texts: Adjective for unique skill possessed by VERY few

texts:
what is the adjective to describe a very unique skill which is possessed by very few.

Esoteric is close. But not exactly right. I want to use it in the context of the ability to play a complicated classical guitar piece that not a lot of people can play.

Being able to play a complicated classical guitar piece would be "________ (adjective)" because very few number of people can physically do it ---- not sure what to use.

Esoteric is close but its context has more to do with "understanding a complicated topic/thing and discussing the complicated topic with a unique  particular/professional group who takes special interest in the complicated topic"

Calling something "esoteric" is like saying "it's a subject not for lay-people"

but I want to describe a physical ability which is possessed by only a few -- would the physical ability be considered to be "esoteric?"

Any help appreciated,
Thanks


texts:
How about a burger?
Delicious, but healthy?

Is the proper interpretation of the second phrase ("Delicious, but healthy?") what follows below?

The part that comes before the comma should be interpreted as an affirmation stating that the burger is delicious, and the part that comes after the comma should raise the curiosity of the reader about how healthy the burger is.


texts: Is the phrase "[the] South of France" grammatically sound?

texts:
I remember my English teacher telling me that South of India, for example, is the area to the south of India, which would be Sri Lanka. Was she mistaken in her understanding?

Or is the south of France phrase a aberration? Where only in that context it is understood to mean an area in France, while in other contexts the meaning would be similar to the first example?


texts: Is it "arrive in the countryside" or "arrive at the countryside"?

texts: Could you explain what is the correct usage of this phrase?


texts: Can we use to-infinitive after 'have trouble'?

texts:
Given the example:

  I have trouble speaking English.

Can we use both present participle (speaking) and to-infinitive (to speak) after have trouble?
If both are allowed, do the two have the same meaning or not?


texts: Function of the ing-forms in this sentence?

texts:
I'm having a hard time figuring out what the exact function of "fascinating" and "working" is in the following sentence:

"This song deals with the most important concerns fascinating people working at a factory."

Do they both introduce a ing-clause or do they function as adjective phrases or something else entirely?

Thanks in advance!


texts:
Can anybody give me more examples on how to use these words? I know for sure than you should not use dominion as domain for the Internet but apart from that sight difference both words seem to be synonyms to me.

and Death shall have no Dominion by Dylan Thomas

UPDATE

to Wordreference as a governed area they have the same meaning? So I guess "The domain of the Roman Empire" or  "The dominion of the Roman Empire" are both legal. Am I right?


texts: What's the meaning of "at 91 yen to the dollar"?

texts:
Context (New York Times),

  Edakuni Eiichi, the chef, turns out innovative dishes like daikon rolls stuffed with foie gras and sweet potatoes. The set 10-course meal, which changes monthly, is 3,680 yen (about $40 at 91 yen to the dollar).


texts: When to use “that” and when to use “which”, especially in relative clauses

texts: When is it appropriate to use that as opposed to which with relative clauses?


texts: What is a short form for Institute of Linguistics?

texts: What is a short form for "Institute of Linguistics"? Should it be IL or IOL?


texts: What does "that would be a mistake" mean here?

texts:
"The situation is a test of President Donald Trump and his foreign-policy team, including the hawkish national security adviser, John Bolton. This week Mr Bolton hinted at the use of American troops. Barring state violence against American citizens, that would be a mistake."
Does it mean that American forces would only be used against its citizens, otherwise it is illegal?


texts: Less ambiguous phrase than "digitally challenged" for someone missing fingers

texts:
I'd like to use "digitally challenged" to refer to someone who is missing part or all of a finger, but it sounds like I'm talking about someone who doesn't know how to use computers. Are there any phrases, ideally somewhat humorous in nature, that I can use to refer to people who are missing part or all of a finger?

Example usage:

  Steer clear of that izakaya. I've heard some of the patrons are [alternative to "digitally challenged"].


texts: 'Take it off him' meaning 'take it from him' is incorrect - but what is the grammatical reason?

texts: 'I took it off him' OR 'I took it from him'.   I know that the second version is correct (unless it refers to an item that is literally on top of somebody, eg a wardrobe had fallen on someone), but what is the grammatical explanation?


texts:
I wonder what the difference between the and that in this context is:

  A: Hey, I've heard we have a new printer.
  B: Really? Let's print the documents on the/that new printer then.


texts: Why is “had” ok in “What he had just said, especially that final sentence, really enlightened me”?

texts:
I’m writing a short prose piece for an academic audience and need to know whether the following sentence sounds right, especially its first clause:

  What he had just said, especially that final sentence, really
  enlightened me.

The context here is that I’m recounting a story in the past where person A has just told me something interesting, and the quoted sentence describes its effect on me.

I do believe the use of had in the sentence above is correct. Could anyone explain why is it correct if it is, or if it is not, then why it does not sound right to use this way?


texts: "Do you ever do something" vs. "Have you ever done something"

texts:
In "Pragmmatic Programmer" by David Hunt and Andy Thomas, there is a sentence:

  Do you ever watch old black-and-white war movies?

To my best english grammar knowledge, present perfect tense should be used here:

  Have you ever watched black-and-white war movies?

Is the version of the authors correct? If so, what's the difference between these two variants and what is the appropriate way to use each?

PS. I checked this sentence in the translation of the book in my native language and it was translated exactly as if the orginal sentence was in present perfect form.


texts:
This is from a book that I'm reading. The whole quote is:

  The bubble doesn't so much burst as evaporate, leaving us back in the
  real world.

I looked "so much as" up in the dictionary, it only gives something like "even" as meaning. I didn't see any usage example that looks like this one. What does it mean here? Thank you.


texts: Is "captured my attention the most" a correct phrase to use?

texts:
"The first part of this book consists of a brief history of ... and
  the explanation of ..., which captured my attention the most."

Is there a way to emphasize how important that information was with different phrase?


texts: Meaning of the phrase "cutting their noses to spite their faces"

texts:
What is the meaning of the phrase "cutting their noses to spite their faces"?

I came across this phrase in the following context :

  As many as 22 states currently are cutting their noses to spite their faces: they are willing to forego billions of dollars in federal funds — funnelled through an expansion of Medicaid — to thwart the ACA.


texts: Leonardo DiCaprio won / has won the oscar for Revenant?

texts:
Leonardo DiCaprio has won many awards and the most prestigious one is the Oscar for the best actor that he won/ has won for Revenant.

Could we use Present perfect here, because here we are mentioning something that happened in the past without mentioning the exact time/year when he won the award?


texts:
Physical systems (physics, chemistry) are creations of nature, and thus their designs can only be perceived, not conceived, by physical sciences. Political systems, on the other hand, are inventions of man, technologies whose developments were always intended to be ongoing processes carried along by each passing generation.
...
The more I learned about political science, the more I began to feel that this "malleability" of political systems was lost on my professors.

Malleability is not the right word here - it's part of what I'm trying to say, but I also want to emphasize the fact that they were originally conceived by man. I'm looking for a word that is something like "self-deterministic"", but I don't think that's quite it either. What word am I looking for here?


texts:
When asking someone what brand of motorcycle he chooses to ride, which of the following two sentences is correct?

  What is your ride of choice?
  What is your choice of ride?


texts: Word or a phrase for finance sharing in groups?

texts:
Is there a word or a phrase for a financial scenario where all participants put money in one pile and then the organizer uses that money to buy whatever the group agreed upon (eg. airplane tickets, concert tickets, birthday gift...)?

Some examples:

Let's _____, it'll be much more efficient.
One benefit of _____ is getting a discount for a larger purchase.
Skyler plans to organize _____ for our trip to London.

Let me make an analogy with carpooling:

Let's carpool, it'll be much more efficient.
One benefit of carpooling is bypassing the traffic by using the carpool lane.
Skyler plans to carpool for the next three months.


texts: A verb phrase “[verb] up” meaning someone is easily buying whatever he sees on TV

texts: I came across this phrase "[verb] up" twice on The Guardian Reader's comments section when readers were talking about someone tends to not raise much objection to whatever the person is told or believes whatever crap showing on TV. Readers there used the verb phrase to describe such people. I tried very hard for two days to recall what exactly the verb was but to no avail. Any idea what this verb phrase might be? Thanks.


texts: Are all phrasal verbs informal and not appropriate to use in academic texts? For instance, 'carry out'. I see this word in papers very often. Is it formal? Is it necessary to distinguish which phrasal verb is formal and which not?


texts:
Origin :   Communicate company’s positions completely and accurately to the Customer to avoid deal-killing surprises once Legal is engaged to support negotiations.

Q: what does "deal-killing" mean?


texts: Difference between "keep something on", "hang something on", and "leave something on"

texts:
I came across three verb + on phrases in today’s New York Times article written by Maureen Dowd and titled “Stripped off Dignity”; it dealt with unpleasant airport pat-down practices.

In the following paragraph, I find the phrases “Keep jacket on,” “Hang on to unfinished bottle,” and “Leave shoes on.”  It appears to me all these “keep on,” “hang on” and “Leave on” simply mean “keep on.”  It may seem a silly question to you, native English speakers, but I’m curious to know the exact difference in meaning between the above three phrases, and to also understand why does "leaving" shoes “on” means to keep wearing shoes?

  John Pistole, the T.S.A. chief, said they are trying to move past a “one-size-fits-all” program and implement a “risk-based, intelligence-driven process” by the end of the year that would have more refined targeting.
  If passengers are willing to share the same information they give to airline frequent-flier programs, he said, maybe someday they will be able to keep their jacket on and their laptop in their briefcase and hang on to that unfinished bottle of water.” “I’d like to get to the point,” he said wistfully, “where most people could leave their shoes on.


texts: A word to describe making something like something else

texts:
Here's my scenario.  I am creating something that basically copies data and places under another "key value".

Ex:  Original Values

Key     Value1   Value2  Value3
 A        A1        2      A54
 B        B3        4      B68
 C        C5        23     C11

New Values

Key     Value1   Value2  Value3
 A        A1        2      A54
 B        B1        2      B54
 C        C5        23     C11

Then I will make B look like B     B1   2 After it is done. Essentially copying rows but keeping the Key values.

