texts:
I understand that the runes of the younger futhark alphabet had names such as hagall and bjarkan, I also understand that these rune names had meanings as other words in old norse, such as hail and birch, I also understand that these runes were sometimes ligatured together to form bindrunes.  Were rune names ever spelled out with other runes in old norse or were the runes themselves considered the words of their rune names as D and S are considered words? When these runes were joined as ligatures as bindrunes, I understand that these bindrunes are considered one individual glyph, was this glyph considered one rune or one word in old Norse or did these bindrunes have any names themselves or were they read as two separate runes even though they are called one glyph. The Bluetooth logo is a bindrune of hagall and bjarkan, the initials of Harald Bluetooth, when the two are separated they are read as two initials “hagall” and “bjarkan”.

When they are joined are they still read separately or is this glyph read as hagallbjarkan as one word in old norse, when are the words ha fall and bjarkan used to write the initials and are the runes alone used?


texts: What's a specific word for someone/something that you crave but could never have? Something along the lines of the usage "holy grail"

texts: I want to describe a girl's yearning for a guy who'll never love her back. The sentence is "her skin was unsheathed to lure her lover's eyes". I want to remove the ambiguity in this sentence by replacing the word "lover," since that could imply that he loves her back.


texts: Something that can not be undone or undo

texts: A word for something that can't be undone or undo ?


texts: What is the opposite of "personification"?

texts:
I want a word that means the opposite of personification.

What is the correct word for describing people with the characteristics of an object/as if they are objects?

I found the word chremamorphism on some forums, but it doesn't seem to be included in the two online dictionaries I searched.


texts: Does the [ɒ] in "not" sound different from the [ɒ] in "hot"?

texts:
I would like to know why the [ɒ] in not often sounds different (more rounded) than the [ɒ] in hot, father, or car in American English.

I know that in British English the vowel in not is an [ɔ], but I've been taught that in American English it is an [ɒ], as in hot. However, I've noticed that the majority of Americans do not pronounce the vowel in not exactly the same as the vowel in hot; most of them produce a more rounded (and sometimes shorter) sound, similar to an [ɔ], as in dog.

For example, in the phrase It's not like that the [ɒ] in not is usually pronounced quickly and more rounded, as if it were almost a British [ɔ].

Why is this so?


texts:
I often get confused by the advice about compare to and compare with...especially as I find many native speakers using them differently...

Is there any conclusive advice on this matter please?


texts: And-Or Usage | Exclusion or Inclusion of Listed Items

texts:
During a debate the other night in the NM legislature there was a question as to whether the list in the paragraph pictured was exclusionary or inclusionary due to the use of "or" followed by an "and" followed by another "or." It's my current understanding that because of the contextual use of the words "relate to" that the list logically includes all variables regardless of the use of an and or an or. Is this correct or does this language exclude certain scenarios? I'm also not sure if this would be a better question for a legal forum.

I tried searching for an answer but I couldn't find an example that had similar structure/context.


texts: Should I use "they" to refer to "the audience" in this context?

texts:
The audience has already recognized the existence of water pollution—they just refuse to admit it. In order to keep this audience reading, the author has to reveal the truth subtly rather than pointing it out bluntly.

Should I use it to refer to the audience, as in it just refuses to admit the truth?


texts: Word for phenomenon where people listen mainly to sources confirming their points of view

texts:
I recall there is a word for the phenomenon that people listen mainly to sources confirming their point of view.  For example, some people will listen to Fox News whereas others will watch Democracy!Now.  I recall seeing an eponymous law to describe this phenomenon.

What is this phenomenon called?


texts: A question about "but not" as coordinating conjunction

texts:
So I was reading an article or something, and there was a sentence that quite intrigued me.

  a. You can turn everybody against you, but never your boss.

"But never" is used as a coordinating conjunction, and it appears one adverbial phrase ("against you"). Even though I think it is idiomatic, I do not know for sure if it is grammatical. If I use "and" in this manner...

  2a. You can turn John against you and your boss.

... the meaning changes. Now it coordinates the prepositional complements, "you and your boss". The only way we can work it out without ambiguity is this way:

  b. You can turn John and your boss against you.

There are some other examples. An object complement ("do it") is in the position of adverbial prepositional phrase, still making the coordinating conjunction somewhat distant from the subject being coordinated as with an adverbial phrase above. Sentence d is an example where the object complement is shifted out of the way.

  c. I made him do it, but not her. (sounds fine)

  d. I made him, but not her, do it. (sounds fine)

Now with "and" in the same construction:

  2c. I made him do it and her. (sounds wrong, and possible to be
  misunderstood)

  2d. I made him and her do it. (sounds fine)

FINALLY, THE QUESTION: Looking at it, I can only conclude that "but not" is much more flexible than "and" when discussing idiomaticalness. However, is it grammatical to position "but not", a coordinating conjunction, so far away from its subject of coordination (what is being coordinated)?

And is my reasoning that the coordinating conjunction "but not" can be distant from its subject of coordination correct?

SECOND THOUGHT:

Is it because of the commas "but not" and" "but never" acquire that they are able to be distant from their subject of coordination?

When I put commas in sentence 2a and 2c:

  3a. You can turn John against you, and your boss. (somewhat better?)

  3c. I made him do it, and her. (still sounds wrong)

And when I don't put commas around sentence a, c, and d:

  4a. You can turn everybody against you but never your boss. (sounds
  fine)

  4c. I made him do it but not her. (sounds fine)

  4d. I made him but not her do it. (? not so sure)

So to me there are some changes when I include and do not include commas. But I'm not a native speaker, and therefore I'm not entirely sure.


texts: What does "box-ticker" mean when applied to a person?

texts:
I've come across this phrase in the following context:

  ... such cultures bring up people to be box-tickers.


texts: "Furniture" or "Furnishing" or "furnishings"?

texts:
What's the best option in the following case?

  The place had no furniture/furnishing/furnishings, no beds, no decor,
  nor appliances of any kind.


texts: Are "What we can do" and "What can we do" both correct and if yes, is there a difference in meaning?


texts: Can 'by' be replaced with 'around', 'before' or 'in' in the sentence "japan pushes back budget surplus target by two years due to coronavirus"?

texts:
this is my sentence 'japan pushes back budget surplus target by two years due to coronavirus' why the preposition is 'by'?
I looked up and understanded the usage "by + a certain time" as:

Blockquote
"By the year" here means "before the year" or "no later than the year":
By the year 1582, scientists pointed out that the calendar was 10 days behind the sun. (Before the year 1582 starts)

that is what I already know. but I have never met 'by' followed by a period in this phrase 'by two years'.
here are my guess:

maybe in this sentence BY means 'approximately; uncertain; about; around',because

Blockquote
The "core" sense of by is near, beside, but in contexts where movement (through space or time) is relevant, there's a metaphorical extension to this definition

so this sentence can be rewritten as 'japan pushes back budget surplus target around two years due to coronavirus'. is it ture?

because the predicate is 'pushes back', so the word 'before' is reasonable. so this word can
be rewritten as 'japan pushes back budget surplus target before two years due to coronavirus'.is it ture?
I think 'by two years' can be replaced with 'in two years' because the latter phrase is so common and the semantics are unchanged.is it ture?
thank you in advance.


texts: Why does 'swings and roundabouts' mean 'gains and losses that offset each other'?

texts: I know "swings and roundabouts" means "gains and losses that offset each other", but I can't understand. Any story behind this?


texts:
So, for those who don't know a Spoonerism (or at least one definition) is a transposition of the first letters of words (often with comic results). Some examples:

"Go and shake a tower." (Go and take a shower.)
"Queer, old dean." (Dear, old Queen).
"Po narking." (No parking.)

I would like to know the word to describe a similar incident involving whole words:

"Teeth your brush" (brush your teeth.)
"Guitar your practice" (practice your guitar.)

Personally, I have most often noticed this to be a case of swapping the verb with the direct object.

In order to conform with the standards of the single-word-requests tag, a potential sentence:

  It is unclear whether his tendency to <swap predicate and object> was caused by a bizarre sense of humor or a freak accident involving a cantaloupe to the head.


texts:
I'm translating for a company that creates specialized 3D software. In a lot of the brochures, there are bullet points for things like '3D road design.' or '3D visibility.' To my eye, the words 'road' and 'visibility' should be capitalized in these contexts.

To be clear, I'm asking about the cases in which 3D begins a sentence, and whether I should capitalize the word that comes after it.

Am I right? Is this basically on a how-you-like-it basis?

Additional question (really just curiosity): when I search for questions like this, is 3D an abbreviation or an acronym? I feel like it would technically be an abbreviation of an acronym?


texts:
What does "topline issue" mean in a business and other context that neither refer to gross sales or revenue, nor allude to anything related to a company's income statement?
Normal definition

A reference to the gross sales or revenues of a company, or an allusion to a course of action that increases or reduces revenues. The "top" reference relates to the fact that on a company's income statement, the first line at the top of the page is generally reserved for gross sales or revenue. A company that increases its revenues is said to be "growing its top line", or "generating top-line growth".
This contrasts with net income (or net earnings per share), which is usually the bottom line of the company's income statement.


texts:
I was reading a book out-loud and came across this name. At the time, I pronounced it

  Aurelius: ur-ell-ee-us

The more I think about it, the more I'm sure it is not correct. The word Aura would seem to make it pronounced or-ell-ee-us, and the name Auriel I have always read as are-ee-ell which could also be incorrect.

What is the correct pronunciation of Aurelius and Auriel?

Additionally, some information on the background would make an even better answer.

off-topic: I don't remember the title of the book but it was about Merlin.


texts: What does ‘Pose challenges as myriad as Mubarak’s departure was singular’ mean?

texts:
In today's New York Times article titled Uncharted Ground After Stunning End of Egypt’s Regime reporting now 'former' President of Egypt, Hosni Sayyid Mubarak’s departure from office, I found the phrase pose challenges as myriad as Mubarak’s departure was singular.

