texts: What is it called when people, e.g. computer programmers, pronounce, say, 65,536 as 'sixty-five, five, thirty-six' i.e. omitting 'thousands' etc?

texts:
I heard on ELU that computer programmers often pronounce long numbers like that. What is that method of saying the numbers called? How common is it? What is the point of it? What are the pros and cons of it?
65,536 was pronounced 'sixty-five, five, thirty-six'.
Source:
"In computing contexts, we frequently read out large numbers with the "units" omitted. For example, 65,536 is read as "sixty-five, five, thirty-six", which is an abbreviation of "sixty-five thousand" five hundred thirty-six". – Canadian Yankee Apr 1 at 18:19"
Here: How do I say whether or not a number was pronounced like a telephone number (or zip code). Are there words for this?
Here's corroboration:
"I find it really hard to imagine anyone saying "two-five-six-K" to me in speech, and if anyone did, I'm sure I would give them a mildly alarmed look. "Two-fifty-six-K" is very different, because that's a common alternative to "two hundred and fifty-six" (and I should have noted that in my first comment!) – Yee-Lum Dec 14 '15 at 17:22"
Here:Saying a number digit by digit


texts: Does it make sense to use "They're welcome" as a response to "X says thanks"?

texts:
I've seen someone respond with "They're welcome" to "X says thanks" where X is another person and/or group of persons. The reply seemed okay to me, but its correctness has been immediately contested by a few others.

The fact that I cannot find instances of it being used anywhere on the web got me to doubt my initial belief, and now I'm starting to think it's some sort of rookie mistake that nobody (else) does.

There are no real arguments given by the people contesting its correctness, but I don't have any to support its correctness either. My guess is the confusion started because "You're welcome" is always translated as "Cu placere" in Romanian, which literally means "With pleasure" rather than "You're welcome (to...)". Even so, the expression still seems appropriate.


texts: 'by direction' under name at the end of a document

texts: what does 'by direction' expression mean? It is often put at the end of a document under names/signatures.


texts: Is there any idiom meaning "died and was forgotten" in English?

texts: Do you know any idiom that would be a counterpart of Russian "помер Никодим, ну и х*й с ним" (Nikodim has died and so be it [and nobody gives a s**t about it])? I came up with a Yoda-like verse "dead and gone cares no one" but I am looking for a real British saying if it exists.


texts:
A question that's not exactly rhetorical but the answer IS implied.

for example; "am I annoying you?"

you're meant to say no, and they are aware that they are indeed annoying you.


texts: Is there a word for the funny coincidence that sometimes happens..?

texts:
When one person is thinking about another person and that other person happens to be thinking about the first person. I have had instances where I have reached out to someone or called someone and they say, "that's so weird I was just thinking of you!"
Is there a word for that phenomenon?


texts: Free as in 'free beer' and in 'free speech'

texts:
This phrase is all over the internet. They will say that something is free as in 'free beer' and free as in 'free speech'. I have never really understood this.

Are these the examples of two different types of 'free'?


texts: Is it okay to say "Do you know there is"

texts:
I've come across this sentence below.
"Do you know there is an air purification system that will destroy viruses and bacteria floating through the air?"
Does this sound natural?
It might depend on the contexts but in most cases,
sentences like below sound slightly more natural to me, though I'm not really sure why that is.
"Did you know that there is an air purification system that will destroy viruses and bacteria floating through the air?"
"Do you know of the air purification system that will destroy viruses and bacteria floating through the air?"
"Have you heard of the air purification system that will destroy viruses and bacteria floating through the air?"


texts: The contest is: I have emailed a colleague (A) for some information about a project. Since he left the company he provided me the email address of the new colleague (B) I have to email. When I email to B may I say, "I was forwarder to you by A" or "A forwarded to you"?


texts: What is the "group name" for students who entered / left university in the same year?

texts:
For example, I entered my university in 2006, so I am a student of "grade 2006" (a direct translation from my own language). What is the proper English?

Besides, I need the word for students graduated in the same year, for me, 2010.


texts:
I feel like there is a word for someone who is defiant of the rules, who has no regard for authority, but in a way that makes this seem like a good trait, not a bad one.

For example: when somebody has no problem stating that his boss is wrong. Or that is OK with not following a rule he which he finds is a bad rule.

Something you could say about your everyday heroic rebel.

What could this word be?

P.S. If anyone has read "Harry Potter and The Methods of Rationality" fanfic, the Harry Potter in that story has this trait I am looking for.


texts: "to" or "of" or both whilst referring to cities and places

texts:
I saw these billboards today:

  Turkey home of Istanbul
   Turkey home of Nemrut

Nemrut is a mountain in Turkey with prehistoric monuments, and I think home of is the new slogan for Turkey.

My instincts shouted: "Turkey, home of Istanbul" was wrong, it didn't sound right.  It felt it should be "Turkey, home to Istanbul", especially if the sentence is indicating a city.  Of course I asked Google to see whether home of or home to was more often used for cities.  And home to is more common.

For instance:

France, home of Paris
France, home to Paris

My instincts tell me "France, home to Paris" and "France, home of the Eiffel Tower" are both correct usages,  but "France, home of Paris" does not sound correct.  Google concurs, "France, home to Paris" is more frequent.

Perhaps the determiner makes a difference?  If the sentence was "Turkey, home of the Turks", it would be correct; but, without the determiner, "Turkey, home of Turks" wouldn't be correct usage, but "Turkey, the home of Turks" might be; the, the determiner, dictating the preposition.

I feel "Turkey, home of" is therefore a bad slogan because some contexts will call for "Turkey, home of", while others will necessitate "Turkey, home to".

Which one do you think is the correct usage?  Is there some kind of rule for this? Are my instincts on to something?


texts: "It was my birthday yesterday" vs. "My birthday was yesterday"

texts:
Is there a difference between the following sentences?

  It was my birthday yesterday.

  My birthday was yesterday.

When should I use "it was something yesterday/a few days ago/..." and when should I use "something was yesterday/..."?


texts: Expression to describe self-inflicted fall from a position of strength

texts:
Twelve months ago, Mr David Cameron — the British Prime Minister in government alliance with a smaller party — won a surprise outright victory in a general election. This put him in a position of considerable power. However he subsequently called a referendum on British Membership of the EU, campaigned for remaining in the EU, lost, and resigned. Is there an expression to describe squandering a position of such strength. “Shooting oneself in the foot” conveys the self-inflicted nature of his fall but does not convey the idea of squandering a strong position.

N.B. This is not a political question nor intended to invoke political discussion. There must be similar historical examples of this. I have stated what happened. I am looking for an expression to describe it.


texts:
Things just simply don't work

is simply a filler in that sentence ?

by filler i mean that the meaning of the sentence is the same with or without it

(i know this is not formal english, but i need to know the meaning)


texts: A word or idiom for something that is real but appears fake

texts: A word or idiom for something that is real but appears to be fake.  For example "That photograph looks like a painting", or "the sunset looks fake".


texts: Punctuating a list at the end of a dependent clause?

texts:
From what I've gathered, it's best to place a list at the end of a sentence. But I'm having a hard time fixing the following sentences without affecting the meaning.

The sentences in question:

  But if you press X, Y, or Z on your keyboard, the cube will only move along the corresponding global axis. So if you press X, the cube will only move along the X axis and etc. If you press X, Y, or Z twice; however, the cube will only move along the corresponding local axis.

Any help will be greatly appreciated!


texts:
We can rightfully take pride in the fact that this day has been recognised universally by the UN as International Mother Language Day. — The Daily Star

What is the meaning of the phrase "the fact that"? What does it actually mean in a word? Is this phrase a conjunction?


texts: Any rule about superheroes and hyphens in their names?

texts:
You really know this fact that Spider-man is hyphenated.

But why? Any grammatical rule?

Is he unique hero written with a hyphen, unlike Batman, Superman etc.?


texts: Are there good English expressions for "raison d’être" and "joie de vivre"?

texts:
I know the two phrases have been adopted into the English lexicon, but raison d’être and joie de vivre are phrases, not words.  As phrases they certainly sound better in French than would their literal translation to English.

Are there any "more English" words or expressions for the same concepts?

If not, doesn't that seem odd, or is it common enough for even borrowed phrases to supplant the development of a native term?

(Further, it seems a little conspicuous that a language would lack native terms for such core concepts of the human experience!)


texts:
I came across the word "drinkle" in the sentence:

  It's one of the Drinkle girls.

I Googled it, but I couldn't find anything helpful.


texts:
I have a Spanish friend, who wrote the following sentence:

  "How does foo, bar, baz can be compared?"

I corrected it to read:

  "How can foo, bar, baz be compared?"

Other than the obvious, he has asked me to explain why the first is wrong, and the second (maybe) is correct.

Any help?


texts: Is it correct to use "on" with the meaning of "inside"?

texts:
I was wondering if it is correct to use "on" meaning that something is on (inside) something else. For example:

  There is a book on the drawer

If it is wrong, it is correct to use "in" instead?


texts: A word for storing pre calculated-constructed data

texts: I precalculate data and store it in a static table and call this process 'caching' but that doesn't seem correct based on a quick dictionary search (hiding, concealing)  I'm just saving the data statically to avoid the process time to make the calculation.  Is there a more appropriate term/word?


texts: Term for people not in any way involved in a crime/incident

texts:
I'm looking for a word that refers to the people (general population) who were not involved in an incident. To be particular let's say the incident is a "crime".

That is, one you take away the perpetrators, the victims, the witnesses, lawyers, judges, cops, etc. you're left with the greater part of the population that has nothing to do with the incident or the surrounding proceedings.

Is there a term for this group?

Something similar to, but not quite "party", as in "party to the crime", as that wouldn't include the people who are part of the proceedings.


texts:
For the longest time I had always thought that Our great Bard had, with his poetic wonder, come up with "the eye of heaven" for his immortal, sonnet 18:

Rough windes do ſhake the darling buds of Maie,
And Sommers leaſe hath all too ſhorte a date:
Sometime too hot the eye of heauen ſhines,
And often is his gold complexion dimm'd,

But shortly after, I came across the phrase numerous times in his other works: the exact words "eye of heaven" (in reference to the Sun) are found (by Shakespeare) 4 separate times, not including Sonnet 18:
The Rape of Lucrece:

The eye of heaven is out, and misty night

King John:

Unto the rainbow, or with taper-light
To seek the beauteous eye of heaven to garnish,
Is wasteful and ridiculous excess.

