texts: What's the difference between "Not Completely True" and "Completely Not True"?

texts:
From what I understand, in second order propositional logic, ∀¬x and ¬∀x are equivalent statements. Apparently these are not equal.   ¬∀x ≡ ∃¬x

However, rendered into the English language, consider the following case study:

Statement: All human beings have appendixes.

Response 1: That's not completely true.
Response 2: That's completely not true.

In Response 1, the implication seems to be that the responder knows about appendectomy, and that some people have had their appendix removed.  In Response 2, the implication seems stronger than that, and while the motivation for such an expression is likely more for emphasis than pure logic, the implication seems be that No human beings have appendixes, which is obviously not true.

So with all due haste, the question: Which one of these is the correct word choice and why? Perhaps there are logicians in the audience that can enlighten us with specific reasoning.


texts: What do you call someone who is so inappropriate that they are appropriate?

texts:
So we have a guy in my office.  He can say almost anything.  Race jokes, gender jokes, he is just really inappropriate about everything but funny.

He is not a racist or sexist and gets along with everyone fine.  He has such a history of being inappropriate that basically anything goes for him.  Things that would get someone else a seat in HR, everyday norm for him.  He just has no filter.  But now his inappropriateness has become appropriate for him.

Edit:  I will add that Theodore mentioned "The Office" bosses, both Michael Scott and David Brent.  Pretty close I would say.  Add in being a little more touchy-feely and not worrying about kissing ass to higher ups and it might be there.  The big thing is that people shrug this kind of person off because the person isn't trying to be inappropriate, they just don't know better.  So sometimes we get slightly offended, but then we are like... he doesn't know any better.  Then we feel sorry for him then  people like him more.


texts: Question followed by an explanation/clarification of the question

texts:
Is there a standard or preferred way to punctuate this sentence?

  Would you prefer that or the status quo, which is ...

The first half is definitely a question, while the second half is definitely a statement. I'm conflicted as to whether to end the sentence with a question mark or period, or whether to use a question mark mid sentence (which intuitively seems quite odd).


texts: What is the difference between "pallet" and "skid"

texts:
I usually call this device a pallet, but I have heard it referred to as a skid:

Is there a difference between the two words (such as one is the name of the actual wooden device, the other is the combined name for the wooden "slab" and the contents stacked on top), or are they entirely synonymous?


texts: What's the adjective for a routine/mindless task that doesn't improve your actual skills?

texts:
I remember there was a specific adjective for this but I forgot the word. I've tried throwing "brainless", "routine" etc. into an online thesaurus but nothing's leading me back to the word anymore. It's so frustrating!

Anyone has a suggestion?

Thanks!


texts: Punctuation following an interruption with a dash

texts:
I am not sure what the correct punctuation to use when ending a clause that was introduced with a dash when the next character in the main sentence is a punctuation mark.

Take the following contrived example:

  He was walking down the street when he saw something quite surprising - being easily surprised was one of his characteristics - : a blue car.

Is the punctuation correct in this situation? Even in terms of spaces around the punctuation marks?

The same question applies if the interruption appears at the end of a question. For instance:

  What on earth could he be expecting from her - she had long ago ceased to believe he cared for her - ?


texts: Is there a single word to express the idea of "remove from existence"

texts:
I'm writing a simple application which will remove any trace that I was ever at a PC. (Not for nefarious reasons before anyone asks - I do a lot of temporary work at client sites and when  I leave, I want an easy way of uninstalling all my applications and software licenses)

Coding is the easy part but what to call it... that has me stumped. Don't laugh, names are important!

I could just go with something boring like "AppCleaner" but I was hoping to find something a little more interesting. It's probably getting into the realms of philosophy but are there any words (in any language) to express the concept of "remove from existence"?

edit the original wording was "never existed" but, as pointed out in the comment, that's not quite the same thing as removing from existence which is what I'm actually after.


texts:
Possible Duplicates:
  Are “should” and “if” interchangeable at the beginning of a sentence?
  A special use of “should”?

For sentences that begin with "If", it seems that "should" can replace "If." For example:

  If you ever...

  Should you ever...

However after googling, it seems that "should" should not be used to replace "if." If this is true, then why do people do it?

I also looked up "should" in the dictionary, and I didn't find anything that says it means the same thing as "if."


texts: Is "five-yearly" an acceptable usage of an adverb of manner in British English?

texts:
Today's BBC News web page has this headline:

  New era of five-yearly doctor checks starts

There's a word that means "five-yearly": quinquennial. It's probably too long for headline writers and too difficult for most readers, so I understand why it wasn't used, but shouldn't it have been five-year instead?

  New era of five-year doctor checks starts


texts: "Experimented person" as synonym of "Experienced person"

texts:
I occasionally find some occurrences of experimented as adjective, such as experimented user, experimented soldier, etc., but they are relatively rare.

Is is accepted usage to consider both words as synonyms in this case, or should I avoid experimented and prefer experienced instead?


texts: What's a word for someone who only does what they enjoy?

texts: Is there a single word for someone who only spends time doing things they like, and shirk their important duties? I am trying to describe Mr. Frederick from Animal Farm, who had "a large, neglected, old-fashioned farm, much overgrown by woodland, with all is pastures worn out and its hedges in a disgraceful condition." It is implied that the farm has gone to such a state because he "spent most of his time in fishing or hunting". I can't think of the right word to describe this, and I'm not even positive there is one. I also want something that emphasizes doing something you enjoy in place of work that needs to get done.


texts: Difference between using 'to go' versus 'going' in this sentence

texts: What is the difference between I haven't tried to go there and I haven't tried going there?


texts: Avoiding 'but' in apologies and arguments

texts:
I just recently came across a reddit thread that started when a user gave following advice

  When apologizing, replace the word 'but' with a pause.

One of the comments even said (exaggerated) that everything before the 'but' is just for 'shutting up' the other person, and everything after it is what you actually want to say.

This made me think that when ever I hear a 'but' in one of those situations, I perceive it slightly the way that was just described, but on the other hand I use those 'but' phrases myself without wanting the person I am speaking to, to perceive it that way.

So what other wording is possible for situations like this, where you would like to avoid the 'but'?


texts: Are “thought” and “had thought” both correct?

texts:
I thought she had saved money.
I had thought she saved money.

Is the 2nd sentence wrong?


texts: How can "in touch with" be used figuratively?

texts: I am sure that we can say “get in touch with someone”, to mean figuratively that we are in good contact. Can I go further to use it more figuratively, e.g., to say that “my brother is not in touch with reality”, to mean that he is out of step with the reality? Reality may be an analogue of a person, but how about knowledge? Can I say “professor xx in China is in touch with the world’s most advanced researches in the field of xx”, or “this course will put xx in touch with the most advanced… ?


texts: Is a human corpse still refered as he/she?

texts:
Lately one of thoughts turned morbid: would a person refer to a corpse as an object (it), or do corpses follow the general he/she/it rules of
Animals vs. People? My thoughts stem from the fact that a corpse was a person, but technically is not a person anymore since he/she is dead.

Ex. The corpse was... . The monster played with it [the corpse].

Ex. The corpse... . The woman took him [the corpse] to the river.

Additionally, is either one more acceptable, or simply used to convey more human sentiment to a reader?


texts: New way of understanding the present perfect tense

texts:
I've always struggled with the present perfect tense, as probably many non-native speakers do. The way I learnt the perfect tense in school always involved these so-called signal words that one had to remember, or these time-line diagrams that were meant to show that some event in the past was still relevant at present etc. But there were always cases that just didn't fit into these pattern and this was driving me crazy.

Recently I came up with a trick how to understand the present tense. I have the feeling that it works very well for me, and makes it obvious whether or not to use the present perfect tense in an ad-hoc way without having to remember any signal words, rules or patterns.

I think it's important to understand what a native speaker "feels" linguistically when he uses this or that construction, my idea seems to be based on this fact, and I wanted to ask native speakers among you if you feel it the way I think, or if it's completely wrong. If the latter is true, do you think my method is appropriate to make sense of the present perfect tense?

My idea is to take the auxiliary word "have" more literally. When I use a similar construction in German, I don't give the word "haben" (=have) any meaning in the sense of possessing something, it's just a construction. I used to do it for the English "have" as well, and I think this is why I got confused.

Take for example "I have done my homework". The way I look at it now is that I focus on the part "I have" - I have something, I possess something, and this is happening now. What do I have? I have my homework with the attribute "done". It's like having a mental checklist with the word "homework" on it, and with the status "done", and I have it, because it's on my checklist. The difference is in breaking up the sentence, namely not "I have done" + "my homework" but rather "I have" + "my homework done".

Now using this rule I would not make the mistake and say something like "I have done my homework yesterday" (In German, for example, it would be perfectly OK to say the corresponding "Ich habe meine Hausaufgaben gestern gemacht."!) I would not say it because if I focus on the "I have" part it becomes "I have yesterday", but this does not make sense, you always have something now, and not at some point in the past, unless you say "I had done my homework yesterday", which again makes sense, and you can proceed with applying the same logic but not to the present but to some given point in the past, and gives you the past perfect tense.

It seems that this rule is analogous to the signal words like "yesterday" that we had to remember, those are just words that indicate some point in the past and lead to a contradiction when used in a similar way as above: "I have (point in the past)". So, really, instead of remembering the signal words it looks like it's easier to just get rid of the participle part of the present perfect and see if the sentence still makes sense.

Also, now it's more transparent in what way present perfect is a tense that bridges the past and the present, which those typical time-line diagrams try to illustrate. The construction consists of two parts, the auxiliary "have" + past participle. The past participle together with the corresponding object (e.g. "done homework") is a property of this object which was obtained in the past. The auxiliary "have" tells you that that object still has this property now in the present.

To sum up:

Thinking of the auxiliary "have" in the present perfect tense as just a formal part of the construction without any meaning on its own was a mistake
Think of the "have" as really having something.
This something is the corresponding object with the past participle indicating its present status.

