texts: Recommended pronunciation of international English for foreigners

texts:
There are some differences in the pronunciation of English in USA and in UK. Furthermore, there are differences in the pronunciation in different areas of the same country. Examples: "go" is pronounced with /o/ in USA and /ə/ in UK. In USA, some areas have the cot-caught merger, other areas have the pin–pen merger and other areas has the Northern cities vowel shift.

Since I will not live in an English-speaking country, I will use English with people from different parts of the world, including Americans, British and non-native English speakers, such as French, Germans and Russians. Therefore, I need use a neutral or international version of English and I have no need to learn details of specific dialects.

Non-native English speakers do not have a dialect. My writing is messed, it mixes features of American English and British English in the same text. I learn English from different sources and the varieties became mixed in my head.

Do I have to follow the IPA in the dictionary totally? Can I choose some easier features from each dialect to make my own pronunciation? Is it strange to pronounce some words like someone from London and other words like someone from New York?

The English vowels are really difficult for me. I prefer the American vowels and the British consonants. The use of the cot-caught merger will make my life easier. The American "t" is strange and I prefer the British "t".


texts: Capitalization of biological abbreviations at the beginning of a sentence

texts:
In the beginning of a sentence, should I capitalize abbreviations such as the following:

hPSC (human pluripotent stem cell)
mESC (mouse embryonic stem cell)
rDNA (recombinant deoxyribonucleic acid)

I have seen both lower and upper case for the two first, while rDNA always seems to be in lower case. I'm curious which is the linguistically correct form.


texts:
I've been noticing the term "folx" appear in my transgender circles recently, but I'm not sure where it came from.

This article from the Boston Globe uses the term in an article addressing recent trends in gender-neutral neologisms, but only incidentally.

It doesn't seem - to me - like it's more gender-neutral than "folks," so I'm curious why the addition was made.

I'm looking around online, and there's a lot of speculation, but it's difficult to find anything definitive. Ideas I've seen include,

that it just looks better,
that it matches other neutral forms, like "Latinx,"
that it's tonally in line with a punk theme

But these ideas can only explain why it's still  in use, and not where it came from.

Is its origin known?


texts:
A sentence is "he's been ducking me" or "You duck your responsibilities" What does it mean.

Thanks


texts: Which is correct, "Questions such as these" or "Questions such as this"

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  What is wrong with “I don’t like these kind of things”?

"Questions such as these need to be raised"
or:
"Questions such as this need to be raised"

MSFT Word thinks it's "this".


texts: usage of terms "as well as " and "as well"

texts: Can anyone describe the usage of the terms "as well as" and "as well" in sentences? Are they interchangeable?


texts: What is the opposite of onwards? "From 2000 [onwards]"

texts:
If I want to talk about the years before 2000, can I say "backwards"?

I can only think of preceding, prior or previous

  The preceding/prior/previous years of 2000.
  2000 and the prior/preceding/previous years.

But I want to have an exact sentence like the one in my question.

Edit:
Can you complete/correct my sentences?

  It was not popular from year 2000 _________. (previous years)
  We didn't have this kind of policy from 2000 _______. (previous years)

Thank you.


texts:
Is the phrase ‘serve you heart and soul’ grammatical? And what does it mean?

If the phrase becomes ‘serve your heart and soul’ or ‘serve you with heart and soul’, does it still make sense and what meaning does it carry?


texts: What are some colloquial English expressions for comparing hot/cold weather to something else?

texts:
I'm looking for colloquial expressions that compare hot, cold, and wet weather to something else. For example, “It’s hotter than two goats in a pepper patch”, “Colder than a witch’s tit”, etc. Often these expressions use a superlative formula, such as “Hotter than [X]” or “Cold enough [to do Y]” or “Wet as [Z]”. Some make statements about cause and effect, such as  “It’s so cold [X event could happen]”. I'm especially interested in examples that have widespread or historical usage. Something you’ve heard different people say, or something your grandparents used to say - not something you just made up. This is for an art project, focusing on expressions from the United State and Ireland, in English and Gaelic, but will include expressions from other languages as long as an English translation is included.
Thanks in advance for any help!


texts: Verb corresponding to schedule, but for a place (instead of time)

texts: The verb "schedule" is used to denote a time (e.g."the meeting is scheduled for 8 am"). Is there a corresponding verb that denotes a place?


texts: Is there a word for the ability to sense something someone else is feeling? Kind of like the opposite of autism?


texts: Insertion of over-specific detail to humorous effect

texts:
In Gilmore Girls, describing a debutante ball:
"It's like animals being up for bid at the county fair, except sheep don't wear hoop skirts."

This kind of over-the-top, facetious detail is used throughout the show and fuels the witty dialogue. Is there a word for humor created by such an unexpected, specific detail?

This question suggests "facetious synecdoche," but I don't think the example above is synecdoche (except for "sheep" being representative of "animals", but it's really the "hoop skirts" that drives the humor). I'm also not looking for: "detail," "imagery," "satire," "hyperbole."


texts:
"A stone's throw" is often used to describe a short distance. Is there a widely recognized English word or expression that similarly describes an intermediate distance, but which does not actually involve any direct measurement of that distance?

For example, consider that what might be a stone's throw to a farmer talking about a neighbor, probably wouldn't count as one to someone visiting from the city, even though they would both be talking about the same specific distance.


texts: What is the formal version of "8 a.m. until"?

texts: Is there a formal version of the term "until," used in the context of "The event will run from 8 a.m. until," signifying an indeterminate end time?


texts: What can be a single word for a list of tasks that are to be done every month/period?


texts: Phrase or expression meaning "getting more than you bargained for"

texts:
I'm writing an article and I'd appreciate a more sophisticated phrase for the term "getting more than you bargained for".

All help is greatly appreciated.


texts: What would be the one word substitution of the phrase "one who receives a donation"?

texts:
I have searched a lot and could not come to a conclusion about what should be the exact word :)

My guess is that the closest possible word for this should be "beneficiary", but there are other words as well.

Can somebody explain, what exactly should be the word and why?


texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  How does one correctly use a semicolon?

I was wondering if the following was the correct usage of a semicolon or if a comma is more apt for this use.

  Well, have we got some news for you; there is a way!


texts: How to jokingly express an "if you pay me, I'll say it" attitude?

texts:
Let's assume I am an expert in an academic field. I have my opinions, however if I were invited and paid to give a lecture I would be willing to support opposing views.

Question: What would be a possibly ironic (or at least without despise) way to describe such an attitude?

Disambiguation: Something like "if you paid me I would support that" or "the theory for which one pays wins." I am looking for a phrase or proverb describing the attitude, that one might jokingly use to refer to himself.


texts: Could you please explain to me the difference between Guidelines for and Guidelines to?


texts: What are the mistakes in these sentences? GRE AW examples

texts:
I was looking at the sample essay responses for the GRE's Analyze an Issue task, and the reader commentary for those, but I don't really understand the reasons the following sentences have "serious flaws":

The future ability of growing new brain cells

I believe an alternative could be

The future ability to grow new brain cells

but I can't spot the problem with the first one.
The other sentence is

One aspect where the ability of humans may initially be seen as an example of deteriorating minds

What is wrong with it?


texts: Phrase choice - phrase to describe exodus of meaningful celebrities from Australia

texts:
Most meaningful socialites seem to leave Australia, leaving us with celebrity cooks and celebrity hairdressers. (eg Elle McPherson and Savage Garden going to London etc). What's the phrase to describe the exodus of meaningful celebrities from Australia?

Is this "post-colonial parochialism"? "First-world elitism?" Or is it just "Global Capitalism"?


texts: Word Meaning "Chopped Into Little Bits" (Ending With `-ize`)

texts:
There is a word that means, roughly, to cut something into little bits.  I think it ended in -ize, and maybe had a cooking connotation.  I can't remember it.

  She put the carrots in the blender, and pressed the button to _____ize them.


texts: Meaning of the sentence "...had expected to behold her dimmed and obscured by a disastrous cloud..."

texts:
I'm unable to understand this long sentence, particularly the parts highlighted in bold. Can someone break it up for me?

  Those who had before known her, (1) and had expected to behold her dimmed and obscured by a disastrous cloud, were astonished, and even startled, (2) to perceive how her beauty shone out, and made a halo of the misfortune and ignominy in which she was enveloped.


texts:
I want to use it in this context :

  Group A has a lot of influence on organization B.

Should it be :

  Group A has a lot of clout with organization B.

?


texts:
I want to describe my own sense of humor :-)

I recently sent my friend's mother a thank you note for hosting me. She replied by saying that thank you notes are very important, and my note was very appreciated.

I responded by saying that thank you notes are indeed very important, and I've been trying to teach her son this for a long time. For example, I continued, I recently lent her son my sleeping bag and (as of yet) have received neither the sleeping bag nor a thank you note!

We are all very close, which is why I am able to rib her son in front of his mother like that.

But I want to be able to describe this sense of humor. Could my comment ribbing her son be described as 'cheeky'? I can think of no other word to describe it really. My intention was just to make fun of him in an amusing way... all the more amusing because it's a letter to his mother.

Oh, and the irony here is, it was her own son that reminded me to send a thank you note.


texts:
My mom and I are having a dispute on much more easy versus much easier. For example, consider the sentence:

  It's [much more easy]/[much easier] to do action X than action Y.

I say that much easier is correct and that much more easy is grammatically incorrect, while she says that both are okay. I understand that both are acceptable colloquially, but which is grammatically correct here? If you could explain why, that would be even better!


texts: Looking for a word or term that means "artistic", "stylish", and "creative"?

texts:
I've only come up with "left-brained" but I wondered if there was something else.
Update: Turns out I should be using 'right-brained'.


texts:
I have some doubts regarding capitalizing or not the following words:

Communism
Communist

I know that Communism is generally written with capital letter, but sometimes I have this doubt and cannot come up with a plausible solution. For example, in: "During Communism/communism people had to...".

As far as communist is concerned, I am pretty sure that it is usually not capitalized, at least, if it is not part of a name, like "the guidelines of the Communist Party of Something". Is that correct or am I missing something?

Thank you in advance for any suggestion you might have!


texts: Can "since" and "wouldn't" be used in the same sentence?

texts:
For example:

  Since it's raining, wouldn't it be a
  good idea to bring an umbrella?