And found twice in Richard II:

All places that the eye of heaven visits
Are to a wise man ports and happy havens.

and,

Discomfortable cousin! know'st thou not
That when the searching eye of heaven is hid,

Sonnets are from 1590s, Richard II is from 1595, King John is from mid-1590s, The Rape of Lucrece is from 1594.
This began to make me question whether Shakespeare had really coined that majestic phrase, and Lo and Behold, I found the phrase in other works of the period:
John Donne uses it in The Progress of the Soul, First Song (Although I have never really been able to find a date for this one; nevertheless, Donne is of the Elizabethan, Jacobean period.)

Thee, eye of heaven, this great soul envies not.

The Admirable Deliverance of 266 Christians by John Reynard from 1608,

with cheeréfullhearts did they choose rather to pyrity in the eye of heaven , and by the hand of GOD

The celestiall husbandrie from 1616,

the fairest obiect, to the eye of the world, and goodnes to the eye of heaven: there is a glorious splendor, in pompous honor

The Muses welcome to the high and mightie prince Iames by the grace of God King of Great Britaine France and Ireland from 1618,

on whom the eye of heaven glaunceth, deignes

Google Books Ngram Viewer says the phrase first appears in 1593 (a young Shakespeare was just beginning to get his big break with the early Henry plays).
I cannot find any essays or studies on who coined the phrase, as I would suspect, most readers believed it was Shakespeare's, and it very well might be, but because it seems to have been rather common (if it was not common, most writers, I would expect, unless one was a poet, would just use "sun" rather then "eye of heaven")
Any insight would be appreciated and intriguing to see.


texts: Meaning of "hot saves" - firefighter jargon?

texts:
TV Show
Friends – the United States, sitcom. (Season 3 Episode 23)

==============

[Scene: Central Perk, Chandler, Joey, and Rachel are there, as Phoebe enters with her date.]

Phoebe: (to her date) Okay, and then this is the coffee house.

Phoebe: Vince is a fireman.

Rachel: Wow! Have you ever rescued anyone from a burning building before?

Vince: 98 hot saves, highest in the force.

==============

What did he mean by "hot saves"? a save from "hot" places, or a "hot = exciting" save? Or something else maybe? And is "Hot save" a firemen terminology in real life in the USA?


texts: What do you call who writes comments? Commenter or commentator?

texts:
What should I call a person writing/adding comments (by pressing "add comment" link)? Commenter or commentator?

From a deleted answer, I understand that there are commentators (like those unilaterally commentating or closing questions) and commenters (those entering in discussion with others). Is it correct?

Isn't commenting by answering/questioning another commenter/answerer/questioner a live event? And what is the difference in these definitions between a commentator and an answerer?


texts: Differences between using "Would you" and "Can you" when making requests

texts:
Is there a difference between asking a question with "Would you..." and asking the same question with "Can you..."?

For example,

  Would you take the trash out?
  Can you take the trash out?

Both can be answered with either "Yes/No" or by actually taking the trash out. Are the questions used in different circumstances? Is one more "correct" than the other?


texts: "I no whitt reck": Understanding this archaic line from Edmund Spenser's Faerie Queene

texts:
In this stanza from Edmund Spenser's 'Faerie Queene', I'm not sure what 'I no whitt reck' means, would appreciate any clarification.

  ‘O! but I feare the fickle freakes,’ quoth shee,
  ‘Of Fortune false, and oddes of armes in field.’
  ‘Why, dame,’ quoth he, ‘what oddes can ever bee,
  Where both doe fight alike, to win or yield?’
  ‘Yea, but,’ quoth she, ‘he beares a charmed shield,
  And eke enchaunted armes, that none can perce,
  Ne none can wound the man, that does them wield.’
  ‘Charmd or enchaunted,’ answerd he then ferce,
  ‘I no whitt reck, ne you the like need to reherce.


texts:
I'm looking for an adjective for a person that can be described as a control freak or having OCD. However, I was look for a word that is less harsh than control freak.

The girl was _____; while playing tea time with her friends, she dictated everyone's roles, where they were to sit, and what they could say.


texts: Can someone help me correct this sentence?

texts:
"Marvelling at the palace which seem like arised from the fantasy, one can certainly imagine wandering around with Aladdin, Princess Jasmine and the Genie in the 1,001 Arabian Nights Tales."

Thanks so much.


texts: How to understand the meaning of this as...as sentence seems to be self-contradictory?

texts:
This time I encountered a seemingly self-contradictory sentence from a book:

It's easy to see that locate is as simple as find is complicated.

Apparently, simple and complicated are two words with totally opposite meanings. However, as...as sentence used here may imply they are ... the same? I'm confused about the usage of as...as sentence here and how to understand the true meaning. Could someone help?


texts: Is this ironic? and if not what is it called?

texts: Someone is so fat they cant bend down to pick up a bag of food that lies at their feet and then as a result end up dying of starvation


texts: Alternative to "manned" when referring to an extraterrestrial spacecraft?

texts:
In this question  about manned spaceships versus drones, a user (perhaps jokingly) pointed out that "manned" wouldn't technically be correct when talking about an extraterrestrial spacecraft:

  By definition, they wouldn't be 'manned', but they might be 'aliened'.

Potential jokes aside, is there a more species-neutral adjective we can use here?


texts: Single word for expressing "those which I am dependent on"

texts:
Is there any single (or near to single) word for expressing those which I am dependent on? I am searching for a dual term to dependent - the other side of the dependency. Something like the interviewer - interviewee pair.

The use case is displaying monitoring information of my web application which would list the status of all the components my application is dependent on.

What I need is a word which may be used as an attribute (ideally an adjective), such as xxx components, xxx databases etc. Then just the plain dependencies is not sufficient as it refers to all the stuff my application is dependent on.

EDIT:

Rathony suggests the word dependee ("An agent that is depended on by a depender... Technical term, not widely used in software engineering outside of agent-oriented programming").

I found the definition of the -ee suffix:

forming nouns:
denoting the person affected directly or indirectly by the action of the formative verb. "employee"
denoting a person described as or concerned with. "absentee"
denoting an object of relatively smaller size. "goatee"

If I apply the definition to dependence, I cannot distinguish on which side of the relationship the "dependee" is.

How does that word sound to a native English (and not touched with agent-oriented programming)? Is it understood according to the above mentioned definition as someone who is "depended on"?


texts: take a part and take part the difference

texts:
Could you explain the difference between «take a part in » and «take part in»?
For example I took a part in a show and I took part in a show.

Thank you!


texts: I am currently writing on the scene in the high priest's court when the rooster crowed and Jesus turned to Peter, and I am seeking one word to describe that look of Jesus.


texts: Vernacular use of "Are we taking him in?"

texts:
I had a question asked of me that I completely misunderstood, but I was chastised that I did, in fact, misunderstand it.

My wife and I were driving to the store with our 15 month-old son asleep in his car seat.  As we approach the store, my wife asks, "Are we taking him in".

Now, my initial thought was: Is my wife actually suggesting that we leave our son in the car as we go shopping?  I asked her as such, which got an incredulous response from my wife.

"Of course not!!" she said...she was simply asking if everybody was going in to the store or if only I was going in.

After much arguing, we both agreed that the question could've been asked differently (I don't think it was a smart question to begin with), but she contends that I should've "known her better" to not believe that she suggested to go shopping with our son asleep in the car.  She further contends that even if she asked that question to a complete stranger that they would "know" that she wasn't suggesting leaving her son in the car by himself.

So knowing the context, is "Are we taking him in" a proper vernacular for "Are you going in by yourself or are we all going in together"?


texts: Is there a word for a driver who changes lanes often?

texts:
In Russian, a driver whose driving style includes changing lanes often, squeezing into any small hole, may be called шашист ("checkers player") or вышивальщик ("embroiderer"), because of fast diagonal moves they're making on the road.

Is there a similar word or short phrase in English (slang is OK)?

I'm not searching for a word to describe aggressive driving style in general (like speeding, tailgating etc.), but rather for this specific behavior.


texts:
1 - When she had entered the room, she found  him laid on the floor with the box in his right hand.

2-she had entered the room and found him laid on the floor with the box in his right hand.

3-she entered the room and found him laid on the floor with the box in his right hand.

My question - in 1st sentence - past perfect + simple past.

In 3rd sentence I used  both sentences in simple past with help of "and".

Is it possible - present perfect +simple past or we have to make sure simple past +simple past While using "and"
In short my second sentence is right or wrong?


texts: Any idea what Nu means when someone uses it as a nickname for someone else in South Africa?


texts: What is the correct abbreviation for the plural "Quantitative Trait Loci" — "QTL" or "QTLs"?

texts: Strictly speaking, both the biological term Quantitative Trait Locus and its plural Quantitative Trait Loci can be abbreviated as QTL. However, one often reads the abbreviations QTL and QTLs. Is the -s behind QTL wrong or correct? After all, it's not "Locuses".


texts: What would be some synonyms for an "artist/band on tour"? "Tourist" would be technically correct but misleading.

texts:
The use will be for a title, caption, heading or headline specifying the musician is only on a short stopover. Example, a photo captioned as
"(Artist on tour) John Smith with his roadies"


texts: A good word for a "tough journey full of rich experiences"

texts:
I am at loss for a word/phrase/idiom that captures the situation of a person having been on a difficult journey yet replete with fruitful/rich experiences. Any help will be appreciated.

Edit:

An example which captures the situation I want to describe is Duke Senior speaking highly of country life after he was faced with great hardships during his exile in the forest of Eden(As you like it by Shakespeare). Also I am looking for a more or less sharp but mild phrase, say something that one can write in an SOP(Statement of Purpose) for a graduate program.


texts:
The simplistic formulation in traditional Grammar is that in an active voice sentence, the Subject is the doer of the verb and the DO is the receiver of the action. So how about this?

"The students received the food with joy."

Here, supposedly, the students are the 'doers', 'receive' is the verb and 'the food' is…errrrrm…the receiver…of the action…

Is there a term for verbs, like 'receive' or 'await', that work the exact opposite of the traditional formulation?


texts: Why do we call predator birds "birds of prey"?

texts: Pretty much what it says on the tin— usually if something is "X of Y", it is, usually because "X" is related to, or is of "Y" (e.g. "people of faith" means people who have faith)  In this case however, "bird of prey" doesn't mean that the bird is prey, but rather, that it eats prey, which is the opposite (it's the equivalent of construing "people of faith" to mean "atheist").  What is the reason we call birds that eat prey "of prey", instead of "predator birds"?


texts: What is a word that describes the class that "background" and "foreground" are members of?

texts:
If I say

"It was happening in the foreground."

or

"It was happening in the background."

