texts:
Good afternoon, I need to express a date range, it's for an advertisement so not a formal affair. My difficulty is the amount of conflicting opinions on how dates should be written. Anyway, the sentence would be: Take advantage of the offers between the 15th and 26th of December!

Is this correct or can it be shortened by not using ordinals? Or, should it be written in another way completely?

I'd mention that it's directed to a mainly British audience.


texts: What is the linguistic term to describe “–“ part of the phrase in “He ‘lied his a– off”?

texts:
Washington Post (December 6), carried an article under the headline, “He ‘lied his a– off : Carrier union leader on Trump’s big deal” which is followed by the following paragraph;

  “At the Dec. 1 meeting, where Trump was supposed to lay out the
  details, ones hoped he would explain himself. “But he got up there,”
  Jones said Tuesday, “and, for whatever reason, lied his a-- off.”

I instantly realized what "a- off" mean, but I’m curious to know what do you call the “—“ part of the word in English, and how do you vocalize when you read it out. Do you read it, like "a-blah-blah - off"?

We call it “伏字” – meaning “hidden characters” in Japanese. Obviously it’s different from “expletive” which consists a whole word, not a part of it.

Though Readers Japanese English Dictionary published by Kenkyusha renders “an omission / blank / turn” as English counterparts to “伏字,” I’m not sure whether it applies to “a-off” case.


texts: Dysfunctionality in the use of calendars or diaries

texts: Is there a single word to describe someone who is dysfunctional in the use of calendars or diaries and often mixes up dates on schedules?


texts: Difference between "had waited" and "had been waiting"

texts: Can I write "I have been waiting for the bus for 30 minutes" instead of "I had waited for the bus for 30 minutes?"


texts: How do you respond back to "Hi, how is it going?"

texts: I observe that people from America greet by asking, "Hi, how is it going?". What is the proper response to this greeting?


texts: Word for "secondary part of a dish that soaks up the sauce of the primary part"

texts:
A lot of dishes include a small amount of meat or fish or something else with a strong flavor, and then a large portion of rice or mashed potatoes or spaghetti, or something else that is comparatively flavorless. What's the word for that latter part?

Example usage:

  "The rice on my plate is the _____ for my meat"
   "Here are some meat balls, with rice as their ______"

I'm not sure if English has a word for this. In Russian, there's the word "гарнир" ("garnir"), but the English word that sounds like it, "garnish", seems like a false cognate, because it means specifically a decorative extra part of a dish.


texts:
A word for "useful information"?

Is there a single english word for "useful information" in the context of the internet? For instance, the internet contains all types of information - some useful and some useless, some good and some bad, some helpful and some harmful. The word I'm looking for is one that encompasses some/all of the positive aspects of information. I'm grasping at straws so any suggestion is certainly welcome.


texts: Crass referred to financial attitudes... a person was crass if they discussed money or one’s finances. Is this currently in use?


texts: How can we say "I see my dreams not happening"

texts:
I want to say that I can see my dreams falling apart. Is it correct?

I mean to say that the things I want to do (or happen) in the future seem to be impossible.. How can I say it?


texts: The intensifier 'pure D': where and when did it originate, and what does the D stand for?

texts:
A posting in my Facebook timeline today began "I've been sorting boxes of Pure D-Crap." The poster was writing from Alameda, California (near San Francisco). It struck me that I hadn't heard "pure D" used as an intensifier in at least 25 years—and perhaps not since I left Texas in 1980.
A Google Books search finds a couple of instances of the term from the early 1990s. From Lee K. Abbott, "Where Is Garland Steeples Now?" in Jeanne Schinto, The Literary Dog: Great Contemporary Dog Stories (1990):

After he was gone for about four months, you heard this story often and with considerable conviction, it now having entered the popular imagination. It was told by a KINT DJ and appeared in the CB cross-talk on I-10 or up around Odessa. Darrell Royal, then coaching the Longhorns and in Houston for a cookout, told a high-school running back named Scooter that it, the story, was pure-D invention—wish and whine from those of mashed spirit. You heard it in Goree, at the VFW hall in Heron, at Mildred's Diner.

Alll of the place names and other references in this excerpt are in Texas (KINT, for example, is a radio station in El Paso). The setting appears to be Texas in the late 1960s or early 1970s (Darrell Royal left his job as football coach at the University of Texas in 1976), though the story was probably written sometime in the 1980s.
And from Wanda Schell & Kenny Bento, Martin Said So: A Drama (1991):

SAMUEL DAVID. And I told you not to bring any of that kind of talk in here. You better take your crazy behind back to school and never mind that crap you learned out there in the streets. You want to learn something, learn it in school.
RICHARD: That's your answer to everything, ain't it, Pop? School ain't gonna give me the things I need. The only way I'm going to get anything is to go out and take it.
SAMUEL DAVID. You act like a Pure-D-Fool! Ruth, you hear this boy?

This play was published by a tiny publishing house in Schulenburg, Texas, a small town in the south-central part of the state. The speakers in the dialogue are African American.
My own memory of the phrase involves someone declaring in a thick Texas drawl that some assertion or action by another person was "pure D bull," but I can't call up any further context for the remark. None of the editions of Dictionary of American Slang include an entry for "pure D."
My questions are:

Where and when did "pure D" as an intensifier originate?
What does the D stand for?
Where (geographically) was and is the expression used?


texts: Incorrectly taking something facetious seriously

texts: Is there a word for taking something that's meant tongue in cheek seriously? For example trying to prove someone wrong after they taunt you by saying “You couldn't fight your way out of a paper bag”.


texts: What's the difference between these two sentences regarding the result?

texts:
In the sentence below:

The result of a man’s jumping from the 10th floor would be death.
The result of a man’s jumping from the 10th floor is death.

They sound to me that they all mean the result of jumping off is death and even my English teacher say there aren't any difference in meaning, but I am curious: Are there any subtle difference between them regarding the 'result' of these two sentences? thanks.


texts: My question is about the use of "lest" + "should have + past participle" in the sentence provided below

texts:
I have while reading Bram Stoker's 'Dracula' stumbled upon a sentence which has ever since been puzzling my mind and I have not been able to penetrate the grammar used. Here goes the sentence:

  "I do believe the dear soul thought I might be jealous, lest my poor
  dear should have fallen in love with any other girl."

What exactly puzzles me are the following grammar structures: "lest" and "should have fallen". What meaning do they convey here? How do I understand them? I feel it's not commonly used grammar, and any help is very much appreciated. I have made bold all the structures I'm not quite sure of.
I only know of the "should have + past participle" construction in a sense of regret, like "I should have studied harder." (while in fact I did not, hence the lamentation." But here the construction seems to be following some other frame of application.


texts: Why is 'unexpectedly' common but 'expectedly' not?

texts:
"unexpectedly" is common, but "expectedly" is not, whereas "predictably" (the synonym of expectedly) is common but "unpredictably" is not.  Is there any rationale for this?

See Ngram


texts: Having too much expectations or having too high expectations

texts: What is the difference, can both be used and which one is proper ?


texts: Why is it "wide *of* the mark" instead of "wide *off* the mark"?

texts: One says that something is "off the mark". For instance, an opinion or comment. But when it is way off, why is it "wide of the mark" instead of "wide off the mark"?


texts: To Capitalize or not to Capitalize Independence?

texts:
Should I capitalize the word independence when it is not used as a holiday? As in the following statement:

  In the wake of Independence in 1923, colonial administrators left the
  country.


texts: Is it fine if I use "define A B" rather than "define A as B"?

texts:
The textbook I have been reading uses the sentence:

"As in the discussion of state augmentation in Section 1.4, it is intuitively clear that we should define a new system whose state at time k is the set of all variables the knowledge of which can be of benefit to the controller when making the kth decision."

