texts: "looking forward to" vs" look forward to"

texts: Is there a difference between "I am looking forward to interviewing with your company" versus "I look forward to interview with your company"?


texts: When referring to a specific person by title only within a specific office, should the title be capitalized?

texts:
When referring to a specific person by title only within a specific office, should that title be capitalized, as in:
"XYZ University's Board Chairman and Office Manager shall provide the following documents by the September 1, 2021."
Should "Board Chairman" and "Office Manager" be capitalized since I am referring to a specific board chairman and office manager (Board Chairman and Office Manager of XYZ University)?  I adhere to the Chicago Manual of Style, and I cannot find anything specific on this situation.


texts: Are “unlevel / unleveler” not so common words?

texts:
Suzanne Mettler, a professor of government at Cornell University wrote the article under the title, “College, the Great Unleveler” in New York Times (March 1).
She pointed out that the degrees of inequality between the richer students and poorer students in higher education in U.S. is widening by saying;.

  "Most of us were raised to believe that going to college was the
  surest path to a better life, but for many today that belief can be
  perilous. Unless we can claw back polarization and plutocracy enough
  to restore opportunity in higher education, the United States will
  become a society in which rank is fixed and our ideal of upward
  mobility but a memory."

  http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/03/01/college-the-great-unleveler/?_php=true&_type=blogs&hp&rref=opinion&_r=0

Apart from her criticism on polarization of opportunity in higher education, I was drawn to the word, “unleveler,” which I thought a pretty common word, because of its shortness and easiness to understand due to the simple construction of “un＋level.”

However, when I checked the word on online Oxford, Cambridge, Merriam-Webster English Dictionary and Collins Cobuild English Dictionary at hand, none of them carries the word, “unlevel,” much less “unleveler.”

Only Readers English Japanese Dictionary 2nd edition published by Japanese English dictionary specialist publisher carries ‘unlevel,’ which is defined as a. not flat. vt. make sth uneven.

Is “unlevel (unleveler)” an uncommon word, though I think its meaning is obvious?

P.S.

I checked Google Ngram Viewer which gives incidence rate in 2008:

level:      0.02636579705%

unlevel: 0.0000015076%

uneven:  0.0004579210%

Apparently, ‘unlevel’ seems to be uncommon word.


texts: Why Shakespeare used "come" in the line "A Daniel come to judgement?"

texts:
From The Merchant of Venice, 1596:

SHYLOCK: A Daniel come to judgment! yea, a Daniel! O wise young judge,
how I do honour thee!

Is it a perfect tense with the auxiliary verb omitted? And is it a common grammatical phenomenon?


texts:
I've started to see 'emailed' a lot in our company correspondence but as a non-native speaker I always tend to use 'sent email' instead. Here are some examples from reliable sources:

“I worked with a lady in England named Elizabeth; she’s the best namer of horses I’ve ever met,” Mr. Roberts said. “So I emailed her and asked what I would name him. She emailed right back. She didn’t say ‘I suggest,’ or ‘I think.’” She said, “His name is Benediction.”
-- New York Times

“We condemn the use of the death penalty in all its forms. The death penalty is an inhuman, cruel and irreversible punishment that has no place in modern law,” Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom said in an emailed comment to Reuters news agency. -- Independent

Can we use 'email' as a verb as it is? How normal is this?
According to my own research, 'emailed' has been used a lot but 'email' as a verb is not common. So is this an exception just for the past tense?
Emailed - Lengusa
Email them - Lengusa (replace them with him/her etc)


texts: What's the difference between "take in" / "bring in" / "pull in" moneywise?

texts:
For the most part, it seems these words can be used interchangeably in most situations.

Salary - He took in $5,000 last month / She brought in $100,000 last year / I pulled in a lot of money.

Sales - The movie took/brought/pulled in $1 million in its first week.


texts: Another term for fixing another person's mess?

texts:
I am looking for another term/shorter words for 'fixing another person's mess'.
I tried looking it on the internet but to no avail.

Thanks for the help.


texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  Which is correct: “prefer X to Y” or “prefer X over Y”?

  I prefer walking to taking the bus

  I prefer walking rather than taking the bus

  I prefer walking but taking the bus

Wikipedia reads: "In grammar, a part of speech (also a word class, a lexical class, or a lexical category) is a linguistic category of words (or more precisely lexical items), which is generally defined by the syntactic or morphological behaviour of the lexical item in question."

Is taking the same part of speech in the sentences above?


texts: I received an email saying documents are /were

texts:
I received an email saying that the documents are/were being processed.

Which is correct? Are or were?


texts: Does being described as a "Whirling Dervish" have a positive or negative connotation?

texts:
In an email I received from an extended family member, she remarked that she had "heard through the grapevine" that I was quite the "home-making whirling dervish." This person and I have a (distant but) fond enough relationship that I know that she was not trying to insult me.  However I was curious whether she was complementing me or teasing me.

Here is the background information: I am known to hate cooking, and I do not have children.  On the other hand, I do like home design, creating comfortable, attractive, and personalized surroundings for myself and anyone who might want help (the second, non-cooking, part I know about myself, but don't know if that would be something widely known or discussed by others...I would assume not).

This question is not something that has bothered me, but it has made me curious about the connotations/ slant of the description "whirling dervish" and that knowledge would help me decipher whether she was being jokingly sarcastic or actually letting me know people have said nice things about my "homemaking" abilities.
Again, a silly situation, but an interesting language question.


texts: Meaning of "Guy’s heart’s gotta look like a whoopee cushion"

texts:
I don't understand the bold part. Could you help this? The background is morgue.

  Dr. Dick Miller: Internal bleeding from impact. Fatal sternal
  fracture, eight broken ribs, guy’s heart’s gotta look like a
  whoopee cushion. Whoa. This dude really axed into the fat shack.
  Dusted. Fubar. Wipe out.


texts: Single word request for someone with hidden but good intentions that seem opposite to their appearance

texts:
I am looking for the word that describes someone that does something for a hidden or secretive reason that is hard for others to understand because that person wouldn't seem like the type to do such a thing.

An example could be a very childish person going to a party and others think that just wanted to go to have a good time, however that person secretly has a much more important role that is seemingly very sophisticated and well thought out. This intention or motive is hard for others to pick up on.

I guess another example could be a character in a game or tv show that seems very nice on the outside but has a hidden ulterior motive that it seemingly can be both beneficial but disliked by the one who is in the dark.

It is like the person is concealing this hidden trait for the benefit of others.


texts: Is "if it has come to this" a common phrase?

texts:
I remembered seeing a lot of people using the phrase "if it has come to this", but when I wanted to use it myself, I didn't see many results of it being used on Google.
Is it because people don't use it that much or is there something actually similar to it?


texts: A "lesson 'in' compassion", but a "moral ___ compassion"?

texts:
We say "a lesson 'in' something". What is the acceptable preposition to be used with "moral" as a synonymous noun with "message" or "lesson"?

The most common collocation is "the moral 'of' the story,"  but "of" here conveys the idea that there is a lesson motivating the story, a lesson "behind" the story. I want to use "moral", however, to introduce what the lesson is about. I thought of "a moral 'about' compassion," but apart from that I have never heard that construct before, it sounds to my ear less powerful than "a lesson in compassion."

Thank you.


texts:
Sometimes in movies I see an architectural feature of hotels or large houses that have a side motor entrance or drop-off for cars with a roof as shown below:

Is there an architectural term for this thing?


texts: Is the subjunctive mood something that can exist without manifesting a change in the verb?

texts:
Is the subjunctive mood a condition which might not be expressed through any change in the verb, or is it a description that only applies when the verb changes?

For example: "Mary ought be here soon."  Subjunctive mood.
But how about:  "Mary ought to be here soon."  Subjunctive?


texts: How much exactly is increased when it is "increased by 1.1"?

texts:
I saw it in a text book, and a similar problem that also appeared in the book is "3 times faster", which is already asked. Simply speaking, the book says:

  Unfortunately, it increases the CPI by 1.1.

Where CPI is for clock cycles per instruction, if that matters.
According to the choices the question provided, it actually means the increased value is 1.1 times of the original one (10% increase). It's the first time I have seen "by" meaning "to". Is it acceptable in daily English?


texts: Is it possible that "Wearing your heart on your sleeve" has Jewish origin?

texts:
Was studying a biblical reference to "phylacteries" located in Matthew 23:5.
I researched this word in one of my favorite sources for such questions, that is at Chabad.org
http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/142435/jewish/Wrapping-the-Mind-and-Heart.htm

They point out that Phylacteries, also known as "Tefillin" refers to the little boxes worn during morning prayers during the week. One is specifically strapped to the sleeve of the upper arm, exactly positioned so that when the arm is bent, reading, the box is right next to the heart.

These boxes are to bind with Mind and Heart with our deeds. Here's a direct quote from the instructions of how to put these on your head and sleeve:

"Focus on what you’re doing. From the time you make the blessing until both tefillin are in place, do not talk. Don’t even wink. Just concentrate on hooking up your mind, heart and deeds, and binding them to G‑d."

In conclusion, the Jewish person in prayer, wearing the tefillin, is "wearing his heart on his sleeve."

Or... is this just a fanciful coincidence.... You tell me...


texts:
Are both correct?

Information was kept in secret.

Information was kept a secret.


texts: Is "gets" the correct tense to describe a continuous process in "John gets mentored on a daily basis"?

texts:
John gets a mentor to guide him throughout his life. —
  OR
  — He gets mentored on a daily basis.

I believe this is just as acceptable as the simple past:

  John got a mentor to guide him throughout his life. —
  OR
  — He got mentored on a daily basis."

Doesn't the use of got in the simple past tense suggest that John has already been mentored and that therefore his life has already ended?

I believe that gets can also be correct, since it shows that the mentoring he receives is a continuous process, and not one that has already ended, which suggests that he is not dead yet.

Please correct me if I'm wrong.


texts: To know something "inside out" or "inside and out"?

texts:
As a native English speaker (Australia) I've always known and used the expression "to know something inside out", meaning "to know thoroughly".

Just now when editing a post on another SE site that seemed to be written by a non-native speaker I was going to change "to know something inside and out" to "to know something inside out" but thought I'd check first.

