texts:
I have recently come across the phrase "BEFORE an easel" and been slightly confused by this word usage. At first I thought the author misused the preposition "before" (I have always considered it the preposition of time i.e. "before 700 B.C.") and that it should be definitely replaced by "in front of". However, having scrutinized some examples in the dictionaries, I found that both Kipling J.R. and Thackeray W.M., the English authors, did use "before" in such a phrase.

Can anybody clarify this issue for me?  Is it right to say "before an/the easel"? Or maybe is it a kind of fixed expression?

Thank you in advance!


texts: conversion of "in order to" to a "because" subclause

texts:
Clauses with "in order to" can be converted to clauses with "because" by adding a verb that indicates necessity or desire.

Does this statement always hold? (if not please provide a counter example, if yes please provide a reference)

Examples:

"I wake up at 6, in order to catch the 7AM bus" -> "I wake up at 6, because I want/need to catch the 7AM bus"

"In order to make tea, I need water" -> "Because I want to make tea, I need water"

"In order to succeed, you must work hard" -> "Because you must succeed, you must work hard"


texts: What is the meaning of this line of Andrew Marvell's poem?

texts:
O do not run too fast, for I will but bespeak thy grave, and die

– Andrew Marvell in The Nymph Complaining for the Death of her Fawn

Is the Nymph addressing the fawn here, saying "I will bear witness to your grave and die along with you"? I feel like there's a few subtleties in this line I'm missing (the "but" in there for eg.), it'd be great to have them explained.


texts: "At the very beginning {or} middle {or} end"

texts:
a b c d e f g h i j k l m n.

  The letter "b" is not at the very beginning but at the beginning.
  The letter "i" is not at the very middle but at the middle.
  The letter "m" is not at the very end but at the end.

Am I right?


texts:
Can we say "Albert’s birthday is on next Saturday"? and "The concert was on last Saturday"? Does the preposition on in the two sentences have to be left out, or is it optional?

I know we should say "I will send you the proposal next Monday",in which "next Monday" is used as an adverbial modifying the verb send. But in my question, the sentence is "Albert’s birthday is on next Saturday?", in which on next Saturday is a complement after be. Is on next Saturday acceptable here, or still unacceptable just like when it is used as an adverbial?


texts: Articles before nouns and "or" conjunction

texts:
I am trying to understand the correct use of articles before nouns that are separated by "or". For example.

  It doesn't matter whether you are a mobile or a frontend developer
  ....

Or it should be

  It doesn't matter whether you are a mobile or frontend developer
  ....

Could you explain rules that should be used in such cases.

Thanks.


texts:
I was drawn to the phrase, ‘on a tear,’ which I heard in audio in this week’s Barron’s magazine (June 6), reporting the good sales and profit performance of U.S. sneaker chain, Foot Locker:

It says:

  Foot Locker is proving that expansion isn’t everything. The sneaker chain’s sales per square foot have been on a tear even as the company’s store count shrinks. That‘s done wonders for Foot Locker’s profit margins and stock price.

As I’m unfamiliar with the idiom, ‘on a tear,’ I consulted English dictionaries in both print and online.

The Cambridge, Oxford, and Merriam-Webster English dictionaries and the Oxford American Dictionary do not carry ‘on a tear’ as an idiom. I suspected it could be “in a tier,” but it doesn’t add up in the context.

However, I found ‘on a tear’ in Collins English Dictionary and urban dictionary.

Collins defines ‘on a tear’ as;

  (slang) showing a sudden burst of energy. ex. Final domestic demand, then, was on a tear —— good news.

Urban Dictionary defines it as;

  on a streak or series, usually a winning streak. Will sometimes be used semi-sarcastically to define a losing streak. ex. The market went up 14% in the least four weeks. The market is on a tear! –

And, Google Ngram shows that the usages of both ‘on a tear’ and ‘in a tear’ have been observed since early before 1840. The incidences of ‘on a tear’ is on rise from 0.000001 in 1970 to 0.0000025 after 2000 and onward, but incidences of 'in a tear' have been flattened out at the low level of 0.0000012 - 0.0000016 throughout the tracked period.

Now here are my questions:

What is the plain and exact meaning of ‘on (in) a tear’ in the context of the above quote?
Is ‘on (in) a tear’ a popular idiom?
Why none of major English dictionaries such as CED, OED, OALED, MWED accommodates this phrase as an idiom in spite of a long presence of the phrase as shown in Google NGram?

Addendum:

The Barrons’ magazine seems to be fond of using "on a tear."  It repeated this phrase again in its June 19 news-report (through AFN radio broadcast) reporting a marked improvement of U.S.'s largest closeout chain, Big Lots’ sales performance. It says

  (the chain’s) Sales growth in Canada is on a tear. Any signs of the progress will likely allure investors back to Big Lots.


texts: Use of proper tense when describing events as trivia

texts:
I'm writing a speech for someone who will be speaking about events in the past. Specifically, he/she will review events in certain years in the past, which are presented as "trivia". For example, for 1981, he/she might say "...in 1981 the wreck of the Titanic was found." Or "...is found."?
I was so sure it should be past tense, but now I'm not so sure.
Is it present because the year being discussed will always exist in our present recollection of it?
Thanks in advance for any help.


texts:
When I reference to the next sentence or sentences using the term following, is the preferred way to use a colon or a full stop?

An example:

  Consider the sentence 'I wash the clothes'. Replacing the letter h with the letter o in the previous sentence results in the following sentence. I waso toe clotoes.


texts: Singular or plural in “between the 17ᵗʰ and the early 20ᵗʰ century/centuries”?

texts:
Which is correct in the following sentence, century or centuries?

  [. . .] courtship gifts common in Sweden and other Scandinavian countries between the 17ᵗʰ and early 20ᵗʰ century.


texts:
As title states trying to understand better.
I  learned that Audible for smell is Olfactible.
But Audio for smell is?


texts: Starting a sentence with "Starting with"

texts:
When you want to summarize a list of items, can you use "Starting with" at the beginning of a sentence in order to explain the first item?

For example, is the following grammatically correct?

  I love all kind of animals. Starting with kittens and puppies, the
  cutest animals in the world. I'm rather fond of little ducklings as
  well.

To further clarify, I would think this is grammatically incorrect and a comma is required to connect "starting with" with the first sentence.


texts: Word for non-humanoid characters with artificial intelligence?

texts:
I am writing an essay on a book that I read where many of the characters are not human and have artificial intelligence instead.

When I try to describe these characters, though, I find myself using "android", "machine", and "robot," none of which seems correct. The characters are not humanoid, so I am not sure if android is the correct word for them (although I think it was used in the book).

I also tried using "inhuman" and "nonhuman", but I feel like those may be too vague. I feel as if calling the characters "machines" sounds too insensitive since they express many traits that humans do and my essay is about how they are very similar to humans despite not being human.

Does anyone have good synonyms for "android" or "robot" for me to describe these characters?


texts:
Is this sentence correct or do I need to put an 'and' after the comma? Is it always necessary to put a comma in such situations?
Goodness cannot be a habit but has to come from your presence, not your personality.
Thanks


texts: Should Chemical names be used at the start of sentences?

texts:
Which of the following sentences is more grammatically correct:

'Calcium was reported in the sample, but not Na.'

or

'Ca was reported in the sample, but not Na.'?

Or are they both fine?


texts:
What is the name of the concept or type of key used in shifting characters on a mobile device?

Many common virtual keyboards used in cellphones and advanced mobile devices use a certain paradigm for dealing with shifted characters:

Hitting shift once results in it being depressed for one character - i.e. until the next regular keypress
Hitting shift a second time locks the shift key indefinitely through multiple keypresses, as with Caps Lock.
Hitting shift a third time undoes the lock from the second press.

What is it called when the shift key is used this way?  Is it called both "Shift" and "Caps Lock" at the same time?  It has some similarities to the StickyKeys system used by Windows - is it called a "sticky" system of some sort?  Is it a "Shift Lock" or a "Sticky Lock?"


texts: What is a business entity that your business does close business dealings with called?

texts:
When two individuals work together within a business that they co-own, they are called "business partners". When you are one of those individuals, you would call the other person "my business partner".

But let's say we have two limited liability companies (or at least, organizations that are not seen as identical to the owner, and would be referred to by the name of the business rather than the owner as an individual). And let's say these companies do close business together. For example:

An import company that works together with the same manufacturer for a long time.
A store that always uses the same marketing company for advertising.

What would one of such a company call the other? e.g. could such an import company refer in their official documents to that manufacturer by "our business partner"?


texts: What's the origin and reasoning behind the phrase, "I've got a monkey on my back"?

texts: 900lb Gorilla I can appreciate, but "I've got a monkey on my back" - two opposable thumbs down...


texts: Is the phrase "Infinitely more efficient" possible?

texts:
I've been having an argument with a colleague about the use of the phrase "infinitely more efficient".

I use it sometimes when describing the proper way to implement some programming solutions, but he feels it is not possible, by definition, for something to be infinitely more efficient than something else.

I feel that where an infinite number of variables are present, it would indeed be possible for one process to be infinitely more efficient than another process.


texts: What does Cordova refer to in this sentence?

texts:
Reading Cloud Atlas, and ran into the following sentence:

  My new room is big enough for badminton doubles...centuries-old
  Cordova peels off the walls like dragons’ scales...

What’s Cordova refer to above? It sounds like wallpaper, and there appears to be a library (programming library) named dealing with Cordova wallpaper, but otherwise google only returned results for wallpapering services in locations called Cordova.


texts:
I was struck by PM Johnson's 'neither he nor I are' a few days ago,
which seemed to me obviously ungrammatic, and searched this site, where I found this:

Controversy over verb choice in "neither you nor I {is/am/are} in control"

where the answer claims that 'neither you nor I is' is 'of course .. totally wrong,' and that it would have to be 'neither you nor I am,'
since the verb is closer to 'I' than to 'you.'

I am unconvinced.  What are some authoritative sources on this issue?
And is there really no authority, grammatic or literary, in support of
'neither you nor I is'?