The meaning of as .... as used here does not seem to be same as the pattern I’m accustomed to, e.g., as many as, and as much as.
I think the writer chose myriad to make contrast to singular. Can I interpret as preceding to Mr. Mubarak’s departure as when, while, or although? If not, how can I paraphrase this line? The text reads as follows:

  But in the gray light of dawn, Egypt will face the meaning of its revolution, as will an Arab world that shares its demographic of a younger generation taking the stage, posing challenges as myriad as Mr. Mubarak’s departure was singular.


texts: Is it correct to say "Level stars counts"? (in a video game)

texts:
In a video game, we are using a sentence to tell the user that if he fails to reach end of the level, he will lose the stars he collected in that level.

Which one is better?

  Level stars counts only if you finish the level
  Level stars are counted only if you finish the level.

And, is it OK to have two "level"s in the sentence?

Should we replace or remove one of them?


texts: What are the origins of the word "nice"?

texts:
The word "nice" tends to be used in rather a wishy-washy sense these days. In general use it tends to mean anything that is satisfactory.

But what are the origins of this word? What did it originally mean? Why has the meaning changed so much through the years?


texts:
When writing English, Strunk & White apply.

Am I the only one who sees a dangling modifier here?

It may be borderline, but how close to the border?

In "strict mode", my ears hear:

  When they write English, Strunk & White apply.

What do you hear?

This would sound clearer to me:

  When writing English, follow Strunk & White.

If the thang does dangle, it's a tad embarrassing because it features in a style guide. How to give an admonishment and break it at the same time...


texts:
Can the words "is" and "that" be used back-to-back in the following sentence?

The reason I went to the store is that I ran out of milk.

Similarly, can "is" and "because" be used as such? For example:

The reason I went to the store is because I ran out of milk.


texts:
I am trying to phrase something like:

  We argue that introducing these concepts is likely to achieve ancillary goals.

Should I use auxiliary or ancillary here? Is there a difference in meaning?


texts:
Are these tos in right places so that the sentence is meaningful? The sentence talks about some people we need to persuade to live our life peacefully.

  And yes, look we have some judges to persuade to too, to live life peacefully ahead.


texts: Two verbal nouns with one/two prepositional phrases

texts:
I have a question on English style.

Take the following sentence:

Following the Candidate Shabbat, all participants are mailed an official letter of acceptance to or rejection from the program.

When translating into English, I am often confronted with the awkward situation of using two verbs (in this case, acceptance and rejection) with a common object (the program). Is this the best stylistic choice for this situation? Would

"Following the Candidate Shabbat, all participants are mailed an official letter of acceptance to the program or rejection from it."

sound any better?

I'd love to hear your opinions.


texts:
should it be

  The first thing she did after returning home was slap him

or

  The first thing she did after returning home was to slap him


texts: Example of "A chain is only as strong as its weakest link"?

texts:
Can anybody give me a good example or two of the idiom "A chain is only as strong as its weakest link"?

Thanks.


texts: Should I use more than one interrogative pronoun in a sentence?

texts:
I have to say " who came when, where, how"

how should i write it, can I use when/where/how in a single sentence?

Any help would be appreciated. Thank you in advanced.


texts:
I'm thinking that there must be a word that means, rather than "feeling pleasure in the misfortune of another", "the pleasure of feeling superior to another".

This certainly seems (at least) as common a phenomenon as schadenfreude, but has it been condensed into a single word?

Addendum: I see that I ought to have been much more specific in my question. Feelings of smugness or self satisfaction do not require another person to whom one feels superior. Elitism, is far too general and is usually applied to groups or classes, not individuals. Naturally when you feel superior you feel "Superiority", but I was looking for a word that means taking pleasure in superiority, not the feeling of superiority itself.  I intended a specific instance, such as when one person has just bettered another in a game.

I believe schadenfreude is usually also applied in specific instances / for specific events - as when one sees someone get what is viewed to be their "comeuppance", for example. It's not something one goes around feeling more or less continually, which in many cases might validly be applied to superiority, elitism, or arrogance.


texts: "I wrote a (albeit very rough) draft" or "I wrote an (albeit very rough) draft"

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  “a/an” preceding a parenthetical statement

Does the parenthetical phrase change the "a" to an "an"?

If you remove the parenthetical phrase, then you'd obviously be saying "I wrote an draft" which is incorrect...


texts: How do you spell time specifications given in (military) "Zulu time"?

texts:
For an example, let's consider the time specification "1539Z".

How do the people in the military spell that? "Fifteen thirty-nine Zulu"? "Fifteen thirty-nine zee"? "One fife tree niner zulu"?  Are there differences between US, Canadian, British, Australian (and other English-speaking NATO members) spelling of this time specification - and if so, what are they?

The scenario here is how to put the time in writing as direct speech/quotation of someone. This is important in the following cases:

It's a direct quotation, and I want to write down what would be spoken exactly as it would be spoken (but don't have access to audio logs).
It's direct speech in a work of fiction, where how someone spells the time specification gives a hint to their background.


texts:
What is the exact usage of  "Before" and "Previously".  For example:

I mentioned this example before.
I mentioned this example previously.

What is the difference in meaning between the previous two examples regarding"  before - previously"?


texts: Is there an English equivalent for the Swedish expression "the droplet that caused the beaker to overflow"?

texts: In Swedish, the expression "det var droppen som fick bägaren att rinna över", directly translated to "the droplet that caused the beaker to overflow", is used to express that enough is enough. Is there a similar expression in English?


texts: An adjective which suggests "does not support itself"?

texts:
I'm looking for an adjective which suggests that the noun it modifies can't support or justify itself, thinking mainly in terms of an argument. There is "self-defeating", but this isn't the sense I'm looking for. I don't want to suggest that the argument has proved itself wrong, but rather it has failed to prove itself right.

E.g.

  A.J. Ayer's verification principle is [failing to support itself] because the statement "Only verifiable statements are meaningful" is not itself verifiable."


texts: Placement of full stops and inverted commas (not a duplicate, per se)

texts:
Do you agree with my rationale below? This is with regard to British punctuation. The specificity of this particular question has not previously been posted.

'I need to visit the mall', said Aunt Emma, 'to pick up some party supplies.'
(The comma goes outside the introductory quote {'I need to visit the mall',} because it is not part of the original sentence. The original sentence isn't 'I need to visit the mall, to pick up some party supplies.' Logically, a comma would not follow the word 'mall' in that sentence; hence the comma goes outside the quote mark in the introductory quote. Make sense?)

But if the sentence were 'I need to visit the mall,' said Emma, 'but I need to stop by the bank first', the comma would go inside the quote mark (in the introductory quote). This is because the comma is an inherent part of the original sentence ('I need to visit the mall, but I need to stop by the bank first.'). The comma separates two independent clauses connected by the coordinating conjunction 'but'.
By the same respect, 'Well,' said I, 'I'm sorry, but I can't do anything there' is correctly punctuated with the comma inside the quote mark in the introductory quote. The reason is that a comma naturally follows an introductory expression like 'well'.

And, finally, the comma would go outside the ending quote mark in the following example: 'Good-day, sir', said I. The reason is that the comma is not part of the initial quote.

Based on this infrastructure, I'd also propose that the following are punctuated correctly per British criteria:

•When Mike said 'Be careful what you wish for', Janet listened. (Not sure whether a comma follows 'said' here.)

•I won't accept your proposal', Dave said.
(The comma goes outside the ending quote mark here because it technically is not part of the original sentence. The original sentence would require the full stop (i.e. 'I won't accept your proposal.').

Is my explanation valid, and are all my examples punctuated correctly?


texts:
Did you have any joy finding that book you wanted?
  We tried asking local libraries for information, but got no joy from any of them.

I noticed that the dictionary says that the word in question can take "ing" after it. How is this possible that a noun can take a verb which follows it? Are we supposed to treat "finding" as present participle which modifies the whole sentence? Like in "Did you have any joy (while or in) finding that book you wanted?.What kind of meaning relationship does "finding" in this context have with both "joy" and the sentence?What meaning does "finding" ascribe to the sentence?


texts: Should Short Story Titles be italicized or put in quotes?

texts:
I've googled this, and found conflicting answers. Should the title of a short story be italicized or put in quotes?

It will be both in the title and the body of a paper discussing the story.


texts: What influenced people to start using "I'm good" in answer to "How are you?" and in other contexts?

texts:
There are many posts on this site about the appropriate responses to the question "How are you?" and there are many different opinions about which responses should be used. My intention is not to bring that question up here.

My question is about the evolution of the expression "I'm good". I hear it used in two ways all the time. One is in answer to the question "How are you?"

The other way it's used is to mean, "No thanks, I have enough," or "I'm all set here."
For example: "Would you like more ice cream?" "No thanks. I'm good." Or this: "Did everybody understand my explanation?" "Yes, I'm good." It's also used in the same way in questions. A waiter might arrive at a table and say, "Are you good?" to people who appear to have finished eating, as a way of asking whether it's OK to take away their plates.

We moved from the United States to France in 1988 and stayed there until 2002, when we returned. Before we left, I never, ever heard anyone say "I am good" in either of those two contexts. When we came back, the expression was everywhere. So I've always assumed that it emerged during the 1990s or, at the latest, around the year 2000. I've also always (perhaps erroneously) assumed that both types of usage evolved around the same time. Many of the posts on this site refer to "I'm good" as an expression used only in American English, but recently I have heard it used by many speakers of British English as well.

I've checked various sources to find the expression's origin. There are a few ideas about it here, here, and here. In the last of the sites I've referenced (wiktionary.org), there are people in a chat room who agree roughly with my estimate of when the expression entered common usage, and one of them suggests that it comes from language used by poker players.

