texts:
The origin of spinning jenny (the cotton-spinning machine invented by James Hargreaves) always seemed to me to be named after a person called Jenny. However, as I was reading Etymology for Everyone by Anatoly Lieberman, the author proposed two origins.

The first theory:

  It "is said to have been so named by the [inventor] after his wife, Jenny."

However, it was further suggested that

  "It is a 'corruption' of gin, a contraction of engine. Gin would easily suggest Jin, Jinny, and Jenny."

Clearly, spinning can't be disputed insofar that, as the prefix, it comes from the word spin, but my question here is about the origin of -jenny:

Does it mean "engine" or is it as innocuous as it appears?

An article on revolvy.com stated that "parish registers show that neither [the inventor's] wife nor any of his daughters was called Jenny". Could gin be corrupted this much over time? Any help?


texts: "We" meaning a group of people that I am not talking to and myself

texts:
Is there a word or phrase to express the idea of a group of people and the speaker, collectively, where the group of people is explicitly not the people who are being spoken to?

For example, consider the hypothetical situation where I am a representative of a country and I wish to talk about my country by saying we, us, and our.  Also consider that I am talking to group of other country representatives (the U.N. would be a good example) and that I need to go back and forth from addressing the group to addressing my country as a group.  In this scenario, I wish to use non-ambiguous pronouns for my country.

Is there a word or phrase that can help express this idea?


texts: Is there any convention for pronouncing proper nouns?

texts:
Is there any convention as to how proper nouns with origins outside English should be pronounced? I have heard claims to the effect that "a proper noun
can be pronounced however you wish"; is that correct?

I work in an international environment, and it is rather common for me
to have colleagues with foreign names. Actually, I'm not a native
English speaker either. I go by the rule: "pronounce as it would be
pronounced in its original context or language".

A few examples:

The letter J is pronounced very differently in English, Spanish, or Dutch.
For example my Spanish friends use ja ja to denote laughing in instant messages; the
Dutch pronounce ij like the vowel sound in hay (e.g. [rij]
http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/rij).
The vowel sound represented by oe in English is pronounced as in
toe, but it is often used to approximate the German ӧ sound
(e.g. Schrӧdinger). In Dutch, this same combination of letters
represents a vowel sound similar to the English word loop.
Sometimes it is not even possible to accurately represent a sound
in English, instead it is replaced by some approximation. As
examples you could consider many of the Hindi or Bengali names (or
names from any other Indian languages for that matter).

I found this
question
earlier, but I think it does not answer my question as it seems to
address how English names are to be pronounced by non-native English
speakers.

Edit: To clarify some of the doubts expressed in the comments; I
am primarily interested in personal names although a more generic
guideline would be helpful. I'm an aspiring Physicist, and I often
encounter standardised terminology with non-English origins.


texts:
In Spanish, Te amo (I love you) has more romantic feeling than saying Te quiero.

The last one is used as a friendly way of saying I love you, but without romantic purposes.

However, if translated to English (Te quiero), the expression would be I want you, which doesn't have the same meaning as the spanish expression.

Is there an expression for saying you love someone, but as a friendly way?

Some translations occur to me, including I like you, or I care about you, but I still think the meaning is not the same (maybe I'm wrong).

Examples would be saying it to a close friend, family member or pet, which shows affection, but not romantic feelings.


texts: Where does the phrase "crazy like a fox" originate?

texts:
If you say that someone is "crazy like a fox", it means that their behavior appears to be insane or nonsensical at first glance, but there's actually something very clever and subtle to it that's working toward their interests in unexpected ways.

Where does this phrase come from?  What do foxes do, that such crafty behavior is compared to them?


texts: Another term for 'feature / featured / article / write up' for a brand

texts:
I am currently working on a website that will allow users to sign up and create their own product features.

In this context, a product feature is a write up with pictures and information about a single product. This website will also allow people to do write ups on events coverage too.

Ideally, I wanted to have either of the following:

www.featured.com
www.ftrd.com

But of course they are unavailable, I am now looking for another way to describe this sort of website and looking for a simple wording as its going to be used for the brand too.

I have looked for similiar words and it returned write up, article, post etc but none of these have the same feeling as 'featured' as it gives a higher level to the article.

I am happy to use modern terms such as dropping the vowels, or ending in ly etc.


texts: Is it correct to use the verbs "want and understand" with present and past progressive?

texts:
It is very common to avoid using verbs such as 'want' and 'understand' with an -ing form. But l came across the following constructions:

I'm 'understanding' French a lot better now.
How many eggs were you 'wanting'?

My question is: is it correct to use the above-mentioned forms? If YES, why?


texts:
1) It seems like years since it's been clear.
2) It seems like years since it's been here.

These are excerpts from the Beatles song, Here Comes The sun "

I often find it odd when I see since followed by the present participle.

Can someone tell me why the present perfect is preferred over the simple past in these examples?


texts: Term to describe when one event cannot occur without the other

texts:
So my wife and I were just having a conversation concerning a situation at her work, and I was trying to think of a term to describe the GM's approach but it's eluding me.  Here's the context:

Background: Newly opened hotel restaurant, all hands on deck including my wife (who was hired as a Sales Manager, not a server/buslady), situation has devolved into chaos

Conversation: I asked my wife who was responsible for hiring staff for the new restaurant, and she said ultimately it would be up to her boss, but her boss was given explicit instruction by the GM NOT to hire any additional restaurant staff, and simply make do with the existing skeleton crew.

I asked why the GM wouldn't hire any additional staff, and she said -

"Because [NAME] doesn't want to hire any additional staff until our numbers are up (sales numbers), but we can't get our sales numbers up until we hire additional restaurant staff to get us off the floor"

The term I'm trying to think of would describe the situation in which A cannot exist without B yet B cannot exist without A ad infinitum.  Almost like an infinite feedback loop? But that doesn't seem to be an appropriate term just given this has nothing to do with computers/software.

If this isn't clear just let me know.  Thanks for any and all help!


texts: Is it idiomatic to say, "What a better place to X?"

texts:
Example:

  My first destination was the plant pathology department because—well, what a better
  place to find out about plants?

Is it common/idiomatic to ask a question with that structure?


texts: Can “itch” be a transitive verb, i.e., can an itch be itched?

texts: Can itch be used as a transitive verb? In other words, can you itch an itch as you would scratch an itch? Dictionaries differ, with the bigger hitters saying no. Are they bearing the proper standard or just playing it conservative?


texts: I want to use the suffix -orama with rate (rating)

texts:
So, I've seen the suffix -arama, but I am also used to -orama, which is the correct to use along 'rate'?

souce: http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/492/where-does-the-suffix-arama-as-in-foodarama-come-from


texts: Is there a difference between feminism and egalitarianism?

texts:
The definition of feminism (based on merriam-webster):

  the theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes

While egalitarianism is defined as:

  a belief in human equality especially with respect to social, political, and economic affairs

Egalitarianism appears to touch on true equality (rather than just gender equality), but if one were to identify as an egalitarian (as it relates to gender issues), would there be any difference in simply defining oneself as a feminist?


texts: Should I use the so-called Oxford comma, or not?

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  Should I put a comma before the last item in a list?

Until relatively recent times, I always concluded a series in this manner, eg.: "while walking through the park yesterday, I saw dogs, pigs, kangaroos, mountain lions, zebras and wolves.

Eventually, it occurred to me that, for clarity's sake, that is to indicate that the last two items mentioned are not related as a pair, I should end such a sentence as "...mountain lions, zebras, and wolves." I read that this use of the comma is called an "Oxford" commma.

I think that the former use has just an aesthetic appeal, whereas the latter use has a more practical, clarifying function. I'm inclined, these days, to use the latter style.

Is this indeed the "Oxford" comma, and, if so, is it considered correct, incorrect, or just a matter of preference?

Thanks,

-Gavin


texts: Strange sentence structure from a piece by Paula Gunn Allen

texts:
This lesson is in a pattern book. I want to know why the word about is repeated quite a few times in the text:

  My mother told me stories about cooking and childbearing; she told me
  stories about menstruation and pregnancy; she told me stories about
  gods and heroes, about fairies and elves, about goddesses and spirits;
  she told me stories about the land and the sky, about cats and dogs,
  about...


texts: A word related to broker/representative beginning with C

texts:
There is a word that keeps slipping my mind, it is related to broker/representative, perhaps to do with the item itself, I believe the word occurs when discussing auction houses/ car dealers.
I believe it begins with C.
The item is held in C____


texts: What is a "demi" (in a university setting)

texts:
My university computer science department recently sent out a letter asking for "students to demi for our first-year modules". The letter makes mention of it several times, such as "demis must have passed X course" and "preference will be given to those demis also available for X" (emphasis mine).

What is a "demi"? It is an abbreviation for some other word, or just some colloquialism?

I can infer from the context that it's some kind of tutor, but I'm curious where this word comes from.


texts: Differences : get dressed/ dress up/ be dressed/ get dressed up to the nines?

texts:
Which one is correct?

(1) It's a formal occasion so we'll have to get dressed to the nines - no jeans and pullovers this time.

(2) It's a formal occasion so we'll have to dress up to the nines - no jeans and pullovers this time.

(3) It's a formal occasion so we'll have to get dressed up to the nines - no jeans and pullovers this time.

CAMBRIDGE DICTIONARY -
dressed (up) to the nines (informal)
=to be wearing fashionable or formal clothes for a special occasion

I wonder whether the phrase " get dressed up" actually exists or not because I can't find any native material including it except some examples written by my country-non-native English speaking country.


texts: The choice between the plural and the singular in complex concept

texts:
Thank you for being interested in my question.

Here is an example. Person A three apples, and Person B has four apples.
Now I want to discuss these seven apples. Which of these should I say:

  Please see our paper for the details of the two persons’ apple.
  Please see our paper for the details of the two persons’ apples.

Here is another example.

Nation A invaded nation B, and Nation B invaded nation A, too. So the situation is the two nations invaded each other. Which should I say:

  The two nations invaded each other’s territories.
  The two nations invaded each other’s territory.