Getting rid of some trivial parts of the sentence, we get

"We should define a new system whose state at time k is the set of all variables the knowledge of which can be of benefit to the controller when making the kth decision."

Since "whose state at time k is the set of all variables" is just the modifier to "a new system", and since "of which can be of benefit to the controller when making the kth decision" is also the modifier to "the knowledge", we can reduce the sentence to

"We should define a new system the knowledge."

Now, I was wondering why the author did not write "We should define a new system as the knowledge."

Is the phrase of "define A B" equivalent to one of "define A as B"?


texts: Difference  between should, must, can, may in a conversation and a sentence.


texts: Is there an implied be verb in the sentence "American workers facing or are facing"?

texts:
American workers facing a less prosperous future than their parents’ generation have gotten the message—or at least a version of it.

Can anyone please explain the structure? Is there any implied be verb after workers, like workers are facing?


texts:
Is there a word for the artistic decorations that are often added to letters in some type-faces / fonts (e.g. caligraphy, etc.)

I'm thinking like a serif, but as far as I know, (I'm open to correction) a serif is a specific tail that's added to some letters, whereas I'm looking for a word that encapsulates all the different types of decorative strokes or flourishes that can be added to letters.


texts: Reported speech commands - negations which aren't related to subject

texts:
First my english ain't pretty good but I hope you can understand me. :)
So at the moment I'm doing my homework and I'm pre-finished with it but 2 sentences are very difficult for the exercise.

I need to put commands in direct speech to the reported speech.

For example:

Mother: Don't lose your passport. Keep it somewhere safe.
-> My mother told me not to lose my passport. She told me to keep it somewhere safe.

That's pretty simple but this sentence the negation are not related to the subject or I don't know how I can can describe this ... :/

Mother: Take a present for your French family. It doesn't have to be something expensive.
-> My mother told me to take a present for my French family.
But she told me it not have to be something expensive.

I think that's wrong because it sounds wrong .. :/

Do I need it in this way: ....
 But she told me that it doesn't have to be expensive or something like this?
Kinda weird grammar :/

And this sentence is also difficult:

Mother: The journey won't feel so long.

Does anyone has any solutions?:)

regards


texts: Differences between summary, abstract, overview, and synopsis

texts:
Are there subtle differences in meaning between the nouns summary, abstract, overview, and synopsis?

Which would be the most appropriate term for a one-page "executive summary" of a research report?

From Wiktionary:

summary: An abstract or a condensed presentation of the substance of a body of material.
abstract: An abridgement or summary.
overview: A brief summary, as of a book or a presentation.
synopsis: A brief summary of the major points of a written work, either as prose or as a table; an abridgment or condensation of a work.


texts: I'm not a native speaker. Someone told my boss about my work, 'He called it a day'. Is it a rather neutral expression about ending some day work, or does it mean 'he's lazy and didn't finish it'?


texts: Should you capitalize "Will" (as in a "Last Will and Testament")?

texts:
I had always assumed it would be lowercase, but it seems it's often capitalized. Presumably because it is the title of a document?
If you were to simply call it a "Will" then should it be capitalized or no?


texts:
In correspondence this morning, I found myself using a very verbal construction:

  Your Recommendation is entirely up to you in terms of the who and why.

With due respect to the he:him::who:whom rule here, how should I have constructed this sentence in formal, professional correspondence?

Should I have used "who" or "whom"?
Should I have offset "who" and "why" with quotes?
Is there a special word for the usage of [who/why/when,etc] when they are used in this objective/subjective fashion?


texts: Line Art: A word like Scrimshaw or Filligree?

texts:
I'm looking for a word that refers to a fine, decorative line-work illustration that is used for accenting signage or letterhead. It's similar in usage to scrimshaw (except not a picture) or filigree (except not made of wire).

What word am I looking for?

An example are the decorative lines around and within the Jack Daniels no.7 label, as seen here:
!


texts:
In the following sentence, I am not sure if "she" should be the object "her" or the reflexive "herself and himself"

"It is not Irene in this circumstance that should have felt uncomfortable in carrying out her duties, it is the officer who put both himself and she in that position."


texts: There is a quote from Brene Brown which I don't understand

texts:
I know the meaning of every word in it, but I can't fully understand it. The quote is:

  “The ability, to hold something we’ve done or failed to do, up against who we want to be, is incredibly adaptive. It’s uncomfortable but it’s adaptive.”

I perceive its meaning to be: Ability to holding our past works against what we want to be.

But this is meaningless!  What is its meaning?


texts:
This issue of gerunds vs noun always puzzled me and in this particular case made me wonder. I actually am translating my thesis title into English and am not sure as to use gerund or noun. So which one do you think is correct:

development and presentation of the integrated model
developing and presenting the integrated model

I have actually developed the model, if that makes any difference.

It would mean alot to me to make it clear this old question. Namaste ;)


texts: Pronounce abreviation/acronym as word or based

texts:
If you have an abbreviation that reads like a word, should you pronounce it like the word it reads like, or the words it came from?

For example, in the software development world there is a JAR (abbreviation of Java ARchive), and there is also a WAR (abbreviation of Web ARchive).

In the first case people usually say jar as in a jam jar, but in the latter case some people say war (as in first world war), whereas I say war to rhyme with jar. I claim that I'm using the 'ar' from the start of 'archive'. Who is right?

P.S. sorry if my terminology is all wrong.


texts:
Is there an accepted name for words such as 'Huge' which means 'very big' and 'Tiny' which means 'very small'? Is there a good textbook with some exercises on learning this sort of vocab?

Edit: I am a teacher and am looking for exercises on this topic. But I don't know what to search for online, or what to look for in the appendix. I want to improve the student's vocabulary specifically for adjectives.

Edit: I am not looking to explain he linguistic phenomenon of why things are rarely 'very tiny'. I am looking for a name for the class of words which mean 'very _______'. Strong adjectives has been suggested and will be accepted as an answer if it is presented as an answer, and not a comment, and there is some indication that this is the accepted term and is widely-used by people other than the designer of those problem sheets.


texts: Origin of reading a decimal point as "spot"

texts:
I've noticed some people who work with non-integers sometimes read out decimal points as "spot".

E.g. "Pi is three spot one four one".

Particularly found in finance, but I've heard non-finance professionals use it too.

It makes perfect sense to me in terms of avoiding mumbling/mishearing, but I'm wondering about the origin and history?


texts: Which of these is correct? What is the origin of this expression? I've searched here on the exchange and haven't found an answer.


texts: Word for person that transports something securely

texts: I am looking for a word (or 2 maybe) that represents a person transporting something securely. I'm looking for something more interesting than "security guard". It shouldn't be tied to him being a driver for example. Please treat the images merely as examples.


texts:
The relation between asinine and ass is pretty apparent, and I know that ass isn't a very acceptable word, but is asinine? If it were used in an essay for school or during discussion would it be considered vulgar or inappropriate?

  Alexy's course of action in this text was rather asinine.


texts: What is a noun for describing people who live in an arid environment?

texts: Looking non-regional term that will work for people in anywhere from Arabia to California. Something similar to desertinian.


texts: Disambiguating the noun phrase "a pretty egg box"

texts:
Does "a pretty egg box" always mean "a pretty box of eggs" rather than "a box of pretty eggs"?

More precisely, is "adjective adjunct-noun head-noun" always interpreted as "adjective (adjunct-noun head-noun)" rather than "(adjective adjunct-noun) head-noun"?

If so, can  "a pretty egg box" be punctuated so as to mean "a box of pretty eggs"?


texts: Is there any difference between these two constructions?

texts:
In the following two constructions, the first is used with an indefinite article, while the other is used without.