"Foreground" and "background" are examples of locations in some kind of metaphorical space, regardless of what they are foreground or background of.  Is there a good word for these sort of "locations" in the abstract, without regard to the medium (visual arts, music, theater, etc) that the foreground and background exist in?


texts:
At a marketing meeting a speaker used the term tent pole moment.

I have no idea what she meant. Is anyone familiar with the phrase?


texts:
The sentence

  Although they looked totally inconspicuous at first glance, we knew they are unique and special.

is given. Now, what I though is that "Although they looked totally inconspicuous at first glance," is a subordinate clause and the rest is the main clause.
Then I realized that with in the main clause a that is omitted, so that it could read "we knew that they are unique and special."
Does this make we knew a matrix clause? Then the two predicator would make sense to me.


texts: Usage of "until after" vs. "until" vs. "till after" vs. "till"

texts:
India was a British colony. Britishers wrote several laws for India. One such law was the Registration Act, 1908. Section 25(1) of the Act says: If, owing to urgent necessity or unavoidable accident, any document executed, or copy of a decree or order made, in India is not presented for registration till after the expiration of the time hereinbefore prescribed in that behalf, the Registrar ...".

I find the usage of "till after" weird. Also, in some other contexts, I have found "until after" being used. I am not sure how "till after" is different from "till" ? Or, how "until after" is different from "until"? Can anyone shed some light?


texts: What's the best way to get rid of international accents?

texts:
I have lived in the United States for more than five years now, and I am over 20 years old. Although I do not have that many problems with my verbal or written skills, it is not hard for people to notice my accents when I speak. I think I have failed to get rid of my accents because I have not completely surrounded myself with American people yet.

I want to sound as much "native" as possible. Besides trying to spend time with native people as much as possible, are there other things I can try to speak more naturally?


texts:
Would there be a comma in the following sentence?
He was up bright and early waiting in the town square for her.
OR
He was up bright and early, waiting in the town square for her.


texts: Do anyone have an idea about the exact etymology of this word? Also, would it be correct to use the same word when referring to a live broadcasting on television? Or would the term videobomb be more appropriate?


texts: What are the origins of hi, hey and hello? Are they related?


texts:
I would like to know if there is a rule regarding this phrase:

Some kind of...

On one hand we have an article (a but we can also have an):

Some Kind of a Nut
Some kind of a drug
Some kind of a conspiracy

On the other we have:

Some kind of screwball exercise
Some kind of union
Some kind of relationship

There are over 14000 hits on COCA without the article, and just around 2000 for when the article is used. What is the rule for using an article in this case?

Thank you!


texts: "I (had) hated her for long before we split" — Simple Past or Past Perfect?

texts:
I'm not certain whether using 'had hated' here is totally correct or not.

And if it is not, please explain why.


texts: Are there many words that come with “a” as the prefix to mean “no, non” like “asymptomatic” and “apolitical”?

texts:
I didn’t know the word, “asymptomatic” to my shame, until I heard the following narration in AP Radio news aired on October 27 through AFN network:

  “Dr. Anthony Fauci with the NIH says CDC guidelines for monitoring
  health workers back from West Africa are enough to prevent them from
  spreading the disease. “Guidelines regarding how you handle people who
  coming back should always be based on the science, and the science
  tells us that people who are asymptomatic do not transmit.”

I took ‘asymptomatic’ as ‘a symptomatic,’ when my friend in ESS corrected me and told that it’s ‘asymptomatic’ accompanied with prefix “a” meaning “no, non.”

She was right, then I asked her other examples of the words using negative prefix “a,” which I later found Greek origin.
She said she knew some, but can’t reel off them off-hand. Coming home, I  tried to find out the samples through Google Search by naively inputting keywords like “negative prefix, a, words." It didn’t work.

Would you suggest me some samples of words that come with negative prefix “a” other than “asymptomatic” and “apolitical,” which I found in SummyB’s previous (Feburuary 2014) question, “If the prefix “a-” means not, shouldn't “await” or “awaiting” mean, “Not waiting?”


texts:
I need to say (in passive voice) that a certain set of objects was cleaned from (pruned of/pruned from?) certain subsets of undesirable objects. I know that prune away [undesired objects] is one of the proper forms. It is, however, not totally clear if from or of is better after prune.

Example:
I have a set A that I start with. I then identify a subset B of it, which has to be removed for some reason. Then I say "Set A was pruned from/of set B".

Right now I'm using prune from, but want to decrease my uncertainty and hesitation.


texts: How can I describe lips which are wearing lipstick?

texts:
How can I briefly communicate that a character's lips have lipstick on them?

I can't say something like "lipstick covered lips", because using "lips" twice sounds awkward. I considered "gloss covered lips", but lip gloss and lipstick aren't quite the same thing, and in my opinion have different connotations (lipstick I think of as slightly "classier" than lip gloss). Painted? I thought maybe just "red", or "ruby red", but that might be unclear (and not as emotionally neutral as just "had lipstick on them").

This is for prose fiction.

Sorry if this question is too broad, I don't use this SE often. Feel free to close if so.


texts: Dropped g's in upper-class 1930s Britain

texts:
‘Now take huntin'…’ ‘Oh, bull-fightin' — that's quite a different kettle of fish.…’ Italics bred italics. Dropped g's fell as thick as confetti.

(Jan Struther, Mrs Miniver, 1939; 4th chapter, “The Eve of the Shoot”)

The location is a shooting-party hosted by Lady Chervil. From that and other clues, the context is definitely upper-class British society. So the dropped g's are not a sign of a working-class accent. What do they mean?


texts: Word for working with people and getting a certain percentage back when you launch a product?

texts:
What is the word for working with or for someone else (instead of financially backing them) and getting a certain percentage back (profit sharing/ownership) when you launch a product? Kind of like 401k vesting but there is a certain word for it.

Example:

  Would you like to to get paid in a ____ arrangement?

Note: Not financial equity!


texts: "He's too soft of a character to be our leader," seems to be grammatically correct. Or is it?

texts: And if indeed it is syntactically correct, what's the plural form of the phrase if referring to two or more characters? "They are too soft of a character to be good candidates." —is this wrong?


texts: The pronunciation of words which begins 'con' and 'com'

texts:
I know there is no strict rule on pronunciation of words in English but here my question is about the words which begin with 'con' and 'com', more than asking general rule.
When I look at the words begin with 'con' and 'com', I see mostly two patterns : One of them is schwa /ə/ sound and the other one is /o/ or /ɒ/ sound.But the second  pronunciation can be pronounced slightly differently depending on dialect.
An example word for the first pronunciation is the word computer whose pronunciation is represented  /kəmˈpjuː.tər/  in Cambridge Online Dictionaries.
An example for the second type of pronunciation for "co" could be the word contrast whose pronunciation is represented  /ˈkɒn.trɑːst/   in Cambridge Online Dictionaries.
So my question is there any rule/pattern which can help us guess how to pronounce these words correctly?
I am not asking about the words like cool, come or coke. My question is about words like contract, combination, continue, combat.


texts:
Toni Morrison began writing when she was in college, but she did not produce anything good enough to publish for many years. Her troubled marriage, divorce, and life as a single mother made it even harder for her to write.

Hello, I have a question about a paragraph above. in above passage, is 'for her' impossible to omit?
I think 'for her' can be removed, for we can guess it from the context. Please let me know whether 'for her' is indispensable or not


texts: It there a way to say 'early arrival' or ' arrive earlier than expected' in a single word?

texts: It there a way to say early arrival or arrive earlier than expected in a single word?


texts:
I was reading a book with the words

  and a smile that tells me that I picked the right one

the two "that" in the sentence makes me uneasy. Is there another term we can use to replace the other?


texts: Why isn’t the pronunciation of "though" anyhow close to the one of "tough"?

texts:
The word tough is pronounced /tʌf/. The word though has a completely different pronunciation, that is /ðəʊ/.

Is there a reason why the latter would not be pronounced /ðʌf/?


texts: Present Participle(adjective) vs Progressive tense

texts:
Mangoes are refreshing.
An adjective form is needed here.
But "auxiliary verb" + " verb-ing" act as progressive tense.
It may imply that mangoes are refreshing(something, if transitive OR even if intransitive, they are just refreshing).
So is "refreshing" acting as an adjective here. If yes then is it not violating the general concept of "auxiliary verb" + " verb-ing", acting as progressive tense?
Definitely, "refreshing" is not a gerund here.


texts: Error in sentence - Incoherent relative clause?

texts:
Law may well contain within its arsenal of argument and decisionmaking
  the resources it needs to adapt to a changing world, but insofar
  as that is the case, it is even less likely that the image of a totally closed
  system in which existing rules of law—and maybe even the existing practices
  of legal argument —will be an accurate picture of what law does and
  how it does it.

Isn't a predicate missing? I'm assuming the bolded as the subject and predicate. If so, then what's the predicate for "in which existing .. of legal argument"? What might I have misconstrued?

By the bye, I read the meta question about use of ; please allow me to use it here because this website doesn't support colour, yet I want to distinguish with it.

Source: P6, Thinking like a Lawyer, Frederick Schauer


texts:
It appears that counterfactual if-clauses can modify gerunds, as the following demonstrates:

A: What would you do if you were a billionaire?

B: I would buy a caslte. Buying a medieval building if I were megarich sounds so great.

Does the if-clause modify the gerund phrase alone or the whole sentence? Do you have any arguments for your stand?


texts:
I'm learning English grammar now for the first time, and I find it extremely confusing.

A verb is defined as

  an action, an occurrence, or a state of being. Whether mental,
  physical, or mechanical, verbs always express activity.

If verbs are about a state of being, then why isn't "sad" a verb? Isn't it a state of being? Why is it any different from "recognized", which is a verb because it describes a cognitive state?


texts: What does custom mean when it comes to parties?

texts: I've seen different sets of people from around the country mention a "custom party" on written Halloween invitations. Does it simply mean costume (and just intentionally mis-spelled)? Or some specific kind of costume?


texts:
Of all the slang words for money, one of the oddest to me is geetus.  The word appears here in an article from 2013, although the word is much older than that.