I was going to call it "Mirror Data", but I'm not sure if that makes sense.  I ruled out "Copy Data" because it isn't a true copy.

I would like to know if "Mirror" would be a good description or if there a better descriptive word I could use for this action.


texts:
If I have some complaints about someone, should I use “dissatisfaction towards/with/to”?

I have looked at the usage here, and I see so many versions and am wondering if there’s any difference?


texts: what does this history napoleon quote mean?

texts: What the peoples of Germany desire most impatiently is that talented commoners should have the same right to your esteem and to public employments as the nobles, that any trace of serfdom and of an intermediate hierarchy between the sovereign and the lowers class of people should be completely abolished. The benefits of the Napoleonic code, the publicity of judicial procedure, the creation of juries must be so many distinguishing marks of your monarchy


texts: What do I use in this instance? Suffering or suffer?

texts:
I enjoy watching people suffering.
I enjoy watching people suffer.

I feel more comfortable using the second one, but I also think that the first one is right... so which one should I use?


texts: "Let us wait, and she will do what we want." Are these 2 clauses both independent?

texts:
I am getting confused with this little word, and I would be very grateful to know more:
I am looking on many grammar sites, and they all include and in their list of coordinating conjunctions. So that is clear. I cannot find it in the list of subordinating conjunctions, but I just want to make sure
Can "and" ever be a subordinating conjunction?
In a sentence like

Let us wait, and she will do what we want.

am I right that "and" is a coordinating conjunction uniting two independent clauses?
Edit 1: I underline that my query concerns the particular use of the conjunction "and" in a sentence with conditional meaning, and not coordinating and subordinating conjunctions in general.
Edit 2: I had no doubt that "and" can connect any kind of phrases or  clauses (be they subordinate or independent), as long as they are of the same kind. My confusion began when a native speaker claimed that "and" can link an independent clause with a subordinate one.
I would appreciate any insight on this.


texts: Positive word for someone who wants to get into relationships with rich people

texts: I think opportunist would be the word for someone who wants to get into relationships with rich people so that they can get rich, but that word is negative and can be used for other situations as well. Do we have a more accurate word for it?


texts: Does the suffix -ify have any inherent characteristics of making letters pronounced which would otherwise be silent?

texts:
It is quite clear that the word "signify" is derived from sign and the suffix -ify:

sign + -ify = signify

The letter "g" in the word sign is silent but when the suffix is added, it becomes pronounced:

/ˈsɪgnɪfaɪ/

Although the "g" doesn't get pronounced when another suffix -able is added:

sign + -able = signable ... /ˈsaɪnəbəl/ (no /g/)

Another example is the word damnify:

/ˈdamnɪfaɪ/

Upon the addition of the suffix -ify the "n", which would otherwise be silent, becomes pronounced. Now I looked up their etymologies and came to know that those words weren't formed within English. "Damnify" is from Old French damnefier and "signify" is from Old French signifier and I suspect they have etymological /g/ and /n/, respectively.
For "signable" Wikitionary merely says "sign + -able" and I can't find it in any other etymological dictionary. The reason "signable" doesn't have a /g/, in my opnion, can be attributed to its compounding within Modern English; looking at the results from Google Ngram makes my opinion appear correct in that "signable" has zero results and "signify" predates it by over 500 years.
The suffix -ify (which we also use to make words in Modern English) is from French ifier.
Questions:
I have two closely related questions:

Does the suffix -ify have any inherent characteristic of making consonants pronounced which would otherwise be silent?
What if I add it to a Modern English word (say benign or align)? Will it make the "g" pronounced?


texts:
While copy-editing an article for a journal, I came across the word “upgradation” underlined red by MS Word (It's underlined red even as I type it in Chrome).

The publishers of the journal recommend following the Oxford dictionary. Now, strangely  one of Oxford's sites returns 'No results found for “upgradation”' on searching, while another defines it as 'the fact of upgrading something'.

The Cambridge dictionary site also has an entry for the word.

Both, Oxford Learner's Dictionary's site and the Cambridge Dictionary's site are complete with US as well as British pronunciations. As far as I know the word is very much in use at least in Indian English.

I am unable to make sense out of these findings. Please share if you have any idea why there is such a predicament over “upgradation”.


texts: Is there a verb meaning to wet the floor or spread water on the area by drips or droplets?

texts: Like when you are out and got wet in the rain, you run inside and spread water around. Or when you finished showering and you rush to get your towel because you forgot keep near the shower for convenience.


texts: What is the best or common terms to describe students affairs and activities?

texts:
I am looking for a word or phrase that can be used to represent or include all students affairs or activities. I want to provide an online service for students such as (and/or including) student enrolments, payments and records keeping, etc.

I have thought of the Student Office, Student Registry and Student Records but unsure of the best to use. Many thanks.


texts:
Does the phrase "often a times" exist? If so, what is the correct way to use it?

Would the following sentence be correct?

  I have seen him loafing about in the streets often a times.


texts: "which is to the best of our knowledge" vs "which to the best of our knowledge is"

texts:
I would like to know which one of the following is correct:

We ran the experiments on the XXX, which is to the best of our knowledge the largest publicly available sample of YYYs.

We ran the experiments on the XXX, which to the best of our knowledge is the largest publicly available sample of YYYs.


texts:
I have noticed recently in books a disparity with regards to punctuation marks around quotes.
In one example I saw a punctuation mark (in this case a full stop) was placed inside the closing quotation mark. However, I am more accustomed to seeing the punctuation mark outside the closing quotation mark.

For example:
Mark said 'I go there all the time'. or 'I go there all the time.'

Which is correct? Or would both be considered to be fine?


texts:
In spite of the general guidance on conditionals found on this site, I am struggling with which tenses to use in the following sentence to properly convey what I mean:

  Only if we ignored these success cases might this seem
  impossible.

To be clear about my intended meaning, I believe that

"ignoring these success cases" is a foolhardy thing to do
"this" is very much possible [therefore, the construction should make "this seem[ing] impossible" adequately remote]

Given this, is there a better combination of verb tenses for me to consider?


texts: What's the meaning of "run over" in this context?

texts:
Here is an excerpt from the book called Help Me!

  Wednesday night was coffee with a photographer who had just come back
  from Iraq. He sounded interesting. He thought so too. I spent two
  hours being run over by his voice.

Actually, this is the whole context. After this, "I" met another date, and never made any reference to this one.

So, in this context, what does the expression "being run over by" mean? (In fact, I'm not sure about "He sounded interesting" part, too. Is the author saying that his voice was funny? or what he said was impressing?)


texts: Period placement in a sentence containing both parantheses and quotes

texts:
Which of the following is correct:

  (This is a "test").
  (This is a "test.")
  (This is a "test".)


texts: What's the phrase for expressing the burden of what is done in the past?

texts:
What is the phrase for expressing the burden associated with maintaining what has been done in the past?

For example, if someone wrote a software or protocol in the past, the person often has to avoid changes that break the existing protocol (even though it may have flaws) because others may be already using it .

What is the term (preferably a short one) to refer to this burden?

Bag of history, bag of burdens, baggage of history...??

I may have seen such a phrase before. But I can't seem to remember what it is ..


texts:
I have a grammatical question regarding one of the worst pieces of grammar imaginable. One of my students made the argument that better things could be considered a single item. Is it possible for the sentence:

  I have so many more better things to do than grade your homework.

to be considered grammatically correct? It is grammatically abhorring, but ultimately, I can't find in my head if this is grammatically wrong.

Could someone please clarify if this is grammatically feasible? My question specifically has to do with more better in this sentence.

*EDIT: To clarify the exact context of the example, it would go: "There are better things that I could be doing instead of grading. In fact, there are so many things that I could be doing which would be better than this, i.e. there are so many more better things that I could be doing.


texts: Why are movie captions called "subtitles"?

texts:
ODO defines subtitles as both

  A subordinate title of a published work or article giving additional information about its content.

and

  Captions displayed at the bottom of a cinema or television screen that translate or transcribe the dialogue or narrative.

The former is (I think) self-evident (sub in Latin means, among other things, under). For example, it is evident that a subtitle follows a title (e.g. in a book). However, I see no connection with the second definition. This is, why are captions called subtitles? Which is the origin of this association? According to the definition above, captions transcribe the main text of a script. Yet, you would not call the main text of a book its subtitles would you?

Neither the aforementioned dictionary, nor Wikisource, nor Wikipedia offer an explanation of the origin of this association.


texts:
I saw a lot - I mean really a lot - of people putting a comma between verbs or verb phrases in their writings e.g.

  The house was colored in brown when it was built by my father in 1920,
  and had a tall Zelkova tree in its front yard.

even native speakers often make same mistakes. As far as I know, if I want to keep the comma sentence should be as follows:

  The house was colored in brown when it was built by my father in 1920,
  and it had a big Zelkova tree in its front yard.

Or should take out the comma.

Am I missing something or wrong? there are so many people making same punctuation errors that I feel I am wrong. I checked the Purdue OWL, and I am pretty sure it says such comma usage is wrong.

(Ref)
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/owlprint/607/
Comma abuse > #13


texts:
In the following sentence, is the usage of "such as" correct if I would like that "Waze" and "LocoPing" be considered as examples of both Location-based services(LBSs) and Proximity-based applications? also should I put a comma before "such as" and "that"?

  In recent years, we have seen the emergence of a new trend of location-based services (LBSs) and proximity-based applications such as Waze, LocoPing that require users to share their locations.


texts:
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/duckbilled

duck + billed

Having a bill like that of a duck.