My sense is that it must be 'neither you nor I is' and 'neither he nor I
is.'  It seems to me that, regardless of what the pronoun closest to the
verb is, the third person ''wins'' when there is conflict, even when the
contestants are the 2nd & 1st persons.

(As regards the number of the verb, it seems to me that it must be
singular, seeing as what is being denied is a statement about a singular
thing, namely that (at least) one of two is something.)

NOTE that my bold-faced question has been implied but neither focused
nor answered in the other post.


texts: Are any of the commas in this sentence needed?

texts:
Is it correct to use a comma before 'can' in the following sentence?
In addition, do I have to use a comma before 'such as'?

  Urban pollution largely caused by vehicle emissions, can lead to respiratory problems such as asthma.


texts:
I am an English native speaker working as a teacher in Germany.
When marking my pupils' essays I often encounter the phrase "to do something against something", which is as far as I know simply a direct translation of a German phrase. But I cannot find any answers in my dictionaries.
One current example: "The USA never did anything against violence."
My gut feelings says the preposition has to be about instead of against here. Is that correct?
If not, fine; but further, can against ever be used after do something?


texts:
I am having trouble understanding the sense of the sentences in bold type (below) from Seneca's essay "Of Benefits":

  It is a common saying, "I gave such or such a man so much money; I would I had thrown it into the sea;" and yet the merchant trades again after piracy, and the banker ventures afresh after a bad security. He that will do no good offices after a disappointment must stand still, and do just nothing at all. The plough goes on after a barren year; and while the ashes are yet warm, we raise a new house upon the ruins of a former.


texts:
I am looking for a derogatory word or short phrase to describe unconcise texts or the process of their creation, i.e., the text is redundant, overcomplicated and filled with irrelevant details or trivialities. The text is however not necessarily unstructured, entirely irrelevant or nonsensical.

The word should be applicable to written texts though it does not need to be restricted to them.

I expect such a term to exist, since German has many words for this (labern, schwafeln, …) – the suggested translations of which do not satisfy me, however, as they seem to be mainly about other negative aspects or spoken language or not derogatory.


texts: Does the word "sympathizer" have a negative connotation?

texts:
Recently, at my work, there was an email which talked about the "LGBT sympathizers" community.  What the author wanted to say is the "friends of the LGBT community".

Technically speaking it seems that his choice of the word "sympathizer" is not wrong, but (to me) it feels that it has a negative connotation, nowadays.

Any thoughts?


texts: Meaning of 'jiggelin' - word from the song 'Policeman' of Eva Simons

texts:
I can't find any definition about this word. Does anybody knows what does it mean? Maybe some kind of drugs?
Here are the opening lines of the song in question:

Hey, mister policeman
I don't want no trouble
I just wanna drop my jiggelin' down to the floor
Hey, mister policeman
Why you wanna holla at me?
I just wanna drop my jiggelin' down to the floor

According to the Wikipedia article about her, Eva Simons "is a Dutch vocalist, songwriter and occasional actor," raised in Amsterdam.


texts:
When I’d like to generally talk about people who are doing their jobs
at schools, coffee shops, or supermarkets, can I refer him/her or them
as a worker, workers?

For example

At a coffee shop:

  “I think that tall worker is really cute.”

At Asda:

  “If you don’t know where the toilet roll is, I’ll ask another worker.”

I’m an EFL learner and I really don’t know all English vocabulary about occupations.

So, I’d like to know if it’s wrong to refer a server as a worker (in
case that I don't know the specific word to use.)


texts: Loosely speaking, a conversation involves two parties variously exchanging statements/sentences/remarks. I'm looking for a word that describes a single statement-response exchange. Of course, exchange comes to mind, but it doesn't exclude a longer/larger exchange involving multiple statement-response events. I hope there's something more specific.


texts: Is "Me" instead of "I" as a nominative pronoun actually acceptable?

texts:
TL;DR;

Has 'Me and whoever' long become acceptable usage in informal speech?

In the comments on this answer on ELL, I corrected the usage of "me" instead of "I".

  "My boyfriend and I.. "

However, the original answerer1 claimed:

  in informal speech 'Me and whoever'2 has long become acceptable usage. I think we've gotten over that one now :)
  Emphasis mine

Fumblefingers is "fairly relaxed about such things" as they mention here, however a sample size of 1 is not really authoritative. Most other answers I found both on ELU and other arbitrary Google searches seem quite set on upholding this rule rather than relaxing it.

This ngram seems to claim the opposite. The "correct usage" seems to be growing.

Is the ngram biased as its corpus is published works and probably less informal?

Have we really got over it? It seems that there are a good deal of people who are resistant to the change in my quick search but maybe I'm not looking in the right places.

1. A clumsy word to my ears, but apparently a real one
2. I'm dying to change this to "me and whomever"!


texts: Where does the phrase "dry run" come from?

texts:
I've heard the phrase "dry run" being used with the meaning of rehearsal, experiment or test exercise in various contexts. For example:

They did a dry run of the demonstration before showing it to the CEO.
Practice with a dry run. Organise a dress rehearsal within two weeks of the wedding to ensure...
A dry run of the software release will be executed to ensure that the release plan is correct and clear to everybody.

However, wet run would not make sense in any of these contexts. So, why "dry"? Where does "dry run" come from?


texts: What do we call a person who understands technical things with ease?

texts: The title makes this pretty straightfoward. Is there an english word or words for someone who can understand technical things with ease, or at least more easily than the average person?


texts: What would I call my friend's personality?

texts:
My friend tends to lie. He is good at physics or is the best physicist at my community college in my opinion. However, he likes to lie a lot. When I ask him for help, he always says something along the lines of "I'm stupid and not that smart" or you should ask _____ for help, he is smarter than me. He calls himself stupid, when he was a valedictorian, which is ironic. While the second might be true because subjectively to me he is the smartest in physics, but to the teacher or other students my friend might not be the smartest, the first statement is a flat out lie. What would I describe this type of behavior where they purposely say they suck even though they do not, and I also believe he deep down believes that he is smart/hard-working. I would not call him humble, because of what I said above where I truly think that he believes he is smart. However I do not think liar or jokester is the right term either. When looking up liar, I found a word that started with a word that started with an m that meant he was a great exaggerator. However, I believe he is the opposite, where he greatly downplays the significance of something, in this case his ability to solve physics problems. What word would I use to describe this behavior. To me it seems like a false humbleness.

P.S. In case you were wondering, he does help me with my homework but not without some "joking" about how bad he is at physics. Also, I said he was a valedictorian because this/last semester he got his first B.


texts: a word that would mean "a marriage where either of the spouse is of a higher rank or caste"

texts: I was writing an essay when I used the word morganatic and I realized I don't quite know the word for a marriage between people of unequal ranks that society holds as unfair or against the norms. it can be related to a marriage or relation and mean similar to what I described.


texts:
While living in the USA, I have heard many people use the sentence “beats me” to mean “I don’t know”. Checking online, that’s seems a regular meaning:

  slang A response when one does not know the answer to a question.

But most of the times I’ve heard the idiom, it seems to be in a negative context. Like with the meaning of “I don’t know, and I don’t care to find out because it’s unimportant or dumb”. In the Urban Dictionary, there’s a definition that implies this bad connotation, but it is mostly downvoted.

Does “beats me” have a bad connotation?


texts: What tense do I use for different actions in the past for dead people?

texts:
I want to refer to 2 kids and draw some parallelisms. John is alive now. Mark is dead.

John lives in New York.  "Mark LIVED in New York" or "Mark USED TO LIVE in New York".

John likes to play soccer.  Mark LIKED or USED TO LIKE playing soccer?


texts: Reflexive pronouns to affect false intellectual tone

texts:
In the comments on this answer from another question, a discussion was started regarding the way native speakers use reflexive pronouns to sound "more intellectual" (for example: "I myself have found in this research...").

I know it isn't correct in standard English, but I wonder if it has a literary history. Where does this come from? Has it been around for long? (All of my preliminary research has shown mostly anecdotal results, and I'm looking for actual data if it's available.)

An alternate hypothesis posited that really it's the repetition ("I myself", "you yourself", etc.) that is desired to give the appearance of intellectualism, and the (improper) use of reflexive pronouns may merely be a means to achieve that goal. Is the use of repetition shown more frequently in "intellectual" speech than just through improper reflexive pronouns?

(As an aside, I'd love to see anecdotes in the comments about whether this varies dramatically by region or other demographic grouping. I'm in the US, so my experiences are narrow.)


texts: What is a single word for feeling like you could have done more?

texts: I need to find a word that describes the feeling like you could have done more or something could have been better if you put in more work but did the best you could at the time.


texts:
[Source:] Note that the substitute of “beside” for “outside” was perfectly appropriate since, at that time (although today obsolete), “outside” was one of the well-used meanings of “beside,” having first been recorded in the English Wycliffte Sermons in the 1370s.

  [OED:] beside =  †4. Outside of, out of, away from. Obs.

The prefix be- doesn't appear to mean 'out(side)'. So please expose and explain any (hidden and missing) semantic drifts and links. How did 'beside' evolve to mean 'outside'? What is a right way of interpreting the etymology, to understand how the semantic jumps abstracted and severed from the original literal meaning? What bridges the jumps with the original meaning?

The etymology of 'beside oneself' confused me: If your soul leaves your body, then yes, your departed soul is now outside of you. But it's unclear to me whether the soul is still beside you, or by your side. Maybe your soul aspired to the heavens and is nowhere near you anymore.
So how far out did beside mean?


texts:
Does this literary device have a name? It seems to me that it shows a simile developing into a metaphor.

  ...When he saw who I was the guard  began behaving like a spaniel. He lay on his back inviting me to tickle his tummy...The spaniel then walked away, having let me pass.


texts: What's a word that has the half-positive, half-negative denotation of half-hearted but none of the unenthusiastic connotations?


texts: What do you call someone whom a gift is intended for?

texts:
What do you call someone whom you make a gift for? It seems “recipient” is the most common word used, but I'm in a situation where the person in question has specifically not received the gift yet (and after all, it could fail to reach them, or the giver could change their mind at the last moment), so isn't “recipient” misleading in that case?