I knew "inside and out" to have a different meaning and usage such as "The vehicle was fully restored inside and out".

I was surprised to find the English Wiktionary has a main entry under "to know something inside and out" and a stub entry only for "to know something inside out" declaring it to be a variant of the former!

This was contradicted by a Google search saying the version without "and" was a lot more popular, but a Google Ngram search seemed to suggest that the two had each gone up and down in popularity over time. So I decided this was all inconclusive.

So what do real/reliable/print dictionaries and other sources have to say about the matter? Are both considered OK, is one preferred, is one Euro-English that made it into the English Wiktionary, or has the expression changed over time, or does it vary by region?


texts:
I’m reading a mystery novel which was published in the 1930s, and a character describes another character who had threatened to kill her as “Latin” (with a capital L). What does this mean? Google doesn’t seem to help; here’s the exchange from the book:

She threatened to - well - kill us both. Jackie can be rather- Latin
sometimes.


texts:
I' ve got a specific sentence I would like to ask about.

"Since 2009 she worked there."
The person doesn' t work there anymore, someone else does, but I refer to a specific period of time in the past that is over. Can past simple be used here?

Thank you


texts: "Don't condescend to me" or "Don't condescend me"?

texts:
I've recently heard that the correct usage is "Don't condescend to me", but I've always used
"Don't condescend me".  Google has mixed quotes.  Which is the correct usage?

The dictionary has this entry:

  to stoop or deign to do something: He would not condescend to
  misrepresent the facts.

Now, in this sense, it makes sense to have the "to" at the end.  But the definition is slightly off... with the phrase "Don't condescend me", the usage is synonymous with that of patronize.  "He would not patronize to misrepresent the facts" does not make sense, so unless there is another definition of condescend that I am not finding, does that mean that "Don't condescend me" is incorrect?  I certainly hear it being used a lot, in TV / movies and everyday life.


texts:
The subordinate clause "From the way..." I understand the meaning of, however the main clause's meaning I do not. Would, if rephrased as, "I wouldn't wonder this time but what he [would die from]", be meaningfully equivalent to the below quote?

"From the way he cut up the other time you went away, I wouldn't wonder this time but what he died"


texts: Meaning of "lit" seemingly undiscussed as of yet

texts: In the Wikipedia article on the Skull and Bones secret society a quote attributed to Lanny Davis is given like so: "If the society had a good year, this is what the 'ideal' group will consist of: [...] a Chairman of the Lit". There are a couple of questions about "lit" (lowercase) here already, but I couldn't find out what "Lit" (uppercase) in this context could mean. Is it possibly a place in Yale?


texts: Another phrase for "dealing with people you wouldn't normally want to deal with but you do"

texts:
Has anyone got a nice phrase for "dealing with people you wouldn't normally want to deal with but you do because they perform a function that you would not want to do or are not able to do"?

I have in mind the situation in the Merchant in Venice where the Venetians tolerate the Jews, even though they dislike them, because they need them as moneylenders, since Christians were officially not allowed by the Church to collect interest (this despite the fact that countless Christian countries, including Venice, had commercial banks with networks operating all over Europe by the early Renaissance).


texts: What happened to the “‑est” and “‑eth” verb suffixes in English?

texts:
What happened to them, and how were they once used? Straining my mind to sound archaic, I came up with the following:

  Dost thou thinkest thou can escape thy sins?

and

  Bringeth me mine armor and favorite sword.

I’d like to use these suffixes intelligently, so my questions are:
how are ‑est and ‑eth properly appellated in conjugations, and
when and why did they disappear?


texts: Word for taking users/consumers away from another

texts:
I am looking for a word or phrase to describe the act of taking consumers away from one existing standard/norm in favor of an alternative.

For example: 3D printing will take away consumers from manufacturers and put the manufacturing into individuals hands.


texts: What is the difference between "even if" and "given that" in this context?

texts:
I am doing a CAE, Use of English, Part 1 (Multiple choice) exercise and I came across the following paragraph:

  As nomadic peoples in Asia are known to have been playing the game
  over two thousand years ago, polo can lay claim to being the world's
  oldest team sport, even if/given that the modern rules were only set
  down in the 1850s when British cavalrymen stationed in India took up
  the game.

where even if is the correct answer. To me, the latter makes more sense. Why is the former the only possibility, according to the answer key?


texts: When the waitress at a diner calls her male customer a ''good girl'' after getting tipped, is it meant to be offensive?

texts: My friend got called that and since neither of us are American, it just sounded offensive to us.


texts: Wiktionary says that cypher comes from Old French cyfre, which itself comes from Arabic. But ph is usually a transliteration of Greek phi. So how does it get into a French word?


texts:
I think this is purely a style preference, but I want to confirm (and settle a debate amongst colleagues). In general, is it better to use:

Antioch, Oberlin, and Boston Colleges.

-or-

Antioch, Oberlin, and Boston colleges.

On another forum, I found that the AP would choose the latter in the case of lists of things like rivers and mountain ranges -- I assume the same goes for lists of things like academic institutions. I can't find a style guide that advises the former, but it's nearly impossible to find results on Google that answer the question (I'm not even sure what to put into the query..."capitalization of a series of proper nouns" doesn't do it).

Thank you in advance.


texts: Is the expression "specifically tailored" redundant?

texts:
I guess the title pretty much covers it, but I'd like to complete the sentence just in case:

"The literature seems to lack a treatment specifically tailored to such method"


texts: Infinitive instead of gerund, specifically after 'require'

texts:
I use Grammarly Chrome extension to validate my texts in English. And with some sentences I keep seeing the error message "Infinitive instead of gerund". I'm not sure if this is an appropriate error message, and whether I should I adopt the suggested correction or not.

Example:

  The initial installation requires to have a certain expertise.

Correction suggested by Grammarly:

  Initial installation requires having a certain expertise.

For some reason, I don't like how the suggestion sounds. And I think I met with a similar use of an infinitive used after a verb before.


texts: Say I robbed you which makes you angry and then I blame you for being angry even though I caused it. So in a sense I'm accusing you falsely and making you a scapegoat. Is there a single word for what I should be called if I make false accusations in that specific way that I caused the situation even putting the blame on you ("scapegoat")?


texts: Which is correct? "While supplies last" or "while supply lasts?"

texts: For marketing copy, is it correct to say "while supplies last" or "while supply lasts?"  I've most often seen "supplies last" but I suppose "supply lasts" could be correct, too, depending on how you interpret supply as a noun - as in "we have a supply of items" versus "we have supplies of items."


texts: How do I translate "Actualmente estoy cursando tercer año"?

texts:
I am writing my resume and would like to say that I didn't finished my studies yet. So I would like to say which year is my current (I don't know if this phrase is even right).

In Spanish I would say "Actualmente estoy cursando el tercer año de mi carrera".

How would I say it in English?

I did some research and found that some would say "I am currently studying third year" but I think that it does not sound good because of the verb "studying"..


texts: Field Name for "positive, negative or neutral"

texts:
I have a Web form which allows users to give feedback, as a hazard, incident, comment or suggestions.

I'm trying to work out what the best descriptive name for the "Feedback Type" would be, whose values are:

positive
negative
neutral


texts: Phrase that refers to the period from 60 days ago to 30 days ago

texts:
If someone says "in the last month", it refers to the past 30~ days, but I would love to learn if there are phrases or words describing the period of 60 to 30 days before today?

For example, today is May 15th, and if something happened between Apr 15th to May 15th, it happened "in the last month". What if something happened between Mar 15th to Apr 15th? "In the second nearest month" sounds quite unusual to me.

Also 60-90 days ago and so on?


texts: What's an antonym for "virgin"? A single word would be preferable.


texts:
I’ve never seen the construction before, except in Spanish for dialogue and Toni Morrison using the variation “;—” in Beloved for denoting a strong pause (well, that’s what we decided in my English class).
How does Henry Adams use “:—”? Is this grammatically correct? How can I incorporate this into my own sentences?

Among senses, smell was the strongest:—the smell of hot pine-woods and sweet-fern in the scorching summer noon; of new-mown hay; of ploughed earth — Henry Adams, in The Education of Henry Adams


texts: Difference between chastise and lambaste?

texts:
Is there a difference between chastise and lambaste?
When should one use chastise and when should one use lambaste?


texts: Silent Letters In Words Containing Double Letters

texts:
I'm doing an exercise, which says find the silent letters in some words. one of them is "OFFICE"

Does this word have 1 or 2 silent letters? The final 'E'     Or     final 'E' + one of 'F's
Are double letters considered one sound? if yes, Do they have any roles? for example putting stress there!

Consider the word 'aim'. Is that "i" considered silent letter? what about "steak". is that "a" useless and let's say that 'e' is making the 'eɪ' sound? these are many words like this. veil, may, rain, awful(NAmer)


texts: What's the meaning of "too tidy an explanation"?

texts:
I found this expression in the following sentence:

  When he put it that way I felt a little foolish, like it was much too tidy an explanation.

What does “too tidy an explanation” mean? Does it mean that it's an explanation so clear that it's almost embarrassing?


texts:
So this is the context taken from this post by Jeff who is a co-founder of Stack Exchange:

  With 46,656 paths to only 720 real world outputs, it's inevitable that
  some of those paths will be severely over-represented or
  under-represented in the output. And are they ever. If you shipped a
  real card game with a naïve shuffle, you'd have some serious exploits
  to deal with.

What does And are they ever mean ?


texts: What does this statement mean: "Language is the arbiter of reason, and a lack thereof."

texts: I heard this a lot in school and I recently heard it again. What does the sentence mean?


texts: I can't find a single word that starts with the "Sa" sound in "saga"

texts:
I've read every word starting with "SA" in my dictionary out loud.  It's driving me crazy thinking there is only a single English word starting with what appears to be such a common syllable.

