texts: "Give" and other ditransitive verbs in questions

texts:
When we use "give" (and many other ditransitive verbs) in a sentence, we can say either say "Keiko gave her flowers" (noun object) or "Keiko gave flowers to her" (prepositional object). That implies that we should be able to either of these questions: "Who did Keiko give flowers?"and "Who did Keiko give flowers to?" However, speaking purely based on my intuition, having grown up in the US (midwest + california dialects), the first question sounds very strange and potentially confusing.

So, is the question without "to" actually "wrong" (I mean, is there a commonly accepted grammar rule forbidding it), is it just less common, or is my intuition off?


texts: Difference between "have been practicing" and "have practiced"?

texts:
I have been practicing the piano for 2 years.
  I have practiced the piano for 2 years.

Could you tell me the difference between them?


texts: Is there a proverb that describes a self-important person of low standing?

texts: For example, when someone thinks they rule the roost in a company, but in reality they don't have an important position.


texts:
Are these two sentences examples of the correct use of "viz."?

This book is dedicated to my family, viz. my parents and two sisters.

The purpose of this book is twofold, viz. 1) to show that [...]; and 2) to demonstrate that [...].

Is this technically correct? Even if it is, do you think native English speakers would find it weird or inappropriate?


texts: Why is the past tense of "may", "might"?

texts:
Why is the past tense of may, might?
When you see other past forms of auxiliary verbs, they usually have -ould, like should, could, and would. Unlike other forms, the past tense of may is might not mought.


texts:
I'm wondering if 'pledge' could be or is somewhere in the nowadays English world pronounced as 'plidʒ'.

As I found (though seems not to be very reliable as it is only one source) pledge had the synonym pleedge but seems to be gone.

Though, WordReference only proposes two main pronunciations.

Thank you for your help.


texts: What is an alternative word for 'over-lit area'?

texts:
What is an alternative word to tell about 'over lit area'?

I am using it in this example:

  The light from my lamp has over-lit my table.


texts: Is there a word meaning "well-intentioned but harmful"

texts:
For instance, say someone is building a house.  Someone else makes a well-intentioned suggestion that would have been obviously bad to a person with experience building houses.  Ultimately, that suggestion results in disastrous consequences.
Or say that someone is sick, and someone with no medical training or experience suggests a recourse that leads to the person getting sicker, especially when it is known to the medical community that the recourse would be harmful.
Is there a word to describe that kind of ignorant advice from someone outside their knowledge/expertise?  Or to describe the person giving that kind of advice?
"Their friend's suggestion was ____" or "Their friend's ____ suggestion" or even "Their ____ friend's suggestion"


texts: "He will come back in two hours" vs. "He will come back after two hours"

texts:
He will come back in two hours.

vs.

  He will come back after two hours.

What's the subtle diff?


texts:
She shies away from new things.

Or

  She shyes away from new things.

Which is better? What is this called? It isn't a present participle because it doesn't end in -ing.


texts: "I'm always (being) asked silly questions!" Doesn't the continuous verb form sound a bit awkward compared to the simple one?

texts:
In order to emphasise the annoying aspect of a habit – be it someone else's or one's own – a continuous tense instead of a simple one is used:

    People are always asking me silly questions!

    I am always making the same mistakes!

I am angry with those people or with myself, with the subject of the verb. IN THE PASSIVE, the first sentence should become:

    I am always being asked silly questions!

Doesn't this sentence sound awkward? Because the agent of the passive – they who I am angry with – have disappeared from the sentence, and it is not the grammatical subject – myself – I am angry with.

Shouldn't a sentence with a simple verb form be preferred?

    I am always asked silly questions!


texts:
Epitomized by right captainship, the ship reached safely to the harbor.

I'm emphasizing the capabilities of the captain here. Is this correct usage?


texts: In the US, is it a common thing to called a baby whose gender is not known "Baby [last name]"?

texts:
This is maybe more of a cultural than linguistic question, but an american friend told me that in the US, when a family is having a baby but before they know its gender, the baby is referred to as "Baby [their last name]". So if the Smiths are having a baby, they would for example send cards with "Join us in welcoming Baby Smith" or similar on them.

I have never heard of this practice before, but googling does reveal some anecdotal picture evidence (example). Is this a widespread phenomenon in the US, or could it be something specific to her region (Minesotta)?


texts: Passive voice sentence in "The New Colossus" excerpt

texts:
I'm in 10th grade English, and for my assignment I have to highlight three sentences in this excerpt in The New Colossus by Emma Lazarus.

  ... "Give me your tired, your poor,
  Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
  The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

  Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed, to me.
  I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

I have to highlight passive voice, active voice, and parallelism.
For active voice, I've highlighted sentence three, for parallelism, I've highlighted sentence one. Is sentence two active voice? I don't fully understand what the sentence means I guess.

If anybody can point me in the right direction that would be greatly appreciated.


texts: The contents of (something) are/were/name?/etc

texts:
I am trying to find a more suitable word for the sentence:

  She presented to him the contents of her other hand: which (enter word here) a small corked bottle that contained a small parchment of paper.

I thought about: was, numbered, named, included. But none of these seem specific enough. "Was" is just meh, and the other words just don't seem to be correctly used in this sentence.

So, any suggestions?

Also, should I write "the contents" or "the content", in this sentence.

Thanks for the help!


texts: "John Doe is an uninteresting name. Usain Bolt [is]/[isn't]"

texts:
Given the two separate facts:

John Doe is an uninteresting name.
Usain Bolt is an interesting name.

which of the following statements is correct:

  A - "John Doe is an uninteresting name. Usain Bolt is"

or

  B - "John Doe is an uninteresting name. Usain Bolt isn't"

In other words, why does the following equation seem true?

  "John Doe is an uninteresting name. Usain Bolt is" = "John Doe is not
  an interesting name. Usain Bolt is."

(even though they are logically different).


texts:
Keep both of them separate.
  Keep both of them separated.

Between the above two sentences, which one is correct?


texts:
Two simple questions related to the phrase "science proper" in the following sentence by Albert Einstein:

  As long as we remain with the realm of science proper, we never meet with a sentence of the type "Thou shalt not lie".

Is "science proper" literally equal to "proper science"? (I mean after neglecting the history of the phrase "science proper" in philosophy)
Does "proper" here literally mean genuine?

For those who might be interested in philosophy, I should add that he is talking here about the is-ought problem.


texts:
Life was beautiful without the internet.
OR
Life were beautiful without the internet.

which one is correct sentence? or sentence need some changes?

Should I consider 'life' as singular or plural ?


texts:
A friend of mine and I were having a linguistics argument (actually, this one), and she brought up as evidence the "plural versus singular conjugation" of the past-tense form of "to be", i.e. "was/were".

I'm sure we all know the 6-form conjugation table:

I [verb]
You (s.) [verb]
He/She/One/It [verb]
We [verb]
You (pl.) [verb]
They [verb]

I'm equally sure we all know that the first three are singular, and the latter three are plural. Now, interestingly, we both agreed on the answer to the original question ("Yes"), but my friend put forth as evidence that You (s.) is conjugated with the "plural conjugation", namely "were", just like We and They, whereas I and He/She/One/It are conjugated with the "singular conjugation", "was".

My argument was that verbs are not conjugated in plural and singular forms, and the fact that "to be" in many tenses seems to follow that pattern is just a coincidence, an artifact of its highly irregular nature.

So, which of us is "right"? Do verbs have explicitly "plural" versus "singular" conjugations, or do they simply have the 6 conjugations (per tense), and "to be" just happens to look like "plural" versus "singular" by mere coincidence?


texts:
I would understand if the nickname was around quotation marks if the full name was presented as well:

  "His name is O'Shea 'Ice Cube' Jackson Sr."

But what if you referred to a person only by their nickname?

With quotation marks:

  "Hey, 'Ice Cube,' how's it going?"

Without quotation marks:

  "Hey, Ice Cube, how's it going?"

Would the quotation marks be necessary?


texts:
As I was doing a bit of research online I stumbled on this Children's Corner page 311 from the American Farmers' Magazine 1858. And, frankly, there are a lot of words that look totally foreign to me. I've underlined them, below the excerpts I'll do my best to guess their meanings. Where there is a blank, that means I haven't the foggiest idea.

Book larnin' = book learning, i.e. education
small trumps   = to come up trumps; small triumphs; winning cards.
bowers = the balls? The courage, the conviction?
shucks = no value, worthless.
agin = again?
buck agin you strong = people will come back with vengeance?
sorter = sort of
nor nig = ________
it's regular cut throat = if you're not honest in life,  your very own life will be at risk
skunked = _______

Are these slang terms still used in the USA, or have some become dated and almost quaint?
Are these terms regional or widespread?

EDIT (oops, forgot)

I love the expression:  (don't) look like a sick chicken on a rainy day

Is it a well-known idiom in the States? Or is it unique to this article?


texts: There are four of us. We are four. Are both ways correct?

texts: I feel like 'There are four of us' is the correct way to say this, I know that  'we are four' is a translation French and Spanish but is it also correct in English?


texts: Reflexive pronoun (myself) grammar issue

texts:
I was writing in MS Word 2003, and it put a green underline under the word myself, as used below.

  Don’t trust people, even myself, trust the code.

I ran the spell and grammar check, but it completed without any errors or suggestions.

If I change the sentence by adding "you should" after the comma, the problem goes away.

  Don’t trust people, even myself, you should trust the code.

But that is not the preferred phrasing. What, if any, problems exist?

p.s.   The closest I could find to this issue is Microsoft word and confusion about himself/he/him, but it does not help explain why I am right or wrong.


texts: More on 'who should she see': what part of speech is 'should' in this phrase?

texts:
Prompted by What does 'should' mean in this sentence?, instead of asking what it means, I'm interested in what part of speech it is.

The sentence is:

  She walked through the forest, and who should she see, but the Big Bad Wolf

Should is being used to mean did in this sentence, which is an unusual use for should.

The general form seems to be:

  [Interrogative] should [event] but [...]

(But is replaceable by except, only, etc.)