I'm very interested to know if anyone has found more authoritative information about the origin and evolution of the expression, as used in the ways I've described.


texts:
I'm putting in a supply request at work and I'm asking for a class set of something, plus a few extras:

class set of 30 + 5 to cannibalize as parts inevitably go missing

I've looked up definitions...

a : to take salvageable parts from (something, such as a disabled
machine) for use in building or repairing another machine
b : to make use of (a part taken from one thing) in building, repairing, or
creating something else

and synonyms, but haven't found a single word synonym to use--only phrases such as "dismantle for parts."


texts:
I am looking for a term that describes a certain behavior. The example I have is in a situation where a person has malicious intent, but pretends to be innocent or even helpful. For example, if you have a “friend” that calls your wife, knowing you’re out of town. When confronted, they were just checking in on her. I am interested in a term that describes both the intent, and the type of response.

A second example could be a security guard groping a woman during a search. When confronted the response is that it was a frisk for everyone’s safety. Thank you in advance.


texts:
Is there a term to name this kind of usage:

"Big" is an adjective.

What I am thinking about is the adjective "big".

I am already quite annoyed by "big's" in your speech. You repeat it almost every 10 seconds.

as opposed to this common usage:

I saw a big house last night.

We will solve a big problem.

A big dog ran up to him suddenly.


texts: When a limited but working version of something is better

texts:
There is a Persian proverb ("One habitable village is better than one hundred desolated towns") which emphasizes that a limited and small-scale but working thing (e.g. a solution or an achievement) is much better than several ones that do not work or could not be leveraged.

Is there any equivalent proverb/idiom for that in English?


texts: What does "Do you know how to party?" mean?

texts:
I was actually wanting to know how to say this in Spanish when I realized that I didn't have a clear definition of it in my own language — English.  My knowledge of this phrase comes from colloquial, experiential usage and/or dialogue I've heard while watching American films.  A quick search of the web via Google led me to an Urban Dictionary entry for "Do you party?" but it had only one definition and that was "Do you do drugs?"  My experience with this phrase hasn't included drug usage.  When I've heard this phrase, it usually means something like:
"Do you know how to relax?"
"Do you know how to unwind?"
"Do you know how to have fun?"
"Do you know how to get loose?"
"Do you know how to get down?"
"Do you know how to have a good time?"
"Do you know how to get your groove on?"
"Do you know how to free your inhibitions?"
However, I can't find a source that actually defines this phrase.  I did find a definition of "get your groove on" at a site called "What Does That Mean?"  Its definition for this phrase is below:

It usually means dancing to music, finding your rhythm, etc. The idea comes from the grooves on vinyl records, and finding your rhythm with the “grooves” of the music.

The definition above was the most popular one and it certainly seems to at least somewhat support Jimmy Fallon's use of it in this video here:
Dwayne Johnson's "Shake It Off" vs Jimmy Fallon's "Jump In The Line" | Lip Sync Battle
You'll find other definitions on the "What Does That Mean?" site.  However, they are, unquestionably, for a "mature" audience (i.e., 17+).  If you're curious and such content doesn't bother you, click on the link below:
What does getting your groove on mean?
I tried to find examples of someone on video or in film asking the line, "Do you know how to party?" but didn't find one.  However, revising this to just "know how to party" returned a lot more results.
In fact, you'll find a lot of songs with the word "party" in them and even some that include the phrase "know how to party" (more than 1,000 in AllMusic's database).  One called "I Know How to Party" by Bryson Tiller certainly is using it with sexual connotations.  The video for another one by the same name, but from a different artist — Indian Askin — definitely might make you wonder if "know how to party" is a reference to drugs.
Having said all of that, I am under the impression that the meaning of "Do you know how to party?" goes beyond just "Do you know how to get your groove on?"  It appears to have many meanings and I would like to find the most authoritative source possible that lists all of these various meanings.
Overall, my search of the web was, for the most part, fruitless, but I must admit that it was also cursory, so I would imagine someone, somewhere has attempted to define this phrase.  Rather than waste gobs of time searching for it myself, I thought I'd post a question about it here.
Also, would you consider this phrase colloquial, slang, and/or euphemistic?


texts: What should be the proper reply for thanks?

texts:
I like a girl which is in same division as I am. Recently she was suffering from malaria and when I came to know this I sent a "Get well soon!" message. We have hardly exchanged any words in labs and common lectures.
Now she has replied as "thanks!" as expected. I want to give her a good reply for her thanks just to continue. So what should I say in this situation. I really like this girl!


texts: Meaning of "I never give a sucker an even break"

texts:
What does this phrase mean?

  I never give a sucker an even break.

Does it mean that the author of this saying is unwilling to offer somebody who he doesn't like a break/rest while he is working?


texts:
Which one is correct?

  What would I do without you.
  What will I do without you.

  You would always be my favorite travel buddy.
  You will always be my favorite travel buddy.


texts: Usage of We and Us, which is correct in this context?

texts:
Which sentence is correct and why?

The good thing is us being together again in all situations.
The good thing is that we are together again in all situations.

Also, if #1 is the correct one, would it be correct to leave out 'us' so that the sentence is "The good thing is being together again in all situations."


texts: How do I refer to all the properties of one document among many documents?

texts:
There are many documents, and each document has many properties.

I am trying to say "the properties of one of the documents" I believe that it is correct to say

  One of the documents' properties is...

But I am not sure which form of the possessive to use for 'documents'

  One of the document's/documents' properties is...

Is this the right way to phrase it?


texts:
He staggered in, late as usual, his hair this way and his collar the other. His socks were as mismatched as were his principles. I thought to myself, here comes yet another disastrous sales meeting.

It seems to me too much to write :

  I thought to myself 'Here comes yet another disastrous sales meeting'.

The Authorised Version deliberately did away with punctuated speech, retaining only the capital to indicate the beginning of a quote but leaving out quotation marks.

Can I therefore do the same in common writing, for my thoughts ?

  I thought to myself, Here comes yet another disastrous sales meeting.

I cannot find another question on EL&U which covers this.


texts: Adjective meaning stubborn or willfully ignorant, to one's detriment

texts:
I'm a writing a letter that goes:

  Your correspondent John Smith is correct that exercise has its costs, both in terms of cost of food and cost of equipment and gym memberships. However, to argue that it's therefore not worthwhile, is pig-in-the-mud [stubborn].

stupid would be a pretty good word, but it's rude and alienates the subject.

stubborn doesn't cover that it's an unintelligent action.

It's not ignorant because the information is available.


texts: Which is better: "Powered by X" vs. "X-powered"

texts: We say "Powered by Microsoft"; can one also say "Microsoft powered" instead of this?


texts: Regarding the usage of future perfect tense

texts:
Can we use "would" instead of "will" in the future perfect tense?

Please explain it and give some examples.


texts:
I have recently moved deep into the county of Somerset, UK. Owing to some atmospheric disturbance caused by a hurricane, the weather was particularly dark and forbidding.

One person said that the weather was dimpsy, a word I have not heard before. Later I checked in with another person who said that it was not dimpsy, but dumpsy.

What do these words mean, and which one (if either) is more correct usage?


texts: What is the best term to categorize a lolcat image and text?

texts: I've seen the captions described as a dialect, patois, "kitty pidgin" and language play which is well and good but doesn't get to the key visual aspect (silly/cute/adorable cats). Wikipedia offers  image macro, a term with hazy etymology but looks like the best candidate at this point.  I suppose one could just call it an internet meme but that lumps it in with a vast number of other things that are less well-known.


texts: Is it "All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth" or "All I want for Christmas are my two front teeth"?


texts:
When I was growing up, if I ever said something similar to "Can I go to the store with Joe?", my mom would correct me with "May I go to the store with Joe?".

Is "May I?" the typical way to ask a question politely or is this just specific to where I grew up or what my mom learned?


texts: "The ^ character indicates... " or "The character ^ indicates... "

texts:
Which one is correct?

  The ^ character indicates the beginning of the string.

or

  The character ^ indicates the beginning of the string.

Or both?

I ask because in my native language (Croatian) the first form is incorrect and the second form should be used. So:

"the console Wii" and not "the Wii console"
"the chocolate bar Snickers" and not "the Snickers chocolate bar"
"the mobile network Verizon" and not "the Verizon mobile network"
"the computers Apple" and not "the Apple computers"

I was wondering if there is a similar restriction in the English language...


texts: In “an idea of Hölderlin’s”, is “of” a partitive or a genitive?

texts:
We often use these constructions. A friend of mine is probably the most common.

I have often wondered, being an English teacher, whether the function of the preposition of in such contexts is that of a partitive (it implies an idea of splitting something into parts, so a friend of mine is a part of the whole of my friends) or a genitive (it implies the idea that something belongs to something else, so an idea of Hölderlin’s would mean Hölderlin’s idea).

I realize the distinction is subtle. Is there a professional scholar in linguistics here who can clarify?


texts: How are 24-hour (military) times read aloud?

texts:
I understand you read 2000 aloud as twenty hundred hours and 0000 as zero hours.

How then do you read 0001 and 0010?


texts: Reported speech modal verbs could and might

texts:
I know that usually we don't change modal verbs in reported speech but i want to know if it is OK to change could for might as it doesn't change the meaning. I failed my English exam on this one question and my teacher says that I can pass if I can prove I'm right.

"I could be very rich when I'm 35." said Tom
Tom told me that he might be very rich when he's 35.

I don't see the problem as it means the same. The rules say that modals don't usually change, but they don't say that they never change.

Help needed urgently


texts: If a high attrition rate is observed in a workforce, how do you state it as a characteristic of a generalized individual? Highly Mobile?

texts:
Here's the context:
Statement: Attrition among the X workforce is high.

Now I want to specify this at an individual's context. As in:
"The X worker is __"
What is the correct term here?
The X worker is highly mobile?

This is for a presentation slide and I'm striving for brevity.
Attrition here means that workers change jobs often, not that they migrate.


texts: How would you call a form where you fill in info about what you worked on?

texts:
I am missing correct word here... Can someone help?
Imagine that a company works remotely due to Coronavirus. The company uses an internal website where every worker registers the info about the work he has done that day.
So, the worker (let's say Robert) simply fills in a form where he writes, for example:

9:00-14:15 - work on the design of company's product
14:15-15:30 - help out Monica with this and that
15:30-17:00 - meeting with client

How would you call the above form that Robert just filled? I am thinking... worksheet. But that does not say much about actual registering the work tasks.
The 'form' is too general. I am looking for something concise that would sum up.


texts: Meaning of "Schemas are changed infrequently, if at all"

texts:
As the question title implies, the following is a simple sentence written in plain English.

