texts: Any English word/phrase for waiting for two enemies to destroy/weaken each other?

texts:
The situation is, two forces are fighting each other in a war, while you are doing nothing. The intention is to let them destroy or weaken each other before you make a move.

Any verb or verb phrase for this? "Waiting" isn't good enough, and "biding time" doesn't have the right connotations because it's too general. Also, the notion of neutrality isn't good enough either, because usually you think of neutral nations as having no intention to enter the war (or at least not as a major player but possibly a tag-along ally).

I swear when I first tried to think of this, I came up with "dinkering". Onomatopoeically it somehow seemed right, but it doesn't appear to even exist.


texts: Somebody who comes up with an idea, but needs somebody else to create something from that idea

texts:
Here's the situation:

Ideas come in two parts: seed and finalized.

Some people can create many seed ideas but can't finish them.

Some people can't create seed ideas, but can source seeds from others and create a final product.

Example: in Cujo, Tadder's dad is part of an advertising duo. He creates the seed idea, while his partner creates the actual advert based on the seed idea.

I keep wanting to call this Part 1 Ideist (eye-dee-ist) and Part 2 Ideist, but the internet says ideist is a synonym of idealist, which is someone who aims for perfection. Is there a word that means a person who creates ideas?


texts: Would you tell me the difference between object and objective as a noun?

texts:
I am very confused. Could you possibly elaborate (in detail) the reason why:

  My object is to improve my English as much as possible. [WRONG it should be 'objective']

  My object is to learn English. [RIGHT]

  The object of the game is to improve children's math skill. [RIGHT]

So, why has Longman written the following:

  ! Do not use object to mean 'the thing you are working towards and hope to achieve'.  Use objective: We have not yet achieved our objective (NOT our object).

Is Longman here wrong?

All of the expressions and examples which I have provided are extracted from Longman (see link below) and Common Errors from Longman too.

http://www.ldoceonline.com/Grammar-topic/object_1


texts:
This is the sentence

"True or false question items and short answer ones were also analyzed separately. "

I do not know what 'question items' mean

Full sentence:

"The data have revealed that the candidates performed in computer-based reading as well as in paper-based reading. To be more specific, True or false question items and short answer ones were also analysed separately."


texts: What is wrong with "I laughed so hard that my parents are mad"

texts:
I know that it should be something like "my parents became mad" but I can't quite pinpoint the reason and come up with an eloquent explanation.

Something to do with it needing to be a change in state...? But why?


texts: Is there a word for this emotion? Resentment over someone's good fortune without wanting it - Not quite jealousy/envy

texts:
What is the word to describe this? I was reading up about the differences between jealousy and envy and this doesn't seem to fit either, when you don't actually want what the other person has, nor do you have it, but you're just kind of bitter and angry because you don't think they deserve anything at all.

For example: Your crappy neighbor wins a new car. You have a much better car, or don't even need a car at all, but you're still mad about it since he doesn't deserve to win anything at all. Or, you break up with a real jerk, are more than happy to be rid of him and find a new wonderful partner, and then later see him out with a really attractive person. It's not like you want the guy back, or you want the person he's with, or that you're even wanting a relationship, but you just are angry that this jerk is getting anything at all.

A friend suggested "begrudge", but it still sounds like you actually want what the other person has. Is there a simple word to express resentment/biterness over another person's good fortune without investment in actually wanting what they obtained?


texts: Why does "air conditioning" always mean "cooling" and never "heating"?

texts: For that matter, air conditioning could include humidifying or dehumidifying, but it doesn't: only cooling.  Why weren't air conditioners called air coolers?


texts: The French word "bêtise" means something like a small act of naughtiness (frequently used for small misdemeanours of children). I'm struggling to think of an equivalent word that could be used with an anglophone child.


texts: Is there a word for following a man or his ideas too closely?

texts:
Imagine a famous person who delivers dogma that other people follow too closely. A follower might study and take as the whole truth everything he says or references. The follower might obsess and second guess his own independent thoughts in favor of this other person he trusts more than himself. Is there an english word to describe the action of being blind to independent thought and handing over the reigns to another persons ideas?

I am trying to succinctly describe the importance of NOT doing that thing. So a word(s) that would make sense in the blank would be the ultimate goal.

  "Its important to not ___________ [pledge allegiance to] another man
  or his ideas"

Pledging allegiance is the best I could come up with, perhaps there is another word to describe the person or specific action I am looking for.


texts: phd with summa cum laude or phd summa cum laude

texts:
I am uncertain between the following two sentences:

1) I received my Ph.D. in (subject X) with summa cum laude.

2) I received my Ph.D. in (subject X) summa cum laude.

Which one is better? Or maybe they are both OK?


texts: A word that means "Someone who risks their life to find out and tell the truth"?

texts:
What is a word that means "Someone who risks their life to find out and tell the truth”?

This word would mean they will risk their lives for nothing to find out the truth and tell others.


texts:
I have read this sentence but I can not understand it. Under which circumstances is this type of sentence is? Also, please tell me which grammar rule has been applied.

  they will open our salary account so it is must to bring the originals

Can anyone explain it?


texts: How do you describe a test that puts you in one of a number of grades (specifying the grade)?

texts:
If a test puts you in a particular grade (result), how is it described? For example, "Five tier graded test"? The test might be a language test and the results might be A, B, C, D, E.

Please note that I would like to include how many grades there are in this phrase.


texts:
I've come across he shams sick

Can I say he shams an idiot or he shams pain in his back ? Do I have to use a person or a thing after sham?

I know it's a rare word but nevertheless


texts: Explain the difference between the following 2 sentences

texts:
They always eat in front of the TV in the living room.
They're always eating in front of the TV in the living room.


texts: Possible ambiguity in a contract, ambiguous modifier

texts:
I just had a long discussion with someone about the following sentence from a contract (highlighting by me):

  The Author offers the Publisher an option to acquire the publishing rights under the condition of this Agreement of other works by the Author considered suitable for German publication.

The other person thinks that instead of "by the Author" relating to "other works" it relates to "suitable", meaning that the author decides what is and what isn't suitable. This would make the sentence  equivalent to "[…] other works the Author considers suitable for […]".

While I strongly disagree (I think "other works by the Author" is an unit on its own and for the other meaning you would have to e.g. move "by the Author" at the end of the sentence), my position is just based on my grammatical gut sense and I can't think of any rules I can point to.

So who is right? Am I correct, is the other person correct or is perhaps the sentence unambiguously ambiguous in that regard?


texts:
!

There is a possible problem with this:

  The six numbers may add to more than the total population and the six percentages may add to more than 100 percent because individuals may report more than one race.

Shouldn't it be add UP to?


texts: Is it natural sounding to use "passing through filters" figuratively? And if not, would you please suggest something that has the same meaning?

texts: If we want to say a particular company is very selective about the employees they choose, can we use the following sentence: "Employees must pass (OR be passed!?) through a lot of filters to be selected for the job."? Would it sound natural to use "passing through filters" figuratively?


texts: Using a comma before a subordinate clause

texts:
It is very common that we don't insert a comma before a subordinate clause    at end position as follows:

  The President was opening a new university when a bomb went off.

However, I came across the same construction with a comma:

  The President was opening a new university, when a bomb went off.

My question is, what is the function of the comma in the above construction?


texts: "Where we headed?" or "Where we heading?"; which one is correct?

texts:
I had to pick one of my friends for a movie. She didn't know where we would go, so the moment she sat in the car, she asked "So, where we headed?" I told her the multiplex name. But I thought she should have asked, "where we heading (= going)"?

Why people say use past tense "headed" when they still need to reach the destination?


texts: I am wondering if there is any formal word or phrase for "wow factor" that shows same level of excitement positively.


texts: Cannot decide on which English chess term is correct for when a friendly pawn stands in the bishop's way

texts: I'm translating a Russian chess article to English and I got stuck at one sentence. It describes the situation when a bishop cannot move because a friendly pawn stands in the bishop's way. In Russian it is "Пешка запирает слона", and almost all Russian books I look into use this phrase. But when I look into English books, they seem to use a large number of different terms for this situation. For example, they use "the pawn locks in the bishop", "the pawn hems in the bishop", "the pawn closes off the bishop", "the pawn restricts the bishop" and "the pawn restrains the bishop". Which of these English terms is the most correct and universally accepted in this case?


texts: Is there a simple explanation on where to use "who" vs "whom"?

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  Using who and whom

I can usually guess which to use where, but I can never explain it to others, is there a simple explanation (with examples) that makes sense?


texts: Are there any more options for describing perspective than 1st, 2nd or 3rd?

texts:
I'm developing a website for classifying content more appropriately and insodoimg came across a question about perspective.

I understand the three perspectives as described here: https://study.com/academy/lesson/point-of-view-first-second-third-person.html

I also understand these are used in the context of everyday English as well as in entertainment.

That said, I believe there needs to be (or I need help finding how to accurately describe) exactly how it should be that we describe, from an actor in real life's perspective the role they've played in an entertainment.

That was a mouthful, so here's an example of what I'm asking:

Actor: Matt Damon

Character he is acting as: Bob Smith

Line in movie: "I had a great day yesterday."

It is obviously true Bob Smith is speaking in first person but in what perspective would we say Matt Damon is speaking in? It's not Matt Damons thoughts or ideas first hand that he is espousing, so in my opinion, calling that first perspective would be innacurate.

Does anyone know of any currently existing ways to describe this dilemma more truly to the English language?

EDIT: Just came across this quote and term and reminded me of this question. It isn’t the answer but it lives close to the answer...

“ ONE OF THE STRIKING CHARACTERISTICS of the new mass media-radio,
television, and the movies-is that they give the illusion of face-to-face relation
ship with the performer. The conditions of response to the performer are analogous to
those in a primary group. The most remote and illustrious men are met as if they
were in the circle of one's peers; the same is true of a character in a story who comes
to life in these media in an especially vivid and arresting way. We propose to call
this seeming face-to-face relationship between spectator and performer a para-social
relationship.”


texts: A facility, in a rural setting, used to breed and train horses?

texts:
In English, there seems to be a specific term for all things equestrian. How is a horse breeding and training facility in a rural setting called?