And here comes a third example. Suppose there are 50 people in my class. Each of them has an iPad. Which is the way to combine the above two sentences into one?  (I don't think the first choice below is right.)

  The 50 people in my class have an iPad.
  The 50 people in my class have an iPad each.
  Each of the 50 people in my class has an iPad.

What if the situation is that each of them has two iPads? Which can I say:

  The 50 people in my class have two iPads each.
  Each of the 50 people in my class has two iPads.

Many thanks to your kindness!


texts: How to use "for the first and only time"

texts:
Could I say the following:

  It was for the first time and maybe even the last (time).

?

Does this sentence make any sense? As it does in my native language, I'm not sure about English.


texts: What tense should I use in the following sentence

texts:
I would like to know what is the appropriate tense in the following sentence.

  An emperor would/will always be an emperor, no matter how badly he botched/botches his job, but a president or a PM will lose his job if he fails to satisfy the majority of the citizenry.

On the one hand, the first part seems to indicate a general rule, thus should use present tense i.e.

  An Emperor will always be an emperor...

but on the other hand, I am trying to comment on an institution that no longer exists, and should use past tense.

Thank you for your time


texts: Has "freak" always carried a negative connotation?

texts:
Many words (such as imbecile and idiot) used to be technical terms or proper names, however, eventually came to be used mainly for insults, and are today considered negative.

Has the word "freak" always carried a negative connotation, or was it once a technical term for meaning "different" or "abnormal"?


texts: Word for simultaneously same and different

texts:
What is an adjective that means simultaneously same and different?
Sample sentence:

The brothers were [WORD]: sometimes they seemed like the same person, at other times they didn’t even seem like brothers.

Searches I’ve done:

same
Congruent
Different
similar
Dissimilar

If there are no such adjectives, are there any compound words that could serve instead? Ideally something that isn’t too long, but really stresses the superposition of similar and different.
This request is not like Word for “not having a definite form”? as the forms are known and unchanging. The form of the brothers is a highly-overlapping venn diagram: the intersecting section is the known, unchanging "same", and the indepedent sections are the "different" or "dissimilar". The key part of this sought-after word is that it identifies that what it describes have two known and unchanging opposite sets of traits (opposite on an arbitrary axis).


texts: Is the word "actually" an example of pejoration? When someone says "it's not actually" to counteract something negative someone says about them it can connote a little cheekiness and yet the denotation of actually is really an "actual or existing fact; really" (Dictionary.com).


texts: Usage of hyphens - If I am one of the many product owners of a product, would I say part-product-owner?

texts:
Or part-product owner?
This is in the context of product management, owning a product, its roadmap, schedules, etc delivered to a set of users.
I know part-owner is correct, but where does product squeeze in here?


texts: Everybody had a different opinion. Is there an idiom for this?

texts:
I'm searching for an idiom (in a negative sense) that means that a group of people have different opinions, so it's difficult for them to solve a problem, to decide on something or agree on something. Example:

  They couldn't decide where to go, because everyone had a different opinion.
  Since the members of the political party have different opinions about its name, we'll have to wait before designing the campaign.


texts: What is the translation for French expression "fiche produit"

texts: In production sector we talk about "fiche produit" to designate the document defining a product. I would like to know what the English translation for that is.


texts: Non standard english: Slang. "That sucks man."

texts:
Where does the term 'That sucks!' and putting 'man' on the end of sentences come from?
"aw that sucks, man!"
Thanks!


texts: One word verb for accidentally painting outside the lines

texts: Is there a one word verb for accidentally painting outside of a given outline or painting the top of your lip with the lipstick without intending to? I suppose if there is one the same should be used for both situations.


texts: To say that something is "never indistinguishable"

texts:
Is to say that something is "never indistinguishable" poor grammar? We rarely, if ever, see such phraseology in English, but my understanding is that it is grammatically valid, even if it would be regarded as "poor grammar"? After all, one could simply say that something is "always distinguishable", which carries the same meaning and sounds much more linguistically valid in the English language. As to why it is poor grammar, it seems to me that this might fall under the category of a double negative? So it would be valid, albeit, considered poor, grammar?

I would appreciate it if people would please take the time to clarify this.


texts: sooner than possible vs as soon as possible

texts: I wonder if someone could help me. I always use "as soon as possible" but in many occasions I've also heard "sooner than possible", which I would never use because it seems quite weird to me. Am I wrong or could it also be acceptable?


texts:
John McWhorter, a Columbia U linguistics professor who hosts the excellent "Lexicon Valley" podcast, has on several occasions used the phrase a such thing where I would have said such a thing. I thought it odd enough to check Google Ngrams, which shows only one instance in print since the 1800s.

But it occurred to me that we routinely say "no such thing" or "any such thing", so "a such thing" isn't unreasonable. Is this a usage that's coming into vogue? If this were anyone else I'd just say he's mistaken, but I respect him and his credentials enough to doubt myself.


texts: Is "one of the co-founders" ever correct?

texts:
Compare to "one of the founders".

Does it depend on the specific person you're talking about? Google has 7M+ results for the phrase but I can't search it on NGrams successfully because of the hyphen. (I think.)


texts: Appropriate word for internet name of a person

texts: What is the appropriate word or phrase which means the internet name of a person. I mean the nickname that a person uses in almost all places on the internet like blog, IRC, forums, mailing lists etc.


texts:
I'm trying to say that showing my students a picture of the temple gave them a sense of the setting in which a story took place, and allowed them to better understand the story.
Any ideas for "to get a sense of"?
Thanks!
SL


texts:
Looking for a single word antonym of the word "empathy".

I think it is the word "Apathy", but I feel that it could change depending if the word "empathy" can change depending on the context or not.


texts: Is "that'd" an appropriate contraction of "that" and "would"? I say it, but I'm not sure if it's a legitimate contraction in written form.


texts:
My son’s teacher gave him homework where he needed to make a sentence with ‘jump’.
So he wrote “I jump into a pool”. But he was marked wrong.
The teacher has explained saying that it has to be “I jumped into a pool.”

I was just wondering if it really is wrong to say, “I jump into the pool.’ If yes then why is it wrong.


texts: "It's hard to find a good path to taking this mission on". Why "taking"

texts: So the sentience is "It's hard to find a good path to taking this mission on", I wonder why it is "to taking it on" not "to take it on", is "taking" using as a gerund? Can I say "It's hard to find a good path to take this mission on"? What's the difference?


texts: How to restate the question in the answer?

texts:
I am trying to find rules to answer questions by restating the question in the answer. However, I would like to do this with the least possible changes to the original question. Stylistically, the following example is not very nice in my view. I wonder if it is grammatically incorrect.

Q: What should one read to get a good overview of Western philosophy?
A1: What one should read to get a good overview of Western philosophy is ...

I think the following would be better:

A2: To get a good overview of Western philosophy, one should read ...

Is A1 grammatically wrong?


texts:
I am writing a open paper (formal writing) but I don't know what is the correct usage of grammar for the phase:

  The journal's needs for “impact” and to follow hot topics...

or

  The needs of journals for “impact” and to follow hot topics...

Thanks.


texts: Why is it “Paris’s cafés” but “Massachusetts’ capital”?

texts:
I’ve been studying the apostrophe and found this in Merriam-Webster’s Guide to Punctuation and Style:

  The possessives of proper names are generally formed in the same way as those of common nouns. The possessive of singular proper names is formed by adding -’s.

  Paris’s cafes

  The possessive of plural proper names, and of some singular proper names ending in an s or z sound, is made by adding just an apostrophe.

  Massachusetts’ capital
  New Orleans’ annual festival

I find this contradictory. Why do you form the possessive of Paris as Paris’s but the possessive of Massachusetts as Massachusetts’, given that they both end in an s which is not silent? What’s the difference between those?


texts: What are words called that share the same root?

texts: What do you call words that share the same root (e.g., "network", "networks", "networking"). Also, does the shortest one of them have a specific name (e.g., "network")?


texts: Should I use comparative adj or superlative adj in this sentence?

texts:
What is "larger" size of this blouse?
What is "the largest" size of this blouse?


texts: What are the conventional words for characters (A-Z)?

texts:
I have just read the newest post of DOGHOUSEDIARIES, and I am wondering whether the words for characters are fixed in the USA or the UK, as I am not a native English speaker.

For example:

  A as in apple


texts:
Is it correct to use softwares, as in the following sentence?

There are various video conversion softwares in the market.


texts: What is the correct word for "acronymed"?

texts:
First of all, I am not a native English speaker, so that's why I'm having an issue with this one.
I am under the impression that an abbreviation is the shortening of something, like boulevard = blvd, and acronyms is when you shorten longer words/sentences like World Trade Center = WTC. I don't know if I am mistaken here?
So I could say something like: "What is the full name of a street abbreviated blvd?"
But can you say the same thing with acronyms, like: "Which tall building that had a twin was acronymed WTC?"
It sounds really stupid to me. And I know I could probably just rephrase the questions. But does such adjective exist for acronym, or am I just an idiot, and acronyms and abbreviations can't be used interchangeably?


texts: In a standardisation document, does "guidance" mean the same as "requirement"?

texts:
When reading the IEC standards, I often see a phrase like Guidance for ... can be found in... or Section ... gives guidance on how ....
More concretely, some examples:

Guidance for lightning protection of a SWT can be found in document IEC 61400-24.
Guidance for test procedures and evaluation of tests may be found in IEC 61400-13.

It is not clear to me whether it is mandatory to follow the guidance (i.e. it is a requirement) or that it is optional to follow it (i.e. it is a recommendation).

I found this IEC page indicating how shall and should relate to requirements and recommendation respectively, however, I am unable to find anything on what guidance precisely means.

Is this something EL&U.SE can help me with?