  Schemas are changed infrequently, if at all.

Where schema is a special term used in Database Management System - DBMS implying the overall logical structure of a database or simply say the overall design of a database. A database can be thought of as a collection of well-structured, well-organized and interrelated tables that may contain a huge collection of related information in the form of rows (or records - an older term) and columns (or fields - an older term) in each of the tables.

The terms row, column and table in DBMS are especially designated by the terms entity, attribute and entity class or entity set respectively. An entity class in DBMS is also called a relation in very special contexts (for example, normalization).

The terms record and field were especially used before the advent of DBMSs.

The meaning of the main clause is obvious but I really don't get the meaning of the subordinate clause or if-clause. It appears that something is deliberately disguised in the if-clause for some specific reasons.

What does if at all mean in this sentence?


texts: It's hard to get a taxi "at this period"?

texts:
Say it's 5:00 PM in a city, rush hour, hard to get a taxi. What do you say:

  "It's hard to get a taxi at this period/this clock/this hour"?

We can bypass it by saying "now". But what's the way to express it?


texts: Word for "this is an example of the type of incident being discussed"?

texts:
Here's an example context:

  Recently, there has been a lot of discussion about stores overpricing their bacon. The recent event in which the store priced bacon at $100/lb is a perfect ___ of this.

I was using the word "Example" at the blank there, but I vaguely recall there being a more suitable word. Example doesn't seem quite right, since it would technically mean an example of the discussion, right?


texts:
Sometimes, the phrases that I analyze look like they fit more than one category, and other times I do not understand why a phrase is a certain type. (We are taught 5 types: NP, VP, PP, AdjP, AdvP.)

For example:

  “Jeff did it for no particular reason“

To me, this looks like a prepositional phrase, due to the presence of the word “for”. But apparently it is an Adjectival Phrase (AdjP). How is this? How does one correctly identify the core of a phrase?

Why is “particular” the core/head? It doesn’t seem like an important part of the phrase, as I could remove it and it would still make sense.


texts: Plural vs Singular when the number 1 is represented in integer vs decimal form

texts:
If I have a noun of cardinality 1, I am taught that I use the singular form.

E.g. I have 1 Apple

If the value is still 1, but represented as 1.0, do I still use the singular form?

E.g. I have 1.0 Apple

It seems laymen would say I have 1.0 Apples; is this just a trick of the brain but not valid English, or is plural correct even though the value is still 1?


texts: Is "too" not only an adverb, but an adjective as well?

texts:
I invariably see "too" classified as an adverb. But consider the following occurrences of the sentence "I did it too.":

"Did you see what that guy did?" "Yes, I saw him do it. I did it too."
"Did you watch that stunt?" "Yes, I watched it. I did it too."
"Did you do that first thing?" "Yes." "And what about that second thing?" "I did it too."

It seems to me that in these three examples "too" modifies respectively "I", "did", and "it", making it an adjective 2/3 of the time. Why is this not the case?


texts: Can't understand the meaning of "facile" in these example

texts:
I found the meaning of facile is easy, getting something without effort.

http://sentence.yourdictionary.com/facile

I have read those sentences. But can't understand it clearly.

I'm trying to understand where is facile used mostly.

What does it mean by

  facile optimism
      facile response
      facile manner
      facile ground
      facile argument

  Facile optimism which we pointed to throughout much of the 1980s is still there.

I took all these from sentence.yourdictionary.com

Can anyone post some sentences using facile?
It would be helpful for me to understand facile better.
Please don't post sentence with same meaning of facile, rather post sentence with different meaning of facile.


texts:
Which is correct?

  He was pondering about the meaning of life.
  He was pondering the meaning of life.


texts: "a time when you or a relative were/was a patient"

texts:
Is the following sentence correct?

  Don't be afraid to talk about a time when you or a relative were a patient.

Or should it be one of the following:

  Don't be afraid to talk about a time you or a relative was a patient.

  Don't be afraid to talk about a time when you were or a relative was a patient.


texts: 'May I speak to....' vs 'May I speak with...' vs 'May I talk to...'

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  “Speak to” vs. “Speak with”
  What is the difference between “speaking” and “talking”?

What is the ideal opening line for a phone conversation? In my opinion, 'speak to' would ideally denote a one-sided conversation and 'talk to' sounds more aggressive than the other 2. Is there a particular telephone etiquette which clarifies this? What is the difference between 'talk' and 'speak'? Also, does the rank/designation/seniority of the other person affect the use of 'speak' or 'talk'?


texts: Difference between "Registration" and "Enrollment"

texts:
I'm developing a scholar system which I have to support english(and others) language. This system haves an "Enrollment" proccess. I've called it as "Enrollment" after some research because I could not just translate from my native lang(pt-BR) which could give a different meaning to the proccess.

I was asked about the term, so I gathered some resources to prove the term was better than "Course registration" and I found this answer that haves presented me some other terms like:

  application, admission, registration and enrol(l)ment

I would like to have an explanation about those terms to know which one is better in my case.


texts:
Are shit, shat, and shitted all correct and fine to use as the past tense of shit?

After a little bit of searching it seems that they are, with shat being Old English.
Is any form more common in British or American English?

Erik Kowal claims that shit is mostly American English and shat British English.

  [M]ost Americans don't change the verb form for the past tense of certain short verbs ending in -it. So fit, spit, shit, slit and pit are thus formed both in the present and the past tense as far as Americans are concerned, whereas people from Britain would almost always use fitted, spat, shat, slitted and pitted for the past tense.

What about shitted?


texts: How to punctuate a quoted rhetorical interrogative sentence that ends a declarative sentence?

texts:
Below is the sentence I am writing. I am not sure whether I should just end it with an interrogation mark within the quotes, with a period within the quotes, no in-quote punctuation except interrogation mark, or a period outside the quotation marks.

  Those of you without any experience with drug or alcohol addiction are probably reading this scratching your heads thinking, “WTF is this guy talking about, if their problem is not drugs or alcohol how can they be classified as an addict or an alcoholic and why do they consistently abuse drugs or alcohol. How is that not their problem when they can't hold down a job or take their kids to school because they're always under the ...
  ... influence?”.
  ... influence?”
  ... influence”.
  ... influence.”
  ... influence”?

Which alternative should I use?


texts:
Could it be that sometimes the voiced alveolar sibilant [z] at the end of a syllable merges with a following palatal approximant [j] to produce a voiced postalveolar sibilant [ʒ]?
Bob Dylan clearly sings "close your eyes",
whereas The Hollies  seem to say "closureyes".
Is this a dialect thing?


texts: Origin of word "pad" in the mixing/recording industry

texts:
I ask this assuming there are enough people with experience with electric instruments, mixers, and other recording equipment to make this relevant.

On any mixer, one of the first buttons that can be used to modify a signal is the PAD button. To pad something, usually means to augment or supplement the thing. So turning on the PAD button should make the signal stronger (louder), but this is the exact opposite of what actually happens. The PAD button is used to decrease the signal strength by a fixed amount.

My guess is that it comes from the idea of dropping something. You would drop it on a pad to soften the impact. But this is just a guess and I would like to know where it actually comes from.

Websites about live audio and mixers don't usually delve into the origins of the terms they use, so I have found no help there.


texts: Pizzas, unicorns, and cosmos "are my thing" or "are my things"?

texts:
Which one is right?

1. Pizzas, unicorns, and cosmos are my thing.

2. Pizzas, unicorns, and cosmos are my things.

An example from Charlie Gladstone's blog

  February 2018.

  Cabins. These are my thing at the moment. We have been rebuilding
  (completely) an ancient cabin in Scotland ...

shows the use of 'are my thing', which is fairly standard, but what about when there are closely related

(Cabins old and new [... these] are my thing/s

Rivers and canals are my thing/s)

or disparate

(Fast cars and fast women are my thing/s)

compound subjects? Which of these are idiomatic usages?


texts: What is the word for "knowledge of words?"

texts: I remember that there was a word that meant being knowledgeable about many words, but I've forgotten what the word was.


texts: Using "swallow" as synonym for "believe"

texts:
I'm aware you can use swallow like this:

  Your story is pretty hard to swallow, but I am beginning to believe
  it.

Source: http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/hard+to+swallow

But can I use it like this?

  What I told him was that I had gone to look for my friend. I hope he
  swallowed my lie.

(Or maybe I hope he bought it it's a better choice?)


texts: Tendency to discuss issues without subject matter competence

texts:
I'm trying really hard to remember a word I learned recently which denotes one's tendency to discuss matters without subject matter competence, or fraudulently pretending to have it. Basically, to talk out of one's a.. I think the word starts with the letter U but I'm not sure.

Does anyone know of a word that fits this description?


texts: I've been told that a "one-trick pony" is an American saying. What is the British equivalent for it?


texts: Should I place a question mark after "Can you (just) imagine"?

texts: I mean should I always split the sentence into two ("And can you imagine? He escaped through the window!") or I can just get away with one long sentence without a question mark at all (something like "And can you just imagine - he escaped through the window!"). What punctuation would be correct in such cases?


texts: Can an abandoned software project "gather dust"?

texts:
I was reading a blog of someone who is trying to emulate Nintendo Gameboy hard- and software as a hobby project. In the oldest post, in the following sentence:

  I eventually [...] bought myself a flash cardridge [...]  to make a few little test programs which are still gathering dust on an old HDD somewhere.

the author says that old software he wrote is gathering dust on a [Hard Disk Drive].

The meaning of this idiom is that something remains untouched for a certain amount of time, but I'm not sure whether this can be used if it doesn't apply literally, which it always seems to do. You can leave any object sitting unused somewhere and it will gather dust in the physical world.

