texts: Meaning of "off" as "the total number of"

texts: I remember that once I saw "off" used (my teacher told me it is British English but I cannot seem to find it in a dictionary) meaning "total of" - so off 10 (or maybe it was 10 off - I do not remember corectly, but it was not about percent or reductions) meant of the total number of 10 items e.g. all 10 cars were serviceable. Could someone shat some light on that? If the above is not enough I shall look for a better example.


texts: Regarding the usage of some 'bad' language

texts: Is there a legitimate or edifying literary purpose for the many forms of blasphemy (forgive spelling) that have appeared in many modern works of literature. Does it really help a story line or plot or character study. There have been many popular movies of the 50's and 60's that have a great plot , interesting characters and hardly any bad language. This shows they could write a great story without it. Why did movies from the 70's on-wards ( and similarly with books) seem to embrace blasphemy and swearing? Does blasphemy and swearing have an important literary use?


texts: Can I use "On the other hand" in a new paragraph?

texts:
I'm in a situation where the argument for "On the one hand" is long. The argument for "on the other hand" is about the same length. If I put them in the same paragraph, the paragraph becomes much longer than the other paragraphs.

My two questions are:

Can I start (and should I) start a new paragraph with "On the other hand"?
Is it OK if one paragraph (which is also the core of the essay) is more than double the length of the other paragraphs?


texts: What do you call a person who does/thinks the opposite of the crowd for just that reason?

texts:
Such a person does not hold in high regard the decisions taken by a group (not a team) of people. She believes that groups tend to be anarchic and don't serve their purpose.

An example would be - for outings with friends, this person will not like planning it with the group since they will mess it up.

Therefore, this person has convinced herself that when more people are involved with something, it will be worse. She distrusts crowds instinctively basically.


texts: Does "Can I have lunch with you?" imply I have something to talk about with that person?

texts:
Last week, I asked one of my coworkers to have lunch with me. I messaged him "Can I have lunch with you?" and he reply "No, I have a meeting until 2pm"

Then around 4 pm, he walked to my desk and asked me if I have something to talk, which prompts me to ask:  Does “Can I have lunch with you?” imply I have something to talk about with that person?


texts:
Can you please tell me whether in the following sentence the naked light is an epithet or not, thanks in advance.

  I lived by night and shunned the naked light of day.


texts: A jilt whose ear was never whispered close (From "On Fame" by John Keats)

texts:
I've met an ambiguous line in Keat's "On Fame":

  FAME, like a wayward girl, will still be coy
        To those who woo her with too slavish knees,
      But makes surrender to some thoughtless boy,
        And dotes the more upon a heart at ease;
      She is a Gipsey,—will not speak to those
        Who have not learnt to be content without her;
      A Jilt, whose ear was never whisper’d close,
        Who thinks they scandal her who talk about her;

What could this mean, "her ear was never whispered close"? Nobody has ever shared their secrets with her? But how could that emphasize or confirm her position as a jilt? I could imagine a jilt whose ear has been whispered close in that sense and still that would not prevent her from being a jilt.

The line seems so out of touch with the rest of the poem that I feel there must be something I've failed to notice.


texts: What is the formal plural of the word theorem?

texts: The word theorem comes from late Latin theōrēma and the Greek θεώρημα . If one wanted a plural form other than theorems that reflected its etymology, what would it be?  I understand the standard plural is theorems but I would still be interested to know.


texts: Where does "Santa" in Santa Claus come from?

texts:
Santa Claus is a man, right? In this case, he may not be fine with the fact that people call him Santa, which is the Spanish and Portuguese word for female saint names.  For example, Santa Barbara and Santa Monica (Barbara and Monica are both female names). Saint Nicholas is by the way translated as San Nicolas and São Nicolas, respectively, in these languages, as San and São are the words for male saint names.

Where does Santa in Santa Claus come from?


texts: Is "north to south" a more common set phrase than "south to north"?

texts: Would you describe Japan as a long country "from south to north", or "from north to south"? I suspect that "from north to south" is more common, and Google ngram agrees, but is this is the case?


texts: Need a word that has the opposite meaning of "nominal"?

texts:
I'm looking for a word that has the opposite meaning of the word nominal in the sense of in name only.

Here's an example (fill in the blank).

  Brian was in charge of scheduling in his [    ] role as Project Manager.
  He was often expected to carry out Project Management duties, even though his business card identified him as a programmer.

De facto sort of works, but I feel like the connotation of (in my example) having the role by tradition or default doesn't fit what I am trying to say.

I am essentially looking for a term that means we don't call it that, but in practice it really is.


texts: Is not the phrase 'Join our newsletter' wrong? Newsletter is a communication medium, right? Like a newspaper, or an email. So, it should ideally be 'subscribe to our newsletter' or 'sign up for our newsletter'?


texts:
When I am doing difficult task and my friend says"are you sure you can do this?"
Then I reply "I got this"
By grammar,I think it is simple past tense but i talking about present.A t.v character used this in direct speech in an episode in similar condition.i don't understand this use of "got"


texts:
I am having trouble picturing the structure of this preposition phrase

from the point of view of generative syntax (PP)

My attempt to run it down goes like this:

from (preposition) + the point of view of generative syntax (NP)
the (DET) + point of view of generative syntax (nominal)

And I am stuck here, because I am uncertain if it should be

[point of view] [of generative syntax](PP complement)

or

point [of view [of generative syntax]]

Namely, is the PP complement "of generative syntax" attached to the noun "view"? It feels weird if that's the case. Because that way it would mean "of view of generative syntax" constitutes a PP and "view of generative syntax" an NP, but that doesn't appear to be true.
Also I think the NP "point of view" is headed by "point" instead of "view", so shouldn't the complement attach to the head noun "point" or the entire NP? BillJ's answer here specifies licensing as the criterion for complements. So in such a case where the core that is followed by an NP complement is an NP itself, which is the noun that does the licensing or permitting?


texts: Which is correct: The rest of the staff is or are? The rest of my family is or are?

texts:
I hope you can enlighten me. I get varying answers in Google and I need to find out which is the correct grammatical structure for these sentences.

  The rest of the staff is/are on leave at the moment.

  The rest of my family is/are arriving late.


texts:
Consider this: I call my friend at his home and his mother picks up. What is the right thing to say?

Hello, may I speak to Daryl? Or

Hello, may I talk to Daryl?

Similarly,

Hello, may I speak with Daryl? Or

Hello, may I talk with Daryl?

The choice of words always gets me thinking during a phone call. Which of these should be used?


texts:
Yes. If she'd just let that tight hair of hern all out loose and
  careless-like, as it used ter be, and wear the sort of bunnits with
  posies in 'em, and the kind o' dresses all lace and white things--you'd
  see she'd be handsome! Miss Polly ain't old, Nancy.

(Eleanor H. Porter, Polyanna)

In the above paragraph,
what does the “tight  hair of hern” mean?
A hern is a bird, I think.
Or does it have another meaning?


texts: Origin of distinction between "one" and "a/an"?

texts: So I was told that the English articles "a" and "an" have Germanic origins. In German, there is not a distinction between "one" and "a/an". Is there any explanation for the existence of these two different words in English? Is there a situation in which "one" and "a/an" cannot be interchanged? I suspect that "a/an" is just easier to say....but maybe I am just biased to think so, as I am a native English speaker.


texts:
Can I always replace “because of” with “on account of”? As in

I could not enjoy the day because of the awful weather.
I could not enjoy the day on account of the awful weather.

If these two expressions are same, is there any situation where I should prefer one over the other?


texts: Word describing that things become more difficult to understand rather than easier

texts:
I am looking for a word that describes that things become more difficult to understand rather than easier as a result of for instance someone's explanation for something. That is, the explanation is supposed to be illuminating, but has the opposite effect (i.e. it leaves you more puzzled instead).

e.g.: His explanation for that math problem was very ... I'm even more puzzled now!


texts: Meaning of "Ignorance and bungling with love are better than wisdom and skill without"

texts:
What is the meaning of the following quote?

  Ignorance and bungling with love are better than wisdom and skill without.


texts: Why do psychology researchers frequently misplace commas, in relationship to coordinating conjunctions?

texts:
If a comma belongs next to a coordinating conjunction, it should precede (see Should I use a comma before "and" or "or"?, https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/punctuation/commas/extended_rules_for_commas.html).

However, many of published research articles I've viewed as a psychology student, and I believe the majority of my textbooks, frequently place the comma after a coordinating conjunction. It's extremely frustrating; it's difficult to read, because I pause in the wrong place. This affects my efficiency, and my comprehension.

Why is this so common? Many are recognized authors and doctorate level researchers, and this error along with their credentials leaves me baffled. I've found this error to be committed mostly by researchers, not by authors of other materials (history, philosophy, theology, etc.)

To quote my first link, which contains these:

I hit my brother with a stick, and he cried.
The rain stopped, and the sun came out again.

The books and articles I read would have written them as:

I hit my brother with a stick and, he cried.
The rain stopped and, the sun came out again.

I was asked to provide example sources where this has been an issue.

Specific examples from the Criminal Behavior textbook (mentioned below):

  One of the most notorious examples of a crime that wasn't is the case of O.J. Simpson and the 1994 murder of his wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman. O.J. Simpson was charged and tried for the crime and, after a year-long highly publicized (and televised) trial, received a verdict of "not guilty." (p. 14)

  Individuals who do not feel discomfort do not respond appropriately to punishment or threats of punishment and, as a result, are not effectively deterred from engaging in antisocial behavior. (p. 76)

  Psychotic offenders are out of touch with reality and, although most are
  not violent, may commit crime when they fail to take their medication. (p. 104)

  Psychopaths are unable to shift attention from carrying out a behavior to evaluating behavior and, once fixated on a goal, are unable to stop or change their behavior in response to nonsalient stimuli (e.g., recognition of long-term consequences). (p. 131)

  Even in prison, sex offenders are the lowest on the offender hierarchy and, as a result, are victimized and aggressively targeted by other offenders (Sabo, Kupers, & London, 200 1; see Box 6.1).