I hope that this question falls under "Word choice and usage" and therefore is within the scope of this site. If not, I would be glad to hear if another SE would be more suitable.


texts: Is there a word to describe the intentional act of seeking someone’s envy?

texts: Trying to find a word that can best describe the above situation. So many words seem to describe feelings of envy, but nothing seems to fit the case of someone who thrives on encouraging it.


texts: Are there words that refer to the different duration of months?

texts: I had a hard time formulating the question, but I wonder if a month with 31 days has a specific name, Likewise months with 30, 29 and 28 days.


texts: What does "spurned" modify in "I am walking out of a room to the jeers of a woman spurned"

texts:
I am walking out of a room to the jeers of a woman spurned.

Which word does the past participle modify in this context?

Does it mean that I was spurned while walking out of the room, or am I out of the room to the jeers spurned of a woman?


texts:
I am currently writing an email to office management.

I am asking for office management to action a fix. I want to ask them in a polite manner.

The sentence I have: "Please consider actioning a fix."

"actioning" is highlighted. I want to use professionally articulated grammar and spelling.

a) How would I ask them to politely consider helping me out?

b) Why does "action" not come in the form of a verb?


texts: Why  Obama's "spiking the bin Laden football" was replaced with "highlighting with bin Ladin's death"? What's wrong with the former expression?

texts:
The Time magazine’s (April 28) article titled “McCain Slams Obama on OBL” begins with the following lines:

“Arizonan (John McCain) tweaks the President for spiking the bin Laden football while "the Assad regime...kills thousands of its own people."
McCain: "It is no wonder why President Obama is shamelessly turning the one decision he got right into a pathetic political act of self-congratulation."

However as the phrase “spiking the bin Laden football” was replaced with the phrase, “highlighting bin Laden's death” in the other (later) version of the same article on Time website, I assume that “spike something football” here is meant something like “show off / demonstrate/ boast of.” I wonder why the Time took bother of replacing “spiking the bin Laden football” with “highlighting bin Laden's death,” if it means the same thing.

What's wrong with “spike something football” as an expression? By the way, is it a frequently used English idiom, not only in America but in other English speaking countries, e.g U.K, Canada and Australia?


texts: Word implicitly containing the meaning of bad effect in cause

texts:
Is there any proper word that already implicitly contains the meaning of bad effect instead of the bring about / cause ?

For example...

  A can bring about unexpected detriment occurring in addition to the desired effect of the policy

Thanks in advance


texts: single word or phrase when one of the department manager tries "blur the lines of responsibility"

texts:
While in an organization when a department works only for their objective rather than organization as whole, it can be generally called as silo mentality (with Negative connotation).
However what would be single word or phrase when one of the department manager tries blur the lines of responsibility between departments. i.e. does other work for them with/without their consent (usually with intention of brownosing other frivolous/ slacker but apparently powerful managers) such that their staff remain free of work.
As opposed to silo mentality the word or phrase would be "Responsibility blurring mentality". But is their any in actual usage.


texts: How to express your supporting someone's decision no matter what?

texts: My wife is trying to start a new job and I want to say something like "I will always support your decision no matter what your decisions would be..." How do you express that in English in a way a native speaker would say it?  I can only think of the word "support" or "backing" but cannot come up with a natural and proper sentence.


texts: Difference between "spine" and "backbone"

texts: Is there a difference between spine and backbone in use or in meaning? I think they both mean the same and can be replaced by each other. However, I'd say backbone is used more in figurative speech, but this is just a guess on my part.


texts: Comma before and after "and" and again after non-essential information?

texts:
I always have trouble figuring out how to punctuate these kinds of sentences (the commas in particular). I feel like the first example should be correct, but the commas also seem excessive. What do you think, and why?

She stopped buying coffee at the cafe by her house every morning, and, by doing so, she's been able to save a bit of money.

She stopped buying coffee at the cafe by her house every morning and, by doing so, she's been able to save a bit of money.

She stopped buying coffee at the cafe by her house every morning, and by doing so, she's been able to save a bit of money.

Thanks!


texts: Is there an -ocracy term for rule by tenure?

texts:
In a university department, for example, power could be held by those who have been there the longest.  Is there an ocracy word for that?  Preferably something generic to duration of employment.

This would not be a gerontocracy, since that implies rule by an individual's age alone, nor a meritocracy, since skill is irrelevant.


texts:
This question arises from a sntence found in a popular grammar book for EFL:

  I didn't get where I am today without ...

or

  I wouldn't have got where I am today without ...

Are both of these used in UK and correct?
The first phrase is in New English File series.


texts:
I am from Philadelphia and I grew up saying, I forget when trying to recall something unsuccessfully. When I came in contact with people from other states, mostly in the mid-Atlantic region, I heard people say under the same circumstances, I forgot in the past tense.  The latter implies that the forgetting happened at a certain point in time in the past, while the former seems to imply that as long as you don't remember, you are  continuously forgetting.

Which is the more widely used, and does it break down along regional lines?


texts: Where does the period go when using parentheses?

texts:
Where should the period go when using parentheses? For example:

  In sentence one, I use this example (which has a parenthesis at the end.)

Should the period be inside, or outside of the parentheses? What about if the entire sentence is a parenthetical (as below)?

  (Where does the terminal punctuation go here?)

Is there a hard and fast rule?


texts: "The earliest being" or "the earliest of which is"?

texts:
I have just received the following correction:

  These date back to trigonometric and logarithmic tables, the earliest of which being [is]  a base-10 logarithm table from Briggs (1617).

with the suggestion:

  either use "the earliest being ..." or "the earliest of which is ...".

Please could someone expand on which is better for what context, or are they interchangeable? Only British English please.


texts: Is there a word for "the tendency of a community to force others to converse in one's native language"

texts:
Is there a word or an expression for the tendency of a specific community to force others to communicate in native language whether conversationally or with shops, hoarding, signage all using native script for usually for its existential promotion.

I have found that the concept behind this word is actualized in many cultures right from Europe to middle east to sub-Asian countries but am not able to find an apt wording for language imposing tendency.

Like for example:

  In China, Germans expats are hard pressed to submit to a local translator
  because of Chinese's ______ tendency.


texts: Is there an expression that implies the same sort of idea as "what came first, the chicken or the egg?"

texts: Looking for a clever title for a short paper on Oscar Wilde's humor, where the reader can never quite figure out if he stands for something or nothing at all.  Any ideas are appreciated.


texts: Is "mom" a proper noun when it refers to multiple individual mothers?

texts:
Having read When should "Mom" and "Dad" be capitalized?, I am confused about what feels like an edge case to me.  Context:

A client wants to send out an email to multiple customers, with the subject, "A special day for mom."  Given that "mom" in this case is referring to each recipient's mother, this seems like the "specific reference" case, so the correct sentence should be "A special day for Mom."  But at the same time, "Mom" is referring to a different individual for each reader, hence my feeling of ambiguity.

Thanks for any confirmation/clarification!


texts:
This is one of the questions from SAT.

Preserving rare and valuable books is one of the challenges facing the Librarian of Congress.

My question is if the sentence above has no error.
Isn't the verb 'face' a transitive in the sentence like "...one of the challenges the Librarian of Congress is facing"?
or "...one of the challenges faced by the Librarian of Congress"?

Thanks in advance.


texts: Another word for someone who has been through a lot?

texts:
So, I'm writing a story. I have a part where I describe a family who has had a lot of misfortunes; the mother got killed, the father got sick, etc. I want to follow it up with a statement when another tragedy happens and I want a sentence it like this:

"The already [insert word] here family once again receives a visit from misfortune as..."

I think "unfortunate" just wouldn't cut it.


texts: Alternative way of saying "calling a spade a spade"

texts:
I found this expression curt and powerful. But I also understand it's offensive to someone, and somehow, has a racist implication.

Is there a similar curt and powerful expression I can use without offending anybody?


texts: Sequence of tenses when we express certainty

texts:
I beg your pardon but I have a doubt about this sentence:

  "They failed to believe their eyes as they realized their world is
  just an experiment"

So, if we are following a correct sequence of tense, we should use the past tense in both verbs. However, in the second clause we express certainty so the present simple ("is") appears appropriate.
Is that correct?
Thanks!


texts: What's the best, most concise word for the abbreviations put after one's name to denote the achievement of degrees?

texts:
Such as M.d., RN, LSW....

I'm looking for the word that fills the blank in following sentence:

  It is as if living with her for as long as he did merits the addition of a ________ to his signatory.


texts: What preposition should follow the adjective “parallel”?

texts:
When using the word parallel in communicating the state of being in a relationship between one line and another, what is the correct word to follow parallel?

parallel to
parallel with


texts: Should this object plurality agree with the subject plurality?

texts:
In this sentence, (a) what part of speech is "name", and (b) should the plurality agree with the subject? (i.e., should it be "name" or "names"?)

The first answer is given by the names that we choose for ....
The first answer is given by the name that we choose for ....


texts:
I've often wondered why the pungent plant called garlic is a mass noun. If I look at its etymology, I see it is derived from Old English.

  Old English gārlēac, from gār ‘spear’ (because the shape of a clove resembles the head of a spear) + lēac ‘leek’.

Garlic is said to be a mass noun, yet it is not an indistinguishable mass, it is "concrete" and can be smelt, seen, touched, peeled, chopped, and crushed. It is definitely a quantifiable “thing”. A (mass) concrete noun refers to an aggregation of things taken as an indeterminate whole {luggage} {cutlery} {stationery}, so in order for it be enumerated, a “unitizer” must be used in conjunction with the preposition of, e.g. a bulb of garlic

I could be tempted to explain that garlic is a mass noun because it is segmented, yet I am reminded that citrus fruits (oranges, grapefruits, lemons, limes, etc.) also have segments and they are all countable. Similarly, the closely related onion plant has an edible bulb which is made up of concentric layers, or more precisely, scales. In spite of its inner division, onions are not considered a mass noun.

Maybe the aromatic plant 1,000-700 years ago was vastly different from the one we are familiar with today because personally, I don't see that much similarity between an Anglo-Saxon spearhead and a clove of garlic.