Computer programs are digital, they have no relation to the physical world, as of such they cannot literally gather dust. Is the quoted sentence linguistically correct? If so, does that mean this idiom can be used for anything non-physical?


texts: "there doesn't seem" vs. "there don't seem"

texts:
As an example, consider the two sentences:

  There don't seem to be any doctors here.

and

  There doesn't seem to be any doctors here.

To my ear, the first sounds great, and the second is painfully awkward.

So which is correct, grammatically? I've found lots of disagreement on this around the Web, with various sources citing different ways of treating the word "any" (as singular, always, or as either depending on to what it refers). No consensus, however, could I locate.


texts:
Thanks for all the answer, guys!
Go which means:

A Japanese board game of territorial possession and capture, played
with usu. black and white stones or counters on a board marked with
intersecting lines.

I am going to be very specific here. This question stemmed from the discussion in the comment section on:
What is the plural of the noun "go" (as in “have a go”)?
Janus said:

As with many, if not most, other mass nouns, go can indeed be
pluralised. Such a pluralisation entails type-shifting, and the plural
form refers to different types of go. It’s the same principle as when
talking about different peoples, monies, or waters, except those are
common, whereas many other count nouns are uncommonly enough
pluralised that they sound strange when you first encounter them

Also,
Chappo said:
@JanusBahsJacquet I agree - uncommon, sounds weird but is perfectly acceptable. "Jovian chess uses different rules: the two chesses should not be confused"
My question here:
How do you determine which mass noun(s) can be pluralized? Which one is 'pluralizable' which one is 'non-pluralizable'?

Is there any difference between American English and British English point of view in this matter?
How do you determine the commonness of the noun so that it is deemed 'acceptable to be pluralized'?

or

is it all subjective view for every and each English speaker? if it is so, this discussion will bear no fruit, I'm afraid (and @mod please close down this thread)
How do you determine the notion of 'something that sounds weird but acceptable' or 'sounds okay but non-acceptable'?

Reference:
https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/grammar/countable-nouns
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/grammar/british-grammar/about-nouns/nouns-countable-and-uncountable
https://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/2011/09/05/agreement-over-collective-nouns/


texts: "All but" idiom or excluding "but" in this context?

texts:
I'm having a bit of trouble with this section of a biology paper:

"LSU was amplified in these species using F63.2 and Mollusc28R2, which amplified all but ~400 bases at the 3' end of the gene."

Does it mean it amplified almost all 400 bases, or every base except for those 400.

Thank you in advance. I don't study Biology though, I'm just translating this article for a friend.


texts: What is the difference between Anti-national and Anti-nationalist? When is one used over the other?

texts:
Merriam-Webster dictionary shows slightly different definitions of both the terms.
However, Urban-dictionary shows the definition of Anti-nationalist similar to anti-national in Merriam-Webster dictionary.
Also, different sites show different meanings.

Can anyone explain the difference between both the terms to a non-native English speaker?

Edit 1: Oxford dictionary has only the meaning of Anti-national. So, is it possible that Anti-national is preferred term in British English?

Edit 2: Check this link to see how Anti-national is used in Indian English media: https://m.economictimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/view-will-the-real-anti-national-damaging-bharat-please-stand-up/amp_articleshow/61515366.cms


texts: Does "uncanny" have a negative connotation to it?

texts: Uncanny seems to be the word I'm looking for to describe something, but I'm worried that it might have a negative connotation to it. Does it? What are some words that are very close to having the same meaning and don't have a negative connotation?


texts:
I was wondering if there is a phrase for everyday (daily) life in literature?

I am from Germany and the only one I know is "Slice of life" but I'm not sure if it's common.

Why I need to know: I'm reading a novel Why we broke up and it's about nothing extraordinary but just a relationship between a boy and a girl - and I described it as "everyday-lifestyle" - but when I showed it to an English native speaker, he didn't know what I meant.


texts: What does it mean when people ask 'Do you have a credit card, at all'?

texts:
There is a fashion in the UK, these days for adding the words 'at all' to the end of almost any inquiry that people make. For example you are likely to be asked by a ticket collector 'Have you got a ticket, at all'? Or when checking in to a hotel 'Will you want a newspaper, at all'? Or when taking your car for MOT ' Do you have the previous certificate with you, at all'?

What does it mean? Either I have the certificate with me, or I don't. There is no gradable alternative. I cannot partly have the certificate, and partly not have it, unless I have torn it in two.

Why do people say 'at all'?  Indeed what is the meaning of 'at all'? Am I right in thinking it might more properly be used when asking someone if they spoke French 'at all'. Since that is a gradable condition. When, how and why did it begin to be used for non-gradable inquiries?

My theory is that it is a means of softening an otherwise brusque request. And what I would like to know is what is such an expression called?


texts: I found two expressions in the English math paper I read, i.e., "some notation" and "some notations". Which one is right? Thanks!


texts: Is "sample preparation" acceptable in section headings of a thesis?

texts:
Every chapter in the result section of my thesis has a section called "Sample preparation". However, in this particular section, two or more kinds of samples are discussed.

Is the section name still technically valid or is there a usage like "samples preparation"?


texts: Trying to Find one word for a phrase "Improving without realising"

texts:
I'm writing an email to colleagues explain progress over a project, and I'm breaking it down into small phases that we went through. For one of the phases I'm trying to find a word that best describes "Improving without realising/noticing". As a team of work has been going on and we just never noticed how far we've come. Need help finding a word for that.
TIA.


texts:
More specifically, can someone analyze grammar of and recommend which of the following is correct:

  One WTF less

vs.

  One WTF fewer

If it matters, the intention was to imply that if one instance or class of user's incredulity over unexpected system behaviour is removed, then I have done my job.


texts:
I am looking for a particular word in English language. What do you call a paper which acknowledges something?

For example, at university when you ask for a list of passed exams (be it a analog or digital), you get a signed document. What is the name of such type of document?

I found the word “approbation” but I am uncertain about validity for this case.


texts: Specifying Pronouns as He/Him;She/Her;They/Them

texts:
It is becoming more common for people to explicitly state the pronouns to be used in addressing themselves: he/him, she/her, or they/them. For example, a name tag for a conference might read:

Cory Lopez
Some Company
She/Her

Usage seems to have settled on the singular they and them as gender neutral pronouns. Alternatives that were once widespread in niche communities, such as sie/hir, seem to have died out.

Whether or not one agrees with this language  shift, the pairing between subject and object case is fixed.  It's difficult to imagine someone who uses "he" as his subject case using anything but "him" as object case, and it's even harder to imagine that such a person would succeed in getting people to use a non-obvious collection of personal pronouns. (And you may see what I did -- flat out assumed that "he" and "his" automatically go together.)

What are the roots of the practice of presenting subject and object case pronouns as opposed to just subject case, subject and possessive, or some other combination?

(Note: I am not interested in a discussion of the gender politics and cultural shifts involved, just the mechanics of how the current representation was chosen.)


texts:
What is the meaning of into in the following sentence:

"Residents of southern Japan and South Korea are being put on alert for strengthening Typhoon Soulik to pose serious threats to lives and property Tuesday into Thursday."


texts: Proper use of "old brother" and "young brother" compared to "older brother" and "younger brother"

texts:
For my entire life, I have been using "older brother" and "younger brother" whenever I write a story in English.  I know that "older brother" and "younger brother" are applied to blood-related persons. But what about "old brother" and "young brother"?

I recently read some translated Chinese web-novels that use "old brother" and "young brother" to refer to non-blood related persons. So I started wondering, could "old brother" and "young brother" also be applied to blood-related persons in actual English? For example, instead of using "My older brother and I always go out on a walk in the morning", can we use "My old brother and I always go out on a walk in the morning"?

I read a forum post that *said we use "my old brother" when we refer to our only brother (who is older than ourselves): http://forum.thefreedictionary.com/postst86814_my-younger-brother.aspx
(< scroll down to post by Romany.)

  Once upon a time...when Drago and I were educated, there was a "rule"
  which only allowed one interpretation: "Younger" indicated that there
  were TWO brothers (One is young, the other is younger). "Youngest"
  gave no indication of how many brothers one had. And if one only had
  one brother, and he was younger than the speaker then one said "My
  young brother" - no superlative used.

  Like many of the rules which were falsely attached to English, this
  one is no longer applicable except in academic writing. But it did
  help to clarify the situation, so I still use it - mainly because it
  clarifies things in my own head.

In that case, wouldn't using "my old brother" when describing blood related person(s) be correct, or at least acceptable?

If yes, in that context, does "my old brother" mean that my brother is very old (as in 50+), or is it just the same as "my older brother" (can be any age)? Is there a historical precedent of using such terms during a certain era? Or, do we only use them when we consider the cultural differences? Or, can we also use them in the literary writing? Or, how about in the day-to-day conversations as well?

Lastly, in what other situations can we use "old brother"?

= the original forum post by Romany used "young brother" instead of "old brother"


texts:
When I google "drop litter", only results from British websites appear.
What is/are typical phrases used in America against littering?
Is it simply "do not litter" or is the verb "drop" also used?


texts: Participial construction. Can I say like that?

texts:
I want to ask about the participial construction. Please check and comment on these 2 sentences.
-Being unable to remember that word, I often feel frustrated.
-Unable to remember that word, I often feel frustrated.


texts: "At peak" without implying it'll never improve again?

texts:
If something is currently at it's highest state ever achieved (so the right-most point on a graph would be the highest point) I have a tendency to want to say that it's "at its peak", but as far as I know, "peak" actually implies something like the maximum point that it not only has, but will ever achieve. It's not really a "peak" until it stops increasing and starts decreasing, and it's only "the peak" if it will never again make it that high.

What then is a more correct way of saying "as high as it's ever been, and still going"? Or have I got "peak" wrong above?


texts:
Which sentence is the correct one?

He parked his BMW directly before the diner.

or

He parked his BMW directly in front of the diner.


texts: Word or idiom for a small group of birds

texts:
Looking up online, I realized there are quite a few different words for groups of birds. For pigeons, a group would be a flock or a flight, while for falcons you would have a cast of falcons.

