong and should have said "Its cool outside".

I am still not sure why I was wrong?

Could someone really differentiate the use of word "cool" and "cold" in that case?


texts:
Possible Duplicates:
What is the correct possessive for nouns ending in s?
Pronouncing possessive words that already end in s

How do I pronounce possessives that end with the awkward "s's" and "'s"? Examples:

I found the mistress's attitude ridiculous
These are the eggs' shells.
Which coat is Amos'?


texts: Does it need a quotation mark on a noun?

texts: I'd like to know whether it needs quotation marks on weight and length in a sentence like "each physical quantity like weight, length, and so on, can be described by a single number.", such as "each physical quantity like 'weight', 'length', and so on,...".


texts: After + past simple, is the action always completed?

texts:
In the following sentence:

  After I read the magazine, I decided to go out.

For native speakers, does it mean:

that I read the whole magazine and then went out
that I read some pages and after a while (of reading) I went out
could be both

My question is - I assume that "after I read" expresses simply "after the act of reading", regardless of whether I finished the book or just a few pages?


texts: Does the word 'confrère' in English also apply to women sharing the same profession?

texts:
The word confrère(s) in French is used to refer to males sharing the same profession; the word for females is consoeur(s).
How about English? Is this term used for both genders?


texts: Grammar Term for mistakenly using one verb for two expressions in one sentence

texts:
Sorry, I am having a hard time explaining this, so bear with me.

I am looking for a term describing incorrect grammar as in the following example:

  He drove the car and himself into a rage.

For the life of me, I just can't remember what it's called.


texts: one or [the] other in American and British English

texts:
I'm wondering whether the definite article should be placed before "other" in the following sentence, and whether there is dialectal variation in this regard:

  You should ask one or [the] other of your grandparents.


texts: What is a good word for the identifying characteristics of something?

texts:
For example, let us say we were conducting a study of facial features and we were comparing hair color, nose type and eye shape. Those three characteristics would identify something or someone. What would a good term be for the items that are used to identify a unique point in the problem space?

I looked at a few similar words in the Thesaurus on thefreedictionary.com. For example, under coordinate (n) it yielded co-ordinate, Cartesian coordinate, polar coordinate and number. Most of those were not even synonyms except in the most trivial sense.

"Characteristics" is a superset of what I am referring to, as it includes all characteristics, not simply the ones considered unique or defining.


texts: Is the idiom "cotton to" still heard in parts and, if so, where?

texts:
To "cotton to" is an idiom born of the cotton industry, meaning to get to know or understand something.  In the textile industry, when a fiber cottons, it does a good job of blending in with other fibers to make cloth.  Example using the idiom:

  I don't recon that boy cottons likely to strangers.

This has been in the language for centuries but I don't often hear it much, if at all.


texts: The correct usage of What are these? They're hamburgers or They're two hamburgers

texts:
Students need to answer questions according to the content of certain pictures.
And the question is "What are these?"
Do they answer "They're hamburgers." or "They're two hamburgers."


texts: What's the word for laughing in a sad situation?

texts:
I don't know if it's heartless,but when I'm in a situation that is really sad(like a funeral) I always have this urge to laugh.Of course I try not to burst out in laughter but I guess it's how I cope with these things.

Is there a word that can describe this?I don't mind if it would be used for the urge,the behaviour,the feeling.I'm just really interested how to express this kind of thing without having to say that I really,really have to laugh.


texts: one's way of V-ing / one's way to V / a/the way of V-ing / a/the way to V

texts:
There are some options when you use the word way and some verb together:

(1) a. There are some way of writing.
      b. There are some way to write.

Is there any difference between (1a) and (1b)?

However, it seems that you cannot use way plus the possessives and "to Verb" together:

(2) a.   I'm used to their way of doing business.
      b. ? I'm used to their way to do business.

Do you agree with this judgement? If so, why is it impossible to use way plus the possessives and "to verb" at the same time?


texts: Adverbs position in English: “place–manner–time” or “manner–place–time”?

texts:
Wikipedia tells us that the order should be place–manner–time. However, this webpage tells that it should be manner–Place–Time. Which one is correct?

I have one sentence in two different orders:

No child should grow up in poverty in America in the 21st century.
No child should grow up in America in poverty in the 21st century.


texts: Whats a word for a person that thinks they’re your buddy, but they are not

texts:
Doing a simple school project. Basically, a person who is willing to be your friend but is not reciprocated by you.

Any category would great. It's to be on the derogatory side of the spectrum

  Unfortunately, I found my "buddy" Don who was eager like usual to begin a conversation.

(Do apologize if I'm missing something here. First time posting)

Thank you!


texts:
I know the basic rules about using PP and PS (like specified time in the past etc.) but in some cases, it is not clear to me:

I have finished painting.   - present perfect, I just announce that.

I have finished painting for today - not sure here? I say that today I will not paint anymore but still I feel PP could be possible. What tense should be here?


texts:
What is correct usage -- or correct semi-slang usage -- for verb in this sentence:

'he was a boy who got beat up often'


texts: Switching from have been to current tense in a sentence

texts:
While working on a project with a friend, we stumbled upon a grammatical problem.

  These use cases have been modeled and help convey the game’s primary gameplay.

I'm uncertain whether or not it's acceptable to switch between past tense "have been" to current tense "help."

I'm wondering if the following, would be better suited:

  These use-cases have been modeled and have helped convey the game’s primary gameplay.

My friend argues that the alternative I proposed doesn't clarify that the use-cases still convey the game's primary gameplay to this date.

Are both correct, or is one preferred over the other?


texts:
Recently, a friend sent me this passage from Aleister Crowley's 1917 novel Moonchild:

  “Dinner was served; the Poltergeist supplied the conversation. Never before had he been so light, so genial, so anxious to assure us of our future in Summerland; but ever and anon he touched the minor chord, spoke darkly of 'proof,' and of fish! (I beg you all to bear witness that I have not degraded myself by the evident pun)."

(emphasis mine)

We both understood this as the author saying that the preceding sentence contains an obvious and enticing opportunity for a groan-worthy pun, but that he restrained himself from actually making it. But we can't for the life of us figure out what the pun would have been.

(I considered posing this question on scifi.stackexchange because it's a fantasy novel of sorts, but ultimately chose english.stackexchange because the question is purely linguistic and (presumably) requires no further context from the story beyond the one paragraph already quoted)


texts: A Word To Represent Physical & Mental Attributes

texts:
I'm working on a game, and at the moment I'm using the word "Attributes" to represent things like: intelligence, strength, dexterity, wisdom, aura, etc.

I wouldn't necessarily call them traits, because there will be a statistic applied to each one of them. Is there a not a proper word to represent these?


texts:
Example:

  Since as a little kid, I had passion about ...

Is this acceptable to say as opposed to:

  Ever since I was a little kid, ...

or

  Since I was a little kid, ...

Is It possible to write this without 'I '?

Because the context ( CV ) is about me and I think writing I was is a little redundant. Plus, the graphic design of the paper requires less used space.

Or is this completely wrong and has a fundamental grammatical error?


texts: A skill that you have, but has little to no benefit for you

texts:
Most of us have these little things we are able to do, that are a little different or special.  Maybe it is something we mostly use in laid-back social situations, to break the ice and get a laugh.  Beyond that, however, this talent does not do much for us.  It is clearly not anything we would ever list on a resume.  What might you call it?

Intended use:

Mike's family knew he was finally recovering from his injuries when he resumed his _______ of turning everything into a corny pun, which made his nurses laugh.

Another possible use:

Alice: (sticking out tongue and touching it to tip of nose) Tada!
Bob: Wow.  Impressive.
Alice: Thanks, but I know that with this _______ and a dollar I can get a cup of coffee.

Candidates considered:
Hobby:  On the contrary, your hobby can be of tremendous benefit to you.  It is fun for you, releives your stress, and lets you have a sense of accomplishment. (reject)
Antic(s): For me, this has too much of a connotation that you only do the thing to create havoc or to tease another person. (near-miss)
Trick:  In the absence of other options, this is what I might go with.  However, this still doesn't quite sound right when I read it back. (debatable near-miss).
Despite this, feel free to propose any of these as answers if you can cite definitions and usage examples that refute my objections.