The woman speaks a good Arabic.
The woman speaks good Arabic.

I am wondering if there is any difference in meaning between the two constructions.


texts:
In my Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary the word 'throe' is not listed, only 'throes'. With other nouns, the dictionary clearly indicates whether nouns are countable or uncountable, however, with 'throes' it only indicates that it is plural.

I am sitting with a term paper in which I have to comment on the countability and number of a set of given nouns from a text. 'Throes' is one of these words and although it is 'death throes' in the context ('This sudden burst of activity was actually the Expedit in its death throes')only 'throes' is underlined as the one I should comment on.

Is the word 'throes' simply neither countable or uncountable? Is that possible? Or why does my dictionary not indicate it, as if it does not know it either? Has it something to do with 'death throes' being part of an idiom? I am unsure of the word and how I should comment. Hope someone can help me :)


texts: Word that means "settle for" that starts with "r"

texts:
I'm not sure if this is the right place to ask this, but it's driving me insane!

There's a word that means "to settle for something instead of the best you could get" and I'm pretty sure it's two syllables and starts with "r".

In a sentence, you might say

"Since our budget is limited, we'll need to [word] and go for this cheaper alternative"

Can anyone help me? Save me from my misery!


texts: Subjunctive mood, progressive and perfect progressive tense

texts:
Are the following usages of subjunctive mood, progressive tense correct?

  If I be being your wife a shrew, you have the option of divorcing me.
  If I were being crowned May queen, I would wear a better dress.
  If I shall be being manager impossible, bla, bla, bla.

Am I on the right track?


texts: What does "Never try to teach a pig to sing. It wastes your time, and it annoys the pig" mean?

texts: It's a quote by Robert Heinlein.  I'm curious to hear its deeper meaning.


texts: What does "a woman of mean understanding" mean?

texts:
In the end of the first chapter of Jane Austin's Pride and Prejudice, Mrs. Bennet is described as a "woman of mean understanding". On the Web, I found two meanings:

of little knowledge
bad temper

Can someone clarify the meaning of "mean understanding" in my context?


texts: Word to describe a subject where people learn how to do work?

texts:
Is there a word to describe a subject where people learn how to do work?

For example, "I'm in a class called  where we learn how to manage our time, plan work, write various documents, and present work."

I'm interested if there is a single word for this (but I'm also open to multi-word options).

Business didn't seem right because the things described are general skills that can be applied to more than business. I've heard of "life skills" courses, but that seemed too personal/ too much like a "home ec" type description.


texts: Does it sound too formal to say "Please be aware that..." to a friend?

texts: I searched on google and someone says that is used in a very formal way. So I was wondering what could an alternative to saying so politely to a friend. Thank you!


texts: Coalescence of /t/ and /r/ in 'train', 'tram', 'traffic' etc

texts:
Could we say that when saying the 'tr' in words like 'train', 'tram' etc, that the /t/ and /r/ often coalesce to make a sound which is more similar to 'tchr'?

I myself definitely do this, but I have not found it documented in any text books that I've read, tho' I'm sure I haven't read them all!

All thoughts/comments much appreciated.

Bob

PS. Apparently "Creating the new tag 'coalesence' requires at least '300 reputation." ...in case anyone is wondering why on earth I didn't tag this post properly.


texts: "withdraw the question" in less formal way

texts:
I'm trying to find more common way to say that I would like to withdraw/cancel/recall off (?) my question I sent few days ago. Can you suggest something?

Thank you
Hubert


texts: Why does "groove" mean "take pleasure in"?

texts:
The original meaning of "groove" is something like a cave, or as a verb, make a groove.

Why can "groove" mean "take pleasure in" as a verb?


texts: Help me to explain this sentence's grammar

texts:
Global temperatures have already risen 0.9℃ and continental temperatures 1.5℃ degrees above pre-industrial levels"

This is a sentence from an essay about ice melting and environment changing. It confuses me because the clause after and doesn't make sense to me: it doesn't contain any verb and the word degrees is really strange there. It becomes more confusing to me when I have to use the previous verb risen.

Could anyone explain what structure is being used here?


texts: What does “That woman’s got style” mean?

texts:
In Jeffery Archer’s new mystery, “False Impression,” there was the following conversation between senior FBI agent, Jack Delaney and his subordinate, Tom Crasanti, both of whom are pursuing after the heroine, Anne Petrescu who took a priceless "self-portrait of Van Gogh without an ear" out of the Art Location of the custom house of Heathrow Air Port, and ran away:

  “Where’s Petrescu?” was Jack’s first question.
  “She landed in Bucharest.”
  “And the painting?”
  “She wheeled it out of customs on a baggage trolley,” said Tom.
  “That woman’s got style.”
  “Agreed,” said Tom, “but then perhaps she has no idea what’s she’s up against.”

I searched “get (got) style” to get the meaning of “that woman’s got style” in dictionaries including online dictionaries, but I wasn’t able to find out.

Can you tell me what “get style “means? Is “She’s (he’s) got style” a popular idiom?


texts: One word for software systems with similar domain of functionality?

texts:
Synonyms are different words with similar meaning. Does there a word exist that denotes the same essence but denotes similar domain of functionality for different software systems.

For e.g. An internet bot and a desktop application which work with the English language to generate tweets and songs respectively. Irrespective of how they work since they both come under Natural Language Generation domain if one were to compare say both these systems and use a word x such that "Despite their commercial aspects both these systems are x.

P.S. I am not a native English speaker. Feel free to criticize as much on the writing style, grammar, and poor voice as well if any.


texts: What do you call this sitting pose or position that sad or depressed people adopt?

texts:
What do you call this pose/ position that we adopt when we are very sad or depressed? (For example; when we feel heartbroken or have lost someone or something important.)

P.S. I know that some people sleep in the "fetal position" that is kind of similar to this sitting position, can I use "sitting in the fetal position" too?

  Fetal position (British English: also foetal) is the positioning of the body of a prenatal fetus as it develops. In this position, the back is curved, the head is bowed, and the limbs are bent and drawn up to the torso.
  [Wikipedia]

Update:

We Iranians use a single word and also a (figurative) expression for referring to this position/ pose. I don't know how to translate that single word, but the expression literally says "to hug the knee(s) of sadness". For example:

  "Why have you sitted in this corner and hugged the knees of sadness like this? Has the world come to an end?!!, Come on, pull yourself together,...".

I don't know if I can use "to hug one's knees" for describing or mentioning this position or not.


texts: Is the expression "What hath alienators wrought" correct, concordance-wise?

texts:
I have seen the phrase "What hath alienators wrought" in the name of an article. Searching throught the web I learned that "hath" is the version of "has" in old English, but in the singular case (mostly used in the phrase "What hath God wrought", I guess it's biblical). Therefore, I am guessing that the phrase "What hath alienators wrought" is wrong and should be "What have alienators wrought".

Can someone tell me if I'm correct in my guessing or nor, and why? Thanks.


texts: Idioms or phrases for "Be it good or bad"

texts:
Can you suggest some idioms or phrases for Be it good or bad? For example:

  Be it good or bad, television has become an indispensable part of our lives.


texts:
Jasmine use to take  piano lessons, but now she is learning to play the trombone.

Jasmine used to take  piano lessons, but now she is learning to play the trombone


texts: One word for "a person who takes happiness as his/her goal of life"

texts: I'm unable to remember a single-word substitute for "a person who takes happiness as his/her goal of life"


texts: What's the practical difference between "allot" and "allocate"?

texts: I've noticed allot is usually used as an adjective (as in, "your allotted amount"), and allocate is more often used as a verb (as in, "I will allocate some resources"). Any other notable differences?


texts:
Should "occupant impact with the airbag" be written as:

"occupant airbag impact" or "airbag occupant impact"?