That sounds OK, but I'm not sure if it is.

What about these alternatives?

  Since it's raining, isn't it a good
  idea to bring an umbrella?

I thought that this might be grammatically correct because "is" is on both sides of the sentence. It doesn't sound right though. Why?

  Since it's raining, won't it be a good
  idea to bring an umbrella?

For some reason this doesn't sound right either, but I don't know why. It sounds better than the second example, but not as good as the first example.


texts:
When I write proactively in my WinShell Latex editor, it underline it as a spelling error. My question is: is writing proactively correct?
When shall I use pro-actively (with hyphen), and when I should not?


texts: What (or who) is the rival gang of the Jets?

texts:
Is a gang (or a musical group) considered like a person or an object? I.e. should I ask:

  Who is the rival gang of the Jets?

Or should it be:

  What is the rival gang of the Jets?

What is the grammatically correct form?


texts: What's the meaning of "I've got an end darter down on six" in The Pink Panther?

texts:
In the movie The Pink Panther, during the scene of Clouseau's bag full of weapons, the person that checked the bag later says "I've got an end darter down on six". What's the meaning of the phrase?

Here's the context:

Inspector Clouseau is at an airport surrounded by police officers:

  IC: I'm simply telling you I have a couple of "tamburthers."
  PO2: I've got an End darter down on six. I've got an End darter down on six!
  PO2: Locked and loaded, sir!
  PO3: Show me your hands, sir!

And here's the scene (4:07)


texts:
"Smacking" vs "smacking up" vs "smacking around"

What's the difference between the three? Which is more common?

  I was at school, smacking a douche who called me a nerd.

  I was at school, smacking up a douche who called me a nerd.

  I was at school, smacking around a douche who called me a nerd.


texts: Noun describing one who "acts on emotion primally"?

texts:
I’m looking for a noun to describe someone who “acts on emotion primally”, or something similar.

To clarify, I’m trying to make a point about how the fanaticism of tech-fetishes (iPhone fanboyism and the like) causes people to forgo rational, sometimes even calculated, intelligent responses to criticism. Instead, people lose themselves in irrational, primal competitiveness and negativity; responses near involuntariness and waste potential value.

If any further context is desired, please let me know.

I think the closest word I’ve come to is primal, but I’d really like a noun and I’m not sure primal is as precise as it could be anyway.

Bonus: If you have a good antonym for the word that describes what I’m trying to say (so it’s more along the lines of what I mentioned as rational, calculated, intelligent) I’d love to hear it.


texts: Why is it called “tossing” a salad? (in cooking)

texts:
…instead of just “mixing” it?
I googled, but the results basically all point to sex, whereas I mean mixing together the vegetable ingredients in a salad.
Thanks!


texts:
I am reading "Quality" by John Galsworthy and there are some phrases and lines which I could not grasp. I thought that this site would be the perfect place to ask this question.

My Questions:

What does the following mean? I think it means that by looking at those shoes one could understand that the shoes were the epitome of endurance.

  "…the tall brown riding boots with marvelous sooty glow, as if, though new, they had been worn a hundred years"

What does the next passage mean? I think that the first sentence means that the shoes made by him were affordable so one never fell into debts with them. I am unsure of the second part of the paragraph

  "When one grew old and wild and ran up bills, one somehow never ran them up with Gessler Brothers. It would not have seemed becoming to go in there and stretch out one’s foot to that blue iron-spectacled glance, owing him for more than — say — two pairs, just the comfortable reassurance that one was still his client.".

You can read the story here: https://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/g/galsworthy/john/inn/chapter2.html

Thanks for your help.


texts:
If you ask:

Who is responsible for xyz?

.. some people feel threatened/attacked.

How to ask this basic question in a more friendly way?


texts: "No question of",paired with "either/or"

texts:
Even after reviewing other "either/or" questions in relation to a negative preceding them, the negatives themselves being almost exclusively verbs, I am still a bit conflicted about the following statement:

"It is accepted by both parties that there is no question of Charlesco’s  email of 29 October constituting either (a) a breach of contract, or (b) duress by Charlesco."

Would the "no question of" act as a negative, making (a)the breach and (b)duress both an impossibility, or does it mean that it is impossible for just (a), or (b) alone to exist?

Is it just a sentence so ambiguous that there is no clear way of interpreting it?

Thanks to anyone for their time...


texts: A word meaning 'to throw things out too quickly'

texts:
It would be [adjective] to dismiss president's new policy, as purely politic playing, it appears he has genuine intentions to improve the well being of the poor.

What adjective would be correct to mean that things were dismissed too quickly?


texts: How to use multiple conjunctions in a sentence?

texts:
Basically…
I'm trying to figure out the best sentence format to execute code for high school students.
1 sentence can execute multiple code.
The sentence format will be based on an IF Statment.
If this is true - trigger event - find element(s) - change these properties-to-this

Example
Sentence Input 1

If Susan's house is yellow, change the doors, windows, and porch color to blue, green, or purple.

Sentence Input 2

If Susan's house is yellow, change Paul's doors, windows, and porch color to blue, green, or purple.

Sentence Input 3

If Susan's house is yellow, change Brandon's and Paul's doors, windows, and porch color to blue, green, or purple.

Sentence Input 4

If Susan's house is yellow, change Brandon's, Tiffany's, and Paul's doors, windows, and porch color to blue, green, or purple.

What I'm thinking

If Susan's house is yellow, change the doors, windows, and porch color to blue, green, or purple.
If Susan's house is yellow, change Paul's doors, windows, and porch color to blue, green, or purple.
If Susan's house is yellow, change (Brandon's and Paul's) doors, windows, and porch color to blue, green, or purple.
If Susan's house is yellow, change (Brandon's, Tiffany's, and Paul's) doors, windows, and porch color to blue, green, or purple.


texts: Is "risky" an acceptable spelling of "risqué"?

texts:
Is "risky" an acceptable spelling of "risqué" or "risque" (suggestive of sexual impropriety), such as in this article?

  Selena Gomez has posed braless in a risky and sultry new photo-shoot
  for the British magazine British InStyle’s December edition.

I looked at Wiktionary and Oxford Dictionaries, and they don't mention that meaning in their definitions of "risky". However, this answer states that the OED has it as a meaning of "risky".


texts:
As the title says, fascinated but scared.
It's to describe the feelings towards nuclear energy for example. You are fascinated by the events of chernobyl, yet you are shaking, nauseous and sweating. Almost as if your body us giving you all the signs to not delve deeper, but curiosity is getting the better of you.


texts:
I'm writing a caption for a cartoon using the musical genre "Boogie Woogie" as a verb.

Which do you think is the most correct? Which is most clearly understandable?

a) Boogie-woogie-ing
b) Boogie Woogie-ing
c) Boogie Woogieing
d) boogie-woogying


texts: "I'm not understand" — help regarding sentence structure

texts:
I am trying to learn/improve my English by remembering grammar rules. Every day, I read a lot of technical documentation and have many conversations with my colleagues from US.

I already have many phrase templates, but sometimes I urge myself to stop using this and try to figure out the rules by which a phrase was constructed.

So, how common is the usage of the sentence "I'm not understand". (Understand — is a verb in 1st form used after form of be.)

What rules were used?
Why doesn't it sound like "I don't understand" or "I'm not understanding"?


texts: Should a definite article be used when referring to a line of an algorithm

texts:
In scientific articles an article is usually omitted when referring to figures, tables, etc. and a capital letter is used. For example I would state: "The data are shown in Figure 1."

I have an algorithm in my article and its lines are numbered. I want to refer to a certain line of the algorithm and I don't know whether the above also applies in this situation. Which of the following should I use:

"on the line x",
"on line x",
"on Line x",

where "x" is a line number?

EDIT: An example of an algorithm:

Algorithm IsOne(i):
1: if i = 1
2:    return true
3: else
4:    return false
5: end if


texts: What to say if you don't want anything from a store?

texts:
I learned English as a second language. As I have never lived in any English speaking country, sometimes I don't know what to say in common daily situations.

One good example of this occurred when I stayed in US for three weeks, beginning of this year. Sometimes I went to a store, was asked what I was looking for, but I didn't know the best way to answer as I wasn't looking for anything specific, just taking a look.

What could I say in this situations, when you don't want the crew's assistance or are not looking for something in particular?

Thanks,


texts: I have this thing that when someone holds something out into air from the high places i think of it dropping. Whenever someone hold their phone out from the 3ed floor for example i start panicking. I CANT LOOK. it can be anything. A water bottle, a rock or maybe if they just slightly Lean against the railing... What is this?? A phobia?


texts: Where does this "Barriers To Communication" quote from Reuel Howe come from?

texts: "A barrier to communication is something that keeps meanings from meeting......." This is quoted in loads of publications but none of them reference it. Where does it come from?


texts:
Should I write:

  To gain insight on this obstacle, she will begin to analyse . . .

or

  To gain insight into this obstacle, she will begin to analyse . . .

Google shows (much) more results for "into" than for "on".


texts: meaning of the word assumed used in sentence

texts:
The application of the rational model to the house-building process in the 1950s and ’60s led to suburban communities consisting of nearly identical structures. Indeed, it was possible to wander into the residence of someone else and not to realize immediately that one was not at home. The more expensive developments were superficially more diversified, but their interior layouts assumed residents who were indistinguishable in their requirements.

For the last sentence, what definition is being used for the word assumed?


texts: I was surprised not to find the adverb "quitely" in my dictionary whereas I am pretty sure that I saw it several times. Does it exist or is it a (common?) mistake?


texts: Are the commas here correct? "...a vaccine was finally discovered by an American scientist, Jonas Salk, in 1955..."

texts:
Before a vaccine was finally discovered by an American scientist, Jonas Salk, in 1955, more than 80 percent of polio patients received help from the foundation.