In portuguese, it is caled a "Haras" (the term is current and very often used). The google translator gives me "horse farm" or "stud farm".

The word Haras exists in english (https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/haras) but seems to be falling out of use, as this ngram shows.

Is there any more current idiom for this facility, or "horse/stud farm" is as glamorous as we get?


texts:
Suppose I looked for a job on the Internet, found a few offers interesting and decided to call the phone numbers they had posted. Am I calling in or calling for the new jobs? (Or should I simply say I'm "calling the new jobs"?)

And if I get a call from them and someone who's with me asks me who it is,
should I say my work, my job, or the caller's name and leave it at that?


texts:
As a professional typographer and proofreader (I know; rare and disappearing breeds, especially for being both at the same time! And yes, I’m also a graphic designer), I tend to follow what are called “manuals of style.” For English, my reference is the Chicago Manual of Style, now in its 17th edition.
In it, one can read that “extra-,” among many other such particles, is a prefix, i.e. that it should be one word with whatever follows it. A good example is “extraordinary,” as “extra ordinary” would have quite the opposite meaning!
However, I see “extra” written separately from or hyphenated to many words, e.g. “extra virgin olive oil” or sometimes “extra-virgin olive oil.” Both of these, according to the CMS, are considered wrong.
Today I typeset a document that I partly rewrote from an older version, and sent it to a colleague for proofreading (one never proofreads him-/herself!). She pointed out that I had, in her opinion, misspelled “extramild,” and when I told her that “extra-” is a prefix, she objected that she never had any “extramild salsa” but that it was always “extra mild.” When I told her that it’s spelled this way “because people don’t write properly,” she said that languages do evolve and change with time (or we’d still be grunting like cavepeople, I suppose), and that, loving linguistics as I do, I should understand that—which I think is no excuse for not writing properly.
So my question here is: How can I justify “extramild,” “extravirgin,” and other such constructions without being told that “I don’t see it spelled that way”? (This also applies to many other prefixes, such as “anti-” and “mid-,” for example.)
Thanks!


texts: One Word : What do you call who chill / relax a lot?

texts:
I need one word for people who chill / party / relax / play games / travel and just chill most of the time.

Some Word like 'Freizeit' , but it needs to be used as a noun for persons (eg, traveller, a gamer, a movie enthusiast, and not as travel, game). I hope I am clear.


texts: On a North American bus or subway, what do you call the long horizontal ads on the tops of the "walls"?

texts: Is there an official term for the ads that you see on public transit inside the vehicle or car, above the windows/doors, long horizontal panels, usually about 24" x /12"?


texts: I am told to get the cross signature done on the envelope containing my recomendation letter by principal but i have no idea of what a cross sign is? and how it is to be done on the envelope?


texts:
I was wondering if I am using nor correctly in the following sentence or I should replace it by or?

  Adding this additional functionality does not increase the manufacturing cost of the product nor the manufacturing time significantly.

I appreciate your helps in advance.


texts: What do you call someone who dresses strangely or extravagantly?

texts:
Someone who, in normal settings, dresses like this:

(Without falling in the category of a transsexual or a cross-dresser.)

Example sentence:

  S/he wears _______ clothes and costumes all the time. Maybe s/he is a _______.

Sources:

Mad Hatter, Japanese Goth


texts: Is the phrase "... or I'm mistaken" correct?

texts: I want to write phrase "Capital of A is B, or I'm mistaken?", but I'm not sure that the second part of thus phrase is correct. Should I write "... or I've made a mistake?", or "... or I'm wrong?"? What is the best?


texts: Obtaining a property due to being part of a larger whole

texts:
I'm looking for a word which describes obtaining a certain property due to being part of a larger whole.

E.g.

a dinner set has a property "color". An instance of a dinner set could be white. Automatically, a dish, part of the dinner set, obtains this property. It has a white color, too.
a sweater has a property "material". An instance of a sweater could be woolen. Automatically, a sleeve, part of the sweater, obtains this property. It has (been made of) material which is woolen, too.
a people has a property "nationality". An instance of a people could be the English. Automatically, a person, part of the people, obtains this property. He has the English nationality, too.

How would you describe the implicit obtainment of these properties?

The closest I could think of was "inheritance".


texts: What is a word for completely different from other people?

texts: I know that "polar opposite" could be used, but I feel that it does not fit in my paragraph. I am writing about a teacher that differs from my other teachers because she pushes us, even when we complain to her about it, because she knows it is in our best interest, as opposed to teachers that simply hand out busy work.


texts: Which verb should be used with the nouns "repair/maintenance": "Make"/"Do"/"Carry out"/...?

texts:
The following sentence is used on a warning label:

  All maintenance and repair must be done only by authorized personnel

I'm not quite sure that "do" is the proper verb to use with "maintenance and repair". Which verb would fit better with these nouns?


texts: Use of wasn't vs was not in a formal sentence

texts:
In the following sentence :
The figure was tall, bespectacled, although in spite of the opacity of the glasses it wasn’t immediately clear whether or not he truly was blind.

I am told the use of "wasn't" is insufficiently formal enough in comparison to the rest of the sentence, and that I should use "was not" instead.
Would the sentence be shocking/uncomfortable to native-readers?


texts: Using "once upon a time" in a present tense sentence?

texts:
I work in a company that sells simple children's books. A customer complained that the book changes tense randomly, and they're right. This book was created years ago and needs updating to ensure it uses correct grammar.

The book starts out like this:

  Once upon a time in a faraway land, Princess $Name$ lived in a
  beautiful castle atop a high hill. She had a very busy schedule, each
  day slightly different from the last.

That's fine, however on all subsequent pages, the text is written in present tense, like so:

  On this particular morning, Princess $Name$ awakens to the sound of a
  songbird singing outside her window.

The story is designed to work in present tense, so rewriting from present tense to past tense is not an option. I'd like to rewrite the first page so it's also in present tense, but I'm not sure how.

Does it make sense to use "once upon a time" in present tense? For instance:

  Once upon a time in a faraway land, Princess $Name$ lives in a
  beautiful castle atop a high hill. She has a very busy schedule, each
  day slightly different from the last.

But that reads weirdly to me. Alternatively, if that doesn't work grammatically, is there another way to write "once upon a time" such that it sounds ok in a present tense sentence?

Update: In case anyone's interested, customers continued to complain every now and then so I changed it to this:

  Long ago, in a faraway land...

  Princess $Name$ lives in a beautiful castle atop a high hill.

If anyone else complains I will tell them to take it up with Star Wars ;) Though we did have someone complain that "atop" isn't a word, so I don't know why I bother...


texts: Where does the phrase "No skin off my teeth/nose" come from?

texts: The phrase "it's no skin off my nose/teeth" is generally used to mean that something isn't much of a risk/concern. But where does it come from? Specifically with respect to teeth. What is tooth skin?


texts: Due to the rain the children didn't go out an play

texts:
Should it be:

  Due to the rain the children didn't go out and play.

Or

  Due to the rain, the children didn't go out and play.

This question has come up before, but I can't find an answer that includes an explanation of introductions saying why. I don't know what sort of phrase it is.

I think the latter.


texts: Phrase to describe a page with 2500 years of events

texts:
A bit of background: we're developing a free educational website that would show a hundred or so famous historic events on a single page, spanning about 2500 years. And we're looking for a phrase to reflect that the user would be able to grasp all those events at once.

The phrase we've come up with is "A broad look at our history" *
Or maybe "A wide view of the history".

None of us is a native speaker, so we're asking for a validation here: is any of those correct and applicable? If not, please advice something to reflect the idea.

Thanks!

* The whole phrase would actually be more dramatic
"People, Events, Epochs... A wide view of our history"


texts: Using the word 'come' to mean 'when it comes'

texts:
I am currently playing the game Max Payne 3 and I came across an interesting formulation:

  I hope Fabiana will not be served to the fishes come feeding time.

Is this normal in American English?


texts: Who is the author of the quote "you always want you enemies to think you are weaker than you actually are "?

texts:
I remember hearing 2 american presidents (GWB and Bill Clinon) saying a quote resembling to  "you always want you enemies to think you are weaker than you actually are "... I'd like to know the original quote and possibly the author of it . I know it's not Sun Tzu. But I'd like to read the writings of that author if any exist (if at all such an author exists)

Thank you guyz


texts:
Are there other ways to say "native speaker" which also allow a bit more flexibility as for when the speaker learnt that language?

A child of an immigrant family who moved to the US when he/she was 5, for example, who speaks fluent and flawless English now but English is technically their second language nonetheless should be called what?

I understand that I could still just call them a native speaker. But to me, and I don't know exactly what it is, but just something about the word "native" doesn't make it sound quite right, not wrong either, but I feel like there could be a better way to say it.

Something like a "fluent speaker" could do the job but it can also be used to describe someone who learnt the language as a completely foreign language and just became fluent in it, which makes it not appropriate for the purpose I'm trying to use the word for.

So by "flexible", I think I mean what do I call somebody who's basically been speaking that language for their whole life? Whether it was technically their first language or second.

Edit: I understand it’s not incorrect to consider this child a native speaker. But it’s that “not incorrect” part that made me ask this question. If I use the term “native speaker”, I feel like it kind of requires me to specify what I’m counting as “native”. So I was wondering if there was a term that would immediately let people know the level of flexibility I’m allowing/implying without me having to specify it


texts: English equivalent phrase for "If left free, it runs and if leashed, it bites"

texts:
Is there equivalent of this Marathi expression

  sodala (release) ki (then) palato (runs) pakala (kept caught) ki (then) chavto (bites)

which means

  (if a dog is) set free (it) runs away (and if) leashed (it comes) to bite (you).

Which means you cannot do either of the two with a person who has such crazy personality. This is applicable to bad situation too.


texts:
What is the meaning of the phrase "badly lit" in the following scene from the TV series Columbo (emphasis mine):

  [Set in a court of law. Prosecution is attempting to prove their
  client was injured falling down some stairs because they did not have
  adequate lighting.]