And should "interaction between occupant and airbag" be written as:

"occupant airbag interaction" or "airbag occupant interaction"


texts: Context and meaning of " cloak myself in the mantle of Voltaire ..."?

texts:
This is from an old story about a publisher backing off from publishing a book after having made an initial contract with the author, because of some of the latter's controversial views. Chris Hitchens debated this on Charlie Rose. Towards the end Hitchens makes this statement..

" I dont want to cloak myself in the mantle of Voltaire, but it seems to me a perfectly simple point that it is not .....  upon me to defend anything Irving says or hypothesizes in order for me to defend, not his right to say it so much as my right to read it....".

Could someone explain how Voltaire is related to this view??
Also what is such a use of language called, allegory?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dWxklSFPEA


texts: 'WE are the most precious person in the world' or 'WE are the most precious persons in the world'

texts:
maybe it is simple qusetion.
I just make that
like 'you're precious in the world'

person? persons? people?

but, i confused. . pls help me


texts: I tried searching it up and it said yes “funner” is a word, but when I ask teacher they said no it isn’t a word, anyone got an idea?


texts:
I have a sentence lingering in my mind that I read somewhere, but the way I'm remembering it it doesn't sound right:

The averages have the power of invisibility.

Is this correct pluralization of 'average' as a noun?


texts: What is the meaning of "interview loop"?

texts:
While preparing for job interviews, I keep coming across the term "interview loop". The phrase "interview loop" seems to be used interchangeably with "interview".

What is the meaning of "loop" here, then?
And what is the etymology of this usage?

--


texts: What are the meaning and grammar of "Crying isn't like you"?

texts:
Can I say that something is not like somebody like this:

Crying isn’t like you.

What is its meaning?


texts: Is the phrase "She needs to speak more confidently? incorrect?

texts:
Is the phrase "She needs to speak more confidently"
correct?


texts: What is the meaning of "mess somebody up"?

texts:
A nurse is telling:

  There was a girl who was driving inside a tunnel and something just fell on her car and she died. That messes me up more than thinking about patients who are sick.

I have a hard time understanding what is the meaning of the phrasal verb in the context.


texts: What connotation does "unhealthy relationships" have? I'm told that it can't be used to mean strained or stormy relations with someone. Why?


texts: confusion in the sentence use of have and has in plural and singular case

texts:
Please consider this sentence:

With the emergence of new technologies and their capabilities, variabilities, and time computation has/have given a tremendous breakthrough to the field of electrical engineering.

Here should I use has given or have given?


texts: What does "I've flipped through the brochure" mean in this sentence?

texts:
I've watched a Louis CK stand up comedy, and am wondering what he meant by "I've flipped through the brochure"?

  “I like life. You know how much I do? I have never killed myself,
  that’s how much I like it. ... I like it precisely enough to not kill
  myself. It’s an option, though, it’s totally an option. I mean, I’m
  49, I have two kids, I’ve flipped through the brochure a few times.”


texts:
According to Collins Dictionary “double-faced” means ‘deceitful’.

Can both adjectives of the Title box be used interchangeably in the sense of deceit?


texts: "Like trying to ski by thinking about each action as you do it" - by?

texts:
I do get the point, but I would like to know why the "by" is used here? Wouldn't "and" work?

  "Is it like trying to ski by thinking about each action as you do it."

To me it implies that you might be at home and trying to sky BY thinking, which is a nonsense. Also the "as you do it" - does it imply "at the same time"?

Could I rewrite it like this?

  It is like trying to ski and thinking about each action while you do it.


texts: Is there any difference between "I'm sat" and "I'm sitting"?

texts:
In BrE, one can apparently use I'm sat here to mean I'm sitting here. This seems to be a relatively modern usage:

I had originally thought that this was a regional or dialectical variant and had asked a question about this, but the discussion in the comments and the fact that I found many occurrences of the phrase in print (searching Google Books) suggest that it is in fact quite widespread:

Don't think: I'm sat here waiting for my plays to be produced; think: I am sat here waiting to write those plays that can only be produced, now. [source]
I'm sat here in Vittles waiting for a second pot of tea, and life is OK, on the whole. [source]
I'm sat here, in the back of a van with my Thermos full of hot tea, protecting a car-park. [source]
And it'sonly now that I'm sat here to with Emma that the absurdity of what I'm doing is starting hit home. [source]
I'm sat here watching and listening to them talk. [source]
When I'm sat beside his grave / The reason I'm sat here crying / Is for the life I couldn't save. [source]
I'm sat here, tears running down my face and no one asks if I'm okay. [source]

However, it was suggested in the comments (1, 2) that there may be a difference in meaning between I'm sat here and I am sitting here with the former beeing more negative. Perhaps because it implies a certain "passivity", that the person so sitting was placed there as opposed to having chosen to sit. While some of the examples I found and am quoting above do seem to be negative, I don't see evidence of such a trend.
So, my question here is i) is there actually any difference between I'm sat here and I'm sitting here and, ii) if so, does the former have some sort of negative connotation?

Please note that this is about the specific usage of sat to replace sitting and not for cases such as "I sat the baby down".
It is also not a duplicate of Is "I am sat" bad English? which is asking whether I'm sat is "good English". I am instead asking whether there is any subtle difference in usage between the two.


texts:
If I need to know whose name should I put in title of a cheque, what would be the most precise and educated sentence?

I have to pay someone some money via cheque but I want to ask them whose name should I put in title of the cheque, what should I say which is polite and eloquent ?


texts:
This is a book concentrated into one chapter. It is very dense.

I heard it from a Cambridge professor. He was praising a chapter well written about an ancient philosopher by a famous scholar, which was collected in a book editted by himself.

But I think a book which is concentrated into one chapter is still a complete book. It is simply written in an extremely dense style.

Maybe the professor shoulds say "a book condensed into one chapter". Because a book which has been condensed into one chapter is just a book which originally had more than one chapter and has been reduced to its essentials and stuffed into one chapter.


texts:
When we copy a file or a folder on computer, a notice will be appeared " 1 items are being moved"
Please kindly help to explain why it is items but not item as quantity always showing "1".
Hope you can understand what i mean.

Thanks


texts: What is the grammar behind the phrase ‘all the better’

texts: I have used the sentence ‘In general, the doctors weren’t all the much better.’ in an article I’m writing; to me it sounds perfectly well, but to my advisor, it didn’t. Is it grammatically and idiomatically correct, and if so, how can I explain the grammar behind it?


texts: Describe a state where mental focus is spread too thin and/or on too wide a range of concerns?

texts:
At my work when I have a myriad tasks, could I say that my thoughts are dispersed amongst many objectives? I am trying to figure if I could use the term dispersed in a sentence to describe a state where a persons thoughts are not focused because the range of issues that concern her is too wide to efficiently handle at once.

I read this: What's a good word for a lack of concentration? but it was not very helpful.


texts: Is the usage of "Will" correct in this sentence?

texts:
I have a sentence where I already introduced a future hypothesis with "will":

  Future enhancements in Artificial Intelligence will bring significant
  changes in our world, changing the way machines (will) see us.

Is it correct to exclude the second one, that I have put in parenthesis? The thing there's a gerund ("changing") in the mid makes me dubious. Thanks!


texts:
"Bentham, you will remember, says that all that counts are pleasurable experiences, no matter how they are produced. Mill disagreed"

I don't know what "you will remember" means there. I don't know why the author put it between commas. I think the word "will" in "you will remember" is "used to refer to what is likely"(http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/will).

Is it correct if I rewrite the sentence like this?

  "You will remember that Bentham says that all that counts are pleasurable experiences, no matter how they are produced. Mill disagreed."


texts: have I correctly recognised the apposition?

texts:
Observations from Earth indicate that at the solar surface, the outward magnetic field is  the strongest at the polar regions.