Is it my Midwestern American accent?  What makes "saga" special?


texts: Is "how much ever" grammatically correct?

texts: Is the phrase how much ever grammatically correct?


texts:
Is there a word in English, no matter from which origin e.g. French, Latin, etc., to describe a house that has a yard area? Or do we just have to say house/home with a yard?
Update: By house, I mean an average apartment (flat) with bedrooms, sitting room, bathroom and a kitchen. I am, however, not sure if that's the way house is used colloquially. In fact I am translating a non-English text that reads "houses with yards" into English. That's why I came up with the question.
Update 2:  In response to @mitch, text of origin is [in Persian]:
اگرچه خانه های حیاط دار از نظر اقلیمی هنوز در بسیاری از نقاط دنیا قابل قبول اند، ولی در حال تبدیل به اشکال دیگری هستند.

And Google Translate gives:
The courtyard houses of the climate in many parts of the world have been acceptable, but are converted into other forms.

As in Google's sentence courtyard house seems reasonable. Doesn't it?


texts: Phrase for criticism/insults concealed with humor

texts:
Passive aggressive people will sometimes veil insulting, critical, derogatory or generally aggressive comments with humor. The patina of humor makes the comment seem like a joke, not to be taken seriously, all in good fun, and it safeguards the aggressive person. If someone gets offended, they are being too serious, can't take a joke, and so they cannot voice their upset without seeming to be the one escalating the situation, when in fact it was the aggressor who did that.

This behavior seems to lie on a spectrum. On one side are comments which are simultaneously aggressive and genuinely funny (though of course both, especially the latter, are fairly subjective). On the other side would be lame attempts at the behavior, something like "you are fat!... just joking!" in which nothing in the tone or delivery signals a register of humor. In the middle of the spectrum, I imagine, are aggressive statements genuinely delivered as jokes. Their register signals that they are jokes, but they are aggressive rather than funny. They are aggressive comments masquerading as jokes.

A friend once called this "joking on the square", but I have never heard or seen this phrase. This type of comment is both pervasive and psychologically subtle and in my experience there is often an exact word describing such things. If not a word, is there an astute phrase which cuts to the heart of this?


texts:
1) I gained insight __ working practices of such companies

2) I gained insight __ how a software project is done from scratch


texts:
Here is the script of a dialogue between the presenter Lucy Worsley and Alexandra Loske, from the University of Sussex, talking about Princess Charlotte's laboring

Lucy: He's talking here about a uterine discharge "of a dark green colour. That doesn't sound good.

Alexandra: No, this is a sign that the baby is in distress or already dead. It means the baby has been so badly affected by the process of labour, that it starts pooing in the womb and then swallowing this substance.

Alexandra and Lucy reads text together: Eventually, Charlotte does give birth, after 50 hours of labour. The baby is stillborn. They rub his body with salt and mustard but no animation was ever restored.

Lucy: That must have been so frustrating. He was legitimate, he'd come to term, he was the right gender, but then it all went wrong.

Alexandra: Exactly, this was the most important baby in the whole of Great Britain.

Lucy: And the mother seems to have survived, doesn't she?

Alexandra: She's doing reasonably well. She's quite composed and says 'Well, if this is God's will, then, that's it. And she feels tired, she wants to rest and at midnight Charlotte started complaining about a singing in her ears and she feels unwell, she throws up. and very tragically, she dies at about 2:30 in the morning'

At the beginning of the dialogue Lucy uses present tense talking about the matter or a situation. After reading a historical text written by Sir Richard Croft, she suddenly changed the tense from present to past. The dialogue turns from situation to history. Alexandra follows the suit.
And then out of a sudden, she changes the tense back to present again. Why does she do so? What's so special about the sentence that she is using past tense?

Strangely, there are two tenses in one sentence

They rub his body with salt and mustard but no animation was ever restored.

Why?

The whole dialogue can be found at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SN5XQk9Cr6k


texts: What's a collective name for the states of Alaska and Hawaii?

texts:
Wondering if there is a common name for the "Dis-contiguous" states of Alaska and Hawaii.
If not, what would be a good single word label to describe these two states, especially in context of dividing the country up into time zones.

Context: this is for a web application that presents data based on various filters. One of these filters is time zone.  I want to use Pacific, Mountain, Central, Eastern, and some other word that encompasses both Alaska and Hawaii, even though they are really in two different time zones.


texts: A word to mean the act of making two things equivalent?

texts:
When someone, by way of analogy, says that A is equivalent to B, I would like to say (if I don't agree), "I don't like that equivocation".

However, that statement is wrong because equivocation doesn't mean "the act of making two things equal"; it means something else. What is the correct word to use?


texts: What is the name of the small containers of half & half, etc.?

texts:
Does anyone know what the word/name for the small plastic cup things that contain liquids (like half and half for coffee) is?

Right now I’m using sachet because a coworker started to do so, but I’ve never heard them being called that (looked it up and apparently it's legit).

I’ve thought of packets but I feel like there might be a proper word for it. Also, what do people call it in everyday usage? I don’t drink coffee so I’ve never really had to think about it.


texts: "Handling of Task 1" or "Handling Task 1"

texts:
I am working on my thesis and included is a subsection in which I describe how a part of a class of my program handles the task I have been assigned for the thesis.
To give you an idea of what the structure of the table of contents looks like:

4.2 IntegrityChecker class
4.2.1 Handling of Task 1
4.2.2 Handling of Task 2
[... etc]

Someone told me the "of" in the subsection title could possibly be redundant.
Is this true? Would "Handling Task 1" be better? Or possibly "The handling of Task 1"?


texts: How did "to draw" shift to mean "to depict with lines"?

texts:
"To draw" originally meant "to drag, pull", and it's pretty easy to make sense of the many meanings of the verb with that in mind.

  Draw a sword, draw a card, draw water from a well, draw breath, a drawer, withdraw, ...

Even for the most farfetched ones, I can see the figurative stretch. But not for the main meaning of the verb.

What does "to produce artwork" have to do with pulling or dragging?

btw I'm not sure if I cann technically call it a semantic shift if the original meaning is still in use.


texts: Is 'had have + past participle' a correct grammatical form?

texts:
It has been suggested in some quarters that had have, followed by a past participle, is a regionalism that has no place in standard English grammar.

If I had have known you were coming, I would have been prepared, or If I'd have known you were coming, I would have been prepared, mean essentially the same as If I had known you were coming..... But the former is often used for emphasis, and it sounds perfectly idiomatic to me.

So is had have seen etc. grammatically correct?


texts: What to call someone who gives as much as he demands?

texts:
What to call someone who (can) give (in return) as much as he demands?

Speaking in terms of life and personality.

For example, I ask my future partner to be tidy, glamorous, rich, caring, pretty etc. On the other hand I am, myself that sort of person as well and my partner can, hence, be certain to get this from me as well. So, I could ask as much from someone as the other person could ask from me as well.


texts: Is "banker friend" a noun adjunct, or something else?

texts:
Consider the sentence:

  I have a banker friend, and she says that interest rates are going up.

Here a banker friend is being used to mean a friend who is a banker.    Is there a name for this kind of construction?

It is similar to a noun adjunct, but it seems to me the examples there don't seem to fit this case exactly.  In those, the pair (or sequence) of nouns stands in for a prepositional phrase, but in a friend who is a banker there is no preposition.  The notion of a noun adjunct would seem to apply better to a sentence like

  The new finance minister is well known as a banker friend.

Here banker friend stands for the prepositional phrase a friend of bankers.  That seems quite different from my first example.


texts: "Just by the fact that" or "Just the fact that" difference?

texts:
Which is more correct when fitting into this sentence:
"... the course is new to me is what motivates me to study it."
That is, of these two, which is more correct:

Just by the fact that the course is new to me is what motivates me to study it.
Just the fact that the course is new to me is what motivates me to study it.

Thanks!


texts:
Is there any single word in English to represent domain of "logic and science" together?
Background
Some of my friends are going to start an online movement whose main purpose would be creating awareness on "science and logic" to the common people. They need a name for the movement, like "feminist movement", "secular movement" etc.


texts:
I'm looking for a noun that would equate to primariness, but which isn't so clumsy. Something like 'primarity', though it doesn't exist.

  "Thing has the quality of …"


texts:
Is there a term for the kind of elaborating progression seen in children's songs such as "The Old Lady Who Swallowed..." and "There's a Hole in the Bottom of the Sea"? I can almost dredge one up, but I can't quite express it.
I'm trying to relate this metaphorically to a situation where one is in a hole and keeps digging -- a cascade of complications that accumulate when trying to solve what starts as a simple problem.
I could always make a direct reference to a song, like "It seemed simple enough at first, but before long we were swallowing a frog to catch a fly", but I was hoping to find a word or phrase that conveys the idea without invoking a nursery rhyme.
ETA - a suggested dupe gets only a bit toward the issue: I'm looking for something that reflects the compounding. Not just one bad thing into another, but a bad thing that you try to fix, only to introduce another, probably worse thing, and again, and so on. Out of the frying pan into the fire, out of the fire into the furnace, out of the furnace into...
FETA - I got a suggestion from someone not in this clubhouse that fits well and might spark more discussion. "The situation snowballed", invoking the accumulation of a runaway downhill tumble. Not an avalanche, just a growing problem.


texts: A word for reading something thoroughly until one understands it well?

texts:
I was wondering if there was one word in English for "to read something thoroughly until one understands it well"? I am trying to translate a word which has this meaning in Chinese.

Thanks.


texts: Word or phrase for customers won from a competitor

texts:
In the context of a company that makes or sells a product (e.g. accounting software) where there are many alternatives on the market, is there a word or [short] phrase to describe "new customers that have been persuaded to switch from a competitor's product" as opposed to "new customers who have never used such a product before"?

Both categories are "new business" (to the company concerned), but the first scenario is about redistributing market share as opposed to growing the total market.

For example, "the following changes are proposed to the software to attract ___________ [transferring customers] from users of RivalCo's offering."

Following Josh61's answer, I realise the example above wasn't perfect, as I wanted a term more for customers who had been won than prospective ones... a better example would be "The changes in Version 3 enabled us to win a number of __________ users from RivalCo's offering."


texts: usage of separable and inseparable words

texts:
Words like

  wheelbarrow

and

  nailbrush

are used mingled, the wheel goes with barrow in inseparable form.

On the other hand, words like

  tank top

and

  high heels

as it sounds written separable.