Final word:  This is tagged with both single-word-requests and phrase-requests.  All things being equal, a single word will win.  However, where a short multi-word phrase tells the story better than one word, then so be it.


texts: Is there a word for when an action has an effect opposite to the one intended?

texts:
Is there a word or phrase to express the concept of an action having the opposite effect of the expected outcome?

For example, a drug taken to cure headaches that actually causes headaches, or an advertising campaign designed to deter smoking that leads to an increase in smoking.


texts: What preposition should I use when talking about computer and softwares

texts:
My question is about prepositions and what to use when talking about computer and software.

I will Install a software (in,on,into) my computer
a software was installed (in,on,into) my computer


texts: What we call a dictionary that link positional synonymous words? Is there one already?

texts:
I found a dictionary that list words with the same root meaning but different in position, either as subject or object or even predicate, useful.

As an example, when we look for the word "eat", it will provide what synonymous words as subject ("eater"), as adjective ("eatable"), as object ("eatable" too?), as adverb of place ("eatery"), as adverb of time (not exist), and as verb itself ("eat" / "eat" / "eaten").

Does this kind of dictionary exists? What people call this kind of dictionary?


texts:
In Eminem's song Crazy in love there is the expression never took half:

  You're like the pillar that props me up

  The beam that supports me

  The b...h who never took half,

  The wife who never divorced me.

What does it (never took half) mean?


texts:
In a search user interface for an application a whole bunch of settings can be used to create a filter. A button with a label is meant to kick off the processing using the filter defined by multiple key/value pairs.

Is the correct way to label the button Apply Filter (singular) or Apply Filters (plural)?


texts: What does this participial phrase modify?

texts:
I'm an ESL teacher trying to help my student parse this sentence:

  And as they have come together, the imperative among participating countries to cloak their technological capacities and weaknesses has proved irresistible, at times hindering the search, military analysts say.

My question is about the phrase "at times hindering the search" — I'm not sure what it modifies. It begins with an adverb phrase "at times," before a participial phrase "hindering the search."

Is it an adjective phrase, modifying "imperative?" Or is it an adverb phrase, modifying "to cloak?"


texts: What is the term for pricing items just below a significant value (e.g. $19,995)

texts: What is the name for the pricing strategy where the item price is just below a psychologically significant amount? For example $199 instead of $200, $2.95 instead of $3, $49,990 instead of $50,000.


texts: Is "swop" an acceptable variant of "swap"?

texts: I've always spelt it with an "a". But my friend insists on spelling it with an "o". Is this an acceptable variant?


texts:
Something to the sense of - guininely treat in a way that is apparently kind or helpful, and overly praise and make the person feel superior. Even though there is nothing much much to praise about.

All this with the general sense of feeling oneself inferior to the person - can be mentally, spiritually or physically.


texts: Peculiar pronunciation of 'architecture'

texts:
Watching a footage from 1928-9 i noticed that the narrator pronounced architecture as ['a:tʃitektʃə] instead of the modern ['a:Kitektʃə].

Is this known to be the standard American pronunciation of the word around those times or is it likely to be the narrator's idiosyncrasy/mispronunciation?


texts: 'Extra-high-voltage grid' or 'extra-high voltage grid'?

texts: I've seen both used interchangeably, and can't decide which is best. Given that both adjectives modify the noun, should two hyphens not be used? Thanks!


texts: Is there a word to describe the virtue of "to do something and ask for nothing in return"?

texts: I am wondering if there is a positive, formal counterpart to the slang "No strings attached" to describe, for example, a parent's unquestioned devotion to their children, or the virtue of someone's "a friend in need is a friend in deed", help first, question later mentality.


texts: Do most native English speakers know what a "shiner" is?

texts:
I've never heard the word. But I wonder, do most English speakers understand immediately what the word means?

Example sentence:

  One Monday, Mary showed up at work with a shiner.


texts:
Neither Mohan nor his sister has done ....... lesson.

What should be there in the blank? I marked the answer as "their" but the suggested answer is "her". Why is "their" wrong?

Also, if the sentence were like Neither Priya nor her brother has done .... lesson. Would it be "his" this time?


texts: Single word request: of/at that phase/time/period/care/management

texts:
I am writing a study aim and needs to be really concise. For background, "post-acute care" is the next/second step care in these patients' management. In other words, their care/management has two phases, post-acute is the second phase.
The aim should carry the two meanings: (1) to evaluate post-acute management of these patients and (2) to evaluate these patients' physical therapy use during post-acute management/in the post-acute phase. However, repeating post-acute makes the aim wordy.
What words would be suitable for replacing the question marks?

To evaluate post-acute management of brain trauma patients and assess their ??? physical therapy use.

My own not so good ideas:

of that time
of that phase
of that place


texts: A word like troublesomeness or problematicity

texts:
I'm looking for a word that seems to elude me that has the meaning of something like "the propensity to cause problems, the degree to which something causes trouble, troublesomeness".

For example, if there are potholes in a road and we want to rank them by ___, not by their size, but by how much problems they cause by being located in the path of wheels or on high speed roads, etc.

The two words in the title are too cumbersome and I'm not even sure if they are real words, I swear the must be a shorter word for that?


texts: What does “cash out” mean in the context of “aides who have flamed out, lashed out or cashed out.”?

texts:
There was the following paragraph in Feb. 11 New York Time’s article that came under the headline, “As other aides face Trump’s ire over Rob Porter’s departure, Hope Hicks is praised:

  “In a  White House populated by aides who flamed out, lashed out, or
  cashed out – some do all these in the same day, - Hope Hicks, the
  administration’s Communication Director, has maintained a low profile
  as an influential advisor of a mercurial President who prizes her
  loyalty.”

I guess “flamed out, lashed out, or cashed out” is a turn of phrase the writer thought clever, but I’m not sure of what “cashed out” here exactly means.

Cambridge Dictionary defines “cash out” as to accept money in exchange for something that represents value.

Merriam-Webster defines “cash out” as to convert non-cash asset to cash • cash out stocks

Free Dictionary defines it as to sell an asset in exchange for money, often during times of hardship.

All the above are related to cashing. But Your Dictionary provides another definition other than cashing transaction as:

  to retire; to exchange gambling chips for money when finished gambling.

Does “cash out” have a meaning of “retiring from something”? Is it a very popular American usage?


texts: What is the difference between the year in review and the year under review?


texts: What is the origin of the phrase "the eleventh hour"

texts: Someone happened to use the phrase "the 59th minute of the eleventh hour" just now on IRC (#lisp on Freenode). I remarked that that should be "the twelfth hour". This then started me wondering where that apparently nonsensical phrase came from. It means at the last minute, of course, but in what sense is the eleventh hour the last minute? A quick google finds, for example http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/eleventh_hour, but that doesn't really explain anything. The Biblical usage seems to mean "late in the day" (apparently 5 pm or so), not "at the last minute". Or is it just that the meaning of the phrase has changed slightly over time?


texts: How to use DM (direct message) correctly

texts: How to write correctly 'send your request to DM (direct message) or in DM or perhaps via DM?'


texts:
The phrase 'Head over heels' is quite often used when someone falls over:

  He fell head over heels

But, in my mind it doesn't make much sense. If your head is over your heels (feet) then you're standing upright and not falling over at all.

So, where did the phrase come from ?

There is another, ruder version - 'Arse over tit' which actually does make sense.


texts: What does "creeping on one's turf" mean?

texts:
When you check in on foursquare to a place whose mayor is your friend, your check-in message is "Your friend X is the mayor here (and you're creeping on their turf)."

What does this expression mean?

EDIT:

In foursquare's game mechanics, the person with most checkins (in different days) to a venue is the venue's mayor. So, when you check in somewhere you're actually getting yourself close to steal that person's mayorship.

I understand that the word "turf" here has to be a slang for territory; my main doubt is about the word "creeping," then. Does the sentence means "you're on your way to steal your friend's mayorship" or "you're enjoying the benefits of hanging out on a place that is commanded by your friend"?


texts: Is the capital Y on "You" becoming a thing?

texts:
Something I have noticed recently, in many international forums (i.e. English-speaking with many non-native speakers, including SE), is the use of a capital "Y" in "You", especially in "Thank You": I would tend to believe this comes as an analogy with "I", or as a way of showing respect, but of course it might be completely random.