Why is "Jonas Salk" set off by commas in this sentence?
I think of it as of an essential clause and thus believe no commas should be inserted.


texts: What is the difference between archival and archivable? Archival appears to be an acceptable word among official sources, whereas archivable/archiveable does not appear to be a valid entry. Is the correct form of the word describing something's ability to be archived archival or archivable? Are the two redundant, or are the official online lexicon sources just not up to date or comprehensive enough?


texts: Can a proper noun be a predicative in imperatives?

texts:
I live in a city called Kobe in the western part of Japan.　　Perhaps some of you might have known that it was severely hit and damaged by the Great Hanshin Earthquake some 20 years ago.　　The　City,　however,　recovered　now　and　the　City　Authority　has　been　running　a　campaign commemorating the recovery with a motto 'Be Kobe'.

I have some queries about this motto from a grammatical point of view.

Is the 'motto' acceptable or interpretable given a context outlined above?
If it is interpretable, what can it possibly mean?

Any comments are more than welcome.

Ken


texts: What is an adjective that means that something is shaped like a cube? If something is shaped like a sphere, it's spherical. What would it be called if the object was shaped like a cube? I'm using this word in a poem. The word is describing a cubicle. So cubic wouldn't work. Sorry for being so picky!


texts: "assuming x to decrease" vs. "assuming x decreases"

texts:
Are both of the following sentences equally correct?

"Therefore we find x < y, assuming x decreases."
"Therefore we find x < y, assuming x to decrease."

I couldn't find any informations on whether the second form is correct too. It feels wrong to me but I can't justify why.

Thanks!


texts: Punctuation in lists that end mid-sentence

texts:
I know that we can introduce a list with a semicolon or an em dash, but nowhere can I find any rules on punctuation when a list ends mid-sentence.
Say I have a sentence that goes like this:

  Lawn mowers, pruners, garden trowels, watering canes ... you'll find these and many more tools in our gardening equipment shop.

What should be put in place of the three dots? An em dash?


texts: Is it grammatically correct to shift an appositive away from the noun it renames or describes?

texts:
I'm taking a semester in London.  Here's a sample of something I keep hearing:

  John: My mum will be here later?

  Susan: Is she staying for supper, your mum?

If Susan wishes to say, "your mum," why can't she just ask:

  Is your mum staying for dinner?

Or, if Susan wants to clarify who that she in her sentence is (for which, in my opinion, there is absolutely no need), why doesn't she just say:

  "Is she, your mum, staying for dinner?"

Is there anything in grammar that allows for putting an appositive not immediately next to what it's describing?

If so, how is it justified?


texts:
I am looking for expressions/idioms to describe:

1) A person who betrays an agreement to sell something to you. Especially because he got a better offer and sold it to someone else instead.

2) The act of doing that. (Would ‘blowing off’ be one?)


texts: Can any one tell me how to use the word hamartia in everyday writing? I have searched a lot but failed to find any sentence using this word. Any help would be appreciated.


texts:
I used to say "sharp sign" to refer to the # sign.

Today a friend told me that the correct term is number sign or hash sign or even just hash.

What is the difference between these options and what's the correct usage of the names for this sign?


texts: Can a comma before a coordinating conjunction be parenthetical?

texts:
Can an ostensibly misused comma before a coordinating conjunction actually be a parenthetical comma?
Consider:

Sally picked apples, and placed them in her basket.

This is considered a misuse of the comma, as the second clause is dependent. It should be

Sally picked apples and placed them in her basket.

or converted into "Sally picked apples, and she placed them in her basket" (the second clause is now independent).
Now consider:

Sally picked apples (and placed them in her basket).

Here the second clause as a parenthetical one, right? So surely you could write, equivalently:

Sally picked apples, and placed them in her basket.

where obviously, you omit replacing the closing bracket with a comma as it's the end of the sentence. What gives?

P.S. I have a feeling that either of

Sally picked apples (placing them in her basket).
Sally picked apples, placing them in her basket.

is a more accurate use of parenthesis, without knowing why.


texts:
In high school debate, we have resolutions or topics. This month our topic is, "In the United States criminal justice system, jury nullification ought to be used in the face of perceived injustice." Many debaters will end up specifying a certain type of injustice e.g. they will claim a certain law is unjust and juries ought to nullify in this situation only.

On previous debate topics there has been a lot of debate over whether this is grammatically accurate. Some people have argued that certain terms in the resolution are a generic bare plural and thus specification is incorrect. Is that the same for this situation? Is there some other grammatical rule that is violated by specifying?

With regard to Henry Wu's similar question. That question is similar but does not completely answer my question. I was wondering if the topic must be interpreted generically. Deadrat's answer does not answer the question completely because it seems to appeal to the idea that perceived injustice is a generic term without a modifier;however, this idea is not justified.


texts: I was vacantly reading the paper the other day when I came across a strange formation in the obituary: "he married his wife in 19XX". I was rather taken aback by this; surely he can't marry his own wife. He could attempt to marry someone else's wife, and that would be bigamy. But surely marrying one's own wife is a logical impossibility?


texts: How to hyphenate a negated compound noun?

texts:
We have a term for a process, "defect source assessment".

We want to describe a set of processes that are not related to that process.

Which of the following (if any) would be correct?

  non defect source assessment processes
  non-defect source assessment processes
  non-defect-source-assessment processes
  non-defect-source-assessment-processes


texts: What special connotation does the word Inverness hold in Shakespeare's play Macbeth?

texts: I initially looked up the meaning of this word and found out that it means literally the mouth of River Ness. However, in the play, this castle has been associated with evil and dark images and I was hoping if anyone could comment on some linguistic or semantic element of this very word that would have allowed Shakespeare to do so.


texts:
Does this Bible verse have the same unfortunate double meaning in American English as it does in British English?

The photo is taken from the 1984 translation of the (US) NIV. It looks as though the UK edition of the 1984 NIV had the same text; but in the 2011 update, the UK edition has ill in place of sick, while the US edition remains unchanged.

I have visions of people bringing little pots of vomit...


texts: “It expires…” vs “It would expire by 31 Oct”

texts:
Your collected Amazon Pay offer for Swiggy would expire by
  31-Oct-2018.

Please help me understand why 'would' is used in the place of 'will'. Also, can we not use the simple present here that roughly translates to below sentence?

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texts:
I was fascinated by his humanist / humanistic view.

Which one is the correct or more idiomatic option?

I have seen both being used online in phrases such as "humanist(ic) view" and "humanist(ic) approach".


texts:
Some animals have taken cooperation to even greater extreme. (BBC
  documentary, journey of life)

I doubt that “extreme” is subject to comparison with other extreme. An extreme is a polar point. So is the expression here a bit poetic, therefore attracting unnecessary attention for words?


texts: Did the phrase "ball and chain" referring to one's wife originate in U.S. black culture?

texts:
Green's Dictionary of Slang has this to say about the phrase "ball and chain."

  (orig. US black) one’s wife or regular girlfriend; thus ball-and-chained, married.

However, the earliest citations provided in GDoS are from white fiction writers.

  1924    [US]    Hecht & Bodenheim Cutie 62: So this is the way you have been deceiving me! [...] with a ball and chain waiting for
  you at home.
  1928    [US]    Hecht & MacArthur Front Page Act I: sheriff: Oh, hello, dear. kruger: Sounds like the ball and chain.
  1929    [US]    H.C. Witwer Yes Man’s Land 185: ‘Oh, please don’t start a row, Egbert!’ murmurs his ball-and-chain.

Maxwell Bodenheim was a white writer from Mississippi. Ben Hecht was a white Chicago writer, though notably also a journalist with no fear of the underground.  As Wikipedia describes,

  At the age of 16, Hecht ran away to Chicago, where, in his own words, he "haunted streets, whorehouses, police stations, courtrooms, theater stages, jails, saloons, slums, madhouses, fires, murders, riots, banquet halls, and bookshops."

H.C. Witwer is likewise a white American fiction writer.

I was not able to find any assertions for or against the claim that the phrase was originally from U.S. black culture in other sources, including Farlex, phrases.org, and the Online Slang Dictionary.

Questions:

What evidence is there suggesting that the phrase originated in U.S. black culture?
Are there any earlier citations than the ones from GDoS?
What are the earliest known uses by a black writer?


texts:
Should there be a comma after the "then" in the following sentence?
If things get more complicated, then, when the others arrive, we'll need to put in more effort.
If there a comma there makes sense, why should it be there? I feel like there should be a stop there, but it looks very weird to me.


texts: Train service or Train's service - Adj or Possessive (Edit) Genitive

texts:
I saw this announcement on train:

  The train service terminates at ...

I think, in the noun phrase the train service, the word train does not modify the noun service (Edit: as other noun acting as Adj ).

I think, tt should be the service of train; therefore, the sentence called for a genetive ,with 's, not noun acting as a adjective the word train should have the 's to show a possessive.

(Edit) The train in the question is not a regular service, it's an ad hoc service in rush hour.

What should it be?


texts: Collective Noun "jury" with plural phrase, singular or plural?

texts:
Curious if this textbook example is correct. According to the textbook, "are" is incorrect and "is" should be used instead. Why is this?

  After days of testimony, the jury, including its two alternative members, are in deliberations and expected to deliver a verdict this afternoon.

(not naming the textbook so it makes cheating harder)

I would understand if the sentence lacked the including its two alternative members phrase, but I think that the inclusion of the plural phrase would require a verb which agrees with a plural subject. In this special case, how does the rule apply? Why?


texts: What is the better way to say, "I will wait until you ask me to start off"?

texts: I am completely missing a simple word which means "an indication from someone that you can go ahead". Something like giving a green signal.


texts:
Wikipedia says the slang "whatchamacallit" is short for "what you might call it", but I remember hearing at some point that it's actually short for "what'd your ma call it?"

What is it short for?


texts: could past perfect tense and present perfect tense coexist in a compound sentence. Please do not mark as duplicate if you have not read the question

texts:
Mike ( had broken | broke ) his mother's vase last night but he has not told her yet.

Question: Some argue it must use "broke" instead of "had broken" because "last night" could not be used with past perfect tense. I notice some teachers preach a grammar rule: Adverb like "last night, last year, a few days ago" should not be used with past perfect tense; It should use past tense. But I never find any formal grammar books make that statement. Instead, I think it is quite a "weak grammar rule" which is often "violated" in some writings. I have quite often seen sentences like "He had taken the test last year." and similar ones in popular novels, news papers and magazines.

I think "had broken" is a better answer here as it make the sentence more cohesive in meaning and logic, even though "broke" is ok too, at least grammatically.