The entry doesn't explain anything?


texts:
It seems to me that it's common to think that words "Whether" and "Weather" share the same pronunciation, simple google search produces the articles like
http://www.elearnenglishlanguage.com/blog/english-mistakes/weather-vs-whether/
that say:

  The words weather and whether have nothing in common other than their
  pronunciation

On the other hand I learned from my favorite English Pronunciation Course which is called "Master Spoken English", what WH can be pronounced as HW:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iOnRC1VjTMw&t=1m10s
But I heard from native speakers that it could be really odd if I start to say words like "When" with the initial H, like "Hwen", there is the whole episode of Family Guy around "cool whips" : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ZmqJQ-nc_s

But, in the name of clarity, I think that it might be a good idea to say "Hwether".
I am curious how weird it would be from a native speaker point of view?


texts: What's a good word to mean being sorry for making lots of requests?

texts: I checked on my intern multiple times in the last days.  I said "why this still has not been worked on ..." in different ways many times. So many that I felt I was being a little XXX?  What should that XXX word be?  "demanding" is NOT exactly right. I felt I should not leave the intern so little "room" by constantly asking for status update.


texts:
Which is more correct to say in a question? (For example a guy that wakes up in a train)

  "Where am I?"

or

  "Where I am?"


texts: What do you call a person who requests a service?

texts:
I´ve been trying to get some answers on this topic here, here, and other sources. I'd like to know a way to refer to a person who has made a request, but is not my actual customer/client.

Just to illustrate, picture this scenario:

  My client is the CEO of a company. A request has been made by his/her secretary, I still need to save his/her details to keep track of the service.

What would you call the secretary on this scenario? I'm aware the word "requestor" is not really used by native speakers, so how'd one call this person in a "not very long" way? (e.g. "person who has booked the service")

ps: i could use "Requested by:" but later i have to collect their contact info such as phone and email.


texts: Single word request: describing analyses different geographical levels

texts:
I am writing a methodological paper about statistical methods for identifying disparities in different geographical levels (country-level and state/county-level).
Would it be correct to use "nation" to describe a geographical level, meaning country-wide?

Applying analysis A and B for identifying nation and regional level disparities in income.


texts: Proper word for "all type of rooms / accommodations"?

texts:
I'm working on this app and right now it has a common taxonomy called "hotel". However, this app can work with hotels, chains of hotels, apartments, rooms, cabins, guesthouses and anything you could think of, so "Hotel" is a very inaccurate taxonomy name, something proven with the first small test we ran, all subjects gave different answers.

However, can't find a proper taxonomy name that covers all these instances yet is easy to understand by anyone using the app. I thought of "Rooms" but then we face the opposite problem: what happens with owners of hotel chains that have hotels or apartments as secondary level taxonomies?

So far, the closest I can get is "Accommodations", but again, testing shown it's too ambiguous. Lodging has been rejected due to its short term connotations

Any ideas on the proper wording for this?


texts:
Like in this sentence:

  The influence of the Titnaeus among early philosophical thinkers was pervasive, if only because it was the sole dialogue available in Europe for almost 1,000 years.

(Emphasis added.)


texts:
I made him understand the concealed  meaning of the sentence.

Can I rephrase the sentence without the word 'make'?


texts:
but (adv., prep.) : Old English butan, buton "unless, except; without, outside," [...]

I don't know Old English. From the étymons overhead, how did but change semantically to mean

but  |adverb| = 1. No more than; only

? What can explain the semantic shift? I didn't understand The Oxford English Dictionary, because English is not my first language  :

In sense: Only. An elliptic development of the conjunction: see C. 6.

a. By the omission of the negative accompanying the preceding verb (see C. 4a), but passes into the adverbial sense of: Nought but, no more than, only, merely.

I understand Shakespeare's use in As You Like It, Act 5, Scene 3, Line 29. Thank you all.


texts: What is the relationship between fame and infamy?

texts: In layman's terms, what is the relationship between fame and infamy? Is fame required to be infamous? Are they (definitively) mutual exclusive?


texts:
EB size and structure is known to influence differentiation potential, and the microwell system provides a robust, efficient method of producing EBs of any size or shape.

I've seen many sentences in which a comma is used, IMO, instead of "and". In fact, I'm following this trend in my writings. However, I'm not aware if there is any rule governing this. Is such a choice available in every situation? Does the choice ever affect the meaning?


texts: What is the origin of the phrase "burden of shame"?

texts:
I had never heard this particular phrase ("burden of shame") before today. All I can find on Google are references to a UB40 (a mostly-white reggae-pop band from the 1980s) song. Are there any earlier references, or is there proof that UB40 invented the term all on its own?
If UB40 coined the term, how was it appropriated by the LGBTQ, social justice, and critical theory communities?

Reference & Links


texts:
I wish to cite an editor's footnotes in an annotated copy of Milton's Paradise Lost. I have no idea how to go about this. I'm not sure what either the in-text or complete citation look like. The citation for the book is below, so all the relevant information about the book is at your disposal.

  Milton, John. Paradise Lost. Ed. Kerrigan, William et al. New York:
  Random House, 2007. Print.


texts: I was confused while looking for the meaning of bi-weekly. Is it twice per week or once per two weeks?


texts:
Can anyone explain me Difference between late night & early morning ?

"I slept early morning".Is this sentence correct ?

What time is called morning ? After 12:00 AM ?


texts: Must an "accident" evolve from human error?

texts:
I've been censured for calling the nuclear plant incident in Japan a "nuclear accident".

I've never exclusively reserved the word accident only for those things which evolve from or are precipitated by human error, but it appears that others feel it should only be used in connection with human error.  Dictionaries seem to suggest I'm ok, but I may have to bend to peer pressure.  Partly it seems to stem from this particular usage in connection with anti-nuclear groups.

Has the connotation shifted away from merely unforeseen and undesirable events?

If so, what is a better word to use?  I'm shying away from problem and incident as they seem inadequate, and disaster as it seems to inflate things beyond what is necessary.


texts: What is the difference between the words "dormant" and "latent"?

texts: It seems that they are interchangeable but I am having a hard time differentiating between the two.


texts:
In their kids song "Crazy ABCs", the Barenaked Ladies sing about words that start with confusing sounds:

  A is for aisle

  B is for bdellium

  C is for czar

However, when the song gets to "r":

  R is for R-gyle

  No, it isn't

  OK, you're right; I couldn't find a good "r" word

So my question is: Is there an "r" word that would fit into this song?  If not, is there anything special about "r" that explains why not?


texts:
Let's say I have several water faucets in my house, but one of them has low water pressure and I say to you:

"I have a water faucet which water is very weak."

Would you understand that I have more water faucets not only one? And also is that sentence correct grammatically speaking? I know I have more choices to imply that such as; "I have a water faucet with low water pressure.", "I have a water faucet whose water pressure is low." and "I have a water faucet wich/that has low water pressure." there might be more options but yesterday I was chatting with my nephew who lives in the U.S. and I texted him that because only that came to my mind when I was chatting with him I wonder if I sounded awkward or if it was ungrammatical. What do you guys think?


texts: Pronunciation of 'host' in Shakespeare's time

texts:
Listening to the recent film production of Macbeth with Patrick Stewart, I noticed that Duncan says:

  Give me your hand. Conduct me to mine host.

Obviously, it's in the text (Act 1, Scene 6).  I'm curious as to whether in Shakespeare's time (and dialect) this would have been pronounced with an aspirated 'h', or whether the 'h' was dropped.  Presumably 'honour' did not have an aspirated 'h' in the second quotation below.

This seems to appear in other works:

  As to take up mine honour's pawn

and

  Mine honour is my life; both grow in one:
  Take honour from me, and my life is done:
  Then, dear my liege, mine honour let me try;
  In that I live and for that will I die.

(Richard II, Act I, Scene 1)

Looking further, in 'All's well that ends well' (Act IV, Scene 2) , we have this:

  Here, take my ring:
  My house, mine honour, yea, my life, be thine,
  And I'll be bid by thee.

Where we have my house, rather than mine house, which suggests to me that mine host, would be mine 'ost to modern ears.

I've found various references stating that 'mine' is used when a word begins with h, however all the other examples I've seen are of silent hs and so are effectively words starting with vowels, whereas host is not.


texts:
What’s the opposite of the word patricide?

I’m looking for the word that describes the act (or the person, to keep in similar vein with suicide, patricide, etc.) of a father killing his son out of malice.

I’m not looking for matricide, which I consider to be a related but not opposite term for patricide.


texts: Need word for situation where conclusion doesn't follow from the experimental data

texts:
I need a more specific word than illogical.

Say an educational psychologist collected some data about someone by having two people fill out a questionnaire that is a well known, reputable, published, normed instrument.  The two questionnaires yielded totally different results, and then the psychologist "resolved" the "discrepancy" by conveniently throwing out the questionnaire that didn't support the conclusion he wanted to draw.

I think we don't say his conclusion is fallacious.  I think we can say it is illogical.  Is there a more specific, apt word for this situation?  A single word if possible.


texts: If I receive a thing, I can either steal it, trade for it, or receive it as a gift. Is there a word for "receive as a gift"? As in, "I stole four potatoes, bought six potatoes, and XXX'd three potatoes?"


texts: Are "now ... any time" and "any time now" different meanings?

texts: We know what "any time now" means, indeed: from now on it will happen soon. But in the sentence, which is quite informal, "Now yo'berths's ready any time, Miss" - said by the porter in the train (Pale Horse, Pale Rider, K.A. Porter) -, does it mean the same? I'm not sure, because the words are not in the same order.


texts:
A 10-day moving average WOULD average out the closing prices for the first 10 days as the first data point. The next data point WOULD drop the earliest price, add the price on day 11 and take the average, and so on as shown below.

Read more: Moving Average (MA) https://www.investopedia.com/terms/m/movingaverage.asp#ixzz59bm4RYnx


texts: Is it acceptable to say "I don't have a clue" meaning "I don't know" in formal English?

texts:
I'm a non-native speaker. When I was a student of English my teachers mentioned this answer was to be avoided in formal situations, except for its literal meaning. Years later I heard it twice, as a reply to questions, in formal lectures at my professional congresses. What I want to know is whether it is proper to answer that way, when you me
an "I don't know" or "I have no idea", in formal spoken or written English.


texts: How to refer to the part of the desk where one usually puts the speakers?

texts:
Here's a picture of one:

Is there a simple but clear way of referring to it?


texts: "Identifying" or "the identification of"

texts:
Which one could be used more correctly in the context:

  This study allowed an analysis of financial results and the identification of possible causes of negative results from the company that was studied and, as is known in the national media, the situation is widespread.