It would be really helpful to hear opinions from both native and non-native speakers about weather or not this is helpful, useful, or correct at all.


texts: Is there an expression close to "grabbing for crumbs"?

texts:
Two people are having a debate and one tries to make a point that seems like they are desperately trying to pedantically nitpick a very small thing in order to disprove the others argument. Is there an expression for this?

Here's an example: "Most health institutions have concluded that there are health risks in smoking. However just the other day one researcher was caught modifying data in attempt to overplay the risks and they were later found to be paid by a major healthcare insurer. This is further evidence that there are no health risks in smoking."


texts: What does the suffix -ling mean. As in inkling...


texts: what's the difference between "custom" and "practice"?

texts:
For example:

  As for what language to speak among family members in a certain situation there is the traditional practice to follow.
  As for what language to speak among family members in a certain situation there is the traditional custom to follow.

For example:

  This is the custom of Jingpo wedding: the bride must pass three barriers before she gets to the bridegroom's home.
  This is the practice of Jingpo wedding: the bride must pass three barriers before she gets to the bridegroom's home.

Example 1 and 3 are what I read in an article(a Chinese-English translation).
Jingpo is a people of China.

I looked up in a dictionary and it seems that "custom" is something which is usual or traditional in a particular society or in particular circumstances, and that "practice" is just something people do regularly...

So I suppose, for my examples, they are both OK to use but "custom" is better?


texts:
Is it right to say

" Fisher (1935) has showed that normality is guaranteed in case 1"

Or should it be

" Fisher (1935) has shown that normality is guaranteed in case 1" ?

Personally, I guess both are not wrong. But then, the first one is wrong according to many. Please help !!


texts: Why do we have the prefix "be" in "befriend"? What's the rule?

texts:
What is the verb form of the noun friend?

I know it is to befriend, but I am confused as to how to teach this to my daughter.

When is the prefix be used to make verbs? Is "befriend" an exception?


texts:
Is it possible to use the past simple in the result-clause of the 2nd conditional?
Is it possible to say:

If I had enough money, I bought a car.


texts: Is there an "-onym" for "group names of animals?"

texts:
Psuedonyms are false names.

Synonyms are similar names

Antonyms are opposite names.

There are also aptronyms, homonymns, eponyms, demonyms, and retronyms.

Is there an "-onym" that applies to groups of animals? (Not sure, but maybe my question is really "is there an -onymn for a collective group of animals or collective groups of anything?)


texts: Tense in clauses and how tense operates in my head

texts:
I have a question I am confused about. Here is the question:

  (1)"I want to travel around so that I can write where I will go and what I will do in my blog."

  (2)"I want to travel around so that I can write where I went and what I did in my blog."

I used different tenses in these two sentences. Which one is correct?

And how about this one:

  (1)"I want to do an internship so that I can write what I'll do through the experience on my resume."

  (2)"I want to do an internship so that I can write what I did through the experience on my resume."

Which one is correct?

And this one:

  (1)"He is going to write a book next year, and he will give me the book which he will write."

  (2)"He is going to write a book next year, and he will give me the book which he wrote."

which one is correct?

When it comes this case (seeing things from the future), how should one use the tense in clauses correctly? If you guys can explain how to use the proper tense in these kinds of sentences, it will be great!

From my point of view, I think those sentences labeled as (1) sound more correct to me, but I am not sure about it.

Below, I explain how I think of English tenses. Could you tell me whether my thought is correct?

  I think the tenses of English language are all relative to the present (the moment I speak).
  That means things we want to talk about need to be compared with the present in order to know which tense we should use. Despite the fact that past perfect can be relative to the past, it is also relative to the present; if not, it would be just past tense (if our datum mark is the time in the past). I mean that because datum mark is the present (the moment I speak), past perfect can be used as past perfect. It is a little hard to explain my thought, but I believe you guys can get my idea.


texts: Pluralization: backward and backwards in context

texts:
Unless I'm using "backward" and "backwards" wrong, I can pluralize it when the subject is not plural and vice versa.

For example, correct me if I'm wrong:

One movie.

  If you watch your favourite movie
  backwards, what is the plot?

More than one movie.

  If you watch your favourite movies
  backward, what are the plots?

I've never stopped to think about this before and am looking for some quick enlightenment as to its validity.

I've seen this question based on the same words but believe it's a slightly different context.


texts: Do you agree with these intermediate gradations between “frank” and “evasive”?

texts:
While consulting the version of the New Oxford American Dictionary provided with Mac OS, I came across the following “word spectrum”, which its says “show shades of meaning between two polar opposites”. While I generally appreciate its notes such as “The right word”, I was surprised by this spectrum:

Some of the words in there appear next to one another, which I would truly treat as synonymous, like “honest” and “truthful”. However, I am surprised by the ordering of some other words. For example, I would have classified “upfront” even higher than “frank”. Also, I would classify words like “taciturn” and “of few words” as neutral on this scale, as I don't feel they convey any negative connotation.

So, my question is (and I'm sorry it took so long to get to it!): is this spectrum corroborated by usage in your experience? That may depend on local factors, of course, which I'd be happy to be referred to.


texts: 'Will' or simple present: Why there is a difference in these two sentences?

texts:
Consider these two sentences from the book Grammar in Use:

  Alex will look after our cats while we're away next week.
  The new drug goes on sale in the USA next year.

As you see, the authors of the book recommend to use "will" in the 1st sentence, because there is "less routine arrangement" and present simple in the 2nd because it's a "fixed event".

I do not see any difference between these two sentences from this aspect. Both events are planned and will take place only once in future.

The book says that 'will' is also useable in the second sentence, but then why is present simple not possible in the first one?


texts:
I was writing an email and a friend pointed out that I should stop using "he/she" and instead always use "they" to refer to a person of unknown gender, since "he or she" implies there are only two gender, which is very insulting to people who don't identify as either male or female.

I've never heard of anyone being insulted by "he or she". Should I make an effort to change my writing habits, or is my friend wrong?


texts: when wishing someone a happy birthday is a comma used before their name?

texts:
When wishing someone a happy birthday is a comma used before their name?

Happy Birthday, John

Happy Birthday John


texts:
"Untranslated" or "not translated" text?

Is there any difference in usage?

Does both sound equally natural to native speakers?

Update:

In the means of a software which is better when talking about:

1) the number of words that translators haven't translated yet

2) the number of words that the proofreader haven't approved yet?

No questions regarding "translated" and "approved", they are just additional context to show the usage. I want to use them anyway, the question regards only untranslated or not translated; unapproved or not approved.

Example:

Translated: 1500 words

Approved: 700 words

Not translated: 500 words

Not approved: 700 words

or

Translated: 1500 words

Approved: 700 words

Untranslated: 500 words

Unapproved: 700 words


texts: Word for "orientation" when talking about things that have two sides?

texts:
I am a researcher in computer vision, and I'm dealing with objects that have two sides - akin to coins that have heads and tails or animals which have dorsal and ventral sides:

In one setting, I always observe the objects from a particular side, e.g. always look at the dorsal side.
In the other, my "coins" are flipped first so I don't know which side I observe (it might be either dorsal or ventral).
My job is to find out whether the randomness in <insert noun here> of the objects matters.

The first idea is orientation, but 1) it suggests a smoothly changing rotation, whereas my situation involves a binary state: either dorsal or ventral, 2) the objects I see can also be rotated within the image itself, so I use the word orientation to talk about this rotation.

Any suggestions for a different noun?

Other words I considered and why they don't work:

direction - implies movement, and there is none
order - suggests a position within a sequence
position - feels related to spatial location, not rotation
alignment - suggests adherence to a (spatial) pattern
sidedness - The condition of having a specific number or form of sides - does not seem to convey the meaning I want
pose (computer vision) - combines position and orientation and is not applicable in this case

A similar question has been asked about the hypernym of horizontal and vertical, with the answers given: orientation and axis. I don't think axis is a good choice here either, as I focus on a particular axis: the dorsoventral axis.


texts: What are the verbs that are not used in the progressive?

texts:
There are verbs that generally don't take the progressive suffix "-ing", like hate and not hating: "I hate that," not "I am hating that."

This also applies to other verbs like want, need, like, etc. Standard English does not have "I am wanting a sandwich" when describing a simple indication of need.

Could you please tell me if there are other verbs that don't take "ing"? Perhaps there's a special term. If there are exceptions, mention those for me.


texts: If I say “The plot of that play stinks,” am I giving a spoiler alert?

texts:
The article of May 21 New York Times written by Stanley Fish under the title, “What Do Spoilers Spoil?” begins with the following lines:

  Over 10 percent of the comments on my ‘Hunger Games’ column brought up the question of spoiler alerts. "Haven’t you heard of a spoiler alert?", one exasperated reader asked.

No. I haven’t heard of the word spoiler alert as of yet.

The article ends with the following line:

  If ‘The Hunger Games’ is so shallow that it can be spoiled by a plot revelation, the alert doesn’t save much. If ‘The Hunger Games’ is a serious accomplishment, no plot revelation can spoil it.

From the context of the column, I can interpret the meaning of “spoiler alert” two ways:

It means a comment or warning to the effect of “the work isn't worth any further reading” to others, or
Just “revelation of the end result of the story to others”.

What does “spoiler alert” here mean?

Does the question in Stanley Fish’s statement, “Haven’t you heard of a spoiler alert?” mean that ‘spoiler alert’ isn’t the word everybody knows, or just an irony to the author thrown by one of his readers?


texts: "All you'll have to gain IS points" or "All you'll have to gain ARE points"?

texts:
In the following statement, which should be used: is or are? I personally think is, but my boss put are, and I don't want to correct him if I am not correct.

  Start dining with us. All you'll have to gain are points.

or

  Start dining with us. All you'll have to gain is points.

I think the is is pertaining to "gain" which is not plural, and therefore is should be used. But I think the argument could also be made that is pertaining to "points" which is plural, and therefore are should be used.


texts: Expression choice: 'conclusion', 'taken as a whole', or 'regarding'

texts:
I am wondering if it would be more effective to use another construction:

  Taken as a whole

or

  Regarding

instead of

  In the general framework of the leaf photosynthesis limitations associated with drought stress, we may conclude that leaf assimilation could have been reduced by increase in stomata and mesophyll resistance, elevation of the leaf temperature and negative feedback of carbohydrates.