  Sex offending occurs when vulnerable individuals experience stress, proximate risk factors (such as mental illness, substance use, exposure to pornography) and, from a routine activities perspective, are in close proximity to an available victim in the absence of guardians and social controls. (p. 234-235)

In Babiak and Hare's (2006) Snakes in Suits: When Psychopaths Go to Work (as cited in Criminal Behavior: Theories, Typologies and Criminal Justice 1st Edition)

  They abuse coworkers and, by lowering morale and stirring up conflict, the
  company itself. Some may even steal and defraud. (Babiak & Hare, 2006, p. xiv)

Here are three books, which I no longer own, but I'm pretty sure they were great examples of this problem:

Criminal Behavior: Theories, Typologies and Criminal Justice 1st Edition

Cognitive Psychology 1st Edition -- by J. April Park, W. Trey Hill

Development Across the Life Span (8th Edition)

An example article:
doi:10.1037/ppm0000128


texts:
I want to ask about the gerund and present participles on those sentences below.

Mr. Wilkins would like some assistance setting up the audio equipment in the conference room.
Mark offered his full cooperation on a project that is developing a new TV show.

I learned that participle functions like an adjective and mostly used to modify nouns.
And gerund acts like a noun. It can be a subject, an object, the object of a preposition, or a subject complement.
In sentence 1, I thought 'setting up' modifies the noun 'assistance', so it is a present participle.
In sentence 2, I thought 'developing' acts like a subject complement, so it is a gerund.
Is that correct?


texts: Why does the word ‘suffix’ have a double ‘ff’ while ‘prefix’ has a single ‘f’?

texts:
While writing the word ‘suffix’, I stopped to do a spellcheck as a result of the ‘ff’. I did not do so with the word ‘prefix’ as I was comfortable with the ‘pre’ and ‘fix’. I looked up ‘ff’ vs. ‘f’ and found the Floss rule (also FSZL), a spelling rule where the letters f, s, z, and l are doubled after a short vowel sound.
Then it became double the letter after a short vowel and don’t double if there is a consonant after the sound (spellzone.com).
I did not feel that my question was answered.
The etymologies are as follows:

Prefix: mid 16th century (as a verb): from Old French
prefixer, from Latin praefixus ‘fixed in front’, from the verb
praefigere, from prae ‘before’ + figere ‘to fix’. The noun is from
modern Latin praefixum, neuter (used as a noun) of praefixus, and
dates from the mid 17th century.
Suffix: late 18th century (as a noun): from modern Latin suffixum,
neuter past participle (used as a noun) of Latin suffigere, from sub-
‘subordinately’ + figere ‘fasten’.
(Google)

Wouldn’t it make sense as ‘preffix’ and ‘suffix’, or ‘prefix’ and ‘sufix’?
Some tentatively related discussions are here: "Postfix" or "suffix"? and Single word which means 'suffix' or 'prefix'.


texts: Word(s) to say if someone doesn't want one thing they surely don't want some second thing

texts:
I have been going crazy trying to find this word and I just cant seem to be successful. The word is to state something kind of obvious. Here is an example on where/how to use it:

Parent: "Do you want to go to school today son?"
Child: "Dad I don't want to get out of bed, (the word) go to school."

The word/phrase is meant to say that if the son doesn't want to get out of bed, surely he won't like to go to school. Please help.


texts: What is the meaning of "State-of-the-art closed-loop com gear"?

texts:
I`m just reading JET (by Russell Blake) and there I can read:
Still watching the alley, she reached her throbbing hand down and quickly went through the fallen attacker’s pockets, noting the telltale smashed ear bud wedged under his head. State-of-the-art closed-loop com gear – as expected.
What could be the meaning of State-of-the-art closed-loop com gear?
Could it be something like private communication channel with the highest technology level?
Thank you.


texts: If eloquent speaking is 'oratory', then eloquent writing is

texts:
As it says in the headline, looking for a word that represents "the art of writing" in the same way that 'oratory' in some sense represents the "the art of speaking".

Example:

  She had great _______.

BONUS: Obviously a noun, but is there a specific grammatical term for words like these? If so, what is it?

Edit:

The poor example above has caused unnecessary confusion because a noun doesn't fit the sentence. Have left unchanged so responses still make sense.

Better example:

  His oratory was legendary. Her _______ was legendary.


texts: Word for "taking advantage of non-public resource"?

texts:
One is always sleepy at the afternoon, especially after a full lunch. I just had a good doze in a lovely sofa after some reading in a hotel nearby, used the toilet , enjoyed the music, and read the newspaper.

Is there an English word for ppl like me taking advantages of hotels or similar non-public places? :p by non-public I mean, it's ok to go to public places such as public gardens, as we pay the tax, right...


texts: Some residual effects of the Great Vowel Shift

texts:
Here's the complete text of a poem by Rudyard Kipling (from "Just So Stories"):

  The Camel's hump is an ugly lump
  Which well you may see at the Zoo;
  But uglier yet is the hump we get
  From having too little to do.

  Kiddies and grown-ups too-oo-oo,
  If we haven't enough to do-oo-oo,
  We get the hump --
  Cameelious hump --
  The hump that is black and blue!

  We climb out of bed with a frouzly head,
  And a snarly-yarly voice.
  We shiver and scowl and we grunt and we growl
  At our bath and our boots and our toys;

  And there ought to be a corner for me
  (And I know' there is one for you)
  When we get the hump --
  Cameelious hump --
  The hump that is black and blue!

  The cure for this ill is not to sit still,
  Or frowst with a book by the fire;
  But to take a large hoe and a shovel also,
  And dig  till you gently perspire;

  And then you will find that the sun and the wind,
  And the Djinn of the Garden  too,
  Have lifted the hump --
  The horrible hump --
  The hump that is black and blue!

  I get it as well as you-oo-oo --
  If I haven't enough to do-oo-oo!
  We all get hump --
  Cameelious hump --
  Kiddies and grown-ups too!

Note that the quatrains aren't really quatrains: they're sestains (six lines, not four). And the rhyme scheme is aabccb. With the exception of the "chorus" (the stanzas with all the oo-oo's), this is the pattern throughout the poem.

In other words, it really should be:

  The Camel's hump
  Is an ugly lump
  Which well you may see at the Zoo;
  But uglier yet
  Is the hump we get
  From having too little to do.

As I mentioned earlier: aabccb.

Here's the question: "find" and "wind" ("And then you will find/That the sun and the wind") used to rhyme. Back in Shakespeare's time.  Perhaps back in Byron's time, too. But "Just So Stories" was published in 1902, and written shortly before that. What gives?


texts: Is "I'm glad we had this conversation" patronizing?

texts:
Does "I'm glad we had this conversation" carry patronizing undertones? Is there an alternative that expresses gratitude after a conversation that does not carry such undertones?

E.g.

Arnold: "Wow, that was an interesting conversation about trees. Thanks! I definitely learned a lot."

Fred: "No problem! I'm [glad we had this conversation]."


texts: How to describe healthy curiosity, unambiguously?

texts:
I would like to exclaim, "How curious you are!" But this exclamation has an unfortunate ambiguity. It can either mean "curious" in the sense of a desire to learn. Or it can mean "curious" in the sense of being odd.

There are three words I know of that describe a desire to learn, and they differ in their impertinence. "Curious" is a neutral term. "Inquisitive" suggests a slight impertinence. "Prying" suggests a serious impertinence.

Of the three, curious best describes a healthy desire to learn. But it does have the ambiguity of its other meaning, "odd". Is there another word that describes the former sense, unambiguously?

Is there a clearer way to express my initial exclamation? "How curious you are!"


texts:
Many times when writing a letter asking to a department of my university, I'm hesitating for the appropriate title.

Say I want to email "Student Insurance Office" to ask about insurance coverage. Here are some example I can come up with,

"To whom it may concern". Not appropriate, because to me it shows the writer's indifference about the person reading it.
"Dear Student Insurance Officer/Manager". Can I start with "dear" to an stranger?(I could replace it by "Hello" or "Hi" though) and can I generally call people officer? Usually it means police officer.
"Dear Student Insurance Office". It seems that I'm writing a letter to the whole office.
"Dear Sir/Madam". But actually I don't know the name of that person. I would know of course if he/she responds my email.

Do you guys have any suggestions to the generally acceptable title for an unknown person/department/organization?


texts: Is this correct usage of "designate" as an adjective?

texts:
I am aware that a designee is someone who is designated to do something, but I have seen some odd usage of the word designate because of its adjective form.
I would like to make sure I am using the word designate properly.
For example it is proper to say:

He is a manager designate.

However it is not correct to say:

He is a designate.

Is that right?
The usage I question is the following:

Contact the Regional Manager or designate.

If the above is wrong (as I think it is) would either of the following be proper?

Contact the Regional Manager or their designee.
Contact the Regional Manager or Regional Manager designate. (This must be correct...)


texts: Phrase for the idea that we experience life as a narrative and contribute to it?

texts:
There is this poem by Whitman who paints a picture of life as a narrative that we contribute our story to:

O Me! O Life!
Oh me! Oh life! of the questions of these recurring,
Of the endless trains of the faithless, of cities fill’d with the foolish,
Of myself forever reproaching myself, (for who more foolish than I, and who more faithless?)
Of eyes that vainly crave the light, of the objects mean, of the struggle ever renew’d,
Of the poor results of all, of the plodding and sordid crowds I see around me,
Of the empty and useless years of the rest, with the rest me intertwined,
The question, O me! so sad, recurring—What good amid these, O me, O life?
Answer.
That you are here—that life exists and identity,
That the powerful play goes on, and you may contribute a verse.

My question is - is there a phrase that describes this idea of life as a narrative? (My guess is 'hi-story'. )


texts: Meaning of "trade-off between attention to fluency or attention to accuracy."

texts:
I'm a foreign English learner. I could not understand the meaning because of two puzzling aspects in a sentence in shawn loewen's book Key concepts in second language acquisition:

  In SLA this is most visible in the trade-off between attention to
  fluency or attention to accuracy

(1) The meaning of "trade-off" is too abstract.

(2) I don't know which phrase - "attention to fluency" or "attention to fluency or attention to accuracy" - is modified by the word "trade-off".


texts:
What type of word is "certain"? As in the sentence:

"John wants to own a certain piano which used to belong to a famous pianist."

I have looked for some information. It tends to be classified as an adjective.

However, it seems to me that it is more an indefinite quantifier, but I am not sure.