.

  This study allowed an analysis of financial results and identifying possible causes of negative results from the company that was studied and, as is known in the national media, the situation is widespread.

Perhaps the following sentence is more accurate?

  The survey allowed an analysis of the company’s financial results and identifying possible causes of its negative results and, as is known in the national media, the situation is widespread


texts:
I'm writing an essay about Don DiLillo's novel White Noise, and would like to explore Murray Jay Siskand's fascination with death.  The particular word I'm looking for means "death-centric", to fit in the topic sentence

"Furthermore, the consumerist society that envelops Siskind results in his <word goes here> viewpoint of his surroundings."

Failing that, is there a way to rework this sentence as to allow for an elegant focus on his death-centric viewpoint?


texts: Is there a word for a person who likes to bathe a lot?

texts:
I like to spend a lot of time bathing..I kind of enjoy it...I just cant get enough of it..I can be under shower for hours. Is there a word for me?
I tried googling around but all I could find was words like bath-lovers , shower-lovers. Is there something more formal and widely accepted?


texts: What does Macbeth mean when he says his heart is "seated"?

texts:
Here's the quote (from The Tragedy of Macbeth, by William Shakespeare):

  This supernatural soliciting
  Cannot be ill, cannot be good. If ill,
  Why hath it given me earnest of success,
  Commencing in a truth? I am thane of Cawdor.
  If good, why do I yield to that suggestion
  Whose horrid image doth unfix my hair
  And make my seated heart knock at my ribs,
  Against the use of nature?

The connotations may have changed since it was written, but doesn't the word "seated" evoke the image of the object under discussion being, to all intents, still? As in pretty much motionless? What am I missing?


texts:
Please look at these phrases:

I think it is a dramatic scene.
I think it is a hilarious scene.
I think it is an intimate scene.
I think it is an ambiguous scene.

Why is the article determined by the adjective and not the noun?


texts: Is "plunger" a familiar word for part of a phone?

texts: I was looking for the name of the button on a telephone that you push to hang up. On older phones where the receiver sits horizontally over two buttons, I've seen them called "plungers." Are people familiar with this term? Is there another term? Is the single button also called a "plunger?"


texts:
How can you call a pendant/medallion that can open, in which you can put a little object in it?
Even if it has to be described with a few words, it's ok.


texts: Is 'Success!' ever used as a spoken/written encouragement?

texts:
In many languages, such as French, and my beloved mother tongue Romanian, it is common to say 'Succes!' to someone as an encouragement, this being a replacement for 'Good luck' for those who do not believe in luck. To my knowledge, the French also say, for instance, 'beaucoup de succes'.

This is also used as a written encouragement, for instance at the end of a written test's subject statements.

Is this also true in English?


texts: What is a synonym for "childless" but less negative?

texts:
I'm writing a bullet list of traits for people to review so that they can self-select whether they fit into a certain group.

What I have right now looks like this:

Male
35-39 years old
Highly-educated
In a committed relationship
Childless
Athletic, fit

But "Childless" feels problematic. It may have a provocative feel to it, and it focuses on the absence of children almost as if I (or society) expects men to have children. I'd rather describe a trait in positive terms.

Is there a word (or phrase of 4 words or less) that can serve as an adjective meaning simply (and without negative connotation or judgment) that he hasn't fathered any kids?

When I search thesauruses (e.g. this one), the suggestions are even worse than "childless". They include words such as: sterile, barren, infertile, unproductive, impotent, arid, bereaved. None of those are appropriate.

If I'm being overly cautious, and enough answerers say that "childless" meets my requirements, then that will be interesting for me to hear, too.

P.S. I've used the "single-word-requests" tag because I'm looking for suggestions of one word (or small phrase), and I've researched several thesauruses, and I've provided context.


texts: Word describing windows that are too high to see the ground outside?

texts:
There is a word, I believe it starts with a 'c', that describes windows whose function is to provide light or create a feeling of openness rather than to see outdoors because they are so high that seeing out of them isn't feasible. Here is a picture of a church containing windows of this type:

Thank you!


texts:
I know what "maligned" and "sacred" mean in separate but "maligned sacred" sounds an unusual collocation to me. I wonder what it means in the following context.
"The concentration camp is a structure that places some subjects outside the law, as the maligned sacred, while also subjecting them brutally to the law's force."


texts: What is the difference in meaning between "get back to him" and "get back at him"?

texts:
And you were afraid that if you started asking questions, it would get back to him
From The Outsider by Stephen King

I know that to “get back at someone” is similar to humiliate or to wreak revenge.
Cambridge Dictionary says

to punish someone because that person has done something wrong to you:

I think he’s trying to get back at her for what she said in the meeting.

Furthermore, the expression “get your own back on someone” shares a very similar meaning

to do something unpleasant to someone because they have done something unpleasant to you

I'll get my own back on her one day.

But I do not understand why the meaning of “to” used in “get back to” does not share a similar meaning. Revenge is in the direction of (“to”) someone. I feel that the three phrasal verbs: “get back at”, “get your own back on someone” and “get back to” have very similar meanings. But in the quotation taken from Stephen King's novel, the meaning is clearly different.
Questions

Why does “get back to someone” have a different meaning from “get back at someone” and “get your own back on someone”?
Why should such a small word like “to” make such a great difference?


texts:
Is there a word that means accessible to all? Possibly starting with "omni"?

Specifically, to describe information: information that could be accessed by anyone is [omni...]

"Public" would be a reasonable description, but perhaps there are similar words. The problem is that "public" information is not necessarily accessible. Scientific journals are public, but are not necessarily free to access. Books are public, but not everyone can access a library, etc.

I suppose it doesn't have to be a specific word. I wanted a convenient term for describing the kind of information that does not currently exist: information that in an ideal world everyone could get to

(Edited in response to the many valid comments)


texts: Is there a word to describe a gathering lump of water hanging on a surface that has not yet produced a droplet? Imagine a small pool of water without the surface upon which it's resting.


texts:
I received a letter of confirmation for funding from an English native speaker. She started the letter with:

  To whoever it may concern,

I am not a native speaker, but that sounds quite odd to me and I would change that to To whom it may concern. Can anyone confirm whether her starting phrase is at least grammatically okay or is it just wrong?


texts: Which one of the following sentences is more correct?

texts:
"Maria's, Mary's and Sophia's first loves was Katarina.

"Katarina was Maria's, Mary's and Sophia's first loves"

"The first love of Maria's, Mary's and Sophia's was Katarina."


texts:
I am reading an Employment Offer and there are case studies to illustrate the Code of Conduct, Breachs and Outcomes. If someone knows what amber gated means it would be much appreciated, eg:

The breach:
• Mr A breached policy by failing to protect confidential information and putting sensitive market information at risk

The outcome:
 • Mr A received a written warning and was amber gated

Edit: My guess is that "it is an issue/mistake/problem picked up before it became a red flag", a term used to describe a formal slap on the wrist, yet I dont understand why in the above example Mr A was given both a written warning AND amber gated

Here is another example:

The breach:
• Miss B breached policy by sending confidential information to a public domain (Hotmail account)
• Confidential customer information was put at risk of being intercepted while in transit electronically
• XYZ company information should only be stored on the XYZ network. Miss B breached policy by saving XYZ information to her personal computer

The outcome:
• The email sent to the Hotmail account was detected through XYZ’s computer surveillance system and Miss B was requested to explain why she had sent confidential information to her personal email address
• Miss B was made aware this is a breach of policy and was amber-gated


texts: What is the origin and extent of the Indian English usage of "only" to emphasize something?

texts:
I live in southern India, and for a long time I've been curious about this phenomenon that I've observed.

Indian English uses the word "only" in  a special way. It's used to emphasize things. Sort of like US/UK/AU/NZ people would use the word "indeed."

Some examples (several of which shamelessly stolen from this answer):

  I was born in Calcutta only.

You're just stating clearly where you were born.

  It's a new movie only.

You're not suggesting anything with the word "only". You're just confirming that the movie is definitely new.

  It's on that branch only.

Again, you're sure and you're stating it clearly.

  They are Punjabi only.

Same deal.

  He is a garbage collector only.

This is not necessarily meant to be offensive, as in UK/US/AU English "He's only a garbage collector." Rather, the speaker is stating what someone's job is, unambigiously.

  He paid me 5000 Rupees only.

You're not trying to imply that the amount is too low or insufficient, as in "He paid me only 5000 Rupees." You're saying it was exactly 5000 Rupees, and emphasizing that you recall the matter clearly and are sure.

  We went to the beach only.

Nothing negative about the beach. That's simply where you went, and you want to state that clearly.

  - Excuse me, I have a parcel for Mr. Kumar.

  - That's me only.

Kumar is confirming that he is indeed the person they are looking for.

What is the origin of this usage of "only"?

I certainly don't recognize it from US/UK/AU/NZ English. I know that many unique features of Indian English are actually old features of British English that have since died out elsewhere but remain in India. Is that the case here?

Another theory I have is that it developed as a means to substitute a feature of certain Indian languages. For example, in Hindi, people say "hee" at the end of sentences all the time, for the sake of emphasis. Similarly, in Tamil (which I partly know), they say "tha" at the end. It has exactly that function. For example, "Athu tha" means "That, indeed." So another possible theory is that this usage of "only" developed as speakers felt the need to have such an intensifier at the end of sentences, as many Indian languages do. Without it they may have felt that the sentence would lack credibility or sincerity.

Does anyone have any insights, research or knowledge about the origins of this usage of "only"?