Are these expressions all equivalent? Are there different levels of formality involved?


texts: Placement of the auxiliary verb within a sentence

texts:
When using do as auxiliary verb for emphasis, could one swap it around in a sentence or not?
For example,

Do please check the details beforehand.

Please do check the details beforehand.

Are both these versions correct? What is the difference between their meanings, if any?
Also, should it be not or no above?


texts: Do other ‘suﬃxes’ besides “‑ere/‑ence/‑ither” exist for composing locative and directional ‘adverbs’ like “here/hither/hence”?

texts:
Years ago reading J R R Tolkien’s Silmarillion, I learned the delightful
suﬃxes ‑ence and ‑ither used in this threefold set of paired words
with these meanings:

hence: from this nearby place
hither: toward this nearby place
thence: from that far place
thither: toward that far place
whence: from which place
whither: toward which place

Recently, as a joke to use such words, I sent a friend an SMS message:

  Later I’ll arrive at your place. I will go hence thither, and return
  thence hither. Haha.

Now in creating this question, I’ve realized that there is at least one
more suﬃx that combines this way, ‑ere:

here
there
where

I hadn’t thought about it as a member of a set of three until today,
because it’s in everyday use.  But ‑ence and ‑ither have all but
vanished from casual everyday speech, and so when someone uses these it
makes a spoken or written sentence more interesting.

So we have the set of three preﬁxes h‑, th-, and wh‑ that all
combine with another set of three suﬃxes ‑ere, ‑ence, and ‑ither
to make nine different combinations of derived words we can use as
locative and directional ‘adverbs’:

           ‑ere    ‑ence    ‑ither
       ┏━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
   h‑  ┃   here    hence    hither
  th-  ┃  there   thence   thither
  wh‑  ┃  where   whence   whither

Or grouped the other direction:

          h‑      th-      wh‑
       ┏━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
  ‑ere ┃  here    there    where
 ‑ence ┃  hence   thence   whence
‑ither ┃  hither  thither  whither

Do other such suﬃxes exist that combine with that same threefold
preﬁx-set of [h‑, th-, wh‑] to make more “h‑/th‑/wh‑ words” like these?

Do other such preﬁxes exist that combine with the same threefold
suﬃx-set of [‑ere, ‑ence, ‑ither] to make more
“‑ere/‑ence/‑ither words” like these?

Is there some essay or discussion about these and related elements
somewhere out there that explains all this a little?

Extra thought: consider ‑at as some sort of suﬃx, as in:

what
that
While I’m not sure if there’s ever been a word starting with h‑ for
‘nearby’, everyone knows the idiom this, that, the other, so I could
suggest this instead of ✻hat which appears not to exist. Right?

Another extra thought: also consider ‑en as some sort of suﬃx, as in:

when
then
Why is ✻hen also missing here like ✻hat is missing from the set of
three ‑at words just given above?


texts:
In today's Yahoo! News, there is a report on small houses around the world, which contains the sentence, "Patriotism aside, there's much to love about Europe's devotion to small-space living."

Isn't a sentence that begins with "Patriotism aside" supposed to go on to promote the domestic version? That is how I've always understood this "aside" construction. Or is it an expression with two opposite meanings, like the word "sanction"?


texts: Vigilant is an adjective, so "The vigilant worker spotted a problem" is correct but what about "We must remain vigilant"?


texts: Generic name for places like village, town and cities

texts:
There is the German word Ort or Ortschaft which is a hypernym for places where people live like

villages
towns
cities

etc.

Is there a correspondent word in English?

I don't want to use location or place because they also represent geographical entities where no people live or even just buildings.


texts: Should I use "toil" or "toils" when I refer to hardwork?

texts:
I know toil means hardwork, even physical labor.

For example, I want to say:

I'm prepared for the toil as a oilfield worker in Siberia.

My question is: should this "toil" be "toil" (singular) or "toils" (plural)?

Thank you.


texts: Verb types or mode of expression to convey lack of causality

texts:
In Biblical Hebrew there are two simple verb types (Qal grammatically active and  Niphal  passive) which covey no causation. They may be reflexive, permissive or tolerative or some combination. Would adding the phrase "permit/permitted" to English translation help preserve the lack of causality?
Is there a more accurate word than permit which would preserve the lack of causality?

  Gen 1:3  And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.

vs

  Gen 1:3  And God [permitted himself to] say, [Let there] be light: and there [permitted] light.

More on Qal

More on Niphal


texts: What is a word for a man who has a lot of sexual relationships?

texts:
What do you call a man who loves and tries to have many sexual relationships with girls and usually doesn't fall in love with any of them?

To clear what I'm looking for, Suppose a guy at work/university who tries to have sexual relationship with many girls and changes his choice continually one after another!


texts:
When I hear expressions like "you need to get trained up", I think the up is, at best, superfluous and probably grammatically incorrect.

Is that the case, or does the up serve a purpose?


texts:
Time after time, when on the phone to insurance companies and such like, I'm being asked to 'confirm' my details. To me that's like them telling me what they think my details are, and me saying yes or no.

'Verify' is another term used, but I don't feel that either is an accurate word to use. They won't say out straight 'What is your full name', which would then be answered, maybe because it is construed as too direct!

What would be a better word or phrase that actually is apposite?


texts: Word order "I always should test..." vs "I should always test..."

texts:
As a non-native English speaker I am not sure about the word order in sentences with adverbs when used in the "in-between scenario" (according to https://english.stackexchange.com/a/9602/9579). In this specific case, is it correct to say

I always should test...

or

I should always test...

The adverb is in both cases between subject and verb, but the tricky bit here is that the verb has two components ("should" and "test"), making two in-between scenarios possible...


texts: Is it correct to use the term paranoia when expressing overrated reaction due to fear of something?

texts:
I was discussing with someone who had this strong conviction that AI is a ridicule all through and neglected all of its uses. At a stage, the argument got heated, and I said:

  I think you are paranoid about artificial intelligence.

and he got really offended, that I had to open a dictionary and look up the word paranoid. Surprisingly, it seemed my grammar was wrong, and the term was inappropriate and I should have used something like bias. Is this correct? How best can I say something like:

  I think you have become so scared of artificial intelligence that the
  negative side of it is exaggerated in your mind.


texts: usage of the verb to bridge in "Bridging someone to something"

texts:
My friend suggested a tag line for our project: "Bridging you to your dream higher education online" and I have doubts that "bridging you to smth." is a proper word usage.

I've never heard this expression before. I've only heard "Bridging the gap between smth and smth" and "bridge between dreaming and living your dreams".

The meaning behind this is "moving you towards your dream", building a "connection, bridge" leading students to their dream university.

What do you think?
You help would be highly appreciated!


texts:
Can't be arsed means can't be bothered. It means that one can't be bothered to do something. I've seen it being used as an adjective. What could can't be arsed ice cream mean?

The original texts says:

  Apple pizza with can't be arsed ice cream.


texts: In this sentence, what is the precise part of speech of "home"?


texts: Is it proper to describe a noun using an apostrophe?

texts: For example, if I wanted to say, "This student is large.", would it be proper to instead say, "This student's large."? I don't recall ever reading something like this, but I remember hearing people speak like this. Is this purely a speaking shortcut or is it also proper to write as well?


texts: What are the terms for the parts of a comparative?

texts:
If I am comparing "thee" to "a summer's day", in other words comparing for equality
a == b

What are the proper terms that relate to a and b?
I'd call == the comparator, maybe a the subject.. b the object?

I looked here and they only mention 'entities'
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparative


texts: I have no brothers or I have no brother?

texts:
Which one is correct and why?

A: I want a potato!
B: We have no potatoes or we have no potato.


texts: Difference between indecisive and volatile

texts:
I am confused about when to use indecisive and when to use volatile.

For example

He was very _________. His friends acknowledged his vacillation.

What would be the appropriate answer here?


texts: Can a sentence be described as compound (rather than complex) purely based on the placement of the conjunction?

texts:
For example:

"Though he was late for class, he walked slowly down the corridor."  This is considered a complex sentence as "Though he was late for class" is a dependent clause.

However, I can change the placement of "though" without altering the meaning or any other parts of the sentence as such:

"He walked slowly down the corridor though he was late for class."
Here, there are two independent clauses ("He walked slowly down the corridor" and "he was late for class") joined by a conjunction.

Is the second version now a compound sentence, rather than a complex one?


texts: Can you use "such as" to enumerate examples at the beginning of a sentence?

texts:
Is it grammatically correct to use "such as" the following way?

Many universities, such as UC Davis, UC Santa Cruz, and UC Irvine, are now offering degrees in environmental engineering.


texts: Do two sentences below have the same meaning?

texts:
the voltage is higher than the amplifier required

the voltage is higher than it was required by amplifier


texts: "preposition: a word to annoy prescriptivists with"

texts: What is the double meaning/meanings of this?


texts: The North American use of "gotten" in the Passive Perfect Tenses

texts:
I am a British English Teacher, so I am not familiar with the North American use of "gotten" in the Passive Perfect Tenses. In these tenses, does the word "been" always get replaced by "gotten" in American English or is it sometimes a choice between "gotten" & "got"?
Here are some example sentences, can you give me the correct passive form in American English please?

The flying car had been invented by Oleg before he died.
The flying car had got \ gotten invented by Oleg before he died.

And

The report has not been published by the government.
The report has not got \ gotten published by the government.


texts: Whats the term for words used to mean "in terms of _blank_"

texts:
I recently noticed that some words can be used in a sentence to literally mean "in terms of".

For example, compare the uses of these two sentences, "He kept his accounts religiously."  "Religiously, he was a Christian".

In the second instance religiously means in terms of religion.
The first instance is describing an action. And the other is just referencing the root word.
Notice that some similar words cannot be a description of an actions. Like "ethnically" you can't do something ethnically. Its only meaning is in terms of ethnicity.