I'm looking for a word like “addressee” for a gift (which isn't mailed so there's no address involved).


texts: Can't remember the tech name of the opening scene of a game

texts: For example, when you play the game deadmaze, the first thing that shows up is a window filled with the login boxes, along with a background painting and other stuff. Does that generally have a specific tech name within the gaming context? Thanks in advance!


texts: Why has the word "thrice" fallen out of common usage?

texts:
I'm an American living in America, but my workplace has a lot of immigrants from India here. They all use "thrice" very commonly, which is wonderful to my ears! Thrice is such a delightful word.

Today one of them said something happened "twice or thrice", and it got me thinking that that usage would never happen as a speaker of American English. We would say "two or three times" or, perhaps, "twice... maybe three times.".

Why did usage of "thrice" fall off, and how long has it been since it was commonly used?

(I do apologize, I'm not a frequent user of the English stack exchange, so I'm not sure what tags to use. I would appreciate any edits to add proper tags).


texts: What is the exact meaning and context of "mindgame"

texts:
As I understand "Mindgame" is something something can play with one another to trick him. But in what I am more interested in, is the meaning of the mental attitude before a sports event for instance.

Where an athlete prepares himself in his head to deliver his A game. Does this work in this context like "Give it your all, it's just a mindgame"

Thank you!


texts: Using the Chicago Manual of Style, do colons go inside or outside quotes?

texts:
I have the following sentence:

  The program identifies particular “targets” and “identifiers:” the “targets” are people who are suspected of committing a crime.

Does the colon go inside the quotes or outside of them?


texts: Is this sentence correct? "I let you know...."

texts:
Is it correct to say the following?

  I let you know that I have sent you a letter.

Or is there a better way to say this sentence? For example:

  I inform you that I have sent you a letter.


texts:
Below you see a clip from the movie "Clockwork Orange". Starting from 2:00 we hear how an officer speaks: he pronounced sound 'r' in an unusual way: vary close to russian sound 'р' ( e.g. 'rings' ).

https://youtu.be/Q1UUZSXFlyc?t=119

So, why he pronounced it like this? Does he have some accent? Or it is just an imitation of an animal's growl in order to make him look comically serious?


texts: One word for "Leave haggling in the middle to get the price knocked off"

texts:
When you are haggling with someone and they give you a high price, so you decide to leave them, not to really leave, but expecting them to call you back and knock off the price a bit. What do you call this trick in English?

Example sentence:

  He said $200, so I __________ and he called me back saying $100.


texts: Whats the difference in the meaning between the given sentences?

texts:
Would you mind waiting for an hour?

and

  Would you mind to wait for an hour?


texts: What does it mean when someone says he is from the "Class of 2001"?

texts: Does it means he graduated or entered the College in 2001?


texts: Where did the phrase "washing one's hands of" originate?

texts:
I know that the phrase "to wash one's hands of" comes from Pilate in the Bible, Matthew 27:24:

When Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere, but that instead an uproar was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd. "I am innocent of this man's blood," he said. "It is your responsibility!"
Matthew 27:24 New International Version

But in all of the versions I've looked at, the phrase "washing [one's] hands of" doesn't appear directly. Can anyone tell me when this phrase was first used outside of the Bible to mean "absolving oneself of responsibility" or similar?
Related, but not a dupe: Does "Should I wash my hands of this?" suggest a bribe?


texts:
I just wrote an email to a new friend and colleague from Rwanda, whom I am helping to find work in translation and interpreting. And I signed my email, “In your corner,” only later realizing she might not know what that means. Her English is impeccable, as far as I can tell so far, but it is from a wholly different geographical and historical reality, across the globe.

I know it’s a boxing term, meaning, “I’ll be your second (or cornerman)”:

“In combat sports, a cornerman, or second, is a coach or trainer assisting a fighter during a bout. The cornerman is forbidden to instruct and must remain outside the combat area during the round. In the break, they are permitted to enter the ring and minister to their fighter.” Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornerman

That got me wondering if “I’m in your corner” (and all the variations thereof) has its origin in American boxing, or if it came to the new world from England.

And that got me wondering about the origins of boxing, which surprised me: “The earliest evidence of boxing dates back to Egypt around 3000 BC.” Source: https://www.olympic.org/boxing-equipment-and-history

But none of my searches turned up anything about who coined the phrase, when, or where.

Does anyone have any leads?


texts:
I've seen the term 'the fairer sex' being used in a number of areas to refer to females. How did they get that title?

What does 'fairer' refer to in this case?


texts: What's the proper grammar for "My and my roommate's home..."?

texts:
What's the proper grammar for "My and my roommate's home..."

The rule I learned is it should still be grammatically correct after removing the second part. E.g. after removing "and my roommate's", "My home..." is still valid. However, even though I'm a native speaker, "My and my roommate's home..." sounds weird. Is this rule correct?

NB with regards to "My wife and I's seafood collaboration dinner" , that question is only tangentially related, as the rule I've asked about doesn't apply. Nobody says "I's seafood dinner"!


texts: Can I answer a question "Are you going or what?" using only "OK"?

texts:
Can I answer a question "Are you going(going to party in this case) or what?" using only "OK"?
Someone told me that nobody was gonna understand me, which confused me.


texts: Should "This" be capitalized in title case?

texts:
I have read that short words – that is, those with less than five letters – should not be capitalized. However, online sentence-to-title case converters capitalize the pronoun/adjective "this".

What is the correct way to deal with words such as "this" or "these"?

Thanks.


texts:
Representatives from my recruiting company sometimes come to visit me, may be once in a six months in my office. Is it correct to write some words of appreciation to them as shown below?.

"I appreciate your thoughtfulness to come and visit me every once in a while".


texts: Clarify some archaic idioms ("but that" and "as the crow flies") in Dickens' "Bleak House"

texts:
I have a question about a difficult paragraph in Bleak House by Charles Dickens.

In chapter 2, I came across the following  paragraph containing a couple of idioms which I can't understand completely, and believe are archaic:

  It is but a glimpse of the world of fashion that we want on this same miry afternoon. It is not so unlike the Court of Chancery, but that we may pass from the one scene to the other, as the crow flies.

I'm struggling with the two bolded phrases,  but that, which I believe is archaic, and so I can't understand, and
and as the crow flies, which I understand usually means 'in a straight line' but in this context, that meaning doesn't seem to fit.

Please clarify the meanings of these two phrases in this context, as far as you are able.


texts: How can I answer the question "What is the word, bird?"

texts:
I'm often asked a question "What is the word, bird?" by a manager of mine. I'm not sure what does it mean but I think it means "What's your last status update?" and I answer like I do have to do 1, 2, 3 ...

What does this question means in Urban American English? And does it imply anything?


texts: Is there a verb meaning "to select through sortition"?

texts:
Assuming sortition refers to any form of random event used to choose something or someone, and does not refer to the "random" choosing of something/someone by an exterior person (which would somewhat suggest a faint form of volition). At least I think it doesn't?

Thank you !


texts: What type of literary technique is the phrase 'star-crossed lovers' in 'Romeo and Juliet'?

texts:
My child has been asked this at school, and I suspect the teachers want the students to answer that it's a metaphor.
However, I don't think it's a metaphor: surely Shakespeare, or at least the people in his plays, literally believed that the stars controlled one's destiny—and therefore describing them star-crossed was a simple, if poetic, statement of a fact or belief?


texts: What pronunciation does Google dictionary use?

texts:
I generally use the "define" Google search tool to find what a word means, and how it should be pronounced correctly. Unlike websites like thefreedictionary.com, Google doesn't tell you what pronunciation it's using. I'd like to learn the British pronunciation, rather than the American one (or at least be aware of which one I'm being taught). Would any one know what pronunciation Google provides?

I've looked around the forum and found a question on what phonetic symbols Google Search uses. I think my query is a little different.


texts: Help formulating: an object is held on the forearm, leaning against the breast

texts:
There's simply no way I can think of formulating this in a nice way :(. I got a character in my short story that's carrying a heavy cube. I want to say that the cube is leaning on her breast. You know, when you have something heavy to carry, you lean it towards your breast (the center of gravity moves and carrying it becomes easier). But for the life of me I can't find any good way to formulate this in a nice, literary way. Here's what I got so far:

  In her left hand, she’s carrying the reason of her enthusiasm this
  afternoon: a dark gray cube which looks like it’s made from polished
  granite. It certainly is heavy so she’s balancing the object on her
  forearm letting it lean, protectively, against her breast.

I used Google to check if such expressions are common. They're not. I get 3 to 9 results. The 9 results are for "lean on her breast". "against her breast" has 7 results.

"protectively against her breast" is a common expression apparently, but not with the "lean" word. Perhaps I should use another word? If so, what do you think would indicate best what I'm trying to say?

Given the answers & comments below, this is my latest formulation:

  It certainly is heavy so she’s holding the object on her forearm,
  cradling it protectively against her body.


texts:
I was reading a book called Bigfoot vs. Chupacabra in which this issue was raised.  I suspect it derives from Tolkien, per the Proudfoots vs. Proudfeet dispute.

What is the proper plural of the colloquial American term for Sasquatch?

The book also touches on Yeti, which seems to be both singular and plural, although "Yetis" is proposed as a correct, if less graceful, alternative. I mention it because there may be a plural usage for Bigfoot: "Stay away from the crick--there's a herd of Bigfoot down there eatin' blueberry bagels."

As I am regularly accused of assaulting the English language, I though I'd bring it to the experts.

This question on "mouses vs. mice" provides some very good insight, but I'm also interested in these specific terms, and the idea of the plural use of the singular form, thus Yeti/Yeti/Yetis. (In other words, it also relates to deer and deer (singular and plural, respectively.)


texts: What's the word to describe the procedure that a system enters into normal state?

texts:
A computer system contains server nodes.

At system boots up, a sequence of operations are performed to make the system entering normal running state: a predefined node runs as master and other nodes run as backup.
The master node may turn offline. One backup node will be promoted as acting master. This procedure is called take over.
The offline node goes online again. This procedure is called recover.
After step 3, the original master node becomes master again and the acting master node abdicate to backup. It's the same sequence of operations as step 1.