Anglo Saxon spears (via KENT ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOCIETY)

Questions

Is there an explanation why garlic was considered uncountable by the Anglo-Saxons? Has it always been so?
Garlic appears to be a compound word, spear(head) + leek, which suggests it was either discovered and named when the word leek had already been established, or, the gārlēac plant used to have a completely different name. Is there any supporting evidence for my suppositions?


texts: looking for a synonym for "I believe that"

texts:
I'm editing the bio paragraph of a graphic designer's resume, where she has written a sentence beginning,

  "I depart from the philosophy that..."

-- this leads into a quick one-sentence summary of her design philosophy.

It is meant to be synonymous with "I take the philosophy that ... as my point of departure" -- but it's clearly ambiguous as written, and could be read to mean the opposite. However, this latter formulation is far too verbose.

Is there a way to say "I believe that..." as succinctly as above, without simply saying "It is my philosophy that..." ? "believe" is a bit too religious for my taste, and I think the sentence should begin with "I" in order to sound more active.


texts: Where should the period/full stop go in this instance?

texts:
In a sentence that ends with a quoted proper name (of a newspaper), where should the "period" go? Currently it is this:

the “Morning Call”.

...but that doesn't look right.

Should it be this:

the “Morning Call.”

...or this:

the Morning Call.


texts: Meaning of "get your head out of your ass"

texts:
What's the meaning of to get your head out of your ass?

  P1: Scientists turn blood cells into stem cells v. never gon die yall.

  P2: F-k population control.

  P1: Science can save us if we ever get our heads out of our asses.


texts: In Jamaican English, why is there no θ sound?

texts: For example, three is pronounced as "tree," and thing is pronounced as "ting." How come Jamaicans do not have a θ sound in their accents?


texts: An appropriate word for a "complex lengthy bureaucratic procedure" that prevents a positive outcome

texts:
What is the appropriate word for the "delay/failure due to lengthy bureaucratic procedure"?

I am asking for a word describing the problem (IE a word for a complex slow bureaucratic process).

Example, somebody needs to send US$ 50 from Ethiopia to a German university to pay the application fee to a university. The central bank of Ethiopia imposed such a rule that, to send foreign currency from Ethiopia to any other country, the sender has to submit appropriate papers for each of the transactions. So, in order to satisfy the central bank, the commercial bank wants to see some paper from the sender-customer. But, the sender can't produce any official paper because he don't have any, rather than some Emails. The bank doesn't recognize the Emails. On the other hand, for only US$ 50, the German client isn't ready to provide any official paper.

So, finally, the customer ultimately fails to send the US$ 50 from Ethiopia to Germany.


texts:
It's common to say: "Isn't it so 'sad' that such and such happened."

Implying that the event in question induces a feeling of sadness.

Is there an antonym for this use of 'sad'?

"Isn't it 'uplifting' that such and such happened." Is the closest word I could think of, but it feels too weak to be a full antonym.


texts:
This has been confusing me for quite a long time, when it comes to noun+noun form of compound nouns there are words which I see that have plural in the first noun but some stay as singular.

Some examples of compounds with plural first nouns are "admissions office" and "ladies room".
Is there a rule for when the first noun should be plural or singular?


texts: Is this correct - "They'd very well not done it at all"?

texts:
Is this a correct tense of the idiom may very well? Can someone give me a breakdown of why this is correct grammar? It sounds right to me but I can't find any usage to check.

(If this is totally wrong, the gist I want to convey is that the thing is so immaterial that they'd have been better off not doing it at all).


texts: What is the difference between the Honor Roll and the Dean's List?

texts: I can't really find a clear answer for this question. I would appreciate if someone does know how to differentiate between the two. Thanks!


texts: What is the difference between “have to”, “must”, and “should”?

texts:
Is there any difference between have to”, “must”, and “should”?

If there is some difference between them, when do I have to use (nor not use) each of the constructions below?

have to do something
must do something
should do something


texts: What is the origin of "TX" as an abbreviation for "transaction"?

texts:
Acronymfinder.com lists TX as a rare abbreviation for "transaction", particularly in the context of computers. It use by the Bitcoin protocol may be its best-known application, but I've also found a few other instances. As the Acronym Finder suggests, it seems to be used sparingly at best, and I've found no non-technology-related uses of it.

Does anybody know of an origin or first use of abbreviating "transaction" as "tx"?


texts: Describing the difference between things that are 'atomic' or 'self-contained' and those that are 'indeterminate' or 'boundless'

texts:
Sorry for the poor title, I'm asking this question because I can't think of a good way to phrase this...

When we describe the stress required to extend a spring to a given length, we describe this stress in Newtons - a single, specific quantity of force.

When we describe the stress required to extend a material to a given length, we describe this stress in Pascals (pressure) - an amount of force per area.

This is because a material is an abstract concept without dimensions, unlike a self-contained device with specific dimensions and boundaries. A material can have physical properties, but a device can be represented by a CAD model while a material cannot (only a piece of a material, which is itself like a device).

How can this distinction - these two categories of things - be described?

If that didn't make sense, here's another example.

A molecule can be thought of as a molecule if it has determined limits - it has a set number of atoms of each type. (Please don't get hung up on the specifics of why this definition is right or wrong, as that's not relevant to the full question).

A lattice cannot be thought of as a molecule because it is of indeterminate size - it does not have the same limits. It can stretch on indefinitely and when its behaviour is described it is thought of as doing so.

Again the same distinction is seen between the self-contained and the indeterminate. How do I describe this?


texts:
I'm working on the copy for an album's liner notes, and text with the following structure is to appear:

  All songs © 2016 [publishing company X] and [publishing company Y], except tracks 3, 4, and 8 © 2016 [publishing company X].

My instinct is to put a period at the end of this phrase, as it looks and reads like a sentence even though it lacks a predicate. Is this because the © symbol stands for "are copyright" in this case? Is this a sentence?


texts:
Which is more correct?

  Now I am the main stakeholder...

or

  I am now the main stakeholder...

Do the intonations imply different meanings?


texts: I was told by my thesis advisor not to start a sentence with "even though". Does anyone agree? May I know why?


texts: "In the next years to come" or "In the years to come"

texts:
I want to write a sentence saying that I hope that something will still happen in the following years. Which is the best way to write it ?

I would like to keep doing that in the years to come.

OR

I would like to keep doing that in the next years to come.


texts:
Russian emperors are usually referred to as "Tsars" or "Czars". However, while the first spelling (Tsar) utilises the standard English transliteration of the Cyrillic ц as ts, the second transliteration does not.

None of the Slavic languages that use the Latin script render their ц phoneme equivalent as "cz". Polish, Czech and Slovak render the phoneme as c instead. cz renders as a completely different phoneme in Polish, and does not exist in Czech or Slovak.

Where then, did the "cz" spelling originate from?


texts: I'm looking for a pithy and preferably alliterative antonym for "pet peeve". "Pet pleasure" has the benefit of both simplicity and parallelism to "pet peeve", but I'm concerned it may imply a sexual context. Suggestions?


texts: Is there a different understanding to a similar sentence using the word "until"?

texts:
Example:
A. Until the mother came home, the kids haven't arrived.
B. The kids haven't arrived until the mother came home.
C. The kids haven't arrived even until the mother came home.
In my country's language, when the speaker say something like that, most of the time we (the hearer) conclude :
X. (for example-A and example-C) The point of things which the speaker want to tell the hearer is just like that.
While for example-B, it's ambiguous, maybe X - maybe not X but
Y. the speaker want to tell the hearer that the kids haven't arrived until their mother came home then the kids arrived after their mother came home.
In X - whether the speaker know that after the mother came home the kids arrive or not is not the point. So if someone ask the speaker : "so, did you mean that the kids arrive after the mother came home?", it's possible that the speaker's answer is : "No. I don't know whether the kids arrive or not after the mother came home. What I know is just that the kids haven't arrive until their mother is home".
In Y, it's a sure thing that the speaker know that the kids arrive after the mother is home.
Since I don't know what English speaking country view at those three examples, hence the question.
I'm very sorry for my bad grammar on the example.
Just now I searched the internet looking for a similar sentence and I found one in this link.
I don't know if I have to correct the example before or just leave it like that and write the new example. Anyway I choose the later.
A. until he reached his room, she did not wake up and call him
B. she did not wake up and call him until he reached his room
C. she did not wake up and call him even until he reached his room
D. even until he reached his room, she did not wake up and call him
The question is still the same.


texts:
Can you use "possible" without "it's" in a sentence like:
"So you think it's the White House. Possible..." Or do you have to say: "So you think it's the White House. Possibly...."


texts: Why are academic articles/journals/papers so hard to understand?

texts:
I am a university student, I have to read a lot of published paper and cite them into my paper, but I find it really hard to understand the articles.

I am not an English native speaker, but I can speak fluent English and understand most English newspaper. However, when it comes to academic articles, I have no means to deal with.The sentence structure is always so long and complicated that I keep losing  my mind when reading them. Though I still can get the rough meanings and the main ideas, I can never fully understand a single academic paper!

I always see words I don't understand, and even I look up from the dictionary, I still got confused by the long and complex sentence structure at the time! I have to read it over and over again.

I want to know if the same problems happen to native speakers too or just me being stupid!


texts: Where does the phrase a "lick of" something come from?

texts:
The phrase a "lick of" something means a small quantity of something.

What I want to know is where does this phrase come from?


texts: Using improbable premise(s) to reach a conclusion

texts: Is there a name for a fallacy that involves using an improbable premise or premises to reach a desired conclusion? For example saying (exaggerated to better convey what is meant): "You should always have a truckload of provisions at home even in the spring because you never know, it might snow heavily at any time during the year and trap you in your home." I know I can always say the speaker is being paranoid or just ridiculous, but I am looking for a more polite and formal word, preferably the name of the logical fallacy involved.


texts: How to use "my" correctly in a plural possessive?

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  Is “my wife and I's” correct, or should it be “my wife's and my”?

Are the following sentences grammatically correct? If not, how should I correct them? This situation has always tripped me up, since "me and (noun)'s (noun)" is the common slang way to speak.