Thank you so much for your help!


texts: What does this sentence from the Tempest mean?

texts:
This is a quote from "the Tempest" by Prospero:

  This misshapen knave,
  His mother was a witch, and one so strong
  That could control the moon, make flows and ebbs,
  And deal in her command without her power.

And it translates to (according to this source):

  This ugly monster had a mother who was a witch so powerful that she could control the moon and the tides.

To me that translation is pretty much correct but it explains the meaning of the original sentence until the "make flows and ebbs" part. What does the next part of the original sentence mean? And shouldn't translation of a literary work be done with full fidelity?


texts: How can one omit the third-person pronoun in sentences entirely?

texts:
I have a task which involves my having to show how I can write in different ways in English. Thus far, I have shown how I can write in a multitude of ways in a reasonably successful way, but I am rather stumped now that I am being asked to form sentences where there is no mention of any third-person pronoun at all. This is something with which I am really, really struggling, but completing the task is something imperative, as I won't be able to move on otherwise to the other tasks that I need to complete.

I have searched the Internet and, well, that proved useless, so now I am really, really hoping to get an answer from someone on here to this pressing question of mine.

Thanks to all in advance!


texts:
I am going to present a funny gift to my friend. What is the best sentence which will describe the item? Is the following sentence correct?

  Be prepared to get a gift which you never had before.


texts: Is it correct to add nouns to "of which","in which","of whom", etc.?

texts:
For example, can I say

  Recently I bought a new computer, the price of which was very reasonable.

I always considered this type of usage correct but can't find any example sentences on the internet.


texts: I've noticed over the past year, more speakers are using the word 'so' to preface their answer, rather than the usual 'well' or even 'uh.' Where did this originate, and why is it happening?


texts: How acceptable is to use the word "dorsal" as antonym for "lateral"? Are there better antonyms denoting direction along the vertical as opposed to lateral.


texts: Apostrophes for showing possession on the word "structure"

texts:
I often use the word "structure", as in "the structure of a building".

I always thought the word structure was singular, so to show possession I would use:

  "The structure's properties are impressive"

However, whenever co-authors look at my work they edit it to:

  "The structures' properties are impressive".

Why are they moving the apostrophe? Is there a better way to express that I am treating "structure" as a singular noun?


texts: What is the verb, synonym of stuck, that describes when an object is located between two other objects?

texts:
For example:
"The door was ________ between two bookshelves"


texts: I saw some expression like the following : "I met a design problem in .... ", is it a right usage of the word "meet". It just sounds odd to me. I would rather use  "ran into" or "encountered" instead. Any advice ?


texts:
There is one good common idiom in Russian language:

  Let's put points over i.

It means: let's finalize our decisions, make everything super clear (sometimes: come up with some agreements). (Idiom's wiki page.)

So, question: Is there an analog for this idiom in English?


texts:
What does "Past painted" mean? I saw this in the Paul McCartney's song "Mull of Kintyre":

  Past painted deserts the sunset of fire


texts: Who coined the term "Holocaust" to refer to the Nazi "final solution" for the Jewish people?

texts: Before World War II the word "holocaust" referred most often to a huge inferno.  Who first used the term to describe the Nazi murder of 6 million Jews?  When and where?


texts:
In The Simpsons Movie, Flanders says this to Bart when Bart comes into the church.

  How good to see you. And how terrible you're here.

I am not familiar with this usage of how here; as unfamiliar as I am, I couldn't not think it meant Flanders felt terrible that Bart was there. I assume, as Bart is not a church-going boy, that it actually means Flanders could see how terrible the things are going; "it must be terrible that you've come here." Could you tell me how it's used and give some examples? And is this common?


texts: What is the correct verb here? Is or are?

texts:
Example:
“In the performance category is the/are the/there are:

1) Al-Taghrooda, a traditional Bedouin chanted poetry

2) Al-Ayyala, a traditional performing art

3) Al-Azi, a traditional recital


texts: How to differentiate "slow" VS "slowly" both as adverbs

texts:
I understand the 2 words are very simple words in English until I came across this sentence below:

"Please drive slow".

I know it should be an adverb here, and I checked it up to find "slow" is not only an adjective, but also an adverb. So my wondering is how to differentiate "slow" from "slowly" both as adverbs? For the sentence above, which sounds a bit weird though, is it also ok to say "Please drive slowly"?


texts: What does "perimeter of application" mean?

texts:
I've come across this term repeatedly in a paper I'm reading and from the context, I'm not sure what it means.

Context:

  The building of a proper  dataset from the available
  internal/external data  requires that a bank develop policies and
  procedures to address its several features (ie
  perimeter of application, observation period, reference date, de minimis modelling thresholds  and data treatment).


texts: "in a similar way as" or "in a similar way to"?

texts:
Consider the two statements:

  A is constructed in a similar way as B

and

  A is constructed in a similar way to B

Which one is correct, or can they both be?

By the way, I originally thought of the sentence is a weakened form the following:

  A is constructed in the same way as B

This might subconsciously lead me to prefer the former construction, although if I would expand the sentences above into imagined longer versions, I might have to choose between

  A is constructed in a similar way as the way in which B is constructed

and

  A is constructed in a way that is similar to the way in which B is constructed

where I guess the latter sounds better.


texts:
What's the difference between "I will just" and "I will".

Examples:

I will just order it.

I will order it.

Do they have the same meaning?


texts: What is a word that describes the cultural attachments that come with a language?

texts:
For example, generally, if someone speaks American English fluently, that person would be familiar with not only common American phrases but also could relate to it.
Example:
Two strangers cross each other's path and one of them in a friendly gesture, playfully says...Boo! The other person if startled would immediately afterwards realize that it was a joke because the person used "boo" and therefore reciprocate the friendly intent of the gesture by a gesture of acknowledgment...perhaps through a smile, laugh, saying "you got me!", saying "shut up! (while smiling), respond with keeping the banter...etc.
On the other hand, if it were someone that was not familiar with "boo" and what it implied (perhaps due to learning it through text book, rather than experience), they might take it as a malicious gesture. Even though the person might be more fluent than the first person in English, they come from a different culture of where that particular language is used, thus they don't have the cultural understanding that comes with many parts of it.
What is that cultural understanding called?
For instance, if it was called ooly. I would say..."He's good in English, but still, be mindeful that there could be misunderstandings due to ooly."


texts: What is the proper way to say that someone received a prize / achieved a certain rank as a result of his participation in a contest or competition? I would also like a brief explanation, if it's more about it than being a mere collocation.


texts:
I've heard both phrases used but would love to learn what the difference is and if one is more proper than the other.

E.g.

  The green paint really made it come [to life/alive].


texts:
What is the meaning of print-plus in the following text?

  Publish a beta version of the project in a print-plus mode online and establish
  a workflow to repurpose this content for traditional publication.


texts: Usual combinations of nouns/verbs and prepositions

texts:
Following Macmillan Dictionary, we can find out that word list can be used together with the preposition of (example sentence: A list of the world’s richest people).

We are looking for a collection in reverse form. That is a list of common words associated with a specific preposition (e.g., of) to the left. So far, we've created this collection.

Do you know of a resource that meets this form?


texts: What does this mean: "it's all too easy to come up short when someone has their eyes to the sky ."

texts:
Can someone please explain to me what the bolded sentence means in the following passage

  Anyone who’s been to Sonic knows what unmet expectations feel like. If you’re a small business owner, you’ve probably come to hate the verb “expect” more than any other. Customers have a whole lot of dreams about what you can deliver, and it’s all too easy to come up short when someone has their eyes to the sky.


texts: How to Explain Dependent Clause to a German?

texts:
I'm trying to help a friend with written English. I told her that I wouldn't be able to provide too much assistance in the way of grammar because I quite frankly just don't know the rules. I'm supposed to provide "real-world" practice outside of her schoolroom studies.

However, she did ask me why this sentence is grammatically correct.

"As Leo realises that he is nothing more than an instrument of a fundamentally deadly and unstoppable totalitarian regime, a crisis of conscience ensues."

You have to understand, as a German speaker, if you start a sentence with "Als,", you have to complete it with a dependent clause, which I think I did here, but I'm not comfortable enough with my understanding of it to explain it to her without feeling as I'm telling her a lot of false information.


texts: Other terms/ phrases for "hit two birds with one stone"

texts: I'm trying to find a more pleasant way to express this phrase. Hitting two birds with one stone is a disturbing way to express what I'm trying to say, in my opinion.


texts: Concise Way to Say "Small Tasks can be as Important as Big Tasks"

texts:
I need a concise way to explain this idea:

  Doing the small and easy tasks can be as noble (or more worthwhile) than doing the hard tasks.

Examples:

100 people can be more effective by working on small tasks — like creating community gardens all over the city, reducing carbon in the environment — than working on larger ones like experimenting and failing at curing major diseases.
I'm more effective spending an hour doing something I know well instead of doing heart surgery.

Going on this train of thought, I imagine there is a word to describe a phase of creating art, brainstorming, or constructing a house that is more productive than others.

As you can see, I'm struggling with a high-level comparison of productivity and effectiveness in individuals versus those in a collective. And also the process someone goes through to say: “Am I going to forge a new road alone (like a cowboy) or join a collective effort?”

I'm trying to avoid politically-charged words like sharing economy, collective, and communism.


texts: Is there a word that means “proof that I can trust you?”

texts:
I’m looking for a word that means something like “proof that I can trust you / them / me / it.”

If there isn’t an English word, but you know of one that can be borrowed from another language, that would be swell as well!

EDIT: Here is an example usage in poem format, regarding the qualities of a relationship that are needed.

I need love

I need care

I need ______


texts: Where is 'urinal' pronounced with a long 'i'?

texts:
The OED suggests both a short and a long 'i' are acceptable without assigning either to the UK or to the US:

ur i nal — /ˈjʊərɪnəl/

and

ur eye nal — /jʊəˈraɪnəl/

In my limited experience the only people who pronounce it with the long 'i' are from Great Britain. Conversely, I don't think I've ever heard an English person use the pronunciation with the short 'i'; my sample population is very small, however. Is this a regional-, age-, or class-dependent thing?


texts:
As of today(?) I'm a student of a prestigious university.

Should there be a comma after "As of today"?


texts: What's the difference between these terms: old-fashioned, out of fashion,unfashionable and outdated?

texts:
What’s the difference between old-fashioned, out of fashion, unfashionable and outdated?