Let’s make no mistake about it. The reason this Killeen landmark is going away is not complaints, it’s about greenbacks, geetus, Benjamins, whatever you call that stuff we need to get through life. This money man made the landowners an offer they couldn’t refuse.

"Texas Thunder likely to close after August," Killeen Daily Herald, 2013

Green's Dictionary of Slang defines it as US slang meaning "money" and attests the range of use from 1926 to at least 2004.
The etymology is listed as unknown, possibly from "get us."  Green offers a surprisingly large number and vast range of spelling forms for such a recent word:

geetus
geetas
geeters
geets
ghedis
gietus

Dictionary.com, citing The Dictionary of American Slang, offers a somewhat different definition (though this citation is likely inaccurate.  See Sven Yarg's answer):

A person who tends to reverse or alter traditional Money
Pitchman must give the store a 40 percent cut on the "geedus"/ I'm spendin' my hard-earned geets (1930s+ Underworld & hawkers)

Dictionary.com citing The Dictionary of American Slang, Fourth Edition by Barbara Ann Kipfer, PhD. and Robert L. Chapman, Ph.D.

The earliest uses I can find are all from California, which makes me wonder if the term originated on the U.S. west coast.  One example:

Ernie Nevers followed the illustrious Wheaton iceman and made $35,000 in Florida without even looking at the liquid real estate.  George Wilson followed the example of the other pair of famous All Americans but is still short three collars and a cuff of having enough "geetus" to start the haberdashy house he plans for Los Angeles.

Oakland Tribune (Oakland, California)14 Feb 1926, Sun (paywall)

Questions

Is there any evidence beyond speculation that "geetus" possibly derived from "get us?"  Is there any other etymological explanation?

Did the term come from California, and is it associated with any other cultural context more specific than US?

(Optional bonus): How does The Dictionary of American Slang definition fit in?  What is meant by "A person who tends to reverse or alter traditional money?" Every sense of the word in use that I can find seems to refer to money itself.


texts: "would always" in the main clause with present simple in conditional

texts:
I have two following examples:

I would always say thank you face to face when I get a present from someone because it's more personal.
If it's a family member I would always send a card.

Could anyone, please, explain to me the usage of "would always" in these examples? I understand the meaning of the sentences, but, first, I'm not exactly sure about shades of meaning. Second, I'd like to understand the underlying grammar rule.
As far as I understand the meaning they both the same meaning as regular zero conditional sentences would have:

I always say thank you face to face when I get a present ...
If it's a family member I always send a card.

It seems to me that these examples don't match any mixed conditionals pattern either because hypothetical meaning of "would"

I would say thank you if you did it for me.

like in (unreal present) second conditional doesn't fit in this case.
So my question is what connotation or shade of meaning "would" add in these two sentences? Would those examples still be correct if we left out "always"?
I tried searching web and different grammar books, I know about many different meanings of "would" but none of those seems to match the pattern.


texts: Is there a better term for a male pig [literal sense--the animal] than "boar"?

texts:
I googled male pig word and got results that said the word was boar. I thought, "That's odd; I thought that was the word for a wild pig!" So I visited Dictionary.com and sure enough, it has both meanings:

  boar [bawr, bohr]
  noun
  1. the uncastrated male swine.
  2. wild boar.
  adjective
  3. South Midland and Southern U.S. (of animals) male, especially full-grown: a boar cat.

So I was wondering, since there exists a term that only means female pig--sow, does such a word exist that only means male pig and nothing else? I'm looking for a unique term.


texts: An alternate sentence to ask somebody to complete their task

texts:
At work, When expecting a document from someone, I email with sentence like these:

  Please provide the document

or

  Can you provide the document?

I think this sentence should not be a question as this person is aware of this task.

Also, I feel this sentence shouldn't start with please as it looks like asking a favor.

What's the alternate sentence to use?


texts: Is the word 'staithe' used outside of Norfolk?

texts:
In Norfolk a landing stage for unloading boats is called a 'staithe'. The Norfolk Broads and rivers are dotted with staithes. Notices proclaim things like 'Public Staithe', or Private Staithe'. But I do not ever recall seeing the word 'staithe' outside of Norfolk. Does anyone else know of staithes? It comes from the Old Norse 'stoth' meaning 'landing stage'.

Does no one else in Britain recognise the word 'staithe'? If that is the case, this is very interesting. Patricia Poussa in her article 'Dickens as Sociolinguist' links many Norfolk words to Scandinavian languages.


texts: Indefinite article - are there any exceptions for proper nouns? "an Aristides" vs "Aristides"

texts:
I was going through Leviathan of Hobbes today and I think I spotted an error.

"and every Citizen bringing his Oystershell into the market place, written with the name of him he desired should be banished, without actuall accusing him, sometimes banished an Aristides, for his reputation of Justice;"

Would leaving out the article preceding Aristides be a correct way to rewrite this passage? Like so:

and every Citizen bringing his Oystershell into the market place, written with the name of him he desired should be banished, without actuall accusing him, sometimes banished Aristides, for his reputation of Justice;

Aristides was an Athenian statesman, more of him here


texts: What's a term for a poem with the following qualities?

texts:
A poem that

Has rhyme
Does not follow a rhythm

I know that if it has both, it's a lyric.
I know if it has neither it's a free verse.
And I know if it has no rhyme, but has rhythm it's a blank verse.

But what about rhyme, but no rhythm?


texts: Is there a difference in meaning between "ninth-to-twelfth-floor lights" and "ninth- to twelfth-floor lights"?

texts:
I'm told that both forms below are punctuated correctly with the hyphens. But both phrases have distinctly different meanings. I do not understand the difference.

Full hyphenation:
ninth-to-twelfth-floor lights

Suspended hyphenation:
ninth- to twelfth-floor lights

What is the difference in meaning between these two phrases (full hyphenation vs suspended hyphenation)?

Thank you.


texts:
Is this sentence grammatically right:"In 2030, petrol and oil are expected to see a soar in its consumption and still maitain its leading position".

I have looked up the word "soar" in several dictionaries, some say that it is just a verb, but one says that it is also a noun.

Please help me to find if Soar is also a noun.

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/soar
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/soar


texts: Ages — Semicolons, commas or parentheses?

texts:
Which is preferred below--1, 2 or 3? Are all versions technically correct? Which is your pick?

1. Mike, 25, Jimmy, 44, and Joshua, 49, were arrested on a charge of petit larceny.

2. Mike, 25; Jimmy, 44; and Joshua, 49, were arrested on a charge of petit larceny.

3. Mike (25), Jimmy (44), and Joshua (49) were arrested on a charge of petit larceny.


texts: Is there a term for a highlighted option?

texts:
I'm curious - is there a term for a character that is used to denote a highlighted option in text-based navigation?
For example, say we have this menu when navigating a text-only menu:

One
> Two
Three

In the example, we can see that option "Two" is highlighted. But is there a name for the character that denotes the highlighted option?
Note: I do know that this particular character is called a "greater than" sign, but I'm after the name of the highlight character, regardless of whether it's an at symbol or an asterisk
Is there one, or am I right to use "highlight character" to refer to the character that prefixes "Two" in the list above?


texts:
What time reference is indicated by imperative sentences/Sentences with modal verbs (present  or future)Some say it is present time others say it indicates future since the action can only happen after the time of speaking.
Examples-
Do this work.
You must do it now
Will you stop talking?
May i come in? etc
The above seems innocuous on the face of it but i have found many native experts differing on time reference. I am not referring to the tense part which is clear.


texts:
Can a temperature be described as unusual or abnormal?
I'm trying to figure a way to say that the temperature is not within its normal range.


texts: What's the name for expressions like "food, glorious food"?

texts:
Is there a literary term for the construction of the phrase food, glorious food? I'm assuming something related to its brevity and repetition.

Thanks.


texts: What is the difference between creed and credo? They seem to have the same definition in online dictionaries. Do they have different connotations?


texts: Is there a slang word or idiom for someone who borrows money from friends or relatives and never (or rarely) pays them back?

texts:
Edit - My question doesn't refer to bank loans or credit card accounts.  Nor does it refer to getting things out of other people's generosity. It is specifically about money and the putative duplicate doesn't address that. If there is no specific word for someone who never pays back his debts, then the answer here should be "there is no specific word for that".

I'm looking for a slang word or idiom for a person who borrows small amounts from friends or relatives (say US$ 50-200) and never pays them back. Usually this kind of person has low-income or is jobless. He is irresponsible, he knows he won't be able to pay his debts but doesn't care. (Perhaps because he knows nobody will be taking him to court because of US$20 or 50.)

  "I wouldn't lend him one cent. Everybody knows he's a ........."


texts: Why do people finish speaking by saying "so"?

texts:
I often experience people who when they get to the end of what they were saying, they finish their sentence with the word "so" as if they are going to say something else, but they don't.

Example: "I asked him if he would fix my computer, but he said he didn't have time, so..."

I ran an "experiment" on a friend who does this all the time, and after he finished his sentence with "so," I didn't say anything. He acted as if he was done speaking, even though I waited for him to continue. I finally said, "So...what?" He said he had nothing else to say.

I thought to post this question here when I noticed the man in this video also finish his sentence with "so" but not have anything else to say:

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=845994225437919 (start at 1:10)

Why do people finish speaking by saying "so" when they have nothing else to say?


texts: Is a single-word sentence like "No" an independent clause? And semicolons

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  Comma or semicolon after “No” when responding to a question

It started because of this:

"No; I found the behavior off-putting."

I believe "no", as an answer, can stand alone.
I believe a semicolon is more appropriate than a comma, because of my intent.

Therefore, I ask:

Is the semicolon okay?
What is "no" called here? It expresses a complete thought, but doesn't fit the textbook definition of an independent clause. Is it clausey?
If the semicolon is okay, how would its usage here be described (in grammatical terms)?


texts: Does anyone know an expression that could substitute for "not my first rodeo"?

texts:
Context: stageplay dialogue.  Trying to think of an idiom/expression that's less of a cliche.
Please and thank you...


texts: Difference between "garbage" and "trash"?

texts: What's the difference between garbage and trash? Is the difference significant?


texts:
When I was a kid, I was always taught to refer to years using BC (Before Christ) and AD (Anno Domini / year of our Lord).  However, I somewhat regularly hear people referring to years as in the CE (Common Era) or BCE (Before the Common Era).