Is it something that has been "imported" by non-native speakers, or is it a trend in the English language which might eventually become a valid form?


texts:
This following snippet is from The Art of Power by Jon Meacham, a biography on Thomas Jefferson,

It was nearing midnight as he wrote these words. He was suffering from his headache as the candle burned down and Jupiter, his personal slave, fell asleep. Perhaps it was the intimacy of the hour that encouraged his candor; perhaps he was boasting vainly. But Jefferson had some reason to say that “providence” had given men like himself the “means” to satisfy his sexual appetites—means he appears to have made use of.

I was wondering about the meaning of 'intimacy' in this context. From my search, the closest fitting meaning comes from Oxford Dictionary, defined as "A cosy and private or relaxed atmosphere". Could it be the right way to understand the phrase in this context?


texts: Word for words that sound like the sound

texts:
In our English lesson, we talked about words that are derived from sounds.

Our teacher said they are "anamatapic", but it seems I can't get the spelling right. Even google does not provide a good suggestion for a better spelling.

So now I am looking for the word that sounds like "anamatapic" and describes the professional term for words that sound like the sound. Everything's clear?

I have tried

dict.leo.org

Close votes: thanks for the meta reference to good resources.

The following online resources don't help:

OED
Cambridge dictionary
The free dictionary
Etymology
Onelook

These will guide to correct results:

Dictionary.com
Merriam Webster
Oxford Dictionaries

So, yeah, maybe I could have found it there.

And if you try Google now, you'll get a result from a strange website, which is not a dictionary, but some kind of Q&A style forum. Maybe we can put that one in the list of helpful resources, too :-D

Also cool: if I would have type the title of this EL&U question into Google instead of the intended word, the first hit is the correct Wikipedia article. I'll try to derive a pattern from this.


texts: Comma or period after "but I disagree" statement

texts:
So I have a sentence looking something like this (punctuation removed):
"People say that rainy days are the worst days _ but I disagree _ I think they're the best of all"
I'm struggling to figure out what I should replace the underscores with.
Any help would be appreciated.


texts: Which word is more appropriate in this headline: “captivate” or “engross”?

texts:
Consider this headline:

  Horrific Accident On Live TV Captivates The Internet

Dictionary.com gives the following definitions for captivate:

  to attract and hold the attention or interest of, as by beauty or excellence; enchant.
  Obsolete . to capture; subjugate.

and the following for engross:

  to occupy completely, as the mind or attention; absorb.
  to write or copy in a clear, attractive, large script or in a formal manner, as a public document or record.
  to acquire the whole of (a commodity), in order to control the market; monopolize.

It seems to me “engross” is more appropriate.

Are there other verbs that better suit this context?


texts: The definite article with geographical terms

texts:
I know in English you can use the definite article with geographical expressiones such as the sea, the country, the land, the city, the beach, the seaside, but what about other geographical terms? Can I use them as generic terms to mean "the idea of ..."? I don't mean any particular place.

The jellyfish lives in the water.
(= I don't mean any particular water. I mean the idea or concept of water:  an area of
water, especially a lake, river, sea or ocean)
The grasshopper lives in the meadow.
( = I don't mean any meadow. I mean the idea or concept of meadow: a field
covered in grass, used especially for hay)
The lion is the king of the jungle.
Is there a cat that lives in the desert?
There is only one type of cat that lives in the desert. The sand
cat (Felis margarita) is the only member of the cat family tied
directly to sand regions. Found in North Africa, the Arabian peninsula
and the deserts of Turkmenistan in Uzbekistan, the sand cat has
adapted to extremely arid desert areas.
Plants live in many different environments.  Some live in the
ocean, some live in the desert. Plants are very important to
everyone on the planet.
Hope shows up in several places in this very dark world—such as in the
incorruptible goodness of Katniss' sister, Primrose. It shows in
Katniss' rare sacrifice for her sister, when she volunteers to take
Prim's place in the Games. It lives in the meadow and the woods, where
the natural world exists mostly unmolested by the powerful central
government.
In Africa, the rhino lives in the Savannah among zebras, lions,
giraffes, elephants, hippos, and other animals

This is what books say, but obviously they can't cover all cases:


texts: What is the word that means "looking at something without moving the head, just eyeballs."

texts:
It is defined as sudden movement of the eye to look around keeping the head where it is. I remember it being a noun. It was of six or more characters.

It can exactly or roughly fit in all these sentences:

example - you have hurt your eye. X is not advised.

ciliary muscles facilitate X.

Bulls have better X, therefore better awareness of their environment.


texts: Is the the compound subject "I and my friend" grammatically correct as opposed to "My friend and I"?

texts:
Some people say it is outright wrong to use "I and my friend" or "I and my X". Their reasoning is it should be "My friend and I love the sun" is right because when separated "My friend loves the sun" and "I love the sun" both makes sense. But if I use "I and my friend" love the sun, they get split as "I love the sun" and "My friend love the sun". The latter is wrong.
 Others say the sentence is right grammatically but not polite to use "I" before.
So who is right?


texts:
I have been unable to find a good word (or 2-word phrase) to convey the idea of "dream life", by which I mean "the possible future state of my life in which I experience even more fulfillment, health, and joy".

One of the reasons I'd like to discover a good synonym is for a replacement of the occupational title of "Personal Dream Life Coach".

I'm obviously not referring to dreams had when sleeping but instead mean "ideals" or "ambitions" or "hopes".


texts: "Success", "Failure" and what's in-between?

texts:
The title pretty much already describes it:

Whats the 'neutral' term when relating to "success" or "failure"? A term which is neither, but still some kind of result?

To further elaborate, I'm looking for a 'logic' word, nothing that implies any kind of compromise or tie. To define something similar in javascript, it'ld be:

true - undefined - false

But I was wondering if there is a better word than undefined / unresolved, since those imply that there might be a resolution in the future.


texts: Trying to extract information in a casual manner - Which word or phrase can be best used to describe it?

texts: Someone (person  A) is trying to extract information in a conversation in a casual manner, probably with malintent, without the other person (person B) noticing that they (B) are actually divulging information. How can we better describe the action? Words like 'inquire' and 'probe' doesn't satisfy unknowingly part


texts: What can it mean "why do you just not come?"

texts:
I got the sentence in the drama called "IT CROWD".
"why do you just not come" , I dont think that means "Why do you not come?, I  expected you to come"
that's more like in a situation that someone is about to go out with his friend but doesn't want to walk, the friend could say "what about just not coming, you wouldn't have to walk then"
Is it right ? I am a bit confused, please help me out with that
From Season 2 Episode 1 : http://www.springfieldspringfield.co.uk/view_episode_scripts.php?tv-show=the-it-crowd&episode=s02e01
quoted text:

Let's get a taxi.
It's a ten minute walk.
No.  I don't like walking.
Why do you just not come, then you wouldn't have to walk anywhere?


texts:
We often omit "that" in direct object noun clauses. For example:

  I hope you have a good weekend.

or

  I hope the meeting goes well.

It may sound a bit stilted to include "that" in those sentences, particularly the first.

However, today I was writing an email and wanted to combine those ideas into one sentence. My clarity instinct led me to write:

  I hope you have a good weekend and that the meeting goes well.

In this case, omitting "that" before "the meeting goes well" makes that second object sound clumsy. But including two "that"s sounds equally clumsy.

Is it acceptable to omit the first and not the second? Does it sound clumsy to omit both?


texts: What is a word to describe someone who enjoys interacting with children?

texts: What is a single word to describe someone who enjoys interacting with children, or/and is good with kids?


texts:
I was writing something in a scientific context and came across this issue. (I have a feeling that I haven't searched the archive far enough and this might be a duplicate.)

In a sentence like

  Whose cat is more beautiful than the cats of their adjacent neighbours?

I would like to use a demonstrative pronoun in place of 'the cats'. Suppose that a neighbour always has a cat.