I need to name the procedure of step 1 and step 4. What's the suitable word? I know that step 1 is often referred as initialize, but it doesn't cover the scenario of step 4.


texts:
Can you have multiple-word homophones? If not, what would such pairs of same-sounding multiple words be called?

There is the funny/children's rhyming poem Fuzzy Wuzzy:

  Fuzzy Wuzzy was a bear.
  Fuzzy Wuzzy had no hair.
  Fuzzy Wuzzy wasn't fuzzy, was he?

The punchline of the joke in this poem is in the last line where the bolded sections are unexpectedly pronounced identically. (At least, I know American & British speakers who 'get' that joke).

Going on this definition of homophone:

  a word pronounced the same as another but differing in meaning,
  whether spelled the same way or not

the sounds made up of multiple words seem to fall outside of this meaning. Also "Wuzzy" seems to not be a "real" word (with a definition) or at least is only used in this context. Other definitions I've read seem essentially the same.

So, are "wuzzy" and "was he" homophones? If not, what are they (if anything)?

 I wasn't able to find attribution for this poem but would add it if anyone knows it. Wikipedia at least has little detail.


texts: Question about commas in compound sentence with qualifying words

texts:
How should I put commas into the following sentence?

God did not plant the weeds but at the end it will be God that uproots them.

In my view, "At the end, it will be God that uproots them," is an independent clause so a comma should come before the "but" as follows.

God did not plant the weeds, but at the end, it will be God that uproots them.

This does not look right to me.  Since the words "at the end" can be taken out without altering the meaning, I also wonder about the following.

God did not plant the weeds, but, at the end, it will be God that uproots them.

This seems like an awful lot of commas.  Another possibility is to separate only the minimally independent clause at the end as follows.

God did not plant the weeds but at the end, it will be God that uproots them.

This also does not look quite right to me.  The following was my first guess.

God did not plant the weeds but, at the end, it will be God that uproots them.

Please advise.  Thanks.


texts: Does a word being a noun change on context?

texts:
In Dulce Et Decorum Est by Wilfred Owen, there are double-noun pairs which I believe are syntactically wrong:

  Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,
  Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,
  ...
  If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood
  Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,
  ...

Am I right?


texts: Meaning of "she will never get sore" in 1950s

texts: This has been bothering me for a while... in Meredith Wilson's The Music Man, there's a song entitled "Shipoopi" about the dream girl who is neither a hussy nor so prudish she can't be woo'd. One of the good qualities espoused is that "She will never get sore on the way to supper". From context, it doesn't appear any injury is taking place to be literally sore, so what colloquial meaning would this have had in 1957 when this play was first performed on Broadway? I found a couple likely candidates in the dictionary but I couldn't find dates when they became widespread.


texts: I was playing this spelling bee game when this word came up and I wanted to know how the word was formed but could not find anything and thought perhaps someone on this site could help me out a bit?


texts: Difference between the words "validate" and "agree"

texts: What is the difference between agreeing with a persons feelings and validating their feelings?


texts: What word means "make something desirable"?

texts:
The word "necessitate" means "make something necessary". For instance:

  The explosion necessitated installing a new kitchen.

Is there an equivalent word to mean "make something desirable (but not necessarily necessary)"? For instance:

  The ordeal [made desirable] a week off work.


texts: Can you say "he too wanted to do it" or is it better to say "he wanted to do it too"?

texts:
English is not my mother tonge and I had this argument with a friend the other day. I think that putting the "too" after the subject instead of at the end of the sentence is not correct but he disagrees.
Can anybody help me?
Thanks a lot!


texts: What does 'housing dedicated' mean in context of microprocessors?

texts:
So, recently I came across an article, which reads:

  With the newer FPGAs housing dedicated processors, it
  is worth exploring how applications currently implemented
  solely on ECUs can be virtualized across the two resources

FPGA being  Field-Programmable Gate Array, if that's important.
And the thing I don't seem to get is that 'housing dedicated' part. What should that mean? The article is by no means about houses or anything like that, quite the contrary, it's all about embedded systems in electric cars.


texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  Do you use “a” or “an” before acronyms?

First of all let me clarify that SSTP is an abbreviation of a technical term.
I want to know, when using in a sentence, should I use a or an before SSTP and such terms?

If I'm right when letter s is at the beginning of an actual word, it is a consonant. But what about the abbreviations?


texts: Where would "take your life safety lightly" fit in?

texts: Can you come up with any sensible sentence, into which the following combination of words would fit in well: "take your life safety lightly". Please, don't change the words order. Also, if possible, describe the context, in which that sentence would naturally appear.


texts:
I don't get the exact meaning of "V number out of Tampa" in the following context from Hemingway's To Have and Have Not.

  Freddy Wallace's boat, the Queen Conch, 34 feet long, with a V number out of Tampa, was painted white.

"V number out of Tampa" means that the boat is called V number out of Tampa? Tampa is a region? It is too difficult to understand...


texts:
What are the similarities and differences? I already tried the OED, but its richness (ie plenitude) of information can overwhelm me, a novice.

I heed the Etymological Fallacy, but does etymology help reveal anything? Etymonline (and also OED) shows that limit's etymology differs (slightly) from limitation's.


texts: Is there a term to describe this type of word within a word?

texts: I'm looking for a term to describe the following: a word where every other letter is capitalized and the capital letters spell another word. E.g. ToRtUrE = TRUE torture (the word "TRUE" has been capitalized within the word "torture"). It seems to be a type of kangaroo word, but I'm looking for something more specific. I'm currently using the term "interstitialism", but wondering if there is an existing term.


texts:
The Merriam Webster Dictionary gives the following definitions.

Indicator - "one that indicates"
Indication - "something that serves to indicate"

How are they different? Is saying that an "indicator gives an indication" correct?


texts: Why do we refer to morning, afternoon and evening as 'in the morning', 'in the afternoon', 'in the evening' but not 'in the night' instead we say 'at night.'


texts: I want to know if which one is correct, for example I want to say: "The people who is in charge of this process" or "The people who are in charge of this process". I'm a bit confused because of the "who" word in the middle of the sentence.


texts:
What does "take comfort in your friends" mean?
I've stumbled upon this phrase in the "Rem - Everybody Hurts" song.

[...]Everybody hurts
Take comfort in your friends [...]

And I haven't found the appropriate phrase in the dictionary.


texts: Why use "Hell" to emphasize a statement?

texts:
I was watching Rocky last night and one of the lines got me thinking.

I was wondering why we use Hell in sentences like "A Hell of a lot better than…," "Hell, that's the best thing that's ever happened to me" and "Hell, I don't know."

The first example was what got me thinking the most: "A Hell of a lot better than something." The contradiction between Hell and better was what seemed a bit confusing to me.


texts:
What is an English word for the events that are part of a larger event?

For example in the event "solar eclipse", there are different phases or stages (https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/total-solar-eclipse.html):

Partial eclipse begins
Total eclipse begins ...

A solar eclipse is quite predictable and "linear": after phase 1, there will be phase 2 and so on. But what when the larger event is "non linear"?
With my German background, where the translation of phase has a clear linear meaning (https://www.duden.de/rechtschreibung/Phase), phase seems wrong to me. I would rather use something like sub event.

Or is my understanding of phase wrong, and it is not as linear as in the German Phase, or the English stage (https://www.lexico.com/en/definition/phase)?

Example sentence:

  The negotiations between the UK and EU, Theresa May's resignation and the related protests are _______ of the Brexit.


texts: Which of the following sentences is written correctly? "...while being in your house" or "... while you are in your house"?

texts:
In the context of: if you were to receive something. Ex. A package or groceries.

Ex. 1. You can get your groceries while being in your house.

Ex. 2. You can get your groceries while you are in your house.


texts:
I know that "posthumous" means "after one's death." But how would you use it to say:

  This is shown by his posthumous weakening of the monarchy.

What I mean to say is that after his death, other people weakened the monarchy. Would you still use "his", or would you just say "the posthumous weakening"?


texts: What do you call it when someone assumes the job of someone else who is out on vacation?

texts:
I'm looking for an English term to signify when person A does the job (authority and responsibilities) of person B when person B is on vacation. During this time person A is not just a placeholder but is actually expected to perform and advance person B's activities and projects.

I'm interested in a noun referring to the action/process/period itself, the same way as tenure and internship are nouns.


texts: Should I use "indicates" or "is indicative of"?

texts:
Should one formulation be used instead of the other? Are they interchangeable?

For example, which would be more correct:

Cheeseburger consumption indicates health issues among the population.
Cheeseburger consumption is indicative of health issues among the population.


texts:
Can you

  require more of your equipment

or

  require more from your equipment

in the sense of asking more of it, i.e. demand equipment that performs better/is able to fulfill a greater amount of functions and in a more satisfactory manner?

What about 'demand more of/demand more from'?

I am following British English usage.

For a bit of context: 'If your job requires more of you, you should require more of your equipment.'

It's possible that if 'from' is used in the second part of the construction, it ought also be used in the first part.

At the moment, everything is starting to look in turns equally preposterous and equally acceptable to me.

The 'of' construction contains, perhaps, a greater level of ambiguity even if acceptable.


texts: How to use "was" in conditional sentence?

texts:
I have read that in conditional sentences he\she\it is used with "were",not with "was",but in Agatha Christie's book I sow "if he was right..." Is it mistake?

UPD: as per request the full sentences is"He knew then that if he was right about the kind of the crime-he had fixed on the wrong person."


texts: What does "as good a film as the Coen brothers...have ever made" mean?  Does it mean  that the film is their best? what is the underlying structure?


texts: Do we have a term for this analysis combination?

texts:
I'm in the middle of a programming article, and I don't know if this thing has a name or not.

Lot's of times you can analyse something in isolation. But as soon as you put that thing among other things, you have to analyse the relationships too. For example, if you want to analyse a word individually, you might use morphology, phonetics, and phonology. But if you want to analyse that word in a sentence, you should stick to syntax, intonation, and stuff like that.