She wears old-fashioned clothes.
She wears unfashionable clothes.
She wears outdated clothes.
The clothes she wears are out of fashion.


texts: Punctuation with direct speech in a conditional sentence

texts:
I would like to write the following in a British English style:

I’ve been told I’m not the greatest singer so if I were to say, “I’m going to be a famous singer,” you could reply, “Not a chance!”

Is my punctuation correct regarding the comma after singer? I know that I’m supposed to use a comma after the ‘if’ clause but I’m not sure if, in this case, it should be inside the quotation.


texts:
Original sentence:

  Even being paid very well, and enjoying great working conditions, is not enough.

Should not it be this?

  Even being paid very well, and enjoying great working conditions, are not enough.

Or are both acceptable?


texts:
I have a box of plastic fantasy miniatures with title "Orcs" on it. If I take a figure out, how do I refer where it comes from?

From the plastic Orcs boxed set, or
From the plastic Orc boxed set

Which is correct?


texts: Is "likes nothing less" or "likes nothing more" correct?

texts:
He likes nothing less than an extremely sophisticated life.
  He likes nothing more than an extremely sophisticated life.

Both look meaningfully similar. In the first one, 'less' appears to act on the object while in the second line, the word 'more' appears to act on on the verb. Which one is correct in terms of grammatical accuracy?


texts:
I came across the word T-securities in the following comment of one of readers to the article of the Time magazine (April 19) titled “Don’t worry about the U.S. debt. - The world too vested in America to quit now.”

  The debt growth could end tomorrow, if the government simply stopped creating T-securities. Why would a government with the unlimited ability to create dollars, need to borrow those dollars? Michael, please, try to learn and understand Monetary Sovereignty.

As far as I’ve checked, no dictionary including online dictionaries has entry of the word T-securities.
Although I guess it means "U.S. Treasury securities," I’m not sure. Can anyone tell me what it presents for? Is this a new abbreviation? As I said, I cant find this word in any dictinaries.


texts: How did English end up with names for days of the week like Monday, borrowed from Latin but then also translated?

texts:
Learning about the origin of English names for days of the week, I found it curious that some of them had an original meaning borrowed from Latin, but the words themselves were a translation. So Monday comes from Latin "Lunæ dies", which means day of the moon, which then got translated using the old English/Germanic word for moon "mona", eventually giving rise to the word Monday.

If the Latin influence was strong enough to supply the original meaning for the word, then why didn't they simply borrow the actual Latin word instead of translating it into the Germanic equivalent? In other words, why didn't we end up with something like "Lunday"?


texts: Holding Two Mutually-incompatible Beliefs at One Time

texts:
Encountered this word for the first and only time at an Anglican church, from a rector.  I suspect that it is a word from Christian liturgy.

I had pointed out that two of the beliefs he had been promoting were completely contradictory - i.e. if one held one of them it was not possible to hold the other at the same time.  He took this in stride, smiled easily, and used the word I am looking for.

In reply to the replies below:

Thanks all for the input.

"Antinomy", from philosophy, might be close, and "koan" might be another word for what the rector was describing!

Uh oh ... I'll admit that I am now wondering whether memory serves me well enough to recognize the word when I see it!  Could antinomy be it?  Koan is too short.

I'm guessing that the best bet for a definitive answer will come from a student of this level and form of Christianity.  (Anyone care to call up their well-schooled rector?  Orthodox Anglican as mentioned below.)

To answer questions posed to me here:

Unfortunately I do not recall the beliefs promoted.

It was in Canada and, when pressed, the rector - who did have a high-level affiliation with the Church of England - said that this flavour of Anglican would be "orthodox".

More as of April 13 2017:

I don't understand how this board works.  Seems 5 users have claimed that my question is a duplicate.  I am asked to explain why this is not the case.  But I don't see where those 5 users have provided the "duplicate" question and answers ...

Also, there is a 2nd claim that this question has already been asked and answered - which includes a question which is clearly not the same as mine ...

Anyway, I've seen evidence neither of my question having been asked before nor its answer (though koan and antinomy are closest and on the right track).  Thanks.


texts: When did Asian come to mean only certain parts of Asia such as the East?

texts:
The word Asian is defined as:

  adjective
  of, belonging to, or characteristic of Asia or its inhabitants.

or

  noun
  a native or inhabitant of Asia, or a person of Asian descent.

But typically when we use the word Asian we don’t use it to refer countries in the Middle Eastern, such as Israel and Jordan but associate it with East Asians or South East Asians such as Indians, Koreans etc.

My research says this:

  Asian is the most commonly used term referring to people in or from Asia, especially East Asia.

  In American English, Oriental as a noun or adjective applied to people is outdated and has become a sensitive term to be avoided. It is associated with a bygone era in which Asians had subordinate status and their culture was perceived as strange and exotic. Also, the origin of the term Oriental represents a Eurocentric view of geography, since the Orient, or East, is east of Europe. However, Oriental is a neutral, inoffensive term when used as an adjective describing Asian culture or things from Asia.

  Similarly, the term Asiatic is usually offensive when referring to people, but neutral when referring to Asian culture, animals, etc. Though Asian is an acceptable ethnic designation in most contexts, it is best to be as specific as possible, rather than to group all Asians into a single cultural identity.

  In general, people of South, Southeast, and East Asian origin prefer to be identified by their country of origin: for example, Indian, Pakistani, Indonesian, Korean, Japanese, or Chinese. The people of the Middle or Near East and Polynesia are not referred to as Asian.

  Source: https://www.dictionary.com/browse/asian

Furthermore:

  In early Classical times, the Greeks started using the term "Asia" to refer to the whole region known today as Anatolia (the peninsula which forms the Asian portion of present-day Turkey). The Roman Empire referred to the entire Lydian region of what is now northeastern Turkey as the province of Asia. Eventually, however, the name had been stretched progressively further east, until it came to encompass the much larger land area with which we associate it today, while the Anatolian Peninsula started being called "Asia Minor" or "The Lesser Asia" instead.

  Source: Wikipedia

How did the meaning of “asian” denoting a country or being a resident of a country in the continent in Asia merge to mean that of “oriental” and “asiatic” as above?
Is there a “correct” definition?
I want etymological-based answers here.
Is there a linguistic term for when a single word borrows meanings from other words, like in this case?


texts: What's the difference between "winding up" and "winding down"?

texts: Can they be used interchangeably (like "fat chance" and "slim chance")? Or do they mean something different?


texts: What's the difference between "will turn on" and "going to turn on "?

texts:
I was playing an ESL Future Tenses Review Game when I came across the following question:

  You and your friend are reading. It's getting dark and you decide to turn on the light. You stand up and walk towards the light switch.

  A: What are you doing?
  B: __________________

  I'll turn on the light.
  I'm going to turn on the light.
  I'm turning on the light.

According to Cambridge Dictionary we use will when we make rapid decisions. Isn't this the case in the game? I am asking, because the right answer turned out to be "going to turn on the light" - am I missing anything obvious here or is it a mistake in the game?


texts: Meaning of "for each man, seven of every eight women are ineligible marriage partners."

texts:
I couldn't understand the meaning of this sentence:

  The Mundugumors of New Guinea extend the incest taboo so far as for each man seven of eight women are ineligible marriage partners.

I would appreciate if you could explain how this sentence works (its structure).


texts:
I read with interest an article by Dr. Sanjay Gupta about human longevity in Japan on the CNN website.

The main focus was on a word, and as so often happens in linguistics, also a
 concept:

Ikigai

  Ikigai has been drawn in books and articles as the center of a Venn diagram in which your answers to these questions all overlap:

•   What do you love?

•   What are you good at?

•   What can you be paid for?

•   What does the world need?

  When you find the answer that fits all four questions, that's your ikigai.
  Another way of defining your own ikigai is to simply ask yourself: Why do you get up in the morning? Or, what motivates you?

Like anyone here, I would love to have a productive life beyond the 70s. So the meaning of ikigai is very interesting and relevant.

Is there a better word or phrase or idiom that expresses the idea beyond..

“purpose in life”

Or

“raison d'être” “


texts: What was considered a "circus" in AmEng before 1850?

texts:
Having just watched "The greatest showman", I wonder what the meaning was for the word "circus" before the events depicted in the movie (around 1850).

At one point, P. T. Barnum opens his "museum" of wonders in Manhattan, New York. Then a critic watches the spectacle and writes in a despective way that it is a "circus" more than a museum. But Mr. Barnum fancies the word and uses it for his museum.

So, what did the critic mean by qualifying despetively the spectacle as a "circus" exactly? What did that word mean in American English by 1850?


texts: Mythologizing using Capitalization and Metaphorical Names

texts:
Is there a word for the literary or rhetorical device evinced in the following examples, where a count noun is capitalized into a name thereby evoking an implied mythology?

"in the burrows of the Nightmare" (Auden, "As I Walked Out One Evening")
"we should rush fiercely to the Exchange for our last possibility of speculation, of success, of disappointment" (Eliot, The Lifted Veil)
"A red-nosed Fool who makes a fool of fools" (Auden, "The Door")
"The Bad Lands and the sinister direction" (Auden, "The Crossroads")

In these examples, count nouns are capitalized. They are treated, in some sense, as the names of concrete places and things which serve as a general symbol. As another example, I might, for instance, spontaneously refer to death using the metaphorical name "Blacklands".

This device has the effect of evoking something like an implied mythology which exists beyond the text. This suggests to me that maybe you can call the device mythologizing or mythologization. But I am wondering whether there are more specific names for this phenomenon or related ones.

By the way, if anyone has any other examples, or suggestions as to how I can clarify the question or isolate the phenomenon I'm concerned with, please share them.


texts: What's the origins of "stalk" meaning "stride in a proud and stiff manner"?

texts:
I know the word "stalk" has many meanings:

the meaning of main stem as noun came from "stale" in middle English;
and the meaning of moving or pursuing stealthily as verb/noun related to "stealcung/stealthcian; stealth" in old English.