On what reasons they're written like this?
Is there a clear way to distinguish the correct form and making them in
writing?


texts: How to Give Lexical and Grammatical Meanings

texts:
I am genuinely confused by one of the items on our Learning Task. It says we have to PICK 5 PHRASES FROM A SONG AND GIVE THEIR LEXICAL ANG GRAMMATICAL MEANING
I think I understand lexical and grammatical meaning. But I thought they're just abstract concepts we have to understand, not like "denotation" for example, where I can give the definition of words. So I honestly don't know how to go about answering this particular item. Or maybe I'm just stupid. English is not my first language so I acknowledge I might have poor comprehension.
Here's what I tried from what I understood:
You don't own me
Lexical Meaning:
referring expression: You
predicate: don't own me
Grammatical Meaning: ???


texts:
(I'm pretty sure this is a duplicate question, and I apologize, but after reading the similar questions and answers, I'm still not exactly sure how to answer mine...)

I wrote the following sentence:

  I found some old raw footage of me singing [song-title-here] by [author-name-here].

I think that sentence should use "myself" instead of "me", but when I reduce the sentence, "me" seems better. For example,

  This video is of me singing.

sounds better to me than,

  This video is of myself singing.

Should the sentence I wrote use "me" or "myself", and is the answer the same in the shortened sentence?


texts: Why is it Endodontic (-ic suffix) but Dental (-al suffix)?

texts:
Especially when they both derive from Endodontist and Dentist respectively, so context doesn't vary much.

I found many answers on the web explaining that -ic and -ical suffixes don't follow any rule as such and that -ology words tend to favour -ical and never use -ic, but the -al suffix is largely ignored in most discussions.


texts:
Does anyone know where a comma should go in the following sentence?
Sentence: I walked to school and when I got there I saw a big cat.

Examples:

I walked to school, and when I got there, I saw a big cat.
I walked to school, and, when I got there, I saw a big cat.
I walked to school, and when I got there I saw a big cat.

Which are correct?


texts: what is the function of the word in sentence

texts:
consider this sentence:

I saw him driving the car.

I know it is made from two sentences

1.I saw him
2.He was driving the car

in the second sentence it is obvious that driving is a verb, but when you join them
what is "driving":
a verb or an adverb or an adjective or a noun?
if it is a verb, it should have a subject and "he" is used as him.It is really messing with my mind.


texts: Is there a word for misusing or adding letters to words/names?

texts: Some people add or change letters that aren't in a word or name, i.e., "Simonese" cat instead of "Siamese" cat, and French "provinincial" furniture instead of French "provincial" furniture. Also adding letters in the middle of a name, such as "Stolperman" instead of "Stolpman."  Is there a word for such misuse of words/names?


texts: with the purpose to or with the purposes to?

texts:
Shall I say with the purposes to or with the purpose to

   I am doing several comparisons with the purposes to :
  1-
  2-
  3-

As you can see I have three purposes so I am confused which one singular or plural is right?


texts: What is the type of sound-based language conversion called?

texts:
Background

I have been using the type of conversion for my Korean students when trying to get them to pronounce English words slightly more accurately.

I don't transcribe the meaning of the words. I only transcribe the sounds of the words.

I want to do this conversion faster (so I want to research it hence my question) as I am learning Korean. Usually, my students can help with this type of conversion occasionally, but it is slow (however, they enjoy it).

To be as clear as possible, I am looking at writing Korean text so it sounds as close to English text as possible and what that type of conversion is called. I want to take an English sentence and convert each sound of the phrase into a close corresponding, but similar sound in Korean.

Examples

Please use Google Translate and listen to the audio to see what I am talking about.

  위 윌 씨이 would be converted to "We will see"
  두 유 러브 미? is "Do you love me?"
  두 is "do"
  돈트 is "don't"

What is this type of sound-based conversion called?

I want to be able to search online, find possible apps, and read more information about this.

Edit: A close example I knew before was "Konglish" (Korean English). Words such as ice cream sound like "ice cream" in the Korean script. However, it is not the same. There are words such as nail polish  that sound like "manicure" in Korean script. I am looking at nail polish sounding like "nail polish" in Korean script. No other conversions!

Edit 2: I believe @KarlG (in the comment of this post) is the most correct with the phrase Phonetic transcription. I think there should be an even more accurate word but I think this is very close now.


texts: When did the distinction between "then" and "than" come about?

texts:
I'm reading A World in the Moone, by John Wilkins, 1638. I found the line: "I grant that some Astronomicall [sic] appearances may possibly be solved otherwise then [sic] here they are."
I knew what he meant by it (or at least I think I do), but I would have chosen "than" rather than "then." When did a distinction become prominent?


texts: Use of "don't mention it" for "you're welcome"?

texts: In which American regions is "don't mention it" used for "you're welcome"?


texts: "Simple marketing software" or "Simplified marketing software" - which is correct?

texts:
I have built http://www.inboundio.com/ which is  a simplified marketing software. Now I am not sure in < title > tag of home page if I should use

  Simple inbound marketing software

OR

  Simplified inbound marketing software

?

which is more correct ? I am using simplified till now but curious to know what the English SE community think

Thanks


texts: Differentiating between the use of “or” in questions

texts:
In a question such as "Does this word mean plenty or too much?" where the two words conjugated by "or" are similar in meaning could be asked in a way that a yes or no answer is expected instead of x or y. If the two options were seemingly unrelated or perhaps opposites, I guess we could assume from context that it is asked where it's this or that and not do x or y both/either satisfy the condition inquired in the question though the former type is still possible.

I wonder if this a recognized distinction and has a name.


texts: What do you call snow that has collected between a car body and the tire?

texts:
Snowy areas commonly see snow collect between a car body and tire. There is some strange satisfaction in kicking that snow off of the car and I've been in many conversations about miscellaneous details of this particular type of snow collection. Photographic example:

But is there a word I can use to refer to this clump? I am looking for a word similar to "icicle" or "stalactite" but a bit more specific.


texts: "Only humming a little, the quiet sound in the head"

texts:
I found a poem named Any Morning,  I'm not sure if "the quiet sound" in the second line is represented to what somebody in humming or something related to trouble?

  Just lying on the couch and being happy.
  Only humming a little, the quiet sound in the head.
  Trouble is busy elsewhere at the moment, it has
  so much to do in the world.


texts: When did students start to "play truant" from school?

texts:
The first definition given by dictionaries of  truant is that of a student who stays away from school without permission. The term is probably more commonly used in the idiomatic expression:

to play truant, which is used mainly in BrE (seeNgram), being the more common equivalent  AmE expression  "to play hooky". (Cambridge Dictionary)

The term is very old, and according to Etymonline it was applied to  students from the mid-1400s:
Truant (n.):

c. 1200, "beggar, vagabond," from Old French truant "beggar, rogue"...... Meaning "one who wanders from an appointed place," especially "a child who stays away from school without leave" is first attested mid-15c.

The idiomatic expression "to play truant" appears to be from the early 19th century when schooling was beginning to become more popular.
I couldn't d find evidence of earlier  usages of truant (15/16th centuries)  referring to students, and presumably schooling at that time was a very different concept from what  it is today.
The earliest usage I was able to find is not related to school:

1603, William Shakespeare, Hamlet, Act 1, Scene 2

A truant disposition, good my lord.

Question:
Can anyone  confirm that truant (in the sense of playing truant ) was actually used during such early centuries?


texts:
Is there an adverb for expressing that something is always done in a correct manner?

Examples that I'd like to apply this to:

"He always does this correctly" -> "He does this ***-ly".
"This cannot always be done correctly" -> "This cannot be done ***-ly"


texts:
I'd like to ask how to properly write names is US English text. To explain what I mean by names in my case, let's start by example:

  Now create two files. Name the first one for example X and the second one Y.

Those names are attributes of those files, not type of the file. Whenever anyone creates such file, he gives it any name he wants, like 'My great new file'. How to properly typeset them US english text? For now, I am using simple apostrophes, like

  Name the first one for example 'X' and the second one 'Y'.

Is that correct? Or should I use italics, monospace font, single quotes, double quotes or something else?

Note that English is not my primary language.


texts: "the best you could say" vs "the best you can say"

texts:
One want to ask a question in regard to a person's suggestion to contribute:

Tina: "You should get laid more than once a year"

Tom:  "the best you could say?

should I use can or could?


texts: Transcription of list items - how to punctuate two-word sentences

texts:
How would you punctuate two-word sentences that begin with a sequence word?
[Sequence word] [noun].
I see this often when transcribing PowerPoint presentations, where I do not change the word content and the speaker is reading off of a list. I am trying to decide whether it flows better to use commas, colons, or even em-dashes or semi-colons. I essentially would like to indicate the implication of "is" between these two words, without using punctuation that is overly distracting.

[Sequence word], [noun].
[Sequence word]: [noun].
[Sequence word]—[noun].
[Sequence word]; [noun].

Here are some examples of what I see:

Firstly, appearance. The appearance of your app will be one of
your most important areas of focus. [...]
Secondly, setup. The metaphor I normally use with this is designing a
table. [...]
Finally, data storage. Using SQL or the another database. As with
all software development, databases are needed for storage and
recall of user information. [...]

Thanks in advance for any input. I searched for a while using terms like "two-word sentence" and "sequence words", etc, but didn't find anything relevant, so was probably looking with the wrong keywords or am perhaps approaching this from the wrong angle.
Edit: researching this more, it seems the best search terms for this may be "punctuation in nominal sentences", so I'll update this post if I find anything useful.


texts: Word/phrase asserting authority, knowledge, or dominance

texts:
I apologize if this is a duplicate.

On Facebook, a friend posted this up:

  What's a word or phrase used to denote a person who says what's
  convenient when it's convenient, regardless of truthfulness and often
  at the expense of others, in an effort to assert their own authority,
  knowledge, and dominance?


texts: How to say you did two things, but separately?

texts:
When describing an experiment (inside a thesis paper), I want to explain that we took a sample and did two things to it, but not together, rather as two separate experiments.

One way to write it is :

  We took the sample and either did X to it, or did Y to it.

Another way is:

  We took the sample and did X to it, and separately did Y to it.