So I'm wondering is there a name for this type of word? the type of words that mean "in terms of blank"


texts:
Are for and of interchangeable in these circumstances? Is the meaning affected at all?

  He was the Minister for Education.

  He was the Minister of Education.

  The Institute of Medical Research.

  The Institute for Medical Research.


texts: Manage abbreviations before parantheses at the end of a sentence

texts:
There are already topics very close to my question, but not quite there.
Does anyone know what to do about this:

  We review our accounts p.a. (at the end of the year).

Normally, without the text in parentheses, the "." after "a" would suffice to end the sentence, but then the parentheses come into play.

Should there be another period after the parentheses like in my example, or no?


texts: "To do this or do that" or "to do this or *to* do that"?

texts:
I saw on the bottom of an email:

  To change your email preferences or unsubscribe from certain
  messages, click here.

Is that correct or should it be:

  To change your email preferences or to unsubscribe from certain
  messages, click here.


texts: Can there be a sentence after comma + that?

texts:
This is the sentence in question:

  To research the book, See traveled to a remote area of China that, she was told only one other foreigner ever to visit before her had ever visited.

I understand how to use parenthetical commas and I think this is an example of using those commas. I feel quite confident that there should be a comma before "only" so that it would read..."remote area of China that, she was told, only one other foreigner"

Edit: comma before only


texts:
In a project management context where A and B would be tasks, if A needs B, then B is a dependency of A. Is there a word to describe what A is to B?

As @KateGregory put it, I want to replace "we need to get B done, a lot of things are depending on it" to "we need to get B done, it has a lot of X" where X is the word I'm looking for.

I'm talking about the English concept, not the logical implication, though they're clearly related. Predecessor / successor is not what I'm looking for.


texts: Is there a single word equivalent of *anímicamente* (from Spanish)?

texts:
There's a succinct way to talk about mood, as an adverb, in Spanish.  For example,

  Yes, I've always realized there's a certain amount of poverty in the U.S., but now, living here for the past two months, I'm finding that seeing all the poverty right here is really affecting me anímicamente.

The best I've got so far is moodwise which of course sounds awful.

Yes, okay, I could regroup and say

  it's really affecting my mood.

Second example.

  No está enfermo, pero anímicamente anda mal.

He's not sick, but his mood is not good.  (Closest I can get -- not satisfying.)

But if there's a way to say this without regrouping, I'd like to know what it is.

Do we have an adverb for that in English?


texts: Would "answerable to my department" be correct

texts:
I had assigned some work to one of the staff in my department which has been delayed and I have to write an email asking her to speed things up.

Would this be correct?

  Please make this quick as I am answerable to the people in my
  department.


texts:
As in:

  I initially had planned to cite my sources.

Rather than:

  I had initially planned to cite my sources.


texts: A Less Offensive Word For Crippled Beggar?

texts:
What would be a nice way of saying a crippled beggar?

For example I want to say "I gave some money to a crippled beggar who was begging on the road" but the word crippled and beggar doesn't seem nice (I want to write this down on a journal kind of place).

Any suggestions on how to put this more nicely?

PS:- By the way I don't need the wording to be very formal or anything. What I meant by "journal" was to mean something like a "diary". Sorry if it confused you.


texts: How is "of" used in "The balls are of equal weight"?

texts:
"The balls are of equal weight."
I think this sentence means "The balls are equal in weight."
Why do you say "of" here? What function and meaning does "of" have?

My guess is as follows.
The balls are (composed) of equal weight. or
The balls are (some kilos) of equal weight. (abbreviation)

Likewise other examples are

He is of Polish descent (He is out of /from).or He is (a man) of Polish descent
The house is of his own design (The house is out of /from). or The house is (a building) of his own design
The trash smells of fish.(?) The trash smells (like the smell) of fish


texts: What is the opposite of "fall out of favour" with someone?

texts: What is the opposite of "fall out of favour with someone"?


texts: If my boat is sinking should I bale or bail the water out?

texts:
From various literary examples it appears that I should manually 'bail' out the water to keep afloat but the automated water removal system in my vessel is a 'baling pump'.

While there is this, I cannot find any evidence that the present tense verb of 'to bail' is 'baling'.

'bale' may be an olde English of 'bail' but why would a factory keep producing 'baling pumps'? (see baling pump) ?


texts: Difference between a methodology, a method and a workflow?

texts:
I wrote a scientific article and one of the reviewer ask me to explain more precisely that something that I presented like a methodology is in fact a methodology and not a workflow.

I have trouble to understand what are the key differences between these words:

Methodology
Method
Workflow

For me they more or less all relates to the same things, if you could provide examples that would be helpful to me.


texts: Recently in my research I came across an O.E. word, 'ingebringan' out of a dictionary wherein the scholar translated it as "to bring in". It seems to me that in a verbatim translation, he left out the suffix 'an' which on both nouns and adjectives means 'of or belonging to' or it may also mean 'one'. The word ge in O.E. can mean to, into or together. Can a scholar out there clarify this for me. Thank you


texts:
Someone gives a parable whose wisdom is not quite understood, so they are asked:

'What did you intend by this parable?'

Or:

'What did you intend with this parable?'

Which preposition is more acceptable?


texts: What is the opposite of using something judiciously?

texts: I want to tell a colleague to use a particular file wherever possible. Basically the opposite of using it judiciously. I ended up saying "use the file at will" — but it got me wondering if there is a one-word antonym for judiciously. Google suggests foolishly or carelessly, but that's not what I want to convey.


texts: Difference between "now" and "right now"

texts:
Is there any difference between the two following sentences?

  We can't connect to Outlook right now.
  We can't connect to Outlook now.


texts:
What is the Origin of the word bedazzle?

The Audience was bedazzled by her charm.
The glare of the Headlights bedazzled him.
I will bedazzle my fans tonight.

According to the Online Etymology Dictionary, there is no specific origin of the word bedazzle other than it was first known to the English language in the late 1500s.


texts: Not using the definite article for "baby"

texts:
In the British show Call The Midwife, which is a show about midwifery, a lot of the dialogue is about babies. Whenever someone refers to a specific baby, they never use the definite article. So "That's not good for baby" rather than "That's not good for the baby". "I'll ask the doctor to listen to baby's heartbeat" rather than "I'll ask the doctor to listen to the baby's heartbeat". I notice they use the definitive article for everything else ("the doctor", "the children", "the hospital", "the midwife") but never for "baby".

What is the reasoning for this? Is this an archaic thing (the show is set in the 50's-60's), a British thing, a medical thing?


texts:
I would like to know if autodidact has a positive, negative, or neutral connotation behind it.

These questions asking about usage imply:

A neutral connotation:

Autodidactic as a Verb
What would you call a person who is not a student, but takes interest in exploring academic topics?
Self-Learner vs Self-Taught vs Autodidact  most answers

A positive connotation:

What word describes a person who never went to college, but is very successful, and well learned?

A (slight) negative connotation:

https://english.stackexchange.com/a/111205/20511  Slightly negative due to context?
"Deliberate recluse" or "deliberately reclusive"  negative due to association with "deliberately reclusive"
Is "autodidact" too obscure to use in a résumé?  negative due to obscurity


texts: Post-fixing or pre-fixing "mind you" onto an informative/descriptive statement

texts:
Example:

  It was quite a sunny day, mind you.

or in the middle:

  It was quite a sunny day, mind you, so I packed my sunglasses.

or prefixed:

  Now mind you, it was quite a sunny day...

What is meant to be conveyed? That I should be mindful of the fact that was stated?  I can understand that much, but somehow it doesn't quite fit in with my understanding of the word "mind" when used in other contexts: "Do you mind if I borrow your car?" or as a verb: "Mind the gap." (at subway stations between the train and platform).

Can someone break it down?


texts: date has already passed OR date has already past?

texts:
Which is correct : date has already passed , or date has already past ?

Thanks


texts: Should I use 'whoever' or 'whomever': "I will kill ___ despises me." ?

texts:
I know this sentence is a little awkward. Bear with me.

"I will kill whomever I despise." -- This one feels correct. However...

"I will kill whoever despises me." -- Is this right? Would this one also be whomever? Or is 'whoever' correct here?


texts:
I have read about the rules for capitalization of colons and the varying rules depending on region and culture. So I decided to use the supposedly British grammar and only capitalize nouns or acronyms after a colon. But what about lists with colons as separators between list item and its description?

Taking a shower: You should do this daily.
Eating food: Eat three hearty meals a day
Going to bed: After a hard day...

Above is the list style I'm referring to. I intend to use it in a scientific Paper where I describe a couple of things. Using a lower-case letter after the semicolon looks wrong. Capitalizing the first letter on the other hand breaks the consistency with the remainder of the text where everything is lower-case, except for proper nouns. Any suggestions?


texts: I often hear 'to make use of something'. Is there any difference from just 'to use something'?


texts:
I've noticed lately the flapped realization of /l/ in AmE, as in the sentence "It's solo" from the song Solo (Clean Bandit feat. Demi Lovato).

What are the causes behind this pronunciation?


texts: "whom...must...": is this real sentence grammatical?

texts:
I encountered this curious sentence on page 234 of the 1859
novel Natalie; or, A Gem Among the Sea-Weeds, by Emma V. Hallet
writing under the pseudonym “Ferna Vale”, marked here in bold:

In a few words he informed her of what he had learned from Mrs.
Santon the day previous, but what was his astonishment to find
her totally ignorant of the circumstances, not hesitating to
declare the whole a base falsehood.

“I had not a doubt of the falsity of the report,” said
Delwood; “but what can have given rise to such a statement?
Surely, your mother would not wish to injure my feelings, by
repeating what may have originated, without foundation, among
the servants, and she could not have herself credited!”

Winnie saw the truth at once, knowing as she did the
character of her, whom, if she had ever looked upon as a
mother, must from this moment forfeit every claim upon her
feelings, unless it were that of utter contempt.