  Prosecution Lawyer: The plaintiff alleges the stairs were badly
  lit.

  Defence Lawyer: Although the plaintiff may well have been!

  (Laughter all around)

It seems from the context that the phrase is being used to mean "drunk". If so, is this a common use. I've certainly never heard it before.


texts:
Is this sentence correct? Thank you

During 2015 and 2014, there were four and four employees, respectively, whose account balances exceeded a month’s salary.


texts: a word meaning, "from hardest to easiest."

texts:
Im looking for a word that means "in order from hardest to easiest."

I could say "in ascending order, from hardest to easiest," but am wondering if that phrase is encapsulated by one word.


texts:
Contracts with third parties MUST include a clause that holds the
  third party responsible for remaining current on and complying
  with all relevant Disposal policies.

I have no idea what this "current on" means and what remaining thing that this third party have to be responsible for.. I searched but couldn't find any relevant result. Can anybody help me with this clause?

Does it mean to remain current on all the relevant policies, which means that the third party should remain up-to-date regarding the policies?


texts: What's the appropriate place of "languages" in this sentence?

texts:
I'm trying to express this idea (not one not another, using nor and neither) but I do not know what is the most appropriate form in English. Is any order usually established for the position of the word languages? Or should I repeat the noun to what they refer to?

Proposals:

  1.- Neither for minority languages nor for the dominant
  2.- Neither for minority nor for the dominant languages
  3.- Neither for minority languages nor for the dominant ones
  4.- Neither for minority languages nor for the dominant languages


texts:
I have come across the verb "to intergonize" while watching Homeland Season 1. There was a phrase "She wasn't worth intergonizing them". Dictionaries don't have this word, and neither does Google.

I would really appreciate your help.
Thanks in advance,
Ekaterina


texts:
I provide the sentence in context:

[A couple kisses. A friend of them sees the scene and says:]
Oh, are you cute!

This clearly means "you're so cute, sweet" and the like. So, is this sentence a sort of question?
Or, on the contrary, is this a case when subject-verb inversion is applied, so as to give emphasis to the meaning of the sentence?


texts: Is 'each other' used correctly when talking about sets of more than two people?

texts:
I have seen a statement:

We have a Christian duty to serve each other.

Is this statement correct?

Because 'each other' is used for two persons and 'one another' for more than two persons.


texts:
I've come across a case where I'm not sure how to structure a sentence around the word 'interval'. Out of the following sentences, which one(s) is(are) correct?

Define the interval at which X does Y
Define the interval between which X does Y

I've found occurrences of both but it seems using 'between' is more common.


texts: What’s the difference between "I have known her since/for a long time"?

texts:
What’s the difference between these two:

I have known her for a long time.
I have known her since a long time.

I think that the first one says that we have been friends for a long time but we broke our friendship recently, but that the second one says that we have been friends since a long time and our friendship still continues?

Is this accurate?


texts: Any English phrase whose words appear nowhere else?

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  Is there a term for words that have a single meaning or are only used in a single context?

I want to find some English phrases whose individual words are seldom used outside of that phrase. That way its words show up in the phrase alone, but nowhere else.


texts: Fitting word for "subject to physics" or possibly "subject to laws"

texts:
Is there a fitting word that means "subject to physics" or possibly "subject to laws"? It seems to me that I must have read such a word somewhere but I simply can't dredge one up.

Ex:
Any passengers on a star ship could be killed instantly, mashed to a a pulp, by inertial forces because the ship itself is [an] [thing which is subject to physical laws]


texts: the right position of the passive reduced relative clause

texts:
I have seen the passive reduced relative clauses in different positions so far. How can I decide what position is appropriate for any of them ?

*Example 1 : She obtained measures of business students' desires for
the perceived status of their school.

Example 2 : ...This depends on the degree to which the persons involved are seeking self-enhancement or self-transcendence.*

Before the noun ? Or after the noun ? What determines its position ?


texts:
I often need to include summaries of source code or tools, for example on GitHub. It's useful to have a section that describes how to use the component. The "Use" vs "Usage" debate has been answered in another thread, and the consensus seems to be "Use use", however that seems awkward as a section title. For example:

Gizmo

The Gizmo recombobulates the froop flux capacitors.

Use

Download Gizmo
Find your flux capacitors
gizmo [-fp FroopLevel] FluxCapacitors

Contribute

Send pull requests to this.guy@emails.com

"Instructions" isn't clear because there are at least 2 different audiences to this text: developers interested in contributing, or users interested in using the tool. Instructions could refer to multiple use cases, so it's ambiguous. The same goes with "How To".

What is the appropriate word for the second section title in the example?

Thanks for your time.


texts: I found myself naturally writing "This scenario is much more severe than", but thought that it sounded a bit off. I know that "This scenario is more severe" is correct, but can I use my original sentence?


texts: Do verbs following relative pronouns need to be in the past tense if the sentence begins in the subjunctive?

texts:
"I would prefer someone who was a bit more sincere about their beliefs."
vs.
"I would prefer someone who's a bit more sincere about their beliefs."
The second sounds more correct to me, since "someone who..." seems to be a single direct object.
However, when I replace "was" with another verb:
"I would prefer someone who cared about me."
vs.
"I would prefer someone who cares about me."
Both of these sound correct (though I suspect the first is technically correct, and the second perfectly fine in everyday vernacular).
Any thoughts?


texts: "Germany is/are in the NATO alliance." clarification please

texts:
American English native speakers watching the World Cup have been very troubled regarding why British English announcers and writers treat country names as plural nouns. This issue has already been raised several times on this forum. I still don't get it. Please consider:

(1) "Germany is one country in the World Cup."
(2) "One country in the World Cup is Germany."
(3) "Germany are in the NATO alliance."

Are all of those sentences correct in British English?

"Germany are through to the final match on Sunday." seems to be correct British English. So, should I get the sensation that "Germany" represents:
(a) the members of the German team?
(b) the citizens of Germany?

There are great existing threads about this topic. So, I just hope to have my questions above directly answered.


texts: surpass he or his, possessive or pronoun

texts:
Mary and John were given the same task. In the end, Mary's work is better, and far exceeds his/him.

Is "him" grammatically incorrect here?


texts: Is saying "How many percent...?" incorrect?

texts:
Our students are often asked to describe a chart for their online classes. We have to ask follow-up or guide questions to help them describe it and I often ask my students about how many votes did an item in the chart get. So, is it incorrect to say:

"How many percent of votes did Sheriff Woody get?"


texts: Why do I want to say "the iPhone" instead of just "iPhone"?

texts:
Apple is somewhat notorious for omitting articles when talking about their products, and statements such as "People love iPhone" hit my ear a little strangely. But when I stopped to think about it, I realized that I wouldn't say "the Windows" or "the iWork".

I couldn't come up with a reason that I use the definite article before some product names and not others. Is there some sort of convention (probably not a hard-and-fast rule) for usage here?


texts: Why is it, "It seems different", but "It comes across differently"?

texts: Both phrases describe the manner, appearance, air, etc, of a subject. Why does the former use an adjective to modify the subject, while the latter uses an adverb to modify the verb phrase?


texts: All's okay except when you make a little mistake

texts: What's this situation called when you work at a place where you are never appreciated for what you do until one particular day you forget to do something which attracts all the negative sentiments from people around you who would constantly nag and make sniping remarks. It makes you feel like one negative thing nullifies all the positives in you. How would you describe this situation in phrases/expressions/idioms? Idioms needed for both the family situation as well as professional setting.


texts: Looking for the grammar terms to describe the components of a question

texts:
Questions like these:

"How do I increase productivity in my organization?"
"How do I increase pro-social behavior in my community?"

I want to say that in all of these questions, the second part (e.g., "in my organization" or "in my community") is limiting the generality of the answer to the first part (e.g., "How do I increase productivity" or "How do I increase pro-social behavior"). In other words, I want to say that the answer to the first part of the sentence is dependent on the conditions of the second part .. so the answer is going to be relative, not in absolute terms.

What is the grammatical term for the first part and the second part of the sentence?


texts: Correct hyphenation of age groups (18-25-year-olds / 18- to 25-year-olds / 18 to 25-year-olds)

texts:
As the title suggests, I'd like to ask your opinion on the correct way (or most common/recommended way) to write about different age groups. Let's imagine you have a table showing several age groups of adults such as 18-25, 26-40, 41-60 etc.
I've found several different sources using different variations and cannot find a reliable source that confirms if one or all three are acceptable:
18-25-year-olds
18- to 25-year-olds
18 to 25-year-olds
Personally I've always used the first way, which seemed natural, but on finding the other ways I am now unsure. Thank you for anyone that can give their opinion or cite a source to confirm things.
Also, what other ways of writing about different age groups are there?
people who are 18-25 years old
people aged 18 to 25
those aged 18-25
people 18-25 years of age
people 18 to 25 years old
the 18-25 age group
Any other variations you can suggest?
Thanks in advance.


texts: "Medium" specifically applied to width, corresponding with narrow or wide

texts:
Is there a word that means "medium", specifically applying to the width of something?  I'm looking something that corresponds with "narrow" or "wide", but not communicating either of those extremes.

For example, you could say in a sentence:

"This bridge is narrow"
"This bridge is [what?]"
"This bridge is wide"


texts: Origin of the saying "you can't put a price on sanity"?

texts:
This is something my mother used to say on a daily basis, and I grew up thinking it was a common saying. Today it occurred to me that I've never heard anyone else say it, and when I googled it, no results came up.

Did my mother devise this on her own? Is this not an established saying? Was I completely fooled?


texts: Is "n-th year of relationship" a common phrase?

texts:
Example sentence:

  And so, when Katsumi and Kiyoshi reached their second year of
  relationship, they moved in to a one-bedroom apartment.