Is 'those' grammatically correct? I'm not sure because 'those' refers to 'cat', which is singular.
If 'those' is correct, can 'that' be used as well? I'm not sure because it doesn't convey the plurality of cats in the neighbourhood.
If 'that' is not correct, would the use of 'that' in a colloquial context sound strange? (I'm not a native speaker.)


texts: Who or whom again but I think slightly different

texts: 'Voters Will Know Who to Blame': I saw this headline in www.commondreams.com today. I think it should be whom. Is whom now obsolete?


texts: A word that combines the feeling of euphoria and intense, bone-deep fear

texts: I'm trying to describe a god through the eyes of a devout follower. I've tried using awesome because I tend to use it for scenarios like this (ie. describing something beautiful and horrifying), but it doesn't quite fit. I need something that says "this is magnificent and terrible in equal measures". I feel like I could find the answer in one of lovecraft's novels, but I'm not sure where to even start. Could someone suggest a way to convey the way I'd be using awesome? I'd like it to be clear I'm using it in the traditional sense and not the new (ish) sense.


texts: Would you help me understand this paragraph?

texts:
Stellar black holes form when the center of a very massive star collapses in upon itself. This collapse also causes a supernova, or an exploding star, that blasts part of the star into space. Scientists think supermassive black holes formed at the same time as the galaxy they are in.

What does it mean by collapses in upon itself ?

When I read the word collapse, I feel like the centre of the star has a gravitational effect and it attracts what is around it to form a black hole. But when I read the word "exploding star", I feel like the star is expanding like a bomb. So, there are two opposite ideas. Which one is true?


texts:
I came across this while reading "Along came a spider" by James Patterson.
Chapter 48 begins with the sentence:

  The rest of that day, I burned the candle at the other end.

Followed by:

  It felt a little irresponsible, but that was good for me. It's all right to put the weight of the world on your shoulders sometimes, if you know how to take it off.

I am familiar with the meaning of the idiom "burning the candle at both ends". The context in question, however, suggests the exact opposite.

Search results have provided me with precious little on "burning the candle at the other end". I've looked into a translation of the novel in Bulgarian, where the phrase is translated into something along the lines of:

  I spent the rest of the day relaxing and enjoying myself.

I understand how burning a candle at both ends is related to that particular idiom's meaning, but I'm having trouble grasping the analogy between burning one at the other end and the interpretation of taking it easy (presuming the interpretation is correct). If the rate of energy expenditure is the key factor here, why not just burn the candle the regular way?

Could someone please suggest the origin and exact meaning of "burning a candle at the other end?


texts: What does the phrase "all sharing two common strands" imply?

texts:
The image says:

  "There are several Khasi tournaments played through the year, in all villages, all sharing two common strands - the prize goat and that all players are tribal people."

I don't quite understand the meaning of "all sharing two common strands"

The image is a part of the cover story of a national daily


texts: General term for “electronics”, “thermotechnics”, etc

texts:
I need a term that generalizes following areas:

electronics
mechanic engineering
mechatronics
thermotechnics
etc.,
but not includes:
gene engineering
drug engineering
etc.

Thus, “engineering” does not fit in my case.
I was suggested “technology”. But it was not by native speakers. Thus I would like native speakers to chek or suggest more appropriate word.
Can it be “technical engineering”, “technics”?


texts: Word meaning "without knowing the destination?"

texts:
Example:

  I've been following people [...] recently.

I'm looking for something similar to * aimlessly*. But instead of not having a purpose it should mean not knowing the destination.


texts: Is there a term to define the set of all answers given to a questionnaire?

texts:
Is there a non-plural word to define the set of all answers given by a student to a questionnaire?

The word would be used in a REST API to identify the resource of the set of all answers given by a student to a questionnaire. It's therefore used in a URL to identify the resource of an "answers set".


texts: Is there a word for the status of a team being 'home' or 'away'

texts:
A team can be 'home' or 'away' - but what is this status called?

At first I thought 'location' or 'venue' but this isn't right - the location is singular and the basis of what determines the 'home' or 'away' status.

ex:

Team: Main Street Bruisers
Mascot: Gorilla
Score: 4
status: Away

edit:

Thanks everyone for the input.  It's quite a tricky one.  The idea of 'hosting' is nice - but I'm not looking for a boolean kind of value - 'hosting? = yes' or 'hosting? = no' - more for a term that signifies the status of the field of play for a given team.


texts:
In these two examples, what types of reasons (assuming the writing is generally about both characters) make a particular style a better choice?  Or is this just an arbitrary choice that doesn't really matter?

Hillary, Bill's wife, called this morning...
Bill's wife, Hillary, called this morning...


texts: Asking a permission to ask a question by saying the word Question, followed by the actual question

texts: My Mom does something that irks me.  Either when she calls me, or sends me an e-mail, she says or writes "Question."  Then asks whatever question it is.  I find this rude.  In my opinion starting the question this way becomes a demand, versus a question.  Typically when I ask a question I either just ask it, or say "May or Can I ask you a question?"  It depends on who I'm talking to and what we're talking about.  In Italian that is the proper way to ask a question, but I don't think it's proper etiquette to ask that way in English.


texts:
"Jumped through the fence" in meaning he jumped over.

Whole sentence: Then he ran across the street, jumped through the fence and walked to the parking lot

Is this correct?


texts: What preposition can be used instead of *to / before* in a phrase (see example)?

texts:
The word before has always seemed somewhat awkward to me in phases like:

(1) He spoke before the audience...
(2) She presented her report before the Board of the Company...

(3) The Company positions itself as a highly-reputed organization .... before (?) ... the civil society.

What would be the best ways to avoid the word "before" especially in phrase (3), or is "before" just fine?


texts: How should I use 'right' and 'left' when describing a person?

texts:
Is there a standard convention for using right and left when describing a person? Should it always be from the perspective of the person being described?

For example, when describing a flat object:

  There was a ketchup stain on the right side of the painting.

This sentence is using "right side" from the perspective of someone looking at the painting.

For non-flat objects:

  There was a bright, hot-pink streak on the right side of the car.

This is strange to me. It could go either way, since the car has a "front" and "back", it also has a "left" and "right", so the hot-pink streak could be on the right side from the car's perspective, or the right side from the viewers perspective.

The same applies to people:

  He was an older man with a huge, curved scar dominating the right side of his face.

Does this mean that, from his perspective, the scar is on his right side, or his left side?


texts:
In terms of rhetoric devices, what's it called when the prefixes of consecutive words are the same? Specifically, I am looking at this quote by Winston Churchill made in his speech - Give Us the Tools:

  we shall outwit, out-manoeuvre, outfight and outlast ...

The closest word I could think of to describe this is "diacope", however, I am under the impression that it refers exclusively to the repetition of a word or phrase.


texts:
He bellowed outside: 'A disgrace! What have you got me?'

Or

He bellowed outside, 'A disgrace! What have you got me?'

Comma or Colon? Please help!


texts: What’s the English for “democrature”, a dictatorship pretending to be a democracy through fraudulent elections?

texts:
The French term democrature (from
democratie + dictature) is defined as:

Dictature déguisée en démocratie par l’organisation d’élections non libres, contrôlées et/ou frauduleuses. Par extension, tout système visant à contrôler des élections, et y parvenant.
That is:
(Dictatorship disguised as a democracy by the organization of non-free, controlled and / or fraudulent elections. By extension, any system aiming to control elections, and succeeding in doing so.)

The Italian term democratura  (democrazia + dittatura) with the same meaning, is present in main dictionaries.
In English the literal translation is democraship, a term about which the only reference I could find is from a blog of Dr. Adizes:

“Democraship,” is a term coined by Dr. Adizes that defines the conflict that exists between democratic and dictatorial systems.

whose definition appears to differ from the French or Italian one, plus I couldn’t find the term in any dictionary.
Is there an established English term for “democrature” with the sense given by the French definition?


texts: " Did you were at home ? " or "Were you at home ?"

texts:
I don't know when I should use "Did you were..." and when I should use "Were you...".
For example, Why do we say:

  "Were you at home last night?"

but not

  "Did you were at home last night?"


texts:
A bit of context: I'm working on a board game and I'm trying to find a title for a (fictional) female leader. It's sci-fantasy, so the title can come from pretty much any culture/era. I'd like to find a word that is not very commonly seen (unlike queen, empress, princess, etc.) and, for thematic reasons, not a feminized version of a male title.
If it were a male character, I'd use something like shogun, archon, czar, etc., but I want something that designates an exclusively female leader...
I tried searching the web, but I couldn't find many that apply to women:

Wikipedia – Imperial, royal and noble ranks
TitleMax – Royal Titles Around The World

I tried getting help in the Worldbuilding exchange (I'm using it to build fiction, after all), but was promptly told off, that it was off-topic, subjective, and that it belongs in History instead. In the History exchange, I was told it was off topic, trying to prove a contentious point, and that it belongs in Culture or Language instead... I don't mean to be a pain or offend anyone, just trying to compile a list of titles that would work in this context.


texts:
I am trying to make a term for a function equipped on an image sensor.
The term is to express "the upper limit of fluctuation allowance in image size which is specified in %"

The value of percentage does not express the ratio of the enlarged image size compared to the original image size, so for example, 150% does not mean that the sensor will only detect a 150% bigger image to the original image.