“Mr. Delwood,” said she, raising herself to her full
height, her slender fingers clenched together, every nerve
’roused to action, — “if you would not insult me, never
again call the woman who has had the heart to cast such a slur
upon the character of her whom we know is innocent, my
mother! It is not to injure your feelings that she has
invented such a vile scheme, but it is by injuring Natalie’s
character in your eyes, she may banish from her heart all
future happiness. Nay, do not start at such a strange
declaration from my lips; you are the only person, out of my
father’s household, who has a suspicion that our happiness is
not what it once was; but since it has come to this, I will, at
the risk of disclosing to the world what it were wisdom to
conceal, establish the innocent; and rest assure that what I
say is true, — this has originated not amonth the servants,
for there is not but would kneel and kiss the very ground upon
which are dear Sea-flower treads.”

(The context is that Winnie’s new stepmother has proven to be an
ill-natured woman.)
The whom seems to be correct (accusative case, I think: she had ever
looked upon HER), but then the “must from this moment...” feels
disjointed, not properly connected to the first part of the sentence.
Is this use of whom in fact correct? How would one analyse the
complete sentence in question?


texts: Is "vice versa" redundant with "one [verb] the other"?

texts:
I feel that "one [verb] the other" also includes the "other [verb] the one" meaning, but I am not sure.
Consider this sentence:

The design and development process shall run in parallel, one informing the other and vice versa.

Is it clear that design is informing development and development is informing design, even without the 'vice versa'?


texts: We are developing a website and we have different personas (to connect with certain user types). We think layperson is probably not the best and i was wondering if the community here might be able to suggest a few alternatives to "layperson". From our side a layperson would be anyone, a simple site user.


texts: What does "Flowers masking kke women and men" mean?

texts:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/97/Jonquil_Masquerade.jpg

If that is supposed to read "the" instead of "kke" or "hke", then it's the most misleading font/text style ever used.


texts: Difference between 'voting' and 'casting a vote'

texts: What's the difference between them? A man was talking to another person while the elections were being held. I overheard them. But I'm confused here. English is not my mother language and I have always heard people saying 'did you vote for someone', not did you 'cast a vote for someone '.


texts: Idiom for explaining something too thoroughly

texts:
Is there an idiom for explaining something in extreme detail? I know there is an idiom for getting rid of something "root and branch", but based on the examples I've seen, this cannot be used in this kind of context, or can it?

I am looking for a phrase of some sort, somewhat pejorative but a funny one – an idiom, colloquialism or something multi-word. In my language we have a saying that someone explains something and "includes the root" or "explains every pond and pool", e.g. when someone asks the shortest way from point A to point B, and instead of telling which one it is, you start describing every rock and tree and bush on the way, which really is not at all informative. Pretty much an exact opposite to "cutting to the chase".


texts:
Written in 1836 in Texas

  P.S. The Lord is on our
  side—When the enemy appeared in sight
  we had not three bushels of corn—We
  have since found in deserted houses 80
  or 90 bushels & got into the walls 20
  or 30 head of Beeves.

(for further context, see the Wikipedia entry for this letter)

The bit I found interesting was the last line about the Lord being on their side.  Was this used as an expression to encourage people to join them, or was it used as a literal statement, as in, the Lord literally put bushels of corn in the house for them?


texts: Are there some commonly used expressions/phrases for when the table is full of dishes, bowls, etc.c (generally food)? In the sense the host has prepared a lot of food for the party, guests, etc. and it looks impressive.


texts: "Knowledgeable about" vs. "knowledgeable on" vs. "knowledgeable in"

texts: When should I use each of the collocations "knowledgeable about", "knowledgeable on", and "knowledgeable in"?


texts: what to call a person who can easily hit a younger one without any sorrow?

texts: Please, help me find the word that describes a person (in my case a man) that can punch a much younger adult (in my case a 20 year old boy) without any sorrow about it.


texts: Why use "was", not "were" in "If I was given more time, I would..."

texts:
Is this sentence formal?

  If I was given more time, I would have less pressure

Why do we use "I was" rather than "I were"?


texts:
There was a passage which had a blank, which I had to fill in.
The sentence was

  ...can save a worm from _______ up by a bird.

I wrote getting eaten, but was informed that the correct answer was being eaten.

Can both be correct?


texts: What is this an example of: "a napron" becomes "an apron"?

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  “A whole nother” way of looking at things

I recently learned that the word apron was once apparently napron, but the current form has resulted from accidental morphing of a napron to an apron.  What is this kind of mistake called?  (I'd also like to know of others, if there are any.)


texts:
I don't know which one to choose.

Here's the sentence:

I wish I had lavender seeds so I could grow those lovely flowers and make the bees (and myself/me) happy.

Which one is correct?
Make the bees (and myself) happy or
 Make the bees (and me) happy


texts: Why are dogs "neutered", horses "gelded", and people "castrated"?

texts:
Why is there a different word to explain the removal of testes for these three animals?

Also, can I use all three for any animal?


texts: Hello, what it means "the abrupt surge of the hill"?

texts:
what it means "the abrupt surge of the hill"?
I think it's about the steepness of the hill. But when "abrupt" and "surge" joined together it doesn't make any sense.


texts: Is it proper to use dashes to set of parenthetical phrases in a comma-separated list?

texts:
I'm in need of a complex sentence that lists out three requirements, and the facts that satisfy those requirements. Here's an example of what I'm referring to, using the "motivation, means, and opportunity" elements of a murder:

  The prosecution had all the evidence they needed for a murder
  conviction. Alfonso had the motivation to see his friend
  dead—full control of the company—,the means to kill
  him—a whole lab with poisonous chemicals—, and the
  opportunity to do so—the dinner party.

Is this a proper emdash and comma usage? I could use a semicolon instead, like so:

  The prosecution had all the evidence they needed for a murder
  conviction. Alfonso had the motivation to see his friend
  dead—full control of the company; the means to kill
  him—a whole lab with poisonous chemicals; and the
  opportunity to do so—the dinner party.

But then the three requirements get mixed up with facts, visually, making the list harder to parse. A final option would be using parenthesis:

  The prosecution had all the evidence they needed for a murder
  conviction. Alfonso had the motivation to see his friend
  dead (full control of the company), the means to kill
  him (a whole lab with poisonous chemicals), and the
  opportunity to do so (the dinner party).

But the use of parenthesis here seems out of place with the drama of the facts. Is it proper to use emdashes and commas as I did in the first example? What would be the best construction of the sentence?


texts: What were common nicknames for a pistol in the US during the 1920's?

texts:
I am writing a book set in the 1920's and would like to know what a relatively low-class person might call a pistol.

In other books I've read, they are called heaters or gats, but I believe those books were set in the 1940's or later.


texts: Is there any difference in meaning between the expressions draw a bath and prepare a bath?


texts: Indefinite articles as adjectives and adverbs [?]

texts:
Many words can be categorized into two or more parts of speech. For example, ‘fall’ is both a verb and a noun. In, ‘He fell to his knees’, it is a verb. But, in ‘A heavy fall of rain’, it is a noun.

The two articles are [a, an] and the. ‘A’ is sometimes classified as a noun in a dictionary. But, in a phrase like ‘kind of a computer’ [here, it means that there is one computer with many similar models] it modifies the noun ‘computer’ and so it can be classified as an adjective since adjectives modify nouns. [compare ‘the computer’]. But, in the phrase, ‘a kind of computer’ [here, it means a machine which is similar to a computer] it modifies the adjective ‘kind’ and so it is an adverb since adverbs modify adjectives.

So, articles can be classified as adverbs and adjectives, too. [?].


texts: Posting a letter and sending it via e-mail

texts:
I am sending a formal letter to a recipient by registered post and e-mail.

Is it convention to include within the e-mail/PDF such text like: "As sent via post on " or something similar to inform the recipient to also expect the letter via the postal system?


texts: Can 'obsolete' and 'defunct' be used interchangeably?

texts:
'Obsolete' is defined as

  No longer produced or used; out of date.

and 'defunct' is defined as

  No longer existing or functioning.

The meanings sound close to each other though the latter should be more formal. Are there situations in which native English speakers use them interchangeably?

An example from OALD:

  The LP was made defunct by the arrival of the CD.


texts: I just read about a guy that was beaten to the punch several times. I couldn't find a meaning of that using my dictionary or Google, so what does that mean?


texts:
I'm writing a response for my business english class. The question is always why are we taking this class. I want to say/suggest that a better question to ask is why do you think this class is required for your degree. Word thinks it should end it a question mark because the word why is in it. Is this a grammatically correct sentence or is there a better way to word it:

Why do you think this class is important for your degree would be a better question to ask students.

OR

I would suggest that a better question to ask would be  why we think this class is important for our degree.


texts:
“Today’s Quote” of Washington Times (February 1) picked up the answer of White House Press Secretary, Jay Carney to a reporter when he was asked by the reporter whether the White House was planning a concerted effort on job creation just as it has on immigration reform and gun control. :

Carney replied:

  "I know you're kind of new to the beat, but this president has been
  focused on this issue more than any other, and that will not change."

What does “the beat” here mean? Is it situation, place, trend, or movement? Apparently the questioner seems to be a cub reporter to Press Secretary. Doesn't  Carney's answer carry a derogatory tone?

I can’t find the usage of ‘beat’ in this form in English dictionaries at hand.


texts:
What is the meaning of call in call the race? I know that call the race roughly means announcing the winner, right? I found this term appears frequently in the many artiles about the US presidential election. For example:

The Associated Press has not called this race.

Races are called when a winner is clear.


texts: How is vehicle fuel efficiency expressed outside the United States?

texts:
I've been wondering this for a long time and Google doesn't seem to want to give me the answer.

In the United States, the term "miles per gallon" is most commonly used to express the fuel efficiency of an automobile. Given that "mile" and "gallon" are artifacts of the U.S. customary system of measurement, how would someone in a country that uses the Metric system go about expressing this rate? "Kilometers per liter"? "Meters per U.K. gallon"? "Furlongs per hogshead"?


texts:
The pronunciation of the word science seems to vary based on which part of the world you're in. I have heard it pronounced "sai-ens" and "saains" (think "signs").