Is this a subjunctive? Is it a vestige from Old English?


texts: Is there a rule for abbreviating is to 's?

texts:
Sometimes, we abbreviate sentences like "Nobody is ready" to "Nobody's ready". Is there a rule about this, and is "Nobody's ready" correct or is this considered incorrect?

My apologies if this was already asked, as I couldn't find the answer to this specific case either through Google or by searching on this site.


texts: "However" vs. "how ever": one word or two?

texts:
I am writing a paper and stumbled upon this sentence of mine.

  "The output remained consistently poor however the data was/were
  analysed".

  "The output remained consistently poor how ever the data was/were
  analysed".

I LOOKED for answers ONLINE ONLY TO GET FURTHER CONFUSED.

  I want the readers to understand that no matter how you analyze the
  data, the output would remain poor.


texts: 'Cannis' - Term used in seventeenth-century clothes manufacture

texts:
My local history group is transcribing a series of account books kept by the overseers of the poor in Woodchurch, a village in the English county of Kent. One of the transcribers has come across these two entries:

Item paid John Prior for butons teap and cannis and makinge a coate for Widdow Hills boye
Item pocketts tape and cannis for the waste bond and to skins

The word we are struggling to find a meaning for is 'cannis'. It looks as though it could be a plural of an item used in tailoring. Online searches of the OED and Google haven't produced any obvious solutions. Seventeenth-century spelling is notoriously phonetic, so the term could be 'cannes' or 'cans' or any similar-sounding variant. If there is anyone here familiar with historical clothing terms, we would love to hear from you.


texts: What happens to an adverbial/preposition phrase such as "on monday" when you remove the proposition "on"?

texts: Does it simply continue to be an adverbial/preposition phrase? Or does it change its function and/or material?


texts:
I've worked in a market. Suddenly they stopped my work for verification purpose. They requested me to provide a student ID card. I've sent a scanned copy of my Student ID card for verification. One week has gone still now they have not sent any confirmation email. How do I politely and without any grammatical error ask them about my verification delay?

If I want to say something like this, is it correct?

  Hi Admin, Why are you pending my Student ID verification? Why do you
  taking so long to verify my ID?

Here which sentence is appropriate in this perspective.

Why do you take so long to verify my ID?
Why do you taking so long to verify my ID?
Why does it take so long to verify my ID?

You can suggest some additional formal and polite sentence.
Thank you.


texts: is "Younger Generation" plural or singular

texts:
Is this sentence correct? I recently read it in
an article:

"How does younger generation spend their money."

I want to know whether the usage of "their" in the above is correct


texts: What's it called when you're paid while the business is temporarily closed

texts:
I'm trying to find a word to describe an individual whom is paid while the business they work in is temporarily closed. Example:
While a library is renovated, the staff are paid for the hours they would have worked.

I've thought about "paid leave" and "paid time off" but it doesn't seem correct as leave would suggest the workers voluntarily took the time off, and the latter would suggest a vacation.

The closest I've come to would be a "paid furlough". Any ideas?


texts: Recent usage of the word "overwhelm" in sentences

texts:
I grew up reading a lot of books and other content, and have always seen the use of the word "overwhelm" like so:

"She was afraid to overwhelm him with the conversation."

"He was overwhelmed by the amount of work there was to do".

In the past two years or so, I've seen in a lot of online content the following usage:

"My job is to take the overwhelm out of Paleo living." and
"To reduce the feeling of overwhelm."

And it seems to be incorrect usage of the word to me.

Can someone help me understand whether or not these other examples are correct, and why?


texts: "need not to be neither atomic nor ordered"

texts:
Is this double/triple negative grammatically sound?

Ordered operations require that space on disk is allocated sequentially, so spatial ordering corresponds to chronology of operations, but actual disk writes need not to be neither atomic nor ordered.

Explanation:

Words neither and nor emphasize on the fact that both conditions are (independently) allowed to remain unsatisfied, that both are optional. To be more formal, "need not be atomic and need not be ordered". But then again, it becomes a concoction of two negations joined by a conjunction.


texts: Term for a graph with a regular polygon with labeled points and an irregular polygon inside of it

texts:
Taking a personality quiz on FiveThirtyEight, there were these graphs, consisting of a regular pentagon and an irregular pentagon inside with the points further from the center being lesser and points closer to the edge being greater, on top of regularly spaced bars:

I've seen this type of graph in other places. For example, on the website for the video game ARMS:

I was trying to think of a word for this, and couldn't. What are these called?


texts: Term for an argument which cannot be distinguished from sarcasm/jest

texts:
What is the word or phrase identifying an argument or statement for which, based on the source, you cannot tell whether the person is being honest or not? The kind of argument or statement where you could think the person actually believes what is being said, when in fact he/she may not.

I know there is a term for this. I just can't remember what it is, and I'm not having any luck Googling for it.


texts: What does the word term mean when used in the following sentence?

texts: So I have a boss from Ireland that works out of the UK.  He tells me that he is on leave for a half term?  What is he talking about?


texts: When refering to two distinct objects that share the same noun, can you omit one instance of the noun and leave only the corresponding adjective?

texts:
For example:

"I have a red ball and a blue ball.  The red and blue balls are in the corner."

"There is a first circuit for detecting motion and a second circuit for compensating for the detected motion.  The first and second circuits are disposed on the same chip."

"The driver applies an ON voltage and an OFF voltage to the scanning line.  The ON and OFF voltages are alternated each scanning period."

These all seem right to me, but I do not know why.  This issue appears related to the "suspended hyphen" rule, but since the phrases in question are not hyphenated words, I am not sure if that rule applies.


texts: How did "stroke" become the verb "strike" to mean "deal a blow"?

texts:
I've just been looking up the etymology of the word "strike," as in “The pedestrian was struck by a vehicle.” (I was curious about why we always seem to use "struck" in this situation).

A quick Google search reveals that it comes from the Old English strican, which means “to pass lightly over, stroke, smooth, rub lightly” and is related to the German streichen, "to stroke." This of course seems much different than the current usage, "to strike a blow," or to hit hard. The Online Etymology Dictionary says that the sense of dealing a blow came around by the early 14th century in Middle English, but I can't find anything to explain how this may have happened.

I'm very curious about how this word went from referring to a smooth and caressing action to a hard and damage-dealing one. Any clues?


texts: "Bob the builder lives in Australia" or "Bob, the builder, lives in Australia"?

texts:
Is this correct:

  "Bob the builder lives in Australia"

or should I use commas like so:

  "Bob, the builder, lives in Australia"


texts: Expression to use when you are not dressed or otherwise ready to meet someone

texts:
What is the English expression to ask someone if he/she is dressed and "presentable", in the sense that he/she is tidy enough to meet someone else? The word "dressed" does not convince me, because its meaning covers only clothes, and one might think of being not "presentable", for example, if hair are not combed.

Example: imagine someone knocking at the door of your bedroom and asking "X is here to meet you, are you [dressed]?".

Example, from the opposite side: someone knocks at the door of your bedroom and asks "May I come in?", and you answer "No, I'm not [dressed]".


texts: What is a word meaning to quicken, or to slow?

texts:
I want a word that could mean to either speed up or slow down something. Accelerate doesn't quite work, because although it could theoretically apply to both, the default is positive.

Ideally, the default will be neutral.

  By moving this lever, you can ____ the vehicle.", "Both car pedals are designed to ____ the car, but in opposite directions.


texts: Using "is" versus "are" in a relative clause

texts:
I have run into a small question that I would like to check. When referring to one person out of a group, would one use "is" or "are"?
For example:

I know you are one of the members that is running things.

I know you are one of the members that are running things.

For singular "one" it should be "is", but for plural "members" it should be "are". I'm hitting a mental block here and I'm uncertain, so any clarification would be greatly appreciated.


texts:
Directions: Select the word segment that substitutes (replaces) the bracketed word segment correctly and completes the sentence meaningfully. Select the option 'no correction required' if the sentence is correct as given.
Everyone waiting for his turn for the interview (were in formals except Tanmay and me).

was in formals except Tanmay and me.
was in formals except Tanmay and I.
were in formals except Tanmay and I.
No correction required

I think the second option is correct but the answer key says 1. Please explain.


texts:
Problem

I am currently reading computer science literature in data privacy. However, I encountered the following sentence that seems confusing to me

  In other words, we ask for a refinement of Dalenius's goal: that nothing about an individual should be learnable from a dataset that cannot be learned from the same dataset but with that individual's data removed.

The Ethical Algorithm: The Science of Socially Aware Algorithm Design

I understand "that nothing ... from a dataset", but not sure about the meaning of modifier of dataset. From the context of the text, it seems that the sentence should mean "with and without individual's data makes no difference".

However, I think it is still necessary to fully understand this sentence because it uncovers some design principle of data privacy.

Could someone help me? Thank you in advance!


texts:
Item name: Cold Brew Milk

Cold Brew Milk is filled with chocolate and coffee.
or
The Cold Brew Milk is filled with chocolate and cofee.

Is the article optional in this context?


texts:
Am I right that https://english.stackexchange.com/a/96966/50720 is claiming thus (as regards the title of this question)? If so, how do you derive or explain this equality of clauses?

  I'm also reminded of Edmund Blackadder being irritated by an old witch's turn of phrase, and reprimanding her:

  "It's Yes it is not That it be!"
  http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006xxw3

  For anyone who doesn't know, this is a BBC comedy programme and the
  line is obviously done for comic effect, but it stems from the fact
  that 'it be' was commonly used at one time, and might still be used in
  certain English dialects.

  It's clear that that many kinds of 'incorrect' or non-standard usage
  have been around for a long time and I don't think it's up to us (we)
  in the 21st century to tell them they were wrong. The point of
  language is communication. As long as there's no chance of confusion
  when using Not I/Not me, it's a matter for personal choice. Let it be!

Original context:

  Blackadder: Tell me old crone, is this Putney?
  Old woman: That it be. That it be.
  Blackadder: "Yes it is", not "That it be". You don't have to talk in that stupid voice to me, I'm not a tourist.


texts: Does alma mater only refer to universities and colleges?

texts: I was wondering if the term 'alma mater' can be be used to refer to one's place of work, where one has learnt a lot or is it strictly for universities and colleges?


texts: What do you call it when one does something (may be committedly) but actually because it is instructed by a book

texts:
What do you call it when you do something (may be committedly) because it is instructed by a book (divine book). When an outsider looks at it, it feels that the act is for lack of word "spiritually empty" or something of that sort.