Is this kind of expression common? If not, what's a more typical alternative?


texts:
I have just read this comic, and not quite sure what is the mistake in the last sentence "How pacific do these errors have to be?". Should it be peaceful instead of pacific? (English is my second
language.)


texts: Does adding a preposition and a noun after an object of a comma-separated list of verbs add it to all the verbs or only the last one in the list?

texts:
I have a sentence (which I came up with myself):

This is a program intended to help users create, simplify and organize learning content into bite-sized chunks.

After taking a second look at it, I realized there are multiple ways to interpret this:

This is what I actually mean:

This is a program intended to help users create learning content, simplify learning content and organize learning content into bite-sized chunks.

This is what I think it could also mean but don't want it to mean so and neither does it make perfect sense:

This is a program intended to help users create learning content into bite-sized chunks, simplify learning content into bite-sized chunks and organize learning content into bite-sized chunks.

Should I reframe the sentence as:

This is a program intended to help users create and simplify learning content and organize it into bite-sized chunks.

I would like to know the correct way to interpret the first sentence.


texts:
When talking about a set of skills on a specific area. e.g.: personal like teamwork, responsibility, Decision Making, etc. Which is the correct form to write:
a) personal competencies
b) personal competences
Or are both interchangeable? or any of them is prefered in the US or UK?


texts: Where should I put the comma in this sentence?

texts:
The three main factors of bullying among teenagers are problematic family background, strong desire of power and popularity and influence from mass media.

The number of ands in this sentence confuse me, so I don't know where to put the comma. Where should it go?


texts:
I have searched several websites, including this forum, for finding information about using a negative clause after "not only." I found that in most cases it's not ungrammatical to use a double negative in "not only...but also". Still, the following sentence seems awkward and ungrammatical to me. Please let me know if it is incorrect, and if yes, how can I rephrase it?
"Not only did the economic growth rate not rise, but it fell."


texts: Origin of the expression "landed in a tub of butter" (meaning lucky)?

texts:
I've heard a friend say "he says he was so lucky, it's like he sat his ass in a butter tub" a few times. Even though I'm from the same area (northeast USA) as the speaker, the expression wasn't familiar to me. I'm curious to learn more about its history, but can't find much.

I did find several examples in recent books:

Hollywood Monster: A Walk Down Elm Street with the Man of Your Dreams (2009):

and Dashing Through the Snow (2008):

as well as blogs, (2009, someone writing about their 85-year-old grandmother's expressions):

  “Well, he just landed in a butter tub!” –  (referring to Reesie, the little puppy we found this summer)

and in a much earlier newspaper example in the Milwaukee Journal (1922, a humorous story about a lucky escape from the embarrassment of a wardrobe malfunction):

The expression, or at least the sat in version, seems to be well-known in the 1922 example (though the story includes a giant tub of butter, so perhaps the audience is supposed to understand it from context). But here my Google-fu fails me and I haven't found anything earlier. Where does the expression landed in a tub of butter come from?

I'm not sure if sat or landed is more common, if cursing or mentioning the posterior is required, or if tub of butter or butter tub is the more usual phrasing. So for bonus points*, which version is the most normal or idiomatic?

*Bonus points may be even sharper and more imaginary than regular points.


texts: What does "in the world of unicorns" mean?

texts:
I was reading one article where founder was talking about his failure due to inability to raise money for his startup. He says:

  Every investor is chasing something shiny, they do not care for the ecosystem at all. In the world of unicorns it is really hard to see any other animal.

What does "in the world of unicorns" mean here?


texts: Does "criticism" imply positive as well as negative?

texts:
I thought I was always taught at school that criticism meant evaluation and opinion, either positive or negative. These days, it seems criticism, or to criticise, is almost exclusively used to mean negative commentary. Dictionaries seem to acknowledge both variations, but has there been a semantic shift in the words recently, and what is the usual meaning?

Wikipedia, for example, has many Criticism sections which are generally a list of negative opinions. Whilst I know they are discouraged for this reason, would they semantically be better named Negative Criticism sections? On the other hand, a film critic is still assumed to give as many positive reviews as negatives, so this would seem inconsistent.


texts: Usage of the idiom "to set the Thames on fire"

texts: I wonder whether the idiom "to set the Thames on fire" is currently in use and universally understood. Will it be correctly understood outside the United Kingdom? Would it be correct to say "to set the Thames ablaze" ?


texts: Should there be a comma between adjectives 'ghostly' and 'sunken' in the sentence below? Is sunken even an adjective here?

texts:
Apologies – I know that there are many posts around comma usage in coordinate and cumulative adjectives but I seem to have a mental block with this sentence:
They swam around the ghostly, sunken ship.
They swam around the ghostly sunken ship.
Is the comma correct? It could be a ghostly and sunken ship in which case the comma would be correct, I think. Or is sunken ship considered as one so ghostly is the only adjective? In which case, it would then be without a comma.
Which is correct or does it not really matter?
Thanks


texts:
I want to say :

  Analysis conducted at a insurance company showed that...
  or
  Analysis into a insurance company showed that...

What is the best way to phrase this?


texts:
I'm trying to explain to the person who wrote it, and to myself, why it is wrong.

  Dan plays the drums as vindictively as though they’d personally insulted him.

The "as adverbially as though" is wrong. I've edited it to:

  Dan plays the drums vindictively, as though they’d personally insulted him.

but I want to know why I had to.


texts: How do you use the term "ditto" when you're expressing the same sentiments,I.e. I told someone,"it was good to see you last week." They responded "ditto,seeing you too." Is this response correct?


texts: is it correct to say to "meet aims"? I know we can say she fulfilled or achieved her aims , but can I also say " she met her aims"?


texts: What is the origin of the phrase "hot take"?

texts:
I've been seeing this phrase pop up more and more in social media.

I wasn't sure of what it meant, so of course I googled it:

http://www.vox.com/2014/12/29/7417055/best-worst-words-2014

http://www.psmag.com/books-and-culture/a-brief-history-of-bad-sports-writing-64380

I'm still not quite understanding the meaning and origin. Can anyone help?


texts: modal verbs at the beginning of a sentence

texts:
Must not have prior convictions for the commission of crimes in the economic sphere: corruption, money laundering etc. Must not be in the sanctions lists.

I think this use of 'must' is incorrect. I would appreciate your explaination about the possibility/impossibility of using this verb at the beginning of a sentence.


texts:
I read a sentence in which "while" was used in different stile.

  Selective herbicides kill specific targets, while leaving the desired crop relatively unharmed.

Why don't we have a complete sentence (a verb) after "while"?

  Selective herbicides kill specific targets, while they are leaving the desired crop relatively unharmed.
  Why is it incorrect?

When we use "Gerund" after "while?

and last question: Is this correct too?

  Selective herbicides kill specific targets, by leaving the desired crop relatively unharmed.


texts: The Information Age and Industrial Revolution "were similar" or "are similar"?

texts:
The reason why I ask this is because of two reasons:

I first thought that things that occur in the past generally have to be described with past tense verbs.
Then I thought: "By using past tense, doesn't it imply that the similarity is no longer true, even though it may very well still be true?"

Please help. This has been nagging my brain for quite some time now.


texts: What is the difference between in email and by email?

texts: I have learnt it {in|by} email which was sent by my boss.


texts: I have started my book with the words "The day I was born, Granny died." On reading all the comma rules this doesn't seem quite right. Should the comma be replaced by a semicolon? I wanted the first lines to be impactful, but perhaps I should just replace the line with something like "The day I was born is the day Granny died."? It's not as succinct as I would like, but grammatically correct.


texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  What does 'ten of six' mean in regard to time?

In a Family Guy episode (The Hand That Rocks The Wheelchair), Meg asks "is it 10 of 8?", apparently looking up at the clock and referring to the fact that the time is 7:50.  Is this a commonly used term to refer to the time as being "10 minutes to 8", or is it just a Family Guy thing?  If it's common (I've never heard it before), what does it stand for, if "10 to 8" stands for "10 minutes to 8"?


texts:
In broadest terms, the phrase Passing the Trash describes dealing with corrupt individuals by giving them transfers, new job titles or even promotions. However, a quick search with Google suggests that the phrase is closely tied to teachers who sexually abuse children, which begs the question:

Is that what "passing the trash" originally referred to, or is this just another example of propagandists dumping on teachers?

Can anyone tell me about the origin of this phrase?


texts:
I am having a hard time understanding the work 'Semantic' or 'Semantics'
Dictionary.com says:

  'of, relating to, or arising from the different meanings of words or
  other symbols'

But it is still not clear to me.

One of many contexts that I do not understand what 'Semantics' is found in OMT Insights: Perspective on Modeling from the Journal of Object-Oriented Programming by James Rumbaugh:

  More precisely, a method has to include:

  A set of fundamental modeling
  concepts for capturing semantic knowledge about a problem and its
  solution. The modeling concepts are independent of how they are
  visualized. They are the inputs for semantic tools, such as code
  generators, semantic checkers, and traceability tools.

Can you rephrase the quote in a different way, so you can help me understand it ?


texts: What is the expression to describe that you are surrounded and have few ways to act?

texts:
Something like "circle is narrow" (just total random)? For example I'm trapped by circumstances and don't know how to get away with that. Because every way of acting seems not to be good.

Thank you guys all! I did not expect I would get so much useful expressions! I wish I could accept all the answers! You put me in a tight spot choosing the best answer :)


texts: Is there a word that describes a loud exhale from the mouth to indicate tiredness?

texts:
I'm not sure if it's correct to call it puff/puffing.
The definition is not close to what I'm looking for.
It's when you inhale deeply and release the air loudly.
The top result I found online is 'exhaled loudly'.
Just wondering if anyone knows of other words that can be used.


texts:
Is the second sentence correct English? What is the grammatical role and meaning of "who knows how many jobs"?

  ...Traditional cars happen to be human sized to transport humans but tiny autos can work in wear houses [sic] and gigantic autos can work in pit mines. Moving stuff around is who knows how many jobs but the transportation industry employs about three million people.