  My wife's and my anniversary is on Saturday.

Or another example:

  Patrick's and my bathroom is painted red.


texts: What's the difference between "someone" and "somebody"?

texts: What is the difference between "someone is waiting for me" and "somebody is waiting for me?" Please make it clear for me.


texts: Meaning of "with him strength took the form of wealth"

texts:
This is one paragraph from the story "The Wit of Porportuk" by Jack London

Porportuk became angry. His pride was touched; his strength was
challenged, and with him strength took the form of wealth. He would
not be ashamed for weakness before the world. El-Soo became
incidental. The savings and scrimpings from the cold nights of all his
years were ripe to be squandered. El-Soo stood at six thousand. He
made it seven thousand. And then, in thousand-dollar bids, as fast as
they could be uttered, her price went up. At fourteen thousand the two
men stopped for breath.

I don't understand what the idiom "and with him strength took the form of wealth" means.
Also does "El-Soo became incidental" means that she became meaningless for him?
This is written somewhere around 1910, are the above two mentioned expressions used in todays American English?


texts: Which sentence is correct? They or them?

texts:
"It was them who cleaned the classroom."

or

  "It was they who cleaned the classroom?"


texts: "...programs that each perform..." vs "...programs that each performs...": which is correct?

texts:
A source says that the word "each" should always be followed by a singular noun, but however I look at it in this sentence it just doesn't seem to fit:

  foo [comprises] multiple binary programs that each performs a single task.

Should it be "performs" or "perform"?


texts: What is the history of the spelling "imflammable" (with M instead of N)?

texts:
It's well known that some people find the presence of the in- prefix in inflammable to  be confusing, and as a result, the form flammable has become more common over time.

Although the spelling "imflammable" doesn't seem to have ever been at all common relative to either inflammable or flammable, it does seem to have had some use. (See the Google Ngram Viewer; also, to show that these are not just OCR errors, here are a couple of specific examples from Google Books: The Iron Age, 1906; Automatic telephone systems, 1907).

If I had come across "imflammable" before today, I would have thought of it as an accidental or ignorant spelling error. But I just learned from Hot Licks that it was at one point used intentionally as an alternative to "inflammable":

  Back ca 1960 there was a hubbub in the US shipping and transportation arena because many people took "inflammable" (as used on, eg, tanker trucks) to mean "non-flammable". So "imflammable" was promoted as an alternative less likely to be subject to this confusion, and for a few years you'd see "imflammable" on tanker trucks, et al.

When I Googled "imflammable" to try to find more information about this, I came across a forum post from 2001 by someone who thought of "inflammable" and "imflammable" as antonyms, and said

  A lot of engineers will agree that the word "Imflammable" (with an M) means "easy to burn", while "inflammable" (with an N) is supposed to mean "not flammable".

(h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition, A Conversation for Oddities of English, by MSL)

I find it interesting that this person associates the spelling with engineers. It could just be a common misspelling (engineers aren't exactly known for having perfect spelling skills), but I wonder if any engineering organization ever used "imflammable" as an official spelling. I find it somewhat reminiscent of the unetymological use of "-or" in profession names like "weldor" that was apparently promoted at one time.

Can anyone share more information about the use of this spelling, and any possible "offical" status it may have had at any point?


texts: What are the primary sources of surnames (other than occupation, descent and geography)

texts:
Many surnames in English come from occupations, presumably those of the progenitor or his kin, such as

  Baker
  Miller
  Chandler
  Smith

Some reflect lineal descent, such as

  Jameson
  O'Reilly
  MacGregor

Some reflect clan location, for example

  Windsor
  York
  London

My question is, where do the rest come from?  Some names are homonyms of color, of other nouns, or of terms that have no obvious current common meaning.

So what are the principal sources of surnames (perhaps the top two or three) other than occupation, location or parentage? And why are colors or common nouns (other than occupations) used as surnames?


texts: What is the general name for someone who does fraud

texts:
What is someone who does fraud called?

I tried to look in the dictionary with words like 'frauder' and similar things but did get any results.
I tried google with searches like 'What is someone that does fraud called' or just 'fraud', but I only found articles on identity fraud.


texts: Can “draw X” mean the same as “draw on X”

texts:
In this silly YouTube animation, there is a short sequence where a child is drawing a bear, an adult asks her what she is doing and she responds “I’m drawing a bear”. Then the camera zooms out and it turns out she is drawing the bear on a bear. The bear then proceeds to eat her. At first I thought this was just meaningless absurdity, but recently I heard someone claiming that the joke is because “drawing a bear” could also mean the same thing as “drawing on a bear”.

I am a native (British) English speaker and this sounds really odd to me. I could imagine the joke would work if the girl said “I’m painting a bear”, but I can’t imagine that draw works in the same way. I can’t find any dictionary references to back up this other meaning of draw. What is going on here?


texts: Meaning of "have head in the wrong place"

texts:
What's the meaning of have head in the wrong place?

  Is a 19 year old too young for a 28 year old?

  I don't see it working out but there is no harm in trying. Most 19 year olds have their heads in the wrong place though.


texts: "Informed that X is as follows" vs "Informed of X is as follows"

texts:
I am making a report to management. Which is the more appropriate expression?

Please be informed that the above results are as follows.
Please be informed of the above results are as follows.


texts: Asking questions without subject-verb inversion — a new trend?

texts:
I don't know what it is called but I have seen people using the sentence which is the answer of some question as question itself.
For example:

You are going to play tennis?  (this isn't much common still not
wrong)
I am looking good?
You will prefer tea or coffee?

Is it just a new trend or some old style of speaking?


texts:
How would you punctuate this phrase?

  me personally or my friend

Would you put commas around personally?


texts: What's a word for a person who denies all knowledge?

texts: For example, assume that Charlie stole a bicycle and you saw it or know it. Next week you speak with Charlie and he denies all knowledge of stealing a bicycle. Of course he does, and he's evasive. Is there a good word for such a character?


texts:
Merriam-Webster says,

: to make holy or set apart for holy use
: to respect greatly : venerate

Then they used the following sentence to give an example.

  The Gary Fire Department spent more than five hours pouring water
  into the school's hallowed auditorium

How can a school-auditorium become venerable?


texts:
Recently I’ve got stumbled upon the question: What’s the difference between quite a lot, quite a few, and quite a bit?

This is very confusing considering a lot and a few have almost opposite meanings.

As far as I can see in dictionaries quite a <COUNT-WORD> is always many. Is that so, or am I missing some important difference?


texts: Is it "play it by ear" or "play it by year"?

texts: I've come across a few cases where I needed to write this phrase and I cannot determine which is correct.  Do we "play it by ear" or "play it by year"?  I'm using this with the intended meaning of something like "we'll figure it out as we go".  I'm not using it in any sort of musical sense.


texts: Negative phrase or term meaning "undue faith in the system"

texts:
I've always wanted a term to express people having an overly strong faith in the social system. What I mean by this is when people often seem to think that there is much more thought or study that goes into making decisions, or structuring the world.
Examples:

When people are amazed or frustrated when they visit a doctor and come
away without a named diagnosis or cure, or not understanding that
names of illnesses used by doctors are often simply descriptions of
symptoms.

Overt faith in cooking times, or user guides as though they are gospel
scripture, without common sense or thought to the reasoning behind the
instruction might be.

Probably what is being displayed by my assumption that a word exists for such a thing.

Forgive me if I explained this poorly! If a word or phrase does not exist, I'd love if we could coin one.


texts:
In the example, can I accept that it in ‘it’s all here in your head’ indicates ‘you could be great’?

  "Not Slytherin, eh?" said the small voice. "Are you sure? You could be great, you know, it's all here in your head, and Slytherin will help you on the way to greatness, no doubt about that—no? Well, if you're sure—better be GRYFFINDOR!"


texts: Good time of the day. I had been wondering whether or not I can shorten "The Internet"; thus, I went online and stumbled upon the word Tinternet in the urban dictionary. Can you please tell me is it plausible to use such a word in a formal context, or one should refrain from any shortenings what so ever, given the fact that this specific word is not even included in any authorized dictionaries like Oxford, M&W, etc.


texts: Why are certain competitions called a "Classic?"

texts:
In the town I live in, there have been a number of competitive events called "classics" (e.g. "Bicycle Classic," "Golf Classic").

I assume this term is used because the event is a long-standing, annual tradition. Is that correct? Are there any guidelines as to what should and shouldn't be called a classic?


texts: Is there a word for "abnormal" in a beneficial or desirable way?

texts:
"abnormal" appears to be associated mostly with a deviation from the norm that is detrimental or undesirable.

Is there a word for when the deviation is in the opposite direction?

Edit - some definitions, implying negativity:

Google / Oxford dict:

  deviating from what is normal or usual, typically in a way that is
  undesirable or worrying.

Cambridge dict:

  different from what is usual or average, especially in a way that is
  bad

MW:

  deviating from the normal or average

  a person with abnormal [=exceptional] strength

  abnormal powers of concentration

  often : unusual in an unwelcome or problematic way

I also found two that are neutral:

Dictionary.com

  not normal, average, typical, or usual; deviating from a standard

thefreedictionary

  Not typical, usual, or regular; not normal; deviant

From my experience of communicating with people, I am under the impression it is generally taken in a negative context too. To me an explicitly negative version would be "subnormal", so I am wondering if there is a word that specifies that it is above normal.


texts: Is "Milk and honey" a way to describe curvy women?

texts:
In Czech there is a term used for curvy women:

  krev a mlíko

"Krev a mlíko" means "blood and milk". In this term, "blood" is a reference to red cheeks on a girl (which was considered a sign of health) and "milk" was probably a reference to the fact that milk was considered a healthy part of the diet. It may have also been a euphemism for breasts.

Anyway, is there an equivalent term for a curvy woman in English? Is "Milk and honey" a way to describe curvy women or does it mean something different?