But, what about nouns that give some information on the number of birds? Is there, for instance, a word signifying a small group of pigeons? Or just a small group of birds.


texts: "being edited" or "in process of editing" or "in edit" in one word

texts: I am not originally English speaking. How can I tell that something 'is being edited right now' with just one word? Thank you.


texts: Can "where" ever be used as the subject of a relative/adjective clause?

texts:
Here's the sentence that was confusing:

He went back to Santa Monica which was his hometown.

Why can't "which" be replaced with "where"?

"Where" can be used as a relative pronoun, but it's doesn't work here, despite Santa Monica being the noun described by the relative/adjective  clause. Why is this?

My theory is that this is because "where" cannot be the subject of the relative clause, that it can only the object, as in the case of:

He went back to Santa Monica where he was born.


texts:
Is the word plop in this example a sentence of its own?

  Plop! The ripe, juicy fig fell smack into the umbrella.


texts: Word for "repeat giver" or "repeat giving"?

texts:
My clergyman asked me whether there exists a single word for a person or thing "that keeps on giving," that is, gives over and over again.  I couldn't come up with such a word, but I volunteered the spontaneous coinages, "palindoric" or "palindotic" (for the adjectives, obviously).  Can anyone suggest a better word or coinage? Thank you.

POSTSCRIPTUM:  I should probably clarify a bit more:  he wanted the word to be value-neutral, one that could cover equally sinning and blessing, for example, or a long-deceased beloved grandparent and an abusive ex-spouse.  The idea behind this, I suppose, is that some events and persons in our lives can be reverberative either positively or negatively:  they continue to 'give' to us in some sense regardless of whether we want to accept.


texts: Résumé as summary vs document describing work experience

texts:
Because "résumé" or "resume" as a noun is a false cognate with the French equivalent, I tend to avoid using "résumé" to mean "summary", and only reserve it to mean "that document people bring to interviews."

Is the use of "résumé" to mean either "summary" or "document describing work experience" localized to certain areas of the world? Is it more British English, American English, Canadian English, other, or is is used widely (in all English around the world)?


texts: 'I'm in favour of ___' vs. 'I'm for ___'

texts: Is 'I'm in favour of' considered more formal than 'I'm for', or are they interchangeable? I want to say something like, 'Sometimes people abandon their logic /in favour of/ false hope', but can't help but feel that using 'for' would make the sentence more succinct.


texts: What is the correct phrase to use when you call the police multiple times for less than urgent matters? Misuse of resources???


texts: Deciphering two words from their Archaic spellings

texts:
I am translating the 1509, first English Translation of Sebastian Brant's The Shyp of foyls (The Ship of Fools), and came across two words which, for the life of me, I could not construe or make legible.
The following are the two words, as they are spelled, in excruciatingly archaic fashion, in the text:
putueaunce
vtylyte  I think I am willing to accept "utility" as the answer for this one--Thank you!
I think the second word (vtylyte) may be vitality, but after consulting my handy-dandy etymology dictionary, I discovered, much to my dismay, the word vitality is from the 1590s, although the word vital in its "essential to life" connotation dates back to the late 15th century.
I also thought the first word (putueaunce) might be petulance, but then again, the word's etymolgoy origin traces it back to at earliest the 1550s, "from French pétulance (early 16c.)" So no luck there.
Any help on cracking down these two archaic words would be lovely. I have attached scans of the two words as they appear directly from the 1509 text.

My translation:

These fools of their minds are so blind,
That naught they save to their own vitality,
On wise provision they set no thing their mind.

My translation:

I count him wise that thus doth set his brain,
And in the summer can make such (putueaunce?)
Whereby all his may have their sustenance.


texts: The correct expression of the person who expanded his horizon

texts:
I would like to express the person who expanded his horizon.
What should I express him?
I came up with two ideas: he has broad horizons, he can see the big picture.

Which is a correct expression?
Or both of them are wrong?
Please tell me.


texts: Meaning of "the are" and "form" in preface of Mortimer Adler's book

texts:
In the preface of Mortimer Adler's How to read a book, he said:

  The are of reading analytically, interpretively, and critically is indispensable only for the kind of reading by which the mind passes form a state of understanding less to a state of understanding more...

I'm wondering if it's just a typo or The are and form actually make sense.


texts: I am looking for a word in English that means something specific about the immediate present

texts:
I'm doing research on manufacturing systems and throughout my papers I need to refer to events as they approach a line t=0 which is, to within a differential slice of time, the exact present between future and past, the dissecting line. Such a word would have quantum physicists turn in their graves due to relativity I know, but I think what it means is clear enough for English.

I've read that origo may mean what I want. It seems strange that such a word doesn't exist, and I've searched for weeks. I know the word 'now' sort of means that but it's ambiguous and still represents a spacious present.

Some members suggest I add the following to the question:

My current definition of the word as it is in the paper:

  A concept that will be used to discuss aspects of this paper needs to
  be defined. There exists a bisecting line between future and past, the
  immediate present line. This line has no width and, not considering
  the effects of relativity, is the instant in time in which all matter,
  process states, and information exists in the instant between “about
  to” and “was just”. The problem with the word “now”, apart from it
  being an adverb and not a noun, is that it still represents a spacious
  present and not the rigorous bisector between future and past. This
  bisector will be called the origo, from the pragmatic sense of the
  word. Origo means the point of departure of a perspective on a
  subject. Since anything in existence always has the time-based point
  of departure from the immediate present into the future or into the
  past, the origo is the universally experienced immediate
  present when the subject of time is considered

A sentence in the paper where I use it:

  Looking at humans and other organic systems and how this problem of
  flexible activity execution is performed, it’s noticed that the
  execution plan only crystallises around the origo, where actions
  further ahead of the origo remain less defined and ambiguous.

Another Sample

  An activity can be broken into a series of actions which themselves
  can be broken into smaller sub-actions which leads to a philosophical
  problem like Zeno’s paradox where this sub-dividing defines actions
  down to the movement of individual molecules. Since engineering is
  about practical problem solving and not about the conundrums of
  philosophy, some decision needs to be made about where the
  cut-off point should be. The addition of the spacious present (stage 2)
  Execution Phase as part of an activity life cycle solves this problem.
  While individual actions can sequentially cross the origo to the past, an
  entire activity is not completed until its final action is.

The value of the paper is not dependent on using the correct word, but it bugs me that either I'm missing something huge, or the word doesn't exist.

Thanks for the help so far guys.


texts: In American English revision is used in the sense of redaction, but in British English it’s used in the sense of studying for exams. So what do British English speakers say when they want to talk about “revisionist history” or “revised the terms of the agreement” or “revised his answer”?


texts: Look into vs Look at in the sentence below

texts:
Is the sentence

  I hope he will take a look at it?

correct? "It" refers to a problem at work. Is using take a look at a good substitute for look into?


texts: What is a formal word meaning “paid off”?

texts:
I can not think of any way to say paid off in a formal way.

  Susan’s speech and struggle during those rough times has _______.


texts:
I have noticed that BBC will frequently not use closing quotes when quoting long paragraphs of text, as an example it occurs twice in this article: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-30816255

Here:

  "One application we are working on is indoor navigation which means we
  have sensors within the shoe that measure the acceleration of the
  foot, the angular velocity - whether you're turning the foot or not -
  and the magnetic field.

and here:

  "Generated power scales with size, but if you want to be able to
  reasonably integrate such a device within a shoe sole, you have to
  work with strict constraints, like a small height and limited length
  of the device.

Is this correct? This is not just an editor's oversight, they do it frequently.  Why do they omit the closing quote, is it because the end of the paragraph implies the end of the quote?


texts:
In my country, we sometimes call working arrangements where one company "leases" individual employees to another "body leasing".

"Body" and "to lease" are obviously English words of good standing, but is the term itself used outside of Germany?  When I google it, I get mostly German results (and the English ones might be from Germans writing in English).


texts: "Hello, welcome in" as opposed to "Welcome"

texts:
In the past year, I have noticed an interesting trend with some of the stores that I have shopped at with my fiance; when you first walk into the store, an employee will be at the door greeting customers and saying, "Hi, welcome in!" I have never heard this expression until this past year or two. Generally, I hear it in brand-name stores like Kendra Scott, Kate Spade, and Coach. I find myself wondering if this is proper grammar, and the etymology of this phrase as opposed to the traditional, "Welcome." Is the "in" added to provide direction or additional meaning along with the phrase? So far the only discussion I've seen that might provide a little insight is here, way back in 2007:

https://forum.wordreference.com/threads/welcome-to-welcome-in.596905/

So is it proper, and where does it come from?


texts: MLA quoting part of a sentence as a sentence

texts:
Let's say there is a sentence that I want to quote.

eg. While John read a book, he fell off a cliff, and ate an apple.

If I want to quote "he fell off a cliff, and ate an apple" as a sentence it self, how would I do that.

Some sentence here. "...He fell off a cliff, and ate an apple." Another sentence.

OR

Some sentence here. "He fell off a cliff, and ate an apple." Another sentence.

Which is correct, if any?


texts:
The White House framed the announcement from the world’s two largest polluters as a move to position the countries as leaders in the fight against climate change ahead of a landmark U.N. conference to address the issue this fall.

I am confused with distinguishing which institution would addrees the issue this fall, The White House or a U.N. conference?.
But I had received answers to indicate that U.N. conference would address the issue this fall.

So, I have assumptions for you to advise about.

Assumptions

  A reason of saying that "to address the issue this fall" qualified a
  UN conference is because "to address the issue this fall" is not to be
  a purpose of "as a move to position the countries in the fight against
  climate change".

But I guessed that if there are no phrase "as a move to position the countries as leaders in the fight against climate change", "to address the issue this fall" could to be a purpose of "The White House framed the announcement from the world’s two largest polluters".

So, in this sentence below, The White House would address the issue this fall.

  -The White House framed the announcement from the world’s two largest polluters ahead of a landmark U.N. conference to address the issue
  this fall.