Example: If a person goes to a temple or a church just because he is instructed to do it by a book. Would it be mechanical

He goes to do prayers. But it feels too _______ (mechanical ?)


texts: Is there an expression for the case when someone receives an email from a recruiter with whom he had no previous contact? I am looking for a term other than headhunting, like salesman knocking on cold doors, as it's said in other languages.


texts:
My friend asked me how's it going and I asked how's what going  as I expected the friends meaning was that of knowing what I was currently doing but my friend doesn't know currently the things which I'm doing

Is "How's it going" a slang saying


texts: "a" sharp tongue vs. "the" pointing finger

texts:
“Arrogance is a creature. It does not have senses.
It has only a sharp tongue and the pointing finger.”
― Toba Beta

I'd like to ask a question concerning indefinite and definite articles on the quote above.
I cannot figure out why "sharp tongue" has "a" whereas "pointing finger" has "the".
Why not "the" sharp tongue and "a" pointing finger, or "a" sharp tongue and "a" pointing finger, or "the" sharp tongue and "the" pointing finger?

Is this usage of articles in the quote based on certain rules, or just on some gut feeling?

I understand this question is not an easy one to answer because as far as I know natives use articles in a natural way not seriously conscious about rules.

But as a non-native the usage of articles is a problem I encounter  frequently and the subject of fault-finding.


texts: What connotation does "to fork one's repo" have?

texts:
In a recent news item, an employee was fired partly for making jokes about "big dongle" and "forking repos", which were alleged to be inappropriate sexual jokes. The employee admitted the dongle joke but defended the other joke,

  While I did make a big dongle joke about a fictional piece hardware
  that identified as male, no sexual jokes were made about forking. My
  friends and I had decided forking someone’s repo is a new form of
  flattery (the highest form being implementation) and we were excited
  about one of the presenters projects; a friend said “I would fork that
  guys repo” The sexual context was applied by Adria, and not us.

What inappropriate meaning can be mistaken from "forking one's repo?" and how can it be taken that way? Forking sounds like a legitimate terminology in software development.


texts:
When you trade stocks on the market, what best describes the product of shares × price?

My candidates are Capital, Amount, Value, ...?


texts: Is there a word for one end of a dichotomy?

texts:
A common definition of a dichotomy is:

  division into two parts

or

  mutually exclusive or contradictory groups or entities...

or

  A division or contrast between two things...

Parts, groups, entities and things are all fine words, but they're all very broad. Almost anything can be a thing, or an entity. Practically everything is a part of something or a group of other things. None of those terms is in any way specific to a dichotomy.

Is there a term that specifically means one end of a dichotomy, or even something close to that?

If not, what's the closest we can get?

Perhaps something defined in terms of opposition to the other, like antithesis?

The sentence that has sent me in search of this (probably non-existent word) is:

  There is a tradeoff between password length, and how often we expect users to change passwords, and we have chosen the wrong end-of-the-dichotomy.

I'd like to find a single word to complete the sentence, if there is one.


texts: Is the following use of "nonetheless" correct?

texts:
I was so down and unmotivated, nonetheless, that even thinking about
  getting up the chair seemed like a tedious and burdensome task.

I'm having my doubts because at first I used however, and know, well, I'm not very sure anymore.


texts: Siberian unicorns lived until at least 39,000 years ago

texts:
BBC:

  The rhino, Elasmotherium sibericum, was thought to have become extinct between 200,000 and 100,000 years ago.
  By radiocarbon-dating a total of 23 specimens, researchers found the Ice Age giant in fact survived in Eastern Europe and Central Asia until at least 39,000 years ago.

From the context they mean "as recently as 39,000 years ago", i.e. the unicorns became extinct more recently than 39,000 years ago (since some were dated at 39,000 years).

Usually "at least 39,000 years ago" means 39,000 years ago or earlier.

Is the BBC's usage correct?


texts: What is the origin of the rule for omitting the suffix of a hyphenated word?

texts:
I can't remember where or how, but I was taught that one can/should omit the post-hyphen (suffix?) part of a word if it is being grouped with another hyphenated word with the same post-hypen portion.  For example, this sentence:

  Is the project low-budget or high-budget?

Becomes:

  Is the project low- or high-budget?

However, I've rarely seen this done by other people, and was wondering if perhaps it's a localized thing.  What's the origin of this rule?  Is it commonly accepted?  Does it have a name?


texts:
I was invited to a meeting saying: "An honorarium including flight and hotel will be included."

Does this mean that the honorarium includes travel + hotel or travel + hotel + honorarium for the lecture?


texts: "philosophical history" / "history of philosophy"

texts: What is the difference between the meaning of "philosophical history" and "history of philosophy"?


texts: If you say in English: wear the pants in a relationship, then can you also say wear the skirt in a relationship?

texts:
What I mean is: if the person wearing the pants assumes a masculine/dominant role, then can we say someone assumes a feminine/submissive role by saying they wear a skirt in a relationship? Especially if they were not given a choice and have to accept their subordinate role?

Is it possible in English? It's not my first language and I would appreciate the comments.


texts:
Would someone please explain this:

"C++, pronounced "C plus plus," is a programming language that was built off the C language".

What is meaning of "off" in this statement?


texts: "To leave its throne to something else"?

texts:
I want to define a situation where a certain type of food is the best in my opinion and express this in an idiomatic way.

Would the the following example be completely understood by the native speakers? :

  The X wouldn't leave its throne to any other dish of the night.

Or how would you like to paraphrase the sentence?

Thanks in advance,

Kind regards


texts:
This is entire message:

  As time goes to infinity we plan on having Stripes building products very close to as many of our customers as possible, which is (much) more widely distributed than the status quo, which is (much) more widely distributed than open recs on any given Monday. There will be more on this subject coming later.

And this is the context: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19425274

When I googled I found "open recommendations" but it doesn't seem to fit the context. Maybe there is a typo but I think it's unlikely given the author.

Thanks.


texts: Word/idiom for not only to get restless, worried or scared (oneself) but also to make others worried /scared

texts:
Is there word/idiom hindi expression

  khud bhi (Self also) darna (to get worry or scared) dusre ko bhi darake chodna (infuse tension/scare in others too).

Because of their timid nature not on purpose.

The meaning is

  not only to get restless, worried or scared (oneself) but also to make others worried /scared.


texts: Is the term "indignant with rage" acceptable?

texts: A google search provided a plethora of instances in which the term was used, but isn't it kind of repetitious?  Can you be indignant with something besides rage?


texts: Difference between "Excuse me" and "Sorry"

texts:
What is the difference between "Excuse me, ..." and "Sorry, ..."? When do we use one or the other?

For example, when you haven't heard the speaker, or stepped on someone's foot or accidentally spilled some sauce.


texts: What is the verb used to indicate that you have travelled from point A to B by motorboat?

texts:
Please consider the following and fill in the blank.  This has driven me crazy ever since I moved to florida.  How would somebody say the travel often by a boat without any sails.

I drove from New York to California.  <-- By Car
I flew from New York to California. <-- By plane
I sailed from New York to London. <-- by Sailboat
I blank from New York to Florida <-- by motorboat


texts: Is there a relation between the words "import" (trade) and "important" (valuable)?

texts: Is there a relation between the words import (in a trade sense) and important (special, etc)? It seems to me that there is, or rather that there should be, but I was wondering if anyone can give some proper clarification.


texts: Is there a word for a swift periodic movement?

texts:
I want to express something along the lines of

I was running, moving left and right periodically (repeatedly).

Is there a word for such a movement? I thought about balancing, intercalating and even oscillating between left and right, but I am not quite sure.


texts:
In the book I am reading (H.G. Wells' The Invisible Man), a man was shot and the scene was being described, then I met the following sentence:

  Adye leapt backwards, swung around, clutched at this little object, missed it, threw up his hand and fell forward on his face, leaving a little puff of blue in the air.

Adye is a policeman and was shot by the invisible man while trying to take a gun from him.

What does 'leaving a little puff of blue in the air' mean?


texts: Is there a single English word that describes the geographic place and time of a person's birth?  My real question is how do I express where I was born at a particular time in history with a single word.


texts:
When I was watching the movie documentary "Fahrenheit 9/11", one of the interviewed lawyers told Michael moore "sit down, my son".

After that, I just couldn't stop thinking about this phrase, and how odd it seemed to me, even though this has not been the first time I've heard it.

I've tried to come up with a similar phrase in the german language (me being native german, I suppose this is normal behaviour to resolve language barriers), but unsuccessfully.

So where does this phrase come from? How is it usually used?


texts: Shakespeare and Maths: Metre and Completeness

texts:
Shakespearian sonnets have a particular structure where each line of the poem contains ten syllables (due to the use of iambic pentameter). This is, one might think, because ten sounds 'complete' to some extent, like 4. For example

    Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks

or

    Which alters when its alteration finds

Is there any explanation in number theory to why the number 10 might seem complete to human minds and ears?

Or perhaps there is a mathematical explanation for why 10 is chosen for the number of syllables in the line?

Are there examples in nature where sets have a magnitude of 10 elements, or where the number 10 signifies some sort of totality, whether in a cycle or other abstract setting?


texts:
A group of women seek an appointment.
or
A group of women seeks an appointment.
Which is correct?


texts:
Can you give me the answer for this interrogative sentence?

  "With what are you marked?"

  "I am marked with white powder."

Is it grammatically correct? I have seen questions such as "to whom are you talking?" But this is the first time I see the question above.


texts: In order of appearance "in" or "on" the chain

texts:
I want to say

  array that stores positions of nucleotides in order of appearance in (or is it
  on?) the S chain.