By curvy, I mean the classical hourglass shape — i.e. the right waist-to-hip ratio.
Something like this:


texts: Why are names abbreviated in certain books?

texts:
When reading certain books I will encounter names of places or people that have been abbreviated. An example is in Catherine Hutter's translation of Goethe's "The Sorrows of Young Werther":

  A few days ago I met a man called V., an ingenuous fellow with a very pleasant face.

Why is this done?


texts: What is the origin of "Robbing Peter to pay Paul"?

texts:
I know what this means: "To pay one debt by incurring another" or other variants of it, but where did the saying come from. I'm not aware of any biblical instance of this.

Deep down I want this to somehow involve Peter, Paul and Mary... :)


texts: "allow insertion" or "allow inserting" or "allow to insert"

texts:
I have some doubts about using ing-verb in the following case:

  Such data structures don't allow insretion/inserting/to insert any
  kind of objects.

Is it considered grammatically correct to say that in all three ways? I'm not sure about ing-verb because I didn't find that we can use it in that way. For instance, there.


texts: A word meaning "communicating one idea" (Mono--ic?)

texts:
I am looking to see if there is a word to describe "communicating one thought". I imagine it would be something like "Mono--ic". This is how I am attempting to use it:

"Instead of using a choropleth map, which is mono--ic, we should use a more dynamic map which displays multiple statistics simultaneously."

For those who don't know, a choropleth map is a map with solid colors which correspond to a single value. E.g. A red county might mean it's population is primarily republican.

Which I am trying to communicate is that we should use a map which does not communicate a single thought per area - rather a map that communicates multiple aspects at the same time.

Any help would be much appreciated!

Thanks!

-Kivak


texts:
We need to put a commas after the "you know" sentence

  You know, I need to go home.

But is it right to put it after almost the same sentence "You know what"?

  You know what, he often says this word.


texts: Does the phrase "will ever be" include the past?

texts:
A colleague of mine told me that "Right now you are the oldest you have ever been and the youngest you will ever be." I don't believe this is the case.

In my mind, the idea that he is trying to articulate is "will ever be, henceforth." When I hear "will ever be" I think that it includes the past, but I don't know which tense "will ever be" is in, technically.

His use of the word 'will' makes it seem like he's talking about the future, but he also uses the word 'ever' which means 'at any time'. There must be some sort of complex interaction between these two words, I just can't figure it out.

My best guess is that while he definitely states that the evaluation should include future dates, he doesn't carefully exclude the past, leaving this open to whether you think that 'will' or 'ever' is the more important word.


texts:
I’m not sure of whether this is grammatically correct, although I've encountered the same expression many times before.

  Most Google searches show it produces 35 times less carbon than the report suggested.

Does 35 times less have a precise meaning in this context, or is it ambiguous here? Does either of these two possibities apply?

the original amount minus 35 times the original amount (35 times less than 100 units would be −3400 units)
¹⁄₃₅ of the original amount (35 times less than 100 units would be  2 ⁶⁄₇ units)


texts: A question about a quote from "Alice in Wonderland"

texts:
Regarding this passage from Lewis Carrol's Alice in Wonderland:

  'No, please go on!' Alice said very humbly; 'I won’t interrupt again. I dare say there may be ONE.'
   'One, indeed!' said the Dormouse indignantly. However, he consented to go on. 'And so these three little sisters–they were learning to draw, you know–'
  'What did they draw?’ said Alice, quite forgetting her promise.
  'Treacle,' said the Dormouse, without considering at all this time.
  Alice did not wish to offend the Dormouse again, so she began very cautiously: 'But I don’t understand. Where did they draw the treacle from?'
  'You can draw water out of a water-well,' said the Hatter; 'so I should think you could draw treacle out of a treacle-well–eh, stupid?'

Alice's 'draw' is to 'sketch', and the Hatter's 'draw' is to 'pull' and here lies the pun, I get it.

What I don't understand is the meaning of Alice's question, especially the use of from in the question. Can anyone rewrite her question so that her meaning is clearer (to me)?

+Extra information.
Dormouse's draw means to sketch.
Alice knows from the earlier part of the story that the sisters are physically in the well- so a tun with a spigot doesn't work.
Alice's draw means to sketch also. This we know because the Hatter's draw is to pull, and for the pun to work, their understanding must be different.


texts:
I've found an error identification question and its answer from a website and wonder whether this was right.

The question says:

  He has been working here for sometimes.

And the answer is:

  He has been working here for some times.

A part that contains an error is "some times".

Is it right to use some times instead of some time?

Thank you


texts:
Here we have the plural in the end:

"communication technology services"

Here we have two plurals(quite common in google):

"communications technology services"

Eventually, we could have three plurals =)

"communications technologies services"

When should we use more than one plural to describe this?


texts: What is the numb sensation in the mouth caused by some fruits called?

texts:
There are some fruits* that cause a peculiar (unpleasant) numb sensation in the mouth. An unripe persimmon or a quince are two examples that come to mind. I can't describe the feeling any more eloquently so my bet/hope is that you will know what feeling I am talking about.

Is there a word in English that describes the mentioned quality of these fruits and/or the sensation in the mouth?

*I don't know that only fruit can cause it, but I can't think of anything else at the moment.


texts: Poetic License and the Throes of Translating Poetry

texts:
Is poetry in translation worthless? Or not? I don't know. Never mind that for now. I've just read a novella in verse translated into English by someone known for his lapses and Germanisms, but a conscientious worker nonetheless. In reading it, I ran into a line that both fascinated me and confused me.

The novella is a horror story, a full-fledged thriller with distinctly dark imagery, lots of wind and rain, flooding of the streets, galloping equestrian statues, and so forth. There is a place where the statue of the city's former ruler is described. It stands on a huge rock resembling a cliff rather than a pedestal; the horse is rearing under the rider. The rider's arm is extended, pointing into the distance. Very dramatic and all. The lines go like this:

  And high above those rails, as if

  Of altitude and darkness blended,

  There rode in bronze, one arm extended,

  The Idol on its granite cliff

.

Let's ignore for a moment the fact blending something of altitude and darkness is a hell of a stretch, poetic license be damned. Please look at the "rode in bronze" part.

I think it's beautiful. Scary, too. Has a ringing quality to it. The metaphor, or whatever the hell it is, is gorgeous. But is it good English? (Or even good German or good Russian?) Can a language, any language, accept this kind of phraseological turn as its own, welcome it and embrace it?

Well, is it or isn't it?

Addendum (upon Chasly from UK's suggestion):

The poem is titled "The Bronze Horseman." It is by Alexander Pushkin, a Russian poet of some renown. The translation is by Walter Arndt.

Here's the link for the translation:

https://www.google.com/search?num=30&newwindow=1&safe=off&q=arndt+%22there+rode+in+bronze%22&oq=arndt+%22there+rode+in+bronze%22&gs_l=serp.3...863938.870047.0.870238.30.28.1.0.0.0.157.2474.17j9.26.0....0...1c.1.64.serp..17.13.1284.l9SpiiYNVdg

And here's the statue described in the poem, one arm extended and all:


texts: What does "unimpressed" mean in this sentence?

texts:
I don't completely understand its meaning in the sentence below.

  Because of its lack of theaters, the city came, ironically, to be viewed as an unimpressed theater town, and that reputation led entrepreneurs to believe that it would be shrewd to build new theaters there.


texts: I was wondering, can I contract "all" and "will" into "all'l"? Is it generally accepted, or is it more of an obscure contraction?


texts:
Chuck a wobbly is Australian slang for someone throwing a tantrum, and I like it because it invokes amusing imagery.

I'm not certain of its origins however. I can see how it may be equivalent to the similar-meaning idiom "throw a fit", where "chuck" is also Australian slang for "throw", but I can't be certain of what "wobbly" is supposed to mean. It's more difficult to nail down because as far as I know, "wobbly" isn't used in other phrases in Australian slang.


texts: What’s the meaning of “I don’t care…” as a reply to a poor joke?

texts:
Is he saying he doesn’t like the playful attitude? Or is he cynically referring to part of the joke?
I’m reading a Harry Potter book and found ‘I don’t care …’ in a scene. For the moment, I have three interpretations for that.

I don’t care for your joke. I don’t like your attitude. Don’t make fun of me when I’m worrying seriously.

I don’t care if you are attacked by a dragon or whatever. (He is replying by a little cynical comment.)

(Either is possible. Only the speaker knows the truth.)

Would you read the following citation and tell me what it means?  (It’d be nice if you could also tell me how you knew that; it’ll help me a lot when I read other books.)

“Now listen …” He looked particularly hard at Harry. “I don’t want you lot sneaking out of school to see me, all right? Just send notes to me here. I still want to hear about anything odd. But you’re not to go leaving Hogwarts without permission; it would be an ideal opportunity for someone to attack you.”
”No one’s tried to attack me so far, except a dragon and a couple of grindylows,” Harry said, but Sirius scowled at him.
"I don’t care … I’ll breathe freely again when this tournament’s over, and that’s not until June. And don’t forget, if you’re talking about me among yourselves, call me Snuffles, okay? (Harry Potter 4 [US Version]: p.41)[Bold font is mine]

N.B.: Sirius is Harry’s godfather, a wanted person for a crime he didn’t commit, seriously worrying that villains could attack Harry any moment. Harry is a little annoyed with his parental affection as teenagers often do. So he is trying to turn Sirius’s earnest words into ridicule, by referring to a dragon and grindylows, which Harry has already gotten over through the wizard tournament.


texts: Does "prescriptive" have solely a negative sense in some communities?

texts:
Motivation: I recently used this phrase:

  (1) people who read English prescriptive grammar books

I was aware from personal experience that a significant number of people (maybe not a majority, but enough to notice a pattern) have, in the context of linguistics and related language disciplines, associated the terms prescriptive/ist/ism with negative opinions.

For this reason, I would have preferred to avoid this term, but it really was the most accurate and apt for my intended meaning. Someone had asked what they should do with language, and I wanted to tell them what I thought the consensus on this matter was among people who, as a profession or hobby, give advice on how people should use language. To me, this information is contained in prescriptive grammar books (and places like EL&U, of course). I do not know what else or better to call them. Some other words that come to mind are less accurate to me (and not synonymous): traditional grammar books, grammar books, popular grammar books. And another option is I think almost surely offensive: "correct grammar" books.