Source: "Humans Need Not Apply"


texts: Is it ok to use "Why" as "Why do you ask?"

texts:
Is it grammatically correct to use one-word sentence "Why?" as "Why do you ask?", for example in such context:

– Did you visit that shop yesterday?
– Yes. Why?


texts: Something that refers to a collection of folded up cloth you'd buy at a store. An official term? I'm blanking.


texts: What's the more appropriate word for busy-ness?

texts: I am looking for a word that captures the severity or extent to which someone is busy. This is the word to be used for showing a measure for the extent to which a person or team is occupied with stuff to do.


texts:
Are "for some" and "to some" interchangable?

  To some the sun appears brighter in the afternoons.

My natural instinct is to use "for some" in that sentence, but I don't understand why "to some" is incorrect (if it is). Can anyone shed some light?


texts: It appears that operator chairs are a kind of office chair, but I have not been able to find an explanation describing exactly what distinguishes an "operator" chair from any other kind.


texts: What does "toward the ends of peace and the happiness of all mankind" refer to?

texts:
I am watching this movie about the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki:

https://archive.org/details/Effects-Of-The-Atomic-Bomb-On-Hiroshima-And-Nagasaki-1946

In the final scene 2:43:55 - 2:44:10 the speaker says this:

"The day may come when atomic energy used for the first time in the world for strategic, military purposes will be utilized toward the ends of peace and the happiness of all mankind. So is it desired. So is it hoped. And so is it believed.”

I don't fully understand the meaning of the "ends of peace and the happiness of all mankind". Can you please explain it to me? Is it a metaphor for "forever"?


texts: Possessive of a word that is already possessive

texts:
If the cricket ground Lord's is a possessive, what if you want to describe something belonging to Lord's? Would you say:

  I was very impressed by Lord's's customer services.

It doesn't look right, so what is the correct way of writing it?


texts: Why does this sentence format only work some of the time?

texts:
The sentence, "he took my toy away" can be rewritten as, "he took away my toy."

However, "he took me away" cannot be rewitten as "he took away me."  The second sentence sounds awkward at the very least, and I do not think it is grammatically correct, but I do not know any exact rule stating so.

Is the last sentence valid, and if not, why?


texts: Usage of "the more you squeeze, the more sand disappears between your fingers"

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  Could you help me to do a syntax analysis of this sentence?

When would one use the expression the more you squeeze, the more sand trickles through your fingers? I just heard it on Washington Journal used to describe a political strategy, but I would like to know if it can be used for more day-to-day situations.


texts: Word for effort lost because a task was done in separate parts

texts:
I'm looking for a word to describe the cost, work, energy, or effort that can be lost when something is done in separate iterations as opposed to as one singular task.
For example, if a carpenter builds a house and then, upon completion, decides to add a garage, the total amount of work required will be more than if the carpenter planned to build the house and the garage and constructed the whole with both in mind.
My immediate purpose is to tell a client that we can build the "back end" of a product now and build the "front end" later without losing any work / cost / effort (However, my interest in this word is not limited to this particular client).
I would be open to either a noun or a modifier describing the effort or cost that is lost.

We can build the back end now, and we can always add a front end later without any ________.
If we want a garage, we should include it in the building plans, because if we decide to add it later we'll incur ________ cost.

I considered the words "redundant" and "duplicated," but these are not completely accurate, as the work that is lost by doing something in iterations is not necessarily lost to redundancy or duplication; it could be lost as a result of an architecture framed around the initial task not optimally suited to the subsequent task.


texts: Is there an anatomical word that includes both hands and feet?

texts:
I'm looking for a word that fills in the missing blank in the following progression:

Arms and legs are collectively called extremities
Hands and feet are collectively called _______
Fingers and Toes are collectively called digits

The word "extremities" can be used to mean just the hands and feet (as in this related question), but it is more commonly used to mean not only the hands and feet, but also the rest of the limbs. If I used that term, I would need to also clarify which sense I meant, thus making it useless as a single word.

Is there a word that means the organs which the digits attach to, but does not also mean the entirety of the limbs? Specifically, including the parts of the arms starting at the wrist, and parts of the legs starting at the ankles, but in no context meaning the forearms, thighs, etc?

(In the context I'm trying to use this word, including the digits would be ideal but not required.)


texts: what is a single word metaphor for fast and cheap

texts: I need a word or phrase that will describe something as fast and cheap (ie; fast and cheap service)


texts:
If one is looking for a word meaning 'the capability of being configured", is 'configurability' acceptable?

The Oxford Online Dictionary, as well as other dictionaries, have configurable but not configurability.


texts: Meaning of comma in between a surname and first name

texts:
What does the comma mean when placed in between surname and first name when writing an initial?

For example - Elisabeth, George - what does the comma indicate?


texts: "To a fare-thee-well" for "perfectly well" in AE

texts:
Does the idiom "to a fare-thee-well" have any currency in modern day AE speech and writing, or does it have sort of an old fashioned feel to it?

  http://www.thefreedictionary.com/fare-thee-well

If indeed it's in fairly common use, is it appropriate for whatever register?

Also --in expressions of suitability or appearance -- would it sound like as good an option as "like a charm", "like a glove", "a merveille", and "perfectly well"?

Consider the following examples:

  This jacket fits you to a fare-thee-well. source>/

  That's a terrific looking T-shirt. It fits you to a fare-thee-well. source>/

  And she was dressed to please in a below-the-knee filmy skirt and a v-necked blouse that fit her to a fare-thee-well. source>/

  They're fully lined, watch pocketed, and will fit you to a fare-thee-well.
  source>/

  Neat nylon pull-ons knit to fit you to a fare-thee-well.
  source>/

  Godberg's description fits him to a fare thee well.
  source>/

  Cat Ballou (genial drunk) was quite a nice picture in his tight jeans, which fit him to a fare-thee-well.
  source>/

  They are beautiful, and fit me to a fare-thee-well.
  source>/

  Suits me to a fare-thee-well!
  source>/

  ...off his triumphant role in the enchanting Moonlighy Kingdom, is back to his macho, smirking ways and the role suits him to a fare thee well.
  source>/


texts:
I read it on the following sentence:

  ... to scam people out of their cash.

I didn't find any entries on "scam out of" as a phrasal verb in online dictionaries.

Should I interpret "scam" and "out of" as separate constructions here?

Like "to scam" people until they run "out of their cash"?

Thanks!


texts:
Wikipedia has a lot of occurrences for the word "civillians", such as:

  At least 35 civillians were killed at the incident

I began fixing them to "civilians", but then had a question. Is "civillians" actually correct?

At least one dictionary has the term with two "l": http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Civillian but if I understand well it is listed as "Middle English". Is this an old word that should not be used in a modern encyclopedia?


texts: "of the following" vs "from the following"

texts:
In the context of a website form, a user is required to use at least three of four listed character types in his or her password. Which is correct:

1)

Your password must contain three of the following:
- Uppercase letters
- Lowercase letters
- Numerals
- Non-alphanumeric characters

2)

Your password must contain three from the following:
- Uppercase letters
- Lowercase letters
- Numerals
- Non-alphanumeric characters


texts: What's the difference between scatter/spread/ or disperse?

texts:
If you want to say people of the same race, the Romany people for instance, have moved to different parts of the world throughout history, how can we say that in fluent English? I have looked up the verbs scatter and spread, but I can't decide which one sounds more natural since all examples are about news spreading or plants scattering.

  Romany people have spread from Eastern Asia to the far end of Europe and America.
  Romany people have scattered from Eastern Asia to the far end of Europe and America.


texts: How do you pronounce an obscure name like Kaiomi

texts:
Our company name is Kaiomi and it's actually a female name, although very very rare.

We pronounce it ourselves as kayh-oh-mee, but we hear people say keyh-oh-mee for example.


texts:
In April 1997, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration ruled that
  toothpaste manufacturers weren’t adhering closely enough to voluntary
  safety guidelines. As a result, all toothpaste tubes now bear a
  scary-sounding warning. It was like this one: “Keep out of the reach
  of children under 6 years of age. If more than used for brushing
  is accidentally swallowed, get medical help or contact a poison
  control center right away.” In the months following the new warning,
  toothpaste consumer lines fielded hundreds of questions from worried
  parents, and poison control centers were flooded with calls as well.
  They told parents the same thing: your child is fine and may vomit, or
  not. The only reason to see a doctor, however, is if the vomiting gets
  so serious that dehydration becomes an issue. That’s right: you can
  eat your fill of delicious toothpaste and not come away with anything
  more serious than nausea and diarrhea.

If more than used for brushing

How should I get this? I think it should be like "If more than is used for brushing", don't you? How do I have to grasp "than" in syntax aspect? It's conjuction?


texts: is vs. are confusion? singular action, plural subject

texts:
Is buying smart electronics worth the price?
This is the title of an article I am trying to write. Buying is one action,  but electronics is plural. What if I said, "Is it worth the price to buy smart electronics?"

Are buying smart electronics worth the price? sounds better I think


texts: What is the source of the -i- in the word aquifer? I would have thought we would have *aquafer aqua being Latin for water.


texts: What's the word for believing based on preconceptions rather than objectively?

texts:
What's the word for when a person chooses to believe something based on preconceptions rather than judging it objectively?

Here's an example (a little contrived but hopefully illustrates the point):

A person ,P, is usually very healthy and prides themself on eating good, healthy food. This person has two friends, A and B, and they share a house.

P is in awe of A and pretty much anything A does is "right". For example, if A buys a drink that's packed with sugar but looks "healthy" then they decide this drink is super-healthy and there's now always a carton of this drink on P's shelf in the fridge.

However, they're not so keen on B. B buys some food that's super-healthy. P doesn't even bother tasting this food and it never gets touched, despite being on the sharing shelf.


texts: Is it incorrect to say "I couldn't catch that" when referring to missed conversation?

texts: A friend of mine who speaks English as a second language asked me if it was correct to say "I couldn't catch that" when referring to just having missed a part of a conversation, e.g. a phone call. My initial response was "It's normally 'I couldn't hear that' or 'I didn't catch that', but not 'I couldn't catch that'", but upon further thought I wasn't sure why that was the case; it seems grammatically correct, similar to "I couldn't hear that", but it feels unnatural to say in that context. Is there actually a rule in place here, or is it just a highly uncommon usage?


texts:
Only if we end the One-Party despotism of the commi shall we rebuild our social base for democracy.