What I'm searching for is a title for "things can be analysed both in isolation, and in context, and these analyses are different from each other in approach, and in result."

Do we have a term for that?


texts:
In this sentence:

"We would also accept an international transfer, but in that case we would ask you to pay your bank's charges at the time of the instruction to ensure that we received the full amount"

is it correct to use "received" or should it be in present tense?


texts: Unambiguous word for last in chronological order

texts:
Here's the scenario, I want to list all of a customer's appointments, ending with the "last" one, regardless of whether that was in the past or scheduled for the future.  I have come up with a few words for that: last, final, latest.  The trouble is the meanings of the ones I have come up with are ambiguous.

Last and final could imply that this is the customer's last appointment ever, and they won't be coming back in the future.
Latest could mean the appointment that occurs latest in the day, or the one they showed up the latest for.

So is there a single word or short phrase (eg "most recent") that unambiguously carries the meaning of "last chronologically, for now."

Edit: Realised I was getting downvotes for not filling out all the single word request criteria so

Sample Sentence: "This fields represents the customer's last appointment.

Thesauruses:

MW had "bottommost, closing, concluding, final, hindmost, lag, latest, latter, rearmost, terminal, terminating, ultimate" for synomyms of last.
OED had  rear, hindmost, bringing up the rear, nearest the rear, at the end, furthest back, at the back, at the back of the queue, aftermost, endmost, furthest behind, final, ultimate, most remote, remotest, furthest, utmost, extreme


texts: Is there a phrase for making someone do something that is your duty by making it look like it is their responsibility?

texts: In Hindi there is phrase for this which literally translates to "putting something (a task) on someone's head" and another which translates to "sticking a task on someone".


texts: Name that fallacy: If it's more expensive it must be better

texts:
Is there a name for the logical fallacy that more expensive goods must be better than less expensive alternatives? Often times people make this assumption without looking at the actual design or quality.

First example: High-octane gas. Some people mistakenly think the more expensive gas is better quality. But really the higher octane's primary purpose is to allow the gas to compress more without exploding, as you need in certain high-compression engines.

Second: Audio/video cables. People (audiophiles) spend a ton of money on Monster cables and other "premium" A/V products. Sometimes there is a notable difference but so often their money is wasted on extra copper or shielding that really has no effect on signal quality.


texts: Is it endless "length" or "lengths" of cable?

texts: It seems more natural to say endless "lengths" of cable rather than endless "length" of cable. Why do we need to make it plural?


texts:
My original question was: why is ⟨g⟩ is silent in phlegm but not in its derivatives like phlegmatic? After a research, I was linked to the Silent letter wiki:

  Some are inert letters, which are sounded in a cognate word: e.g. ⟨n⟩ in damn (cf. damnation); ⟨g⟩ in phlegm (cf. phlegmatic); ⟨a⟩ in practically (cf. practical). If the cognate is obvious, it may aid writers in spelling, but mislead readers in pronunciation.

I can't find what is inert letters, so I would like to ask why do they appear? All I know is they are a part of a bigger set called dummy letters:

  Dummy letters with no relation to neighbouring letters and no correspondence in pronunciation.

But searching for them only gives my a bunch of, erm, dummy links. There is no citation in the English part in the mentioned wiki so that I could research further.


texts: Is "shined" correct? If so, is "he shined X on the tree" also correct?

texts:
Recently, I overhead a former professor of mine use the word shined, a word that makes me grammatically uncomfortable.  She used it as following: "Then, after we shined a light on the other ball, what happened?..."  My first question is: Is using shined mainstream, over what sounds better to my ear, shone?  If so, is there any historical flip-flopping between the two usages?  Secondly, if shined is in fact legit, can it be used transitively?  Saying something like,

  The light shined all throughout the night.

while odd, doesn't sound as bad to my ear as,

  He shined the light on the ball throughout the night.

The latter sounds quite bad to my ear.  Indeed, à propos the original question, can shone — the better sounding alternative to my ear — be used transitively?


texts: "one (or many!) thing" vs. "one (or many!) things"

texts:
I understand that, without the parentheses, the correct form would be "one or more things". However, if one wants to make "(or many!)" a parenthetical remark, should that affect the agreement of the noun? The latter form "one (or many!) things" seems correct when read out loud, but the structure "one (...) things" seems strange to the eye.

Alternatively, would "one thing (or many!)" be an appropriate way to escape from this situation?


texts: Is it correct to use being + V3 without to be in this case?

texts:
Is it correct to use being+V3 form without "to be" in the following case?

After code being scanned, you will receive text


texts: When my family went to Maui, we rented a room at a local __. I have no idea what to call it. It was like a hotel room, but it wasn't in a hotel building, it was only one story.


texts:
I'm bemused by the inability of TV presenters to pronounce the letter "x" as in "six", introducing a "k" in its place (so six is pronounced as "sick", sixth as "sickth"). The same also tend to omit entirely the second "f" in "fifth", making do with "fith". The presenters are all British.

I find this irritating. Is there any good reason for it?


texts: Are you exercising tonight or Do you have an exercise?

texts:
I have a US Army friend and he had a military exercise a few months ago. I texted him

  Are you exercising tonight?

during exercise period. I learnt that present continuous can be used for future tense.
for example

  We are having a party at my house on Halloween

This is why I used present continuous in the sentence. However, I read a grammar book again and it said I should use present tense when plans are fixed like a timetable.

I guess a military exercise is a fixed plan. Should I have texted him

  Do you have an exercise tonight?

using present tense instead of present continuous?

  Are you having an exercise tonight?

also wrong in that situation?


texts: Does "I have been waiting for you" mean that "I am still waiting"?

texts:
Assume that I was waiting for someone for several hours and finally, he/she arrived to the meeting late. I wonder whether I say "I have been waiting for you", it means that I am still "waiting" or not.

I'm asking because this structure is known as Present Perfect Continues which basically is used for something that started in the past and still continues to the present.


texts: He is available for the interview in/on the below mentioned schedule

texts:
I am replying to my client about the availability of a person for the interview.

Which one is correct to use. "in" or "on"?

  He is available for the interview in/on the schedule mentioned below.


texts:
What's the different between the two?

Example:

  My mind clouded with murky thoughts.

  My mind clouded over with murky thoughts.

(By the way, should it use with or by?)


texts:
I was reading, let's say a policy statement or terms of use document, and at the bottom of each page it had printed in a footer:

  THIS DOCUMENT IS UNCONTROLLED IN HARD COPY FORMAT

For example you can see the exact thing on each page of this document and something similar on the first page of this document, which says:

  This document is uncontrolled when printed

Also in this document the notice is similar but longer; at the bottom of each page says:

  THIS DOCUMENT IS UNCONTROLLED WHEN IN HARD COPY FORMAT OR STORED IN ANY ELECTRONIC FORMAT OTHER THAN IN THE BUSINESS MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

The last document is from the Scottish Environment Protection Agency. The other two are from an Irish source and NASA.


texts: Do we have established terms yet for persons either addicted or averse to social media?

texts:
Terms for addicts are easily enough improvised by adding -oholic to the name for a specific social media platform, e.g. “Twitter-oholic,” but is there something more generic, & less unwieldy & artificial than “social-media-oholic”?

Terms for abstainers seem even harder to come by.

The very term “social media” seems to me to provoke the question: “How could any communications medium not be social?”

The M-W definition for “social media” would appear applicable to EL&U itself, so although I am a total abstainer from Facebook & Twitter & even smart phones, one of the addict terms may apply to me, though the recipe above would generate a pretty unwieldy result.


texts: Fine semantic differences between "thus" and "therefore"

texts: I have seen a few Q&A's with this title but none really reflects my question. I am aware both are adverbs and so forth and how they syntactically can be used equivalently, but what about connotations? Are there places where "therefore" is preferred over thus and vice versa? Are there any fine differences in usage?


texts: How did 'to quit' evolve to mean 'to behave or conduct in a specified way'?

texts:
[OED:] 8. a. refl. To behave or conduct oneself, esp. satisfactorily or in a specified way; to play one's part. Now rare and arch. Largely superseded by acquit.

Etymonline lacks enough details to aid me to infer the hidden metaphors, notions, and semantic drifts. How should the etymology be interpreted, to connect the etymon’s meaning with the acceptation quoted above?

My Confusion: The semantic field of 'quit' as discharge or relinquishment, seems to contradict the quality of charge or responsibility necessary for behaviour or conduct.

My Conjecture: The earlier meaning of 'quit' did concern repayment or discharge debts, which if completed promptly, does qualify as behaviour or conduct. Does this explain the semantic drift?


texts: What is a one-word synonym for "absence of trade"?

texts:
I am trying to describe the state of an economy (or country/region if you like) that does not trade using a noun.

My best choice so far is "autarky", but this means rather "absence of necessity to trade" than "absence of trade". An economy in autarky does not need to trade and may not trade, yet it could.


texts: How to refer to someone who has depression(A noun for someone who has depression)?

texts:
What do we call a person who is suffering from depression?

Usually I hear "X has depression" but can I say *"X is a 'depressive'"?

I have heard the word depressive used as a noun before; but I'm not sure if it is right.

We do use diabetic to describe someone who has diabetes, so is there a parallel word there?


texts: What's the meaning of, "Within 3 days of the 1st"?

texts: A lease agreement reads, "If rent is not paid within 3 days of the 1st". Does that mean, the 1st + 3 days == the 4th is the final day to pay rent and the 5th day is in breach?


texts: Word for person who dreams big but does much bigger

texts: What do you call a person who dreams big, but then does much bigger? In a good way, that is.


texts: What is the correct pronunciation of "AJAX"?

texts: I have wondered for a while about how I should pronounce "AJAX" (asynchronous JavaScript and XML). I usually say "I-acs", as in the Amsterdam football club, but should I say "a-jacs" (as it looks in English) or simply as the acronym "A-J-A-X"? Or does it not matter?


texts:
Is it OK to use pass away for an animal/pet, or it is just for human?