So I went with (1), thinking that my neutral content and tone would not suggest any negative intent, but some people were highly offended and accused me repeatedly of meaning something negative despite my insisting multiple times to not mean anything negative.

Question: Was this a fluke, or is there a context or community where these terms are always offensive by default? I understand that, if I said "She is smart for a prescriptivist", I would be taken by most competent speakers to be implying something negative about prescriptivists. I am not asking about such cases. I am asking about cases like (1) that might reasonably be defended as neutral or even positive, depending on context.

Secondarily, is there another term in common use that I could use instead, to avoid potential problems?

Wiktionary lists no derogatory sense of prescriptivist. Dictionary.com lists no derogatory sense of prescriptivist. COED has no entry specifically for prescriptivist (nor do most other dictionaries I checked) but lists no derogatory sense for prescriptive. COED notes that prescriptive is often contrasted with descriptive, as I was intending it. OED lists no derogatory sense for any of these, but some of the quotes used have a negative tone. So if it is automatically taken as offensive by some, I presume it is a very new development or confined to a small community or special context. And I imagine that you guys are the ones that would know.


texts: Can someone tell me the origin of the phrase "spitting image"?

texts:
I am not asking about which usage is correct. I am looking for the origins of "spitting image".

  Possible Duplicate:
  Is it correct to say Person A is the “spitting image” or the “splitting image” of Person B?

I understand how to use the phrase but have never heard an explanation of how it came in modern usage.

I did perform a quick Google Search before submitting this question and found references to "spit and image". This didn't seem to answer my question as to what they mean when they say it.


texts:
The monitor being ill, we'd better put the meeting off.
  The river having risen in the night the crossing was impossible.

In the above two sentences, one uses the comma and one does not. So, when do you use the comma? Are there any rules?


texts:
someone
Used for referring to a person when you do not know or do not say who the person is.

So in the sentence:

I will need someone from different continents who can help me to spread this application and you are the first person that I approach.

Should the pronoun someone be plural and does it even have a plural form?
Or.. Should I just use the word people to replace the pronoun?


texts:
For example:

What would be better

"I misspelled a word in the title"

Or

"I misspelled a word on the title"

I seem to have a bit of a hard time with these prepositions; in, on or at.

I have found images like this one but it isn't really helpful when it comes to things other than time or places.


texts:
Somewhere in the craggy quagmire of my memory, I seem to recall that the nuns of my grade school days taught me that a P.S. (post script) is followed by a colon, i.e. P.S.:

Alas, the periods after the "p" and "s" have all but disappeared  in our Tweet-crazed culture but I persist in using them, not wanting to call down upon me the wrath of my former and now surely dearly departed nuns.  But what of the colon?  Is this a non-memory of my angst-ridden Catholic education?  It seems wrong to follow a period (a full stop, after all, that signals a new thought) with the contents of a post script without some intervening mark.  However, I do admit that on paper it does look, well, clunky. And try as I might, I cannot find the usage anywhere (I may eschew Twitter but I do Google (the content provider having given birth to a verb).

Doth the lady punctuate too much?


texts: Before I go to sleep vs before I'm going to sleep

texts:
Are both sentences grammatically correct? Is there any difference in meaning between these two?

I'm going to finish my report before I go to sleep.

vs

I'm going to finish my report before I'm going to sleep.

Thanks!


texts: What to call the time from "midnight to sunset"?

texts:
In many religious calendars, the day goes from sunset to sunset.

When translating to the civil calendar, you can divide that day into two parts: from sunset to midnight (A), and from midnight to the following sunset (B).

For terminology, "eve" works well for part A.

Is there a term for part B?

The closest I've found are "day", "morning" and "morrow". Is there another term that could be used?


texts: Grammatical construction of “you don’t necessarily have to” in this sentence

texts:
And, I should add, that I would remember, at least every now and then, to own up to my own specific tastes and noteworthy eccentricities and allow that just because I think something is good and proper and nifty you don’t necessarily have to.

Could anyone help me understand the grammatical construction of “you don’t necessarily have to” in this sentence?


texts: Tensed verb form or the plain form when used after "that" (in a mandative construction)

texts:
I know that each is a singular subject, but in certain cases it seems that is not the case. For example, in this sentence below, why would the correct verb be "keep" instead of "keeps?"

  The tour guide recommends that each child keep close to his or her parents in order to avoid leaving someone behind.


texts: What is the meaning of "we are all one product or experience away from developing our own addictions"?

texts:
The main text is about gadget addiction. The author says:

  ... our understanding of addiction is too narrow. We tend to think of addiction as something inherent in certain people - those we label as addicts.......There isn't a bright line between addicts and the rest of us. We are all one product or experience away from developing our own addictions.

  — (Irresistible: The Rise of Addictive Technology and the Business of Keeping Us Hooked by Adam Alter, p.4)


texts: How to name something that has sub-categories

texts:
So I have this database of my categories. And every category can have sub-categories, except for the prime-level ones. In my database I designate a row that is pointing to the category which will contain this category as its sub-category.

How do I call that? Mother Category? Maybe there is more "technical" word for that?

P.S.
Sorry, English is not my native language so I don't know many words.


texts: Is there a word meaning positive envy in English?

texts:
I am looking for a word to mean positive envy as I don't want to sound negative and upset the person I am communicating with.  In Arabic we say 'yaghbitu - يغبط' which means you want/wish to have the same good that the other has and that you are happy that he/she has it without any insignuation that you wish they didn't have it or do not deserve to have it.
The translation in English gives me 'envy' which is closer to 'yahssudu يحسد' in Arabic which has negative connotation.
So is there a better word than 'envy' and if not, is it safe and ok to use 'envy' in this context?


texts: Did bedridden ever refer to a literal riding of a bed?

texts:
Looking into the origins of bedridden, I found that the word comes from:

  Old English bedreda, -rida, < bed bed + rida rider, < rídan to ride. OED

I find that interesting, but still unsatisfying.  Is there a further explanation of why a gravely sick person would be called, essentially, a bed-rider?

Is it simply that people in the Middle Ages were more mobile, so it wasn't uncommon for the gravely sick to be transported to the new place without leaving bed? Could it be related to moving wounded soldiers?


texts:
I was watching CNN 10 on December 18, and there is one context which I don't really get.
At the end of the video,

Forget the "halls" ya'll. It's time to "deck the cars".
Where there's a "wheel", there's ways to win the "holiday light wars".
Clark Griswald's bright idea made a house all that it can be but Tyler's (ph) car can make the neighbors "red and green" with envy.
See, haters want to cover it.
They can't get "camaroover" it.
Admirers "allover" it.
There smiles "hover" over it.
He's "strings" along a colorful "carful" of Christmas cheer
and hopes he doesn't see "blue lights" behind again this year.

It's a kind of rap, and I think this is kind of playing with words.
Could you give me a little help, so I can understand the context?


texts: Can I use "to bite the bullet" in this situation?

texts:
To bite the bullet means to decide to do something difficult or unpleasant that one has been putting off or hesitating over, according to Google.

I'm not sure that I can use it when I was supposed to clean the house but I haven't done until down to the wire. For example, "Now, I need to bite the bullet and clean the house."

Only can I use the expression for making a decision or achieving something?

Thank you.


texts: When I was in San Diego, I asked to a girl "how can I get to the freeway?" She answered me, "Go straight on, you can't fuck it up." What does it mean? Is this a usable phrase or it is too vulgar? Is this american slang?


texts: Am I referring to doubt about who I love, or doubt about who the song is for?

texts:
This song's for the one I loved, at least that's what I thought.

My intent is to raise doubt about whether I love "the one", but I think "at least that's what I thought" could refer to the whole first half "This song's for the one I loved", i.e. I thought the song was for the one I loved.

Which interpretation is correct? If the second, what would be a proper way of saying this without really shortening the sentence?


texts:
According to an article published on quizlet.com, titled 'The most difficult and unbelievable word of the OED' (which I dont have access to), levament means "The comfort which one hath of his wife".

So I wonder if there is a similar word that means "The comfort which one hath of her husband"?


texts: Word or phrase that means making use of money already committed to that purpose

texts:
I recently bought a gift card for an online shopping account, and though I have registered the card with the account, I have yet to actually buy anything with it. Thus right now I have money sitting in my account, ready to be expended, and already committed, in the sense that though I haven’t purchased any goods, I have already purchased them - since the only direct purchase involved in all of this (that of the gift card) has already been made.

Say it’s been a year since my purchase and the money is still sitting in my account unused, and I’ve been itching to use it up, since I already paid. What would fit the blank if I framed my sentence thus? “I want to _______ the money I have on that account.”

I’m looking for something a bit more sophisticated than “make use of” - maybe even jargonistic, if such jargon exists (say in finance, business, etc.).


texts:
When do you use approach for, and when do you use approach to?

(How can I answer questions like this? In which dictionaries should I look? How do I google it?)

The reason to ask this question is an argument with my friend: what's right, approach to caching or approach for caching? (Caching in the software engineering sense)

(But I'd like to hear more general answer.)


texts: Is an adjective/noun adjunct carried by reference with the word "another"

texts:
I am looking for the best interpretation of the phrase:

  ... if one structured property contains another, only one of them can be repeated.

Which is central to a StackOverflow question.

In particular, of the following two interpretations, which is (arguably more) correct:

"if one structured property contains another property, ..."
"if one structured property contains another structured property, ..."

Alternatively, is the phrase impossible to disambiguate?

Are there any rules of linguistic canon that may apply?


texts:
"As a geek I could not have not noticed the error in your calculation."

This is how I would say this in Slovak language, is this correct in English? If not, what could I use instead?