It is only if we end the One-Party despotism of the commi that we shall rebuild our social base for democracy.

I wrote these two sentence myself.Suppose I want a provocative effect, which sentence suits my purpose better? If the two are equal as far as my question is concerned. Then is there any other nuance between them?


texts: Is this correct?  "I am looking forward to having a conversation with you?" I am asking about the word "having"...  Thank you!


texts: What are the differences between these four verbs: induce, entice, tempt and seduce?

texts:
I'm confused! Can someone give me some sentences to explain the usage of these four verbs ("induce", "entice", "tempt", "seduce")?

From Oxford Dictionary,
"Induce": succeed in persuading or influencing (someone) to do something
"entice": attract or tempt by offering pleasure or advantage
"tempt": entice or attempt to entice (someone) to do or acquire something that they find attractive but know to be wrong or not beneficial
"seduce": attract (someone) to a belief or into a course of action that is inadvisable or foolhardy

They seem to have the same meaning, i.e. attract someone to do something, so I am wondering what the exact differences are between them


texts: How would a native speaker react to the proverbial phrase: "Life is lethal"?

texts:
Would it sound completely wrong?

Would it be understood humoristically?

Would "deadly" be better?

It's an attempt to translate the humoristic German sentence:

  Das Leben ist tödlich.

I often use it as a reply to for example people expressing their fear of statistically unlikely events such as being involved in a plane crash or the like. But can it even be translated to still be kind of funny?


texts: Is this use of the subjunctive mood correct?

texts:
I've read this sentence to myself quite a few times now and it seems the more I do so the less correct it sounds. I think it's using the subjunctive mood, however I'm not sure if I've used it correctly. Can anyone say if this is right or not?

  bla bla bla... and it is our hope that anyone be able to receive healthcare without having to compromise on ... bla bla.

More specifically, I'm concerned about using "be" in its simple/infinitive form, it doesn't seem to sound right to me, should I have used "should"?


texts: meaning of "Be gone image from my mind!!"

texts:
I was talking to someone about something and she said:

  Uh, Be gone image from my mind!!

What does it mean?


texts:
The Italianissimo pizza—pronounced /ˈpiʦ:a/—is not always spelled or called pizza around the world:

In Bosnia, Belarusian, Macedonia, Serbia
it's spelled pica but pronounced  /pîtsa/
In Estonian; pitsa
The Greeks call it πίτσα (pítsa)
In Haitian it's pitza
In Thai it's พิซซ่า (Phiss̀ā)
In Vietnamese it's  bánh pizza

For everyone else it's just plain pizza, except...

in the USA, where some Americans call it pizza pie. I don't think anywhere else in the world (except in Vietnam and China) is the Neapolitan dish a compound word.

Different theories abound on the net: I have read claims that it's called pie because it is cut in triangles, that its round shape is reminiscent of a pie chart, some who sustain that the first pizzas baked in the US were simply called tomato pies, and others who say pizza is Italian for “pie”; however, that last claim is untrue. In Italy pies/cakes/tarts and pizzas are not interchangeable.  Un dolce (“a sweet”) is the name for any  cake or fruit filled tart whereas the term, torta, covers both cakes and any savoury or sweet-filling open pie. For example,  an “open vegetable pie” is torta di verdure, and a “birthday cake” is torta di compleanno. When pizza dough is baked without any topping (but for a generous drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkling of sea salt crystals), it  is called focaccia while in some parts of Italy the term pizza bianca (“white pizza”) is used.

I believe the English term pie refers especially to the crust, and as we all know, pies have a filling be it sweet or savoury. The classic open “pie” is topped with tomato and mozzarella cheese, but in the US the choice of toppings is limitless.

Did you know that February 9th is National Pizza Pie Day in the US? Unfortunately, I was unable to discover how old this epicurean feast is and where it originated, but it does tell me that the term pizza pie is alive and well today.  Back in 1953 Dean Martin crooned

  When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie
  That's amore

But when did the words pizza pie first appear in print?
And where did it originate?
What is its origin?


texts: Is the word 'getting' used as a gerund in 'getting stronger every day'?

texts: In the phrase, "Getting Stronger Every Day," I know that "getting" is a participle, but in this phrase, is it a gerund? If not, why?


texts: Word or Phrase for the beginning or end of an event or period of time?

texts:
I'm looking for a single word to indicate a point in time which is either the beginning or end of an event.

Edit, for a better example: A bell rings at the start a round of boxing.  A bell rings at the end of a round of boxing.  Assuming the bell rings at no other times, we can say the bell always rings at the BLANK of a round.

Currently, for BLANK, I'm using the phrase "start or end." It feels clunky.  I'd like to replace it with a single word, if possible.


texts: What's a more formal equivalent to "seriously out of line"?

texts: What is a more formal equivalent to "seriously out of line"? In the particular case I'm looking for, I've been advised that what I'm referring to is seriously out of line legally, but the question is general.


texts:
Is it correct the following:

  I don't know how much he will be happy about it.


texts:
Which is proper?

  The method will be fired after the specified duration of seconds has passed.

OR

  The method will be fired after the specified duration of seconds have passed.


texts: Can the word "greening" be used in the sense of "being green" or "turning green"?

texts:
As far as I know, poetry can and often does break some limits of sentence and word structure if it is required by its rhythm or rhyme. I am translating one, and the perfect ending of a line would be the word "greening" in the sense of "being green", "having green leaves". The question is whether it is grammatically correct to say that "a tree is greening" because personally, being not a native speaker, I haven't met such an expression. Most websites (for example, https://dictionary.cambridge.org/amp/english/greening) provide the meaning of the word "greening" similarly to the following:

  The process of becoming more active about protecting the environment

Or one of several sorts of green apples.

However, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/green#h1 provides a couple of meanings of "to green" as a verb:

  To make green
  To become green

So "greening", as a gerund form of the verb "to green" could be used in my context, couldn't it?


texts:
I have seen sentences similar to the following:

(1) See the reference above.
(2) See the reference below.

And,

(3) See the above reference.

But not,

(4) See the below reference.

Are all these forms acceptable? Which is/are preferred in formal writing?


texts: What's the extended meaning by adding "one" before a noun?

texts:
Example:
Elaine: "You know those label makers make great gifts, I just gave one for Tim Whatley for Christmas."
Jerry: "!@#$"
Elaine: "Who gave you that?"
Jerry: "One Tim Whatley."

What does the word "one" mean when used as a modifier?


texts: I heard half-sack in a TV series before to describe a man with one testicle. Is there any single word to describe that?


texts:
Which is correct?

  The fascinating features of human voice

  OR
  The fascinating features of the human voice

Is there a rule or is it another difference between American and British English? We always use 'the' for the human brain. How about in this case, 'human voice'? By the way, this example comes from an academic paper.


texts: Is there a word for a positive outcome borne of a negative (or destructive) intention?

texts:
Colloquially this is referred to as a "silver lining" but I'm wondering if there's a single word that describes the phenomenon of gleaning positive results from otherwise negative actions/behaviours.

So an example of usage would be "The tornado rampaged through town, but the [my_word] side-effect was that it pulled up all the rotting trees at the end of our street".


texts: What's a more appropriate word than verbatim or literal in this context?

texts:
The XML file is being transcribed verbatim to generate the form on the web page.

Perhaps literal fits better than verbatim, as the former denotes a looser correlation (in my opinion) than the latter, or maybe I'm just splitting hairs.  Either way, neither of these really conveys my intended message.  I'm looking for a word or expression that conveys an exact 1:1 correlation between everything in A and everything in B, but B is not actually a "word for word" copy of A.  A and B don't have to be XML and a web page.  You can think of them like apples and oranges.  If you were going to generate an orange based on an apple (whatever that means), and every aspect of the apple would be reflected in an aspect of the orange that was generated...how would you describe the precision of that transcription or translation process?

I apologize if there are any issues with this question, or it is inappropriate for this stack exchange - this is my first time posting on this stack exchange.


texts: What does "We'll be up to our butts in corpses" mean?

texts: I was reading The Watchmen (a graphic novel) and stumbled across this expression in a conversation between two cops talking about Rorschach. I suppose it means "We'll have to put up a fight", but I am not sure.


texts: 'I watch less TV than you' or 'I watch TV less than you'

texts:
Which one is grammatically correct or idiomatic?

  I watch less/more TV than you.
  I watch TV  less/more than you.

  I have less/more money than you.
  I have money less/more than you.


texts: Is it right, or better way, to say someone "denies themselves agency"

texts:
I'm trying to express the idea of someone who consistently underestimates his own contributions or his ability to impact a situation, despite having high self esteem.  This is due to seeing themselves as currently fitting into a category of people that are not expected to be impactful in a situation, and thus they don't believe they should be impactful despite their actually being qualified to have an impact.

In essences it's like someone saying they are just an intern so they can't/didn't have a significant impact on a project because everyone knows interns are just there to learn not create something, or someone saying they couldn't/didn't help lead the direction of a project because they weren't a manager and only the manager is allowed to do that etc.

I struggle to best explain this concept, while stressing that the underestimation is not due to bad self esteem or negativity, simply the fact that he does not believe he should be impactful and thus underestimates any impact he could have.

In this situation would it be right to say that the individual is denying their agency?  Or perhaps does not acknowledge their agency, in the situation?  I'm not certain if it is right to say someone can be 'given' agency, or if agency is the intrinsic quality that the person has rather or not he acknowledges its existence?