Why do people use the latter terminology?  For one thing, I find it confusing.  It doesn't help that BCE is similar to BC.  But moreover, there is only one letter of difference between the two terms, whereas with BC and AD, the terms are clearly different and I find it easier to distinguish!  Were BCE/CE established earlier than BC/AD?


texts: Word to describe action of an audio indicator

texts:
Wondering if there is a good word to fit the following:

Indicate is to lamp (or LED, light, globe, display)
or
Prickle is to electrical shock (or wire brush)
or
Buzz is to vibrator
as
_____ is to beeper (or speaker, bell, buzzer)

I read an instruction that mentioned an indicator but they were referring to a speaker and not a light and it felt clumsy.

I am wondering if there is a word like indicator, which has a feeling of visual sense, that would be more appropriate for auditory signalling.

EDIT:
Fixed word form,  Added some more senses that may help direct enquiry.

The apparatus will indicate the ready state.

I am hoping that to replace the word indicate with something else in an instruction manual that would let the reader presume the ready state signal is from an audio source rather than a light source.  The word sound seems old fashioned and would have matched OK with bells and buzzers of yesteryear that were often collectively referred to as sounders but would not make as much sense in the contemporary world of ear-buds, mini speakers and tiny buzzers and beepers on modern electronics.  The word signal seems like a possible alternative to indicate but it does not strongly suggest audio, it could be referring to a flag that pops up so not ideal either.


texts: A word that would mean the following- "A desperate search for"

texts: I have tried googling and stuff but couldn't find any satisfactory suggestion that would mean "A desperate search for"


texts: Is there an equivalent of "reverie" where one is lost in unpleasant thoughts?

texts:
To say "the noise outside shook her from her reverie" implies she was lost in pleasant daydreams.

What if she was lost in worry or unpleasant thoughts? Is there an equivalent term (single word or short phrase)?


texts:
The room is filled with a lot of junks.

What kind of tense is this?


texts: is "How is conditions being unfair not an issue?" grammatically correct?

texts:
I wrote "How is conditions being unfair not an issue?" instead of "How are conditions being unfair not an issue?" as I believe the subject of the sentence is 'conditions being unfair' rather than 'conditions'.

However, I'm not quite sure. Which is it?


texts:
I would like to use when and would in the following sentence:

  When I would study on the morning of an exam I would say something like that.

So, am I right?


texts: Word for acknowledging and denying fear?

texts:
Is there a word for acknowledging and denying fear? Like, knowing that there is risk involved but still taking action.

There is a story in the Bible called "The Twelve Spies." Synopsis: 12 spies go to look at Canaan and find that it runs with milk and honey but it is filled with leery giants and walled cities. 10 of the spies think it is not a good idea to go there. 2 of the spies say that it is dangerous but they acknowledge the risk, deny the fear of it, and wish to populate Canaan.

I guess another way to put it is, "Acknowledging fear and allowing it not to take hold."

The best I can think of is "stoic", but that does not apply to fear specifically.


texts: 'Pulchraphilia' or 'Pulchriphilia' or 'Pulchrophilia'? Does anybody know what the spelling of such a word would be? Should I take the cue from the spelling of pulchritude and use an i, or is an a correct?


texts: How long ago did Londoners start saying "f" instead of "th"?

texts: Is there any evidence for how far back replacement of “th” with “f” goes in London (and environs) historically? (I’m talking about how some Londoners say “fanks” and “everyfing” etc.)


texts:
This works only when the number of edges of a pair of opposite
  boundaries IS equal.

Or

  This works only when the number of edges of a pair of opposite
  boundaries ARE equal.

Since subject is "the number", I think it should be IS. But "is equal" sounds bad since we're talking about "edges of a pair".


texts:
I am not a native speaker and I have came up with a problem of using start vs. beginning. Which one is more proper to indicate a date (year)? For example:

  The year in which physiotherapy treatment has begun.
  The year in which physiotherapy treatment has started.

And the same goes for finish/end.

  The year in which physiotherapy treatment has finished.
  The year in which physiotherapy treatment has ended.


texts:
"This process was used to identify..."
I am not sure if "used" is correctly used here along with the word "process". Do you think it is correct, or should I replace it with "performed" or "carried out", or some other verb? I think use + procedure sounds more natural to me (but I am not a native English speaker).


texts:
In old cartoons there is often _____ hanging on the wall, reading "home, sweet home" and the like, often framed. As far as this question is concerned, this stuff is sewen, stiched, knitted, you tell me. What is this thing called?

I'd call this Stickerei in German and the dictionary offers "(archaic) stitchery", but this applies broadly to any stitched decoration, e.g. on cushions, jackets. It also offers embroydery, fancy-work for synonyms. Tapestry seems to come close, but rather describes a hanging rug (a flying carpet, isn't it). Is any of these preferentially used to describe the stitched plaques, is plaque a good fit, or are there specialized dialectal terms? And what's up with that anyway, what's the tradition called?

Reason I'm asking is this Ger "Applikation" describes embroydery, funny enough, and through the correspondance p ~ f may relate to Flicken "plug, patch". patch-work has gained a different sense, though. Ger Stepp- could relate to tape-, but I am not sure.


texts: When did the word "on" start to mean "powered"? An example of this would be "The lights are on."


texts: A word for "the quality of being temperamental" i.e. *temperamentalness*

texts: Temperamentalness not being a word in the English language as such, what quality might you say someone who is temperamental possesses?  Temperamentality has a bit of a "made up" ring to it too.


texts: "olfactory" and "factory" - just a coincidence?

texts: As a non native speaker I was always wondering is there is any relation between the words Olfactory and factory. They seem strikingly similar yet there is apparently no connection.


texts: What's a good derogatory word for dandy/toff/fop?

texts:
I'm trying to find the right word to describe a wealthy English dandy who finds himself rather out of place in a seedy bareknuckle boxing tavern. The story is set in 1890's, in London, and the character is an eccentric aesthete who might find himself in better company with Oscar Wilde or Agernon Swinburne than in his current company. His friend overhears people muttering derogatory terms under their breath. I've considered toff, fop, or dandy, but none of them seem like they carry enough weight. A homophobic slur might also work in this context, but I think it should convey how out of place this character is in his current setting.

Edit:
Someone suggested I add a few sentences for context.

  He could feel the eyes of the crowd still on him, and on his
  companion. Roderick, with his blue eyes and kid gloves to match, his
  delicate features, blond curls, and manicured nails, looked like a
  poodle among pit bulls in this place. “Insert derogative here.” The
  man who’d spoken was a particularly brutish sort, tattooed from neck
  to fingertip and scarred from his ear to his jaw. Jonathan’s fists
  clenched. “Leave it. It’s all right,” said Roderick, noticing
  Jonathan’s posture. Jonathan shook his head. He wasn’t about to let
  this lie.


texts:
While attempting to assist another user on another Stack Exchange site I stumbled upon this marketing page for the Samsung SSD 850 EVO that—to my mind—oddly states:

  Untap your computer’s potential

Shouldn’t that be:

  Unleash your computer’s potential

Or perhaps just use “tap” like this:

  Tap your computer’s potential

That “untap” seems like a badly used un-word in that copy. And not for nothing that same page—in a callout near the top left—uses “unleash” to state a similar marketing sentiment:

  Unleash the power of performance and endurance.

I searched through the Merriam-Webster dictionary for untap and it states, “The word you've entered isn't in the dictionary.” Yet, a search for “untapped” yields a definition; but again nothing for “untap.” And results for the Cambridge Dictionary similarly show nothing for “untap” but shows a result for “untapped.”


texts: What is another word that is similar to or even has the same meaning as "sample", as in the little pieces of food that get handed out?


texts:
Is it necessary to use the definite article while writing an official letter or filling out an application  and addressing the Rector of a university?
e.g.
To (the) Rector of University
First Name/Last name of the Rector


texts: Feminine form of “son” when used as term of endearment

texts:
It seems natural and appropriate for an older man to call a non-relative boy/young man “son” to convey endearment. Although I’m not sure, I think it’s unofficially reserved for men’s use only (the older person is male).

However, if he younger person was female, “daughter” seems awkward.

Is there a analogous term of endearment for young females? If so, it is reserved for older women’s use? Or is “daughter” used?


texts: A term meaning "a name used as an embodiment of a concept"

texts:
I am looking for a term meaning "a name used as an embodiment of a concept".

For example, Quisling, which originally referred to a specific person, has taken on the meaning of "traitor." A Mary Sue is a flawless self insert. A Casanova or Don Juan is an overabundant lover. In TV tropes speak, a Scrappy is a generally loathed character, but the term itself came from Scrappy Doo. (These are all my approximations of the definitions, obviously.)

Is there a name for this type of word? I don't think it's quite metonomy or synecdoche. However, I'm not sure.

Thanks!


texts: Comma before where when the clause is at the end of the sentence

texts:
Please tell me if I should place a comma before the word where in the two sentences below.

I would like to work for you since I’m interested in working in a leading international school with excellent reputation where I can utilize my skills and knowledge.
I have about 3 years of experience and, at the moment, am developing specialized courses in Healthcare, which became possible by virtue of my studying at an international school, where all sciences are taught in English.

Here is the link with one of the articles I consulted with, but I only get more confused:
http://www.chompchomp.com/terms/essentialclause.htm

As I understand it, in the first sentence I put the comma, because if I remove the clause, even though it will be a stand-alone sentence, the meaning will slightly change.

The second sentence: on one hand, I thought I ought to put a comma if if I'm specifying (the school) what I'm talking about. On the other, it's essential information, and, therefore, the clause should not be preceeded by a comma.

The nouns are ambiguous in both sentences, which is the case when we use commas to spesify. However, for me, in both cases the information in the relative clause is necessary and I understand we do not put commas before essential clauses.

Can you clarify when we put a comma before where if the clause is at the end of the sentence.


texts:
Given I have a set of some values, for example, a mean price for petrol in month for 12 months. All that values are steadily but slightly increasing in each consecutive month.

Is it allowed to say for the whole set that the price is slightly increasing without meaning of two separate values?


texts:
China is a rich country, yet food prices are sky high.

The word 'sky' seems an adjective.


texts: Words with different meanings in American and British English

texts:
This is similar to this question, but not quite the same.  There are quite a few words which have totally different meanings in American and British English and which are likely to cause confusion when heard by non-local speakers.  What are they?