Frankly I'm not happy with either forms. What's a good way to write this?


texts: I was able to re-introduce the process that had not been done anymore. Past perfect?

texts:
I am not sure whether or not there should be past simple or past perfect:

  I was able to re-introduce the procedure that had not been being
  followed anymore.

  I was able to re-introduce the procedure that was not being followed
  anymore.

I think that because the process has not been followed (and was not before the re-introduction), this should be implied by the past perfect.


texts: What's the difference in meaning between "emigrate" and "immigrate"?

texts: What's the difference between emigrate and immigrate? They seem to have the same definitions in the dictionary but they are antonyms...


texts:
I am looking specifically in the context of used, discarded or lost material (perhaps ships, trucks, weaponry and the like).

I have considered forager, scavenger and pirate; however the first seems to me to attach more of a connotation of food, the second adds the sense of animals to food, and the last intimates more of theft and violence.

Perhaps this sentence may give some insight.

  The salvage ship plied its trade through uncharted backwaters, searching for the abandoned detritus of yesterday's business.

How would you call who worked on that ship?


texts: What do you call the segment of track between two train stops?

texts:
Is there a dedicated word or expression for a segment of track between two train stops? Can "train station" also refer to the track between two stations?

The context is an article about computer simulations of railway vehicles in which I would like to avoid sentences such as:

Each track section between two consecutive train stops was considered separately...

and replace them by something like:

Each train station was considered separately....


texts: Short word or phrase for the acquisition of specific pieces of knowledge

texts:
On the Latin Language Stack Exchange (which is in private beta right now), I wish to create a tag for question asking for how we come to know certain facts about the Latin language, for example:

How do we know how the Romans pronounced Latin?
How do we know that comperendinare means to adjourn for three days?

I am looking for a concise English name for this tag. It can be a word of any class or a short phrase.

So far I considered and rejected

how-do-we-know – This is what I named the tag for now, but I consider it rather unelegant for a tag name.
epistemology – This on a different level as it is about how we acquire knowledge in general, not about how we acquired a specific piece of knowledge.
research – This implies that the knowledge is acquired by a targetted endeavour which does not need to be the case. Also, the word is not well suited for a tag name as it may also apply to research about the Latin language in general.

When answering, please consider whether your suggestion can be interpreted otherwise when used as a tag on a language Stack Exchange (such as this one).


texts: Use of the word 'mete' without using the word 'out'

texts:
NOAD defines mete as:

  dispense or allot justice, a punishment, or harsh treatment

When talking about this sense of the word, we normally hear the verb mete used in verbal phrase mete out. However, I don't think we'd usually say, “dispense out justice”, or “allot out a harsh treatment”.

This got me wondering about the omission of the word out, and simply using mete instead, as in:

  The stern judge would often mete the harshest punishments.

In my research, I found that such usage is not without precedent, but it seems to be rare.

I found:

When looking up the word mete in Macmillan, the site automatically directs the user to the phrasal verb mete out, in both their American and British editions.
When looking up the word in Collins, the definition is preceded by: "usually foll by out".
When looking up the phrase "will mete a" in Google books, only 5 results are returned, and two of those are using the word mete in a different sense. Changing the search phrase to "will mete out a" returns more than four pages of hits. A similar disparity is found between "would mete the" and "would mete out the".
The example sentences at Reference.com all use the phrase mete out, such as:

  It would be far better to conduct investigations and mete out punishments at the national level.

Still, I managed to find this in one of the book searches, from a 2008 romance novel:

  A king might lead this action, but a queen would mete the punishment if it failed.

My conclusion is that one can omit the word out, but it seems to be rather rare.

My question is: How awkward does it sound when the word out is omitted? Would a writer be advised to err on the side of convention, and leave it in? Or is it purely a matter of preference?

Even the (gasp!) prospect of ending a sentence with a preposition didn't deter this biographer from using the phrase mete out:

  ...it was obvious to the father that the son would pay a price as part of the punishment that the king would mete out. (James Srodes)

As a footnote, I'm only asking about the word mete used in the context of administering some kind of punishment. Other definitions of the word (e.g., to measure) are excluded from this question.


texts: What is meant by: "She has too many feet and hands"?

texts:
What is the meaning of: She has too many feet and hands?

Context:
"A tall, awkward girl in a back seat, who seemed to
have too many feet and hands"


texts: How did "roughly" come to mean approximately?

texts: "Roughly" is used as in "He just pushed me roughly." How did "roughly" then become used as in "They're roughly the same weight."?


texts: What does Trump's usage of "unable to" in this tweet of his indicate/convey?

texts:
Here's the tweet. Quote:

  [...] to produce & sign into law major Criminal Justice Reform
  legislation, [...] and which was unable to get done in past
  administrations

As a non-native English speaker, I would normally phrase that as "couldn't get done".


texts:
I've come across on more than one occasion this aphorism if you will that "truth is fungible". However I'm unsure about what that means because fungible refers to the exchangeablity of a currency or assets that are like-for-like.
Can anyone shed some light here?


texts: Possible ways to pronounce an IPv6 address

texts: When reading out IPv4 addresses, people typically say something like, "ten dot one dot seven" etc. This is pretty easy since "dot" is one syllable. How can IPv6 addresses be pronounced? Saying "colon" over and over is just awkward.


texts: Does name-combo 'Jarvanka' take singular or plural attributes?

texts:
Michael Wolff's new book Fire and Fury sure has generated quite a lot of controversy. However, one important topic seems to have been overlooked by the Mainstream Media: Wolff (or his editors) consistently use the singular verb form when describing actions taken by 'Jarvanka', Steve Bannon's catchy nickname for the Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump duo. (For example, "Jarvanka was surprised" instead of "Jarvanka were surprised.")

Is this correct? or does Jarvanka take a 'were' as it most certainly is two people?

(Note: IMHO, this is not comparable to plural nouns such as media, because here Jarvanka is (or are) obviously two different distinct persons, unlike media which is merely a collective noun.)


texts:
She thought of the place she grew up, the beautiful city of Birmingham, as they walked together through the streets of their new hometown.

I'm never sure whether it should be like the above, or like this...

  She thought of the place she grew up, the beautiful city of Birmingham as they walked together through the streets of their new hometown.


texts:
“Thought is a thread, and the raconteur is a spinner of yarns"

What does this metaphor mean and what is the origin? I know it is an ancient one, but couldn't find anything else! Is it obsolete now?


texts: Can I say: "Used to drink everyday, but now I've finished" (as "done with it")

texts:
So that's pretty much my question.
It's needed for a rhyme.
I know it sounds better and makes more sense with "im done..", but I was just trying to fit the word "finished" in there for a rhyme scheme.
In case I can't use "finished" I'll just go with "done with it", even though it's going be a lot harder to rhyme my other words ;)

Thank You!


texts:
I would like to know the differences between health food and healthy food. I have looked them up in a dictionary, but, I can find no entry for healthy food, just health food.

So, what is difference between them?


texts: What do you call a word whose meaning changes according to when or where it is said?

texts:
I remember learning a specific name for words whose meaning depends on the time or location of their use, but as this was when I was in middle school (about 10 years ago), I can't remember what exactly that name is.

My teacher gave the example of here, which means "Chicago" when spoken by a person in Chicago, "Egypt" when spoken by a person in Egypt, etc. There are also time equivalents, such as now (the meaning of which is constantly changing), soon, today, yesterday, and tomorrow. As I'm writing this, today refers to April 14, 2015; yesterday refers to April 13, 2015; and tomorrow refers to April 15, 2015. However, on any other date, those words would mean different things.

I thought that these might be called relative words since their meaning is relative to the circumstances of their use, but when I searched for that phrase, it seems to have a much broader meaning, referring to any "word that does not have an exact definition." This could be words like big, small, short, tall, dumb, smart, etc.—You are tall compared to a mouse, but you are not tall compared to an elephant.

I remember that the word I learned was specific to words whose meaning altered according to place and time, so I'm looking for something more specific than relative word.


texts: Should I capitalize "bible" in "the Christian Bible"? "the Discordian Bible"?

texts:
"The Bible" is typically used to refer to the collection of holy books of the Christian faith. It's a proper noun and it gets capitalised.

However, "bible" can also be used as a common noun, in sentences like "TAOCP is a programmer's bible", meaning some kind of an extensive and comprehensive manual. In that case it is not capitalised.

What about when it is used in phrases that refer to the holy texts of various religions (or cults, or whatever), like "the Christian Bible", "the Hebrew Bible", "the Discordian Bible"? Should those be capitalised?


texts:
I read it in GRE test. The questions is that

  Far from viewing Jefferson as a skeptical but enlightened intellectual, .....

So, in my opinion, Jefferson is not skeptical, and he is enlightened. Is that right? I am not sure about the grammar of far from A but B means.


texts:
I always wanted to understand the meaning of the word for when coming after ask, and I have two question about it:

Let's say that I'm asking for a flower on behalf of my mother.

If the flower man asks me:"For whom do you ask me for a flower?"
and I answer him "I ask it for my mother" - is it equal to :"For whom do you ask for a flower" and "I ask for my mother" ?
To be clearer: Do I have to mention any noun after I say ask so it wouldn't sound as if I want someone to give me my mother?
What is the difference between I'm asking a flower and I'm
asking for a flower?

Do the first option have to be that I'm talking to flowers?

Thank in advance.


texts: Which letters do not appear consecutively in English words?

texts:
Are there any letters in the English alphabet that never appear twice consecutively in a word?
For example: the word running has the letter n repeated consecutively in it.
What letters never appear in such way (for example q comes to mind)?

For context, this is asked in relation to "breaking" encrypted messages. Knowing about such letters can help rule out some of the options.


texts: What does ‘Young Americans are far less “white” than older generation’ mean?

texts:
I stumbled on a phrase, Young Americans are far less white than older generation, in an article of today's New York Times titled In Census, Young Americans Increasingly Diverse.