Maybe only in cases for a specific time point like "at 8 o'clock", we might have to use past tense. e.g, He broke the vase at 8 pm last night.

Please enlighten me on this if my understanding is not right or there is some grammar rules prevailing here which I am not aware of.

Your advise are appreciated very much!


texts: What's the meaning of "give Caesar his due"?

texts:
I read an article, it said: "Let's give Caesar his due". What's the meaning of

  give Caesar his due


texts: What is the origin of using the word "our" preceding a first name when speaking directly to the person so named

texts: In the BBC's Keeping Up Appearences, and Lark Rise to Candleford, "our Rose" and "our Laura" are used in both the third person and second person.  The usage seems understandable as a third person reference offering distinction from other persons with the same name:  "Our Rose is out with her gentleman friend tonight."  In the second person it makes less sense (to me):  "What have you been doing all afternoon, our Laura?" or "Bring us a fag, our Rose."  This second person usage occurs frequently in direct address and seems odd to my American ears.


texts:
1) Jo will have been waiting for an hour by the time i meet him
2) Jo will have waited for an hour by the time i meet him


texts: How is this sentence with "how" constructed?

texts:
If you have a sentence with a noun clause using "how," like this sentence

"I didn't know how tall he was."

Would the dependent clause just have a state of being verb, or would saying "how tall make it a linking verb?

Another sentence,"I knew that he should've been trying to do his best." Is the whole entire verb phrase "should've been trying to do?"

Thank you


texts: "The machine" when referring to vending machine as source of candy

texts: In an episode of Seinfeld, when asked where he got the Junior Mints he's eating, Kramer answers "from the machine".  Would it be correct to say that in this case, "the machine" refers to all types of vending machines in general, and not to the specific vending machine that he happened to dispense it from?  Thanks.


texts: Appropriate word for "something that will kick in if something bad happens"

texts:
I'm drafting a somewhat official document, and I can't quite think of the right word here:

All employees are covered under an occupational hazard insurance, which would cover any liabilities arising from A, B, or C.

The sentence sounds kind of awkward because cover is used twice. Is there a more appropriate word I can use instead of the second cover, something like mitigate? (I know mitigate wouldn't be appropriate, just an example)


texts: What part of speech is "spruce" in "The Templar spruce"?

texts:
While reading Swift's "A Description of a City Shower" (1710) I met the following two lines:

The Templar spruce, while every spout’s abroach,
Stays till ’tis fair, yet seems to call a coach.

It is fairly clear from the context that these lines describe a dapper law student(or a lawyer?) caught in a sudden shower.
What is less clear, however, is the part of speech the word "spruce" belongs to here.
From the word order it seems to be a noun, yet no dictionary I have checked, not even OED, lists that word as such in the sense of someone neatly dressed.
So what part of speech is it? Is it a postpositive adjective? (If so, was it used for the sake of poetic fluidity, or was it a common grammatical feature back then?) Was the word turned into a noun by the potent magic of poetry?


texts: Word for someone or something that always ends on a negative note

texts:
For example someone says "I like most genres of music, but hate R&B", or "I like to go to the park but the children are so annoying", or "I'm going on holiday this year, I bet it rains the whole time".

So something that starts positive or neutral and generally ends negative. Is there a word for this?


texts: difference in meaning: morphology / structure

texts:
What is the difference in meaning between "morphology" and "structure"?

Coming from a physics background and being a native German speaker, I tend to use "structure" when describing an internal configuration, and to use "morphology" when describing an overall outer appearance.

I wonder if this distinction is correct? I would like to learn about the difference between the two terms in general, in order to decide when to use which.


texts: Are fact and opinion mutually exclusive?

texts:
If I believe a fact, is that fact also my opinion? I'd always thought that opinion and fact are mutually exclusive. To me, 1+1=2 cannot be considered an opinion, as it is a fact.

Merriam-Webster has a few definitions of the word opinion, including one that seems to suggest that facts could also be considered opinions:

  a view, judgment, or appraisal formed in the mind about a particular matter

and one that seems to support the idea that fact and opinion are mutually exclusive:

  belief stronger than impression and less strong than positive knowledge


texts: Adjective for "terrified yet calm and capable"

texts: What is an adjective to describe the duality of a first responder (such as an EMT responding to a terrorist attack) who is terrified for the wounded, yet simultaneously calm, detached, and capable enough to give aid?


texts: Why do we write "read" instead of "readed" and pronounce it "red"?

texts:
Why do we write read unchanged for present and past, while study changes; we have studied.

The present form of read is read, pronounced as "reed".
The past form of read is also read but it is pronounced as "red".

Is it a regular verb or an irregular verb?


texts:
In the song YOLO I heard the lyric
"You oughta look out also stands for YOLO."

I thought that the correct usage of "stands for" with acronyms was only the "[acronym] stands for [meaning]" direction.
Using 'stand for' in reference to acronyms
says that that direction is correct. But I've heard it used a lot in the other direction. Is it misuse, or can "stands for" be used the other way?


texts: "as much as you and I" vs. "as much as you and me"

texts:
This was posted on facebook and people are saying it is incorrect, it should be:
"...as you and I"

Which is correct?


texts: Sentence Fragment? "The [adverb] [noun] [verb], the [adverb] [noun] [verb]."

texts:
I apologize if this has been asked before, but I cannot find a clear answer.
I am analyzing a statement and attempting to determine if it is a fragment or complete sentence. This is the general idea of the structure:

-The faster I ran, the stronger I became.
-The harder the wind blew, the colder the air felt.
-The longer I looked, the more confused I was.
The [adverb] [subject] [verb], the [adverb] [subject] [verb].

Is this sentence structure considered a full statement, or a fragment?


texts: When referring to two people who have passed on, is it necessary to repeat “the late”?

texts:
Which one is correct?

A. Authors like the late John Smith and John Doe have …

B. Authors like the late John Smith and the late John Doe have …

Thanks


texts: How are “the origin of human” and “the origins of human” used differently?

texts:
Statistically, I have searched on Linggle, on which "the origin of human" appeared 5900 times, and "the origins of human" 5500 times. It seems both are used.
What I can come up is the topic about, "multiregional hypothesis" and "recent single-origin hypothesis", and those who support the former use "origins" those who support the latter, but what if the speaker/writer is not sure which to believe in and or just has no idea about the topic?
I feel there might be other aspects that take place and decide the number, but since my L1 has no distinction between grammatical numbers, I have only vague language sense about the numbers, especially concerning abstract conceptions like "origin".
And is there a "default" number, if you are not sure if there's/are one or many? I remember that you use "I hear birds singing" rather than "I hear bird singing" if you are not sure about the number but just hear the sound. How about abstract words like "origin"?
Edit:
Thanks for pointing out the form of "human". I again searched by "humans". It turns out 1500 "the origin of humans" and 1000 "the origins of humans".
There are found some example of "the origin of the human race", "the origin of the human races" and "the origin of hominids", but there is found no result by their plural form.


texts: Which article should be used in this example?


texts: What is the meaning of 'moving in lofty circles'?

texts:
In his essay, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle described one of his stories :

  'The Illustrious Client' as having a certain dramatic quality and moving adequately in lofty circles.

I don't quite get what 'moving adequately in lofty cirlces' means.


texts: Italicizing foreign language words in an English Essay

texts:
I am writing an essay about German history, and I'm unsure whether German words should be italicized or not. The essay is in English, but I use words like Reichstag (German Parliament Building), Führer (Hitler's title, means "leader"), and Reich (kingdom). I'm seeing conflicting sources online that say:

italicize first use of the word
italicize every time
don't italicize
italicize if they would be unknown by the reader

Basically, should I italicize German words, proper nouns, or names (and to what extent)?


texts:
Is this correct to express that he cannot 7-10:15 and at other time he can, please? Or should be "otherwise whenever" separated by a comma.

He does not have time between 7:00 and 10:15, otherwise whenever on Sunday.

or is it better

Apart from (except for/excluding) 7:00 - 10:15, he has time all Sunday.

He has time all Sunday but 7:00 - 10:15.

?


texts:
I am offering membership of my web page and now I have these:

  One Month
      Semi-Annual
      Annual
      Lifetime

I am not sure about One Month, maybe I should write Monthly? Do these membership names fit together?


texts:
What does the word “repultrigue” mean? I can't find this word in dictionaries and I googled it,  returning only two results about one same article. In A Startling Episode 705, 'Mad Men' Meets 'Three's Company' And 'The Walking Dead'

The word appears in the last of the second paragraph：

  But in an unsettling Episode 705, (spoiler alert) the biggest moments didn’t need words: the actor's reactions told you everything you needed to know. The look on Don’s face when he realized that Megan and Amy were really serious about the ménage a trois? Is there an English word for his mixed emotions?  Horrifuson? Repultrigue?


texts: Someone says vs Someone said in reported speech

texts:
Is " someone says something"  ( in the present) acceptable, and if yes , when?

Let's say I just got off the phone with someone, and they said they wouldn't make it on time. I've got someone in front of me waiting anxiously to hear what the person on the phone said.

I answer: "Jake says they won't make it, and wants us to go ahead without them."
How does it compare to " x said they wouldn't / won't make it and [....] " ?

I know this is mostly used in a general sense, as in: "He says it's not in the cards yet" (marriage, or whatever).

So my question is, when reporting something still relevant in the present ( something someone said a few days ago, last week, just a second ago etc), aside from the general sense when reporting something someone often says, is it acceptable to use the verb in the present rather than past simple?

The Independent published this article 8 hours ago: "Donald Trump Jr says his father can't be racist because 'of all the rappers' he has hung out with"


texts: Can coordinating-conjunctions be omitted from a list?

texts:
This is a question I've wondered for a while.

Examples:

I'm drained, confused, frustrated.
I'm tired, lonely.

Can "and" be omitted if the sentence retains its clarity?


texts: To reiterate VS. Reiterating. Do both make sense or does one in this context?

texts:
Ultimately, to reiterate what I said in regards to the wallpaper, there are seven large dots at the top, five small dots in the middle, and seven large dots at the bottom.

OR

Ultimately, reiterating what I said in regards to the wallpaper, there are seven large dots at the top, five small dots in the middle, and seven large dots at the bottom.