Is at the solar surface an apposition which the writer has forgotten to add another comma (,) after that?


texts: Using a comma after "but" as done on W4 form

texts:
http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/fw4.pdf

The sentence is found on line C, where it says...

  But, you may choose to enter “-0-” if you are married and have either a working spouse or more than one job.

Is that correct? And why? Seems rather odd that the government would make such a mistake, no?

Edit - I'm not asking if it's correct or not to put a comma after a conjunction. I'm asking if it's OK to use "But" as a substitute for "However." I'm also not asking if it's "always necessary" to put a comma after conjunctive adverbs like "however." I'm saying this because it's the government that wrote it, and the government, I'd think, would be right in doing so. I just wanted to know if it's "generally" acceptable to do that or if it's an actual mistake.


texts: What is the difference between "sip" and "drink" verbs?

texts: Title says it all. What is the difference? As I understand - "to sip" means the same as "to drink" but slowly. Are there any other aspects for choosing between them?


texts:
I'm a native German speaker, so forgive me if I use wrong words or wrong syntax.

In a major news outlet today I read this headline:

  Time to decide if we want UN focused & effective or on the sidelines

I wonder whether this should be:

  Time to decide whether we want UN focused & effective or on the
  sidelines

I am often confused where if or whether is appropriate to use.


texts: Thesis help! This sentence is really bothering me. Please explain why I feel bothered

texts:
This sentence is really bothering me. Does this look right to anyone? If not, can someone write why? Thanks.

  Only to the extent that John and Jane are willing to let go of the pretense and show themselves for who they are will they be free to enjoy a true marriage and enter honestly into the sacred covenant.

I am not soliciting writing advice. I have made a good faith effort to research the question and have come to this site only upon mature consideration.


texts: Phrase for the cognitive bias that I can best describe as "abundance bias"

texts:
My sentence is:

  Hence this option is free of abundance bias

Say, if a doctor sees 100 patients with X and someone who has Y (which has symptoms similar to X) comes in. The doctor fails to consider any subtleties that might make it different from X and just diagnoses X. This doctor has "abundance bias" because the X was more common. You could say it's actually confirmation bias but that'll be when the doctor diagnoses based on his subjective experience rather than X being more widespread.

I want to replace the term "abundance bias" with the properly defined term rooted in psychology/cognitive sciences that denotes that the option will account for all subtleties and won't be biased towards stuff that happens to be more common.


texts:
I am writing to the following sentence written by a native speaker:

  ... and build a corpus with of effective tests, reports, analyses and evaluation results.

What's really confusing me is the usage of with of. Isn't it more understandable, to just do this?

  ... and build a corpus with effective tests, reports, analyses and evaluation results.

Why do we need to use with of? And I searched it in Google and it only finds one usage. I didn't even know if it is grammatically correct.


texts: Is this question asked in the right manner?

texts:
"Do you think the children enjoyed their meal?"

As you can see, this question started with the "Present Tense's auxiliary verb" which was "Do". Why can we still use Past Tense's verb (enjoyed) then?

By the way, I'm a newbie. Named "David"


texts: What's the oral address of "fellow student"?

texts:
I have known "fellow student" is a formal address and we used this in somewhere formally. But in oral situation, how to introduce a senior student to my friends when we face to face? If I say "this is my fellow student Alan", is that too weird?

I am so sorry not provide detailed situation. I mean in University in UK, casual situation let's say during a lunch, my friends and me meet a fellow student "ABCD". "ABCD" knows me but don't know my friends and I need to introduce them to each other.


texts: I am looking for a euphemism for "selfish" or "selfishness" (want to express it in writing in a workplace context to describe the specific behaviour of some colleagues, but I find selfish too direct)


texts: Does "within" have an antonym? If so, what?

texts:
Does "within" have an antonym?
If there is an antonym, which one is it?


texts: Can "darling" be used as an adjective in the sentence "You look so darling"?

texts:
I've never heard of the word "darling" being used this way until yesterday, and a discussion came up about whether this would be correct use or not.

Edit: Some additional info I wrote in reply to an answer:

Googling phrases such as "you look darling", "you look so darling", and "you look very darling" does bring up various instances of the word being used in this way. It still doesn't make sense to me, but it does seem to be a way people use the word.


texts:
Understanding that "given that" and "granted that" are both used to mark the premise of an argument (or conditions that are assumed to be true), and the actual meaning is almost identical, I have to catch the nuance.

Is there a colloquial difference between them? Is this a difference in register? Is "granted that" literary/academic?

As for the amount of Google hits, "given that" is used about twenty times more.


texts: How to refer to someone who works at a hotel?

texts:
I understand that a hotelier is "someone who owns or manages a hotel" (reference), much like a hotelkeeper (reference). However, these functions (owning and managing) are far too specific, the same way a concierge, a receptionist and a hotel desk clerk are.
I have also seen a few references to the word hotelry used as an adjective meaning "things that are related to hotels", but there doesn't seem to be any such entry in dictionaries.
Thus my questions are:

Is there a word in English to refer to "people that work in hotels"?

Is there a word to refer to "things that are related to the realm of hotels"?


texts: First appearance of a ghost after a person's death

texts:
In the ballet Giselle, the title character dies at the end of Act 1.

One wouldn't generally describe her ghostly presence in Act 2 as the result of a resurrection, because that implies that her death has been reversed or undone, and that is not the case in this narrative; yet I cannot think of another term that comes as close to describing her rising from the tomb into a new state of existence.

Is there a word for the appearance of a ghost as in this case?


texts: Is this sentence "There are highly-compact places such as inside a vehicle" grammatically acceptable?

texts:
Or do I have to say "There are highly-compact places such as the inside of a vehicle"?

Can "inside a vehicle" together be regarded as a noun? Please explain.


texts: A more appropriate phrase regarding a thesis than "putting forward"?

texts:
Do I...

"put forward a thesis"?
"propose a thesis"?
"put a thesis forward"?
"promote a thesis"?
"promote the thesis of X"?
"present a thesis"?
"raise a thesis"?
"postulate"/"theorize"/"speculate"/"suggest", without using the actual word "thesis"?
something else?

Note: I'm not talking about a document or an essay which you might submit, but about a theoretical construction, a set of interrelated ideas, etc.


texts: What is the term for the condition in which someone is mentally fragile due to explosion?

texts:
Some soldiers develop chronic psychological complications due to being too close to an explosion. They become somehow unstable, very irritable or confused.  I mean being mentally ill because of being in the close proximity of the center of a blast (hand grenade, cannon, or similar explosion). There need not to be a physical trauma in this case. I've heard this called "shell shock".

I'm wondering what's the technical term for such a condition? Isn't there a politically correct term for that that is not a void abbreviation like PTSD?


texts: Should I use "make" or "makes" in the following statement?

texts:
Should I use make or makes in the following statement:

  Please explain why your experience and qualifications makes you the best candidate for this position


texts: Can a sentence start with 'as' ? Is it okay?

texts:
Is it okay to use 'As' at the beginning of the sentence?

Example: As there are lots of tourist facilities along the Mediterranean Region, as there are getting more every year.


texts: What is meaning of the phrase "should be the way to go"?

texts:
What is the meaning of the phrase "should be the way to go"?

I haven't been able to figure anything out from searching online. The wording originally appeared in a block of text like this:

  Honestly, just using the language is the best way, as far as I know. Talk to people in English, and try to pay attention to the way they speak and the words they use. If someone uses a word you're not familiar with, keep it in mind and consider trying to use it when applicable. There's not much point learning words that you won't use, or words that will confuse people when you do use them. So just learning from others, in theory, should be the way to go."


texts: Which is it? Personal preference, I dislike 'learnt', but it's correct in UK English usage - is that right?


texts: Is this sentence grammatically correct ? Can 'a / an' follows 'are'?

texts:
Can someone help me understand what's happening here? I don't think I have seen this before, thank you so much!