Instead, it is to express the range of percentage of size fluctuation for sensor to accept to detect the shape (image) which makes 150% to mean that the sensor will detect an upscaled original image in all upscaling rate from 101% to 150%, such as a 102%, 117%, or 142% bigger image to the original image.

Does any of the followings describe the concept well?
If not, what is the problem?

  Maximum size fluctuation allowance percentage
  Maximum size volatility allowance percentage

Or,

  Size fluctuation allowance percentage upper limit
  Size volatility allowance percentage upper limit

Or, maybe "percentage" better be "rate"?
Also, all of the candidates seem redundant. Any term to combine some words?

Thank you in advance.


texts: How does the ampersand in most fonts resemble "et"

texts:
I read that the ampersand & started off as a ligature for "et" ("and" in Latin). An example of an ampersand that does look like "et" can be seen in this very site's logo. So how does the shape of & in the majority of fonts resemble this at all? If it doesn't, then why was this shape chosen?

I know there will be fonts with different looks, but the majority of fonts look like this and those are what I'm asking about.


texts: What is the expression for playing out several theoretical scenarios?

texts: Is there an expression to describe the act of thinking about all the possible scenarios that might happen? For example, an army general might envision possible attacks from the enemy in order to come up with a response plan. The Pentagon might run simulations to identify security weak-points to our infrastructure. In business, one might think about various possible actions and play them out in their mind or conduct a thorough analysis. The end-goal for this type of thinking process is typically to predict what might happen and decide what the next best action is. Is there a term for this, like war-gaming?


texts: A word for a small unimportant component upon which the whole depends and that breaks easily?

texts:
In my language we have a slang word for a small part of the whole that is not very significant for the functionality of the whole but which breaks easily and in such case renders the whole useless.

Manufacturers are often suspected of including such a part intentionally to shorten the lifespan of a product after the guarantee expires. Is there such word in English?


texts: Which english phrase means to work very hard for a short time, and then coast on the results?

texts:
There is a two-word or three-word English phrase, whose third word may be "coast", that means a style of work / living in which one works very hard and then lives off the efforts of the work for a time, and then works hard again.

I once knew the phrase, but I no longer remember it.

Does anyone know what the phrase is?


texts: Does a transitive verb always require a direct object?

texts:
If a verb is only listed in the dictionary as a transitive verb, can it be correctly used without a direct object, i.e. as an intransitive verb?  We can use the verb "force" as an example, which is only listed as a transitive verb.

  He always forces.

Can it be correct?  Although the meaning is not clear from the example alone, but in context, the meaning could be understood regarding what he forces. Thank you for your help.


texts: Does the word 'God' with a capital G have a plural form?


texts:
Let's say I want to say something I should've do, do I use the past tense or normal

I should've kept the information /
I should've keep the information

Which one is right and why?

Thank you so much!


texts: Origins of "sure" meaning "yes" in American English

texts: I notice that the use of the word "sure" to mean "yes" seems to be much more common in American English than in other dialects. Can anyone point to any evidence as to the origins of this divergence?


texts: Which one is right "Thanks a lot" or "Thanks lots"

texts:
I'm really confusing between these two. How can we say many thanks to a person?

Thanks a lot
Thanks lots


texts: How can I rewrite this sentence in the passive?

texts:
I have this sentence:
"Are they setting up lights outside the stadium?"

How can I rewrite it in the passive?


texts: One word for that describes "making things nobody wants"

texts:
What would be a good word to describe "making things nobody wants"? If any.

I'm searching for a word to describe a negative connotation. Context: the current trend is to fabricate "everything connected", "internet-of-things". There are numerous examples that make no sense (and a few that do). How to capture the fabrication of the connected shaver that tells you you have to shave, the connected hairbrush that tells you your hair health score, and the bluetooth socks that tell left from right?

A single word so after you have spoken about various examples and you want to end with a strong exit that will be remembered. Say big on a slide on its own or after you have written about it and want to repeat going back to that 'feeling' in the article by repetition of a single word.

Portmanteaus are allowed.

I have been searching synonyms for useless and obsolete but that doesn't capture the "making" part. Also, I have been thinking on non-existent options like combining obsolete and useless with engineering but that wasn't quite it either.


texts: Is it appropriate to capitalise "a" in the title

texts:
Is it appropriate to capitalise the "a" in the title of an article, journal, thesis and so on?

I have seen both cases where "a" is capitlised and uncapitlised. I am using British English if this makes any difference at all.


texts: Use of plural form of auxiliary verb for singular subject

texts:
This is an excerpt from an article published on the Nautilus website:

  ...We in the 21st century would be shocked if an educated adult were unable to identify the continents on a world map, yet we are quite comfortable with widespread obliviousness about anything but the most superficial highlights...

Why has 'were' been used instead of singular 'was'?


texts: Activity/adjective for keep re-mentioning a favor

texts:
Let's say a person helps you study for an exam (as a favor). What is the activity/verb that describes that person when he keeps re-mentioning it, as to make you feel that you owe him something.

Is there a one-word verb (or adjective) for it?

For example,

person1: Can you give me a ride to the airport?

person2: Sorry, I'm busy.

person1: But I helped you study for your exam last week.

person2: Ok, I'll give you a ride.

Next week.

person1: Hey, I need some cash. You don't mind giving me some, since I helped you pass that exam two weeks ago.

person2: Ok, stop being such a (the word I'm looking for).

I believe many words could be used in this scenario, such as abusive or manipulative. However, I am looking for a more exact work, which describes the action of constant referencing of a previous favor, to make the other feel obligated to help.


texts: The meaning and usage of ‘stiffs’ in “Of Mice and Men”

texts:
I would really appreciate it if someone could confirm whether I have interpreted correctly the meaning of “stiffs” in the following excerpt

“I had enough,” he said angrily. “You ain't wanted here. We told you you ain't. An' I tell ya, you got floozy idears about what us guys amounts to. You ain't got sense enough in that chicken head to even see that we ain't stiffs. S'pose you get us canned. S'pose you do. You think we'll hit the highway an' look for another lousy two-bit job like this. You don't know that we got our own ranch to go to, an' our own house.”
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck (1937)

Despite what Yahoo! answers tells me, “He's referring to the fact that they're both not dead”, I'm certain that is the wrong meaning.
Collins Dictionary provides the following definitions of the noun stiff in American English

a corpse
a drunken person
an excessively formal or constrained person
an awkward or rough person
a hobo
a man
a person who gives a small tip or no gratuity at all

I believe that Candy, an aged and infirm handyman, is telling Curly's wife that he, Lennie (an itinerant worker) and Crooks (a stablehand) are not hobos. However, there are  two definitions of hobo, neither one of which matches exactly

A hobo is a person who has no home, especially one who travels from place to place and gets money by begging.
A hobo is a worker, especially a farm worker, who goes from place to place in order to find work.

Lennie is an itinerant worker, a man with no fixed abode, whose dream is to settle down and live on a farm. Instead, Crooks and Candy have both lived and worked on the ranch for years. Curly's wife (she has no name in the novel) is aware that Crooks and Candy are not vagrants, but Candy uses the term stiffs as an abrasive slur.

In the excerpt, does the expression stiff refer to a homeless person who begs for money or someone who is a migrant worker? Perhaps there is another meaning of this N.American slang, one which is not listed in the Collins Dictionary.