EDIT: The expected meaning should be: Because I am a geek the error in your calculation was immediately apparent to me (even without focusing on it).


texts: What word would you use to describe someone who tries to one up everything you say?

texts:
What word is appropriate for someone who tries to one up everything you say?  For example:

  Me: "You are a great friend"
  Person: "Well, you are my best friend"


texts: Word for neologisms derived from the names of fictional characters

texts: Is there a word that refers to or describes the subset of neologisms derived specifically from the names of fictional characters?


texts:
I saw this sentence on a web service. But I think this sentence is wrong.

"This data are treated anonymously."

I think it should be either of these.

"This data is treated anonymously."
"These data are treated anonymously."

Am I right?


texts: One who believes in their own religion and criticizes other religions?

texts: What is the word for a person who strongly believes in their own adopted or birth religion and opposes or criticizes other religions?


texts: What is a "vehicle" category or classification for skateboards, bicycles, scooters etc?

texts:
I am putting together information regarding common suburban vehicles. I have a list of vehicle categories with several vehicle examples in each category. For example:

SUV

Ford Explorer
Jeep Wrangler

Sports Car

Mazda MX-5
Toyota 86

Super Car

Chevrolet Corvette
Nissan GTR

Truck

RAM 2500
Chevrolet Colorado

I would also like to add a combined category for non-powered vehicles such as skateboards, bicycles, scooters etc commonly used by children. I'm not sure what exactly to call this category though. I don't really like "non-powered vehicles" because it tends to have a negative connotation which the kids using them won't appreciate. I'm open to slang if it is relevant, but it does not necessarily have to be slang. Any suggestions?


texts: Plural of "I am nobody important" i.e. "we are  important"

texts:
A few days ago some stranger contacted me and I asked who he was. He replied and said:

Nobody important.

Now, it is clearly for a singular subject. One person can say that. But I am now wondering what is its plural form.
If my friends and I are asked a question concerning who we are, I would like to answer the same as above, i.e., "Nobody important" but now the subject is plural (we). How can I answer that?
In short, if someone asks my friends and me who we are, I would like to say "Nobody important" but that is for singular. What would be the plural?

"We are no-ones important"?
"We are nobodies important"?

In my research, I found three other sentences as well but they sound odd to me.

We are not anyone important
We are no one important
None of us is anyone important.

Do they sound natural? If not, what would be an idiomatic expression for that?


texts: Is this sentence right? - Let whoever wants to wait wait

texts:
Is this sentence right?
Let whoever wants to wait wait.

I want to say, let those people who want to wait for something wait, and let me go.


texts:
I got this sentence from the book of "At Lincoln's Side: John Hay's Civil War Correspondence and Selected Writings".

  There were few who had not a story worth listening to.

I think did not have is correct. Is had not available in a literary style?


texts: Can we use the expression 'heavy music' talking about music like heavy metal?

texts:
Can we use the expression 'heavy music' when we mean music like 'heavy
metal' or other very loud music?

for example: Heavy music drives me crazy.

I've tried looking it up online and in dictionaries, but couldn't find it anywhere. All I found was that it was used in the title of a song:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heavy_Music

I'd be grateful for your comments.


texts: Is there a single-word adjective that has the meaning of "having good sense of rhythm"?

texts:
I would like to know is there a single-word adjective that has the meaning of "having good sense of rhythm"?

I am trying to find an adjective to describe the characteristics of a lady, who is good in singing and dancing. In my opinion, she has very good sense of rhythm. This word will serve as the heading of a paragraph that describes her and her work. As I would like to be consistent with the heading of other paragraphs, such as "versatile", "charming" and "elegant", I would like to find a single-word adjective for such purpose.

I believe "rhythmic" or "rhythmical" may not work in my case. As in dictionary.com, "rhythmical" means (1) periodic, as motion, or a drumbeat,
(2) having a flowing rhythm, (3) of or relating to rhythm; and "rhythmic" means "rhythmical". None of them have the meaning of "having good sense of rhythm".


texts: Can I "observe" a "sound" or only a "sight"?

texts: I am sitting quietly trying to see and hear sights and sounds. So I am "observing sights" but am I "observing sounds" or is there another word for "sound" perception?


texts: Rules on encapsulating additional information:  use commas(,.... ,)or dashes (- ... -)?

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  Parentheses vs. double commas vs. dashes to provide additional detail

Here is the sentence where i struggled to find the grammatically correct  form:

  Just curious – what did you think of Mila , as a woman and as a person , when you met her?

and

  Just curious, what did you think of Jessica -- as a woman and as a person -- when you met her?

Which one is correct and why?


texts:
I want to know the opposite of the word peripheral.
For instance, one can have peripheral branches of the trigeminal nerve and upmost or something.

What is the right opposite word of peripheral?


texts:
I'm struggling to find a better and less "harsh" word for synchronised.

I'm trying to convey a message of simplicity for our product which synchronizes viewing of documents on multiple iPads. (The same file opens up simultaneously on multiple iPads, ready to be discussed.)

Anybody has any ideas?


texts:
Who can describe it for me? what does mean Heel and relation to italy?

the region situated on the "heel" of Italy.


texts: What is the general name for these articles which feature lists?

texts:
Well, recently the internet has been taken by storm by articles such as: "20 Ways To Subtly...", "5 Things to Watch...", "15 things only a Pakistani..." etc,.

So, what do you call such features?


texts: Working vs walking on both sides of the street

texts:
Dictionary.com renders "work both sides of the street" as:

  To take two contrary positions at once; have it both ways

Similarly, idiom.thefreedictionary.com has "work both sides of the street" as:

  Engage in double dealing, be duplicitous

On the other hand, Urbandictionary.com renders the similar idiom to "walk both sides of the street" as:

  Country slang for a bisexual

Is the differentition between working and walking accepted? Compare (http://www.patheos.com/blogs/thoughtfulpastor/2013/06/13/more-on-the-epic-battle-between-good-and-evil/?repeat=w3tc)

  Severus Snape–a man who had to walk on both sides of the street.

In short, does walking both sides of the street necessarily carry sexual connotations?


texts: What determines how one should vocalise an abbreviation when reading aloud?

texts:
When, in reading something aloud, one encounters an abbreviation, there are three possible approaches to vocalising it.
(1) Sometimes one will vocalise the abbreviation letter-by-letter. This is almost always done with certain abbreviations, such as A.M., PhD, and RSVP. Somebody who read them aloud as ‘ante meridiem’, ‘philosophiae doctor’, and ‘répondez s'il vous plaît’ would likely receive very puzzled looks.
(2) At other times, however, one is expected to utter the whole word or phrase that is abbreviated by the abbreviation. Kg is thus read aloud as ‘kilogram(me)’, cm as ‘centimetre’, and Mr as ‘mister’.
(3) In yet other cases, one ‘reads’ an abbreviation by uttering a word or a phrase that is morphologically unrelated to it, but has the same meaning and, in the context, sounds more natural than what is abbreviated by the abbreviation. For example mmHg is normally ‘read’ as ‘millimetres of mercury’, and lb as ‘pound’.
The same abbreviation may be vocalised differently by different people and/or in different contexts. Some people pronounce i.e. letter-by-letter, but there are those who prefer to say ‘that is’ instead, and a small minority who read it as ‘id est’. Some English speakers ‘read’ °C as ‘degrees centigrade’, but others read it as ‘degrees Celsius’.
A number of questions have been asked on this site about how one should read this or that particular abbreviation. This question is, however, a general one: do English speakers’ decisions to follow (1), (2), or (3) form some kind of a pattern? Is there some rule, even if only an imprecise one, that determines which of these three approaches will seem more natural in a particular case? Or is it that there is no rhyme or reason to it, and one has to figure out separately for each case what the best way of vocalising it is?
(It should be noted that the question is only about reading aloud, not about dictating. Also, the question does not concern acronyms, which are of course specifically designed to be read as words.)


texts: Pre-determined or predetermined? I've seen both forms. Are both right, or only one of them? Is there any dialect difference between AE and BE? Do the same rules apply for all words starting with pre prefix?


texts: What might this example teach us about singular "they"?

texts:
I just now encountered the following sentence in a student paper:

  Any new parents that have adopted a child of a different race generally embrace their biological parents[’] race.

Having worked with this student already on this specific point of her argument, I happen to know that the biological parents here in question are the biological parents of the adopted child. Of two possible antecedents for the possessive determiner their, child makes the most sense and is the nearer.

Why, then, if singular they is so fully normal in English as is often claimed, do we at first reading tend to assume that the reference here is to the adoptive parents’ own biological parents, and their culture? That some slight double-take is almost always required of a native speaker in interpreting they/them/their as singular has been demonstrated by Anthony J. Sanford and Ruth Filik (“‘They’ as a Gender-Unspecified Singular Pronoun: Eye Tracking Reveals a Processing Cost.” Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology 60.2 [2007]: 171–78); but this case, where a genuinely plural antecedent is available, I think goes way beyond the usual mental/ocular hiccup.

If you are an advocate of the singular they, how do you justify this usage? Do advocates of singular they justify it?


texts:
I know the present perfect continuous is used for activity which has stopped recently or now. When it combines with for, since, or how long an activity is done, it means the activity is still happening.
I did a question on a grammar book which asked me to fill the bracket with the correct tense:

  I (1)  (read) the book you lent me and I will return it when I (2)  (read) it.

The answers for the blanks are:

 (1) have been reading
 (2) have read

I understand the answer for (2), but I don't quite comprehend the answer for (1). It uses the perfect continuous tense even though the activity is not stopped and it is not followed by how long the activity is. Or the clause (you lent me) indicates that the activity begins from the time the book was lent until now?


texts: Is there a word for a website with staff members who produce all or the main content (can be articles, podcasts, video, art and so on)? Stack Exchange is an entirely community-driven website, for example.


texts: Word for having a low opinion of something

texts:
More specifically, I would like a verb that means to hold something with low value to oneself in a low opinion and/or to treat it as such.

I am looking for a verb that might fit into this sentence with the aforesaid meaning:

  I   __   this TV show.

Rather than saying:

  I have a low opinion of this TV show.