I don’t think white refers to the color, of course. In a dictionary at hand, there is a definition of white as a slang meaning (1) fair and righteous, (2) credible, (3) generous, well-intentioned, (4) happy, well-off.
Does the phrase today’s young Americans are far less white here implies they are far less well-off (or happy) than old generation? Is the word ‘White’ used in this notion very often?
The text in question reads:

  Demographers sifting through new population counts released on Thursday by the Census Bureau say the data bring a pattern into sharper focus: Young Americans are far less white than older generations, a shift that demographers say creates a culture gap with far-reaching political and social consequences.


texts: When "who" is used in a sentence with two subjects which subject will it be referring to?

texts:
When "who" is used in a sentence with two subjects which subject will it be referring to, for example:

Between the cosmopolitan liberal "Anywheres" and the "Somewheres" who
are supposedly uniquely rooted.

Here "who" refers to "somewheres", right, but what is the rule?


texts: Identification of the simple subject in a sentence

texts:
I am having trouble identifying the simple subject in this sentence:
One of the problems facing journalism today is false news and disinformation
I believe it is one. A friend of mine, however, is of the opinion that it ought to be journalism


texts:
I'm often confusing the meaning of Cumbersome and Trivial.
I always visit on 'StackOverFlow', and watch these questions or answers, such as,

This is cumbersome problem.
Those things are quite trivial.

My question is

Do 'Cumbersome' and 'Trivial' have similar meanings, in general speaking?

Are they polite words?

If they have same meanings, which word is more useful?

Sorry about my bad english..


texts:
What does "dummy up" mean here?

  The cops wouldn't tell me who the owner was, but we're a military town, so I took a chance. Called my insurance (USAA) and as luck would have it, that was the other guy's insurance too!...Got my mechanic to dummy up a $50 statement, just to submit it to USAA and have it on the douche's record. That's what he gets for being a lying asshole.


texts: When comparing two physical quantities, should units be specified only after the second?

texts:
I am writing an academic report. I am comparing to values in the text of the report: 1.011 Hz and 0.990 Hz.

Is it correct to write:

"1.011 compared to 0.990 Hz"

or

"1.011 Hz compared to 0.990 Hz"

?

Thanks.


texts:
Which is suitable to be more poetic???

a leaf that sheds
a leaf that falls off


texts: What is the meaning of "drill our way out"?

texts:
I read a news about the jump of gas prices and the president Obama said:

  we’re not going to be able to drill our way out of the problem of high
  gas prices

My first understand was "escape", but I'm not sure about it. What is the real meaning of it?


texts: Something that makes you feel better, not when you are sad?

texts: What do you call something that makes you feel good/better, because it is good news or funny. But you were feeling normal before, you weren't sad or anything. But just by seeing that thing you felt better.


texts: Affect in something? (a phrase from an older book)

texts:
Reading an old tale from C.A.Smith, there is the following sentence:

About him, there was nothing whatever of the lineaments of our own
period; and he even went so far as to affect in his costume an
approximation to the garments worn several centuries ago.

While I know "affect" can mean "wear", in this particular sentence, it does not seem to fix. Also I am unsure about the following part - isn't there a comma missing after "costume"?


texts: "There already is" or "There is already"

texts:
What is the correct word order of the verb to be and already?

  There is already a price tag.

Or:

  There already is a price tag.


texts:
I need a word, or philosophical term that means nothing can be taken at  face value or below its surface. It should convey that people's characters cannot be judged even by a book's first chapter.

Despite infobesity, the media's obsession with celebrities, and the widespread coverage of those who hold positions of power and influence, we are fed only birdseed.  By its very nature, and in order to drum up interest (and boost sales), today the media is more biased than ever.  Articles and TV reports paint an either rosier or greyer picture than what we call ‘reality’.  Similarly, social media is manipulated by press agents and public relations, and so the public can  never really discern what is truth or what is fictional. We are living in a post-truth era. In other words, although a person's moral code and overall behaviour may appear to be exemplary, the opposite is often tragically true.

For inspiration, think of how admired, respected, and in a some cases even adored, the following figures were:  Jimmy Savile; Bill Cosby;  Michael Flynn; the ex Prime Minister, Tony Blair; if you're an alt-right supporter, Hillary Clinton, and the fictional character O'Brien.  It would be an added bonus if this word, or expression could suggest that we, the public, are often in self-denial. We are all guilty of downplaying the faults of our heroes, not only to outsiders but also among ourselves.

Pretence is close, but it is inexorably linked to volition and implies deception whereas it seems to me that the aforementioned figures would never call themselves traitors, liars, or criminals. The introspection gene is conspicuously lacking in their psyche.  Additionally, the ‘general public’  appear to be unaware of their own prejudices, hypocrisies and corrupted moral code. Lastly,  everyone without distinction, is  oblivious to the ________ , and as a result, the events which unfurl daily become all the more disquieting.

I want to say to any political supporter, regardless of their political leaning, the following:

  No, you think you know who this public figure is but you don't. Not even they know who they really are. We are being fed illusions.

I am looking for a philosophical, psychological or sociological term, but it eludes me.

Double standards, hypocrisy are close, but duplicitous, deceitful are unsatisfactory because they lean more towards a dishonesty that is conscious, and for me it's much more worrying and complex than that.

I am not looking for an idiom, proverb, or cliches. Ergo, the answers: All that glitters is not gold, You can't judge a book by its cover, and Beauty is only skin deep are unsatisfactory.

I am asking for a more technical term (if it exists), or expression, possibly in the field of philosophy, sociology or psychology.


texts:
I don't clearly understand the meaning of "I have got __" in sentences like the following one:

  I have got to get.

Is it a sentence using the past tense, or the present? What does it mean?


texts:
I am looking for an adjective that can be used to describe a 'thug'. Seeing that toughish isn't in most dictionaries (nor did I expect it to be, but an entry in a thesaurus would have been nice), nor do the synonyms of tough really do a 'thug' justice, I came to you guys for assistance.

I don't want to be too blunt and call him a thug, nor too mild by employing a euphenism, so i'm opting for the -ish form of a noun such as in "He was acting childish" etc., etc.  Only "He was acting thuggish" doesn't really quite make the cut.

Crude?  Too mild.
Violent?  Too harsh.
Uncultured?  Too way off the mark.

Honestly, I don't think I've ever encountered this much difficulty in choosing a word before.

If I don't get some killa ideas on here I'm gonna hafta gofer the good 'ol "He was actin all ghetto".


texts: What is the opposite of "to go" like in "a hot dog to go"?

texts:
Comedian Bob Newhart uses to tell only one side of a conversation in his routines.

In his routine "Ledge Psychology", (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MwXaTy0PMPw , at 3:30 min) , in which a police officer tries to talk someone out of jumping from a ledge on a sky scraper in Chicago, at one time the police officer calls down to Sam, the hot dog man, and orders two hot dogs. The hot dog man asks an (untold) question, and the police officer answers "No, no, to go!", which seems to be the point of a joke.

Now I know the meaning of "to go", since it is used in my language as well, but I'd like to know how you could express its opposite, so that it becomes funny in that context?


texts: In math, how do you refer to a subscript or superscript indiscriminately?

texts:
In a math or physics context, I would like to say the following:

  In this equation, we subscript or superscript the variables by "eq" which stands for "equilibrium".

The "eq" is added as a lowerscript to some variables (for example xeq) and as a superscript to others (yeq). Is there a way to designate both at the same time?

Alternatively, would the following be correct?

  In this equation, we decorate the variables by "eq" which stands for "equilibrium".


texts: It is him who did it that we should blame

texts:
The sentence reads weird.
I want to emphasis that it is him we should blame, not me, not you, not anyone else, so I write the sentence like

It is him that we should blame.

It looks OK to me. But now I want to add some attributive to "him", like

It is him who refused to pay ....

And the whole sentence would be

It is him who refused to pay that we should blame.

Now it reads very weird. How do I save this sentence while retaining "It is him" part?


texts: What is the difference between "Per year" and "Per annum"?

texts:
I know per annum is from Latin, but what are the real-world differences between these two phrases? Dictionary.com appears to suggest that they are synonyms (see definition below), but I wonder if one used in certain contexts and the other in other contexts?

per annum:

  by the year; yearly


texts: How do you distinguish "have got" from "got" as the past tense of "get" in "I got my car back"?

texts:
When someone says "I got my car back" in an informal setting, does it mean (1) or (2)?

I have got my car back. (Where "have" can be dropped in spoken English.)
I got my car back. (As the past tense of "I get my car back".)

I do understand that they mean virtually the same thing, but (1) is in the present tense, whereas (2) the past tense. When you make it a question, the syntactic difference is clear:

Have I got my car back?
Did I get my car back?


texts: Is "who" used correctly in the sentence "Or he's a supernatural demon designed to torture people, who got offered his dream job"?

texts:
I was watching the TV series The Good Place when I came across this line:

Or he's a supernatural demon designed to torture people,
who got offered his dream job and has flipped on us like a ten-stone griddle-chip.

I have been taught "who" as a relative pronoun should be used right the person it's referring to. However in this case, the word ahead is "people", which confuses me.
I have looked into many online sources and could not find the explanation on this.


texts: Do people still speak old English in South Africa?

texts:
I watched the South African film "The White Wedding", in that film, there is a white couple speaking a very weird language, it sounds like German but not German & a person in the movie said they are speaking an old form of English language.

The British came to South Africa since 17-18th centuries, & settled there. These people somehow still keep their old English language. Just like people living in some area in UK that speak their English dialect that is so different that we can't understand.

Does anyone know that?


texts: Subject-Verb Agreement + Prepositional Phrase Argument

texts:
Having an argument with my SO.

Participant 1 believes this is the correct way to structure the sentence:

  I'm learning how to do things in a way that serves me.

Participant 1 thinks that the verb, 'serve' should be 'serves' because 'way' modifies the verb and acts as the subject.

Participant 2 believes this is the correct way to structure the sentence:

  I'm learning how to do things in a way that serve me.

Participant 2 thinks 'serve' should remain 'serve' because the subject is 'things', and 'in a way' should be excluded when determining subject-verb agreement because it's a prepositional phrase. And if you exclude the prepositional phrase from the sentence, it reads 'I'm learning to do things that serve me.'