If it doesn't sound OK, what should be used instead, died?


texts: Word to describe the state of "nothing bad happening"

texts:
Essentially I'm looking for the opposite of foreboding.

Specifically to describe the state of nothing bad happening (no worries) – everything being reasonably good (feeling generally good), especially after bad things having happened in the recent past.


texts: Which is correct: "anytime" or "any time"?

texts: Is it "any time" or "anytime" or are those two things different?


texts: When a person in public life inadvertently coins an expression, what is it called?

texts:
It often happens that a political or other figure makes a remark on to which the media fasten. That remark then goes on to become part of the language. Examples were Poindexter's 'plausible deniability', and Armstrong's 'economical with the truth',  discussed elsewhere. I hear the latter expression used frequently as a euphemism for a lie.

Another classic example was when Mandy Rice Davies was told in court (1963) that Lord Astor denied having sex with her, she replied 'Well, he would wouldn't he?' Nowadays the expression is often used, sometimes by people who do not know its origin.

Is there a name for these coinages?


texts:
I have a blog and from time to time I made posts that contains only web links with some short description. Those links was not so easy to gather and they are have a value by themselves. I call this kind of posts as "Link Set" and you can see for example this linkset.
This is some kind of shared bookmarks with comments.

What is interesting that today I found another Russian-speaker blogger who also used the similar term "Link List" and here is his example of linklist about some new programming language. Which means that this is quite useful kind of information.

So my main question is how to name such kind of posts? I see several options:

"Link Set" - I googled and it seems not used but in the same time I found a definition "A collection of link sequences and/or individual links that has a specific function or significance in a network" which is still not clear.
"Link List" - may be more clear but still not used and in the same time it may disambiguate with Linked List but it has different spelling.
Traditional "Bibliography" term is good but it has some another meaning like an attachment to some article with list of sources. Here I found some related term Linkography.
References: used by WikiPedia but in my opnion it have some another meaning. Anyway this is a good candidate.
Bookmarks: This term looks like have a more precise meaning.
Pinterest.com uses term "pin"
Links Collection : as very clear term but to be honest is harder to pronounce. The dropmark.com uses just a term "Collection".

So can you advice me on this? I'm not a native speaker so any feedback from native speakers will be very helpful.


texts:
I want to express that there are clear differences in salaries between two cities, but if we look at the salaries in one city taken by itself, there is already an important insight. Checking the internet I could not find anything on how to express taken by itself or alone in plural.

Some ideas:

While salaries between New York and Washington are clearly different, salaries in New York have an extremely high fixed rate by themselves.

While salaries between New York and Washington are clearly different, salaries in New York alone have an extremely high fixed rate.

While salaries between New York and Washington are clearly different, salaries in New York have an extremely high fixed rate taken by themselves.

While salaries between New York and Washington are clearly different, salaries only in New York have an extremely high fixed rate.

Which sounds best/which is right?


texts: I want to say I "re-realized", but not "remembered" and "was reminded"

texts:
Here is a sample text of what I wanted to write:

  I woke up very hungry this morning. Hunger is good in that it drives
  you. But I re-realized that too much hunger is actually destructive.

It's an informal blog post, but I'm looking for an actual word that means something between "I reminded myself" and "I was reminded".

I realize that I could shuffle sentence structure around to mean a similar thing, but is there a word that I can substitute for "re-realize"?


texts: "Jiggery-pokery" - Can Anyone Remedy this Paucity?

texts:
Reading U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia’s dissent (p. 8) from the majority in King et al. v. Burwell, I encountered the following term (emphasis mine),

  “The Court’s next bit of interpretive jiggery-pokery involves other parts of the Act that purportedly presuppose the availability of tax credits on both federal and state Exchanges.”

At first blush, having never before laid eyes on the term, I thought Justice Scalia had simply invented “jiggery pokery” willy-nilly, if you will. A Google search soon disabused me of that notion.

Oxford Online had this to say,

  jiggery-pokery noun: informal, chiefly British: deceitful or dishonest behavior.

As to the origins of jiggery-pokery, etymonline returned no matches, while Oxford Online says only,

  Late 19th century: probably a variant of Scots joukery-pawkery, from jouk 'dodge, skulk', of unknown origin.

Can anyone remedy this paucity?


texts:
He laughs best who laughs last.

Can anyone tell me what the above sentence means?

From the structure of the sentence, the clause 'who laughs last' is the object of the verb 'laugh' and 'best' is the adverb modifying the verb 'laugh'. So my guess is: The person (He) laughs at anyone who is the final guy who laughs (at the joke). But I can't figure out how the adverb 'best' fits in, in terms of meaning.


texts: Word to describe someone who composes artistic writing

texts:
I want to confirm or consider suitable choices for describing some one who writes artistically. The trouble is I'm having trouble finding a word with the right scope:

Lyricist - This was my first choice, but after thinking on it, I
suppose this word would exclude broader forms of artistic writing
like, poetry.
Poet - The converse of the preceding problem.
Versist - doesn't seem to be a word?
writer - Alas, the vanilla "writer" is too broad and includes prose

Was simply hoping to find a "-ist"-type of word to refer to the entire universe of artistic writing, are there any likely suitors?


texts: Is the T in "Can't" pronounced before words starting with vowels in the American pronunciation?

texts: I know that (AE)"can't" is pronounced /kaen?/ with a glottal stop. What about it appearing before the words starting with vowels, for example, "I can't afford that car." Is it "canafford" or "cantafford"?


texts:
During my English class I was giving a speech about my favorite listening practices in English and said, “I’ve recently watched the American movie “The Shawshank Redemption” and...”
At that point the teacher stopped me and said: “It should be A, not THE”. When I asked why, her explanation came down to the fact that she first heard of the movie, therefore it was “unpopular” and asked for the indefinite article.

Then I did my research and found this:

“If the noun denotes a well-known person or work of art, the definite article is generally used.
Pushkin, the great Russian poet, died in 1837.
Hamlet, the immortal tragedy by Shakespeare, was written in the first years of the 17th century.
But if the person or the work of art is not widely known the indefinite article is used.”

Can someone explain to me what should the aforementioned “popularity” of a work of art base on? Is it, in general, about being classical or popular?
[To my judgement, “The Shawshank Redemption” is a well-known movie].
Or does it depend of the syntactic structure of a sentence?


texts:
In the passage below, shouldn't the writer have included which is before the word championed, since it is in a non-defining clause?

  In seeking to describe the origins of theater, one must rely primarily on speculation, since there is little concrete evidence on which to draw. The most widely accepted theory, championed by anthropologists in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, envisions theater as emerging out of myth and ritual. The process perceived by these anthropologists may be summarized briefly.


texts: I have to recite Darkness, the poem by Lord Byron. But I do not know how to pronounce the 'd that appears in past tense words like play'd. Is it a short sharp D, is it soft and trails off, or is it pronounced as its own syllable?


texts:
Sometimes during instant messaging, people will want to express an action, possibly something where an acronym doesn't exist for, yet. The formula is generally opened by two colons, an action-description, and then closed by two colons (:: action-description ::).

They will type something like:

:: hugs ::
::jumps for joy::

What is the name for this and where did it come from?


texts:
Here is a quote from article:

  The largest animals ever to have lived on Earth, blue whales are colossal in every respect — including, it must be said, the scatological. When a blue whale goes, it goes big.

I’m not native speaker, but it is pretty clear to me what does it mean “when it goes, it goes big”. But it is clear for me only because of the context in which I’ve encountered this phrase.

My question is: As for native speaker, is this very phrase clear without any context provided?


texts: I'm a bit unsure on correct comma placement in the following sentence. Parenthetical or not?

texts:
I'm not sure if the phrase 'indeed necessary' is parenthetical in the following example and thus requires two commas or if I can/should write it with a single comma after 'valuable'.

1)It allows religious freedom to be understood as a valuable, indeed (a) necessary cultural achievement.

2) It allows religious freedom to be understood as a valuable, indeed a necessary, cultural achievement


texts: How to call the moment a cycle (time) starts/loops?

texts:
I am looking for a different word to describe the moment at which a cyclic time duration 'loops around'. I am using 'start' right now, but this seems like the wrong word for this job as this actually only describes the first time the cycle is started.

To give this some context: I am creating an application in which people can select a cycle (week, month, year) and the day at which this cycle should 'loop', e.g. "Monday", or "the 20th day of each month" or "Last day of the year".


texts: Is "of which" a proper way to begin a relative clause?

texts:
Germany is subdivided into 16 (federal) states, of which Bavaria is the largest.

The thing is that my dictionary is not perfectly clear about this, i.e. there is no direct translation available. Actually the direct translation according to the dictionary would be:

  Germany is subdivided into 16 (federal) states, of these Bavaria is the largest.

However, this does not seem correct. Therefore, my questions are:

Is the first sentence proper English?
Are there better ways to phrase this sentence?


texts: What is the Auditory Analog of Picturing Something

texts:
My wife has a song stuck in her head and I don't know the song, though I know I have heard it, since it is from a film we've both seen.

If it was a image, I would say 'I can't picture that.' What is the analogous way to express that nothing comes to mind when I attempt to recall sound? Obviously, I could say exactly that, but I mean something analogous to the single word 'picture' as a verb. This question is sparked by the fact my actual response to her was 'I can't picture that song,' but of course I can't picture a song. No one can picture a song unless they have synesthesia.

I tried looking on Google and the closest that came up was the use of the term 'sonification' as analogous to 'visualization,' but I believe that was just made up for someone's PhD thesis (it definitely does not seem correct to say I can't 'sonify' a song). I suppose I could just say 'I don't remember what it sounds like,' which is perfectly correct, but I'm wondering if there is a more succinct way to express this idea for senses other than vision.


texts:
I'm looking for an idiom that describes when people get huffy and defensive about a topic even though it wasn't directed at them, similar to if the shoe fits. but not quite.
A prominent example is when women are talking about how they feel unsafe alone at night and a guy gets all defensive and says ‘NOT ALL MEN’, clearly missing the point, but just getting defensive and making you wonder why they're getting defensive - like are they guilty of something?
So I’m looking for an idiom that describes that person, a guilty person hollers? A hit dog bites?


texts: "Be aware and agree to" or "Be aware of and agree to"?

texts:
What would be the correct form between the following:

I am aware and agree to the ~

I am aware of and agree to the ~

Thank you!


texts:
Being a Maia didn't stop Elendil and Gil-Galad from kicking his butt.