I know it sounds too specific as a genetics kind of question, but is just for a comment, let's say it was a chain of letters.
I don't know if I'm saying it right, but I'm trying to say that a given array (something to do with programming, -unimportant, but is similar to a shopping cart list, if you like-) will store the position of a nucleotide when it first appears in the chain S.
For example, let's say we've got the chain, where every A, C, G & T is a nucleotide, then

S = "CAGCCTA"

will store in my list [1,6,0,3,4,2,5], because at position 1 in S (first nucleotide -C- is at position 0) we've found an A, and I'm storing nucleotides in order of appearance as explained above, first the As (the second A's at position 6, hence the 6 after the 1), then the Cs, etc...I googled first and found a few references about lists, for instance on the list as correct in many contexts (like, your name is on the list, and in the list as correct when talking about lists in programming, but I'm talking about a chain here, a chain of nucleotides in this case, which is sort of a normal list of nucleotides, maybe.

Thanks in advance


texts:
When listing a name and title on for example a business card, does "Name, Founder" mean:

"the founder"
"a founder"
Both


texts:
What's wrong with the sentence:

  Put the rest of the water at the back of the door in the kitchen


texts: "I am working" or "I have worked almost two months at this project"?

texts:
Which one is correct?

  "I am working almost two months at this project"

or

  "I have worked  almost two months at this project"

I want to give this meaning: I'm still working on it.


texts: How to answer “who is singing over there?_____ is Ivan’s sister. A: She.   B: It.  C. That


texts: Is it correct to say "I fancy your photos"? If yes, what would that phrase mean? How different would the meaning be from "I like your photos"? In what context would "I fancy your photos" sound natural?


texts: "the" is in my business name, capitalize it or not?

texts:
I'm starting a new business and recently decided on a name. The problem is that the name has the word "the" stuck right in the middle, like so:

__ the __, LLC

My question, should the "the" be capitalized or not?

Edit/addendum:
I believe the following capitalization rule should be used, but am unsure for this specific case and if my business name constitutes a "title".

Rule: Do not capitalize short prepositions, conjunctions, or articles unless they are the first word of the title.

From this, I'm guessing the "the" should stay non-capitalized. Anyone care to verify?


texts: "I wasn't expecting" vs."I didn't expect"

texts:
Suppose someone drops by and you say "Hey, I didn't expect to see you today" or "Hey, I wasn't expecting to see you today".
What is the difference between those two sentences?
To my understanding, the one using "didn't expect" refers to a point in the past whereas the one using "wasn't expecting" refers to the whole day.
But I find it really hard to understand when I should choose one over the other.


texts:
Today I was cut off in the middle of the following sentence:

  Between Cook, Strauss, and Pietersen—

My friend said I was wrong. He said that for more than two entities, among/amongst are used, and that between is only for two entities.

I vaguely remember some rule like this, but I asked him to hear the whole sentence, which was:

  Between Cook, Strauss, and Pietersen, they’ve notched up 56 centuries in Test cricket.

Should I have used among here? Seems correct to me to use between, but my friend was certain.

Another friend pointed out the following sentence:

  I’m still choosing between Harvard, Yale, and MIT.

Certainly among doesn’t seem to fit here, and she, to me, was correct in using between.


texts:
Consider these two sentences:

  The money has been delivered since 1st January 2000.

  The money was delivered since 1st January 2000.

Are both of them grammatical?

What may be the difference between them?


texts:
I have a question in subject verb agreement. Which one below is correct

Lazy riding, fast walking and long jumping are just the way of who they are.

Lazy riding, fast walking and long jumping is just the way of who they are.


texts:
as in "... enabled them to remember all the detail of the story."

All the details sounds much more natural to me, but I don't believe detail is necessarily incorrect.

Can someone elaborate/confirm? Thanks!


texts: How can I interpret "typical both of a particular class"?

texts:
We were, I think, typical both of a particular class of pre-war
Germans and, by contrast, of the post-war country at large. On both
sides our family was old, well established and, notwithstanding the
wrecked economy, well off.

I don't know how can I receive the bolded part since 'typical' and 'particular' sound opposite to me.


texts: how to read numbers of 6 digit in formal english

texts:
How to say these two numbers:

112177

eleven hundrends thousands and twenty one hundren and seventy seven
one hundred and twelve thousands and one hundred seventy seven

the same for this number

196455

Update 1

I understood from the first comment that there is no good and wrong way. but the problem is that i have to make a presentation in front of native speakers, and i want to say the numbers in a way they understand nomrally

they are mainly from uk, london

Update 2

these numbers represent the estimated profit for a product


texts: Can anyone tell me meaning of this paragraph?

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  Can anyone tell me meaning of given sentence

Can anyone tell me exact meaning what this paragraph is trying to say?

  Think of a product you would like to sell on the web. Imagine you sell
  only predefined packages of various quantities of components.
  Everything you sell is red in colour. You will only need three basic
  components. But you offer to sell them in four or more different
  combination packages.

I am not able to understand meaning of whole paragraph.
In the first sentence, they mention one product,
in the second line, they are selling predefined packages of various quantities of components. The fourth line is saying that I need three basic components.
The last line is saying  to sell them in different combination packages. So what is meaning of this?

I got confused trying to understand the meaning.
Is it like taking one product, say a tennis ball, and selling them in different quantities like single, 2-ball pack, 5-ball pack? Or
taking three different products and selling them in different combination?


texts: How reconnaissance is a noun but not an adjective?

texts:
According to Longman dictionary, reconnaissance is a noun. However, in the provided examples I feel it has a role for describing another name.

  reconnaissance aircraft
  a reconnaissance mission

Could someone explain how it is still a noun in such examples?


texts: Why "past subjunctive" has this name if it is used for the present?

texts:
Why "past subjunctive" has this (confusing) name if it is used for hypothetical situations and wishes that take place in the present and the Past Perfect is the tense used in such contexts in the past?

Example 1:

If I were you, I would not do that.
If I had been you, I would not have done that.

Example 2:

I wish I were there.
I wish I had been there.

Wouldn't "Imaginary Present" or something similar describe better this verb tense? If so, why isn't it adopted by all grammar texts?


texts:
In an article discussing those two, James Kilpatrick, the author, makes the following claim:

  Semantically speaking, there is not a dime's worth of difference in the two verbs. They both mean "to bring down the foot on an object or a surface forcibly, to tread heavily or violently upon." The subtle difference, I submit, lies in the image we are trying to convey. Ladies stamp, horses stomp.

Is that true? Is stamping gentler (or more genteel, perhaps) than stomping?

I remember an editor changing all three instances of a female character in my story stamping her foot in anger to stomping her foot in anger.

Any thoughts?


texts: What is the proper way to use the word buyer/buyers to describe our real estate company?

texts:
What would be considered the proper way to call our company -

A. Exclusive Buyer Agency, LLC
B. Exclusive Buyers Agency, LLC

I have registered the company name as Exclusive Buyer Agency but wanted to know if I should change it.
Thank you for your time in advance!


texts: A single word for "competences I want to acquire"

texts:
I am looking for a single word or term that describes "competences I want to acquire" or "skills I want to learn".
This stands opposite to "things I already know or can do", as in "my competences" and "my skills"; which are things I already learned. Opposite to that, are the things I still want to learn.
Objectives, and Goals come to mind, but to me (being a non-native English speaker) those don't entirely fit, I might be wrong. Goal seems more of a target, a 'place' where I want to end up. And objective is far broader, it can be used for "skills I want to learn" but also for "today's objective is to finish before 5".


texts: Say I have, in some technical context, called some things x, but then discover that there are two classes of things falling under x, namely ys and zs.  I have præviously been talking about ys as xs simpliciter, but now I wish to make my term for those things more præcise and call them ys.  Is there a single word suitable for ‘making præcise’ in this context? Example of usage: ‘Let us … x (in)to(?) y.’


texts: How do novelists use syntax creatively, without dumbfounding reader?

texts: I write fiction. In a recent workshop I was told my writing had "weird syntax" and being that my character 1st point of view is a street urchin perhaps it was unconsciously deliberate on my part, in regards to syntax. But, my question is, how do novelists use syntax creatively, without dumbfounding?


texts: Is there a word for punctuation marks favored by individuals?

texts:
Is there a name for when someone commonly uses, or misuses, a punctuation mark?

For instance, someone who frequently uses a dash instead of a comma, or "..." instead of etc.   And they do this with such consistancy that you can recognize the writer by the punctuation.

The word I am looking for would work in this sentence:

  I knew the writer was John Doe because of his "insert the word here".


texts: What is the meaning of the "narrow" road/path metaphor?

texts:
All my life, I've regularly heard phrases such as:

Walk on the narrow road, never steering off into Hell! Don't listen to the Devil trying to lure you into his dark path!

This, to me, metaphorically means that one should do good (not evil), by walking and staying on the "narrow road/path", and that the "other" road/path, supposedly much "wider" (opposite of "narrow") leads to damnation and bad end result, even though it's easier to walk on.
But this metaphor is very confusing to me. You'd think that the right path/road is the wide, easy one, and that the "other" path is like a narrow little side-path full of dangers, albeit attractive somehow, such as a beautiful woman with devil horns and a hidden tail trying to lure you onto a small country road to rob you.
The metaphor seems to fall apart if you try to apply it to some sort of realistic environment, which to me makes it a bad one. In reality, should one not use the main road most of the time, and only take "narrow side roads" if you have a special reason to do so? Isn't it much safer and less problematic to walk on the wide road as opposed to a side-path where barely anyone walks?
I don't feel like I'm describing this as well as I'd like. The metaphor seems "reversed" somehow. Why would the righteous, good, non-evil road be the "narrow path"? Is the insinuation that most people and the general public are all evil scumbags and they (almost) all take the big, wide road, and it's not the devil standing there at the side, flipping a coin with a big smile, but rather an angel with a halo, desperately trying to talk you into taking the "narrow path"?
I could never understand this and I've many times seen it used in a way which I assume must be wrong. It certainly managed to confuse me. Would love to finally hear the "original idea" behind this metaphor and how it makes any sense for the narrow side-road to be the good path to take.


texts: How do you respond when someone tells you their parent is deceased?

texts: Well I'm still in college and I know from one of my friends that another friend's father died when she was young. Now how do I react politely if she tells me that in some situation. "Oh, sorry to hear that" seems appropriate, but is there a better response?


texts: How did southern US blacks address whites post-emancipation and pre-civil rights?

texts:
You hear it in movies like "The Help" all the time, but I'm trying to look for words like "missuh" and not finding any. Anyone familiar with the early 20th century African American lingo?