Which is the correct subject-verb agreement?


texts: Why does the common meaning of "impertinent" have nothing to do with "pertinent"?

texts: Every time I want to use an antonym to "pertinent", I think of "impertinent", which I don't like to use because of its more common meaning.  How did "impertinent" come to mean "intrusive or presumptuous, as persons or their actions; insolently rude; uncivil" (Dictionary.com)?


texts:
Here is a GRE question.

The reclusive clergyman may have lived and died in melancholy, but this doesn’t seem to have hampered his genius in any way. On the contrary, we find ourselves wondering whether his genius wasn’t (ii)_____ in some mysterious way by his mood.

the correct answer for the blank is "served".

The meaning of second sentence, I guess, is: the clergyman's mood (though melancholic or not good) could serve (or contribute) to his talent in some mysterious (but good) way.

But I can't understand why the author use "wondering whether...wasn't" here. Compare:

(1) we wonder whether A was B.

(2) we wonder whether A wasn't B.

These two propositions are logically the same, since in both sentences we don't know whether or not A is B. But (2) seems to suggest that A wasn't B is our default answer or acutal view, though we are not sure about it.

But here in the context, the default answer(or the view actually held by the author) is that A was B, i.e. the talent was served by the mood (in a good way). So I feel that the usage of "whether wasn't" is strange, as it suggests the contray.

Why doesn't the author simply use "whether was"? Or what does the author want to express by "whether wasn't"?

By the way, there is a very similar post(here:Is "whether was not " equal to "whether"?) but it's closed due to unclear. I hope I put it clearer.

Thank you all in advance!


texts: A name for the appendage "s" in plurals, & the possessive, attributive, genitive, ownership

texts:
It could be oversight, under-learning or such but on and off I remember that I never learned what to call the game-changer "-s" that comes in to distinguish plurals from singulars. "Plural -s" is all that I learned and use.

Of as much significance is the "-s" that the apostrophe brings with it in the forms of words variously described as possessive, attributive, genitive or ownership. I've been referring to it as the respective "-s," i.e., "possessive -s," etc.

Would have saved a lot of breath if these two applications of the "s" had a name in grammar. Hopefully at least one of them does.


texts: What do you call something that reads and writes files?

texts: In programming, it's common to write a class that both reads and writes files. What do you call this type of thing? Is it a file handler? A file parser? A file provider? A file streamer? How about a filer? Or do you just call it a file reader and leave it at that?


texts: How to label a digit according to its position in a number

texts: Let's say there is some number like 12345. In Konglish (Korean English), I can label 3 as the hundred's position number and 5 as the one's position number. I don't think this is correct English. How can I label each number according to its position correctly?


texts: What are the origin and history of the forms and meanings of the phrase "top flight"?

texts:
As used in the following sentence:

  Another trick a lot of top-flight engineers use is clipping the signal before the limiter, to reduce the work the limiter has to do to peaks.


texts:
Several years ago, when I was watching a show, it was 15:45 and the show started at 16:00. A foreigner asked me: "When will this show start?"

My English is not good, and I never talked to foreigners. I was very nervous then. I told him: "15 minutes later", but he seemed to not understand. So I thought it wasn't correct, and told him: "in 15 minutes". This time he understood.

I want to know if "in 15 minutes" is correct and "15 minutes later" is wrong under that condition? What's the difference between them?


texts: Phd is an abbreviation of Doctor of Philosophy, but unlike MSc (Master of Science), MBA (Master of Business Administration) , BA (Bachelor of Arts), BSc (Bachelor of Science) and others the order of the letters is reversed.


texts: Idiom for making fun of an unpleasant situation?

texts:
I am looking for an idiom that can be used when someone is trying to make fun to alleviate of a unpleasant situation.

Example: Stockholm City has a big construction in its center that clearly affects both locals and tourists and of the way to make fun of this is through nice and funny banners.

My native language has something that translates to "fun of trouble", but I do not know if this sounds OK in English.

Question: Is there an idiom describe makinging fun of an unpleasant situation?


texts:
I have encountered wherein several times in many texts, and the general meaning of the texts was quite evident given the context.

However, I do not know the exact meaning of wherein; a dictionary search returns "How, or in what way; Where, or in which location; During which" (Wiktionary).

But what are the contexts it can be used in, and is there any weird way it is being used sometimes? (I realised by now that English can be tricky.)

Also, are there any differences concerning this word between American and British English (my preferred)?


texts: Is it correct to ask "Are we all in concurrence?" synonymously to "Are we all in agreement?"


texts: Exact word for integrity-less or devoid of any integrity

texts: What word can we use to describe someone who has no integrity?


texts: What is a two-word phrase for: acquaintances about whom we know nothing

texts:
I need a two-word literary, good-sounding (I know, it sounds vague), and ironic phrase to say something like unknown acquaintances. I want two sides of the phrase to contradict each other. We have an ideal phrase for this in my native language and it sounds something like "people whom we know (acquaintances) whom we don't know." This phrase, however, sounds succinctly as "tanımadığımız tanışlar" where "tanı" means to know/recognize. Now, I am searching for an English alternative of that phrase.

So, here is a bit of context: I am talking about speaker series and I want to invite people whom we meet routinely every single day but don't attempt to get to know them. Examples of such people may be gardeners, dining staff, waiters, police, janitors/janitresses etc.


texts: What is the grammar on Your honor/My lord?

texts:
Your honor, My lord, Your highness, My lady all refer to another person. What are the rules behind that?
The striked-out questions are answered by Why is it "your Majesty", but "my Lord"? . Thank you guys!
Why do we use "Your" while sometimes use "My"?
First, let's say, Tom is my friend. I would say "My friend, would you like a coffee?" It would be weird if I say "Your friend, would you like a coffee?"
Why don't we use "Your friend" like "Your honor"?
Second, I feel it looks like Apposition if I interpret "Your honor" as "You, honor". Why do we use the possessive form?
Third, say I'm a loser. I would like to coin an honorable form for other people to call me. Which is more correct, "Your loser" or "My loser"?
I'm particularly interested in the usage in the United States if there's any difference.


texts:
I came across the following text and I don’t understand what the second sentence means. "Chanda-Leah does a trick we all wish our dog could perform. It puts money in the bank."
Is "putting money in the bank" an idiom I am not familiar with? If yes, could anybody explain its meaning? If not, what do you think the writer was trying to say? I tried to google it, but without any success.


texts: Should “Surely I must be wrong” end with a question mark?

texts:
Should there be a question mark at the end of this next  sentence?

  Surely I must be wrong.

I think not because it's not a direct question. What is the correct thing to do?


texts:
Why do we write "The shop is open" and not "The shop is opened"?

The passive voice is formed this way: verb + ed.
On the other hand, we write "The shop is closed".


texts:
What is an antonym for "genetically modified" or "genetically engineered" in the context of biomedical research? Is there a good adjective to describe cells or organisms that were not genetically modified?

Examples:

genetically modified and ??? mice
??? and genetically engineered yeast

The word "wild-type" comes to mind but might be misleading, because it excludes naturally occurring mutations. Maybe "native"?

Since "non-GM" comes up - this is for a publication, so an abbreviation has to be explained. And I try to avoid the phrase "genetically modified and non-genetically modified mice".


texts: How to explain simple math with correct preposition embedded on explanation?

texts:
I have a construction to say a ratio. I think of or and would be the correct prepositions.

So, If I give you my practice case

  The ratio of minimum rectangle’s floor area to enclosed circle area is
  tested with a defined threshold and a candidate, given a low ratio, is
  taken as natural object assuming that natural object has a more
  irregular boundary.
  The ratio between floor area of enclosed minimum rectangle and
  enclosed circle area is tested with a defined threshold and a
  candidate, given a low ratio, is taken as natural object assuming that
  natural object has a more irregular boundary.

As I cannot figure out the best preposition with the grammatically correct construction, I would like to ask what would be given a grammatically correct sentence?


texts: "I have been working..." versus "I have worked..." in response to "Who have you worked with so far?"

texts:
Q: Who have you worked with so far?
A: I have been working with people from all over the world.

The best answer would be 'I have worked with people from all over the world'.
One of my students answered like the above. What do you think?  Is this grammatically correct?


texts:
Many in the government disagree with a plan to debunk the low budget grassroots effort to expose the frivolity of Project X; the government employee’s union, with a newly elected leadership that more closely reflects the opinions of its members,__________ Project X.

Here, in the first part of the sentence, is double negative being used?

Does it means that the people in the government agree with exposing the frivolity of the project, if so how?

Shouldn't it mean the opposite, the government DISAGREE's to debunk i.e. not supporting the debunking plan?


texts: Need a word for someone who has the need for people to be impressed by him

texts: What is a good word for someone who feels the need to be glorified for going to college and being intelligent. A person who IS indeed intelligent & educated, but for some need he is always talking about things that people do not know about so he can prove/show how smart he is. He wants people to even think of him as one of the smartest men on Earth.


texts: Who is the T-Boner, and who is the T-Bonee?

texts:
Imagine this scenario: A motorcycle is riding along the top of a T-intersection. A car pulls out at the intersection into the path of the motorcycle, and the motorcycle hits the car.

This type of accident is commonly referred to by the slang term "T-bone".

Now, the question is, did the car T-bone the motorcycle, or did the motorcycle T-bone the car?


texts:
I recently encountered this expression and I'm pretty much stumped. People seem to be using it in place of "who". Example:

  [...] they were developed by non-medical professionals whom of which have applied their skills to help solve a health care / medical problem they had faced.

Another example:

  As well as Dave, special thanks goes to the 'Girls in Pink' for providing a high service throughout the whole day, as well as club chairman, Bob Thomsett and Chrissie whom of which manned the kitchen which was busy all day.

I can't quite wrap my head around the expression, but I figured it might be one of the many idiosyncrasies of the English language. Is this a valid expression or some newfangled bastardisation?


texts: Why exist "have got" if exist "have", while both this grammar constructions in most cases means the same thing. If I don't right, in what case we need use "have got" instead "have".


texts: Is “rape incidents befell American campuses” alright?

texts:
Befall is usually used as a synonym for happen or occur but with a negative connotation.

In this sentence, is the use of befell semantically correct?