Do both make sense and mean the same thing, or is one of them the correct one?


texts: Integrating quotes from a short story into an essay for better flow

texts:
I am working on Freytag Pyramid and wish to integrate a direct quote from the text with my sentences.

Example

Original Text:

There was a white horse spreading its wings of fury over the horizon.

Integration (1):

One thing it liked to do was to "[spread] its wings of fury".

Are ellipses needed at the beginning and end of the quote?

Integration (2):

One thing it liked to do was to "[spread] its wings of fury over the horizon".

Can the period be omitted inside the quote?

As for providing a source of the quote in the text, I would do something like this

In second paragraph, the protagonist states that she "was unhappy with her social status".

Is there a much more elegant way to cite the source of the quote in the text, so I won't have to include In the second paragraph, the protagonist states...?


texts: English idiom for the Italian "Buon lavoro"

texts:
In Italian we can say "Buon lavoro" to someone who is working and it basically means that we wish him/her the best while working (It can be literally translated with "Good work" but it sounds just wrong). It's like when you say "Good morning" to someone and it can be roughly translated with: "Have a good day at work".

Note: I'm aware of the fact that in English you can say "Good job" but that's usually said after a job is done.

Is there such an idiom in English?


texts: What is a word similar to rappel describing ascention via rope?

texts:
Rappel, in general, describes the maneuver of descending vertically via rope.

Is there a single word that describes the opposite action of being pulled directly upward or ascending vertically via rope?


texts: Phrase or idiom for lots of unnecessary actions

texts:
I am looking for a short phrase or idiom which means "a lot of unnecessary and hard actions".

The whole phrase would be something like:
No more tons of unnecessary actions, create it in one minute or less.
It means that here is a new simple and quick way to create something, and you could avoid a lot of work you were usually doing in old software to gain same result.

I was thinking about "hustle and bustle" but I don't know is it suitable for case where you are interacting with software.

Thank you in advance!


texts: What is a collective term for castles, citadels, forts, palaces etc.?

texts:
We at Travel-SE are having an ongoing tag reorganization, and we're trying to find a collective term that encompasses the following:

castles
châteaux (which are really castles, but not every castle is a château)
palaces
forts
citadels
country houses (which are really palaces, but for non-royals)

We'd appreciate if you guys can come up with an appropriate category that covers these all. We don't want to create separate tags because frankly people won't know the difference between these and won't care.

We were thinking of fortified-structures or palatial-structures, but these don't work quite well. residences is just too broad, and royal-residences is not correct since country houses were not used by royal figures.

Any other ideas?


texts: Can "I met her yesterday" mean "I met up with her yesterday"?

texts:
The context:
A bunch of coworkers and I had lunch yesterday, let's call one of them E and one of them C. I know E and C have been acquainted for a long time, but I did not see them speak to each other at the lunch.

Today, I was speaking one-on-one with E and asked her "Have you spoken to C recently?". E's response was "I met her yesterday", in reference to the lunch.

As a native speaker, I feel like this is incorrect, but I do not have a way to explain to her why it is incorrect (she is non-native).

We had been talking about C's speech patterns, so I was asking whether she has paid attention to the way C speaks recently. E's response was sarcastic, but the sentence "I met her yesterday" in that context still seems awkward to me.

My best guess is that it's only weird because we were all at the lunch together, and it might make more sense to say "I met her yesterday" if perhaps I was not at the same lunch with them.

Am I correct in thinking that this usage is incorrect? If so, what's the reason?


texts: Is this grammatically correct: "Will he roll the dice, and follow it to Vegas?"?

texts:
I want to use the following line in a poem:

  Will he roll the dice, and follow it to Vegas?

A couple of things to note; firstly, obviously I'm using "roll the dice" in both a figurative/idiomatic sense (as in taking a risk), and in a somewhat more literal sense (painting the image of the person actually following the dice that have been rolled to Las Vegas).

That being said, my confusion here is if I can get away with using "follow it" or if I need to say "follow them" .... As I've read online "dice" traditionally refers to more than one die (i.e., the plural of die), but in the modern usage, "dice" can also be used to refer to the singular (i.e., just one die). So, it seems like if I was referring to the image of just one die, then the way I phrased it could be correct. However, the image I'm trying to paint is the one usually associated with the phrase "roll the dice" (i.e., rolling two dice)... So could "follow it" still be considered acceptable in this sense... or would I need to use "follow them"?... And if not referring to the dice themselves, could using, could the "it" be taken to refer to the act of rolling the dice, or would that not work either?


texts:
How are the following two different?

1) Aerial photography at 8K quality

2) Aerial photography in 8K quality

These phrases were submitted as part of a proposal for an aerial drone company's English ad. However, I'm not sure about the grammar here. Would it be better to go with "IN" or "AT"?

Thank you very much.


texts: Which verb describes the movement of a flag or clothes on clothes line?  The wind moves a flag or clothes,but what is the  proper word for this movement?


texts:
The sentence is as follows
He recently noticed something abnormal about the way this present generation of teens is developing.

In the sentence, why are there 2 verbs, notice & is in the sentence?
Is it correct?
Could anyone please help me to get point?
Many thanks.


texts:
Grammatically, should the comma after "June 28" and before "an" be a comma or a semicolon in the example below?

  Refunding bonds for Improvement Area No. 1 of Community Facilities District No. 3 were sold Tuesday, July 27, after Council’s approval on June 28, an action which supports the city’s Mission as well as the organizational value of stewardship.

Thanks!


texts: Word to describe the process of continuing to communicate with an end user

texts:
I'm working on the branding of a company and we need to come up with a single word to describe the concept of continuing to publish content to an end user over a longer period of time. We've brainstormed words like "stream" if that helps, but that particular term doesn't work.

Thanks in advance!


texts: Why are there multiple spellings of the word 'There'?

texts:
There

Their

They're

I understand why They're is spelled the way it is. It's a contraction of the words "They" and "are", and it is used in the same way. However, the words There and Their are spelled differently yet sound the same.

Why?

Were they pronounced differently at one point, similar to how night and knight are? (if so, how were they pronounced? Or do the spellings have another origin to them?


texts: What's the exact meaning of "flat eyes"?

texts:
In the American novels, there are a lot of expression of this 'flat eyes'.

Seemingly not very favorable expression, but what's this phrase insinuating exactly?

I am  not a native speaker of English.


texts: I am really confused on the this topic, could someone please help? In a phrase like,"Come on up." I know "up" modifies "come on." What happens when you are able to switch positions of adverbs and adverbials? In, "I played yesterday at the park.", and "I played at the park yesterday." Does "yesterday" modify "played at the park" in both or does "at the park" modify played yesterday in the first sentence?


texts: Can Present Participle verbs be used in Past tense stories?

texts:
I'm writing a 3rd person story in the past tense. I'm asking the above question because I noticed Roald Dahl used present particles instead of past particles in The BFG.

  The BFG, with Sophie sitting on his hand, hurried into the cave and
  put on those brilliant blinding lights that seemed to come from
  nowhere.

Could someone explain the reasoning behind this?

Here is a sample from my story;

  Walking down the street, I spotted a brown suitcase covered in mud.

Would I be correct in using the present particle of walk - walking - in this sentence, even though my story is written in the past tense?


texts:
In Canada, we use the term "Kris Kringle" for gift exchange tradition in Christmas. It is also spelled as "Kriss Kringle". In US and UK, it is called Secret Santa. Wikipedia says "Secret Santa" is used in Canada too but I usually hear it as Kris Kringle.

  Deriving from the Christian tradition, the ritual is known as Secret Santa in the United States and the United Kingdom; as Kris Kringel or Kris Kindle (Christkindl) in Ireland; as Secret Santa, Kris Kringle, or Chris Kindle (Christkindl) in parts of Austria; as Secret Santa or Kris Kringle in Canada and Australia; and as Secret Santa, Kris Kringle, or Monito-monita in the Philippines.

There are four meanings listed in Wikipedia:

  Christkind or Christkindl, the Austrian and German Christmas gift-bringer, the Christ Child
  Santa Claus, by assimilation in the United States of the separate German tradition
  Secret Santa, a gift exchange deriving from the Christkindl tradition
  Kris Kringle, the lead character in Miracle on 34th Street

Etymonline mentions Christ-kinkle from Pennsylvania German and Christkindlein from German and doesn't relate to Santa Claus.

  1830, Christ-kinkle (in a Pennsylvania German context, and as a reminiscence of times past, so probably at least a generation older in that setting), from German Christkindlein, Christkind'l "Christ child." Properly Baby Jesus, not Santa Claus.

Question:

What is the actual origin of "Kris Kringle" and when is it first used?

Related questions:

How is the term related to gift exchange? It comes from the name of gift-bringer ChristKind (diminutive Christkindl) but how come it is used in Canada and Australia when there is "Santa" out there? [I'm not sure if "Kris Kringle" is ever used in US]
Is it a corrupted spelling of Christkindl? When and how is it corrupted?
How is it related to Jesus? Is it associated with Santa? Is there a competition between them?


texts: What is the difference between “area”, “zone”, and “site”?

texts:
Is there any difference between area, zone, and site?

If there is some difference between them?

When do I have to use (nor not use) each of these constructions?


texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  'A[n] * [number] [plural]' Construction

  Since the Crash Test Dummies, Vince and Larry, were introduced to the American public in 1985, safely belt usage has increased from 21% to 70%, saving an estimated 75 000 lives.

Why is there the article before "estimated" while after it there is the plural form?


texts:
If I use the phrase "winning business" as a byline to a logo. How will it generally be percieved?

1) Like a winning business

2) Like the act of winning business

3) Doesn't make any sense to have that as a byline


texts: A word that encompasses buying and selling?

texts:
I'm trying to retag some questions (such as this one) on the Board Game Stack Exchange, and the only good tag I can think of is "Selling".

But that seems inefficient, and a word that covers both buying and selling would be more useful to the site. The first word I thought of was transaction but that doesn't seem to cover it.

Someone has suggested to me business, but again it doesn't sound like it works in the context.

Is there not a single word (or a phrase shorter than 25 characters) for this?


texts: Can someone explain the grammar of this sentence to me?

texts:
Can someone please explain this “would have” + verb construction in this sentence?