I'm only using "The Help" as an example where blacks addressed whites in a "subservient" fashion. I was looking for anything post-emancipation and before the civil rights era. I was hoping to find a list of such words and in what manner they were used.


texts: What's the difference between suffix "c" and "cal" in adjectives?

texts: I know there is a difference in meaning between "economic" and "economical" but what about "geographic" and "geographical" or "analytic" and "analytical"?


texts: How do I ask permission to override a course?

texts:
I need override for a course I want to take next semester. Instructor has asked to email him asking permission.

What should I write in the email?

  Respected sir/madam,

  I need prerequisite override for FOO101 Bar Spam course.

  WHAT SHOULD I WRITE HERE?

  Thank you!

  Sincerely,

  James Bond

Note: I was going to say "Please do the needful". But its not recommended.


texts:
Is the meaning of 'week' changing? These days a number of texts are using 'week' as an alternative to 'weekdays'.
e.g. I have a number of meetings lined up in the week, but will be spending my weekend playing golf.

I see a number of things wrong with the sentence. Am i the only one?


texts: What's the best way to say: "which one is more true or more accurate"?

texts:
What's the best way to ask:

  Which one is more true, or more accurate?

... when talking about a choice of two words?


texts: Does the word “too” in a series of items decide the placement of the conjunction?

texts:
Original:

  A boy, a girl and a dog too went for a walk.

Would the original or the following be better, or does it change the meaning?

  A boy and a girl, and a dog too went for a walk.

Is there any improvement with regards to commas that you can suggest?


texts: Should I be removing the zero for "0.9", so that it becomes ".9"?

texts:
Am I supposed to remove the "0" for any decimal number which is 0.something? For example:

.9 instead of 0.9

Or:

.45 instead of 0.45

?

Is this a general rule in English? Perhaps also in other languages? I think I've seen it a lot in older adverts and stuff like that, but should it be done generally? Doesn't it just add confusion?

It does look slightly better visually...


texts: Is it right/appropriate to say "double bag it?"

texts:
What one would say to get another (plastic) bag for carrying heavy groceries?

Is it right to tell the cashier "would you please double bag it?"

I am asking this question because when I tried to search the web for such phrase, I ended up with many results suggesting perverted, sexual connotations about condoms! Thus, I am a little worried about saying it in public or at stores.


texts:
when I say something shortly. is it sounds rude?
Of course I think it depends on situation. however,
I really wonder if it is a wrong way to talk to someone.
I work in the hotel and need to keep talking samething all the time.
such as when I order a breakfast or people want to check out, I usally say:

Would you like to have breakfast?
Would you like to have a cup of coffe?

but it is too long for keeping saying same thing all the time. so if it is ok,
then I want to make it short like :

Breakfast sir? (Would you like to have breakfast?)
coffee sir? (Would you like to have a cup of coffe?)
cheking out? (Would you like to check out?).
and anything else? (Do you have more question?)

or is this ok in english?

and I usually call the guest as ma'am or sir. and sometimes if a female person
is young I call her "miss". is this also proper way to call them?


texts: How is a misuse of punctuation spacing perceived by native British and American people?

texts:
I am a Frenchie and an English enthusiast. In my language, we use spaces before quotation marks, exclamation marks, and colons.
While I'm aware that this is not the case in English, there are times when, having written in French before, I'll forget about it and use a space before a quotation mark in an English sentence.
Thus: How would a native British/American person perceive my misuse of punctuation spacing, knowing that I'm not a native English-speaking person ?
Would it be something along the lines of "That guy can't even space properly" or "Well, he's an alien, we can't blame him for that"?
More precisely, I'm asking this if I ever were to work in the UK or the US for the first time, and emailed my boss with such a "mistake".


texts: Term for a specific Month and Year in time

texts:
Similar to this question, is there a term to describe a month and year in time, without the day of the month?
eg. a term for the month of May, 2018 as opposed to 23rd May, 2018.


texts: General term for the polite part in an imperative sentence

texts:
Taking a few variations of an imperative sentence "Tidy your room":

Please tidy your room
Kindly tidy your room
Tidy your room please

Is there a generic term for the "Please" and "Kindly" part of the sentence i.e. a piece that doesn't change the meaning of the sentence but does alter its tone?

Also curious as to if the same term would apply to the interrogative form ("Would you tidy your room?" Vs. "Please would you tidy your room?").


texts: Does “I have studied Russian language” continued by “I have learnt…” use a correct tense?

texts:
Does “I have studied Russian language” continued by “I have learnt …” use a correct tense?

With the meaning that I studied Russian language in the past, for 3 years, but I’m not studying it anymore and continuing the complex sentence with the same tense. What tense should I use?


texts:
Are they really the same in every respect? What are the differences if any? In India, they're always called waiter regardless of the size and exclusivity of the establishment. Is it the same in the US? Is there any regional preference in usage? I am more interested in knowing about real-life usage of the terms instead of what the dictionary says.

P.S. Please also mention where you're from so I know what dialect your answer pertains to.


texts: What's the proper antique equivalent to "Don't you dare"?

texts: What's the proper antique (using "thee") equivalent to "Don't you dare"? Dare thee not? Dare not thee? Something else?


texts: Agreement of verb 'to be' and a singular noun after a plural noun

texts:
How does the subject-verb agreement work when a singular noun describes a plural one?
Of the following, which sentence is righter?

The computers is a good choice.
The computers are a good choice.

Is there a rule about these types of formations? Please explain.


texts:
Please, if I say four-wheel-drive, can I say two-third share?
Thank you


texts: "My class ended earlier than expected" vs. "my class ended quicker than expected"

texts:
I'm studying English at the moment and I don't know which one of these is correct:

  My class ended earlier than expected.

  My class ended quicker than expected.

Could I also say my class ended so quickly?


texts: I noticed the shop owner give the two women some cash

texts: I'm curious about why the verb of the subject clause isn't using past tense.


texts:
I want an adjective that means, visuals + its accompanying audio. A word to describe the experience that video is.

Video is a(n) ______ experience

or

A(n) _______ story


texts: Is there currently a shift from -nce word endings to -ncy word endings?

texts:
This is something I think I've noticed, but maybe I've just been noticing odd word choices and putting it down to a shift in language use. Has anyone noticed a shift from people using verb-derived nouns ending in -nce, to their equivalents ending in -ncy? Seems to be an American English thing.

For example, I've just read a scientific paper from a Washington-based research group, in which they use the word "resiliency", rather than "resilience". I'm sure I've noticed other words like this from time to time, but can't think of any more examples.


texts:
I am not sure whether "boundary" should be used in single form or plural form. For example, should I say:

I developed this method to define A region's boundary
OR
I developed this method to define the boundaries of A region

?


texts:
Near the end of Book I, chapter 17 of Our Mutual Friend (1864), Charles Dickens writes:

  There are the beggars on horseback too, in another sense from the sense of the proverb. These are mounted and ready to start on the highway to affluence.

When I read this, I thought that the "proverb" Dickens was alluding to was "If wishes were horses, beggars would ride." But a note in the Everyman edition of the book says that the relevant adage is "Set a beggar on horse-back, and he'll ride to the devil."

A quick survey of Ngram Reader results reveals an instance of "if wishes were horses" from 1770, in Louis Chambaud, The Idioms of the French and English Languages (1770):

  If wishes were horses, beggars would ride. Si souhaits fussent vrais, pouilleux seroient rois.

And much earlier, from James Carmichaell, The James Carmichaell Collection of Proverbs in Scots: From the Original Manuscript in the Edinburgh University Library (1628/1957):

  And wishes were horses pure men wald ryde.

The word pure above stands in for poor.

Meanwhile, from W. Goodall, The Adventures of Captain Greenland (1752), we have this:

  But there is an ancient saying, that, set a Beggar on Horseback, and he will ride to the Devil. Now, whether that Saying was verify'd here or not, we shall not presume to understand.

But we also seem to have a truncated version of the saying in John Trapp, Solomonis Panaretos: Or a Commentarie Upon the Books of Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Songs (1650):

  The Crown of the wise is their riches; but yet give them a foole, you put a sword into a mad man's hand; the folly of such fools will soon be foolishnesse. Why? was it not foolishnesse before they were rich? yes, but now it is become egregious foolishnesse. [Greek quotation omitted] the earth cannot beare the insolencies of such. Set a beggar on horseback, &c.

And from John Dennis, "The Characters and Conduct of Sir John Edgar: Call'd by Himself Sole Monarch of the Stage in Drury-Lane; and His Three Deputy-Governors" (1720):

  But if they [good actors] once dare to grow insolent, if they behave themselves like Beggars on Horseback, and not only ride furiously as soon as they are up, but endeavour to ride over those very Persons who but the Moment before mounted them ; they ought to be us'd like Indians who run a-muck in their own Country, or like Dogs who run mad in ours.

All of these quotations suggest that the adages were thoroughly established at the time of the writers' citing them.

I have two questions:

Which of these two expressions is older?
Did they arise independently, or is one in some sense a retort to the other?


texts: What does the words "strafe your shot" mean in this context?

texts:
In a game's description, I found the following sentence:

"Even if you initially miss, you can keep the player moving to strafe your shot and still hit a few targets."

I know the lexical meaning of the word "strafe", but I am not sure if the phrase "strafe your shot" does not have a distinct gaming connotation.


texts:
What's more accurate, "Fight Academy" or "Fighting Academy" or is it equally correct to use either one.

I have seen both being used and when I compare it to "Fight Club," it seems that "Fight Academy" is also correct. However, "Fighting Academy" seems more intuitive, but I don't know exactly why.