  As a matter of fact, the majority of rape incidents that befell American campuses are acquaintance rape.


texts: Should I write documentation on first person plural or on third person singular?

texts:
I'm a Spanish computer programmer and I usually write code and documentation in my native language, but lately I'm trying to migrate them to English. The point is this kind of writing is quite formal (maybe scientific) and oriented third person to read it (and understand it).

I don't know what should be the best point of view when I comment the code. I have doubts especially between first person plural, third person singular and if I can skip the subject in these or another cases.

In practice, I'm trying to describe a piece of code that do something (it will be only read by programmers). These are the options (if you think another better I'd appreciate it):

1 . // It removes the files => This sounds good to me, but I'm repeating "It" constantly
2 . // Removes the files => Sometimes used by another people, is this correct? (skip the subject)
3 . // I/We remove the files => I think this is quite objective (but very common in Spanish, sometimes without the subject)
4 . // Remove the files => Widely used by English, but I'm not sure if this is grammatically correct (because it's referring to the code (third person singular)). If this is fine, it's supposed to be a second person singular (because of the lack of -s)? An special rule? Maybe an imperative? In that case it would be too much direct and we're explaining the code, not you
5 . // Removing the files => I think this is wrong. In fact I'm going to do it, but I'm not doing it now

So, what's the best way to write documentation in an appropriate style (formal and objective)?


texts: I have another questions regarding hyphens

texts:
The Gregg Reference Manual uses this:

mid- to late 60s (with a single space after the hyphen, because "mid" is a prefix that requires a hyphen).

My question is, if you have a phrase like "low to mid-50s," do we write it as I have done (i.e., no hyphen after "low," because "low" is not a prefix)?

I say:

CORRECT: low to mid-50s
INCORRECT: low-to-mid 50s

The only time we'd use two hyphens in "low-to-mid 50s" is when it's used as a compound modifier, correct? See below.

CORRECT: Temperatures are expected in the low-to-mid-50s range.

Correct with all examples (and reasoning)?

Thank you.


texts: Idiom meaning someone thinks he/she is smarter than anyone else because of age and experience

texts:
I am looking for an idiom that describes a person who thinks he or she is smarter than anyone else; just because they are older than someone, they presume that they are also wiser; but that might not be the case (smart aleck, know-it-all, holier-than-though, malapert, don't function in this case). I am looking for something related to intelligence and age, even used humorously.

The question actually came from one of my students, I teach English as a foreign language. I am 28 and my student is 34 years old, and through humour he told me I should pay attention to what he is saying, because he is older than me and therefore wise and smarter, and he asked is there some expression/idiom/phrase that could be used to describe him and I was a bit stunned at the moment because I cannot find something that links age and intelligence in this sense.


texts: Using "redouble" with an object other than "effort"?

texts:
While there is nothing in the definition to say otherwise, I can't think of any examples where I've seen the transitive verb "redouble" have an object other than "effort".

Would a phrase like "redouble our optimism" or "redouble our resolve" sound weird?


texts:
I'm in trouble with the following sentence:

"College provides equal opportunities to everyone." I would say this if I considered that "to everyone" is closely connected with "provides." However, if considering the direct object only, saying "equal opportunities for everyone" sounds better to me. Now, which one is correct?


texts: Can "the light" see the seas of summer leaves?

texts:
There is this song called Run in the Rain (by Tom Grennan).

And part of the lyrics (Verse 2) goes like this:

  When the light can see
  The seas of summer leaves
  The melodies resolve and the eulogy agrees
  Will you listen?
  Will you listen?

In this context, what is the meaning of the word light?

Considering the fact that the singer puts it as something that can see the seas of summer leaves, is there any possibility that the light might be personification of God or something like that?

Or is it just that the light has purely literal meaning and the verb see denotes any other meaning?


texts:
I'm unsure of the most readily recognizable term among normal people to describe a group of windows in a building.

Here's an example of the type of architectural feature I have in mind. In this photo there are five distinct 'groups' of windows which I'm trying to describe:

(UK parliament building)

Using the desired term I might say something like:

  "Please look at the 3rd XXXX of windows from the left..."

Note that from a construction point of view each of those five is made up of multiple frames, pieces of glass (or "glazing units"), etc. but that lower-level of detail is not what I am trying to describe.

Thoughts so far:

The first term that came to mind was that each is an "array" - but I am probably biased by familiarity with that term from computer programming and it might be too obscure. However it does seem to capture the regularity of their layout.
The second idea is to call them each a "bank" of windows but the Google definition states it is things "grouped together in rows" which may not be correct - column groups also exist. (This may be too literal of a concern).

Again, being technical correct in an architectural sense is distinctly secondary to the meaning most people would infer from the term.


texts: Hypernym for something like a blanket/sheet to cover oneself for keeping warm

texts:
Blanket seems too specific, one can cover oneself with a thin sheet instead.
Bedsheet somehow seems like what you'd sleep on, not what you'd sleep under.
Sheet is too general. One has sheets of paper, plastic sheets, and so on.

Is there any word or concise phrase for this? It should relate specifically to bedding, and should include any typically-rectangular object made of cloth/fabric-like material, with which one covers oneself while sleeping or lying down. It should not include other kinds of covers, such as a cover for a book, or something kept on a utensil to cover it.
It should not include a bedsheet on which one sleeps either.

(Aside: Marathi has a word for this, पांघरूण.)


texts:
Here is the report and login

or

  Here are the report and login

or

  Here is the report and the login?

Which one is correct and sounds better?


texts: What is the difference between "surely" and "definitely" in this context?

texts:
Here is an FCE Part 1 Practice (Multiple choice):

  There have been countless stories of dolphins appearing to co-operate
  with humans. But a recent incident has convinced a group of lifeguards
  that some dolphins were definitely attempting to help them - by
  protecting them from a shark!

Why can surely not work in this structure?

Here are the Cambridge Dictionary's definitions:

surely
defnitely


texts: Second Person Singular conjugation of words ending in Y

texts:
I know that most regular verbs would be conjugated in Second Person Singular by adding "est" (Thou makest), and Third Person Singular by adding "eth" (She maketh), but what if the verb ends with a Y? Would it be "studyiest" or "studiest?"

I'm inclined to follow the "change the 'Y' to an 'I' and add 'es'" format that currently holds for conjugating verbs ending in a consonant and y (scurry, carry, etc), thus making it studiest/studieth, defiest/defieth, purifiest/purifieth, etc.

Is this correct?


texts: What does "though" mean in these sentences?

texts:
I knew these are American English sentences, and they are informal. However, I would like to know what exactly it means, or it simply means nothing, and people merely want to add something unnecessary at the end of a sentence, because it sounds fetch.

Sentences like:

  His denim jacket, though.
  I love the way he talks, though.
  For real, though.
  Really, though.
  What's up though
  When are you coming over, though?


texts: Sentence Completion: "The narratives that vanquished people.. manage to ____ the victor's triumph.. "

texts:
Here is the sentence:

  The narratives that vanquished people have created of their defeat
  have, according to Schivelbusch, fallen into several identifiable
  types. In one of these, the vanquished manage to (i)_____ the victor's
  triumph as the result of some spurious advantage, the victors being
  truly inferior where it counts. Often the winners (ii)____ this
  interpretation, worrying about the cultural or moral costs of their
  triumph and so giving some credence to the losers' story.

My Interpretation:
For the first blank, I was able to figure out the correct option. The vanquished people 'interpret' (seemingly undermining) that the victor won due to some advantage and not due to his true vigor or skills. (Am I right?)

I am essentially confounded by the second blank. I'm not even able to incisively distinguish between the actors involved in this excerpt. Who are the vanquished talking about? Vanquished themselves are the winners, aren't they? So are the winners writing about themselves? Are these 'narratives' tantamount to biographies? And then, in the last sentence, who are the (new) winners?

Anyway, for the second blank, following are the options given. A holistic approach towards the interpretation will be helpful, however.

  (ii) take issue with (i think this one fits); disregard; collude in


texts:
I'm writing a Priority Queue. The details of it aren't important, but to describe a situation, I need a specific word.

It's possible for an item with the lowest priority to be the most important item in the queue.

As an example, say you have a task where the time left to complete it is the priority of the task. An item with less time left (assuming all work is equal) will have a higher priority.

The problem is expressing this idea in a few words coherently. If I wanted a function that creates a queue that prioritizes items of higher relational priority, I could call it new-high-priority-queue, or even just new-priority-queue. "Priority" just generally lends itself to urgency and an understanding that more == more.

How do I name a queue that prioritizes "low priority" items though? new-low-priority-queue? That sounds like all kinds of wrong. The best I could up with to express this idea was new-inverse-priority-queue, but that still sounds obscure. Of course I could/will add documentation, but it would be nice if the name of the queue spoke for itself.


texts: What is the difference between 'ad hoc' and 'heuristic'?

texts:
In engineering people tend to (at least in my mind) use these two terms pretty loosely. Now I don't care about the informal slang usage of the term, I just wish to know what is the difference in their precise definition and how these terms are used when used correctly.

For example, in the field of VLSI, or machine learning or some other field where the final design is not designed through from purely mathematically or theoretically accurate perspective (meaning theory cannot be used to verify or to predict the performance of your design), but through tuning or trial and error, or design through experience, in those cases you would hear people say...

"That method is totally heuristic...you just plug in data until the algorithm works"

Or

"There are better ways to do it but the method is pretty much ad hoc"

What is the precise usage of the two terms?


texts:
i've watched some documentary about 21st century history
in which the narrator said 'when 21st century began it even
didnt have a name' and thensomeone replied by saying
'the double oughts.'
i think it's related to another name of 21st century's or
literally means double oughts, more responsobilities were added on people.
i m so confused...

help me, thank you!


texts: Is "soul-to-soul talk" a common expression in English?

texts: Is "soul-to-soul talk" a common expression in English for describing a sincere talk between two people? Or is it not common at all?


texts: What does "frank" (noun, food-related) mean?

texts:
I found the following text in the dictionary of soldier slang of WWII (my emphasis):

  beans 'n' weenies: C-ration beans and franks, a cornerstone of infrantry nutrition

I assume that franks is a piece of food, but I couldn't find any food-related meaning of this word.

What does frank mean in this context?