  “Why did you wait outside? I would’ve text you when I got here”

I’m a little confused. Shouldn’t it be “I would’ve texted”?

Also, why is it “got here” not “get here”?


texts: Responding with "OK" & "Welcome" to "Thank you"

texts:
Please, let me make it clear that my question is not asking how native speakers usually respond to "Thank you". Before posting this question I did some research and I also read this discussion: How do native English speakers respond to "Thank you"?  In my opinion none of the suggested answers apply to my question.

This is a specific question on the appropriateness of two specific responses.

Let's take a situation when I ask my colleague to briefly explain me something. And after he has done it, I say, "Thank you".

Is it polite to respond with an "OK" to my "Thank you"? (That's how a native English speaker replied to me today.)
Is it acceptable in an informal situation to respond with "You welcome" (without "are") or even with "Welcome"? Responding, "You are welcome" sometimes feels too long to me :)

UPDATE. Today two different people responded with "OK"  to my "Thank you" and "Thanks", so it seems it's not that rare.


texts:
I have recently been asked to offer an opinion on the following question:

  Mother's Day is _____ this month.
  a) nothing
  b) in

As far as I remember from school years, we do not use any preposition if what follows is this/ that. However, I have heard people use both forms. Could someone please clarify that for me.


texts: Can I use "impoverished" in this context?

texts: "Public transit service  plays a considerable role in our life. The quality of these service are always being regarded as  impoverished, second class, missed departure due to wrong real-time information, etc."


texts: Pronunciation of a made up company name called 'logeek' with domain 'logeek.ly'

texts:
I wanted to ask how native speakers find this made up company name, is it conveying any message to you? I wanted to merge words 'logically' and 'geek' into one. I wonder if you, as native speakers, find this neologism 'logeekly' pronounceable, friendly and self-explanatory?

I'm aware that it is not the most appropriate site for this question, but I could't find a better one.


texts: Is it correct to say "one year up in India"?

texts:
I want to say that I have just completed one year in India.
Is the following sentence correct?

  One year up in India...


texts: rhetorical terminology: Using a generic term to mean a specific thing?

texts:
Is there a name for the rhetorical practice of using a generic term to mean a specific thing?  For example, a particular programming language uses the term "algorithm," which is a very broad term that, generally speaking, could mean a lot of things, to mean "combinator," which is a very narrow particular kind of function, namely one that takes other functions as arguments.  Presumably, the authors of that programming language chose "algorithm" because it's a familiar word, instead of "combinator," which almost no-one outside of a certain specialty would recognize.  The fact is, however, that they risk greater confusion by conflating the general with the specific.  When reading their materials, as long as one realizes that, in context, they're using the general to mean the specific, you'll be fine.  But you really can't read snippets out of context because the word "algorithm" will evoke too many possibilities.

I wonder whether there is one of those fabulous Greek names for this rhetorical practice of using a too-broad, more familiar term to mean a more-narrow, less-familiar term in context?


texts:
In the following sentence, what is the main verb and in what tense does it occur?

  I have got a car.

There are two possible explanations that I can think of:

get as the main verb in the present perfect tense
have got as a phrasal verb in the present simple tense


texts:
Ostensibly, verb conjugation is plural vs singular: "The apple is big." vs "The apples are big."
But that doesn't match up with the centuries-old singular they.
"They is nice." vs "They are nice."
I believe only the latter is correct, not only for plural they but even for singular they.
Are there any other exceptions to the singular vs plural verb conjugation? Or is singular they a unique exception to English verb conjugation among all subjects?
Is plural vs singular still the way that grammarists explain English verb conjugation?


texts: Is there a difference between a "contribution" and a "positive contribution"?

texts: Just wondering if there's actually a difference as I hear them often.


texts:
In an unnamed corner of this world-wide-web-thing I had a discussion with someone who appeared to be using an apostrophed plural-s. Unfortunately I have this weird allergy which triggers me to respond whenever I see that...
So someone wrote "Klingon's are a fantasy" and I hit him...and then the person tried to convince me this should be read as "Klingon's existence" - but obviously this would require "is fantasy", not "are fantasy".
Now...I am German, and he claims his brothers were teachers, so perhaps I am missing something. Is there any valid reason to write it as he did in proper English? ;-)

P.S: I'd like to point out that this is not a duplicate of this question - the question is more if there is any justification for the apostrophe other than the obvious & invalid plural...


texts: Inconsistency in Strunk and White regarding serial comma

texts:
From Strunk and White's The Elements of Style, Chapter 2, Lesson 2:

In a series of three or more terms with a single conjunction, use a
comma after each term except the last
Thus write,

red, white, and blue
honest, energetic, but headstrong
He opened the letter, read it and made a note of its contents.

My question is: Why isn't there a comma after read it in the third example?


texts: Is it ok to say “Your barracks is finished”?

texts:
In the online game Travian, the following sentence is used:

  Your barracks is finished. A good step towards world domination.

Shouldn’t it instead be:

Your barracks are finished.

or

Your barrack is finished.


texts:
I came across this expression while reading Dickens's American Notes. In context it seems to mean something similar to "all-purpose" or "catch-all," and seems to appear most in English/Welsh writing from the mid-19th century. It's new to me.

  There are few words which perform such various duties as this word ’fix.’ It is the Caleb Quotem of the American vocabulary. You call upon a gentleman in a country town, and his help informs you that he is ‘fixing himself’ just now, but will be down directly: by which you are to understand that he is dressing. You inquire, on board a steamboat, of a fellow-passenger, whether breakfast will be ready soon, and he tells you he should think so, for when he was last below, they were ‘fixing the tables:’ in other words, laying the cloth. You beg a porter to collect your luggage, and he entreats you not to be uneasy, for he’ll ‘fix it presently:’ and if you complain of indisposition, you are advised to have recourse to Doctor So-and-so, who will ‘fix you’ in no time.

Can anybody here shed some light on the origins and meaning of this expression?


texts: What can you "distinguish" between? Distinguishing between things that seem incomparable

texts:
Given my lack in vocabulary, I assume the title doesn't make much sense (and I will welcome more suitable suggestions or edits for the title), but, basically, what brings up that question is a pretty vague sentence I run into while trying to translate a paper:

  Impairments in these EI (Emotional Intelligence) abilities have shown signiﬁcant incremental utility in distinguishing between youth with ADHD and controls, above and beyond deﬁcits in various neuropsychological functions

Possibilities that I had in mind were:

The distinguishing is between individuals in the young ADHD population
The distinguishing is between young people with ADHD and controls

The first one seems okay, although it would also have to mean that there is also distinguishing between controls (which don't say much to me as controls were not mentioned in any way that actually clarifies what they stand for, which also contributes to the unlikelihood of the second possibility.). What keeps me from excluding the second option is the presence of the common structure "Between...and...", but then again, what is the point in distinguishing between things with no apparent criteria, without which they are generally obviously distinguishable?

I would really like to hear from you on that matter, because I am pretty lost here.


texts: Why is the word "bread" pronounced "bred"?

texts: Why does it have an A in the word if you don't pronounce it? It's pronounced with a short e (/ε/) and I want to know why. Why?


texts:
I recently came across a funny picture with these questions:

Do you want som drugs?

No

Do you not want some drugs?

Presumably the answear is supposed to be "no" since you always say no to drugs, but does not both these questions result in him saying no to drugs?

http://buttersafe.com/comics/2013-11-07-Drugs.jpg


texts: What did the word "Ade" mean in the English of a hundred years ago?

texts: Saw this in the news today and think I see the word Ade, but have never seen it before.  Is it Ade?  Or Ode?  Wde?  What does it mean?  Is it an abbreviation?


texts: What is the word to describe the set of correct answers to a test?

texts:
In a multiple choice test the author of the test knows all the correct answers.

What is this set of correct answers called?

I have tried looking this up but I can't seem to find the word. The word in Norwegian is "fasit".


texts: Is it correct to use "at" followed by a place name (city, town, village, etc.)? I've been seeing phrases like "a hotel at Las Vegas" or "she was living at London" quite a lot recently. Is this a difference between British and US English, perhaps?


texts: Is there a word for the 'art' of creating amulets?

texts:
This is my first question on this site, so if it is off-topic I apologize.

Is there a word for the practice/art of creating amulets, talismans, magical tokens, or the like? For example, 'wizardry' is practicing magic as a wizard, and 'wandistry' is the use of magical wands, so is there a word in a similar vein such as 'talismanistry'?

I would want to use it like this: "The two major branches of magic are wandistry and [insert word]."

I think 'wandistry' is a noun (and thus this word would also be a noun) because it is like 'medicine' or 'dentistry': it is an occupation/art. If such a word doesn't exist (I'm pretty sure 'wandistry' doesn't exist either) any convincing made-up word is perfectly sufficient.

Some dictionary searches I've tried:
OneLook with keywords "make amulet"
OneLook with keywords "make talisman"

Additionally, normal Google and Ecosia (which has results provided by Bing) searches turn up nothing but instruction sets for rituals to actually make magic amulets, which I'm not interested in.

Edit:
In my case I'm specifically referring to the process of creating amulets, as in magical gemstones. The use of talismans/magical tokens as examples was not well thought out by me.


texts: "Registrator", "registrar", or "registry" when describing the responsibility of managing registration-related activities

texts:
When naming a class in an object-oriented programming language I came a across a case where there were a few proposed names for describing a component that is responsible for abstracting registration related actions.

Candidate names:

  ApplicationRegistrator
  ApplicationRegistrar
  ApplicationRegistry

Which of these phrases more properly describes the scenario?


texts:
1.) "If you believe that deceivers are colorful folk who mislead with elaborate lies and tall tales, you are greatly mistaken."

2.) "If you yearn for power, quickly lay honesty aside, and train yourself in the art of concealing your intentions."

Hey guys, I was unable to understand what this one author meant by these quotes, even as directly stated.  I was wondering if you're able to explain.

For the first quote, does it mean that
Deceivers do not try as much when deceiving, as in telling a simple lie, Rather than taking the time and wasting their time in coming up with a perfect detailed lie? Does he intend to say that the best deceiver is the one that gets to the point and keeps things quick resulting in better success rate of his own interests? Or could it mean that the best deceivers lie by not telling the whole truth resulting in my next question..