We are looking for the same word with different meanings (for example jumper), and not words which are different between the two dialects (for example truck and lorry).


texts: Verb similar to "synchronize" but not for time

texts:
I am looking for a word that describes adjusting status to conform another. Let us say the status of the account is active but in our system shows inactive. Synchronize describes the situation with respect to time.

Can I say "I conformed the status" if I want to say that I adjusted the system status to be active like the account status?


texts: Phrases that express "to look around nervously"

texts:
I'm trying to describe a situation where someone is on high alert, scanning his surroundings looking for potential threat.

It seems to me that "Look around" lacks the sense of tension I want. "Scan" feels strange in the context "one moment he was ____ around in search of threat, and the next [an incident happened]".

Thanks for your help!


texts:
Here is my question which I came across-The context is present;
"If I could touch the water, I would feel it was cold."
Why it is written as "It was cold"? Shouldn't it be "It is cold"? Does " It was cold" represent some subjunctive as we do not know whether it is cold or not? If it is so, can we use to say " it were cold"


texts: Term to abuse one who doesn't deserve to be called a man

texts: Say a gang of many men beat a single guy Tom. Tom is a right guy but the gang is of cheap mentality. So, Tom wants to use an abusive and demeaning word for the gang and says you all are "xxx". He wants to say them that they all don't deserve to be called a man (they are cowards). Can the term " impotent " fits the context of Tom or any other term is used in such context? What's the term that's generally used by guys in Tom's shoes to abuse the gang?


texts: Are there any non-contraction you-plural words in English besides 'yourselves'?

texts: I can only think of yourselves as a single word that is related to (only) you-plural and isn't a verb. The other one I can think of is y'all but that's more of a contraction.


texts: What's wrong with the sentence "I got so many requests to make some Valentine's Day treats.", if anything?

texts:
The word so feels wrong to me, but I can’t articulate why. I hear this pattern (I got so many requests to X.) frequently on a particular Youtube channel and I always think to myself You got so many requests that what?

Some definitions for so use it as above, but they tag it with the word ‘informal’, such as:

  Informal. very or extremely: I’m so sad.

http://www.dictionary.com/browse/so

That doesn’t tell me what's wrong with the sentence. Why is this use of so considered ‘informal’?


texts:
I have always thought that the latter: Cars sale, is incorrect; yet Google returns almost the same number of results for both!

My concern is about Rule extraction and Rules extraction to be precise; for a Chapter title!

P.S. Clearly, we are selling many cars (or extracting many rules); not one!


texts: The Subject of a Participial Construction

texts:
The following passage is quoted from the article in Newsweek by Leah McGrath Goodman, titled "Thomas Piketty Says He Was Ambushed":

[Financial Times’s economics editor Chris] Giles, in his critque, takes
issue with everything from what he suggests are innocent errors in the
transcription of Piketty’s data to numbers that “appear simply to be
constructed out of thin air.”
Most damaging in the assessment is his assertion that Piketty’s data on
rising wealth inequality may be incorrect, holding that this contention
is “the centerpiece of Capital in the Twenty-First Century.”

What is the subject of the verb "holding"?  I think Giles is.


texts: Can "in the scope of" and "in the field of" be used interchangeably?

texts:
I am wondering if "in the scope of" and "in the field of" can be used interchangeably?

Such as:

... possesses knowledge and skills in the field of general problems of computer science as well as technical skills in the scope of information systems.
... possesses knowledge and skills in the field of general problems of computer science as well as technical skills in the field of information systems.

Thank you in advance.


texts: If I have used "On the one hand", do I need to write "on the other hand" somewhere after?

texts:
I am an English learner in mainland China. I have a question regarding the structure "On the one hand... On the other hand" and would really appreciate it if anyone can elucidate this point.

Please mind that I already know from other posts that "On the other hand" can be used independently without a previous "On the one hand".

My question is: if I have already used "on the one hand", do I have to use "on the other hand" later? Or is it okay to use "on the one hand" followed by contrasting phrases like "by contrast"?


texts:
This name, which is spelled القذافي in Arabic, is spelled in so many different ways in the Latin alphabet:

  Gadafi, Gadaffi,  Gaddafi,  Gaddaffi,  Gadhafi, Gadhaffi,  Ghadafi, Ghadaffi, Ghaddafi, Ghaddaffi,  Ghadhafi, Ghadhaffi, Kadafi, Kadaffi, Kaddafi,   Kadhafi,  Khadafi, Khaddafi, Khaddaffi, Khadhafi, Khadhaffi, Qadafi, Qadaffi, Qaddafi, Qaddaffi, Qadhafi, Qadhaffi, Qadhdhafi, Qathafi

Why are there so many ways of spelling it? Which one should be used in general usage?


texts: Opposite to “A rising tide lifts all boats”

texts:
Is there a phrase that is the opposite to “A rising tide lifts all boats”?

I am looking to use it in the context of financial markets. “A rising tide lifts all boats” means stocks move in an upward direction in a bull market. How so I describe when they all indiscriminately go down at same time?


texts: Common sense decision made in a lack of information

texts: There is a word in English which I forgot for the decision that people make that involves a mutual agreement made in the lack of communication . For example, if 2 people agree meet each other tomorrow and then they realize when not together that they had not specified the time and cannot contact each other, then the most common sense decision would be to meet at the noon. Similarly for the place, the most common choice could be the same place as the last time.


texts: I am not able to understand the meaning of following sentence. Please help me understand if it is a statement of question.

texts:
*May I submit that my educational background, research and employment experience, and a diverse skill set make me a good fit for your academic program.
*
I read this sentence in a Statement of Purpose. Please help me understand if it sounds like a question or it is just a style of writing using the 'May I' prefix.
Thanks in Advance!!


texts: What is 'Shrove Tuesday' called in protestant parts of the USA?

texts:
In England, and countries where the Anglican church has predominated, the Tuesday before Lent is known as 'Shrove Tuesday' from the word 'shrive' (to confess), which is what people traditionally did prior to Ash Wednesday. It is also known as 'Pancake day' when we traditionally indulge ourselves on things which were once forbidden during Lent.

Across Europe the day has various names mostly all tending to mean 'Fat Tuesday', such as 'Mardi Gras'. In the Catholic and originally French parts of the United States it is called 'Mardi Gras'.

But what is Fat Tuesday called across the vast swathe of protestant USA?

By the way it is next Tuesday, 3rd March - one of its latest possible dates - since Easter is so late this year.


texts: When do we need to add 's' to a numeric year?

texts:
I have found some statements using the format years instead of year. When do we use years like 1950s and 2010s, rather than year like 1950 and 2010?

  Fish stocks here began to decline in the 1950s, and within 20 years, there was no brown trout left.


texts: How do you pronounce "I'm going to buy a cat tomorrow.", in a natural sounding sentence. (in your accent)

texts:
I'm going to buy a cat tomorrow.

Specifically, I'm asking those whose natural accent does not include glottal stopping for a post-vowel t.  Are there two consecutive t sounds between cat and tomorrow, or are the end of cat and the beginning of tomorrow taken up by the same t sound?


texts: What is the meaning associated to a baseball and a screw?

texts:
In some cartoons (Tom & Jerry and The Looney Toons, if I remember correctly), I've seen the image of what seemed to be a baseball or softball along with a screw in a balloon.

If I recall correctly, the balloon appeared near a character who had just been "screwed" by someone else. Even if I can obviously tie the screw to the pun, I wonder how the ball is involved.


texts: Is there a term I can use for a boss's favorite employee?

texts: Over dinner tonight, one of the guests was describing herself as her boss's favorite employee, and asked for a term to describe this.  As the only guest who spoke English as a first language, the question fell on me, but I could not think of any such term.  Is there one?  It would be similar to "teacher's pet" to describe a teacher's favorite student, but in the professional realm.  "Boss's pet" just doesn't seem to fit.


texts: What is the ultimate etymology of "false"?

texts:
The first two are based on wiktionary

  false

  From Middle English false, from Old English fals (“false, fraud, falsehood”), from Latin falsus (“counterfeit, false; falsehood”), perfect passive participle of fallō (“deceive”).

  Uncommon before the 12 century, the word was reinforced in Middle English by Norman fals (compare Old French faus), eventually displacing native Middle English les, lese (“false”), from Old English lēas; See lease, leasing.
  For spelling, the -e (on -lse) is so the end is pronounced /ls/, rather than /lz/ as in falls, and does not change the vowel (‘a’). Compare else, pulse, convulse.

  fallo

  From Proto-Indo-European *gʰwel- (“to lie, deceive”). Cognate with Ancient Greek φῆλος (phẽlos, “deceitful”), Sanskrit वृ (vṛ, “twist, crook”), Avestan  (zurah, “injustice”), Lithuanian ẑulas (“rough”), Latvian zvel'u (“to turn aside”), Old Church Slavonic зълъ (zŭlŭ, “evil”)

But here is another etymology from myEtymology.com

  false

  the English word false

  derived from the Latin word falsus (wrong, lying, fictitious)

  derived from the Latin word fallere (deceive; slip by; disappoint)

  derived from the Latin word facere (to make; act, take action, be active; compose, write; classify; do, make; create; make, build, construct; produce; produce by growth; bring forth)

  derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *dhē-

The third etymology is from etymonline.

  false

  late 12c., from O.Fr. fals, faus (12c., Mod.Fr. faux) "false, fake, incorrect, mistaken, treacherous, deceitful," from L. falsus "deceived, erroneous, mistaken," pp. of fallere "deceive, disappoint," of uncertain origin (see fail). Adopted into other Germanic languages (cf. Ger. falsch, Du. valsch, Dan. falsk), though English is the only one in which the active sense of "deceitful" (a secondary sense in Latin) has predominated. False alarm recorded from 1570s. Related: Falsely; falseness.

  fail

  early 13c., from O.Fr. falir (11c., Mod.Fr. faillir) "be lacking, miss, not succeed," from V.L. *fallire, from L. fallere "to trip, cause to fall;" figuratively "to deceive, trick, dupe, cheat, elude; fail, be lacking or defective."

  Related: Failed; failing. Replaced O.E. abreoðan. The noun (e.g. without fail) is from late 13c., from O.Fr. faile "deficiency," from falir. The Anglo-French form of the verb, failer, came to be used as a noun, hence failure.