I have checked the dictionary, but every dictionary is made in a certain country and a really big number of those countries happen to be in the western hemisphere where people use the former. Living in Southeast Asia, I can't help but notice that people here prefer the latter pronunciation.

The question is, how many syllables does the word science have?  I am hoping for an answer that clarifies what the pronunciation has been historically and why this difference exists in the first place.


texts: Smith and Johnson's approach [123] vs. Smith's and Johnson's approach [123]

texts:
I am currently writing a paper and want to label an approach proposed by Smith and Johnson in their work (exemplary reference [123]) as:
Smith and Johnson's approach [123] or Smith's and Johnson's approach [123]. What would be the correct one?


texts: Adverbial complements for [I listened to ...] vs [I worked as ...]

texts:
(1) I listened to the lecture at school. --> The lecture was listened to by me at school.
(2) I worked as a secretary at the company. --> A secretary was worked as by me at the company.
Both listen and work are intransitive verbs.

The second passivization seems unusual to me.
In (1) "to the lecture" is an adverbial complement.

My question is about 2) "as a secretary" - is it an adverbial complement?

Is this Adverbial a complement or an adjunct? gives a test for being a complement or adjunct. Does this test work for sentence (2)?


texts:
Let’s sat your boss gave you a task and she’s very demanding and before leaving she looks at you and says:

  X: “I’m expecting you to do an impeccable ____”

Should it be job or work? What’s the difference?


texts:
Is it correct to write this: "... rely on emulating techniques"? I must write the emulate verb in gerund because it is preceded by an preposition, right?

The whole sentence is:

  These systems usually rely on emulation techniques, such as interpretation and dynamic binary translation, to execute guest application code.

Isn't it true that always that a verb appear after a preposition the verb must change to gerund form?


texts:
Is this correct to use "If so" in the following way?

  I just want to make sure if I have completed the process of accepting the scholarship; If so, would you please provide me an official letter about it.

Best


texts:
[INCORRECT] I did not attend the rally, which was very unpatriotic of
  me.

  The word which has no single, clear antecedent.     Instead, it refers
  to the entire clause - "I did not attend the rally."     However, a
  pronoun must always refer to a single, clear, unmistakable NOUN
  ANTECEDENT.

I excerpt this from this webpage. This is kind of what I was taught in school about the proper use of "which." I was told that "which" must be used to refer to only the noun that comes before the comma, like in these sentences:

  The science fair, which lasted all day, ended with an awards ceremony.

  We drove past my old school, which is celebrating its 100th
  anniversary this year.

However, these are example sentences in Purdue's article about relative pronouns:

  The movie turned out to be a blockbuster hit, which came as a surprise
  to critics.

  My friend eventually decided to get divorced, which upset me a lot.

But the, Purdue OWL also came up with this example:

  INCORRECT: Vacation is coming soon, which is nice. (What is nice, the
  vacation or the fact that it is coming soon?)

Cambridge Dictionary suggests that "which" can refer to the whole sentence before it:

  She had to get up and walk all the way to the other side of the room,
  which isn’t easy with a bad back. (which refers to the whole sentence
  before it)

Now, also according to Cambridge Dictionary, using a relative clause to refer to a whole clause or a whole sentence is only often used in informal speaking:

  Some relative clauses refer to a whole clause, a whole sentence, or a
  longer stretch of language. We always use which to introduce these
  clauses.

  We often use these clauses in informal speaking to express an opinion
  or evaluation (In the examples, the relative clause is in bold, and
  the clause or person that is referred to is underlined.):

  I think the other thing that was really good about it as well was that
  everybody worked really hard and helped tidy up at the end, which I
  hadn’t expected at all.

So what is the consensus here?


texts:
The ruby in the hand of the devil at the top of the mountain in the
  country conquered by the army of devils existing until now does not make any sense.

Like this sentence, is it allowed to modify a word to the infinite point and make an infinitely long noun phrase? People just cut it off at some point and do not go on any further, and instead just create another sentence. Is there a rule/principle that limits the length of a noun phrase?


texts:
What is the best way to say that a book treats single variable differential calculus, single variable integral calculus, multivariable differential calculus and multivariable integral calculus? I can think of

  This book treats single and multivariable differential and integral
  calculus

but is this clear and unambiguous?


texts: A political party that can't agree internally on policy

texts: I've been amused recently by the US Republican party struggling to pass healthcare legislation, and by Mitch McConnell's mixed metaphor of it being a Rubik's Cube that somehow has "dials that need to be turned just right." The Republicans have a majority in the House and Senate, and they also have a Republican president. They thought passing legislation would be a cakewalk. Yet they still struggle mightily, because the various conservative and moderate factions are unable to compromise. Is there a term for a political party that has this problem? I think countries that have more than two major parties are likely to see this issue more. The extreme political polarity in the US today makes this issue more pronounced than before.


texts: Is it correct to use dash ... dash here?

texts:
I'm having a sentence:

  The largest rocket ever built - the Saturn V, which launched the first space station and sent astronauts to the Moon ... remains the most powerful vehicle in history.

I wonder whether it is correct to put another dash in the blank. Thank you!


texts: I'm writing a response essay to Medieval Women's Visionary writings that possess power. In this essay I'm supposed to explain how two writers, that I've picked to write about, possess or don't possess power through their writing (we're using Cixous and Foucault as reference for definition of power). I seem to find myself using the the phrase "the reader" a lot to express how a reader is being written to or directed in the writings by the visionaries. Does anyone have any suggestions for avoiding this trap, which probably hurts my argument?


texts: How to parse the grammar of a sentence that appears to have two tensed verbs

texts:
This question came from a student of mine - he wanted to know how to parse the grammar of this sentence, which appears to be simple but clearly is not:

Peter seems to have found his glasses.

Sentences of this form are very common in English but the syntax is puzzling. The main verb is clearly seems, usually a link verb, so the basic syntax ought to be:

Subject + Link Verb + Subject Complement S+LV+SC

But the verb phrase to have found appears to be tensed (present perfect), and the meaning delivered is similar to the the tensed form (he found them and they are still found). But this verb phrase can not be tensed and does not agree with the subject (if it did it would be has found). It has to be a verb complement.

Now, the rule for subject complements is generally that they are either an adjective phrase or a noun phrase, but this complement is neither, and yet it clearly is describing the subject.

So the question is - how do we parse this?

Other sentences with the same form follow:

The answers given seem to have addressed your question adequately.
I am lucky to have found this site.
The library seems to have closed.

So, what is the best way to parse the grammar of sentences like these?


texts:
To all these words which Don Quixote said, a certain Biscaine squire, that accompanied the coach, gave ear; who, seeing that Don Quixote suffered not the coach to pass onward, but said that it must presently turn back to Toboso, he drew near to him, and, laying hold on his lance, he said, in his bad Spanish and worse Basquish: ‘Get thee away, knight, in an ill hour. By the God that created me, if thou leave not the coach, I will kill thee, as sure as I am a Biscaine.’

In chapter eight of the translation of Don Quixote that I am currently reading, a squire says to Quixote, "Get thee away, knight, in an ill hour."

I have an idea of what is meant by in an ill hour, but at looking further for a definition of the phrase, although I am able to find its use many times, often within quotations, I am not able to find its specific meaning or from where it comes.

Although this may not be relevant for this board, the original Spanish text translation has "Anda, caballero que mal andes", which, as I understand it, roughly translates to "Go, knight, that exists in evil" / "... that walks an evil path"


texts: In context, I reported an online problem and in response the the service executive did her job but was not sure about whether hr action had solved the problem, so she asked me whether my problem was solved. In answer to that, could I correctly have said "the problem got solved"?


texts:
I playing a MMORPG browser game. In this game we have village and warriors to fight each other.
I have an enemy that he attacked me several times and he was successful in his attacks. So I came with a payback and attacked his village. The result of this attack is still unknown(it takes time for troops to reach his village). At this situation he mailed me:

now you attacking me?
celebrate on your father's victory?

What's the meaning of "celebrate on your father's victory?"
Is it an expression?
Is it an offensive expression?
I google it but couldn't find anything.


texts:
Wether it's at the beginning, middle, or end of a sentence, does "perhaps" always get commas around it as "of course" does?

  "Perhaps[,]she could go with you."

  "She could[,] perhaps[,] go with you."

  "She could go with you[,] perhaps."

Would "perhaps" get treated like "of course," where commas always surround it?


texts:
Can you help me understand which preposition is correct here?

Bob created a repository on/at/in GitHub.

I tried looking in the collocations dictionary, but Online Oxford Collocation Dictionary doesn't have an entry for "create".


texts:
How do you get a good job without a college degree??

  Claim unemployment, ballin off the state bro.


texts: verb + gerund (formed from stative verbs ing)

texts: I wonder how often stative verbs are used as gerunds if they function as Object (verb + doing ; verb + preposition + doing) in sentences. Are there any style and register preferences?


texts:
I'd like to speak about cinema as an invention.
Do we say

  The cinema was invented in 1895.

or

  Cinema was invented in 1895.


texts: difference between action and live action

texts:
In film genres I have seen and heard 2 words:

1) Action Movie

2) Live-Action Movie

What is difference between these 2 words? What live represent here?


texts: Comma placement with essential and non-essential clause

texts:
I was given two sentences and the task is to correct them or leave them the way they are. I've googled many examples and explanations of comma placement, but I'm still unsure whether my solutions are correct:

GIVEN:

My parents used to tell me that if I crossed my eyes they would stay that way forever.

MY SOLUTION:

My parents used to tell me that if I crossed my eyes, they would stay that way forever.

GIVEN:

Now that I’m older and wiser I know that they were just making fun of me.

MY SOLUTION:

Now that I’m older and wiser, I know that they were only making fun of me.

My question is: In the first given sentence, do I need the comma or not? Regarding the stuff I've read, I think I might not need that comma after all. In the second given sentence, I also placed the comma and I am more confident about that decision.
Thank you for the help :)


texts: A word or phrasal verb in place of "Compromise"

texts:
Can we use get in instead of compromise in the sentence below where I try to say "I don't want to argue with my wife and I make sacrifices from myself and endure the problems"?  I am just not sure this is explaining exactly what I want to say, though.