As of now, this is an apt comment on this question at SFF (Why does Sauron fear Aragorn if he is a Maia?).

I wonder whether, regardless of canon facts, this sentence admits the intended reading (i.e., Sauron's being a Maia...) as well as a reading where Elendil, Gil-Galad, or both are Maiar, or both readings.

To highlight the suspected ambiguity, let's consider a simpler version.

  Being a Maia didn't stop Elendil from kicking his butt.

Who is the Maia here (and whose butt has been kicked)? Can the gerund be modified so as to force the reader into the correct reading? Or do we just rely on context in the parsing?


texts: Which preposition to use: "For/In/Over/During the first week after I came here"?

texts:
If I want to say “I used to cook by myself for(in, over, during) the first week after I came here”, which preposition and sentence below should I use? Which are right and wrong among these sentences below?

a. In the first week after I came here, I cooked on my own.

b. During the first week after I came here, I cooked on my own.

c. For the first week after I came here, I cooked on my own.

d. Over the first week after I came here, I cooked on my own.

e. For/In/During/Over the first two weeks after I came here?

f. For/In/During/Over the first week of when I was here, I cooked on my own.

g. For/In/During/Over the first week since I came here, I cooked on my own.


texts: What's the earliest use of man as a suffix?

texts:
In words such as fireman and tribesman, the suffix -man means "one having responsibility for" or "one belong to" (and possibly other types of relationship, such as the bewildering variety demonstrated by the genitive 's).

What's the earliest recorded use of the suffix -man with this or a similar meaning in English?


texts: "They weren’t much concern" or "They weren’t much of a concern"?

texts:
They weren’t much concern as long as they didn't catch him.

I don't know what I feel is wrong with using concern here. I think I could change it to:

  They weren't much of a concern as long as they didn't catch him.

Or could I since, it's speaking of people as plural and then using the word A implies singular?

I am sure I'm over thinking it. Is it incorrect as it is? Thanks.


texts: Is “extrapolability” an existing english word?

texts:
I used extrapolability in a Microsoft Word 2010 document and spell checker didn't recognized it. Being a non-native English speaker I wasn’t sure whether it's a real word.

Searching for it in Google I've found around 500 matches, some of them even in scientific texts.

Is extrapolability an existing English word?


texts: Are these phrases too posh-sounding for conversational English?

texts:
I'm German, and I try to speak British English as best I can, it's the language I've learned at school, and I'm always trying to be consistent. However, much of my English vocabulary and phrasing I picked up from British television programmes, films and books. Which is why I often use phrases like these:

  It's not at all confusing

  Thank you very much indeed

I also use the British English spelling even if both forms are accepted and in use:

  Right click to open the Preferences dialogue

And even mix the two if needed:

  You need to set the --color=always argument so that colours are escaped properly

My question therefore: Do I sound posh? Does my language come across as professorial or holier-than-thou? If so, what can I do to sound more appropriate?

Please underpin your answers with some references. This is not meant to be a discussion of opinion; I'm sure there is some evidence available on the subject.(Or vote to close it as argumentative if you disagree)


texts: Which is the object, 'one' or 'another' ? I just don't know how this sentence constructed

texts:
(All the condoms are faulty. Abed need to notice everybody)
  Go, Abed, Go. before people sex one another!


texts:
Are the following sentences gramatically correct?:

  Nokia is not your favourite brand but is the best in my opinion

where "it" has been dropped, and

  They regulate neuronal response, but are incapable of performing other actions

where "they" has been dropped.

The first one doesn't sound good to me, but can`t explain why.

Is the comma somehow important when it comes repeting the subject?


texts: Is it correct to use elipses in a formal essay?

texts:
I'm writing an essay and I want to write:

These things all prove that Hitler was not a man of his word …
So should England have trusted him?

and then continue with my next points.
Is this OK, or too informal?


texts:
I'm learning English grammar with the book by Raymond Murphy: English Grammar in Use [3rd Edition]. In the exercises for unit 61, I have to complete the sentences using used to. I can't understand why I have to say get used to living instead of got used to living for this example:

  Sue moved from a big house to a much smaller one. She found it strange at first. She had to __________ in a much smaller house.

Is it past simple or past perfect?


texts: We all have a moment in our life where something happens and that change the course of our life.


texts: What to call a person who doesn't respect personal space?

texts: What would you call a person that doesn't care for your personal space and is kind-of sticky and doesn't get the hint that people are awkward around him/her and generally avoid him/her?


texts:
Ye shall not make any cutting in your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks upon you.

Does the comma make it two different subject or the same. Like Ye shall not make any cutting in your flesh nor print any marks upon you for the dead. As a lot of people say it's the same meaning.

I read the quote differently depending on whether the two parts have the same subject:

same subject: don't do either of the actions on yourself for the dead.
different subjects: the first action is prohibited (only) if done for the dead, while the prohibition of the second is absolute.


texts:
I want to show some results to my supervisor. before that I need to check with him if he is free or will be free.does the following sentence is grammatically correct and fluent?
Would you let me know when you are free to show you some results.


texts: Word to express without a negative connotation that a measure has no effect at all

texts:
The words meaningless, pointless, useless all have some degree of negative connotation to me as a non-native english speaker.

I'm trying to express that a certain configuration has no effect to a system at all. The sentence I am trying to use is: The configuration xyz is ... (without any effect).

Update: The negative connotation that I mean is what may be communicated inadvertently to the one that attempted to effect the system when he is told by the other that his configuration has no effect. I altered the title of the question to express where the negative connotation I meant referred to


texts: Which words have historically had a final n only before a vowel?

texts:
In Modern English, the only word that has a final n only before a vowel is a/an:

a face
an eye

In Middle English, there was the pair my/mine:

my face
mine eye

Also, the was then before a vowel. What these words have in common (apart from changing pronunciation depending on the following sound) is that they are determiners. As such there should be a finite number of them.
Which words in the history of English have had two forms, one before consonants and one before vowels?


texts: How to say "because the time is limited, we stop at this point"

texts: I am in the process of writing my PhD thesis. In the introduction, after introducing the research problems and explaining the partial result achieved I want to say that because the time is limited we have to stop at this point and I want to continue the research in the future to get a complete answer of the problem. I don't know how to say this in a proper English, can you help me please.


texts: How to verbalize the correct statement of a measure in mixed units

texts:
I want help phrasing the instructions in a math question. The issue is the correct way to express mixed units.

For example, if an answer is “25 inches,” I don’t want to accept “25 inches” or “1 foot 13 inches,” but only “2 feet 1 inch.”

I guess you might say that I want the total number of units to be small as possible. But I don’t think anyone would understand what I meant by that. Similarly, I don't think it would do to say that I want the answer "simplified."


texts: Word describing sitting on a couch comfortably

texts: How do you say someone is sitting on a couch in a very comfortable and lazy way? It's not exactly lying down, but sitting in a relaxed way. Is there a verb describing it?


texts: Is there some difference between “north-east” and “northeast”?

texts: I have two dictionaries (one American English, the other British English) and they differ in writing the word “northeast”. Does this mean that in American English you should use “northeast” and in British English “north-east”? Or doesn’t it matter?


texts:
I am talking about events taking place in the known future:

  Would it be okay if I'll confirm around 3 pm?

or should it be

  Would it be okay if I'd confirm around 3 pm?

What is the difference and which one is correct? Why?


texts: Definite/indefinite article when we talk about something that is known to some people only

texts:
We use the definite article for things that were already introduced to a reader or the ones already familiar to everyone.

A have a car. The car is red.
The Sun is yellow.

But what about things that we assume to be known to the target audience?
For example, the style guide for some programming language may contain the following passage:

Rule 17.
To make the(?) operator precedence order more obvious, use additional parentheses.
// Do
if (x + (y * z) > 25) {
   ...
}

// Don't
if (x + y * z > 25) {
    ...
}

It is assumed that the programmer is not total newbie, and hence he/she should know what "operator precedence order" is. Hence, I use "the" and not "an". Is it correct?


texts: What's the word for the study of ideology?

texts:
So ideology archaically means the study of ideas according to Google, but in modern times it means a system of ideas particularly for politics or economics despite still ending in -ology. Casually ideologyology gets the point across, but is there a better word for the study of ideologies? I thought of metaideology, but I think the meaning might not be clear.

Example sentence: "There is a book about < insert word >"


texts: saying "hello" when somebody asks something obvious

texts:
What exactly does it mean, when somebody answers "hello" to my (perhaps naive) question?

Also, I have heard people say "hello" when they are outraged about something, such as for instance "for all his effort, he got absolutely no reward. Hello ???) or when saying something shocking.

Are there some other situations, when people might say "hello" ?


texts: What does "resignation" mean in this extract?

texts:
What does "resignation" mean in the text below?

There were many others who were alarmed by the drive to
self-fulfillment Jane exhibited; The Spectator in April 1860 deplored
the "pale, clever, and sharp-spoken young woman" who had become the
fashion; the Saturday Review pretended resignation to the
dominance of "glorified governesses in fiction," who, like the poor,
would be always with them, since literature had "grown to be a woman's
occupation."
— A Literature of Their Own by Elaine Showalter

I looked it up in a few dictionaries, but I think none of them fits this context.
According to The Free Dictionary, "resignation" means

The act or an instance of resigning
An oral or written statement that one is resigning a position or office
Unresisting acceptance of something as inescapable; submission.


texts:
In this thread, there's an example based on the dual meaning of the word field.

field = a specialty
field = an area to be filled

Given the above, while still not very intuitively easy to understand, I wonder if it's correct to say:

"Have you seen the field field?"

when referring to a discovery of a text box to be filled out by the actual name of ones professional specialty.