Are there regions/countries other than South-India that also use this? What about North India?


texts: At the beginning of a sentence in dialogue that sounds incomplete, should you use an apostrophe?

texts:
I'm not sure where I picked up this habit, but I think it might be grammatically incorrect. I'm a fiction writer and have just started working on a new novel, so I want to clear this up before I get too far in. Here's an example, since the question sounds a bit confusing:

The speaker starts off with: "... Shame that...-"
Instead of: "... It's a shame that...-"
This is how I wrote it: "'Shame that...-"

For some reason, I've picked up the habit of adding an apostrophe at the beginning of an incomplete sentence like that, but I'm not sure if it's just a grammar glitch that my brain contrived randomly or if I saw it used somewhere. Is this incorrect?


texts: Does this sentence sound natural and correct?

texts: If you are wondering about what to do, I've got some ideas. Is it correct? Does it sound natural to you?


texts: When did spelling "-ic" words "-ick" start/stop being popular?

texts:
I've been reading Gulliver's Travels(1726) and noticed almost all words that we commonly spell  ending "-ic" are instead spelt "-ck" such as publick or politick.

Researching online I can't find any information about these spellings except that they are archaic or obsolete.  These also don't seem to be the original spellings as they do not appear in Shakespeare.

Were these spellings popular in the 17/18th century?  Was there a spelling reform which introduced them?


texts: What is a verb for "the usage of an angry tone of voice"?

texts:
I am looking for a term meaning the use of an angry tone of voice without the raising or lowering of one's volume.  Something like yell, but without the implication of raising one's voice.

I'm hoping for something general. Words like snarl and snap don't work in all contexts, so I'm looking for something better.

I'm looking for something that might fill this sentence: "You're ______ again, Dave." as a speaker is counseling a person with anger management issues.


texts: It's so cold that if it rains it'll snow

texts:
I want a replacement for rains in my title, as it doesn't really make sense since it won't rain, it will snow.

I think I could use precipitates but I wouldn't use that in conversation as it seems overly wordy.


texts: Confused about the meaning of the phrase"off the top”

texts:
In London NATO Summit 2019, the leaders of France, Canada and the U.K. were caught gossiping about US President Trump. In their conversation, Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau said, "He (Macron) was late because he takes a 40-minute press conference off the top.”

I'm wondering what “off the top” means in the above conversation. I know what “off the top of his head” means, but Trudeau didn’t use this phrase, according to video footage circulated of the event.


texts:
Sentence:

  Professional focused on actions that makes the difference in the business security. Experience on X, Y and Z.

Am I using the correct prepositions there? Any other improvement that I'm not aware of?


texts:
The text:

Rudman looks at how a poor understanding of maths has led historians
to false conclusions about the mathematical  sophistication  of early
societies. Rudman's final observation-that ancient Greece enjoys
unrivalled  progress in the subject while failing to teach it at
school leads to a  radical  punchline: mathematics could be better
learnt after we  leave  school.

Does it mean something like 'a wild/astounding irony' in this context?


texts:
I (think I) know how to pluralize an indirect quote, e.g.,

  Their survey answers were limited to yeses and nos.

But how do I pluralize a direct quote ending in a punctuation mark? Am I even allowed to retain the punctuation mark for emphasis?

In other words, would the correct form(s) be:

  There was no shortage of "How do you do?"s and "Let's do lunch!"es at the networking event.
  There was no shortage of "How do you do"s and "Let's do lunch"es at the networking event.
  There was no shortage of how-do-you-dos and let's-do-lunches at the networking event.
  [something else altogether]

Does the number of correct forms change when I elect to italicize quotes, rather than demarcate them with quotation marks?

A/N: I was trying to keep my example short, but I do realize that "how-do-you-do" is already an established phrase. Hyphenation seems unwieldy, however, if the quote were longer.


texts: Do any non-transitive (in a mathematical sense) slang terms exist?

texts:
Are there any words that are slang for another word which is itself a slang term for something else, but the secondary slang term is not slang for the original word?

That is, given words Y and Z, where Y is a slang term for Z, does there exist a word X such that it is slang for Y, but not for Z?


texts: Irradiate, illuminate and shine to mean "throw light"

texts:
All the three words are used to mean "throw light" in a document explaining principles of a barcode reader which I am checking. They are all used in sentences to explain "Throw LED to barcode".

I would think "irradiate" is the most direct word to explain this and am not sure about the other two words. They are definitely synonyms and I can find each word in a section to describe other two in some dictionaries, but I am concerned about collocation.

examples:
(illuminate) Even if a barcode is within the illuminated area, it cannot be read if it is not on the light receiving axis.

(shine) Light from the LED shines on the barcode. By using pulse light emission, you can capture a still image of a moving workpiece.

Please give me your opinions on this. Thank you in advance.


texts: the usage of dashes before relative pronouns

texts:
I came across these two sentences:

Today, his sculptures – which spin, tilt, and sway – belong to collections worldwide.

Today, his sculptures – spin, tilt, and sway – belong to collections worldwide.

Which one would be correct? Or would they both be acceptable?


texts:
It is the ?? of the Board to recommend changes.

I am looking for the correct missing word in this sentence. The person who wrote it used 'province' which is obviously wrong and I thought it should be 'provenance' but the dictionary does not back me up on this.

What they are trying to say is that it is the Board's responsibility or authority to do something.

'Prerogative' is a possibility but doesn't quite cut it as it acknowledges they can do something, not necessarily that is is in the scope of their activities.

Suggestions?


texts:
What words can be used to describe the sound a driving car makes? I'm specifically looking for words that could apply to a standard 2000 Honda Civic, or comparable vehicle.

"Roar" sounds too powerful.

"Whir" sounds like a word you'd use to describe an electric fan.

It'd also be absolutely amazing if the word could be used in place of "roar" in the phrase "the car roared to life."


texts: Expressing sudden interruption in written, narrative speech

texts:
Question: What is the lexical technique for expressing sudden interruptions in written, narrative speech?

For example:

  I was walking down the street when— wait! Look at that!

In the example above, I use an em dash, but the interruption does not contain the magnitude that I was going for.

The mind almost never processes text in linearity, and this makes it difficult to create sudden events in written narrative speech.

Speaking however, is a sequential process that allows employing speech devices such as intonation and inflection in order to achieve a desired magnitude.

Is there a formal writing technique for expressing an interruption with a magnitude greater than that of in my example, in written narrative speech?


texts: Word for someone who has used excessive amounts of perfume/cologne

texts:
Excessive levels of perfume or cologne is an issue for many people in the workplace. For example, this article describes how to implement a policy against the overuse of such toiletries.

I would like to know if there exists any single words describing the overuse of fragrances.


texts: What is the syntactic category of 'there are'?

texts: I have a background in philosophy and logic, and I don't know much about syntax. I guess 'there are' is not a determiner. I would simply call 'there are' a quantifier, and something like 'there are Fs' a quantifier phrase, but I want to know the name they receive in the literature on Syntax.


texts: What does "couldn't happen to a better person" mean?

texts: It seems like it should mean "if they were any better of a person, this wouldn't have happened to them" (which is quite negative), but it's always used in a way that implies a meaning of "no person is better than them" (which is obviously positive). How does the common usage make sense?


texts: "Convenient for you" vs "convenient to you"

texts: Is there a difference between "convenient for you" and "convenient to you"? And if it is, could you explain it?


texts: What is the difference between "phonetic" and "phonemic"?

texts:
I've read several descriptions but I still don't understand. From what I can gather, the main (or only) difference is phonemics is not concerned with "nondistinctive elements" but I don't know what that is.

Also, is there such a thing as a "phonemic transcription" (as opposed to "phonetic transcription")?


texts: Is there a word that could either mean to take a bath or take a shower?

texts:
Is there a word like that?

Example sentence:

  With my stomach full, I __. This time using the shower.


texts:
Recently, One of my friend told me that a sentence "I am a college student" is not generally used to introduce oneself in USA. Instead, a sentence "I go to college" is more general expression.

I have never heard the sentence "I go to college" when someone introduces oneself.
My friends and I always say that "Hi, I'm 000. I'm 22 years old. I'm a college student." when we have to introduce ourselves.

"I am a college student" vs"I go to college": Which one is generally used?


texts:
For an application I'm working on I need to log whenever a student is late. I'm having trouble finding a noun to use as the title of the collection of these occurrences.

As an example:

When a student registers to the school you would save the record in a collection of registrations
When a student misses or skips a class you would save the record in a collection of absences

When a student is late to class you would save the record in a collection of ...


texts: Confusing double occurrence of Past Perfect in the same sentence

texts:
I am currently working with a grammar book designated for advanced English learners, and I have come across a strange usage of Past Perfect:

So, before the young man had had a chance to say anything John had given him an application form.

Since it is clear from the context that one activity had taken place before the other why does past perfect go with both verbs? To me it should go as follows:

So, before the young man had a chance to say anything John had given him an application form.


texts:
I am wondering which one, China man or Chinese man, should I use for the below sentence.

  Doing business in China requires deep understanding of its culture. But this China/Chinese man, although speaks the language, knows nothing about it.

My instinct is that "China man is better in here, but not sure.

What do you think?


texts: Is it okay to drop quotation marks on second reference?

texts:
Is it okay to drop quotation marks on the second reference of an unusual term? Here’s a sentence with the term “greenfield” in it, which is not a common term. A few paragraphs later, the writer uses the same term and encloses it in quotation marks. Is it necessary to keep those quotation marks?

I feel fortunate to have had “greenfield” customers ...
This is especially important in “greenfield” implementations ...


texts: What is the meaning of the following sentence

texts: What does "Lionel Messi brace gets Barcelona off to winning start" mean?


texts: Should I put a comma to make this sentence correct?

texts:
As I am preparing for an English exam, I have questions about what I read here and then so I really appreciate if you can tell me if this sentence is correct in terms of its grammar. To be more specific, I was confused that why there is no comma after "evident" but even after putting comma in between, it is still quite vague with a second language learner like me.

  A similar growth in the figure for children was evident reaching 25% in 2007 and around 24% in the final year.

Also, should I put comma after "items" and "expenditure"?