2.) Although overall, it's a bad case to be caught lying. What do you think of not lying, yet not telling the full truth either? Is this another alternative? Is there a certain term for this?

I would appreciate some feedback.


texts: “I burned the toast” vs. “I've burned the toast”

texts:
I have a question about a sentence I read in the comic strip Garfield.

Garfield's owner, Jon, brings him a burnt piece of toast saying,

  I burned the toast.

Well, once there's no time specified and the toast is still there on the plate at the time the cat owner is speaking, shouldn't we use the present perfect?  Wouldn't it have been more correct for Jon to say,

  I 've burned your toast

I know the finished time may be implicit, but the thing is it's the example given for the use of simple past in a text book for foreign students, so I think it might be a little confusing for them, don't you think so?


texts: Is it wrong to say "I hope this does not inconvenience you in any way"?

texts: I recently had a dilemma regarding this. While the above sentence sounds okay to my ears, "I hope this does not cause any inconvenience to you" sounds more grammatically correct. Which one is correct?


texts: What do you call someone who acts and thinks it is helpful, even though they do not know the context of what is going on?

texts:
What is a name for a person who assumes they are doing something helpful, even though they are ignorant to the situation? Someone who reacts without bothering to understand what’s going on, and feels as though they are doing good? Is there such a word?

For instance, someone who pulls another out of the pool, and pats them self on the back for saving them from drowning...without ever asking if the person was drowning or merely swimming.


texts: One word for something belonging to an era

texts:
Is there a single word which means "of or relating to a particular era"?  I am looking for a word which means that something is limited to a particular era, as opposed to being universal.  Preferably it should be conjugated from the word era, but doesn't have to be.

As an example, things that only existed during the Stone Age, or practices that were only practiced before World War II, or beliefs that were prevalent before the Industrial Revolution, or technology which existed after the advent of computers, could be said to be [insert word here].

EDIT:

I have made several attempts to clarify what I am asking for, and I seem to be having trouble communicating.  "Particular" can mean "an individual object, as contrasted with a universal" - see definition 11 here.  I am looking for a word that says a noun belongs to any one era, as opposed to belonging to all eras.  "Food" would not be described with this term, as "food" belongs to any era.  "Automobile" would, as "automobile" only existed during the Modern Era and not before.  "Uncharted territory" only existed in the era before satellite imagery (at least as far as Earth is concerned).  I am not looking for a word which is confined to any one particular era.  I am looking for a word which is confined to any one era in the set of all eras.


texts: Is there a word or words to describe a workplace where employees end up managing managers?

texts:
I'm looking for a way to describe a workplace where the employees end up having to manage their own manager. This takes the form of employees having to ask for work, constantly check work has been signed off, check staff rotas have been written, etc. This is happening because of incompetence and/or indecisiveness on the managers part, not because this is an agreed system of working.
I want to use it in the phrase along the lines of "Employees are having to take on managerial tasks not in their job role because it's a ________ workplace." I want to describe the system, not the individual if possible.


texts: "None but the brave deserves the fair." What part of speech is "but"?

texts:
In the sentence:

  None but the brave deserves the fair.

...is the word but here a:

pronoun
adverb
preposition
conjunction

Normally but is used as conjunction, but here I am not sure if this "but" is used as a conjunction or not. Can anyone please help me?


texts:
How would I phonetically spell the way locals pronounce Louisville?

(Louisville, KY)


texts:
Is "too, once" or "once, too" correct?
Or can we just simply choose one of those 2 words?
Do we need to use comma?

Here's the sentence:

  "You did it to me (too, once) / (once, too)."

Thanks!


texts: "It is a/the search to which I've dedicated my writing"

texts:
It is a search to which I've dedicated my writing.
  — Source

Isn't it supposed to be the?


texts: When quoting, what's the difference between "someone says" and "as someone says"?

texts:
In formal/academic writing, I see some people start a quote by using "someone says" and others "as someone says...". For example,

Toni Morrison argues that "the process of organizing American coherence through a distancing Africanism became the operative mode of a new cultural hegemony." (8)
As Toni Morrison argues, "the process of . . .

What's the difference between sentences 1 and 2? Is this a problem of style or does the meaning also differ?

Thanks.


texts: Which wording is better? “Impacted by” or “Affected by”

texts:
I want to use the phrase in a letter going out to municipal authorities. Note that I have added submissions listing examples of the negative effects or negative impacts of the construction project.
“We, the residents, impacted by the construction project”.
Mmm, now I am wondering about the tense. Should it say “have been impacted by” or “ we, the residents, impacted by”...
Or, We, the residents affected by...”


texts: Must the tongue contact the alveolar ridge anteriorly in order to pronounce /t/ properly?

texts:
Some textbooks teach that when making the t sound, the front and sides of the tongue contact the alveolar ridge anteriorly and laterally.

However, I feel very uncomfortable if I do that when pronouncing t. I feel much more comfortable putting the tip of my tongue between my lower and upper teeth to pronounce a t.

Is it alright to put the tip of the tongue between the lower and upper teeth when pronouncing t?


texts: Word for adding greenery to a barren landscape

texts: There's a word similar to "rewilding" and "reforestation/afforestation" used to describe adding greenery to a barren landscape. I think it might be related to the word "verdure", but I'm not sure. It's on the tip of my tongue. Does anyone know it?


texts: Type of vs Types of, kind of vs kinds of

texts:
I found a line on a page where I got,
What type of books do you need?
I think what types or kinds of books do you need? is more appropriate.
I would like to know the real use of them. If I am not wrong type of follows countable one and noun has to be singular. On the other hand types of follow uncountable one and noun has to be plural.
Could someone help me out with this issue?
Please give some example also.


texts: Can I use "way how to" to express a method of doing something?

texts:
I always thought that this phrase is wrong. That I can use either "the way to do something" or "how to do something". However, I find the phrase way how to very often in various places and that puts me in doubt whether this is correct or not.

Can you think of a proper usage example or are a lot of people just wrong when they use the phrase?


texts:
"Tell", "continue" and "stop" are not listed as auxiliary verbs, but they seem to be similar. Consider the following sentences, where [these are objects of tell]:

  He told [his cat] to leave.

  We told [them] to find another way.

  [They] have been told to stop calling.

I cannot reconcile "told" as simply a transitive verb in these cases.

Consider these phrases where tell is used as a verb taking a single accusative object:

  He told [his cat].

  We told [them].

  [They] have been told.

I don't think [to leave] or [to find another way] or [to stop calling] can be considered noun phrases.

Also, we can chain together these words, often by adding the word "to" (like we do with the word ought which is listed as an auxiliary verb). Though sometimes this isn't necessary. A few examples of increasing complexity:

  We continue telling [him] to stop calling.

  We continue to tell [him] to stop calling.

  We continue pleading [her] to tell [him] to stop calling.

  We continue pleading [them] to beg [her] to tell [him] to stop calling.

  We continue to plead [them] to continue to beg [her] to stop telling [him] to stop calling.

It seems that these words can take an additional verb phrase as if it were a kind of object:

  Continue to _____.

  Stop _____.

  Plead [object] to _____.

  Tell [object] to _____.

  Beg [object] to _____.

Can anyone explain to me what these words are grammatically, and what those 'verb phrases' are?


texts:
Are these two sentences correct?

This is as good as ...
This works as well as ...

Edit:

This one is as good as the other one.
This one works as well as the other one.


texts:
Which of the sentences is correct?

It will expect the client has 1 page.
It will expect that the client has 1 page.
It will expect the client has 1 a page.
It will expect that the client has a 1 page.

Is the word "that" necessary? And what about the word "a 1 page"? w/ or w/o


texts: Word or term for quarter but for 1/5 1/6 and so on?

texts:
Its for a letter to someone. A proposal involving fractals and housing.

Name as much as you can. Im asking for similar terms all in one post because it would probably be useful in the future.


texts:
Should it be

  A student of ABC College is required to ...
  A student in ABC College is required to ...
  A student from ABC College is required to ...

In addition, if the "ABC College" is a school that offers online education, does that automatically cancel out option 2 since the student would never physically be there?


texts: Subject/Object Confusion in The Silmarillion

texts:
In Tolkein's "The Silmarillion", page 216 of the chapter "Of Túrin Turambar", the following is written:

  "[...] this Wildman was the Mormegil of Nargothrond, whom rumour said
  was the son of Húrin of Dor-lómin."

Ignoring the array of proper nouns, shouldn't the subclause read "WHO rumour said was the son [...]", as "who was" is the main verb and subject of the clause? Even when phrased differently, one would say "Rumour said HE was the son", not "Rumour said HIM was the son".

Can somebody shed some light on Tolkein's use of the object case here?

EDIT: This is a slightly different case than the similar question that was linked, as "Rumour said" seems to take a  more gramatically accusative tone, and are able to take an object, unlike "it is forseeable".


texts:
For example:
"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were having a good time"
This is apparent by the context that the person is having a great time, but why say If I didn't know any better?


texts: The term 'vocal fry': where does it come from?

texts:
On a recent Language Log posting Vocal fry: "creeping in" or "still here"?, Mark Liberman discusses an (also) recent article about the phenomenon of 'vocal fry' and shows how it has been around for quite awhile in the US (lots of references in that blog post).

I personally had never heard of this term, have never heard anybody talk about this phenomenon, have never heard anybody talk in the described manner, and frankly can't hear anything special in those utterances even where pointed out.

But my sound-blindness is not the issue. What I'd like to know is where the term 'vocal fry' comes from. Who coined it or where did people start using it? Presumably it is metaphorical (a 'frying' sound?). The blog posting doesn't address that, and wading through the references hasn't turned up anything yet.


texts:
The author of a book I'm working on insists that a ladle, a serving spoon for soup or stew, is spelled laddle.  A quick Google search pulled results of ladle, but most shopping sites and Youtube videos have laddle.

I'm most certain ladle is correct. But I need to know how and where she got laddle.


texts:
What’s the meaning of “she has some mouth on her”?