But where did the meaning of "stride proudly" come from? Why would "stalk" mean "a stiff, striding gait" while it has an almost contrary meaning related to stealth?


texts:
I am having a bit of difficulty with this sentence:

"The monster's eyes were rolled back in his face"

Does this mean that the monster's eyes are set back deep in his face (like a sunken eye socket), rolled upwards, or does it have a different meaning?


texts: What's the difference between "rent" and "hire" in British and American English?

texts:
The tip I used to teach was the verb, hire, should be used for things which are transportable hence, you hire a car, sports equipment, a boat, a bike etc.

Rent, on the other hand, is primarily used for property, e.g.; to rent a holiday residence; "office space for rent"; and "We're living in rented accommodation".

But I realize that tip doesn't cover everything and here's why.

In the UK, when I was a child and before credit cards became the norm; families who couldn't afford to pay the full price of household furniture, electrical appliances; including colour TVs, and even alarm clock radios were "bought" on HP (hire and purchase) – once popularly called the "never-never". Recently, I discovered that in the US a similar system for purchasing goods exists but is known as Rent-to-Own. link

The same discrepancy lies with car rentals in the US and car hire in the UK but in neither case do you end up purchasing the vehicle.

We hire personal trainers (I suppose they are transportable and for a limited period) but we also rent designer dresses and rent movies or videos (BrEng).

So when do I use hire and rent in the UK and the US?
Are there any other differences I should be aware of?
Are they interchangeable?


texts: Thanks for sharing your great experience!

texts:
I want to thank a person for what he taught me. How can I say him this?

  Thank you for sharing experience

Is this sentence correct? Does not it contains lexical errors?


texts: Where does "give something a whirl" come from?

texts:
While

  My head is in a whirl.

makes sense to me (whirl: a movement of something spinning round and round) I wonder about

  give something a whirl

which means to try something to see if you like it or can do it.

I don't get the connection between whirl and to try. Where does is it come from?


texts: Does the phrase 'liquefy conventional meanings' work?

texts:
For a non-native speaker it is always hard to 'hear' if particular metaphorical language works. In an article for an academic journal I am writing about how the recurrent usage of particular mythological material has an impact on the meaning of that material. Trying to bypass overused phrases like 'impacts on,' or less precise words like 'change,' I wanted to use the phrase 'liquefy conventional meanings.' I want to convey the idea that the meanings traditionally attached to mythological symbolism might start to change gradually.

Could you please explain if 'liquefy' does the job, or whether it sounds clunky, contrived, or is in any other way not suitable.


texts:
I am wondering how to turn the following into a question

  "Narendra Modi is the 18th Prime Minister of India"

How to ask this as question, so that answer will be  18th

I have tried searching these links but couldn't match my needs.

How to ask "nth time" of something

Framing a question whose answer is an ordinal number

How should I phrase a question that must be answered with an ordinal number (e.g., the third prime)?

Some body could help me.. Sorry If I'm vague and dont lambast at me since this is my first post here.


texts:
Growing up in Australia (and with an English mother) we would say "I hate it when " It seems, based on TV and movies, that in the USA it's more common to say "I hate when "

The two phrases mean the same thing, but the word "hate" is used slightly differently; one seems directed (they hate the bad thing) where the other describes the emotion.

Is one more correct, or is it just a case of common usage?

Is it related that I find the phrase "write me" or "I'll write you" odd? We tend to say "write to me" or "I'll write to you". Though we do say "[phone|email|text] me" not  "[phone|email|text] to me"


texts: If the origin is French and the British have adapted it, why would they claim America corrupted the so-called English version if it wasn't theirs to begin with? And why must a simple word like jail appear as goal, misspelled?


texts: I need to use two compound words in a sentence and their first component is the same. Do I start the second word with a hyphen?

texts:
I need to write the following sentence in a description of a book's binding:
"Printer's wrappers, housed in a cloth-backed and cloth-edged card slipcase."
This seems clunky to me, and I would rather write "cloth-backed and -edged card slipcase." Is the hyphen necessary before "edged?" I know that in the opposite situation (in which the second component is shared between two compound words) one can simply list the first components and follow each with a hyphen. An example I saw in another question was "ground- and sea-based forces." Can the same concept be applied to this situation? Thank you!


texts: When to use "Elven", "Elvish" and "Elfic"?

texts: Well, these are three adjectives for "something from the elves". But I'm Spanish and in my language there's only one adjective for these (élfico), and I can't understand what the difference is.


texts: Can't have drunk VS Isn't able to have drunk VS Wasn't able to have drunk

texts:
I found a good sentence:

She can't have drunk that much coffee

It seems to be correct. Why isn't the next thing correct then if "can" and "be able" can mean the same thing?

She isn't able to have drunk that much coffee

I was told that it would be correct if we wrote the sentence with "wasn't":

She wasn't able to have drunk that much coffee

Why so?

Can't have drunk - correct

Wasn't able to have drunk - correct

Isn't able to have drunk - bad


texts:
Is there a noun for the act of striving?

Many English verbs use the same word for the infinitive (e.g. to fall) and for the act of performing that action (e.g. a fall), but I haven't found whether strive can be used as the act of striving. Is there a synonym that could work?


texts: The body of literature, and more generally media, pertaining to some topic

texts:
Sort of like "canon" but without the implication of being formally authorized by any body - the word I am looking for could conceivably include fan fiction as well.

E.g. "The creature name I am looking for is not 'flesh atronach', because that name is specific to the Elder Scrolls _____."

I thought there was such a word.


texts: Noun-adjective-noun: Can a noun phrase have an adjective in the middle?

texts:
Can a noun phrase have an adjective in the middle as in the following examples?

  car new tires
  salad high-calorie dressing
  house external wall
  nitrogen fine droplets

These examples seem ungrammatical to me, but the writer (who is not a native speaker of English) says that bringing the adjective to the front of the noun phrase would be incorrect, because, for example, in number 4, the droplets are fine, not the nitrogen.

Are there any rules that govern this sort of thing? And is the potential of incorrect adjective-noun modification pointed out by the writer a legitimate issue?


texts: Origin and meaning of "chaff before the wind"

texts:
I've usually encountered the phrase "chaff before the wind" in the context of the Bible and the Book of Mormon.  I would like to know where it originates from historically and what imagery should come to mind especially in the following quote:

  15 And now behold, I tell you by the spirit of prophecy, that if ye
  transgress the commandments of God, behold, these things which are
  sacred shall be taken away from you by the power of God, and ye shall
  be delivered up unto Satan, that he may sift you as chaff before the
  wind.

  Alma 37:15


texts:
Recently I watched a video and here is one of the line:

  The grizzly image has since been immortalized as shorthand slang for single-minded cult-like thinking.

When I searched the meaning of "grizzly" on the internet, I saw only the result "grizzly bear". It seems to me that "grizzly" has no meaning standing on its own. Is it so?
Below is the video. The line is at around 0:59.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kB-dJaCXAxA


texts: I am looking for one word that expresses being disgusted by your own thoughts, or repulsed by your subconscious, anything like that. I'm not looking for words that mean repulsed by your body or having bad self-image/self-esteem. Ideas?


texts: "Jesus is a coming" - what's the exact grammatical role of the "a" before the gerund?

texts:
I've noticed that in the common use of English, namely in songs, there is also an extra redundant(?) "a" before a gerund, such as in a gospel song I heard

  Jesus is a coming

(this particular phrase looks like quoted here).

What's the exact grammatical role of this extra inserted a? Is it the indefinite article? Why is it there? Is there any specific reason for it, or is it just bad language, slang or what? Has it developed from a pause in the speech when the speaker needed an extra time to find the word? Something like this:

  Jesus is a... what the hell is he.. well, coming!

ADDED:

Based on a comment I am supposed to spell it as

  Jesus is a-coming

so maybe you may comment on this, too.


texts:
What is the grammatical description/status/analysis of Sentences like, I reckon/I think/guess/you know/As I said/As you know /if you permit etc which are placed at the beginning of a sentence. Can they be said to be principal/subordinate  clauses of sentence of which they are part?
Thanks


texts: Given that "epiphany" derives from "epi-" [on, above, to] and "phainein" [to show] I was wondering if there's any connection between the cartoon representation of an epiphany (a lightbulb over one's head) and the word.


texts: Does one use a hyphen in between 'other' and 'hand' when saying "on the other hand"?

texts:
When I was typing this sentence "And on the other hand, some user actions don't trigger the same response." my spell checker mentioned that I might put a hyphen between 'other' and 'hand' and use 'other-hand'.

So in this sentence is a hyphen placed between 'other' and 'hand'?


texts: The difference between "should + to be" and "should + be"

texts:
I'm often facing a situation where "should + to be" form takes place. But from Grammar modal verb "should" takes a verb without particle "to".
Here examples of cases:
"should + to be":

The notification should to be sent by registered mail. source
Internal dialogue to that and broader ends should to be fostered. source

"should + be":

Both were unacceptable and should be rejected.
Itinerants should be treated like all other Dutch citizens. source (pdf)

The question is what is the difference between 2 cases?


texts: Difference between "inferred from" and "inferred by"

texts:
What is the difference (if any) between the following:

  This fact (A) is inferred from that fact (B).

and

  This fact (A) is inferred by that fact (B).

Any other preposition that could be used in the above sentence?


texts: Is there a reduction when you say "is there "or "is this"?

texts: I feel like  native english speakers drop the voiced th sound in fast speech when they say "is there.... ?" and "is this...?". Can you tell me if I'm right or wrong . Thanks for your attention. I’m looking forward to your reply.


texts: How is title case applied to idioms containing prepositions?

texts:
For title case that does not capitalize articles, conjunctions, and small prepositions, how should one capitalize compound verbs and idiomatic phrases containing one of these elements?

For example,

  when in doubt, smash it

Following the title case I described, it could be written as:

  When in Doubt, Smash It

However, the "in" is part of the idiom "in doubt" rather than being used alone. Using that logic, it might be more appropriate to write it as:

  When In Doubt, Smash It

Which way is most appropriate? Do any style guides address this problem or similar ones?


texts: Use of articles and plurality in "A book is my best friend and teacher"

texts:
Could anyone tell me what's wrong with this sentence below :

"A book is my best friend and teacher. "

It just doesn't sound right to me. My tries are as follows :

The book is the best friend and teacher.
Books are the best friend and teacher.
A book is a good friend and teacher.