"The takeaway is clear: cats are a growing environmental concern because they are driving down some native bird populations."


texts:
Can the word "pry" be interpreted negatively (offensively)? For example, “to pry into other people's affairs” or is it still possible to interpret the meaning just as “curious”? I am interested in the attitude to this word English native speakers. I am not English native speakers.

Or for example: "be pry" equals "be curious"?

I relied on these sources. The question was inspired by the observation that no one uses the word "pry" for commercial purposes (marketing), for example slogans, headings, etc.

Google Translate, Yandex Translate, Multitran, Reverso


texts: Origin of the saying “happy wife, happy life”

texts:
The well-known saying “happy wife, happy life”, despite its popularity, is not present in dictionaries. Nonetheless, there appear to be a fair amount of literature  about it, such as:

  Exposing the Myth of ‘Happy Wife Happy Life (goodmanpronect.com)

  Happy Wife, Happy Life: Why It's ACTUALLY True (womenhealthmag.com)

  Study Finds That ‘Happy Wife, Happy Life’ Is Pretty Dead On (Huffpost)

and much more...

I couldn’t find anything about its origin, and Google Books does not appear to be of much help here.

How old is this saying? Does it come from some work of classic literature of the Romantic period for instance? Is it BrE or AmE in origin?


texts: Is it correct to use “or” in place of “and/or”?

texts:
Consider the following sentence:

  A project is a large and/or complex undertaking.

To me, the expression “and/or” seems redundant since in formal logic “or” implies “and”:

 Table: truth table for            Table: truth table for            Table: truth table for
 logical OR (i.e. ∨).              logical AND (i.e. ∧).             exclusive OR (i.e. ⊕).

 -----------------------           -----------------------           -----------------------
    A       B     A ∨ B               A       B     A ∧ B               A       B     A ⊕ B
 ------- ------- -------           ------- ------- -------           ------- ------- -------
    F       F       F                 F       F       F                 F       F       F
    F       T       T                 F       T       F                 F       T       T
    T       F       T                 T       F       F                 T       F       T
    T       T       T                 T       T       T                 T       T       F
 -----------------------           -----------------------           -----------------------

Hence, I simply use “or” in place of “and/or”:

  A project is a large or complex undertaking.

To me this implies that a project is:

Either large.
Or complex.
Or both.

Am I correct?

On the other hand, using “either/or” seems to imply exclusive “or”:

  A project is either a large or a complex undertaking.

This implies that a project is:

Either large.
Or complex.
But not both.

If using “or” does imply “either/or/both”, then I believe that it's incorrect to use “and/or” at all. Am I correct in assuming so?


texts: Difference in the implied meaning when different words for "cheating" used?

texts:
Please consider the sentences below:

  He chiseled me out of my dues.
  He swindled me out of dues.
  He cheated me out of my dues.

Below are the definitions given by Dictionary

  Chisel = cheat or swindle (someone) out of something.
  Swindle = use deception to deprive (someone) of money or possessions.

I learn that any of the two words in any language doesn't implies same meanings all the time. What is the difference in the meaning if I use above three words individually in the given sentence?


texts: What are the names of the two phonetic changes in this sentence?

texts:
I'm going to be teaching English to French high school students for another year in September, and they all have a hard time with my variety of English (they're used to hearing British English). Specifically, they have trouble with my pronunciation of /t/, vowel sounds, and my merging of words when speaking at a normal pace. I want to be more aware of these phonetic 'phenomenon' so that I can explain them to the students to help them better understand me.

An example sentence that demonstrates all three phonetic issues:

  Insert it into the computer.

The "standard" phonetic transcription for this sentence in American English is:

  Insert it into the computer.

  /ɪnˈsɜrt ɪt ˈɪntu ðə kəmˈpjutər/

I'm from Michigan, and we have a tendency to replace /t/ with /d/, schwa-ify a ton of vowels, and eliminate spacing between words. So I would pronounce the above as:

  Insert it into the computer.

  [ɪnˈsɜrdɪdɪndəðə kəmˈpjutər]

The first change is /t/ to /d/ - this I know is called flapping, specifically the flapped /t/. So I'm really just curious about the second two: replacing vowels with /ə/, and the elimination of spacing between words (liaison-ification of words?).

As far as my phonology education goes, /ə/ is the most common vowel sound in English, so it's not surprising that I tend to replace vowels with it. But I'm not sure if there is a proper phonologic term to describe that process. As for eliminating spacing/making liaisons between words, I have no idea what that would be called.

What are the names of the other two phonetic changes in the above sentence?


texts: I want to say that it's possible that at least one of {A,B} is true, and possibly both of them are true. Is it correct to phrase it as "either A, or B, or both are true".


texts:
I've seen the internet slang TL;DR many times in the internet, and as I can see people used it pretty much in the present day.

Can I use it in a formal email to a client?


texts: Is there a word for when you run into someone and both of you try to avoid each other and fail, repeatedly?

texts:
It has most certainly happened to all of us at least once: Two people walking along the same narrow pathway in opposite directions walk into each other.

There is room for both to pass each other, but person A shifts to their left to avoid B, and B shifts to their right (i.e., A's left) in order to do the same thing, so they're still on a collision course.

They both realize the mistake and they both try to correct it by moving to the opposite side they did before, so the problem persists.

Rinse and repeat 3 or 4 times until one of the parties realizes: "I'll stick to the left (or right) no matter what, and let him pick the other side!", in a sort of perverse human feedback loop.

Is there a word or idiom to describe this situation?


texts: What is correct: "I don't wake up as soon as him" or "as soon as he"?

texts: I guess "he", because I can say "as soon as he does", but I feel like "him" should be correct as well.


texts: Is there a word describing the first number in a multiplication?

texts:
Possibly a question for the math or educational crowd, but...

Given

          4
       x 12
     ------

Is there a specific term for the "top" number?  Other than first or top of course.

EDIT: I would read the above as "four times 12"


texts: Why is there an 'ai' in plaid if it is pronounced "plad"?  That's a word that used to trip me up when I was a little tyke.  (This time, unlike my previous question, I hope I'm right in saying that this word is an oddity in having an 'ai' pronounced as 'a'.)


texts: "Ate cheeseburger" or "ate a cheeseburger"?

texts:
Which of the following is correct?

  Ate a cheese burger last night.
  Ate cheese burger last night.


texts: I’ve seen some people use “silent hours” while others use “quiet hours” (in a studying lounge, Airbnb, etc). I searched dictionary for “silent” and “quiet”, and suppose that both phrases refer to “time to make as little noise as possible”. Would like to know the difference between the two phrases and which one is more commonly used. Thanks!


texts: Why do people say “Why don’t you not?” — what is meant by that? It seems especially to be a Dublin thing.


texts: "By some at least of the merchants" — what does this syntax mean?

texts:
The thirteenth century also witnessed the adoption of armorial devices by some at least of the merchants.
  — (Goodall, John A.., Heraldry in Italy During the Middle Ages and Renaissance, Coat of Arms, No. 37, January 1959.)

What does "some at least of the merchants" mean? Does it mean "at least some merchants had adopted coats of arms"? Or does it mean something else?


texts: The air bracing, leaves just starting to turn

texts:
I found this sentence -

  It was autumn in New England, the air bracing, leaves just starting to turn.