The idiom comes from an episode (S03E03) of Seinfeld:

  -He loves that pen.
  -Come on.
  He talks about it all the time.
  He goes on and on about how it writes upside down, how astronauts use it.
  He never should have offered it.
  -He didn't think you'd accept.
  -Well, he was wrong.
  I know his wife.
  She has some mouth on her.
  She'll tell everyone in the condo now that you made him give you the pen.
  They're talking about it right now.

Read more


texts: Is there a word for a solemn type of happiness, contentedness, or joy?

texts: Consider someone who feels that the world is full of suffering, and they themselves have suffered much, but nonetheless they see the beauty in the world and derive happiness from that beauty. Is there a word to describe that emotion?


texts: What does this sentence mean from Socrates?

texts:
His mind has a soil deep and fertile, out of which spring his prudent
  counsels.

The whole sentence I don't understand. What does mind have soil deep and fertile mean? Mean stupid? or smart? or idea? what does out of which spring mean here? Does something in his mind, good or bad? so he has to be prudent? From Plato's The Republic, Book II.

Here is what I think it means: unjust people will bury their mind deep like a seed, and then fertile out, unjust people seem to be just because they are careful and wise. Am I mistaken? In modern language, I think hypocrisy is a good word to describe but not the best word.


texts: The difference between "have a lunch" and "have lunch"

texts:
Is there any difference between

  I am not having a lunch tomorrow.

and

  I am not having lunch tomorrow.

This is a follow up question of : About the use of future tense.


texts: A verb for 'moving from one place to another', nuancing 'change/transformation'

texts:
I'm looking for an English equivalent for the German verb 'wandeln', in the case where it expresses (a person's) movement from one place to another, while also denoting transformation/change.

An example of this could be used in a scene where a young woman, utterly devastated by a recent break-up or other tragic event, moves herself from the couch to the window on an ordinary weekday afternoon. Her outward existence in this world reduced to the bare few monotonous chores demanded of her to exist. She stares at the clock for hours on end, and when the postman comes her face is void of any expression, and her eyes seem to just stare through any person facing her, as if there was nobody there.

So, is there a verb that could be used instead of 'move/move herself' that would subtly hint at 'transformation/change'.

She altered from the couch to the window?
She transformed from the couch to the window?

I'm quite sceptical of the examples above, but translations websites I tried didn't come up with much either. Here's an example of the translations I found:
http://dict.leo.org/german-english/wandeln

I hope someone can help me out, any help is much appreciated!


texts: complete actions in the future for the future continuous

texts:
In the book, English grammar in use, there is a sentence,
"We also use will be -ing to talk about complete actions in the future."
What does 'complete actions' mean?
To indicate the action that will be finished in the future, can I use future continuous tense?


texts: Is it correct to say "I cannot see things that I don't know exist?"

texts:
Is it correct to say

  1.) I cannot see things that I don't know exist

or is it better to say

  2.) I cannot see things that I don't know existed

If 1.) is correct, then the grammatical structure is know+exist, which is verb+verb.

I am not sure whether a verb+verb is correct.


texts: Why we say "an historical" but "a history"

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  When should I use “a” versus “an” in front of a word beginning with the letter h?

Why do we say an historical but a history? This question was originally posed by @shanselman on Twitter.


texts: What's the English idiom/saying to describe that the chosen word is not correct?

texts:
I mean that the word used is too light or too subtle to describe the gravity of the situation?

For example (an artificial example): the tsunami starts, the incredibly big waves are coming to the shore and the person says
"Such big waves!"
But in reality "big" is too light to describe the tsunami. The word must be more exaggerating. So I want to say something like:
"You chose the word 'big', but it is too light to describe it" or "It's not the right word".
or "It's not the word". How to say it in a more compact form?
I tried to say "It's not the word" but only a few people understood me.


texts: Negators in sentences that switch the meaning of "and" and "or"

texts:
In a sense, this is a follow up to the question Use of “and” and “or” in lists when intent is to disallow all items. An answer states "Or has the meaning of and when it is inside a negated sentence.", but can a sentence be negated in other ways than using "not"? Are some words, such as free and prohibited, "natural" negators?

For example, which is more clear to convey that a surface has no bacteria and also no viruses on it.

The surface is free of bacteria and viruses
The surface is free of bacteria or viruses

What about to indicate neither kicking nor punching is allowed. I think the first is correct, but is it wrong in that if someone was only kicking, then they would not be doing the prohibited activity of kicking AND punching?

Kicking and punching is prohibited
Kicking or punching is prohibited


texts:
What difference of sense would you hear in the following between "accord" and "concord":

"…all of whom remain within the enviable sphere of domestic accord/concord."

The OED is inconclusive, if not tautological, the first entry under "concord, n." making use of "accord:"

"1. Agreement between persons; concurrence in feeling and opinion; harmony, accord."


texts: Can I use the present perfect tense with a specific time expression?

texts:
Is it grammatical to combine the present perfect tense with time? For example,

  I've seen that movie two days ago.

  I've completed the 12-step program last summer.

  The deadline was two days ago, and I've finished the project ahead of time.


texts:
In the sentence "S walked from A to B", how does the interpretation of the semantic relationship between the from-PP and the to-PP affect the grammatical structure of the sentence?

On the interpretation that the from-PP is independent of the to-PP, the corresponding grammatical structure is clear: the from-PP and the to-PP are sisters...

But on the interpretation that the from-PP depends in some way on the to-PP (which is provided support by the oddness of separating them - e.g. *to B, S walked from A), what grammatical structure follows?

Can this second interpretation be represented without using X-bar theory?


texts: Middle English pronunciation of digraphs

texts: I was reading Chaucer and I am unsure on the pronunciation of "ch" and "wh". It's written in the guide that all "ch" is read as in "church" and it makes sense in words like "chivalrye", but sounds awkward in "Christendom" which was probably going a different route when it was being borrowed, since I am not aware of any neighbouring languages that would not give it a "k" or "kh" sound. I wasn't able to find the sound for what was written as "wh" in the text I have. Was it the same as Modern English, or was it closer to a German "w"?


texts:
"In the meanwhile, is there anything else I'm supposed to do besides studying for the test?"

OR

"In the meanwhile, is there anything else I'm supposed to do besides study for the test?"

Which tense form is correct and why? Could someone please explain.


texts: Would you presume that a "sixth sense" be considered foresight or intuition?

texts:
thefreedictionary for idioms suggests:

sixth sense:
a supposed power to know or feel things that are not perceptible by the five senses of sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch.

"My sixth sense told me to avoid going home by my usual route. Later I discovered there had been a fatal accident on it. Jane's sixth sense demanded that she not trust Tom, even though he seemed honest enough."

Given that understanding and definition, including my knowledge on it, I would personally presume so.

What are the facts?


texts: What's the difference between a 'Sourcer' and a 'Recruiter'?

texts: In HR terms, what's the difference between a 'Sourcer' and a 'Recruiter'? Why is one preferred over the other?


texts: Is the correct usage of the non-taxable or nontaxable? I'm not sure what the correct use is. I want to say that it is with the hyphen however it ha become a debate that this could be incorrect.


texts:
I don't think this sentence is grammatically correct, but I don't quite know why:

"The most recent inspection date of the building was on July 11, 2019."

My quibble lies with the use of "on" in this sentence. If you remove the word "date," it seems "on" is necessary. But with "date" in the sentence, the "on" seems superfluous to me. Is this correct?


texts: Uncountables: When can I use "the" before the word "nature"?

texts:
I was correcting my homework and the correct answer was:
"The students from Oxford are going to study nature in Kenya"

But I just learned that if the uncountables is followed by a preposition I should use "The" before.

Why is "The student from Oxford are going to study the nature in Kenya?" wrong?


texts: "The process was done correctly" Confirm the correct steps have been taken

texts:
My question is if the sentence

  "the process was done correctly"

is grammatically correct and in a logical sequence of words that can be understood. I seems straight forward to me but I'm not sure it would to others.


texts: In the medical field what terminology do they use in describe cures and treatments

texts: When doctors diagnose a poison what are the treatments cures called to stop the poison? What other names to the cures and treatment are there?


texts: What does military plane’s escort (of an American Airlines flight) was “out of abundance of caution”’mean?

texts:
I listen to AP Radio News, and I heard the following report on September 12:

“Two military planes were sent to intercept an American Airlines flight headed for New York from Los Angeles after reports of a disturbance. Federal officials say the escort was out of abundance of caution. The plane landed safely about 4:10 pm. A Federal official says three people locked themselves in the bathroom.”

What does the escort was “out of abundance of caution,” mean? Though I'm afraid my ears were wrong, can you put this line into plainer English?


texts: What is the implication in "Gerald ‘Mac’ MacLean"?

texts: "Matthew Dimmock and Gerald ‘Mac’ MacLean gave me the benefit of their unrivalled expertise in the field..." (Jerry Brotton, This Orient Isle- Elizabethan England and the Islamic World, Acknowledgements)


texts: Mixing single digit and double digit numbers - how to write formally

texts:
If writing about numbers below 10, I spell the word out ('two out of four people use grammar correctly').

If writing about numbers greater than or equal to 10, I use digits ('15 out of 20 people use grammar correctly').

If I wanted to include the number five (5) and fifteen (15) in the same sentence, should I mix the type ('five out of 15 people use grammar correctly')?


texts: Term for "a pattern that repeats once induced"

texts: For example, let's say that I went to sleep one night at 5:00 am. Out of exhaustion, I would most likely sleep until the late afternoon. Since I woke up so late, I wouldn't be tired until very early in the morning, maybe 5:00 am again. This pattern would repeat over and be hard to break out of. My question is, what would we call this type of pattern? Another example would be smoking; you begin to smoke and it's very hard to stop. I'm not looking for "addiction", because that implies that I am physically and mentally dependent on the object.


texts:
Hi native English speakers,

I found the example of the out of office message on a website where it says
"I’m out of the office and will be back at 9th October"
I was told (by not native) that this is incorrect as "at" to be replaced by "on". Can you natives please confirm it is correct or not or both version are acceptable?
Thanks a lot.

Found on website
https://small-bizsense.com/professional-out-of-office-autoresponder-email-messages/


texts: Is "Have you some water?" a grammatically correct sentence?

texts:
I believe it same as saying "Do you have some water?"

Is it?