  I get all problems and conflicts in to avoid arguments with my wife.

  I swallowed all the problems to avoid arguments with my wife.

If this is not correct, can somebody tell me which phrasal verb and other word I can use in place of this? I am trying to improve my vocabulary and use other words in public as well.


texts: Which is correct - "Isn't that I?" or "Isn't that me?"

texts:
"If the evidence changed… isn't that me, who’s dead?"

or is it

"If the evidence changed… isn't that I, who’s dead?"


texts: What is the difference between 'Corporate' and 'Corporation'?

texts:
I've done an extensive search but didn't find anything on that.

Is 'Corporate' (as a noun) simply a shorter form of 'Corporation'?

Also, if a condition dictates that 'a company name can't include the word corporation', does this mean that by default 'corporate' cannot be used as well?

Thanks,


texts:
Which tense would be appropriate in this case - past perfect simple or past simple?
"After he had spent some of the money, he decided to find his dream house."
or
"After he spent some of the money, he decided to find his dream house."


texts:
I thank you in advance if you can help me with the meaning of the sentence:
"I favoured what motivates him above addressing the priorities of the company".
"Above addressing" means "no matter/independently from the priorities" (what it is not a priority)? Or does it means "among the priorities" (hence what is a priority)?
Thank you in advance
Harris


texts: "I don't agree totally" vs. "I don't totally agree" vs. "I totally don't agree"

texts:
What is the difference between the following?

  I don't agree with him totally.
  I don't totally agree with him.
  I totally don't agree with him.

I'm puzzled at the meaning of negative sentences which contain the word "totally" or other similar word.
And I want to ask one more question. In addition to the expression of "not at all", is there any other way to express this meaning?


texts:
What does "My duh on X" mean?

Does it mean "I like X" or "I don't like X" or something else?

What does "duh" mean in general?


texts: What does ‘Lower oneself for farewell swim’ mean? Is this a sport related jargon?

texts:
I saw the phrase “(Donnie) Welsh refrained from lowering himself for a farewell swim,” in New York Time’s sport article (June 3rd) titled “Ungainly Knicks Lose a Man of Elegance.”

The article starts with the following line:

  After avoiding the muddy pool of his boss, James L. Dolan, for the duration of his time as the Knicks’ president, Walsh refrained from lowering himself for a farewell swim. He took the same high road out of Madison Square Garden that he rode in on.

Though I guess the phrase “lower oneself for farewell swim” contrasts to the subsequent phrase, “take the high road,” I’m not sure of the exact meaning of this phrase.
Does this (lowering himself for a farewell swim) mean putting oneself for humiliating position? Is this a popular idiom?


texts: What 's meaning of " Business fit, not best in class "?

texts: I have seen in a HR magazine that "HR should focus on 'business fit, not best in class', says Panasonic HRD ". and i dont understand what is " business fit" and what's "best in class ". Please help me ! ^_^


texts: is "go the way of disco" an idiom for "disappear"?

texts:
for example:

The real reason why you’re going to have a crummy retirement is that the conventional “defined benefit” pension plan of your parents’ generation, which provided a steady and reliable stream of income for as long as they lived, has gone the way of disco


texts: Can you switch tenses when starting a new paragraph?

texts:
For example, explaining something that happened in the past, then returning to the current scene.

Here is the example put into action:

They talked about various things. They rode out together, but stopped at a tavern for a moment. They tossed stones at a pond. They sung a few songs. Blah, blah blah...
Now they are here, and preparing for the fight. He says whatever, she says whatever, and their swords clash.  He twirls for some reason. It is all to further the example.


texts:
how can I describe in English that Institution B is becoming a part of Institution A?

In other words, can I say that: Institution A is including Institution B in?

or

Institution A is having Institution B in?

or

Institution A is taking Institution B in?

Are "taking in/having in/including in" the accurate expressions to use?


texts:
I've always written 'everyone's' but when I was writing a post for my blog the Spell Check came up with 'every one's"
Which one is it?


texts:
What does "amount" mean in the following context:

  To get the most out of the place you really need to hire a car, and
  you can get around the different islands using the small car ferries.
  I went to relax and wind down, but there was a surprising amount going
  on, and the people were very welcoming. It made a nice change, and I'm
  sure I'll go back again.

(taken from Oxford Learner's Pocket: Phrasal Verbs and Idioms)

I know that the amount of something is how much there is, or how much you have, need, or get (the Collins Dictionary). But in the context of the text given, it's not clear what exactly was going on. Given the great quality of Oxford books, I assume I might be missing something.


texts: What is "a lifetime's worth" of something?

texts:
What started as a lifetime’s worth of conversations about comedy becomes something else entirely.

I don't quite understand "lifetime's worth of".


texts: Is "obscure" the same as "undocumented"?

texts:
I posted a question on another SE site that was quickly closed due to issues irrelevant to my current question.  My question was about an "obscure" behavior of a programming language called Python.

One comment caught my eye: a highly-respected community member claimed that the behavior was "documented, therefore not obscure."

This started me wondering if his view is shared by the general English speaker.  Is "obscure" equivalent to "undocumented"?


texts: What is the origin of the phrase "hate your guts"?

texts:
Where does the phrase "hate your guts" (for example "I hate your guts") come from?

I've heard the phrase used as a way to convey extreme and deep dislike of another individual. However, it seems strange to have just been born arbitrarily and I suspect there is a source.


texts: "got X confused with Y" versus "confused X with Y"

texts:
I am really confused which of the following sentences is correct

  Maybe they got thin confused with short.
  Maybe they confused thin with short.

If both are correct which one would be more appropriate?


texts: Is there a way to say that I could quickly improve a skill?

texts:
For example, I have beginner-level piano skills, but I'm at a point where I could quickly improve my skill.
I want to say that although I'm a beginner now, if someone teaches me I'll become a good player. I have the capacity to become good.
The only word I can think of is 'developable', but that doesn't seem quite right.


texts:
When writing scientific articles, it is fairly common to abbreviate "randomised, controlled trial" to "RCT". Should one later refer to "a double-blind RCT" or "a double-blind, RCT"?

Is it acceptable (in UK, not USA, style writing) to treat "RCT" as the noun, and drop the comma between adjectives?


texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  Hyphens in verb construction containing prefix such as “re”
  Adding a prefix "re" to a word, with or without a hyphen?

I have a question about the use of the prefix 're', that means 'do it again' in my context. Let me explain: in mathematics we use the concept of 'parameterized' objects, that is, objects obtained while some parameter varies (think of the parameter as the time and the object as a point moving on a plane).

Well, if we describe the movement using the parameter we say that we are parameterizing or the object is parameterized. So, if we change the parameter by another one (for example, change the speed of the clock) we say that we are reparameterizing  the object.

This is my question: Which is better: reparameterized or re-parameterized? I've just found this discussion but I remain uncertain.


texts: "One from another" or "from one another"?

texts:
Suppose I have a collection of objects (more than two). I wanted to write
"They are at a certain distance one from another".

Someone pointed out I should write
"They are at a certain distance from one another".

However, the second sentence does not sound right to me.

Who is right?


texts: A question about "It's worth it" in a text

texts:
Please read the following paragragh and answer my question.

My job is to write programs for games. I work closely with other developers and discuss things a lot. I decide how to move the characters, how to get points, where to include sound effects, and so on. And I need to figure out what's wrong when a bug is found. Whatever the bug is, I have to fix it. I check every step and correct the problems. It takes a lot of time and energy, but (1)it's worth (2)it to develop a perfect game.

So my question is, what does each of the first (1)it and second (2)it refers to in the text? Someone tells me that the second (2)it refers to fixing bug while another tells me that the second (2)it refers to "a lot of time and energy". It makes me confused.
Thank you.


texts: Is there a word that doesn't consist of any letters?

texts:
Is there a word that doesn't contain any letters? More specifically, is it technically (or maybe grammatically) possible for a word to not contain any letters?

I should narrow the definition here. I'm considering anything in a highly regarded dictionary to be a word—nothing outside of one. Therefore something like a numeral isn't acceptable.


texts:
Please come by the Secretary's Office so we can solve your problem [on the spot].

What I want to say instead of the placeholder is that as soon as the person comes to the office (be it today or in a week), we will be able to solve their problem in a short amount of time (as opposed to doing the e-mail dance between the three parties involved and dragging the problem on forever).

Is "on the spot" correct and appropriate for that, or are there better wordings?


texts:
Ok, scary = frightening (source: https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=define%3Ascary)

And we often hear "it is frightening" and "I am frightened because of frightening movie", but we never say "I am frightening".

SO, I think "it is scary" is correct while "I am scary" is incorrect. But why googling "I am scary" shows like 28000 results (https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=%22i+am+scary%22).

So, is "I am scary" sentence right or wrong?


texts: Is "to one of the most genuine people I know" correct?

texts: I am confused if I should use persons or people. Persons sounds weird to me.


texts:
In sentences that I want to emphasize the ability of a person to do a certain task at a greater degree than another person, will it make sense to use "what more"?

If Canelo can do that to Khan, what more can Golovkin?
John, a novice swimmer, was able to finish the race. What more if it were Michael Phelps who competed?


texts:
I am curious to know whether I can use present perfect in my example even though it has been e.g. one year since that happened and there are two, three more players who has already done/achieved the same.

He is the first player who has won this trophy. ...or this one can be said only shortly after it happened?

I know that the most natural way to say this is: He is the first player to win this trophy. But here I am focused on the present perfect tense. Even though it may sound a bit unnatural - could I use present perfect shortly after it happened as well as  a few months, years since.....

Thank you!


texts: Is it “…to write to you and let…” or “…to write to you to let…”?

texts:
I'm writing the sentence

  I wanted to take this opportunity to write to you and let you know...",

but I'm wondering if,

  I wanted to take this opportunity to write to you to let you know...

would be preferable?


texts: Use of poesy vs poetry in a concrete example

texts:
It seems that similar questions have been asked about the difference between the three terms in the title, but I have a twist: I wrote the line

Arthur C. Clarke waltzed from the realm of Science Fiction into Mathematical Poetry when he dreamed up the geometry of the famous monolith in his novel 2001: A Space Odyssey.