  Turkey spent most on these items at just 4% of their national expenditure which is around double that of Spain (1.8%)


texts: How to quote multiple lines of verse inline

texts:
When quoting multiple lines of verse inline, is it proper to put spaces around the slash? For example, with a slash but no spaces:

  "Beside the lake, beneath the trees/Fluttering and dancing in the breeze."

Or a slash with spaces:

  "Beside the lake, beneath the trees / Fluttering and dancing in the breeze."

I tried googling this and didn't come up with much. Wikipedia says to use spaces around the slash, but I'd like some additional insight. I think the spaces usually aren't necessary, and they look kind of silly every time I try using them. I can see the logic in adding spaces; in the example above, someone may think the slash is joining "trees" and "Fluttering" instead of joining the two lines, but I find that exceedingly unlikely.


texts:
The below is an excerpt of a document requirement for a UK visa:

a bank statement dated no more than three months earlier than the date of application showing transactions relating to [...]

We're having trouble to agree whether this means older than 3 months or the exact opposite.
What exactly does this mean?
Older than 3 months old? Or the opposite?


texts: 'Eventually' — in the past or by some point in the future

texts:
Consider the following exchange:

  Alice: Did Charlotte send you that email?
  Bob: No, but I'm sure she'll send it eventually.

In this case, there's no upper bound on the period of time in which Charlotte can send the email to Bob for his expectation to be met. Suppose I want it to be limited by some point in the past or in the future:

  Alice: Did Charlotte send you that email last month?
  Bob: No, but I'm sure she sent it eventually.

Can Bob say that? What about:

  Alice: Did Charlotte send you that email last month?
  Bob: No, but I'm sure she sent it eventually-by-one-week-ago.

And what about:

  Alice: Did Charlotte send you that email last month?
  Bob: No, but I'm sure she has sent/did send/will send it eventually-by-one-month-from-now.

How can Bob express his certainty that the email was sent, or will be sent, at some point in time between the day Alice mentioned and the limit time Bob is referring to?


texts: Origin of the expression "to be gagging to do something"

texts:
There's an informal British meaning to the word gag, which is

[to] be very eager to have or do (something).

It's generally used (i.e., I've only ever heard it this way) in the present continuous tense, for example:

"I'm absolutely gagging for a pint"
"We got to the bar, I was gagging for a beer, as I hadn't time for one at the club."
"They'll be gagging for the opportunity to play live in front of a crowd."

How did it come about? According to Etymonline, the word 'gag' comes from

mid-15c., transitive, "to choke, strangle" (someone), possibly imitative and perhaps influenced by Old Norse gag-hals "with head thrown back."

But I'm not too sure how choking/strangling with all its negative connotations become associated with something positive like being very eager.
I checked phrases.org.uk and couldn't find anything, so I've drawn a blank.

And an additional point, why is it pretty much always continuous, like "I was gagging for a drink" rather than something like "I gagged for a drink"?


texts: Is there a rule about using the adverb "utterly" followed by negative adjectives?

texts: I have noticed that most of the time it is the case in usage, but I'm not sure if it is a rule or not. I. e. would it be right to say "utterly wonderful" or does it sound oxymoronic? Thanks


texts: Is there a word for something hidden in pants/trousers pocket but its shape is visible?

texts:
How do I describe the shape that is visible from the exterior of a pocket? For example, when we put a cell in our pants pocket, we can ‘see’ it is a cell phone.

How do I express this in a sentence? Is there a standard phrase, expression or idiom which describes this situation?

  I can see the thing he's hiding in his pocket as the thing's shape was visible

I'm sorry if the sentence is a bit incorrect, but I am not able to construct a better one.


texts:
Is the expression "viewed as marking" considered idiomatic? I was wondering this because in the following SAT problem, the answer is no error.

  Jean Toomer was not only the author of Cane, a novel whose publication has been viewed as marking the beginning of the Harlem Renaissance, but also a respected advisor among Quakers.  No error

However, it seems quite strange because I have not heard it being used much. Could someone give more examples of similar cases in addition to the first question?


texts: Usage of 'out of' at the beginning of a sentence

texts:
Is it possible to use 'out of' in the sense of 'from among' at the beginning of a sentence?

Would the examples below sound grammatical and natural with use of 'out of'in this sense?

  This story is about the Dyatlov pass mystery. A group of Russian skiers headed by Dyatlov set off on a journey to mountains where the skiers met their death. Out of ten skiers, one man fell ill and turned back, which helped him to remain alive. The others were murdered by an unknown compelling force.

and

  Rescuers delivered frozen bodies of the Dyatlov group to the morgue of a small town located 15 km south-west of the Ural Mountains. Out of the delivered corpses, a forensic scientist chose one to start the procedure of thawing.


texts: So, are single quotes, double quotes or italics most appropriate here?

texts:
I know, I know - similar questions have been asked before, but after reading so many answers here and elsewhere my intuitions have been scrambled and I have lost confidence in my normal practice...

Stylistics originally developed out of what was known in the past as 'rhetoric'.

Stylistics originally developed out of what was known in the past as "rhetoric".

Stylistics originally developed out of what was known in the past as rhetoric.

Normally (and throughout the previous hundred+ pages I have just proof-read) I would have favoured single quotation marks to indicate that I am mentioning rather than using a word.  I'm reluctant to introduce an inconsistency into my proofing, but somehow the single quotation marks look quite wrong in these sentences - the single quotation marks seem to suggest an unusual word or a non-standard use, whereas italics seems much more natural. Is there actually a subtle difference that I can't quite coax into consciousness? Or am I just tired...?

Similarly, 'philology', linguistics' and 'stylistics' in the following sentences (bolded just to highlight the words I am talking about):

During the nineteenth century rhetoric was incorporated into linguistics, which was known at that time as philology.

The emphasis shifted to other areas of language which all fall under the umbrella of linguistics. [Neither quotation marks nor italics for 'linguistics' in this sentence?]

After that, in the 1960s, the sub-discipline known as stylistics was born.


texts: Is there a word for 'to watch something change'? Specifically, observing something that is in the process of changing

texts:
I was thinking 'observe' but that doesn't necessarily imply that the thing you are observing is changing. Is there a more specific word?

Ex: "I will ___ this butterfly as it emerges from its cocoon."

A word for 'watching a transformation', specifically.


texts: What's the word for two people who like/love each other but neither one confesses it?

texts:
Two people like each other or are in love but neither one has expressed it openly, so they each wonder about the other and consequently frustrations might begin to build... What's that called?

EDIT: March 3rd, 2012
 The word I'm looking for describes love in such a fashion where two people love each other, but frustrations build because neither has acknowledged loving the other.


texts: "I am trying to learn" vs "I try to learn"

texts:
What is the difference between present simple and present progressive when it comes to actions like the following?

At school, I am trying to learn a wide array of subjects.
At school, I try to learn a wide array of subjects.
At school, I am studying Human Physiology.
At school, I study Human Physiology

All the actions are not happening at the time of speaking. They all are somehow temporary.


texts: Compound subject whose parts are joined by "and" and verb agreement : when is the singular correct?

texts:
I am in doubt as to whether the subject-verb agreement of the second sentence of this paragraph is correct :

Unfortunately, there is no such thing as the ideal home workshop because most people are
limited by the space available and by their budget.
However, the information and diagram here acts as a guide to help you formulate a sensible
workshop layout and a machinery “wish list”.

I suppose if the compound subject is seen as a single unit, then the sentence can be considered as correct.
A little further in the same book, another sentence has a singular verb with a compound subject :

Alternatively commandeer a garage, or build yourself a substantial workshop if outdoor
space and permission allows – however, do consider the impact of machinery noise on your
neighbours.

Can "outdoor space and permission" be seen as one thing, or would this be considered a mistake ?


texts: How to correctly pronounce 'presentation'?

texts:
I have been confident with my pronunciation of the word presentation, which is /prɛz(ə)nˈteɪʃ(ə)n/ or /ˌprez.ən'teɪ.ʃən/.

In the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary, the pronunciation of this word is as above in both AmE and BrE. I also listen to the human pronunciation given by the dictionary and decide that it must be /ˌprez.ən'teɪ.ʃən/. Also, on http://dictionary.cambridge.org, both AmE and BrE versions are pronounced as /prez.ən'teɪ.ʃən/.

However, on the Oxford Learner's Dictionaries (http://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com), this word is pronounced as BrE /ˌpreznˈteɪʃn/, AmE /ˌpriːzenˈteɪʃn/ with the human pronunciation being clearly different.

So my questions:

Why do the two 'reliable' dictionaries give different versions of pronunciation of presentation?
Are both right? Which is more common?


texts: What is the meaning of the adjective phrase "three-up"?

texts: In Annie Proulx's short story, the phrase "three-up outfit" appears, used to describe the ranch of one of the characters. I do not know what "three-up" means.


texts: Collective nouns treated as singular and plural in the same sentence

texts:
I have a problem with a sentence in a news announcement I'm writing. This is the sentence:

1) Company X is expanding and hires Person Y as their new CEO.

I've previously understood that it is correct to treat collective nouns, the company in this case, as singular or plural depending on if one refers to "the company itself" or "the people in the company". In this case, I'm referring to both (the company in itself is expanding, but the people are hiring someone as their new CEO). As such, the number of the pronoun does not agree with the number of the verb.

Two other possible versions that don't sound as right as the above are:

2) Company X is expanding and hire Person Y as their new CEO.

3) Company X is expanding and hires Person Y as its new CEO.

Which one is correct / do you prefer?


texts:
I have some doubts about the practical use of ''have had''. Let me give you two examples:

If you had done (something) this would have never had happened;
If you had done (something) this would have never happened.

My question: Is the first sentence correct?

If so, then what's the difference between the first one and the second one?


texts: Name a person who loves to do things manually

texts: What will you call a person who loves to do things manually rather than using any technology tools.


texts:
In AmEng vernacular, is the word tab specific to restaurant and bar checks, or can it also be used for hotel bills?
E.g.