Any input will be greatly appreciated.


texts: Were -y- and -g- pronounced similarly in Early Middle English?

texts:
[Etymonline:] Early Middle English pronunciations of -y- and -g- were not always distinct, and the word was confused in Middle English with various senses of Romanic-derived alloy and allege, especially the latter in an obsolete sense of "to lighten," from Latin ad- "to" + levis (see lever).

Because I am inexperienced with Middle English phonology, please use the IPA if apt.


texts: Why is present continuous used in "A key goal is learning to read"?

texts:
A key goal is learning to read a matrix.

Why is present continuous used here? As I understand goal is a final state. So learning is the process, to achieve something, not the goal itself. So this sentence should be like:

  A key goal is to be learnt how to read matrices.

So actual goal is to know how to read them, not learning it. Is this correct?

EDIT: I'm trying to understand, is the goal is the process of learning or the goal is the final state after you've learned, i.e. the goal is to know how to read, which is acquired by learning.


texts:
I'm trying to say that someone wrote a certain type of poetry that he particularly liked. Is it correct to express it like the following?

In those days he was mainly writing the lyric poetry that was so dear to him.

I did find usage examples that matched this structure, but they were very few so I wanted to make sure.


texts: Single term for a refracting or a reflecting material?

texts:
I am writing a paper on telescopes and I am finding that there are many instances when I am talking on a relatively abstract level and I need to refer to a material that might be a lens but could also be a mirror.

For example:

  The first thing that the light hits is referred to as the primary
  lens/mirror.

I am looking for a single word that could replace 'lens/mirror' or 'refractor/reflector'.  Does this term exist?

I thought medium, but I don't really think a reflector would count as a medium and also, the air itself would fall into that category, which I don't want.


texts:
How could I change the following sentence to make it sound better?
It would be a great opportunity to make up for (me) not having been sticking by her side when she came down with the flu.
Many thanks.


texts: How did 'to purport' evolve to connote negativity?

texts:
I already understand and so ask NOT about the definition, below which I want to burrow. I heed the Etymological Fallacy. Please beware that I replicate the noun(al) etymology from Etymonline, and not the verbal because the verbal just refers you back to the noun(al).

  OED Etymology for purport {verb} : < Anglo-Norman and Middle French purporter
  (of a text) to have as its import, to signify, to mean, to state or show (a fact) (all first half of the 14th cent. or earlier in Anglo-Norman ;
   end of the 13th cent. or earlier in Anglo-Norman in sense ‘(of a word) to mean, signify’;
  late 12th cent. in Old French as porporter in sense ‘to involve (as an obligation)’)
  < post-classical Latin proportare to carry or bear forth (8th cent. in past participle proportatus ), to stretch, extend (from 12th cent. in British sources; from 13th cent. in continental sources; also as porportare ), to have as its import (from c1200 in British sources; also as porportare )
  < classical Latin  PRO- (prefix)1 + portāre PORT v.2, perhaps as a remodelling of classical Latin praeportāre to carry in front, in post-classical Latin also to stretch, extend (in an undated source in Du Cange)
  < prae- PRE- (prefix) + portāre . Compare proport v.

  Etymonline for purport {noun} : early 15c., from Anglo-French purport (late 13c.), Old French porport "contents, tenor," back-formation from purporter "to contain, convey, carry," from pur- (from Latin pro- "forth;" see pur-) + Old French porter "to carry," from Latin portare "to carry" (see port (n.1)).


texts:
Can anyone help me to describe the meaning of using "There was wild talk about the end of history" in the context below ? (what does "wild talk" mean exactly?)

Context

With the Cold War over, there was wild talk about the end of history. Mao, Stalin and Hitler had all attempted to reshape humanity using political terror.
But now it seemed there was only one way forward - capitalism. But history didn't stop. Other people were trying to reshape the merely human and they included scientists working in the beating heart of capitalism, New York.

Source: History of the world by Adrew Marr - Episode 8

Does the bold sentence indicate "Many people in the world talk/discuss about the end of the world" or it means "We can wildly predict the end of history (it would be human with capitalism)" ?


texts:
Students' vocabulary knowledge is a building process that occurs _ time as they tend to make connections with other words.

Both 'by' & 'with' seem to make sense in the blank to express the meaning 'going along with the progress of time.' But which is correct?


texts:
There is this adjective order rule which is usually stated as opinion-size-age-shape-colour-origin-material-purpose or OSASCOMP, but "drunk" doesn't really fit any of these categories. There are of course various modified rules but they don't quite agree, and OSASCOMP is not an absolute unbreakable rule anyway.

So, old drunk man or drunk old man?

Does the answer change if you replace "old" with "40 years old"?


texts: What is the etymology of the "drop" in "drop acid"?

texts: A lot of recreational drug slang is reasonably comprehensible. Some is pretty cryptic, possibly by design. A common expression for "take LSD" is "drop acid". The "acid" part is obvious; it's a common expression for lysergic acid diethylamide. But whence "drop"?


texts: The meaning and usage of 'Dinner is served'

texts:
In the Disney animation 'UP', there's this line starting at 12 seconds into this video:

  MUNTZ: Well, dinner is served! Right this way.

(You may want to see the video at least until 22 seconds.)

After saying this line, Muntz leads Carl and Russell into the dining room and up to a large table.

At 22 seconds into the video, they have only some silverware on the dinner table.

In this context, why did Muntz say "dinner is served" when the dinner is not actually served yet? Is this an idiomatic use of "dinner is served"?

Also, what's the part of speech of 'served' here? An adjective or a verb (in the past participle form)?


texts: Does 'get involved' have negative connotations?

texts:
When you use the phrase 'get involved', do you expect an object for it should be negative?

I've seen some examples using it since now. Their objects were mostly negative.

Examples:

  get involved in a bribery affair
   get involved in a quarrel
  get involved in an accident


texts: Is there a common saying in English that means "It's just business, I don't feel any shame"

texts:
In Gujarati language there is a saying which literally means "no shame in business".

It is used in a context where one has to do something unpleasant (or immoral) for the sake of their business (business as in profession).
When criticized for doing what they do, they use this phrase to justify their actions, they do it for the sake of their business and don't feel any shame or regret.

Is there a common saying in English which conveys the same? If so and if possible can you provide some earliest references of its use.


texts: When do we use "arrive at" versus "arrive in"?

texts: When do we use "at" and "in" with "arrive" talking about place, not time?


texts: A word for when a word is used technically correctly but it's also simultaneously nonsensical?

texts:
The specific situation that prompted me to ask was in the context of computer science regarding what is often called a "slice" for data structures.  It can be perfectly valid, and I've done so on more than one occasion, to take a "slice" of a data structure that in fact just ends up being the entire data structure.  From the computer science perspective it is still technically correct to call this a slice, but in English it's a little silly to refer to the whole as a slice.

Oxymoron or misnomer don't seem quite right, because strictly speaking there aren't any contradictory terms involved and "slice" is still the correct name.  Any suggestions?


texts:
I am looking at two answers to the question "write the equation represents the statement 'the quotient of x and y'". This expression can be translated to an algebraic statement as: "x/y".

My question is: can someone argue that since "apples and bananas" is the same as "bananas and apples", "x and y" is the same as "y and x" and "the quotient of x and y" can also be written as "y/x"?

This is a similar discussion to some extent.


texts:
I have some trouble coming up with the right sentence for a form input where I'm asking a user's first and last name.

What I'm actually trying to say is that the name the user is filling in will be used to name this person, in for example emails.

Right now I have:

  We will reference to you by this name.

But it doesn't sound right to me, and I think it isn't.


texts: I'm writing an article for publication and I want to capitalize the following sentence appropriately.  "You need to know that Federal law bars the lender from accelerating the mortgage on your personal residence because you transferred it to your living revocable trust."  Is the appropriate capitalization "Federal law" or "Federal Law" or "federal law"?


texts: What is the meaning of “may very well be”?

texts:
I have come across this phrase recently. What does it mean?

  A young man who has read the life story of every eminent athlete of the twentieth century, or a coed who has steeped herself in every social-protest novel she can get her hands on, may very well be learning all there is to know in a very limited area.

Source: 1100 Words You Need to Know


texts: Can I drop "for" in a short "for almost 5 years" answer?

texts:
How long has your sister played the harp?
For almost five years.

Can I leave off "for" here or it will sound strange then?


texts: Is there a noun that doesn't have a plural in any of its forms?

texts:
While attempting to answer this question @ProgramFox has been trying to come up with an example of a noun with no plural.

The best I've come up with is egotism and Judaism.  (Fluxmay be a viable contender as there is a related question asking about its plural!)

Some of the contenders I've already shot down are air, water, and money.  (Airs, waters, and monies are all legitimate plurals.)

My question is, a) Do my two examples have actual plurals?  b) Are there any other non-ism nouns that don't have a plural?


texts: Can you still use "epic" in a non-"epic" way?

texts:
The semantic shift of epic from denoting something related with heroism, grandeur, etc. to meaning something more akin to awesome or impressive is well-attested. However, how much is its older meaning still largely accepted? — For example,

  The plot of Interstellar is more epic than that of Gravity.

could mean

The plot of Interstellar is more awesome than that of Gravity.
The plot of Interstellar has more elements akin to epic poetry that of Gravity does.

However, even for me, the sentence above seems at first to have the meaning of example 1. If I say the sentence aloud (with relatively flat intonation), however, the meaning shifts more towards example 2; Only if I have a particular tone (an "that was totally awesome!" type of tone) does example 1 still come up. Does this mean that the second meaning is no longer largely accepted, or am I just spending too much time online?


texts: Question about proper usage of the word "castrate"

texts:
I'm looking for the word you would use to describe the act of removing the genitals of a man.

From my research, I have come up with "castrate" "geld" "neuter" "emasculate" and "desex", but these all seem to describe the removal of the testicles only.

There is the word "penectomy" but that is the surgical removal of the penis, and seems to describe a formal, voluntary or medically necessary procedure. Is there a specific term for removing the penis and the testicles? The word I am looking for, if it exists, would describe the involuntary removal, such as during an attack.


texts: What is this sentense structure 'If you had ....., I would have been .........'

texts:
I came across this sentence on stack exchange and it confused me.

  'If you had called me 10 minutes ago, I would have been sleeping.' on

What is the structure of the above sentence called?

Why 'If you had called me? Can it be replaced with 'If you called me?'