If the phrase isn't right, is there a better phrase to use?


texts:
“Your employment at Chent will terminate directly we find a suitable replacement.” (John Brunner, Quicksand, 1967)

This sentence is said by a highly formal and stuffy character. I guess this use of “directly” where it would be more common to say or write “as soon as” is formal and dated. Did it used to be more common? Is it still occasionally used in very formal contexts nowadays? Are there other similar constructs (an adverb introducing a subordinate clause with no conjunction, not even an elided that or who)?


texts:
SUPPOSING that Truth is a woman—what then? Is there not  ground  for
  suspecting  that  all  philosophers,  in  so far as they have been
  dogmatists, have failed to understand women—that the terrible
  seriousness and clumsy importunity  with  which  they  have  usually
  paid  their  addresses  to Truth, have been unskilled and unseemly
  methods for winning  a  woman?

What is the meaning of the bolded words in the above paragraph? Currently I interpret it as "behaves". I checked on online dictionary and it is not an idiom either.


texts: How do you hyphenate a phrase with a suffix modifier?

texts:
Consider a type of software that is specific to an industry. We might say it's...

  industry-specific

If software is specific to a particular use case ("use case" is a software term) would we say it's...

  use case-specific

The usage of the hyphen has me befuddled. "case-specific" sticks together, visually, while "use" is off by itself.


texts: Word choice synonym for exempts/supersedes

texts:
So I'm working on a research project where I need a particular word a lot, but I'm not sure if the word I'm using is proper, or if there's a better choice.

Some background, regular T cells need to be activated by something called MHC, but CAR T cells do not need to be activated this way.

So one sentence I have been saying is that

  CAR T cells exempt MHC activation

But then I tried supersedes and it still doesn't have the right sound to it.

Word help please :).


texts:
I am struggling on a sentence here. Let me show u what I come up with;

Would I fail if I won't study?

In this sentence I am trying to indicate a possibility but I am not sure if I use this part  correct : if I won't study

which tense should I be using there?


texts: Correct answer to a "Multiple choice" Question

texts:
Read the following paragraph:

Morning is also great for breaking out the vitamins. Supplement absorption by
the body is not temporal-dependent, but naturopath Pam Stone notes that the extra
boost at breakfast helps us get energised for the day ahead. For improved absorption,
Stone suggests pairing supplements with a food in which they are soluble and steering
clear of caffeinated beverages. Finally, Stone warns to take care with storage; high
potency is best for absorption, and warmth and humidity are known to deplete the
potency of a supplement.

Now, Answer this MCQ:

Which is NOT mentioned as a way to improve supplement absorption?
A. avoiding drinks containing caffeine while taking supplements
B. taking supplements at breakfast
C. taking supplements with foods that can dissolve them
D. storing supplements in a cool, dry environment

I'd written "D" as correct answer, but official IELTS reading answer key says it's "B
". How?
Option "D" is nowhere mentioned in the paragraph, if it seems, then it's not a way to improve supplement absorption.


texts: What term describes this sentence structure with preposition and possible gerund?

texts:
What is the correct grammatical description for this sentence?

  I need help taking out an old hard drive.

I am most interested in whether the verb "take" is a gerund here, and how to describe the proceeding clause. It may be a prepositional-gerundial construction, but I don't know if that makes sense.


texts: Which came first in English, capitalization of first word in sentence, or period?

texts:
Does Old English have the idea of capitalized first letter of words? And does it have the idea of periods? I know periods sort of came about in Latin perhaps, but don't know what came first. Did we start capitalizing the first word in a sentence at the same time as using a period? Or did the period come first? Etc.

Wondering when it first appeared in Old English, and perhaps how it landed into permanence.


texts: Is the term "fleshed out" considered informal?

texts: In my most recent essay, I had used the term "fleshed out" but my teacher had circled it. I called her over to ask why it was circled and she said that "Flushed out is the correct term to use." I googled it up in front of her and it had said that I was correct and she was wrong. She then said that either way it was informal and is not to be used in a formal essay. I ask this question because I could swear that it was formal, but now that she is saying it isn't I'm starting to question myself. Thanks :)


texts: I want to master American idioms and would like to use a complete list as a reference. Would you please suggest one?


texts: Where is it relevant to use the word "sucks" and where is it not?

texts:
Intuitively, the statement

  Yeah, it sucks!

Doesn't seem to be a legitimate statement. Or is it? If it is not then where should I not use such statements? At office? With acquaintances ? With the people you are meeting for first time? With parents? In a social situation?


texts: I would like to know if I use "in" or "on"

texts:
I would like to know if "in" is okay to use on the below sentence
Please notify me when your service in this matter has been concluded so we may close our file.


texts: When does realisation of velar nasal /ŋ/ as alveolar nasal [n] happen along with tensing of the preceding vowel (/ɪ/ to [i])?

texts:
I have observed some English speakers in North America who seem to produce this assimilation in words like running /ˈrʌnɪŋ/ (as [ˈrʌnin]) or winning /ˈwɪnɪŋ/ (as [ˈwɪnin]). I'm specifically interested in when the final vowel becomes [i] or [iː] and not /ɪ/ (as in some Southern American English accents, which produce [ˈrʌnɪn] and [ˈwɪnɪn]).
Is this a regional accent?
I found some additional anecdotal discussion at the following links:

Antimoon (a site for English learners)
Unilang
Yahoo Answers


texts: Is this slogan grammatically correct in its double use of the to-infinitive?

texts:
The motto of the institution where I work is:

  To explore the potential of nature to improve the quality of life

Is this (double use of the to-infinitive) grammatically correct? And if so, is it common to set up a sentence like this?


texts: Word for moving a program into a production environment

texts:
I work as a software developer, and after we finishing developing a program, we have to move it from the development environment into the production environment so that we can test it under real-world condition and the client can start to use it.

I was wondering what the best word would be to describe the process?

My boss is fond of "productionize", which i'm not sure is actually a word
I sometimes use "deploy/deployment"

I was wondering if there were other suggestions?


texts: Is there a definitive spelling for the shortened version of “as per usual”?

texts:
A shortened version of the phrase “as per usual” is now used as slang when referring to something that is typical or expected, often in an exaggerated or hyperbolic manner.  For example:

  Bill: Mike is late, again!
  Sara: As per usual.

But instead of saying “as per usual”, the slang version shortens usual to  pronounce the first syllable only, which I lazily make an attempt to spell as “ujj”.  (IPA /juːʒ/ ―tchrist)

And the question is. . . .

Is there a definitive spelling for the shortened version of “as per usual” — or, more specifically, for the shortened version of usual?


texts:
I am wondering if I can factor a word in the following expression:

According to the definition of A, definition of B, and definition of C, ...

and write it briefly as

According to the definition of A, of B, and of C, ...

or

According to the definition of A, that of B, and that of C, ....


texts: Is it essential to use comma in a big number?

texts:
Is it necessary to use comma in a big number? For example, if anyone writes one million four hundred thousand and two as 1400002 instead of 1,400,002 on answer sheet of listening section of IELTS test, will it be considered incorrect?

Thanks in advance.


texts: What is the difference between "Come on home" and "Come home"? In this case "Come on" is a phrasal verb?


texts:
I come across a sentence:

  The many problems inherent in the setup are deep and disturbing.

Does the adjective inherent modify the problems?

and what does deep and disturbing mean in the sentence?  to express the problems are hiding behind the setup?


texts: True or False: "English lacks a standard gender-neutral second-person plural pronoun."

texts:
It's news to me, but apparently Joe Pinsker (affiliated with The Atlantic?) says so in this article.

The problem, for those who want to ditch [the usage of]  "guys", is that their language doesn’t present them with many versatile replacements; English lacks a standard gender-neutral second-person plural pronoun, like the Spanish ustedes or the German ihr.

I was taught that the "standard gender-neutral second-person plural pronoun" was "you." (As in "I", "you", "one", "we", "you", "they".)
I was also taught about "implicit 'you' ". This allows me to greet a crowd with "Good morning!" or "Hello!", where the object, you, is implicit or understood without being articulated.
(I've tagged this with "irregular-plurals" because "implicit 'you' " seems to me quite irregular, but I'm not a language expert.)


texts:
"An object A belongs to a group G by a degree R. R represents the degree of ...... of A to G."

What word can I use to replace the dots? Can I use "belongingness"? "Inclusion"?


texts: When did it become incorrect to use apostrophes with possessive pronouns?

texts:
I'm reading Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility, and I notice that she invariably uses an apostrophe with possessive pronouns — in a way that would be considered incorrect now. For example: (Elinor is speaking to Colonel Brandon)

My gratitude will be insured immediately by any information tending to that end, and her's must be gained by it in time. Pray, pray let me hear it. (Volume II, Chapter IX, page 153 of the Oxford World's Classics edition, emphases in original)

Assuming that Austen is a reasonably good yardstick for proper style of her time, I'm wondering when this practice came to be considered incorrect. (Note that there are some related questions, especially this one. But that question's answers don't get into any real detail about the when part of the question.)
Edit: @FumbleFingers points out in the comments that my example may be a bad one. In the original, the sentence would have had "HERS" (and no apostrophe). My larger point stands, and here are a few other examples without that problem:

When they stopped at the door, Mrs. Jennings recollected that there was a lady at the other end of the street on whom she ought to call; and as she had no business at Gray's, it was resolved, that while her young friends transacted their's, she should pay her visit and return for them. (Chapter 33)
But at last she found herself with some surprise, accosted by Miss Steele, who, though looking rather shy, expressed great satisfaction in meeting them, and on receiving encouragement from the particular kindness of Mrs. Jennings, left her own party for a short time, to join their's. (Chapter 38)
That conviction must be every thing to you; and he is undoubtedly supported by the same trust in your's. (Chapter 24)

Those examples are all taken from the Gutenberg edition online.
Edit after closing: It's funny that this should be closed so soon after the blog post about The War of the Closes. The alleged duplicate does not talk about my question, namely when did good usage shift forms like her's, their's, etc. to hers, theirs, etc. Nor does the only answer to that question address the when question. That other question and its answer are about whether forms like hers came to exist by analogy with the possessive of nouns, such as John's. It's a completely different question. In addition, this question now has a reasonably good answer. There's no reason for this to be closed.


texts: When talking about time durations can we use "at" and "to"?

texts:
When talking about time durations, can we use at ... to? For example:

  The class is at 5pm to 6pm.