I was happy with the effect, until I noticed that 'poetry' and 'geometry' rhyme, breaking the rhythm.
Even though the original choice is correct, is it acceptable to substitute 'Poesy' just for avoiding the consonance?
I know I can write however I like; please avoid that type of answer. My question is concretely about the different impressions created on you the readers.


texts: What is the word for the face of a mountain or a huge rock that rhymes with edifice?

texts:
I think it kind of rhymes with 'edifice' or *'Irifice' or something.

Can someone give me a word for the face of a mountainous brown rock?


texts:
Why is "me" pronounced like "me" but "ne" is not pronounced with the same e sound?

According to a professor, "ne" is pronounced like "nuh". Why is it like this?

And more generally, does there exist a rule set on how to pronounce things so I don't have to ask a question like this again, or is it all word dependent and of unknown origin like idioms?


texts: What word means both "advantages and disadvantages"?

texts:
So I am writing an essay and I can't find the word I want to use. The sentence says:

  When I travelled to England there were pros and cons.

The sentence doesn't sound right and if I change it to:

  Travelling to England had it's pros and cons.

then it's a bit wordy and it doesn't clearly state that I was the one who travelled.

What word can I use instead of "pros and cons"?
I want the meaning to be something like this:

  When I travelled to England there was some good stuff and some bad stuff.

Thank you!


texts: Indirect object pronoun before direct object

texts:
I have seen a few people say that indirect objects that are in the form of a pronoun should be placed before the direct object in a sentence. Why is that? I didn’t know it mattered. For example:

“I gave him the movie while you were gone”
Versus
“I gave the movie to him while you were gone”

And any similar, better examples.


texts: One word in describing a person who always trying to be creative

texts:
Already ask Mr. Google obviously, and by far all the answer I found does not satisfy me. Elysian , ingenious, innovative.

I was actually searching for a tagline for an upcoming event, engineering stuff. ; A sudden wonder that I come across. "Trying his best to be creative and innovative." More likely an act of trying.

It's just my thought. I'm sorry for being insatiable about it. I wish you guys can help me.


texts: What is the etymology of 'superstitious'?

texts:
Clearly superstitious is of Anglo-Norman origin, used in English since well before Chaucer's time to refer to 'unorthodox religious beliefs'.(OED)

But the classical Latin is often written hyphenated as super-stitiosus. However I have not been able to find the word stitiosus in any Latin dictionary to which I have access.

Is there a Latin scholar out there who can help?


texts: "Quest of providing" vs. "quest for providing"

texts:
Which sentence is correct and why?

  In our quest of providing unparalleled value to our customers.
  In our quest for providing unparalleled value to our customers.

I understand that the preposition of indicates "related to or belonging to", whereas the preposition for indicates the use of something.


texts:
What are the origins of the word "terrible". Do the words "terror" or "terrific" come from the same roots?

I am curious since I believe the word "terrible" can be used to mean "great" in French.


texts: Difference between the terms 'famous' & 'infamous'; 'valuable' & 'invaluable'

texts:
Question in Short:
Why is it that the terms valuable and invaluable mean almost the same thing while the terms famous and infamous are almost semantically opposite in meaning?  That is, one is used to describe something/someone well known for their good qualities, while the other is used to describe something/someone well known for their bad qualities?

Question in Detail:
One of the answers to the question titled Difference between “valuable” and “invaluable” [closed] suggest that the term valuable is almost synonymous with invaluable, although the preferred answer points out their subtle differences as being costly and priceless, respectively.  That is, something that can be bought or sold (valuable), as opposed to something that cannot be bought or sold (invaluable), yet is treasured.

Why is it that the terms famous and infamous are not semantically synonymous according to these online references?


texts:
Today, I was working on a write-up and had a sentence that said: We believe innovation is the key to success only to find that my partner had rewritten this as:

  We believe innovation is the key of success.

Somehow, the latter seemed to have a monopolistic claim to 'unlocking success' than the previous one but somehow it doesn't feel right. I am not sure the two mean the same thing but I'm curious to which is better accepted as it is for publication purposes.

Thanks.


texts: Is there any difference between ”control of/over“ and ”power over"

texts:
For example, what to choose here?
"To compete for the control of/over a corporation"
or
"To compete for the power over a corporation"

UPDATE
If two workers compete for absolute control/power, what idiom should I use?


texts:
I grew up in the  in the South and it's always been that 'man up' type of attitude, get on with life.

Is the phrase on the end a noun phrase or just a phrase tagged on the end of the sentence?

Any rules with phrases used  this way in sentences ?


texts:
I wrote the following sentence:

  He refused to get on another flight the following day, as well as to join the conference via Skype

However, I am not completely sure about the usage of "as well as" in this case. I have read other questions regarding this, as well as several online resources, and right now I feel as if this is not officially grammatically correct, but it still feels natural to me. It would be nice if a native speaker could give me some feedback.


texts: A subset of our services were/was? Grammar

texts:
I am unsure  of whether it should be  was or were.

The was/were refers to the subset rather than services.  (which is obviously plural)

So I think the question becomes: is it subset were or subset was?

Or maybe my reasoning is faulty?


texts: Multiple person possession with a pronoun

texts:
How do you handle multiple person possession with a pronoun?

For instance, "This organization has been near and dear to my and Simon's hearts for many years"


texts: why should we use looking forward to seeing you instead of see you

texts:
I know that "looking forward to" is followed by a gerund but
I do not know why should we use a gerund like seeing and meeting instead of the infinitives like see and meet.

Is it a matter of grammar, or usage?


texts:
I'm looking for a single word like "readability," but more referring for how easy it is to quickly find the information you're looking for. This is in the context of UI design.

E.g.

  Having a dashboard as the homepage has more <at-a-glance-ability> than forcing the user to go to a menu.


texts:
What does harsh mistress mean in this sentence?

  Nostalgia can be a harsh mistress.


texts: The expression,"You lie like a dog in straw"

texts:
My father was originally a country boy, born in Australia at the beginning of the 20th century.
He had a number of typically Australian expressions (e.g. "stone the crows"), but the one I remember most was "you lie like a dog in straw".
He always used this as a friendly jibe of disbelief when someone in the family was obviously trying to fool him with some story. I was quite young when I figured out the play on words inherent in this expression, which is why I've remembered it so well. However, every reference I can find in a preliminary search of the internet has a shortened version "you lie like a dog" which, among other things, has lost its early rural association (i.e. the availability of straw).
My question then: does anyone know of a documented use of the 'full' expression as handed down to me by my father, or of any other references to this version? (which, to me, has an air of earlier authenticity).


texts: "X in Japan is different from [that/those] in other countries"

texts:
I was wondering if the following sentence is clear:

  The book industry in Japan is very different from [that/those] in many other western countries.

My questions are:

Is it correct to use that there? Or should it be replaced by those, to agree with western countries?
In this sentence, is that (or those) taken to refer to "the book industry" or "the book industry in Japan"? because I kind of feel that it would be clearer if the sentence read

  In Japan the book industry is very different from [that/those] in many other western countries.

But I am not quite sure, because to me as a non-native English speaker the two sentences mean the same thing. Which one is better, which is more precise for academic writing?


texts: Correct use question "a lot of"/"a lot of more"

texts:
We are currently translating from a German text and one of my coworkers suggested that the translated text should be written like the following sentence:

  "The product has a lot of more features to offer (you)."

While I think it should be written like this:

  "The product has a lot more features to offer (you)."

We are both non-native English speakers, with German as our mothers tongue. So I kindly ask some assistance on how it would be correct for a native speaker.


texts: "[...] hasn't worked for me as much as I would like it to has": is this grammatically correct?

texts:
Is the following sentence grammatically and semantically correct? If not, what would be its alternatives?

[...] but unfortunately, that principle hasn't worked for me as much as I would like it to has.

I was trying to say that there is a method/principle such that upon being followed, it solves/prevents certain problems form occurring. But that method hasn't work for me as I was expecting it to do.


texts: "She is said to have been born in the 3rd century BC"?

texts:
Consider the sentence:

  He is said to be the best golf player alive.

From this I can easily infer:

  People say that he is the best golf player alive.

Consider another sentence, then:

  She is said to have been born in the 3rd century BC.

Which is perfectly grammatical. By analogy, I it makes sense to infer:

  People say she has been born in the 3rd century BC.

But it is ungrammatical.

Is there more to the nature of the perfect tense than is usually taught?


texts: "If you know what X is" or "if you know what is X"

texts:
Recently I encountered the phrase "If you know what is QQ then(...)". The writer wasn't a native English speaker(neither me).

First, I thought it should be "If you know what QQ is ...". But then, I thought about the phrase: "If you know what is right..." I think the latter implies that you already know what "true" is and you should find/select an object. Or is it related to the fact that "true" is an adjective? Or is it just wrong?

So, I'm very confused. Can you help me?

I tried to search for it, however searching for "what is" in search engines is really difficult! The nearest questions are this one and this one, but I don't think it's a duplicate.

Thank you in advance.


texts: Term for "professional" who doesn't make their living from that kind of work

texts:
I do productivity coaching for money but I only have 1-2 clients at a time, so most of my money comes from elsewhere.

The term "professional" seems to strongly imply full-time work or at least "making a living" from something.

Is there an alternative word?

Sample sentence:

  I am a ____________ productivity coach.


texts: A confusing sentence from a text-based game

texts:
The context

"It was a clear cold morning, my child, and Hareetha knew she was doomed. Behemoth Mountain lay in ruins, but I could hear her laughing. For was her god not the god of ruin?"

This context is from a text-based game made by Choice of Games. I am confused about the meaning of the last sentence. It might be an easy sentence because I know the meaning of every word. But I am not an English native speaker so I cannot understand the real meaning of it.

Thanks for elaborating.