EDIT

I've noticed several replies trying to help me with the reformulation, which I appreciate. However, and I'm to blame for not being clear enough probably, the question is really whether it's correct or just awkward to use field field.

The reason for this is the following.

The first field is a string that a user of a computer program inputs elsewhere. It can be used in a range of various context. So, I have no control of it what so ever. Besides, if we change field for industry, it's possible that somewhere in the program, there's a situation where we get industry industry instead of the current field industry.
The second field is called that way per industry standard. When describing it to a human being, we can use synonyms and explanations but in the context of computer programming, one's expected to use the name even if it may sound awkward. So we get something like "it fell of a truck truck truck" (referring The Simpsons).


texts:
English nouns do not have grammatical gender. But in Moby Dick, some nouns do seem to have gender, like "ship" (feminine) and "whale" (masculine). Some passages:

And now the time of tide has come; the ship casts off her cables.
Nor was it his unwonted magnitude, nor his remarkable hue, nor yet his deformed lower jaw, that so much invested the whale with natural terror (...).

Is this some kind of non-standard variety of the language?


texts: "Ever" placement in between a particle and a preposition

texts:
A line in At Middleton goes:

Did you read up ever on this bell tower?

This sentence has "ever" inserted inside a particle-prepositional verb, before the preposition and after the particle. It's a curious word order with the placement of "ever", because more commonly the "ever" would follow "you" or appear at the end of the sentence.
A search on Google Books seems to show that this word order is very uncommon with next to zero instances.
Is this an idiosyncrasy? Does this sound natural to anyone? What about other possibilities?

Did they gang up ever on you?
Do you look forward ever to a class?


texts:
I'm currently writing my Bachelor's Thesis, and was wondering whether it is appropriate to use the term "one" in a context like this:

  since a couple of years, one can observe

or would it be better to write

  since a couple of years, it can be observed that

Thank you


texts: "The use of travelling is to regulate imagination by reality and instead of thinking how things may be to see them as they are." - Samuel Johnson


texts: "on" or "at" when talking about flight dates

texts:
I originally had text on a web site that stated:

  Showing flight results for flights from LON to NYC leaving at
  01/06/2015 and returning at 08/06/2015

One of the testers has said that this should actually be:

  Showing flight results for flights from LON to NYC leaving on
  01/06/2015 and returning on 08/06/2015

which is correct?


texts: Meaning of "Immorality" in the 1886 cartoon "The Mongolian Octopus"

texts:
The cartoon The Mongolian Octopus: His Grip on Australia from 1886 (presumably referring to Chinese or Asian people, not Mongolians in particular) has "Immorality" as one of the tentacles.

In the context of this cartoon, what did "Immorality" mean? It seems a fairly vague term. As the two people ensnared are women, does it mean some sort of sexual immorality? Prostitution? Inter-racial relationships? Something else?


texts: Use of personal pronouns in papers (research, etc.)

texts:
Back at university, I remember being told to never use personal pronouns in my dissertations. I was never given a reason, but I was told to avoid statements like

  The evidence leads me to believe.

or

  After researching similar techniques I had settled on ....

I remember spending a lot of time constructing sentences that used "the author" rather than "I" or similar. These are some very bad examples (as I submitted my final dissertation back in 2008).

Since then however, when I've read research papers, scientific articles and dissertations the authors have referred to themselves as "I" or "us" (when collaborated on). This seems to fly in the face of what I was told at university.

Is there a hard-and-fast rule to this, or is it down to personal preference?


texts:
I was once speaking to a colleague of mine about translations and I mentioned a particular translator that I would like to work with. Then my colleague made a comment like:

Her way of translating is quirky.

On another occasion, I heard someone else use this word in a comment like

His language is quirky.

The contexts were such, that I couldn't be sure whether in both cases this was a compliment or not.
Checking one of my favourite dictionaries online, I find that quirky does not always mean to be weird in a positive way. I am just wondering what quirky could praise or criticise in someone's language of way of translating.
Edit: Although these conversations were about work, the comments were not made in a formal environment. Maybe that helps to better understand the context.


texts: Not true in general, but possibly true in some cases

texts:
Is there an abbreviation, an English or a Latin expression for "not true in general, but possibly although not necessarily true in some cases"?

I suppose such a phrase may be used frequently in law and philosophy.

Examples:

"Children from divorced marriages are given to fathers is not true in general."

But in some cases a father is given the children.

"It is not true in general that a workday in the UK is from 8.00 to 16.00."

But some people in the UK work from 8.00 to 16.00.

"In general a monkey cannot read and write."

Although there may exist a monkey that can read and write, but we do not know about such a monkey.


texts: “The show was one of the dullest we have ever seen” – tense consistency

texts:
This sentence is from a English textbook written by an English native speaker:

  The show was one of the dullest we have ever seen

Because it used was, the sentence is talking about things in the past. Even if the show was still one of the dullest till now, the viewpoint is in the past, so shouldn’t we use had as follows?

  The show was one of the dullest we had ever seen.

Did I misunderstood the grammar rule on tense consistency?


texts: Can you give me other one-word time terminologies aside from fortnight and yestreen?

texts:
What are other time terminologies that can be used in just only 1 word? For example,
today- for this day or at the present time
tomorrow- means the day after today
yesterday- the day before today
week- means 7 days
fortnight- means two weeks

And i just recently know that yestreen, a chiefly Scottish word means last night.


texts: I need a word to convey the meaning of getting a course approved w/o ever going to class

texts:
I've recently started working at the International Office at my University and I've found myself in need of an English word for succeeding in a test and getting a course approved without going to class at all. In Spanish it would be "rendir libre" for you bilinguals out there.
Thank you in advance!
This is my first post here btw, I hope I followed your rules neatly!


texts: I have the following sentence: "The swimmer next to Cavic arrives just before he." My question is why can't we write "The swimmer next to Cavic arrives just before him"? Isn't "just before..." an prepositional phrase that modifies "arrives"? Thus, wouldn't what follows be the object of the preposition, and thus one would have to use the objective case "him"? I know that "he" is correct, but why is it correct, and why can we not use "him"?


texts: What does "having the mad dumps" mean in this context?

texts:
one judge actually sat in judgment on his own case where the wife was accused, among other things, of having the mad dumps, silently, for three days

This is taken from a piece voicing disapproval against the ease with which divorce could be granted in late 19th century US.


texts: What is the English word that means "making something more broadly known and understood"?

texts:
A company issues a new regulation and wants to make the new regulation more broadly known and understood  by all of its employees.

What do we say the company does?  (The company ... its new regulation.)

Is the word "socialize" appropriate to fill the blank above?
I am looking for a word that has the property of "efforts" to ensure the regulation is known by all and understood thoroughly instead of merely making it public, so words like "announce" and "publicize" are not sufficient.


texts: What's the better way to reply to the email

texts:
Is this the official email to log on to the website.?

how should I reply to this

what text can I add to YES which would be appropriate

Thanks


texts: Feel bad about doing something because it affects another?

texts: How to say you feel bad about doing something because it affects another person?  Does the following line sound correct, "It would be inexcusable with regard to him"?


texts: "This is allowed", is this passive voice?

texts:
This is allowed.

Is the verb is a linking verb, or is this passive construction? Is there a difference? How does one tell?


texts: Is it correct to use "learn" as a synonym for "teach"?

texts:
I have recently been noticing many people using "learn" as a synonym for "teach", as in

  Mr. Smith learned you how to do long division.

How common is this? Is it considered "correct"? It sounds strange to me. Google lists this usage as the second definition of "learn", and as both archaic and informal.


texts: Is there an idiom for making the same mistake repeatedly?

texts:
A Russian acquaintance of mine asked me whether there's an English equivalent of "They keep treading on the same rake": someone walking or running across the backyard or garden steps on the bow rake's teeth, making the handle swing rapidly upward and whack the blunderer in the face: a comic device used frequently in old cartoons (such as Tom and Jerry) or slapstick comedy.

Now, this only happens once or twice in a cartoon, and can be written off as an accident. That's not what the idiom is about; rather, it describes the behavior ... uh ... modus operandi, if you will ... of someone (or maybe a bunch of people) foolish enough to keep treading on the same rake (sitting in the same spot) over and over again. Or delusional, perhaps - you'll recall that Einstein once described crazy behavior as "doing the same thing in the exact same way while expecting different results."

Thus the idiom seems to apply to -

bankers (or banks, for that matter) who scheme, swindle and cheat, and get burned, yet resume their murky activities once the dust has settled
politicians (or political parties, for that matter) making an attempt, again, to make a system of ideas work that has failed many times in the past
people arguing with their spouses of many years even though neither party can recall a single instance of their fighting yielding even remotely satisfactory results in the past
folks purchasing $100 worth of lottery tickets every week for years on end

Etc, etc.

There's a bunch of English idioms that come pretty close ("fool's errand," "a fool repeats his folly," and something about stepping into something twice, etc, etc). None of them captures the humorous aspect of the behavior described above.

Here's a variation on the same theme:

Any suggestions?


texts: "I hope this could help you" vs. "I hope it can help you" vs. "Hoped this may help you"

texts:
Which of the following is grammatical when giving someone something they want?

  I hope this could help you.
  I hope it can help you.
  Hoped this may help you.


texts: What do you call the cap on dish-washing detergent bottles?

texts:
Out of interest, I'm looking for the word describing the usual cap of detergent for manual dish-washing. It consists of two parts which can be moved relatively to each other in vertical orientation so that pull up opens the bottle and pushing down closes it. The bottle is then turned upside-down and the detergent can be dosed.

A soap dispenser [for liquid soap] is different from what I'm searching since it requires a push (usually vertical) to press out the next portion.

That being said, I'm only speculating that a specific word for it exists. I'd use dish-washing detergent cap if I'd be force to make a choice.

I stumbled over this before asking a question on chemistry.SE about the condensation rate of detergent in a bottle with such a cap, i.e. an example sentence is "What would be an appropriate estimate for the condensation rate of dish-washing detergent in a bottle closed with a X" (I'll clarify the context in the chemistry.SE question, of course). I'm aware that it's not necessary to know the word to ask the question there.