And as a result, to distinguish a use of infinitive, I have to compare infinitive with a sentence, whether it is meaningful or not. If it is not meaningful , I have to consider infinitive as a another using that qualified noun or adjective...

Is it proper way to distinguish the infinitive using?
Would you give some tips for this?


texts: Proving that "at" is a preposition in "he laughed at me"

texts:
He arrived at 10 p.m.

At in this sentence is clearly a preposition because it can be replaced with another preposition.

  He laughed at me.

How can we prove that at in the above sentence is a preposition?


texts:
Affirm
Cajole
Insist
Pronounce
Shout

What's your opinion?


texts:
I am looking for a derogatory term that can be used to describe a novice soldier/conscript who is awful at army-stuff. Something like cannon fodder but it should stress the incompetence of the described person, but it can't be a vulgarism.

It is meant to be a unit name for a game set in a fantasy-medieval setting.


texts: Where does the phrase "fall into two camps" come from?

texts: "People fall into two camps" is a common phrase used to describe two groups of people with opposing or different views. Where does it come from?


texts: Is it right to say "I don't live here naturally?

texts:
Can someone confirm or correct my grammar?

Someone was asking me where I live. But my current address isn't my permanent one. So I answered:

  "I don't live here naturally."

Was that correct? Or is there a more normal way to express this idea in English?


texts: "That's just part of it" vs "that's just a part of it"

texts:
Which version is more correct/common?

Example:

  Speaker A: Why did you leave the party? Because some guys made fun of
  you?

  Speaker B: Just (a) part of it.

  Speaker A: What's the other?


texts: I have exercise to create sentences in Present Continuous but in one of them is. " The sales is starting on Monday". My question is about time used here, in my opinion this will happens only in future " On Monday" But the tense is Present so i'm little lost. What is different(in the meaning on structure)  between this and  Future Continuous like " The sales will be starting in Monday"


texts: A "Frankenstein's monster" similar metaphors

texts:
Although originally it's a novel character, a "Frankenstein's monster" became a metaphor for "something that cannot be controlled and that attacks or destroys the person who invented it."
However, are there similar "ruined by own creation" metaphors or poetic expressions in British English?


texts:
If I have an article of text, figures and tables, is there one word I can use to name a paragraph(s) of text, a figure or table with its caption?

thisword in an article could be text, figure, or table. An article may have multiple thisword.

thisword is intended for an internal use within an IT project. In IT, words component and unit are already used in architecture and testing, so I would prefer to avoid these words if possible, while element may be too generic and overused.

Thesaurus suggests a number of alternatives http://www.thesaurus.com/browse/component?s=t

My current choice is segment, though I'm not sure if this word would not be slightly misleading for native English speakers.


texts: Word order in sentence 'Make sure that' with a location

texts:
I have a question concerning the word order in the following sentence:

Make sure that on the electrical panel all circuit breakers are closed.
On the electrical panel, make sure that all circuit breakers are closed.

For me (non-native speaker) both sentences seem to be perfectly fine. However, someone insisted that the location would have to come first.

Is there a rule with expression like 'Make sure that'?

Thank you! Haike


texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  When is it correct to use “yourself” and “myself” (versus “you” and “me”)?

According to Google Ngram, "I am myself" is more common that "I am I", but which is correct?

Also, the verb "to be" is intransitive. That means a subject must follow the verb. So does this mean "I am I" is more grammatical?


texts: Expressions or phrasal verbs for very boring

texts:
In AE, how could I say something is very boring?
I know teenagers would say "it sucks" but is there anything else, phrasal verbs or expressions?

If it's something local, I would also ask you to say in what part of the country people say it.
Thanks.


texts:
I just read an article about aided suicide on Toronto Star which mentioned B.C. supreme court and Canada's highest court.

Do supreme court and highest court mean the same thing? The different modifiers (B.C. and Canada) preceding them just add to  the difficulty of distinguishing them. If so, why didn't the author keep it consistent by using the same term?


texts: Do you really answer "How do you do?" with "How do you do?"

texts:
We're told in our English classes (learning English as a foreign language) that the only possible answer to

  How do you do?

is to repeat the question:

  How do you do?

(While it's perfectly OK to answer other similar questions

  How are you? / How are you doing?
  Fine, thanks / etc

)

That said, then I talk to English speakers with Skype or in chats, I tried to ask the question, but the answer was never "how do you do?". It was rather "fine. you?" or something.

What is right and what is a myth?


texts: Is there a term for an anniversary that falls on the same day of the week as its original date?

texts:
An anniversary refers to the yearly recurrence of a date of an event. However, being an incredibly sentimental person who also takes notice of all sorts of minor details, I find myself placing significance in anniversaries that happen on the same day of the week.

For example, if an event occurred on Tuesday, June 10, 2008, today will be the sixth anniversary of said event. However, today also happens to be the first anniversary that falls on the same day of the week, i.e., Tuesday, June 10, 2014.

Is there a term that I can use for this, similar to the word "anniversary", or will I have to describe its significance?1

1 I'll probably have to either way, if the term turns out to be a really obscure one.


texts: Not fully pronounced oʊ (ō) sound in some words

texts:
Words like so, no, vocabulary, and don’t all contain the long o sound inside them. But I regularly hear native English speakers pronouncing the [oʊ] sound in these words (and some others containing this same vowel sound) as if it were “cut in half.” They seem to pronounce only “half of the vowel.” So, to me, most of the time the long o sounds more like [o] or maybe [ə] in the words I’ve mentioned above.

Is this an example of vowel reduction, or is it just my impression?


texts: Meaning of "recognise" in : We also recognise the need to learn about business concepts

texts:
In my exam, I came across the following sentence:

As business English teachers, we know how important it is to learn the key business language.....
We also recognise the need to learn about business concepts, developments in business and how business works in different cultures.

Does "recognise" mean here:

We know? In form of experience...(Working with it some years)
We understand? In form of discern, realise (recognising)

The definitions given in the Cambridge English Dictionary:

  recognize verb (UK usually recognise) ...

  (KNOW)  B1 [ T ] to know someone or something because you have seen
  or heard him or her or experienced it before:

  ... Doctors are trained to recognize the symptoms of different diseases.

  (ACCEPT)  B2 [ T ] to
  accept that something is legal, true, or important:

  The international community has refused to recognize (= officially accept the existence of) the newly independent nation state.

  [ + (that) ] He sadly recognized (that) he would die childless.

  You must recognize the seriousness of the problems we are facing.

  [ENDORSE; VOICE APPROVAL] C1 [ T often passive ] If a person's
  achievements are recognized, official approval is shown for them:

  The Queen recognized his services to his country by awarding him an MBE.


texts:
I am getting difficulty in deducing the meaning of idiom tracked up in the given diction below, ( paragraph below is taken from the NYTimes editorials ) :

...the Boston Global to do more than enumerate the scope of the scandal by reporting on cases involving scores of abusive priests. The scandal was tracked up the church hierarchy to Cardinal Bernard Law, who eventually had to resign his leadership when the news media, not the church, documented his role as a protector of abusive priests...

Kindly help me in understanding the meaning of the sentence in bold letters above and the meaning of "tracked something up" idiom metamorphically.

From this link -> http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/track+up
All I understood is, It means spoiling something (maybe a surface) by your dirty feetsHow can apply this meaning to above paragraph?


texts: The difference between "talk to" or "talk with "

texts:
Could please help me to figure out the difference between talk to or talk with someone?
Thanks a lot for help))


texts: What article do we need for a noun that is named by a letter?

texts:
When using a single letter as a noun for the first time, do we need to use an article before it? if so, what article should be used?

Example:

  Suppose that [a/the] belief p is formed based on sufficient evidence.

If by naming it we somehow turn it into a proper name, we shouldn't use any article for it. If by naming it we make it definite, then we should use "the". Otherwise, we should use "a" for it. So which one is it?


texts: Correct preposition use: regional comparisons in/of health care utilisation

texts:
Which would be correct preposition use:

regional comparisons in health care utilisation

regional comparisons of health care utilisation


texts:
If I get revenge on someone, it means payback, but with negative connotations.
Now let's say someone does a good deed for me, and I repay their kindness in some way. Is there a noun along the lines of, "I have got revenge on them, but good for good"?


texts:
As part of a lengthy description of its Ideal Customer, a remodeling company says this:

  Our ideal customers are belongers and emulators - they entertain and love to have family around. A big draw for remodeling is to create space to entertain and host large family gatherings. They are very community-oriented and tend to participate heavily in school, religious, civic and nonprofit organizations.

So, who are belongers and emulators?

I couldn't find a suitable definition for either term on the Internet. Is an emulator someone who looks at something and then wants to have a similar thing? And is a belonger someone who belongs to a certain group?


texts:
This well-known grammar trick to sound more formal with "were" "had" and "should" in conditional sentences.

Is it possible to use it with "could" (and even "might")?

"If I could do it, it would be..."

"Could I do it, it would be..."

Or does another construction have to be used? For instance :

"If I were able to do it, it would be..."

"Were I able to do it, it would be..."

Using "be able to" instead of "can/could" seems strange in this context to me. But I may be wrong.

Thank you in advance


texts: Words to help describe when you are using spaces and line breaks in text?

texts:
If you look at the difference between something like quick brown fox and quickbrownfox, you might reasonably describe the first as being "spaced".  While the second is, perhaps "unspaced" or "spaceless" ... doesn't sound too unreasonable... not great.  You might think that had to do with spacing between the characters instead of the words (so more like "kerning").

But if you look at the difference between:

the
lazy
dog

...and the lazy dog, then is there a word for distinguishing the first case?  "newlined"?  "linebreaked"?  "linebroken"?

Web programmers might say the second case comes from a distinction between the words being in "block-level elements" vs. "non block-level elements".  So the first case would be "
ved" and the second "ned" (?).  Maybe they'd get it, but I doubt most people would know what that meant.