P.S. I'm a non-native English speaker.


texts: What does “key off” somebody’s column mean?

texts:
Mark Helperin’s article titled “Romney’s Conservative Critics” in Time magazine (September 28) begins with the following sentence:

  “On “Morning Joe,” I key off Charles Krauthammer’s column to talk
  about a key part of Romney’s challenge: “

  If you watch conservative media, read Krauthammer, watch Fox, or talk
  privately with any Republican politician, it’s hard to find anybody,
  even some people, as you all know, inside the Romney campaign, who
  think they’re doing the right thing now, that they’re on track to win
  despite Governor Romney saying that.”

Though I find “key in,” “key on,” “key to,” and “key up,” I cannot find the entry of “key off” in any of Cambridge, Oxford, and Merriam-Webster dictionary, despite all of them register “off-key” as adjective and verb.

Only wikitionary provides the definition of “key off” as a computing terminology meaning “to take as a controlling input datum.”

What does “key off” somebody’s column exactly mean? Does it mean to pay special attention to something?

What is the currency of “key off” as a verb? Is it popular as “key in (on, to, up), or special to this writer in trying to key “key off” to “key part”? In other word, is this well-received English word?


texts: Is this ellipsis or can 'guilty' be used as a noun?

texts:
Can guilty be used as a noun?
For example, as in the title of Chase's novel: The guilty are afraid.
Is it that people or folks is understood after guilty and in effect an ellipsis?
I do not find guilty marked as a noun in Webster or Wikitionary.


texts: What does this "neither....nor" sentence really mean?

texts:
"There are neither serious doubts about Facebook’s dominant position on the German social network market nor the fact that Facebook is abusing this dominant position,” the court said.

What does the above sentence mean? Is this sentence grammatically correct?


texts:
Typography is the art of selecting and using appropriate fonts in web, books, magazines, newspapers, etc., and is one of the most fundamental graphical design skills. However, almost everywhere you encounter typography, they say font instead of type.

What does "type" mean in this context? I always thought of type as "a kind," not as something related to printing industry or graphical design. On the other hand, font is something we all know.

So, why not fontography?


texts: Hypernym for "necklace", "bracelet" and "anklet"

texts:
Each is an item of jewelry that is primarily distinguished by the body part around which it is wrapped. Jewelry is too generic a term, since it would include earrings as well, which are not wrapped around the wearer.

Example:

  She preferred the versatility of [blunks], which could be on display as a necklace during dinner, but safely hidden around her ankle or wrist while walking home through the city.


texts: Can "edification" mean improvement or growth in a general sense, or does it only specifically refer to acquisition of knowledge or moral improvement?

texts:
In a conversation with a friend, I recently mentioned that I thought "one of the purposes of gift-giving is the edification of the giver and receiver" My friend replied that this did not make sense, as edification only refers to educational growth.
The oxford english dictionary defines edification as "the improvement of somebody’s mind or character" and offers this example sentence:
"There are, for your edification, 150 teaspoons of sherry in a bottle—I counted them all."
https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/edification?q=edification
Merriam-Webster defines "edify" as "to instruct and improve especially in moral and religious knowledge". (The definition for "edification" just refers back to "edify")
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/edify#synonyms
We agreed that these definitions are ambiguous; both definitions mention improvement and point toward moral issues, but do not elaborate much.
It is not clear whether "improvement" in this context can include improving someone's quality of life and expressing one's generosity, or if it is only about mental improvement.
Both definitions seems to imply that "edification" is a more intellectual issue, but then the OED example refers to a trivial matter of improving someone's happiness, which seems to contradict the given definition.
I'm hoping that someone can come up with a clearer definition of "edification" that states whether edification covers improvement and happiness in a more trivial sense.


texts: Is it grammatically correct to use "if" and "or not" in the same sentence?

texts:
My student's workbook states that the following sentence is grammatically incorrect because "if" and "or not" can not be used in the same sentence:
“Let's find out if there was fire or not.”
I can not find a grammar rule that confirms the workbook's explanation that "if" and "or not" can not be used in the same sentence.
I've also found other examples where "if" and "or not" is used in the same sentence:
"We'll find out if there's a Salinger archive or not," Mr. Enniss said.
"We don't know if it matters or not".
“It does not really matter if you agree or not"
What I did find out was that "whether" and "or not" should be avoided in the same sentence (in written Eng.) because essentially "whether" already give the option for something to "happen or not".
Can anyone please help me with the question: Can "if...or not" be used in the same sentence like in the example “Let's find out if there was fire or not.”
Thank you.


texts:
In this YouTube video around 7:02 the author says:

  [...] rather is one of those words which can have a different meaning [...] depending on how you pronounce it.

This got me interested and I found two pronunciations in a couple of Internet dictionaries (for example Merriam-Webster and Wikitionary): with an emphasis on the first syllable or on the last.
However I think I have never heard it being pronounced the second way.

How does the pronunciation change the meaning of this word and what are some examples of sentences with "rather" being pronounced by emphasizing the second syllable?


texts:
An air de cour is a type of Baroque song. If I’m talking about several of these, would I say “we played some airs de cour”?

Frankly, and especially since this is a foreign phrase (French), the thing that seems most natural to me in speaking it aloud is actually to say “air de cours”.

I realize this is not correct in French speech, but in English, it wouldn’t sound right at all to say “airs de cour”, particularly since the “de cour” means nothing to most saxophones.

Of course, I would never say “I bought some jar of chocolates”, but that’s because the “of chocolates” means something in English, so it would sound wrong and be wrong.

It seems to me that in pluralizing a foreign noun phrase, it may as well be treated as a single word when spoken aloud, with the s added at the end.

Is there a rule on this?


texts: Is it allowed to mix tenses in one sentence?

texts:
I have always wondered whether it is allowed to mix tenses in one sentence in english(- and in my native language, danish), which can be quite embarrassing, when the need arises!?

Examples:

Yesterday, I saw a dead cat, it is on the roof. (somehow, I know that it is still there. Is mixing allowed?)

Yesterday, I saw a dead cat, it was on the roof. (it has been removed. No problem)

Yesterday, I saw a dead cat, it ??? on the roof. (I do not know, if it is still there. What to do?)

Last week, I met my uncle, his name is Zymowch (Yes - he is still alive.)


texts: Term for "company mostly recruiting people who accept low pay"

texts:
What would you technically call a company that, as a strategy, mostly recruits people who will accept low pay?

Background to understand the strategy:
Typically High pay = high skills, but the company wants substandard staff to do  the work for a low pay. The company suffers the consequences of low pay = low quality output.

This may happen for different reasons: countries' bad economic policies, local market forces etc. However, one of the main reasons is that management gets enough budget for recruiting high pay staff, but they under-utilize the budget by hiring low salaried workers, manipulate and take all the excess budget for themselves in the form of bonuses.

The company may eventually get low skilled staff and make them do all that is expected of skilled workers by adopting decisive management tactics.

The point is that I am unable to get online Google research material/articles required for a report on effects of such companies. A hint by a colleague to try for "Low paymasters" did not yield any result.


texts: Preserving Alphabetical Order Within a Citation

texts:
I am using MLA format to cite a series of articles for a school paper. All citations are listed alphabetically (Flood --> Gould --> Green -->).

However, I am wondering whether or not an article with multiple authors would list the authors in alphabetical order as well or if the listing is arbitrary. I believe I have generally seen multiple authors alphabetized, but I cannot find any evidence of this in my usual go-to place (the Purdue OWL). For example, in a paper by Wolf-Peter Schill and Claudia Kemfert, NoodleTools (my citation generator of choice) alphabetizes the authors by last name:

  Kemfert, Claudia, and Wolf-Peter Schill. The Solution...

Conversely, NoodleTools exports an article by Paul D. Thacker and Jon Tennant as:

  Thacker, Paul D., and Jon Tennant. "Why We..."

Is alphabetization correct? Did NoodleTools make an error? Does Thacker's middle initial somehow upset this rule? Any clarification is much appreciated!


texts: 'House was haunted by ghost' or 'house was haunting by ghost' - is there a difference?

texts:
Could you explain me a difference between usage of haunting and haunted? Wiktionary says me:

  haunt (verb) - To inhabit, or visit frequently (most often used in reference to ghosts).

So this is my way of understanding:
haunt - visit frequently (again and again, daily or weekly possible)
haunted - visited (?) frequently - ghost (someone else) used to visit house frequently
haunting - visiting frequently - ghost was visited house regularly in past (again and again, daily or weekly possible)

I'm really confused with all these -ing and -ed relatively to haunt


texts:
A naked man was walking in a jungle. Seeing him, all the animals ran away.
  The zebra asked the king lion: you too/ even you?" The lion replied," My friend, Keep the joke aside. That's a strange animal. The tail is in front. :)

I mean to say you run away despite being the king of the animals. Is using" Even you" correct in this context?


texts:
I am trying to find out which is correct in "Good night" vs "goodnight" (vs "good-night"), and there seem to be conflicting views around the internet. I am hoping you guys can shed some light into why one may be wrong, or one may be better than the others (if all are correct).

http://richwriting.com/grammar-guide-one-word-or-two/ States that "goodnight" is a wish, and "good night" means 'have a good night'. To me these seem to be the same thing.

http://jasondrexler.wordpress.com/2012/03/26/say-good-night-to-goodnight/ States that "goodnight" is just wrong.

http://www.answers.com/Q/Is_goodnight_one_or_two_words Says all three are correct, just be careful with the latter two.

Thanks!


texts: He was marching up and down in front of the camp when four officers drove up in a car. What is the meaning of ‘drove up’?


texts:
Is there a word that means "Mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive" (as an adjective) or "to be mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive" (as a verb), or is there a noun that describes some set as "mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive?"

For example,

  In a good multiple-choice survey item, the answer choices should [be] ____.