I thought 'had called' is past perfect which means it happened before another event in the past. But in this case, it sounds like 'sleeping' came before.


texts: Is there a 2 word expression to describe someone who's fluent in a language?

texts:
For instance someone who's fluent in Korean would be called a Korean fluent.
How correct is this expression?


texts: Why is the idiom 'make one's skin crawl', not 'make one's skin crawled over'?

texts:
I became curious about the etymology of the idiom 'make one's skin crawl'. So, I searched for it and found this source. According to the source, the idiom refers to a feeling similar to having something, such as an insect, crawl over one's skin. But then, shouldn't it be the insect that is crawling, not the skin? It doesn't seem to make much sense that the skin can crawl, hence the question.

Why isn't it 'make one's skin crawled over'?


texts: Is it pejorative to use "old girl" to refer to a woman?

texts:
Does it encompass any specific age group? (young, middle-aged, elderly, all of them)
I heard it in an old film and read it once in sentences like:

"Come on, old girl, cheer up."

"Who is that old girl you were talking to?"

old girl - a familiar name used to refer to a woman
EDIT - So as to avoid multiple interpretations of the idiom, and too many answers, let's keep this question to its use in BrE.


texts:
I am exploring possible differences in the meanings of 'implicate/incriminate' from using different direct objects.  Assume the context is police interrogation:

  He implicated/incriminated his friends.

  He implicated/incriminated himself.

Could (1) mean it was done voluntarily, but (2) that it was done unknowingly, probably because of trick questions by the police?


texts: Single word request: Theocracy without gods

texts:
If a state is run according to a theistic religion, such as with a god as the nominal head of state, or the head of state as a nominal god, that state may be called a theocracy.
However, if no god is present in the religion running the state, for example Buddhism, or at least many versions of it, the term theocracy wouldn't apply, what with the "theo" part coming from the term for god.
So then, what term can be used to describe a state run according to a religion that does not have a god?


texts: What does the saying "any time now" really mean?

texts:
Any time now Nana will show up with the cookies.

What is the meaning of "any time now"? Should "any time" be one word or two? The words seem to conflict and are sort of nebulous because now refers to an exact instance whereas "any time" refers to multiple possible instances.


texts:
Possible Duplicate:
“If I was” or “If I were”. Which is more common, and which is correct?

If I was to sum up my computer knowledge in one word, it would be “destitute”.

If I were to sum up my computer knowledge in one word, it would be “destitute”.

Which is correct?


texts: Can "I'm" be used to end a sentence or clause'?

texts:
Although I haven't witnessed any instances of this textually or phonetically, can 'I am' be interchanged for 'I'm' when it used in the examples provided below?
(1)

[Person A]: Are you X?

[Person B] : I'm

(2)

[Person A]: What are you?

[Person B] : A cat, I'm

From some of the dictionary entries for "I'm" that I've seen (Wiktionary, Merriam Webster) they don't appear to limit its definition in a way such that it can't be used 'alone', so I'm wondering if it actually can be used 'alone' and the sentence that it's apart of still be deemed grammatically valid?
Can "I am" be interchanged for "I'm" in all contexts, or are there some (possibly evidenced by the example above) where it cannot?


texts:
I hear people ending sentences in a question like:

you didn't ...do you?
he is ... isn't he?
she should... shouldn't she?

What about shall? Can I say: I shall (do something), shall I? or I shall... shall I not?

When can I end a sentence with shall I? Do I need to start the sentence with the negative of shall (what is it?)


texts: an adverb or adjective?quickly and effectively or quick and effective

texts: To perform work together is quickly and effectively. ( Or "performing work together is quick and effective")


texts: Do you need to use "as" with "brand" or "rebrand"?

texts:
Do you need to use "as" with brand or rebrand? Here's an example:

Company X rebranded itself as the Smart Brand.

Company X rebranded itself the Smart Brand.

Which is correct? Or are they both correct, and it's just a matter of preference?


texts: Why is the noun 'salary' singular in this sentence?

texts:
I've found this sentence in a dictionary (LDOCE5), so I assume it is correct. But I can't understand why the noun salary is singular although it has a plural form. Could you explain it to me?

The sentence:

Research indicates that over 81% of teachers are dissatisfied with their salary.

EDIT:

As you pointed out there are several similar questions in this topic (
“On their back” or “on their backs”?, “Those who qualify will be awarded a certificate” or “those who qualify will be awarded certificates”?). I found Robusto's answer the most fitting that claims that teachers should have salaries in my sentence. But this answer implies that Robusto's answer is just a rule of thumb. So I can't find the explicit answer  in the referred questions, I can only guess.

Is there a general rule that clarifies my sentence and the quoted answers?


texts: Etymology of "What could (possibly) go wrong?"

texts: What is the (likely) origin of the popular usage of the phase "What could go wrong?" or "What could possibly go wrong?" as a theatrical plot device or ironic commentary?  Does this usage pre-date or post-date Murphy's Law?


texts:
Which one is correct?

  "You're in the same situation as me"

or

  "You're in the same situation as mine"

Example :

My sister always annoys me, although I tell my parents to stop her, she keeps doing it.
You're in the same situation as me / mine


texts: When should one use "FOR" in Present perfect continuous and when shouldn't

texts:
Two examples:

it has been raining for several days
It has been raining all week

Why does the first one has for and the second doesn't? Is there a rule where one should use for or shouldn't?


texts: "We're sorry for the delay in reply." or "[...] delay in replying."?

texts:
There's an office debate going on over this. We're all non-native english speakers so none of us can make a good case for either option.

So, the debate goes on about whether the "delay in reply" construct is grammatically correct or not and, if it is, is it better or worse than "delay in replying" or "delay in our reply"?

Thank you!


texts: Term for a toroidal-shaped, winter garment worn on the neck, not scarf, often made of polar fleece (pictures)

texts:
The question title describes very succintly the object I'm looking it's name or term in English. I know the name in spanish in Argentina, it's "cuello polar", cuello means neck, polar refers to "polar fleece" a type of cloth. It's not a scarf

Here there is search of images of "cuello polar",

These are typical:

Note: This can be worn as a hat to cover one's head too, but it's not ideal, since it's open on both ends and the top of the head with the hole could be exposed, in comparison to a real closed winter hat.

Is worn around the neck, it's toroidal shaped, it's made of polar fleece often, it's goal it's to warm the neck but also can be used to cover mouth and nose, it's normally used in winter with low temperatures.


texts:
I read this sentence in a book:

  Petrol is needed for running of a car.

I wonder if I could say "Petrol is needed to run a car."

Is the second sentence grammatically correct? If yes, then what is the difference between the two?


texts: What word/phrase captures this ‘reverberation’ effect?

texts:
Consider the following scenario if you were at a music concert:

A singer sings into a microphone
The sound comes out from the speakers
The sound from the speaker is picked up by the microphone
The sound comes out from the speakers
The sound from the speaker is picked up by the microphone
...

This kind of loop can manifest itself in other ways. E.g. happiness breeds success, success breeds happiness which breeds success, and so on.

What’s the best word/phrase that captures this phenomenon?


texts: To put more "weight/power" into a conclusion

texts:
I am trying to find an expression which would meet my needs. In the report that I am currently writing I would like to explain that I have done a certain action in order to "put more weight/power" into a conclusion.

There is an expression for this purpose in the French language (mettre du poids dans), and I know that translating an expression from a language to another nearly never works. I tried to find the solution by asking Google but I guess I am not using the correct keywords... Does anyone would have any ideas?

[EDIT]

I am actually trying to say that my action will carry more weight (thanks Rant) but I do not know how I should formulate it. I have started my sentence like this:

The investigation will also draw a timeline of activities in order to add expression to the previous arguments.

I have moved from conclusion to argument as it make more sense in the current context. How can I add an expression which means carry more weight?


texts: Once out in the sea fishing, I heard a fisherman saying something like 'red sea' or 'black sea' when we weren't getting a good result. Also, I think it's called 'blue sea' or something when we have good catches. Does anybody know about this?


texts: I've seen the usage of "I'm sorry", but now I saw those with "?" mark. Been googling it for a while and one of the results said it's the same as "Excuse me?", asking for confirmation. So how do I reply to that?


texts: Can a group of individuals be each referred to singularly?

texts:
There are multiple peoples not on the list,

should I say:

I believe those who doesn't have their name on the list is clear.

or:

I believe those who don't have their names on the list are clear.


texts: MY First Name is Sridharan,my last Name(Father's Name)is Sitharaman.How should i write my Full Name, as Sridharan Sitharaman or Sitharaman Sridharan?


texts: What is the reason that American English and British English use "Post" and "Mail" with different frequencies?

texts: Common usage in the UK is that a postman of the Royal Mail Service delivers the post, and someone may post a letter (see BrE Ngram), whereas in the USA, usage has become equally common that a mailman of the United States Post Office delivers the mail (AmE Ngram).  Why do both forms of English have the same two words and have parallel but reversed inconsistencies between the name of the Service and the objects manipulated by that Service?  And what do Canadians do? (There's no "Canadian English" option in Ngram!)


texts: What is the difference between "bush" and "shrub"?

texts: What's the difference between "bush" and "shrub"? Are these absolute synonyms?


texts:
Hello,this is from the online Cambridge dictionary.

What I wondered is that why the vowel in bird and the second vowel in wonderful are different from each other?

What I think is that the vowel should be the same in the two words.But according to the dictionary,it is /ə/ "wonderful" while /ɜ/ in "bird".Why?


texts: Can 'smart home' and similar phrases be adjectives if followed by a noun, or do they become complements?

texts:
I'm having some confusion here as I've been tasked with checking that some texts fit a style guide for work, and it requires that two adjectives directly preceding a noun be hyphenated, e.g. 'well-dressed woman'. That example is straightforward enough for me, but I have no clue how far it extends.

I'm seeing a lot of cases of 'smart home experience', 'smart home offering' and 'home security provider'. 'Variable commission basis' is another one that's stumping me. Should these be hyphenated? The Oxford dictionary only lists smart home as a noun, but if it's describing the noun after it, would it not count as an adjective? Or are these words a complement in these instances?

I'm terrible at breaking down sentences, and as much as I've tried, I can't seem to get used to this. Any advice would be much appreciated.


texts: What is the etymology of the term “Bumfiddler”?

texts:
I heard about about the term 'bumfiddler' from a E-Newsletter I receive, and I was wondering the etymology of this term?