Being born British, I am most familiar with the meaning of stiff being slang for a dead person. In current American English usage, can I say someone who is homeless and without work is a stiff? Can I use it instead of hobo or is it dated?

How derogatory or offensive is the term today? Is stiff = tramp/migrant worker familiar among American speakers?


texts: Why was "a world" used in this sentence of Melville?

texts:
I cannot make much sense of a world in the following passage from Moby-Dick:

There’s your law of precedents; there’s your
utility of traditions; there’s the story of your obstinate survival of
old beliefs never bottomed on the earth, and now not even hovering in
the air! There’s orthodoxy!
Thus, while in life the great whale’s body may have been a real terror
to his foes, in his death his ghost becomes a powerless panic to a
world.

Methinks Melville referred to the existing world he knew (the world of traditions, of old beliefs, of orthodoxy) and not to an imaginary word (when referring to such a non-existing world the indefinite article is frequently used). Therefore, the definite article would make more sense to me in this sentence, like so:
Thus, while in life the great whale’s body may have been a real terror
to his foes, in his death his ghost becomes a powerless panic to the
world.
Would such sentence be incorrect in the context of the passage in question?
Why was the indefinite article chosen by Melville?


texts: Is there a single word for "group of intelligent people"?

texts:
Please, suggest any single word that can define the meaning of this following phrase:

  Group of intelligent people.


texts: Why does this "Ladies First" saying exist?

texts:
I've been wondering.

Where did the saying "Ladies first" originate? Did it originally appeared in English countries, or? And is this always expressed in a positive/polite tune of meaning? I mean, I once watched a movie in which a man said to another man "Ladies first."


texts: Which part of speech is "back" in “then she went back to her secretaire”?

texts: Which part of speech is "back" in the sentence “then she went back to her secretaire”?


texts: People can ‘abide by’ the law, but can the law ‘abide people’?

texts:
Time magazine copy chief and copy editor pointed out the grammatical errors of many movie titles, and suggested corrections in the article of Time magazine (May 24) titled “Writing Wrongs: 10 Movie Titles with Bad Grammar.”
There was the following suggestion on the title of “Law Abiding Citizen”:

  “Some citizens the law can abide; others it cannot stand.” Suggested
  fix: A hyphen Law-Abiding Citizen

Oxford English Dictionary defines ‘abide’ as a verb:

  1 [no object] (abide by) accept or act in accordance with (a rule, decision, or recommendation):
  2 [with object] (can/could not abide) be unable to tolerate.
  3 [no object] (of a feeling or memory) continue without fading or being lost.

I understand citizens can abide by law and we are mostly law-abiding citizens. But can the law abide citizens as used in “Some citizens the law can abide"?


texts: Meaning of "paddling hell-for-leather away from a harmless seal"?

texts:
I'm reading The Inflatable Volunteer by Steve Aylett, and I'm stuck with this sentence:

  Last week I was flooding the banks with saliva, slivers of gill and drifting snot, paddling hell-for-leather away from a harmless seal.

It's a pretty bizarre novel, so I don't know if I don't understand because of my bad English or if this was the author intention.


texts: Difference between constrained and confined

texts:
Regarding this matter, I've googled and came up with this website, which says:

  As verbs the difference [...] is that confined is (confine) while constrained is (constrain).
  As adjectives the difference [...] is that confined is not free to move while constrained is within close bounds [...]

With the first paragraph it is that I simply do not understand it grammatically.
I read the second one as confined is stricter than constrained.
Is this correct?

My guess would be that "constrained" may refer to virtually any situation while "confined" is only applied to physical space.


texts: Is it correct to write "25% off everything"? Should we add "on"?

texts:
Is it correct to write "25% off all subscriptions"?

Why are we omitting on here?


texts: What's the meaning of the zero conditional or the first or the second .. Does it mean the form of the verb and what does that exactly mean does it mean infinitive although the present simple is used! so what does the numbers in the .. conditional mean?


texts:
I know about conditional sentences type 2, but I want to know in which category this kind of conditional sentence is placed:

  If I could go anywhere in the world, I would travel to the U.S.


texts:
Should danger approach either its nest or the crocodile nest, the bird would emit warning cries.

A. What is the grammatical name for this expression?
B. What is its function?


texts:
'I know what is good.'
'I know who is good.'

Here 'What is good' and 'who is good' must be noun clauses.therefore I think we can use these noun clauses as subject, e.g.

What is good is learning English.
Who is clever at mathematics must be John.

Are these sentences (grammatically) correct? and can we use clauses which start with 'who' as subject of verb?

Who is clever at mathematics must be John.
Who designed this building ought to be shot.

Or must these clauses be changed to, for instance:

The man who is clever at...............
The person who designed this building........   ?


texts: Present continuous vs present perfect followed by temporal 'for' / 'since'

texts:
In a newspaper I read the following sentence:

We are waiting for the past few days with a hope.

Is the grammar correct ...
can we use the present continuous with temporal for and since?
English grammar books I have read say we do not.
Please could you clarify.


texts: How to describe the feeling of a guilty pleasure?

texts:
I'm writing a story in which the POV character is talking about a guilty pleasure / vice, and want to indicate this. Something like, "talking about it made me feel _____". Is there a word or phrase I can use here? (I have in mind pretty much exactly the sort of things as in this question, but where that asks for a word/phrase to describe the thing itself, I'm looking to describe the associated feeling. I guess I'm looking for an alternative to "it felt like a guilty pleasure".)

Not "bittersweet"; the character's 'negative' feelings aren't to the thing itself, but rather related to admitting that (s)he likes the thing.
Not "rebellious"; that has a more positive connotation, whereas I'm looking more for "guilty" or "embarrassed".
Not "titillated", precisely, as that doesn't convey the entire feeling, but maybe an adjective modifying "titillated"? ("Perversely"?)
"Kinky" comes darned close, except I'd really prefer to avoid erotic overtones.

Edit: to clarify, I'm thinking of the sort of guilty pleasure that won't get the POV character in trouble, but would result in dirty looks if not outright teasing (or maybe worse). An analogy would be a member of high society that enjoys something that's both inappropriate to their social position (but would be normal for someone "lower class") and also something not usually considered enjoyable.


texts: Is “Go against type” a stand-alone popular idiom?

texts:
Today’s New York Times carries an article with the headline, “James Gorman of Morgan Stanley, Going Against Type,” followed by the lead copy:

  Forgoing Wall Street flash, Morgan Stanley’s chief executive is finding safer ways for the firm to make money.

I first guessed “Go against type” as “go against typical pattern or traditional way of thinking, which usually means ‘aggressive, abrasive and revolutionary,” but the succeeding copy goes against my preconception:

“In the process, James Gorman and Morgan Stanley are becoming the face of what may be Wall Street’s future: highly profitable, to be sure, but with fewer of the grand ambitions or larger-than-life personalities that have always characterized the place. “I’m pretty invisible, and that’s just fine,” he acknowledged."

It seems “go against type” implies James Gorman is taking a steadier and life-sized approach of management as against aggressive and speculative business approaches of Morgan Stanley in the past.

However, I don’t find the phrase, “Go against type” neither in CED or OED, though I find “Go against sb./ sth (flow, the grain)” in CED.

Is “Go against type” a stand-alone idiom, or just one of variations of “Go against sth,”?

Can “go against type” be often used in such a way of simply meaning “different from the old way,” as used in the above article, without projecting any revolutionary, ambitious, and abrasive tones and a sort of bulldozing approach that come first from the word, “go against X”?


texts: "to" + infinitive vs. just infinitive vs. gerund after the phrase "verb for"

texts:
The Spanish verb contar translates to "to count". Which of the following would be a better way to express this in formal writing:

  Contar is the Spanish verb for count.
  Contar is the Spanish verb for "to count".
  Contar is the Spanish verb for counting.

I know a safer option is to just say, "Contar is the Spanish verb that means 'to count'." but I'd prefer to pick one from the above three options.


texts: I am looking for a word or sentence to describe a process in formal terms. A process that is not an "Automated process" or "Manual Process" but somewhere in between. A word or sentence if you must, for example, a hand-operated process. Any ideas?


texts: Adaptable at or in or to doing something

texts:
I am confused with what is the correct expression to use, is it better saying "I am adaptable at using smth", "I am adaptable on using smth" or "I am adaptable to using smth"?