The term "shattering" (e.g. the answer choices "shatter" the space of possible answers) was introduced to me as having this meaning, but I don't think that introduction to the term was quite right in accurately conveying the meaning - I now understand that it's a family of functions which can be said to "shatter" a set of points if some function within that family can exactly separate any subset of the points from the rest.


texts: Is there an academic word that means "to split hairs over"?

texts: Is there a higher register word that means to criticize something highly specific and inconsequential? Any synonym I can think of seems a little too vernacular, e.g. "to split hairs", "to nitpick". What's a more professional/academic way of saying this? I'd prefer a single word if one exists.


texts: Is 'please tell me how can I help you' grammatically correct?

texts: Is it the right way to ask if someone is asking for your help?


texts: FAA's suggestion to avoid using "pursuant to", "per", and "in accordance with"

texts:
I found an article by FAA advising against the use of "pursuant to", "per", and "in accordance with":
https://www.faa.gov/about/initiatives/plain_language/articles/differences/
To what extent are those points supported really? In my everyday reading, I found these phrases used pretty frequently in news articles etc. and just don't feel they are that bad.


texts: Mixing subjunctive and indicative, "if you tripped every time someone mentions"

texts:
If you tripped every time someone mentions your name, you would have
  been dead by now.

My question is about the subordinate clause of the above sentence, "If you tripped everytime someone mentions your name...". Is the mixture of the subjunctive tripped and the indicative mentions correct?


texts: A phrase for a tip or trick passed down from one generation to the next

texts:
Many use the phrase life hack to describe a novel or clever solution to an everyday problem. Before this expression became popular I remember seeing another phrase in the English language to describe the same thing. It is possible that it  also refers to a secret passed down within a family.

I remember this phrase from the title of a TV programme that used to air in the UK. It had segments of homemakers using half a plastic bottle to make a funnel, or using an old dustbin to make a home for hedgehogs.

Does anyone know the phrase I'm trying to remember?


texts:
Should I write 'Nineteen Eighty-Four', when discussing George Orwell's novel in an essay, or '1984'? Is it considered unconventional, or overly colloquial to use the latter form?

This question applies for any book title consisting solely of a number, although I can't call to mind any.


texts: Is there a term for the mutual romantic affection for another person that develops as a result of continued or repeated proximity or encounters. I was hoping that "propinquity" would cover that effect, but that only relates to the situational nearness.


texts: Which sentence is correct secret/secrets

texts:
I'm not English native speaker and debating with a friend that is also not native English speaker.

Which of the following sentence is the correct one?

a) I don't have any secret

b) I don't have any secrets

Is "secret" countable or uncountable noun?


texts:
I have a question on the following sentence: "After this meeting, the team is in understanding of the plan"

Specifically, could you say someone is in understanding of something?


texts: Salutation in motivation letter for academic purpose

texts:
What salutation should be used except "Dear Sir\Madam," in motivation letter for enroll in Master or doctoral program?

"Dear person responsible for application review," ?

Also I read that ":" instead of "," must be used in salutations. Is it true?


texts: Answering the question: Do you mind if...?

texts:
The following always puzzles me as a non-native speaker.

When somebody asks the question "Do you mind if...", there seem to be two possible responses.

"Sure" and "No, not at all", which both mean that the person doesn't mind.
"Actually, I do mind", which means that the person does mind.

Why is this so confusing? Especially, how come people reply "Sure" to this question, if that could be understood to mean that they for sure do mind?


texts:
They had almost reached the door when a voice spoke from the chair
  nearest them, "I can't believe you're going to do this.”

I guess nearest is at the place of preposition. Can a preposition have the form of superlative?


texts:
Here is a sentence from The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway

  "Five and you nearly were killed when I brought the fish in too green and he nearly tore the boat to pieces."

I could not help but notice you nearly were in the sentence and got curious why nearly came before were - not after. I searched on Google and you were nearly killed showed far more results than you nearly were killed; moreover, some site that shares quotes from books cited the sentence with you were nearly killed, from which I could suppose that you were nearly killed sounds more appropriate.

So, what is with them? If any, is there any difference in terms of meaning? And why did Hemingway write the sentence that way?


texts: Are there Official Rules for Comma Placement?

texts:
In this answer, the linguist John Lawler gave the following advice concerning comma placement:

  If you would use that intonation in speaking, write a comma. Otherwise don't.

This sounds like as if one could decide for oneself when to use a comma and when not. But I have seen many punctuation guides on the internet that list rules of comma placement (in english). That is why I wonder whether these rules are kind of official rules or just some conventions.


texts: Usage of "won't" instead of "didn't" in particular way of communication

texts:
I'm a bit confused about the usage of the word "won't" in a specific situation. For example, I am communicating with a person and I want to tell the person that

  How much ever I tried, the image didn't show up on the screen.

1) Can it also be expressed as:

  How much ever I tried, the image won't show up on the screen.

2) If yes, in what way are they different?

3) And when to be used?

4) And which type of past tense are both sentences of?


texts: Can the present perfect continuous construct be used in passive voice?

texts:
Can the passive voice be used for sentences in the present perfect continuous?

I understand the present perfect and its passive voice (have/has built, has been built). However, the passive voice of present perfect continuous is unclear:

Active: They have been building this house for years.
Passive: ???

I have seen suggestions of “This house has been being built for years,” but it sounds awkward and I don't recall anywhere else where two be verbs follow one another. Is this the right form to use?


texts:
I just need some clarification on whether the colon usage in this example is correct:

‘Desperation, destruction and despair: hope evaporated into fog.’

As a general rule, I always think of colons as stand-ins for, “that is to say,” therefore, the usage above kind of works, as the clause after the colon does offer some extra information on the landscape being described. Where I am struggling specifically, however, is whether the sentence before the colon needs to be complete (as this is simply just a list of abstract nouns).

Thank you.


texts: What does "stand to attention for somebody" mean?

texts:
I encountered this phrase in Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esben_and_the_witch

  His brothers did not stand to attention for Sir Red...


texts:
A colleague of mine recently used the following

  I mention in no unambiguous terms...

Now, I have heard and read the following

  I mention in no unclear terms...

The second usage is perfectly fine and I understand it, however the first usage sounds a little weird to me. I feel it is wrong since if you remove the double negative, it reads as

  I mention in ambiguous terms...

Is the usage plain wrong or just not that widely used?


texts:
When did the British and the Americans start to pronounce "o" (as in "God") differently?

Was it due to changes in America or England?


texts: What do you put in a reference when the page lacks numbering? Is there any abbreviation to denote such a case? I'm working on some manuscripts that are numbered only on the front side. I refer to them as folium, abbreviated fol. Unfortunately, some of the sheets aren't numbered at all(???)


texts: Catching word/term for people who support technology as a solution for everything and techno-progressivism?

texts:
We are devising slogan for political movement that focuses on 3 groups. The first two groups already have their names as "greens" and "social-democrats" but we are seeking the name for the third group. This group includes passionate people about science, technology, about technology as solution for almost every problem, especially for alleviating poverty and creating welfare, about robotics and automation, about artificial intelligence, about 4th industrial revolutions.

"Geeks", "nerds" are bad candidate words because they do not reflect the activity and fairness and social democratic causes. "Futurists" has an ambiguous meaning and it does not reflect the immediate technologies available. "Technocrats" is bad word too. "Techno-progressives" is a double word and is therefore bad for the slogan.

What is a good 3rd word for this movement?

Regarding the use of the mentioned 3rd word: sentence is "[Party Name] Social democrats. Greens. ???". This slogan is intended for the use on almost any party documentation, adverts and so on. That is why the 3rd word should be as clear, as simply-understandable, as the "social democrats" and "greens". Neologism is acceptable if it easily creates associations. Answers so far provide words that is hardly understandable by the simple voters.

Currently I am thinking about 2 options "humanists+" and "tech-optimists" (exactly this simpler form). But my gut feeling is that something more is desired.


texts: don't and don't in the same sentence? What was the authors point?

texts:
Reading an article, I came across this sentence which I can't seem to make sense of. The author uses a double negative but I'm not sure what the point is. Could this just be poor grammar?

Here is the sentence: "I don’t have some gene that others don’t"

Sentence for full context: I don’t have some gene that others don’t; I definitely haven’t been lucky.

If anyone would answer and help me understand, I would really appreciate it!


texts: Definitive way to separate prefixes from roots

texts:
Prefixes and suffixes change the meaning of roots, therefore to properly analyze a word it is often helpful to know what is the prefix and what is the root. Prefixes are a syllable or syllables in front of a word, but is there a definitive rule/ method to determine where one syllable (the syllable last of the prefix) starts and ends.

example: a- is a prefix meaning to, towards, or in the process of, as in aglow and aside. Apple also starts with a-, but does not have an a- prefix and the double consonant distinguishes the syllables. Another word: abyss would be harder to distinguish in this way: a-byss or ab-yss.  Another example: alula: a-lu-la or al-u-la

Is there a rule (or set of rules) to generalize the distinguishing of prefixes from roots:
it could contain the double consonant rule, but needs more to work most of the time except with irregulars/ exceptions. If able, the rules should account for multiple syllable prefixes like contra-. If needed, the rules can rely on a set of known prefixes.


texts: Why is the L silent in "walk" but not in "bulk"?

texts:
TL;DR
Why is the letter L silent in walk, talk, calm, folk, half, chalk etc but not silent in bulk, hulk, milk, silk, bold, bald?

Explanation of the question and Research:
The letter L seems to be silent in many words like walk, talk, calm, folk, half, chalk. I checked their pronunciations in a few dictionaries and I have never heard anyone pronouncing it in these words. Maybe some people pronounce the L as suggested in this post on reddit but the standard pronunciation has silent L.

Another post on Quora suggests two points in which one is "l-vocalization":

The first one has got something to do with l-vocalisation. In many languages this consonant changes its characteristic over time. Initially, plain ’l’ gets velarized (or dark, in other words), after which the consonant gradually becomes a semi-vowel.
This is what happened to ‘l’ in a number of English words of Germanic origin such as ‘walk’. Being pronounced /walk/ a long time ago, they changed the pronunciation to /wawk/, and later on to /wɔ:k/ (monophthongisation of ‘au’ is also rather widespread).   [answer by Igor Vegin].

One question (Where did the L in talk go?) on this site is similar but it does not explain why the L is pronounced in some words and silent in some words. In this question, the answer by Decapitated Soul says also "L-vocalization" as suggested in Quora's answer but does not explain my question.

Another answer I found is on Linguist List but does not answer my question, instead it says the the L was pronounced at some time but it is silent now.