Guest: We'll be checking out early tomorrow morning, so if it isn't too much trouble, I'd like to close out my account right now. May I get the tab, please?
Front Desk: Certainly, Mr. Smith. Just one moment, please. I'll print it out for you.

tab:

A creditor's statement: bill, check M-W
chiefly US and Canadian A bill, esp. one for a meal or drinks Collins English Dictionary
informal, chiefly North American A restaurant bill:
the waiter brought three drinks and a new tab ODO


texts: Which leaves his entire reported eighty million pounds estate to his fourth wife


texts: a word for the sound a person makes when knocked down

texts: Working on a scene where a character is repeatedly struck down by having objects thrown at her, starting the scene with the sound she would make after being hit with a ball made of solid ice.


texts: Describing people who jump hoops to get a good deal

texts:
What is a precise and concise way of describing a person who goes out of their way to find deals or discounts for their purchases?

Suggestions which I'm not 100% happy with:

Smart buyer
Bargain hunter
Deal chaser
Discount hunter


texts: Is there a word for two persons dodging each other on the street?

texts: While walking on a path, sometimes two person try to dodge each other. Like one guy steps left, and at the same time, other guy steps left and then switches direction and so does the other guy. Is there a word to describe this?


texts: "Cleanskin" meaning untattooed in Australian English

texts:
According to Macquarie Dictionary one recent definition of cleanskin is untattooed.

Is this just a regionalism  or is this usage found also in British and American English?

(None of the common online dictionaries such as ; M-W, Oxford, Cambridge etc. show the above definition)


texts: Adjective to describe someone hiding knowledge

texts:
I can't seem to recall an informal or idiomatic word that describes someone who doesn't like share what he knows, in the context of scientific knowledge. I thought it's "scringy" but that's not the right word. Any help?

Example: "Come on man, tell me how you fixed the zombie zapper, don't be ____."


texts:
If you want to talk about a possibility or something you would like to be different you can say "If I were taller", "If you were faster". You use the verb in past tense. Is it correct?

But what about the following?

  If this app worked in this way, I would like it more.

I don't know but the above sentence sounds kind of weird for me. I don't know if it's correct or not.


texts: Can the word "something" really not be broken up into any pieces (hyphenation) in British English?

texts:
I'm testing this software hyphenator. It seems to be working overall quite well, but one thing struck me as odd, so I'm asking you language experts.

The word "something" doesn't get broken up into any pieces. It's solid. That means that, at least according to this software, in British English (or English, in Great Britain, more correctly), the word "something" must always be printed on the same line in a book/magazine, and never partially printed on one line with a hyphen on the next line.

On the other hand, if I switch from "en_GB" to "en_US" (USA English), it splits it up into two parts: "some" and "thing". In other words, in USA mode, it can be printed partially on one row as "some-" followed by "thing" on the next line.

Is this correct? Why is British English so "rigid" for this particular word? Maybe it also applies to many other words -- this is just a case I happened to spot with my eyes.


texts:
I'm a non-native english speaker (from Brazil).
I'm looking for the most common day-to-day word for the stationery device called "mechanical pencil".

Indeed, while "mechanical pencil" seems to be the most commonly used word for that device, at least in US, I've also found the words "propelling pencil", for UK and "pacer", for Australia.

I'd rather stick with mechanical pencil, but this word seems awkward, comparing to the brazilian word for this object (something like "penciler").

So, is there any simpler or most-commonly used word for that, or can I really stick to mechanical pencil without any further concerns?


texts: Is "The Infinite" a metaphor that can refer to God?

texts: First, I am not entirely sure this can be viewed as a metaphor, but I feel this is an edge case, because like the "Absolute" it refers to a quality of God, but "Infinite" even if it's a quality of God, sounds sketchy at best. What do you think?


texts:
I'm a bit confused about when to hyphenate in certain circumstances. Specifically, which of the following would I hyphenate?

  Launch a first strike

  Launch a second strike

  Damage first strike capabilities

  Damage second strike capabilities

I know that compound adjectives are hyphenated, but is a "first strike" a compound adjective, since it's really one concept?


texts: What is a better way to write: only three people signed up: you, me and "thehulk66"

texts:
It is better to write this:

  Only three people signed up: you, Jim,
  and I.

than this:

  Only three people signed up: you, me,
  and Jim.

Because "I" is a subject and not an object.

But what if I want the stress to come at the end, e.g.:

  Only three people signed up: you, me
  and "thehulk66".

Grammatically correct would be:

  Only three people signed up: you, I,
  and "thehulk66".

but it sounds jarring and takes the focus away from my intent, which is to indicate that I think it is funny that there is a person named "thehulk66" who has signed up to our little group.

So what would be the best way to write this?


texts:
My partner is a very passionate, loving and caring person. He does however keep these emotions unexpressed, hidden. Though not in a negative way and not to me.
Is there a word that defines this?
Example sentence - "His ( blank ) enabled him to hide his strong emotions from other's".
Thanks


texts:
Could you please explain to me why the grammatical form in the first sentence is correct while the uasage of passive voice in the second sentence is not permitted.

I was given money.

The pupils were explained everything to by the teacher.


texts:
I am curious as to why "nay" replaces the simple unequivocal "no" in the context of voting.

My research in Merriam-Webster tells me that "nay" means "no" (not the other way around) and the first known use of "nay" appeared in 1400s. Since the use of "no" existed before 1400 and the word remains to be used afterward, why would "nay" become the preferred choice of word when it comes to voting. Any idea?


texts: Is the phrase "one time setup" ambiguous?

texts:
Would the phrase "one time setup" be ambiguous to an international audience of software developers?
They have two choices: a setup procedure that has to be done at the start of every new session, or a setup procedure that is done only the first time they use the software.
Might "one time" be taken to mean the setup will only be operational one time?
If so, what are unambiguous terms to use here?


texts: Technical term for associating a group with the actions of a few

texts:
What is the technical term for when people thinks the actions of the few represent the many.

Like when people thinks everyone in a specific group behaves a certain way cause of how a few people in the group behave, including non stereotypical behaviours. I thought it was "generalisation" but I couldn't find any articles using that term.


texts: Medical term for fear of not being outdoors enough

texts:
Sometime ago i came across an online article that describes a condition (from my experience very real) when someone starts physically suffering from not spending enough time outdoors and too much time in the city.  The article gave such condition a very particular name and, for the love of God, i cannot recall what that name was.  Must be one of the ***-phobia or $$$-mania with a greek stem. Does anyone know what I am referring to?
Alternatively, the term i am looking for could possibly stand for "acute feeling of discomfort from being a part of civilized world".


texts:
This sentence, to me at least, seems fine as is.

In this sentence, I believe "to me at least" to be a parenthetical aside, and it looks completely acceptable. But my English teacher said that I ALWAYS have to move "to me at least" to in front of the sentence like this.

  To me at least, this sentence seems fine as is.

I think that is just a type of style, as I have numerous sentences that resemble my first sentence in structure. But because I am not a native speaker, I just have to make sure.

Are both of them fine, or is it just second one  that is acceptable?


texts:
What does the a mean in the following sentences?

She is a do it like this.
Sam is a visit the new market today.

Does the word a represent a future action like :

  Sam will visit the new market today. ?


texts: Acronym or expression that describes the distress over having missed out on something

texts:
There's FOMO: Fear Of Missing Out.
I'm looking for a similar concept but for the past tense. Some concept/expression/acronym that describes the feeling of distress over having missed out on something.
For example, on the day after a party you decided not to go to, you might realize that the party was amazing.

"Oh, just found out on Twitter how good the party was. Now I'm feeling
<concept>."

Another example is if you discover that your friends went to a party you were not invited to.
(So "regret" is not the right word here, since it doesn't apply to the previous example.)
Has something like this already been coined?
After some research I found the following:
FOHMO (Fear Of Having Missed Out) - It doesn't really describe what I'm looking for since in my case, you don't fear that you missed out, you know you missed out.
KIMO (Knowing I Missed Out) - Closer, but doesn't express the feeling of distress I'm looking for.


texts: Is there any equivalent for this Persian expression "____ is like an unopened watermelon"?

texts:
The Persian expression/ simile "____ is like an unopened (=uncut) watermelon" implies that you never know what the given (risky) issue/ choice will turn out to be until you proceed to experience or try it.

We use it specially for speaking about cases in which we have made a (risky) choice, picked up someone or something but we are not still sure if it has been a right choice; or just for speaking generally about making such choices with unknown consequences.

Examples:

Marriage is like an unopened watermelon: This is the most famous usage of this expression and implies that you cannot  be sure if you have picked up the right person to marry. Just like when you pick up a watermelon, you'll notice if it's a good one (i.e. ripe and sweet) after cutting and eating it, you'll only notice if you have married 'The one' after experiencing the married life with him/ her (i.e. living under the same roof for some time).
Brexit is like an unopened watermelon: That means it is still not clear what will happen after Britain leaves the EU (i.e. if it will end up in a better or a worse condition).

Is there any idiom, expression or even a simile as the equivalent for this Persian expression in English (i.e. you won't know what will happen until you (proceed to) experience or try the given (risky) issue or choice)?

Unfortunately I couldn't find anything in my searches.


texts: Word for number or word that reads the same when inverted or mirrored

texts:
The number I am thinking of is 80808. This is a palindrome. However, it is more than a palindrome, because it can be flipped or mirrored and will still read the same way.

Is there a word for this?


texts: Thank you for explaining vs Thank you for the explanation

texts:
What is the difference between the 2 expressions and which one is more commonly used?

Please show me example usage of the 2 expressions.
Thanks!


texts: Person who pretends to not understand unless one speaks in exactly the words they expect

texts:
I just realized there are some people around my workplace who

always try to correct me when using a certain word, saying that that's not how I should speak, and I should use other words (the ones they provide me with)
or pretend they didn't understand what I was saying, but it's pretty clear that they did understand. This again with the same purpose, of making me rephrase, or use the words they expect.

When doing this, they use, among others, the argument that they sure have understood, but others might not. But then, nobody else complains of not having understood what I was saying. Another argument they use is that even if they understood it, what I said was incorrect.