The third sounds completely wrong to me but a British guy said its the correct, I used the first but I am really confused so I want to hear opinions.


texts:
Prompted by this question I got to thinking about the placement of the word now.

If it's placed before the comma, it refers to an immediate condition:

  You don't want to answer this word-placement question now, do you?

You might want to answer the question, but the situation is not urgent. You could answer it tomorrow. In fact, it might preferable to answer that question tomorrow if, say, it was your lawyer talking to you and your answer was going on the record.

But if you place it this way,

  You don't want to answer this word-placement question, now do you?

it hasn't anything to do with time. Now functions in a different capacity, but I'm not really sure what that is. An interjection, perhaps? Something else?


texts: Derogatory word or term for a peasant/lower class

texts: What is a derogatory word or term for a peasant/lower-class person that is stronger or more insulting than pleb? It could be an archaic term used by nobles during the Middle Ages.


texts:
How would you draw the syntax tree of the sentence below?

  She arrived at quarter past two

My doubts are especially about at quarter past two.


texts: What is the grammatical name of the first part of the following sentence?

texts:
What is the grammatical name of the first part of the following sentence in bold?

One of the greatest playwrights of the English Renaissance, Christopher Marlowe is known for his plays Doctor Faustus and Tamburlaine.


texts:
From this article:

  For her sprawling history "Face: A Visual Odyssey," designer and author Jessica Helfand assembled a dazzling cabinet of human curiosities

The only definition I found which appears to fit as adjective for history is (from here):

  : to spread or develop irregularly or without restraint (a sprawling narrative)

But what does it mean "to develop a narrative without restraints"? Could it maybe describe a history which extensively covers a subject? In greater detail/depth?

In comparison with another sentence from here:

  A typical spring afternoon in Brooklyn's sprawling Prospect Park brings a crush of joggers, picnickers and frisbee-throwers.

Why was sprawling used here? All definitions I found for sprawl suggest untidiness, irregularity, ugliness, lack of planning. Does the writer simply meant Prospect Park looks "vast", "to spread in all directions"?

Thanks!


texts: Some of my students have a disagreement about transcribing the pronunciation of "trade" in American English. Some say it's (a) [t͡ʃeɪd] while others (and they point to dictionaries that support them) say it's (b) [treɪd]. I thought it was the former; the latter sounds a little like a fast "tirade". But now as I try to articulate it more, it seems like (c) [t͡ʃreɪd]. Any insights on this?


texts: British [a] = American [ɑ] in certain words

texts:
There is a large group of words in which /a/ is pronounced [a] or [æː] in most American and some British dialects, but [ɑː] in most British dialects; this group includes past, can’t, fast, etc. This is the BATH vowel.

But there is a much smaller group of words where the relationship is reversed: (all?) British dialects have [a], while American dialects have [ɑː]. This group includes words like tacos and pasta. This vowel does not seem to be covered in any of the normal lexical sets.

The BrEng and AmEng pronunciations of pasta and taco can be heard on the Cambridge Dictionary website for anyone who is curious.

What is the reason behind this reverse distribution?


texts: Find out who make at least $10000 less than the 50000

texts:
Suppose that: John makes $20000. Sara makes $40001. Peter makes $45000.

If I want to find out who "make at least $10000 less than the 50000.", what should be the answer?

My idea is that Sara and Peter are the ones. But someone else said that John is the one.


texts:
Are there any synonyms or alternatives for the words store/storage in context of storing abstract things? For example:

storage of user's posts
to store functions


texts:
Many people say, e.g., "Class Xth," "Category Xth," "Part Xth," "Street Xth," instead of "Class X," "Category X," "Part X," "Street X," respectively.

Is the former right?


texts: What do you call that oppressive feeling you get when it's hot and muggy?

texts:
When it's hot and humid, you start to feel slightly uncomfortable, where you're not just "hot", but also a bit dizzy, lightheaded, nauseous, and you feel like you can't breathe. What is that feeling called?

Now maybe you can just simply call it "oppressive" and "uncomfortable", but is there a more specific term to it?


texts: In what ways did the points made by the writer in the introduction contradict/contradicts her conclusion?

texts:
In what ways did the points made by the writer in the introduction
  contradicts her conclusion?

(In the question listed above, shouldn't "contradicts" be written as "contradict" - since we are referring to the "points" made by the writer?)


texts:
From "The Magus" by John Fowles:
"Beyond that rose the Regency façade, bestatued, many and elegantly windowed, of Cumberland Terrace."
What does "bestatued" mean here?


texts: Word request: section of a book dealing with odd miscellaneous topics

texts:
I vaguely remember that there's a term for a section of a book which deals in odd miscellaneous topics -- not exactly the same as "appendix". Any suggestions?

The words I can think of are all dancing around this idea: "arcana", "apocrypha", "errata".


texts: Capitalize first word of a string within parentheses which is also a full sentence?

texts:
I have a sentence containing a parenthetical which is itself a full sentence. Do I capitalize the first word of the part in the parentheses?

Example:

  The value is estimated by correcting the image for a bead size of 25nm
  (see above for bead size correction).

or

  The value is estimated by correcting the image for a bead size of 25nm
  (See above for bead size correction).


texts: "Sir or Madam" vs "Madam or Sir" in formal letter

texts:
In a formal letter addressed to one or more unknown recipients, "Dear Sir or Madam" is the customary salutation. As a German native speaker, who is used to "Sehr geehrte Damen und Herren", writing "Sir" before "Madam" sounds impolite to my ear and I feel the urge to change the order. I know that I must never directly carry over conventional expressions from one language to another, but it makes me wonder:

Are there any differences between "Dear Sir or Madam" and "Dear Madam or Sir"? In particular, would the latter sound more polite or rather come across as outlandish?


texts: Does "two patients' excised livers" sound like that each of them has more than one liver?

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  “On their back” or “on their backs”?

Which of the following is correct/preferable?

  Two patients’ excised liver showed no histological evidence of HCC.
  Two patients’ excised livers showed no histological evidence of HCC.

Similarly, "they live their happy life" or "they live their happy lives", "they lead a happy life" or "they lead happy lives".

There are lots and lots of this kind of problems in English!


texts: What does “candid” mean besides being honest?

texts:
According to various unnamed dictionaries, candid means "being honest, telling the truth". However, when I googled the word, a lot of pictures of women in bikinis popped up!

Can someone tell me why Google thinks the word candid is related to pictures of scantily clad women?


texts: I need to replace a sentence that I have in my corpus since I am using it twice in the same paragraph. My sentence starts with: However, ... and I want to use a similar expression in the similar style. Could i use the word Howbeit, ... instead (or Contrary, ...)?


texts:
There's a type of shoe which I, being Irish, would call runners. They're comfortable for running or walking in.

The British call them trainers, probably because they can be used for sports or training.

The Americans, meanwhile, call them sneakers, presumably because, being soft-soled, they're suitable for sneaking around in.

What are the actual sources of these words, and what words are used in other English-speaking areas, such as Australia and South Africa?


texts:
Which is  grammatically accurate :

"Mrs.Anna has a low LDL level"

Or

"Mrs.Anna has low LDL level"

I want to go with the first sentence.


texts:
Which is more common for native speakers to use in the following construction, present or past?

She is really a good friend and she never 'fails/failed' to send me a letter each month.


texts: Repetition of the verb "to be" after let

texts: If one has multiple sentences all of the form "Let x be y" written successively. Is it grammatically correct to write "and god said "let apples be red, oranges be orange, etc""?. Is it possible to not repeat the verb "to be" and to simply write "let apples be red, oranges orange, etc".


texts: What do you call a woman who's feeling "emotional"?

texts:
It's that time of the month, your female partner has begun to fault pick you, for no explicable reason she becomes weepy, and anything you say or do will be criticized or misinterpreted.

Is there a word or expression for your partner or girlfriend or her behaviour?
What do you call a person who's feeling "bitchy" (note the scare quotes) due to their mood swings?

Please, no vulgar, crude expressions. That would be taking the easy way out, what's more I already know those terms.