The fallback here is compounds like words-separated-by-spaces vs words-without-spacing vs words-separated-by-newlines.  I'm just fishing for some possible terminology that could do it in fewer words, if it exists (from typography, or elsewhere?)


texts:
Let me explain the situation. Today is Oct 31, 2012. After I got my October pay-slip yesterday I had the following conversation:

  Me: Hey guy, I have a question to ask you about the pay-slip of the last month. I think the number is incorrect.
  X: It is $10, is it correct?
  Me: No, I mean last month (I mean September) not this month.
  X: Last month? Okay.

I want to know, did I use "last month" correctly in this case? I used "last month" because this month is not passed yet, so I used it to refer to the month before this month. And if it is incorrect, what word should I use.


texts: What expression do you have in English as a counterpart to Japanese saying “Earthquake, Thunderbolt, Fire and Father"?

texts:
As you know, we Japanese experienced tremendous disasters of Magnitude 9
earthquake accompanied by tsunami exceeding 10 meter high in northeastern regions recently.

Living in the country always under the threat of big earthquakes, we have two popular saying that come to top of mind when we talk of disaster. One is “The great (natural ) disaster comes always when you have totally forgotten it.’ The other one is (the most fearful things under the sun are) “Earthquake, Thunderbolt, Fire and Father.” – Please note that the earthquake comes first.

Do you have popular saying or English cliché to be likened to such expressions?
I'd like to teach them to my English enthusiast friends.


texts:
From time to time I see sentences like:

  Dr. Berard of France, Michael Davis doctor of Manchester
  ...

I am not sure about the exact meaning.
Is the person currently living and working there?
In what case should I use the "person of place" like sentences?


texts: Does "underappreciated" have a "woe is me" connotation?

texts: I'm editing a grant and I just came across the word 'underappreciated'. It's being used in the context of saying 'The thing that we are proposing to study is underappreciated.' Whenever I hear or see the word 'underappreciated' I always think of poor, depressed Eeyore from Winnie the Pooh or Baby sitting in the corner at the end of Dirty Dancing... Is that just me? Could it ever be a synonym for 'not well studied'?


texts: 'Devon Police is' or 'Devon Police are'—should 'police' be treated as singular or plural?

texts:
Which of the following is correct?

  Devon Police is recording incidents

or

  Devon Police are recording incidents


texts: I read in Mark Forsyth's Etymologicon that Milton coined loads of words. That was great, until the list got to "cooking". I find it incredible that nobody stuck "ing" on the end of "cook" before Paradise Lost. The online etymology dictionary didn't have anything useful to say on the subject. Does anyone have a good source explaining the origin of this word, or the sense in which Milton coined it?


texts: Why do I never hear people say “I get to go now”?

texts:
This word got has been confusing me for a long time. Is it against the rules of English grammar, because got is the past tense of get? Why do I never hear people say it this way:

  I get to go now.


texts:
I'm not sure if these sample sentences below are grammatically incorrect, but they sound very odd to me.

I couldn't see the man even though actually he was there.
He still got hit even though quickly he jumped.
I often see cats even though actually only dogs are allowed here.

Are these sentences grammatically correct? Is there a particular grammar rule for using even though?
Normally I would hear those sentences phrased like this:

I couldn't see the man even though he was actually there.
He still got hit even though he jumped quickly.
I often see more cats even though only dogs are actually allowed
here.


texts:
I was doing a grammar exercise the other day and was confused by the key to this question.
He’s working hard for fear that he _____.

should fall behind
fell behind
may fall behind
would fallen behind

The answer given is that A is correct. But I think C is much better.
What is/are the correct answers here?


texts:
what's the meaning of"to be a best approximate"?

e.g.
 the coincidence of state and nation is a best approximate, and nowhere more approximate than at their edges, where the offi cial presumption is quite the opposite—one of sharp distinctions with neighboring nations and states.


texts: What is the correct term in sports for "get to the next round"?

texts:
What is the correct way to say that a team got to the next round? For example,

  "Team A won the quarter finals and got (the correct verb here) to semi-final"


texts: Which is correct: 'Well I never' (without a comma) or 'Well, I never"? Dictionaries seem to differ on the subject. Maybe both are accepted?


texts: Are the verbs that are conjugated to end in "-n" in the past participle related?

texts:
There are many words that in English are conjugated in the past participle to end in "-n": grow goes to grown, sew goes to sewn, throw goes to thrown, etc..   I'm guessing it was probably the regular ending in English in some long-past time.   But as every growing child knows, the more common form has become conjugating the past tense to end in "-ed": jog goes to jogged, flog goes to flogged, clog goes to clogged, and so on.  Even completely foreign words are usually regularized in English to have their past tense end in "-ed"; abet goes to abetted, blink goes to blinked.

I was wondering two things: Did all the words that are conjugated to end in "-n" in the past tense come from a shared language family, or was it a "regularization" procedure as well back when it was more common?  Did something precipitate the change from "-n" to "-ed", like a conquest, or some other notable historical event?


texts: I was interested in finding out when the term child minder was first used.


texts: Word formation with the nominal suffix -tion: when and why do we insert an "a"?

texts:
Recently, a colleague became flustered when she used orientate instead of orient. She says she frequently makes this sort of "back formation error" because of the nominal form, which is orientation. This has gotten me thinking about how nominal forms are created.

Certainly, it is unambiguous for words that end in -ate or -ite (I think):

  hibernate becomes hibernation
  ignite becomes ignition

And some words, you need the "a" to pronounce the word easily:

  cancel becomes cancellation
  affirm becomes affirmation

But what about other words? Is there a difference in meaning between the suffixes -ation and -tion? Is there a rule about when to insert an a, and when to leave it out?

  prevent becomes prevention
  inspect becomes inspection
  prohibit becomes prohibition
  but
  indent becomes indentation  (not *indention)
  cohabit becomes cohabitation  (not *cohabition)
  orient becomes orientation  (not *oriention)

Do words that have the -ation suffix have an archaic -ate form? Are they related somehow?

NB: I know that orientate is considered a "real" word, but its use is considered uneducated by the hoity-toity academics with whom I work.


texts: Would it be correct to say: The first few years of a child's life play a key role in their development

texts:
The first few years of a child's life play a key role in their development.

or should it be

The first few years of children's lives play a key role in their development.


texts:
I am a new member on this site. So please guide me somewhere else if I post anything incorrect.

I have been working on these two sentence corrections that ask about Present Perfect, Past Perfect and the Simple Past. They have been a little confusing.

  During the 1950s, the Detroit area emerges as a metropolitan region with the construction of an extensive freeway system that had expanded in ensuing decades.

For the one above, I said had expanded should be changed to has expanded since this is continuing to happen (ensuing decades).

However the answer is supposed to be expanded.

  In a discovery at least fifty yeas in the making, a new and bizarre dinosaur species has been identified in a slab of rock collected by scientists working in South Africa in the 1960s.

The answer I put for this one is was since this happened in the past.

However the book says that it is fine as it is.

  Although the ancient Egyptians abandoned Demotic more than 1,500 years ago, taking up Coptic and eventually Arabic, the language lived on in words like "adobe," which entered Spanish before passing into English.

For the one above I said has lived should be the accurate answer since the language is still living on in English...

However the answer is to leave it as it is.

I would appreciate if you guys could provide a different perspective into this.


texts: "A [...] of riches" — what word is missing?

texts: There is a phrase that goes "a X of riches" which suggests that one had so much to choose from, lots of good choices. What is the missing word?


texts:
You don't have to call me again to confirm about our meeting - just
  this one e-mail from you and my reply to it is well enough.

Should it be "is" or "are" in this case?


texts:
There are many questions here unsure about the difference between user's/users'/users guide and the like, whether that's called posessive, genitive or whatever. bridesmaid for example clearly does describe only one bride, and possibly no plurality or other inflection of brides.

Coming from German, I'm rather sure that -s was originally not plural and I've gone around leaving a few comments to that effect.

Now the pertinent question is, did the genitive, e.g. Smith's, lead to the plural reading?

Disclaimer: I did not take the pain of picking up books on the reconstructed Proto-Germanic grammar. For the purpose of this venue, it might still be worthwhile to have a link for reference.

PS: The first linked question does not show a satisfying answer. Duplicating the question would be ill-advised, and contributing to the former would be a possibility. But the answer implies that the plural -s was directly inherited. I think it's downright wrong and I would expect references to back-up the claim.


texts: What is the word / phrase used to described a product that is distributed with different brand labels?

texts:
It is common for a single generic product to be produced in a factory, whereby the manufacturer then sells that product to whatever company/brand wants to put their label on it. The result is several different "clones" of that product, each with different brand labels.

What is the word used to describe these "clones"? Note that I'm not looking for the word "clone" because that implies an original was copied, and bears a similar connotation to "knock-off".

Example usage would be in the context of a heading on a website or user interface:

"Clones"

Brand 1
Brand 2
Brand 3
Brand 4
etc...

Whereby the implication of this list is to enumerate identical alternatives/options to a given product from other brands.


texts:
I suffer from over reading.  Have I again?  I was looking for a new contract when I
arrived at Octapace Consulting. Here is a quote that anchors that page.  It reads:

“When you compete with a person, you only have to be as good or better than the person to win. If you compete with yourself, there is no limitation to how good you can be.”

Shouldn't it read (note limit edit only):

“When you compete with a person, you only have to be as good as that person to win. If you compete with yourself, there is no limit to how good you can be."

The question.  Limitation v/s limit.  Shouldn't there be no "limit" to what can be achieved?  They use "limitation" which isn't quite the same thing.

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

Two asides for comments.  Please ignore them.  Does "a person" advance to "the person", or should it be "that person"?   Or does it even matter.

If indeed you can win being as "good as" then it's not necessary for "or better".  In fact, I'd say, it kind of subverts the message.  This may be more of style question.  What do you think?

Please limit minus counts to 3 - I only have 150 points left.

Thanks.


texts: I have some doubts whether the word "usurp" is still used in the modern language. The doubts are based on reading newspapers and magazines. It looks like expression like "to seize" or "to hold" are used more often in this meaning. So I am interested whether this word is used. Maybe I just didn't came across it somehow.