What does "leaves started to turn" mean? Does it mean that "the leaves started to bend due to dryness"?


texts: A phrase highlighting the use of articles

texts: Is there a canonical phrase or short text that illustrates all possible uses of articles ('a', 'the', no article) in English? Many thanks.


texts:
For me, the term "approximately optimize" doesn't make sense since:

Optimize - To make as perfect or effective as possible.
Approximately - Almost exact or correct

I can't quite think of the word that means "approximately optimizing"... unless do people think it's okay?
The context is as follows:

"The tool will approximately optimize the panels' positions by only selecting faces between 120-240 degrees orientation"

Edit:
Thanks to FumbleFingers for helping clarify my understanding of the term "optimize". It seems that in computer programming it is possible for "partial" or "full" optimization. The original use of "approximately optimize" therefore is okay!


texts: Is there a term for the opposite of the greengrocer’s apostrophe?

texts: Is there a term for the tendency to omit the apostrophe in high-profile items where it would otherwise be expected? – such as “Student Manual” instead of “Student’s Manual” (and “Facilitator Guide” instead of “Facilitator’s Guide”)? This seems to be done in news items also, perhaps partly out of a tendency towards yellow journalism. For example, a recent news story in Yahoo! News had the lead, “Robert Kennedy son …”, instead of “Robert Kennedy’s son…”. The casual reader is pulled in by the expectation that the article is about Robert Kennedy himself.


texts:
"President Smith may veto the bill."
"Mr. President, will you veto the bill?"

"Captain Smith's ship is in danger of sinking."
"Mr. Captain, will your ship sink?"
"Captain, will your ship sink?"

"Queen Elizabeth has posthumously pardoned Professor Turing."
"Queen, why did you pardon Professor Turing?"

"President, will you veto the bill?"

Mr. Professor, are you guilty of the offense?
Professor, are you guilty of the offense?

We do not say "Mr. Captain" although we do say "Mr. President" and "Mr. Secretary"; we do not use "Queen" or "President" in the second person although we do use "Captain" and "Judge" and "Professor" in that way. (In some translations from English into German, I've seen "Herr Minister" used to translate "Mr. Secretary" and "Herr Kapitän" to translate "Captain", both used in the second person.

Is there some pattern here, or would a foreigner learning English have to learn each one separately?


texts:
I'm reading Bleeding Edge, by Thomas Pynchon, and his use of it strikes me each time as needless.  Sticks out like the proverbial sore thumb.
Its general use seems to me almost comic, perhaps like in a script where the writer has a poor young woman character speaking with well educated gentry types and says, “Charmed, I'm sure” in a clunky antiquated way that shows she is treading water at best.
Except Pynchon isn't bestowing it on his characters, he's using it in his own narrative.  Here are three examples from the beginning of the book:

“Tracking from one group of attendees to another, locating presently a normal-enough-looking citizen with an interest in migratory-bird hunting and conservation stamps, known to collectors as duck stamps, and his perhaps-less-involved wife, Gladys....”

“He and Maxine join a small group who have begun drinking the stuff and passing jars around, presently finding themselves a few miles out of town at El Sueño Tropical, a half-built and for the moment abandoned luxury hotel, screaming through the corridors, swinging across the courtyard on jungle vines, which have found a purchase overhead, chasing lizards and flamingos not to mention one another, and misbehaving on the moldering king-size beds.”

“On that caper it was the Practical Elf who acted as agent and presently bagperson, holding up the Strubels for a sum nicely in excess of what they had initially offered to buy Heidi, the little Polish snip, off.”

The first example seems needless.
The second example works best, but we already knew they were out on the island before this sentence, so it comes off (to me) again as needless fluff usage.
The third example just seems ridiculous.  The “caper” was in the past, as was being the bagperson, which has nothing at all to do with the present tense of the novel.
I mean.., this is Thomas Pynchon, and clearly I'm not.  I suspect I may be missing something (...treading water at best.)
Maybe it's a purposeful technique to try and take a kind of momentary “snapshot”?  Like in a movie with the use of a momentary freeze-frame – some kind of contrast - an intentional artistic decision?  Or in music, a stop-time moment?
Or is it simply idiomatic writing that cannot, and need not, be “explained”.
Any light shed on this would be appreciated.


texts:
I've always thought plural form of the word person as people, but in many places I've seen it as 'peoples'.
There was a sign saying
''the room takes 85 peoples max''
Is ''peoples'' also correct? Thanks in advance.


texts: What is the term for increasing remuneration of a person on account of him/her being paid less than their counterparts erstwhile.

texts: What do you call the action by an employer where he/she increases the salary of person a to the level of person b on grounds that person a and b are performing at the same level but person a was being paid less than person b earlier.


texts: General word for the "single or return"-ness of a travel ticket

texts:
As we all know, a plane ticket can be a "single" ticket or a "return" ticket. (Alternative terminology: a "one-way" vs a "round trip" ticket.) But is there a name for the set of ticket properties which includes "single" and "return" (and perhaps "multi", for a journey with multiple legs)?

For example, in this sentence:

  He asked me what type of ticket I wanted to buy: a single or a return.

Is there a word more specific than "type" which applies only to this particular property of a travel ticket?


texts: Do "thereafter", "ever after", and "ever since" mean the same?

texts:
Do thereafter,  ever after, and ever since mean the same as after that time? Are they always interchangeable?

For example,

  live happily thereafter/ever after/ever since


texts:
Would a comma or semicolon correctly follow the word "Florida" below? I used the comma for the last city-state entry. Is this correct?

  Mike Jones, 45, of Lincoln, Nebraska; Sandra Stevens, 42, of Memphis, Tennessee; and Rupert Falcone, 35, of Tallahassee, Florida, were arrested on charges of conspiracy and fraud.

And does a comma--instead of a semicolon--correctly follow "51" below?

  John Smith, 25; Frank Jones, 44; and Amy Horowitz, 51, were all involved in the fraud.


texts: Is it possible to use the phrase 'Suit yourself' with other reflexive pronouns?

texts: Some dictionaries list the phrase in the generic form of 'Suit oneself' (e.g. Merriam-Webster). Although I have come across the phrase 'Suit yourself' many times, I haven't seen any example usage for other reflexive pronouns like themselves. Is it possible to use the phrase like 'Suit themselves' to mean 'I don't agree but they can do whatever they want'?


texts: Is the word Baba in Russian and Japanese related?

texts: I recently found out baba in Japanese means something along the lines of "hag". I know in Russian it means grandmother and in old Russian sorceresses, witch etc. Are the two words related? Is one a loan word or do they share origins?


texts:
What is the difference between saying,

I have been to New York and LA;
I went to New York and LA?

I know one is simple past and the other is not. I am looking for how they are used from a native speakers perspective.


texts:
Which words help convey the concept of being early?

Prompt is not exactly what I want, as it means "on time" in the context I am considering.  If spring (the season) was a spirit and arrived two weeks early this year, and was content in doing so, how could I describe the idea that spring doesn't mind its ___ness (quality of being early)?


texts: What's a term for something that's not right and not wrong?

texts:
I need to write a science lab report where the data proves my hypothesis neither right or wrong.

  The results of the experiment were ____, and did not support or reject the hypothesis.


texts: What is a word for something that occupies one's entire field of vision?

texts:
Trying to describe a grand building, like nothing ever seen before. When you stand at the bottom of the staircase, all you can see is the staircase, it occupies your entire field of vision.

How might I describe this staircase at that moment?

The [word] marble staircase towers before you, presenting its perfection.


texts: A word to describe the act to switch between positive and negative?

texts:
I am doing some programming with math. I have written a tidy function which turns any positive number to negative or any negative number to a positive.

I would like to name this function in the most informative way so that if someone else were to look at my function; they would understand, straight away, what it does (and expect what it says on the tin).