Is it a purely sexual phrase, or does it have a more mainstream / normal usage?

This website seems to define it as:

  Noun:
   - A busybody / fidgety person.

Is, or should I say, was this a real / used word?


texts: Is "top-of-the-line" or specific forms of compound adjective colloquial? Any general rule?

texts:
I am asking this question in the context of writing an academic paper. I am thinking if there exists a general rule regards to judging whether a compound adjective is colloquial, and, in this instance, specifically "top-of-the-line".

In my research area, the word "state-of-the-art" is commonly used. It seems colloquial to me, as it is composed of two words which do not really convey meaning, i.e. "of" and "the".

Now I am writing about a method being "top-of-the-line" among other baseline methods. I think the word's imagery works as the baselines can be considered as some line of products collectively; however, this compound adjective seems to suffer from the same problem mentioned above and convey ideas through imagery, here being "production line", just does not seem formal to me.

So, is there a general rule for what makes a compound adjective colloquial? I will list some traits in compound adjectives that worry me if I was to see them in formal writings:

The compound adjective is too long (contains around 4 or more components).
The compound adjective uses too many meaningless words, e.g. article, preposition, etc.
The compound adjective can be replaced by some common adjectives.

Are my impressions bias from a non-native speaker?
Any suggestion or correction is appreciated.


texts: Should you use “it” or “they” when referencing a group of people?

texts:
Should you use it or they when referencing a group of people?

Here is the example sentence:

  A group of students was walking on the road when a truck hit them/it and it/they was/were immediately admitted to hospital.

Could native speakers and grammarians please answer this question? For me, it should be used because I am taking about the group as whole, and the group is one thing not many things.


texts: Why did "denigrate" greatly increase in usage during the mid-20th century?

texts:
An acquaintance of mine claimed that "denigrate" had racist origins. Researching this turned up that the word comes from Middle English, making said claim rather unlikely. However, I also turned up this on Google Ngram:

As you can see, "denigrate" is almost unused before the 20th century, but greatly increases from 1950-1970. Given the significant amount of racial tension in that era, now I'm not so certain that modern usage of it has no racial history.
So, anyone know what the specific cause of this rise is?


texts: Are there any publications which would indicate that American journalists understand the concept of ‘auto-coup’ or ‘self-coup'?

texts:
On the 6th of January, 2021, and  in the United States, it appears that   we were in the midst of an armed insurrection that reached beyond the Capitol steps during sessions, penetrating even to chambers... an action which may have  been  encouraged tacitly in tweets  by a sitting lame-duck
US president
.
Shots were heard. The Senators were advised to hide under desks and wear gas masks..
That seems to be an attempted self-coup.
Definition of self-coup

A self-coup, or autocoup (from the Spanish autogolpe), is a form of putsch or coup d'état in which a nation's leader, despite having come to power through legal means, dissolves or renders powerless the national legislature and unlawfully assumes extraordinary powers not granted under normal circumstances.

-Wikipedia
A little background...
When German President Hindenburg died in 1933, Chancellor Hitler assumed the title of president, outlawed all other parties and became a dictator. He did this out of his long-declared personal sense of cultural victimization, and said he was ‘saving’ the country.
He was already in a position of power, but affected a type of take-over from within; this had become his avowed purpose after the failed putsch of 1923 and subsequent imprisonment for insurrection.
In 1991, President Serrano of Guatemala overthrew his own government in a move which was later termed Serranazo i.e. where azo indicates a blow (coup) or strike. I remember waking up early on May 25th to the sounds of APCs and tanks taking up position in the streets in front of my house...
In Latin-America, we call this type of political move an auto-golpe, similar to an auto-gol in football (soccer for Americans)
As far as I know, and with the possible exception of the turbulent times after  US Civil War, there has never been any attempt at declaring martial law to counter a free and fair election in the United States.
It would seem to fly in the face of the face  of American democracy...

Right now in the United States, citizens are wondering if there is a possible coup d’état occurring in the country.

…former national security adviser Michael Flynn had shared a petition that called for martial law. He then retweeted the same account which suggested that Trump should declare martial law.
"I don't know who needs to hear this," the account said, "But calling for martial law is not a bad idea when there is an attempted coup against the president and this country happening right now."

CNN

Martial law to counter politically unacceptable election results is essentially a...
Self-coup or auto-coup

Most usages of the terms go to reports of politics in Latin America, and so seem to be calques.
Some political rags still call it a coup d’état and do not seem to use the other more descriptive terminology.
I have no doubt that most Americans recognize coup d’état...
...but is the concept behind auto-coup, or self-coup dealt with in American publications? Is it a recognizable term in US politics?


texts: "The Dude abides" — what does "abide" mean in that context?

texts:
I'm unfamilar with the word "abide" which is famously used the the movie quote "The Dude abides" (The Big Lebowski).

Looking it up in a German/English dictionary makes me believe it's "The Dude lives on", but I heard the word used on a way that makes it seem to be a variant of "approve", as in "The Dude does not abide this behavior".

I hear it used as "to obey" a lot, as in "we must all abide by the rules".

Can someone shed some light into the meaning of "The Dude abides" in the context it's been used?


texts:
For instance trichomania is a love of hair, and trichophobia is a fear of hair. But what suffix would denote a loathing of hair?

Edit: Maybe I'm looking at the wrong end of the word, and I should be considering the prefix "miso-".


texts: Can start a sentence using the conjunction or?

texts: I'm doing this essay that's due in a week and I'm a little stuck. It's a compare and contrast essay and I'm starting a sentence using the conjunction or. Can you do that or do you a have to use another word/phrase?


texts: I have often felt melancholy at the beginning of good things, trips, events, etc. in anticipation of their ending or loss. I would sometimes even sob when dating my husband (before we married) somehow mourning the future loss of this stage of our relationship. Is there a word for this particular feeling?


texts: Can "make something out of ..." mean what I want to mean here?

texts:
Life for this sparrow is very hard, but even so, she had a pleasant character. Then an eagle fell in love with her. He explained to her:

  I did not adore you because you could make an adorable sparrow merely
  out of discomfort, distress, and even sorrow. No, you could not. I
  love you because you had built such an attractive and agreeable
  character, on such an imperfect and precarious basis. （self-made）

My purpose is to say that adversities themselves did not make the sparrow cute, but the fact that she became a cute on adverse conditions. I doubt that “make… out of” means the same as “build…on the basis of”, and thus that all my words finally means nothing.


texts: so ~ that ~ structure vs. inversion of sentence

texts:
My colleagues (who are teachers) are divided about the exact structure and meaning of the bolded sentence in the following sentence:

  Improvements in diet, hygiene and medical science have led to the healthiest, most physically robust population ever known... Athletes today are stronger, hardier and more resistant than ever in history. So much is known about how to keep our bodies strong and healthy that every sport has taken advantage. Golfers in the 1980s never went near a gym; today's pros work out regularly. Women tennis players have enough upper body strength to blow away the men's top players of 25 years ago.

Some teachers think that the sentence is an example of so ~ that ~ structure like “People know so much about how to keep our bodies strong and healthy that every sport has taken advantage.” In other words, they think the sentence means, “Since people know so much about how to keep our bodies strong and healthy, every sport has taken advantage." Here "take advantage" as an intransitive verb meaning "get benefits". Is this correct?
Other teachers think that “so much” is qualified or modified by both (1) “that every sport has taken advantage (of)” and (2) “about how to keep our bodies strong and healthy,” and that the whole sentence subject of such combinations, i.e. “so much about how to keep our bodies strong and healthy that every sport has taken advantage”, is so long that (1) and (2) have been put behind, i.e. one in the middle and the other in the end, for balance of the sentence. They also think that “of” is omitted after “has taken advantage”, (here take advantage meaning “utilize or use”) and that “so much” is the object of the preposition “of” in “every sport has taken advantage of.”
If Item 2 is correct, or whatever the case may be, why is it that native speakers omit "of" from a complete verbal phrase "take advantage of", as shown in the sentence above?


texts: Someone who comes across as "airheaded" but is really quite the opposite

texts:
What is a word for someone who comes across as "airheaded" but is really quite the opposite?

I will add that the person is not deliberately trying to act stupid, they just come across that way when they speak. Without knowing them, you would assume this person holds no intellect.


texts:
Asian inflation has been ------- in the last couple of months, and its governments are taking further measures to keep inflation numbers down.

(A) disrupted (B) subdued (C) overturned (D) adjusted

The book has given (A) disrupted as the best answer to complete the sentence, but I feel like it should be (B) subdued.

Because the word 'further' suggests that inflation was already on a downward trend, and the governments' measures of keeping inflation down are a continuation of the preexisting declination of the inflation.

The phrase 'keep inflation numbers down' is synonymous with 'subdue inflation', whereas 'disrupt inflation' doesn't really have as clear a meaning as the former phrases.

I agree that the word subdue tends to have an actor, and originally wondered if inflation could be 'subdued'. But the definition of subdue includes 'to bring under control' and 'to reduce the intensity or degree of', which makes sense when applied to inflation, and after some research I have found sources (likely same as Edwin's) for 'subdue inflation'

Thoughts?


texts:
What does "knocks it out of the park" mean?
Example: "All should read this book as it knocks it out of the park"


texts:
This is a bit weird, but the word business reads like busy-ness, but it sounds like biz-ness.

Why is that?
What happened to the i?


texts:
When we compare this with his [Milton's] later prose writings, when he
  moved closer to the victorious Cromwellian ascendancy, we find that
  pragmatism usurped idealism, not completely but sufficient to
  suggest that for Milton the Civil War was a horribly educative
  process.

The above is from A Milton Sourcebook, by Bradford. The bold emphasis is mine.

It seems to me that 'sufficient' should modify a noun phrase, eg 'the almost complete usurpation of idealism by pragmatism is sufficient to suggest...'

Yet the original construction quoted above seems to need an adverb - 'usurped it sufficiently to suggest'.

In your opinion, is 'sufficient' an acceptable synonym for 'enough'?

Is the construction grammatically correct?

Is the metaphoric packaging (usurpation suggesting; war = process)  confusing the structure?

Is the use of 'sufficient' here specialist in some way?