Thank you!


texts: 'Petrovski's home/residence' or 'Petrovski home/residence'

texts:
What's correct? Petrovski's home/residence or Petrovski home/residence. Note that Petrovski is the family name (last name), not the first name.

I know that for first name is always 's, but what about family name?


texts: An expression to express "daily routine doesn't make one an expert."

texts: I'd like to make a point that by simply following a routine, as an operator following a SOP, doesn't make one an expert, i.e. it doesn't mean that the person fully understands the activity. An expert knows not only "how to do it" but also "why to do it this way" and "what are other alternative ways or what changes should be made if situation changes." How to put that neatly?


texts: Divergence of usage of Present Perfect tense in English from that of other European languages

texts:
I am a native English speaker who generally only thinks about tenses in relation to the foreign languages I attempt to speak. I am neither grammarian nor linguist. So it only recently struck me that in English we often (mainly?) use the present perfect for actions that are still going on, e.g.

  I have wanted to go to Peking since I was very small.

Meaning ‘I wanted to when I was small and I still want to’. In French, Italian or German this would be expressed quite differently, and the present tense of the auxiliary together with the past participle is general used in these languages as a straight-forward past tense. As the Wikipedia entry for Present Perfect says:

  Analogous forms are found in some other languages and may also be described as present perfects although they often have other names such as the German Perfekt, the French passé composé and the Italian passato prossimo. They may also have different ranges of usage, in all three of the languages just mentioned, the forms in question serve as a general past tense, at least for completed actions.

Of course, the Present Perfect in English is sometimes used where the same tense may be used in other languages, e.g.

  I have often visited the Louvre.

but differs in requiring a sense of continuation. For a specific time one must use the preterite/simple past:

  I visited it only last week.

which is not demanded in French, Italian or German.

My question is how and when did this divergence or development occur in the evolution of the English language or in the languages from which it is derived? For example, does this derive from Anglo-Saxon or Norman French or did it develop later? Are there other European languages that have a usage more closely to that in English?


texts: Is it proper to use the word "bandwidth" as it relates to time allotment?

texts:
I'm a web developer and I've often heard other technical and developer types say:

  Sorry, I don't have the bandwidth to take on your project at this time.

I started using the term myself and thought it was an excellent way of expressing that you don't have enough time for something. Recently, I used this term with a potential client and he interpreted it as meaning that I still had a dialup internet connection so would not be able to handle his needs.

I then realized this is where the term originated from so I guess I could understand his confusion. Should I use the word only in specific circles of people that I know will understand it?


texts: A word for "being friendly and helpful to youngsters"

texts:
Is there a known word for an older adult whose ongoing desire is the welfare of young teens (as a friend but who has no interest in any type of sexual interactions) I have been a coach (of both boys and girls) for many years and it seems that following that period in my life, I really have a desire to befriend kids and act as a mentor for those who do not have comfortable situations at home.

FYI, I have been married to the same woman for 45 years and have 3 grown children but I still really enjoy being around young teens.


texts: When is the phrase, “Are you sitting down?” used, and what does it exactly mean?

texts:
There was the following paragraph in the article titled “How Russia wants to undermine the U.S. election” in Time magazine (October 10):

  One day in June she (Arizona Secretary of state, Michele Reagan) was
  in her backyard in Phoenix when she got a call from her chief of
  staff. “Are you sitting down?” he asked. ---A group of hackers
  known as Fancy Bear was trying to sell a user name and password that
  belonged to someone in Arizona county election official’s office,
  which holds the personal data of almost 4 million people “My reaction
  was, well, this is like the worst thing that you want to hear,” Reagan
  recalls.

In other source – motherjones.com. (October 8), the phrase, “Are you sitting down?” is rephrased as “Can you sit down?'”:

  Arizona Secretary of State Michele Reagan was in the backyard of her home last June when she got a call from her chief of staff. "The first words out of his mouth were, 'Can you sit down?'" Reagan told Mother Jones. He then said that her office had been "contacted by the FBI, and it looks like there's a computer password and username that belongs to our database for sale on the dark web."
  http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2016/10/state-election-hacks-undermine-voters-confidence

Are “Are you sitting down?” and “Can you sit down?” used to try somebody to brace for a shocking news, or calm down the other in advance?
What do they exactly mean? Are they very popular turn of phrases?


texts: Overt verb meaning "to look at affectionately"

texts:
What is a verb meaning "to look at affectionately" in a way that is distinctly visible in the subject's facial expression? For example in

  Alice beams at Bob.

the action is visually and emotionally evocative. (However I think "beams at" mostly connotes approval.) Also, this should be appropriate for a parent-child
relationship.


texts: How did 'entreat', but not 'treat', shift to mean 'to enter into negotiations'?

texts:
entreat (v.)

  c. 1400, "to enter into negotiations," especially "discuss or arrange peace terms;" also "to treat (someone) in a certain way," from Anglo-French entretier, Old French entraiter "to treat," from en- "make" (see en- (1)) + traiter "to treat" (see treat (v.)). Meaning "to beseech, implore, plead with (someone)" is from early 15c.; meaning "to plead for (someone)" is from mid-15c.

  [OED:]
  †I. To treat; to handle. Obs. or arch.

  ... II. With additional sense of asking, asking of somebody or for something.

Why might've only 'entreat' shifted to signify to enter into negotiations, but not 'treat'?
Does the prefix 'en-' (the only  difference between these two) explain why?


texts: How to say email "mis-sent" in a business manner?

texts:
If I want to tell my colleague by email that I've sent an email to some business clients unintentionally and would like to notify my colleague, how should I say the action "mis-sent"?

I thought about "email sent unintentionally", but I think it involves too much personal feelings. Can I have another word which is more business like (or objective)?


texts:
If one wanted to say something like

  no commas: Hello Pete, how are you?

or

  commas: Thanks, Julia, this will be helpful!

would he need commas separating the different elements in the interjection or just the comma separating the interjection from the rest of the sentence/clause?


texts: Is "raises question marks over" a correct and common phrase?

texts:
Is a sentence like

  Dynamic method invocation raises question marks over the way
  existing instances should be handled.

correct in a technical paper (computer science)? (I think it is in the Economist data base, so it should be correct.)

I guess raises questions over the way is just a lot more common.

If it is correct, is this only common in British English or is it also common in American English? (By the way, I am not a native speaker.)


texts: "In" confusion... Time the action starts or duration?

texts:
I have a lot of confusion with "in".
Take this sentence:

  "I will kill you in 5 seconds."

I see 2 senses:

1st sense: I will kill you in 5 seconds = I am taking my coffee, and 5 seconds later I will kill you.
2nd sense: I will kill you in 5 seconds = I need 5 seconds to kill you, I start at 0..1... I'm killing you... 2...3...4... Almost killed you...5 I killed you.

How to know which sense it is?  To avoid the misunderstanding, how should we write it? Maybe I have to use another word than "in" ?


texts: Word Request: synonym for "conversion" without the religious connotations?

texts:
Suppose I had someone who didn't believe climate change was real, or a problem worth working on.  And then they become convinced that it is a real and critically important problem, and even devote a lot of their energy to mitigating that problem.  It seems natural to me to say that they've been "converted", since not only have they changed their beliefs, but they have done so in fundamental way which has lead to meaningful changes in the way they live their day-to-day life.

But I don't like the connotation that this is a religious issue, as opposed to a rational, scientific issue.  I would like to be able to say things like "I'm trying to convert people to being climate activists".  Is there an alternative?

A few alternatives I sort of like (but I'd still like something better):

recruit
mobilize
win over


texts:
One of my favorite songs is Ain't no mountain high enough.
The chorus is this:

Oh baby there ain't no mountain high enough,
Ain't no valley low enough,
Ain't no river wide enough
To keep me from getting to you babe

I am a native German, and I am always struggling: can a valley be too low? I am used to say a valley is too deep. This applies to a river as well. A sea or a lake might be wide, but what hinders me crossing a river is its deepness or wilderness or maybe it is too big. I know it is lyrics, so there is a lot of freedom in the wording, but I am wondering how an English native would say it and if the imaging is correct (wide river, low valley)?

Personally I would have written:

Oh baby there ain't no mountain high enough,
Ain't no valley deep enough,
Ain't no river wild enough
To keep me from getting to you babe