My own observations:
The L is silent when it comes between a vowel and consonant. In words where the L is between vowels, the L is not silent like in filling, killing, color, pillar etc.
The L after /ɔː/ and /ɑː/ and before a consonant is silent in many words like calm, walk, talk, half, calm etc.
The L after /ɪ/ and before a consonant is not silent like milk, silk, film etc.
The L after /ʌ/ and before a consonant is not like hulk, bulk etc.

Question:
Is there any rule or this is just random discrepancy? Can anyone please explain?


texts: What is the difference in meaning between the sentences"You can be a singer or a dancer" and "You can either be a singer or a dancer"?

texts: Do the sentences  have the same meaning ?If they have same meaning,the use of the word"either" seems somewhat redundant in this particular type of sentences as the meaning still remains intact after removing it.But if the meanings of these sentences are different, then the case could be different however.Can somebody explain this?


texts: Ground Floor versus First Floor; Who is Less Wrong?

texts:
In the UK we say 'ground floor' and in the US they say 'first floor' for the lowest level in a building.

As I am fairly sure, no-one else in the world uses this terminology.

Does this make Britons wrong, or illogical?

I ask because while trying to explain to my European friend that the ground floor is on the ground, it came to me that our first floor would be the second [peice of flooring] that you would walk upon, thus making it the second floor.

I'm stumped.

EDIT: I feel like this question should be in civil engineering, not language, do say if I'm ok or not.


texts: Can I use "be able to" and "can/could" in same sentence?

texts:
Can I use "can/could" and "be able to" in the same sentence?.

Is it grammatically correct?

Which one is correct?

  She can speak English well.

  She is able to speak English well.

  She can able to speak English well.

Please guide me.

Thanks in advance.


texts: Resulted in "him" or "his" losing the job?

texts:
In the following sentence,

  Shortly thereafter he had a car accident which resulted in him losing the job.

My supervisor wanted to change him to his saying something about gerunds. I disagreed and proved it to her by showing her a GrammarCheck I had done on the sentence. She didn't like it but she let it go.

Isn't using him correct in that sentence?


texts: Pathfinding, path-finding or path finding?

texts: I'm writing my thesis about finding paths in certain graphs but have run into a spelling problem... Is the correct word "pathfinding", "path finding" or "path-finding"? My spellcheck does not think "pathfinding" is correct and suggests "path finding" or "path-finding" (however the wikipedia article on the subject is called "pathfinding"...). I can't find any definite source on which spelling is to be preferred?


texts:
Which one of these would be correct:

  (XYZ offers) significantly more visibility than other

  medium
  mediums
  media
  mode (?)

  of advertisements.

XYZ is a new method of advertisements, similar to TV, radio, and newspapers. How would you go about comparing it to the other methods(?) of advertisements.

I'm not using media as in "mass communication", but rather as in "medium of instruction" or "medium of travel".


texts:
He looked out over the ocean and felt closer, this dawn, than ever before, closer to the heart of it all.

From the "Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows" by J. K. Rowling

The author described the dawn few sentences before this sentence. So it is clear form the context what dawn she is talking about; however, I struggle to identify this fragment. What do you call it? A phrase of some sort?


texts: Which word can I use for "abundant light"?

texts: Which word can I use to describe too much light, i.e., when I have switched on 3 bulbs while there was a need for only 1 bulb?


texts: Origin of “name happened” form: from “s*** happens” via “magic happens”?

texts:
There’s a form in current English

Then <X> happened or <X> happened,

where you transition the name of a thing (a person, a fictitious character, or object), to mean the dramatic effects of the arrival of the "thing".

The thing in question is so big its NAME refers not only to the thing or person itself but to a whole system of events, culture, or actions associated with it.

As an example  in http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/22/magazine/george-lucas-red-tails.html we find "then Star Wars happened".

Well now, since I am old enough I lived through the evolution of this phrase in popular culture, I PERSONALLY ASSUMED THAT:

You had the phrase shit happens.
People (in the 80s?) started turning that around to <nice-word-here> happens, notably magic happens.
Subsequently the form <NAME> happened was used when describing action movie characters, sport teams, dot com booms and the like.

But by all means, I COULD BE COMPLETELY WRONG.

Can anyone find any information on the actual origin of the name happens form?

(Note that the origin of "shit happens" is now well understood and documented. The question at hand is is, how did the quirky "and then name happened... originate? Was it (my guess) a play on "shit happens" -- or am I just totally wrong to assume that?)

PS: Tragically, the OED seems not to have cottoned on to it yet: http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/84057


texts: "Were that you who did that" vs. "was that you who did that"

texts:
Which of the following is correct?

  Were that you who did that?
  Was that you who did that?

Obviously one has to use were with you, but which one goes here in this case?


texts:
What are the differences between shade and shadow? Do they have different meanings or can they be used interchangeably?

  Let's sit under the shade/shadow.

  The cat was afraid of its own shade/shadow.


texts: As one pronounces 'pre' and 'face' as is done for these as individual words, how come when they form the word 'preface' the pronunciation is so different?


texts: Is it correct to say "I'm confused as to which of the following sentences is correct"? or "I'm confused about to which..."?


texts: A term for "extracting essence from something"?

texts:
Would there be a fitting term to describe the process of obtaining the essence out of something - not necessarily chemically (so perhaps something other than "distill"), but rather getting the essence of a concept, or an idea.

"Extract" also seems to me like something removed from the general body of the concept rather than recognising its seed/source/essence.

"Essentialise" doesn't seem to exist in the common use. It definitely makes sense though.


texts: Plurality of phrases describing categories of objects

texts:
When talking about a specific category of objects, does it make more sense to attach plurality to the label of the category, as in:

  Dogs are in the kingdom of animals, which also include cats.

or to attach singularity to the category itself, as in:

  Dogs are in the kingdom of animals, which also includes cats.

?


texts: Which is clearer: "Achieved on 50 days" vs. "achieved 50 times"?

texts:
One explanation:

  Hit the daily reputation cap on 50 days

Another explanation:

  Hit the daily reputation cap 50 times

Which is clearer between the two? Which is more prone to lead to confusion? Does it depend on English background maybe?


texts: "One in a million" or "A million to one"?

texts:
Last week I took part in an English course, and the teacher was constantly saying a million to one (when he meant "an extremely small possibility").

Is this correct? Is it the same as one in a million?

In polish we say the equivalent of one in a million (pl: jedna na milion) — which, by the way, seems much more correct (considering the mathematical sense).


texts: "given to" vs "marked by" vs "characterized by"

texts:
Based the definition I inferred from often seeing dictionary definitions of different words written using one or more of these three phrases, the three feel more or less the same.

While a quick google search shows up nothing useful, I would much appreciate if someone can give his or her opinion on this. It can be empirical or literary.


texts: Meaning of "it takes a measure of doing"

texts:
In the novel Dune by  Frank Herbert, it says:

  "Some day, lad," the old woman said, "you, too, may have to stand outside a door like that. It takes a measure of doing."

What does it mean?


texts: What is the precise name for this non sequitur

texts:
Randomly came across an article with the title Why Angry White America Fell For Putin today.

Provocative title and content of the article aside, there is an obvious kind of fallacy in the title itself. A statement of the form "Why X" where the truth of X is assumed but not actually an established fact. Is there, and what is, the precise name of this non sequitur?

P.S. First post here. Couldn't find the rhetoric stack exchange so hope this is a good enough place for this.


texts: The usage of any in affirmative sentences with countable nouns

texts:
I want to know whether the following sentence is correct:

  Revoking or invoking any new laws(or law?) can affect a large number of people's lives.

My tutor told me that "any" in positive sentences should be accompanied by a singular form even if the noun is countable.


texts: Meaning of "money leaving the space for lower-hanging fruit." in the context of economics

texts:
To be more precise, I copied the whole sentence here. Can you understand the following sentence? if u do, could u please explain what "money leaving the space" means in it.

That's really the driver that seems to be the culprit in money leaving
the space for lower-hanging fruit.

The article from which this sentence was taken out is about economics, and the word driver apparently refers to "a factor that has a material effect on the activity of another entity." (Driver definition in economics)
Thanks for your time


texts:
I am confused in using this sentence.

  "Code in SVN and Test case document is updated accordingly."

I am thinking of using are instead because "Code" here is a set of Source Code files and "Test case document" is a single document file.
But are would contradict with "document" which is singular. So which form should I use?

Any help would be appreciated.


texts: What is the name for a video that is shown as a preamble to an interview on a talk show?

texts: In TV talk shows, what is the name for a video clip that is shown as a preamble to an interview? I am working in the Netherlands, where they call this an 'instart'.


texts: I (non-native speaker) keep stumbling over things such as "barely has any influence". It seems to me that in these examples any is redundant. Shouldn't : "I barely have friends" be sufficient? And is the combination of barely and any as above considered to be grammatically correct?


texts: Is a comma always needed before 'although' – or is it just a matter of style?

texts:
I know it technically isn't correct, but to me it just looks awkward without it. For example (just reading through a friend's gig review):

  The videos were surprisingly hard hitting, although equally I don’t
  think Muse will ever get to the Rage Against The Machine level of
  political activism.

I think this could be substituted for 'but', which is why I think it works best with a comma.

However, the phrase 'even though' sounds better without one:

  It was incredibly heartwarming to witness even though I wasn’t able
  to see him myself.

What are some opinions?

I'm bad with commas (a serial abuser of them), and I'm only really starting to learn English punctuation properly!


texts:
How will a hypothetical 22 year old feel if he has developed some romantic sentiment for a young person (classmate) aged 20, but she unknowingly said that 'I will be your sister always.'

Context: This is very much a generic case. It is very common in India (especially among  classmates) to say 'I will be your brother/sister' which basically means there is no chance of any romance. In this case this person had not even started to express his sentiment, but it is already finished. How will he feel? I have considered some common words like disappointment...

  sadness or displeasure caused by the non-fulfilment of one's hopes or expectations.

Source: Google

...but I am yet to get that word that feels 'just right' to express how he will be feeling.

What is a single word or phrase for that feeling?

Model sentence for SWR:

  In this situation he felt ____ (adjective/noun)

Other ideas are also welcome, as in phrases or idioms.