I just don't know which PIE form of "false" is the right one.


texts: What is the difference between yesterday and one day ago?

texts: Do yesterday and one day ago refer to the same time period? If no, what is the difference?


texts: "Neither... nor..." and "either... or..."

texts:
I have some issues with this sentence:

  I don't know Alex and Marla.

Is it correct to write it like this:

  I don't know either Alex or(or it's "nor"?) Marla.

Or like this:

  I don't know neither Alex nor Marla.

And another thing:

May I say something like

  I don't know Alex nor Marla.

or

  I don't know Alex or Marla.


texts:
It was cloudy this morning.

The word cloudy in this sentence is for sure an adjective. However, what is its syntactic function?

is it an:
object complement adjective
or a predicate adjective
or a attributive adjective


texts: "A word that means wicked and also the highest degree or most extreme form of something"

texts:
Petty treason is betraying your master, and high treason is betraying your country; I want a word for the third and highest kind of treason.

Example:

  He betrayed the human race to join the aliens and thus he was guilty of _____ treason.


texts:
I need to know why 'a' is omitted before headache in the below sentence.

Although he has undergone a very costly treatment, he has not been cured of a headache.

Correct - cured of headache.


texts: Is there a word or short phrase to indicate the assumption that someone in a position of authority is correct?

texts:
My partner is writing a reflective essay that outlines an incident where she had questioned something that someone was doing and they disagreed, and because they were more senior than her, she assumed that they knew what they were talking about, so didn't push further.

Is there a word that or short phrase that encapsulates this meaning?


texts: I wonder, if I need to place definite article here: Under (the) circumstances, we change every second, if I mean no specific circumstances, but want to express some general idea? I mean, it's a silly question, but somehow it sounds strange without article.


texts: Is this a correct sentence - I was helping him to get the bag off the shelf

texts:
Which one is correct?

I was helping him to get the bag off the shelf.
I was helping him getting the bag off the shelf.
None of the above

PS: This is my first post on english stackexchange, any correction around this post will also be appreciated :-)


texts: Are heteronyms unique to English and why do they exist?

texts:
Heteronyms are words with identical spelling and unique definition and pronunciations. For example, read (I have read that book; I will read that book), close (The door is close; I will close the door), attribute (I will attribute that to Jim; One of Jim's attributes is stalwartness), etcetera.

Are they unique to the English language?

Why do we have heteronyms in our language?


texts:
I believe this phrase means "to betray information".

Could someone please explain its origin?


texts: An email to sent two people and how to distinguish "you"

texts:
Say I sent two people by one email. In my email, I will use you to refer both of them. How do I mention one? Can I use the following sentence?

  I will copy the files to you (Mr. John) and give you a good answer to
  you (Mr. Better)


texts: A dream in which I remember "real" events

texts: I wonder if there is a word to describe a dream in which my conscience bridges reality and I remember real events in my dream world.  I recently had a dream like this. It was not a lucid dream, because I didn't realize I was dreaming until I woke up afterwards. In the dream I remembered events from a previous dream a week ago but also remembered real events from a day or two before and was somewhat confused by the inconsistency of the facts encountered. So my question is: is there a name for such a dream? Either a single word or a short phrase?


texts: Subject versus object in a sentence: how are they determined?

texts:
For example, if I tell

  “I'm write-only”

am I perceived as subject (who is writing) or as an object (who is written)?

Related question:

How do I determine subject and subject complement in “A side-effect is the spread of commercialese to other domains.”?


texts: "Regret telling" vs. "regret having told"

texts:
Is there a difference between:

  She regrets telling him (that) she didn't like his mother.
  She regrets having told him (that) she didn't like his mother.

To me, the first phrase sounds more practical as I've heard it a lot, but when it comes to comparing the meanings, I don't really know the difference.

Can someone clarify it please?


texts: Escaping [one place] to [another] - sentence structure validity

texts:
I want to use the following phrase in this specific structure (if possible):

  How come social media is considered as a way for people to escape life when they sometimes escape social media to(?) life!?

But as I didn't find the name of place following "escape" is followed by a preposition in order to mention the other place, I'm wondering if it is correct to structure it like that with the preposition "to".

I'm thinking of another way to form the second part:

  ...when they sometimes use life to escape social media.

I think this one is correct, but I'm more interested in the first one.

Therefore, what is the correct preposition that can reside between the place you are escaping from and the place you are going to if it was possible for the sentence to be structured in that way?


texts:
Is there a word for unconscious movements such as stroking chin while deep in thought or bouncing a knee when bored?  Possibilities that don't quite fit are body language, affectations, tics, tells, gestures.

  You could tell Fred was deep in thought because he was tapping his temple with his finger.  He always displays this _______ when lost in thought.


texts: One - does common English usage equate that to "you" (2nd person) or "he/she" (3rd person)?

texts:
I am proof reading an academic paper on computer programming and am trying to ensure pronouns conform.  This is an example sentence:

  Accordingly, one considers some entry fees in his strategic bidding, even in a single-shot static auction...

Can one swap between "one" and "his"?


texts:
Either a dryer hook-up kit or power cord and separate vent kit are required.

Basically means either

a) dryer hook-up kit
b) power cord and separate vent kit

are required.

The sentence sounds wrong but I'm not sure how.


texts: Looking for an idiom similar to sink or swim

texts: I'm looking for an idiom - if one exists - similar to "sink or swim", but describes when someone must learn quickly (say a new job) because they are being faced with the actual experience


texts: Hitchens' quote "the cosmos barely bothers to return the reply: why not?"

texts:
To the dumb question "Why me?" the cosmos barely bothers to return the reply: why not?”

I just wanted to know your opinion on what Hitchens means by this. Does he imply everyone is equal before nature; terrible things can happen to nice people and no one is special. Does he mean we're tiny specks of dust in the cosmos and nature doesn't discriminate.

Thoughts welcome.


texts: What word means "the ability to read more than one form of writing"?

texts: If a person can speak and understand two languages, he is bilingual. How would you describe a person who can read and write in two languages with very different forms of writing, such as Chinese and English, or Sanskrit and Korean, or what have you?


texts: Why is it a "vexed question", rather than a "vexing question"?

texts:
If I understand it correctly, a "vexed question" is bothering, annoying, and frustrating us; not being bothered, annoyed, and frustrated by us. As such, I'd expect the active (present, -ing) participle, not the passive (past, -ed).
Yet, Google N-Gram shows that the term "vexed question" is about 3 times as prevalent as the "vexing question", and decades ago it was 10 or 20 times as widespread.
I remain vexed by this vexing issue.


texts:
I hope you can help me. I have recently found this sentence
"improving safety should not be considered merely a law obligation, but also a concrete economic opportunity".
I was wondering if the position of merely is correct.
Thank you.


texts: "The capes shooting out the furthest into the sea" - grammatical?

texts: Would a phrase "the capes shooting out the furthest into the sea" be correct? I need to denote the capes with the most remote tips somehow. Thanks!


texts: "Your 1 hour 6 minutes are up" / "Your 1 hour 6 minutes is up"

texts:
I'm not sure which of these is more correct.

  Your 1 hour is up.

This is easy. Singular.

  Your 5 minutes are up

Again, simple enough. Plural.

  Your 1 hour and 6 minutes is up.
  Your 3 hours and 1 minute are up.

Should the plural be based on the hours or minutes?


texts:
When you contact organization units like a department, an agency, etc., there is usually a main person whom you should contact. He/she is also the main responsible person for critical problems. Should we call him/her person in charge? Is there a simple word for that?

And, is following right?

  Who is the person in charge of this department?
  To contact the person in charge of that department, dial 234 567.
  Do you know that department's person in charge?

P.S. The problem behind: It's used in a data table, a column "PersonInCharge" seems too complicated, though. And, the manager or the supervisor may be someone else, so I'm not likely to use them as well.


texts: What is the word for pretending to write in a language

texts:
For example the fake Swedish in the introduction of Monty Python and the Holy Grail, "Mynd you, møøse bites Kan be pretti nasti".

What is the word for a word or sentence written in that way?


texts: Is "you lil stubborn" a common phrase/idiom?

texts:
To me it sounds like a common phrase/idiom. However, Google disagrees.

Example sentence:

  Climbing up the tree again? Oh, you lil stubborn.


texts: Where is the humour in the following citation?

texts:
The sentence below comes from Word Smart II: How to Build a More Educated Vocabulary.

  CONFOUND v (kun FOUND)
   to bewilder; to amaze; to throw into confusion

  The newborn baby's ability to speak fluent Italian confounded the
  experts, who were surprised to hear a newborn speaking anything but
  French.

Since this is just an example sentence of the word, confound, it has no other context to refer to.  I think I know the meaning of the sentence literally. The syntax is not complex and there is no special usage of any word in it.

But I cannot figure out the use of the sentence, I mean, I don't know the situation the sentence can be fit into. In addition, though I cannot figure out the situation where this is used, somehow this sentence has some humour in it.

What is the situation being described and what humour does this sentence imply?


texts: Is " in two to five days" a correct experession?

texts:
I am wondering if "in two to five days" is correct or not. If it is correct, what are the differences among the following expressions? How do you differentiate them? I am Japanese, and the Japanese counterpart of the expression is "2日から5日のうちに.”

within two to five days
between two to five days

Thank you for your assistance!


texts: Can I mean "be useful or beneficial" by "do good to something/do good."?

texts:
I came across this sentence:

  It does no good to helping people communicate.

I only found "do (something) good" in my dictionary, and Google gave me few examples of the phrase "do good to".

Is it correct to use this phrase to mean "be useful or beneficial"? And, is "do harm to something." a common expression, too?


texts: Is there any alternative term for ‘syntactic word’?

texts:
What do you call a group of adjacent letters having punctuation except for apostrophes on either side? For example, in this sentence, the groups are Let's, see, the, fireworks:

Let's see the fireworks.

Assuming a word is a single distinct meaningful element of speech or writing that consists of one or more morphemes, what I'm asking is different from a word: let, us, see, the, firework.

I'm looking for an English equivalent of a Korean word Madi[1][2] (or Sojeol (小節)[1]) meaning such a letter group. Since there're some words that are not spaced (e.g. pre/postpositions in Korean) in Korean, unlike English, Madi is commonly used as a distinctive term as to Nanmal[1][2] (or Daneo (單語)[1][2]) meaning a word.


texts: Lessons/meetings/events at a certain time/at certain times

texts:
I am referring here to the lessons schedule and want to know if the person has preferences for a certain time slot or don't they mind having lessons at any time (very flexible).
Can I say "Do you want to have lessons at certain times?" (Note: there will be a number of lessons)


texts:
Would you use bar to describe both or is there a better word? The distinction is often that a nightclub has a dance floor and a bar doesn't.