I make the assumption that when I express my ideas in words, I use enough details to get the point across.

I would call this type of non-constructive attitude a 'hater' attitude, but I'm curious whether there's a more specific word for this.

meta: I'm not a native English speaker, and I don't know a word for this in my language, I'd just use the dictionary to find out if my language has an analogous word. Anyway it would be good to know if there's a word for this concept in these two languages.
meta: Also, the situations I refer to happen (mostly) when I'm speaking my own language, but the language really isn't the point here, because I do speak multiple languages and I did meet this behavior (though very rarely) when speaking any language.


texts: What did Petrucci mean by the book title 'Wild Stringdom'?

texts: His book name is "Wild Stringdom", I don't understand... — what is it? I'm from Russia and I speak English very bad. I want to translate this book for me into Russian.


texts: Difference between "Labyrinth" and "Maze"

texts:
I know the two are pretty much synonymous:

labyrinth
a complicated irregular network of passages or paths in which it is difficult to find one’s way; a maze

maze
a network of paths and hedges designed as a puzzle through which one has to find a way

a complex network of paths or passages

What are the differences between the two? Is a maze just a kind of labyrinth created as a puzzle? When should I use one and not the other? Any differences in connotations, formality, regional allegiance, etc?


texts:
I'm writing a fiction novel, and I'm not quite sure about the rules on italics.

Are the following italicized correctly?

John Doe, or Big John as he liked to be called, went to the market.
The item in his hand, which he called a tablet, was a powerful computer.
He wasn’t comfortable around rich people whom he called fancy folks.

The context is narration within a novel.
Edit: See answer by Silenus below.
Edit: Title changed to make it easier to search.


texts: Is "a man after my own heart" for Jesee or David?

texts:
In the following sentence:

  I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.

Is "a man after my own heart" for Jesse, or for David? From the context, I know it's for David, but "a man after my own heart" sits closer to Jesse than David, so is it ambiguous from syntax?


texts: A word to describe the action when a child make his/her hands motion like waving to say that something is not what he/she means

texts:
I can't think of any word to describe the action when a child make his/her hand motion like waving to say that something is not what he/she means.
Please, give me some suggestions. Thank you for your help!


texts:
I'm wondering whether "for the summer" means "for this summer" or "for every summer"?

Can someone please help me out?


texts: What's the difference betweeen "crime" and "criminality"?

texts:
One definition of criminality is

  a criminal act

which is exactly what a crime is. I realize that both crime and criminality can be collective nouns for acts of unlawfulness as when we say

  Violent crime in the US has dropped over the last two decades.

And here's a link to a site that discusses

  the possible connection between environmental lead levels and the drop in criminality

But I'm confused as to whether there's a difference between the two words. For instance, here's a book title

  Environmental Crime and Criminality: Theoretical and Practical Issues

If the two words meant the same thing, the inclusion of both in the title would be redundant. This implies a difference. But here's another book title

  Crimes by the Capitalist State: An Introduction to State Criminality

The colon implies that the following words are a restatement of the foregoing words and thus that the two words mean the same thing.

Can someone explain this to me?


texts: What's the verb form of 'deadbeat' in English?

texts:
I am looking for an idiomatic word to describe what a deadbeat does of refusing repaying. In my country, this behavior is described as 'laizhang', literally means a person refusing to repay the money he owes intentionally. an example of it would be:

  That deadbeat, he borrowed $1000 from someone last year and promised to repay it this year, but now he___, denying the loan he owes and trying to get away with it.

Is there a general word to say it in English? What do you call this behavior in daily life conversation? thanks.

edit: @1006a  I am looking for a word to specifically describe someone who can pay but won't in spoken English, I think that's a different request, thanks.


texts: Did Shakespeare really invent 1700 words?

texts:
I am having a discussion with colleagues about a recent news article relating to new words in the dictionary (cleggmannia? really?) and got onto the subject of evolution of language, and how many words Shakespeare 'invented'.

Having never given the statistic a second thought until now, it occurs to me that it is bizarre to imagine someone who, at the time a successful popularist playwright, would just stick words of ambiguous meaning (to his audience at least) into his works.

Is it not a more sensible suggestion that he was simply the earliest recorded individual to write these words down, and that they were probably very much in common use at the time?


texts:
A corollary in mathematics is a useful side-effect (with other related meanings, but as it pertains to this question, that's the relevant definition to keep in mind).

I want to use the word corollarily in a sentence to mean "in a way that results in this as a corollary of the aforementioned". As an example: This would annul the mercy towards the victim that the death penalty would corollarily extend. This would mean that the death penalty of a perpetrator causes a situation which benefits his victim in a specific way which may or may not be the original intent of the imputation of the death penalty for the given crime.

There is no such word as corollarily, at least not that I found. So my question is, what is your opinion in regards to using it that way (in either a formal or informal setting) as a coinage? I would like to hear what you think about "adverbizing" words, but specifically this one, and in this way.

If this is too confusing, the example is in reference to the situation where (specifically in a religious context) a woman's (or man's) spouse was unfaithful and will therefore be put to death because the crime of adultery is punished with the death penalty. This woman would now be allowed to marry whomever she wants and this would not be adultery on her part. In removing the death penalty she might now worry that (again, in a religious context) if she marries again, she might be guilty or adultery. So, the death penalty had the corollary effect that mercy was extended to her, allowing her to marry without this worry. Where the originally intended purpose of the death penalty isn't to allow her to marry again, but to punish the crime, but it also has this effect of mercy to the woman "as a corollary". Please, obviously do not comment on the example in this thread, as that would be way off topic. If you really want to discuss this, ask on christianity.SE or even miyodeya.SE, and link us here and we can discuss there.


texts: Difference between addressing and answering a question

texts:
"To address the question",
"To answer the question".
What's the difference?


texts:
Failover is defined as:
"A backup operational mode in which the functions of a system component are assumed by secondary system components when the primary component becomes unavailable through either failure or scheduled down time."

So when a system is in this "backup operational mode", is it "In Failover" or is it "Failed over" (and should there be a dash there?)

This will be used in a software user interface showing the state of the system.


texts: Pronouncing the letter v in words like village, advantage,

texts: I have heard at so many occasions, especially in Germany, that people - frequently including secondary school teachers and students - pronounce words containing the letter v as if the letter were a w, e.g. willage (instead village), adwantage (instead of advantage), etc. Does anybody have an explanation for this?


texts: What is a word for describing the behavior of one that says something is alright when it really isn't?

texts:
Is there a word to describe how person 1 is behaving when they try to assure person 2 that person 1 will be okay if person 2 does something when person 1 really won't be okay? Like for instance, Jill tells Jack it's okay if he takes Sue to the fair instead of her; however, Jill would really prefer it if Jack took her instead of Sue.

In this circumstance, Jack is wanting to find out if Jill will be
upset if he takes his cousin to the fair instead of her.
Because Jill doesn't want to seem too controlling, she tells Jack
that it's okay that he takes Sue instead of her, even though she had
been looking forward to going to the fair with him for weeks.
Secretly, Jill is disappointed or saddened because of Jacks decision.


texts: When describing a person, should "Valentine" be capitalized?

texts:
When used to describe the day, the word is capitalized: "What are you doing on Valentine's Day?".

But what about when describing a person, as in meaning two in Wiktionary:

  She was my Valentine.

Should it be capitalized, or not?

I tried using Google NGrams, but couldn't come up with a good non-noisy query.


texts: In a sentence: "We arrive after a fraught journey, which I undertake begrudgingly, for the greater good, since I am clearly not the maddest person in the bus," what does "for the greater good" mean in connection with the following?


texts:
What is a word that means "to be unaware of responsibility" or "to not realize there is a responsibility to take"?
This is for someone who is a narcissist and doesn't even see/realize her wrongdoings, thus not realizing she needs to take responsibility.
The sentence I was hoping to say would be along the lines of, "She was  _______..."


texts: What does the phrase "Lying my way from you" mean?

texts:
It's the title of the song by linkin park.
Well, I can guess by the context, what it means, but I can't quite understand whether it's some grammar construction, or unique phrase.
Lyrics:
http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/linkinpark/lyingfromyou.html


texts: Are these phrases puns, idioms, quips, or something else?

texts: What is the grammatical term for phrases such as "The juice isn't worth the squeeze" and "Listen and silent have the same letters.  Coincidence?"


texts: what will be the alternate word for convey in the following sentence

texts:
I am writing my first official email in English which happens to be my second language.
I am unsure about the correctness of the following sentence. Please help.

The detected error is false positive, and I have verified this against the source. I believe you have updated your system to check against improper pricing, but the same was never conveyed to us.

explain--> The situation is that we send our stock related information to another site for selling. the format of data that we send was agreed between us. Now suddenly they had changed the system without telling us hence the error came.


texts:
I have been looking at many company description and I found the following two usages

a) We sell a diverse range of products from books to toys.
b) We sell a diverse range of products, from books to toys.

The thing that puzzles me is why many companies insert a ',' before from.
Please let me know which one is correct. If b) is correct, I am curious why so?


texts:
What are the correct possibilities for word order in the following sentence?
Is there any general rule for imperative sentences? (Like SVOMPT?)

Please, check regularly the updated information about the meetings on the EBC website.
Please, regularly check the updated information about the meetings on the EBC website.
Please, check the updated information about the meetings on the EBC website regularly.

Something is telling me 1 isn't entirely correct, 2 maybe. I think 3 is correct, however I don't like the word regularly to be so far from the words check and information.

EDIT: attempt to summarize the answers:

#1 sounds awkward to most people except for Barrie
#2 seems to have least opponents
the comma should be omitted
new solution raised (from Hellion & Barrie England):

4) Please check regularly for updated information about the meetings on the EBC website.

Do you all think #4 is the best?


texts: Is there any difference between "stoop down" and "stoop"?

texts:
According to Longman, they are the same, but I wonder if this is correct or if so, which one is more common.

For example:

  Dave stooped down to tie his shoes.
  Dave stooped to tie his shoes.