I know the ideal use would be:

  The class is from 5pm to 6pm.


texts: What does the word "whereabouts" mean, and how do I respond to it?

texts:
If someone asks me the following questions after I tell them I'm going to be in a certain country, what specifically do they want to know? For example,

  Someone: "Oh, so you are going to Indonesia. Whereabouts in Indonesia are you going? Do you plan to go to Jakarta, the capitol city of Indonesia?"

and

  Me: "Yes, I do plan to make a stop in Jakarta. After stopping there, I plan to keep my whereabouts a secret!"


texts: "Half as likely as" or "Half as likely than"?

texts:
Which of the two following sentences is correct?

"Group A is less than half as likely to succeed as Group B."
"Group A is less than half as likely to succeed than Group B."

I know that normally, a sentence would be "Group A is less likely to succeed than Group B," but I am wondering whether the "than half as" changes the structure.

Thanks.


texts: Superlative form of the adjective "little" for degree or intensity

texts:
Inflections of 'little' (adj):

For size or age:

Littler ("That tree is little, but the tree next
to it is even littler."). Littlest ("Theo is the littlest of my three
little brothers.")

For amount:

less (e.g. "I have little money. Certainly less money
than him.") Least (—e.g. "I have little money, but Jim is the one who
has least money out of all of us.")

For degree or intensity

Lesser (—e.g. "She has little love for him.
Certainly, her love for him is lesser than her love for her mother.")

Then what's the superlative form of the adjective "little" for degree or intensity?


texts: Why does "I am in your debt" mean the opposite of what it suggests?

texts:
I don't understand why if someone says "I am in your debt" it seems to mean the opposite of the literal meaning.

The person saying this says that they are in the debt of the person the phrase is directed to. A debt being "an obligation owed by one party (the debtor) to a second party".

So, if the first party says they are in the second party's debt, then should that not mean that the second party owes the first party something?

I totally understand that this isn't what it means... whereas this is the correct meaning...

  I am indebted to you

Am I wrong? Or is the phrase "I am in your debt" totally wrong and misunderstood through relaxation of the term "I am indebted to you"?


texts:
Is it "bear" or "bare" with me?
Is it "bear" or "bare" with me?


texts:
Adopted children often have a fear of hurting or betraying their adoptive parents. I think this is different than the fear of abandonment, which is also found in adopted children. Is there a better name for the fear of hurting or betraying? I'm having difficulty finding literature about this online.

E.g.: Fred, an adopted child, has an intense fear of __________________, which manifests whenever he thinks he has hurt or betrayed his adoptive parents.


texts: Which is correct to say... are you not tired of being in pain because of football or are you not tired from being in pain because of football?


texts:
Which is correct:

She is married to a tall broad-shouldered man, or
She is married to a broad-shouldered tall man?

Thanks.


texts: Structure to avoid too many files in a single folder (ex: ab/cd/abcdef): Name of this technique?

texts:
When you have thousands or millions of files in a single directory, there can be drawbacks.

A strategy is to avoid that situation is to distribute the files into sub-folders whose name is for instance the first few letters of the filename, or the first few letters of the filename's hash. That allows the file to be easily findable, while having no more than n files per folder. Example:

Before:

/abcdef
/fewrof
/abcdea
...

After:

/ab/cd/abcdef
/fe/wr/fewrof
/ab/cd/abcdea
...

This is a very frequently used technique. Is there an English name for it? If not, what is the nearest word or expression that encompasses it?


texts: Why does the word "budge" always come in negative form?

texts: I came across the word "budge" in a dictionary, and it said about this word: "Usually used in negative". Why does this specific word always come in negative form?


texts:
Is −9 a smaller number than −8?

And is −9 a lower number than −8?

What is the difference between lower and smaller here?


texts:
"In fact, Matt says there is a lawsuit going on right now that may turn on a single word - the word and. "

In this sentence, I do not catch the meaning of "turn on a single word."

What does it mean?  More specifically, what does "on" mean there?


texts: A question on usage of could and was able to

texts:
As you know,we use could for general ability. But if we want to say that somebody did something in a specific situation,we have to use was/were able to or managed to **(not **could ).
I know the below sentence is correct grammatically. But why?
According the above explanation, we should use managed to or was/were able to.

Problematic sentence:the test was difficult.I could only answer half of  the questions.


texts: Is there a word or phrase for describing 'the nth X-day of a month'?

texts:
As an example, Thanksgiving (US) is celebrated on the 4th Thursday of November. I'm looking for a way to describe that situation in a general sense. As in "Thanksgiving is a holiday that occurs __" or "Thanksgiving is a __" holiday. Monthly is close in a sense, although it doesn't quite capture the relative placement of the event. I'm also wondering what other words are associated with the concept. If there isn't a way of describing it well, I'd also be interested to hear ideas for coining a word for this.

For the curious, the context that this question arose from was in describing the manner in which one can schedule events. The title says "Monthly (Day-Relative)" with the subtitle "Choose the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th or 5th day of week or last day of month the event should occur". Day-relative seems to be an OK candidate, although it doesn't feel like it describes the situation completely.


texts: Do I have to repeat word "sound" in this sentence?

texts:
She heard a sound not from the sidewalk, but from the inside of the
  house.

In this sentence, is the comma needed?

And also:

  She did not hear the sound from the sidewalk, but a sound from the inside
  of the house.

Please note that "the sound from the sidewalk" has been used as a noun phrase. Do I still have to delete "a sound" after "but" as below?

  She did not hear the sound from the sidewalk, but from the inside of
  the house.

Or are both of them correct?

Thank you.


texts: Should "is" or "are" be used in this sentence?

texts:
"One example I can think of is the expiration labels on food."

It seems like you should say "is" because "example" is a singular noun, but the sentence sounds weird to me for some reason. Maybe "the" should be removed?


texts:
what does it mean, 'the felt sites' at the below sentence.
"Guidoboni et al. [2007] classified five sites as “felt.” For the present inversion, intensities of V were assigned to the felt sites inside the area of Figure 3a (the three arrows indicate San Giovanni in Persiceto, Novellara, and Padova). Thus, 51 total data points were used."


texts: A record of recorded, tabulated, numerical records of observed phenomena

texts:
I am looking for a good word to use to describe a record of recorded, tabulated, numerical records of observed phenomena.  I am studying an video game using a system which generates a large amount of numerical data.  I want to present the resulting record of data to the public for use and study.  I considered the word almanac, but this infers that the records are yearly.  My records will be ongoing and continually growing.  Is there a better word for this?

Here is a visualization for my data:

http://www.clearuse.us/starcraft/

Additional Explanation:

The research involves the game Starcraft and recorded the outcomes of battles between groups of 41 different unit types.  The goal was to graph (or otherwise visualize) the outcomes of these fights to determine the battle efficiency of each unit based on the unit cost.  The first data set of data includes numeric data from around 40,000 different battles.  A basic visualization of the results can be seen at the link above.  I want to make the data set publicly available as an api o that anyone can create their own visualization and also to build support for the test.  I need a name for the data/api.  The Starcarft Almanac was my first choice.  I know that there is a better word than almanac, so I asked the question.


texts: What tense to use with when along with past perfect

texts:
Consider this sentence:

He had felt this pain earlier, when he drew the bow.

My intuition would be that the sentence is incorrect, and that the correct form is:

He had felt this pain earlier, when he had drawn the bow.

That being said, I remember from school that the future form would be something like He will feel this pain later, when he draws the bow., which goes against my intuition already... so I'm not sure what to think.

Which form is correct? (Is it maybe both? If so, is there a distinction?)
Is there some sort of rationale behind it, encompassing both the past and future cases?

Edit: To clarify, my question is about the rationale behind the future case He will feel this pain later, when he draws the bow., and how that rationale applies to other tenses like when the past perfect is involved

Edit 2: I understand that the past form of He feels this pain when he draws the bow. is He felt this pain when he drew the bow. What I don't understand is why adding anteriority wouldn't result in He had felt this pain when he had drawn the bow., and for that matter why the future form isn't He will feel this pain when he will draw the bow.. What are the rules here?


texts: What connotation does "just so you know" have?

texts: I came across the phrase 'just so you know' in the drama and it was used like "All right okay, just so you know, I'm not gonna make a turkey this year" I looked it over in a dictionary and I understood its meaning.  Does it always have a feeling that you're angry because someone's statement upset you?  Or is it used just to add some comment as the one you're talking with hasn't noticed it yet?


texts: This and that when they refer to non-tangible objects

texts:
Let's take this example:

....But on a regular, day-to-day basis, when a task requires thinking
that isn’t itself enjoyable, even puzzle lovers’ brains prefer less
thinking over more.
That is the law of least mental effort.
This, of course, has major implications for our decision making,

Why in the 1st case it's "that", and in the 2nd "this"?
What would happend if it was the opposite - this, then that - instead?
What if there were 2 "this", or 2 "that" instead? How would the meaning have changed?


texts: What's a single word to name a person/entity that determines?

texts:
I am looking for a single word (noun) describing a person or any other entity that determines something. For example:

  John determines next year goals for his employees. John is a ... of employee next year goals.

I was thinking about determiner but that somehow does not sound well...


texts:
(Context: local middle school gave each student a personal Chromebook in September.  Letter to administrator about problems, that were not solved by opting my child out of the Chromebook three weeks ago.)

  When M uses the Chromebook, he compulsively surfs the web.  When he
  doesn't use it, he feels like an afterthought.  I'm starting to
  wonder, who is more tech-addicted -- M, or the teachers in whose
  classes the Chromebook is so ubiquitous?

Is that right? Or should I say

  ... the teachers in whose classes Chromebook usage is so ubiquitous?


texts: In "download", where does the "down" direction come from?

texts: I just realized that the directions in "UPload" and "DOWNload" seem arbitrary to me as a non-native English speaker. I took a look at a couple of dictionaries and they said that this word is a result of merging "down" and "load", which doesn't seem to explain anything. Where could those two directions come from?