Looking up the synonyms I got disco, club, joint and pub. I don't think either of them are good enough to describe both.


texts: How can you submit a new word for inclusion in a dictionary?

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  Is there an ‘official’ way to suggest a new word become part of the English language?

If I happened to have coined a few words that I find could be of practical value to the general public, how can I make a request to have it included in one of the standard dictionaries of the English language?


texts: What's the name of the section of a book authors use to describe technicalities?

texts: I can't remember what this word is, but the usage is such that in this section authors will explain what font they used, what software they used and other technical things. Any ideas?


texts: "They do not agree --neither with ... nor with ...": Wrong?

texts:
"The significant effects proposed by the 5 packages do not agree --neither with each other nor with the book."

Is this really wrong? I know the rule about using neither/nor only with affirmative statements, but it just feels so right.

I'm proofreading a text and wanted to add this. But the grammar check insists that it's incorrect (I know, not always reliable). I was hoping that setting it apart with the double-hyphen would separate it sufficiently from the affirmative verb.


texts:
BACKGROUND
According to Oxford Dictionaries Online:

Predicator means "(In systemic grammar) a verb phrase considered as a constituent of clause structure, along with subject, object, and adjunct."
Predicate means "The part of a sentence or clause containing a verb and stating something about the subject (e.g. went home in John went home)."

In the latter example of John went home, it seems, the predicate is went home whereas the predicator is went, home being an adjunct and thus not part of the predicator as defined.
Now, I looked further in this wikipedia article to better understand the difference. The article recognizes two competing notions of the predicate in theories of grammar:

(1) Predicates in traditional grammar (e.g., went home in John went home)
(2) Predicates in modern theories of syntax and grammar (e.g., went in John went home)

Which, according to the article, causes confusion as to what exactly the term predicate mean, and some grammarians came up with a new term "predicator" specifically for use (2), says the article. No problem thus far.
What bothers me: The article in its explanation of (2) says, "Other function words -- e.g. auxiliary verbs, certain prepositions, phrasal particles, etc. -- are viewed as part of the predicate." (Emphasis mine.)
Now, remember this definition of the predicate, i.e., (2) above, corresponds to the new term "predicator".
I understand that auxiliary verbs are part of this definition of predicate, because an auxiliary verb can be part of a verb cluster. But can certain prepositions and phrasal particles also?
The article has these example sentences (Words belonging to "predicate" (2) are boldfaced as in the article itself; My comments in parentheses.):

The butter is in the drawer. (preposition in being part of the predicate)
You should give it up. (particle up being part of the predicate)
Susan is pulling your leg. (I don't know why leg is marked as part of the predicate. Maybe a typo?)

QUESTION
Except for the last one, which I suspect is a typo, I'd like to know whether the preposition in and the particle up belong to the predicate as presented in (2) and thus belong to the new term "predicator".


texts: Is there a word for the object of a dilettante?

texts:
A dilettante is currently defined as:

"a person who cultivates an area of interest, such as the arts, without real commitment or knowledge" - OED, online (2020) version

However the etymology is from the word "delight".
(I believe, but don't know, it did not always have the contemporary negative connotation, which I believe, but don't know, it has.)
I'm looking for a word that describes what a dilettante or dabbler might be dabbling in, without entailing interest. Here's an example. My skills include writing a balance sheet, professional taxes, and forensic auditing, while my ___ include astronomy and metaphysics.
Interests and hobbies imply interest, which I'm trying to avoid.


texts: How to use 'epistemology' or its derivative, in a sentence?

texts:
The word 'epistemology' is what I understand to convey the sentiment I wish to write. I wish to write, in a more academic manner, "The movie allows people who have not had an abortion to experience the psychological turmoil that occurs".

People who don't have the experience of undergoing an abortion don't have the 'knowledge', ie this relates to epistemology.


texts:
I had to come up with an "edit-the-mistakes" worksheet for a Special Education student on-the-fly.  One of my offerings was this sentence:

  When I was three years old I can tie my shoes.

I had intended the correction to be this sentence:

  When I was three-years-old, I could tie my shoes.

I know that my sentence correction is stylistically weak; however, I believe it is grammatically correct.  A coworker "corrected" me in front of my student saying that it did not need a comma, but my thought was that "when" is being used as a preposition.  My question is this: is the phrase "When I was three-years-old" a prepositional phrase?  I looked at a number of prepositional word lists online and "when" does not appear on any of them.


texts:
In university I learned that we say to do a degree in X but I saw many other sources where it says to take a degree in X.

Which is correct? Is there a regional difference?


texts:
If a renowned scholar was born, let's say, in Japan, and he/she receives a Nobel Prize thanks to a dissertation he/she wrote in France after studying there for a master's degree and a doctor's degree, do you use "France-educated scholar" or "French-educated scholar"?

He received a full education up to a bachelor's degree in Japan.

My gut feeling indicates both of them are fine (I would go for French-educated, though), is there any distinction you can be sure of between them?


texts: What word represents a useless, stupid, comment on the internet?

texts: What word represents a sarcastic, derogatory, non-substantive or just silly posting to "comments" on the internet such as those sometimes seen following news articles, YouTube videos, product reviews and blogs?     For example:  You should have written something intelligent instead of posting that "_______."    Maybe something like "spoop?"


texts: Is there a word that can describe the the condition of growing up a plant from soil after struggling with the environment

texts: I want to describe the conditions where a new born plant comes out penetrating the hard soil after its struggle to develop itself.


texts: Is it correct to use a comma in the following case?

texts:
The detectives couldn't help each other. Perhaps this "madness"—despite coming from the same source,
  investigating crime scenes—was different for each of them.

I'm not sure whether the comma between the em dashes is correct. Is the comma the right choice for this example?


texts: Not on the same exact page of the book, but on the other page that the book is open to?

texts:
Say I have a book open, and the page on the left is A and the page on the right is B. There is a picture of me on page B. I'm pointing out to my friend over text that there is a picture of her on page A, but I'm highlighting the fact that we're both on the same page! But not literally on the same page. Just, you can see both of us when you are turned to this page. I can't say "you're on the previous page" because it might mean you have to flip back a page to see her picture, which isn't as special. I can't say "We're next to each other!" because that's not very correct, there are other people on the page that I am on.

How do I word this? Is there a word for this? "We're on the same ____ of the book!"


texts: "the next 30 trends in technology of/in the next decade": should this use "of" or "in"?

texts:
Which preposition should be used here, in or of?

the next 30 trends in technology in the next decade
the next 30 trends in technology of the next decade


texts: I have found this in a German newspaper: "Don't spring from the margin"

texts:
A German newspaper has published this instruction at a swimming pool in Berlin.

Spring can also mean jump

Margin is certainly not the edge of a pool

I'd write

Don't jump off the edge of the pool.

Is it really very bad English or is the original instruction intelligible?


texts: Is “horizontal slits” an acceptable description?

texts:
Sometimes on tv or while seeing an old video, there are slits on the screen, interrupting the video. It is like static. Is it okay to say “horizontal slits on screen” to describe this type of error? Is it clear?
Here is an example: https://youtu.be/dV-A9BDd1HY (00:46)
This will be very helpful.


texts: What the difference between "Did you hear..?" and "Have you heard..?"

texts:
Q: ____ you ____ about the accident last week?
A: Yes, the boys were driving along Court Street when a motorcycle hit the car.


texts: What's a generic name for an attack animal?

texts:
I'm looking for the name of an animal trained to attack, whether for defense or sport. I feel like it's on the 'tip of my tongue' but can't quite get it.

“Blood sport” is a bit too broad (and, in a sense, too narrow as well), and refers of course to the act and not the creature.


texts: Work-safe (but not too formal) salutation to start an e-mail to address a group of people

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  How do you greet multiple recipients in an e-mail?

"Dear All" is what I see the most or "Hi guys", but I don't like these terms. They don't seem slick enough, to me.

Anyone has other suggestions?


texts: Why is the plural form of piano "pianos" and not "pianoes"?

texts:
The rule says that if a singular noun ends in consonant + "o" then the plural form will be consonant + "oes".

e.g. tomato => tomatoes.

Then, why this rule does not apply to piano?


texts:
My time for the marathon next year will certainly be worse than
  it is tomorrow. (The Cambridge Grammar of the English
  Language)

Is is being present tense saying is is the same tense of future as will (simultaneity); or is is anterior to will?


texts:
Are there terms for works of fiction with only 2,4,5,6 etc. many entries?

Is there a an abstract collection word for those words?

Eg. "Those N-ology titles are really annoying/awesome!"

I mean the closest to that I can think of would be "Those movie series are really annoying/awesome!"


texts: A question of nuance: 'amiable' and amicable'

texts: How would an English-speaking person explain the difference between amiable and amicable? Which is the more friendly?


texts: What is the origin of "33" in "catch-33"?

texts:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catch_Thirtythree explains:

  Lyrically, the album is a concept album, revolving around different kinds of paradoxes, hence the title Catch Thirtythree (see Catch-22).

I cannot understand the derivation of 33 from 22. Can someone explain it to me?


texts: "to help other people to choose" vs. "to help other people choose" - is the former correct?

texts:
I have some doubts about verb patterns. I know "to help other people choose" is correct. What about "to help other people to choose"?

It's usually easy for me to ascertain the correct use of some verb patterns when talking, but I struggle to understand the rules.


texts: Meaning of the word "cut" in "cut me some slack"

texts:
Roughly what purpose does the word "cut" serve in the sentence "cut me some slack"?

I have a guess as to what this word means in that sentence. English is actually my second language; my first was Polish.

So in literal translation from a common Polish phrase "to cut yourself a nap" means that you basically have yourself a nap.

So coming from that, I assume that to "cut" in the  sentence in question means to just give/have yourself some slack (If you give yourself slack, you're gonna have slack is what I mean by "have yourself some slack").

Would this be an acceptable interpretation?


texts: Is there another way of saying "I lost my train of thought"?

texts:
I am an ESL learning and I use the idiom "I lost my train of thought" quite often. Recently, I think that it is sort of redundant to use it several times when I talk to my friends.

I am curious that is there any similar idiom or phrase that mean like "I lost my train of thought"?