The best word I can come up with is 'flip' but I feel that it fails at being obvious.

The function belongs to the Math object so it looks like this:

answer = Math.flip(number)

The results might be

-1 = Math.flip(1)

or

1 = Math.flip(-1)

How can I best describe this act?


texts:
a quick question:

  Don't let the sun go down in your heart, my child, lest fear and woe
  would follow in your wake.

Is the above sentence correct, mainly the 'lest' part? English is not my native language. I am also uncertain about the use of the word 'would'.

Thanks in advance!


texts: What is the word used for a person who makes body casts? Is compounder a good word?


texts:
Although I do not know the name of the rule, I do understand that a colon is typically used to elaborate on a single thought or idea.  For example:

"I love all types of burritos: Californian, Mexican, French, etc."

However, what I am wondering about is the rule for flipping this structure.  Is it acceptable to have the list items first?  For example:

"Californian, Mexican, French, etc: I love all burritos."


texts:
From time to time, I listen to people (NBA narrators) saying "no cookie for the rookie", normally when there is a very good play at the game. Does someone know what it can be?

There is an example in this video, at 2:14: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbYlL2ztmEs


texts: there is a big difference between providing care to a degree and being subserivent

texts:
I don't understand this sentence:

  There is a big difference between providing care to a degree and being
  subserivent.

I have severe learning disability, severe ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder).

I tried googling it, I have tried breaking it down: nothing


texts: Word for "something that is only useful if all needed parts are present"?

texts:
I am trying to find a word, if it exists, for something that can not be useful by itself, but only in combination with all the other needed elements.
For example, individual parts of a computer, a graphics card or central processing unit for example are practically useless by themselves. However, when put together, they become useful as they make the computer functional.


texts:
What do you call a space on a street that can be leased to a shop? I was thinking of "block" but I don't think it's quite right. Here are some example sentences.

After the construction of the street is finished, the ____ will be leased to shops.

There is a big H&M on that street which takes up three ____. Their address is 48-50 New Street.


texts: What is the precise meaning of "Pretty Good"?

texts:
Once I used "pretty good" as a reply to one of my friends' question "How are you today?", I was under the impression that the "pretty good" will weigh much more than just "good", means "very good" or "awesome".

But after a quick conversation with her, I got to know that "pretty good" has a flavor of sarcastic, thus it might mean "what a busy day!" or "Too busy to be good." in that specific context.

Is that a good practice to reply with "pretty good" to the question "How are you?", and expecting no sarcastic meaning conveyed?

If the answer is no, then can I use "pretty good" if I had got a sore throat for all day long?


texts:
The other day, to me great surprise I've learnt from an English native speaker that one must avoid using must in sentences and use should instead which did strike me as odd indeed because I do constantly hear native English speakers say things like:

Alright, I must go now.
You must have done this a week ago.
I'm quite impressed, I must say.

I do know the difference between the two but still, I fail to understand why some people say that must must not be used.

Any valid reasons behind that?


texts: With something is ~ - grammatical construction

texts:
The process of relational database model design is the method used to create a relational database model. This process is mathematical in nature, but very simple, and is called normalization. With the process of normalization are a number of distinct steps called Normal Forms. Normal Forms are: 1st Normal Form (1NF), 2nd Normal Form (2NF), 3rd Normal Form (3NF), Boyce-Codd Normal Form (BCNF), 4th Normal Form (4NF), 5th Normal Form (5NF), and Domain Key Normal Form (DKNF). That is quite a list.

Obviously it is quite clear what it means (there are a number of distinct steps when it comes to normalization), but I still, with your help, would like to see some other examples that use this type of grammatical construction. The pattern appears to be as the following:

  with something is ~

So, will you please show a couple examples with maybe even some explanation along the way?

Much appreciated.


texts: How do you describe only the name of the directory in computer science?

texts:
In computer science, I found the word "directory name" seems to describe path of the directory. (because when you use dirname command in linux you get path)

Then what word(s) do you use to describe only the name of the directory?

For example, if there is directories as follow,

"C:\folder1\filename.xml"

"folder1" is what I want to describe, not "C:\folder1"


texts: Not being able to differentiate between two related but exclusive words?

texts: Is there a term to describe someone that doesn't seem able to differentiate between two words such as "racial" or "racist"? I mean beyond simply overlooking it. Like, you could try to explain the difference but then they just get mad at you. I was thinking stubborn and ignorant, but I feel like there's a more accurate term.


texts: How does this deliberate use of grammar mistakes add to one's delivery?

texts:
I've come across this expression used by native English speakers multiple times and excuse me for my reference to the language 'He don't give a sh*t.' Some of them are actually or at least set as being educated and cultured people. I think it must add to emotion or serve some kind of purpose? The most recent one I heard was in this video https://youtu.be/JGBMjfBgzM0
Time stamp for said expression, 11:11.


texts: When should I use "parallel" over "parallelism", and vice versa?

texts: I am a bit confused about the words parallel and parallelism: When and where should one use which?


texts: A correct preposition - account closed due/by/at 12th of May

texts:
I asked my bank to close my account on 12th of May. Also

  I expect the account to be closed [?] 12th of May

. What preposition should be there? I think about by or due.
Also if I want to ask someone a question:
What date was your account closed [missing preposition?]


texts: "The team is moving around really effectively." Is this a correct use of "effectively"?

texts:
Something about this sounds wrong to me. The speaker intends the statement to mean that the team is moving around a lot and it is causing them to succeed.

"The team is moving around really effectively." Correct use of effectively?


texts: I am looking for an antonym for the word resurrect.


texts: Single word that means "tentative theory"?

texts: Can anyone suggest a word that means "tentative theory," or a working draft of a theory that may need revision later?


texts:
For example, a skyscraper in a large city is a significantly more complex object than a modest family dwelling in a small town, but the underlying principles of construction and design, including questions of mechanics, energy and information distribution, the sizes of electrical outlets, water faucets, telephones, laptops, doors, etc., all remain approximately the same independent of the size of the building.
1.
In the above sentence, is it

including questions of (mechanics, energy and information distribution, the sizes of ~~~)

or

including (questions of mechanics), (energy and information distribution), (the sizes of ~)

??

Also, is it

(the sizes of electrical outlets), (water faucets), (telephones), (laptops), (doors) ~

or

the sizes of (electrical outlets, water faucets, telephones, laptops, doors)

??
Which one is right? And why?


texts: My web search turns up accounts of it being Southern, Black American or/and Aussie slang. Would like some clarification on this.


texts: Does this sentence have a different meaning with "is" vs. "are"?

texts:
The largest number of cows are running for the hills.

  The largest number of cows is running for the hills.

According to various free online grammar checkers both forms are correct.

My interpretation is that the "are" version refers to the cows, whereas the "is" version refers to the number or quantity.

  "Cows are running for the hills" vs. "The largest number is running for the hills".

Is this too subtle a distinction?


texts:
In the W3C HTML 5 specification, there are a number times the word checkedness is used, the following is where each word links to when used:

  Form controls have a value and a checkedness.

Is checkedness a technical term or a word defined in a dictionary as I'm unable to find it in both UK and US dictionaries and I'm unsure of what it means?

If it is a word can a definition be provided.


texts: Is there an idiom for people who boast too much?

texts: I am looking for idioms or informal/slang/colloquial expression for some people that make you think that they are able of building a skyscraper, constructing a spaceship, playing the piano better than Mozart or something very fancy that requires remarkable skills, but when it comes to practice they prove to be completely inadequate.


texts: Can "the Scotch minister" mean the Presbyterian Church of Scotland?

texts: In Mark Twain's "A Dog's Tale" there is a sentence which I feels a little tricky,“...a curly-haired Irish setter by the name of Robin Adair, who was a Presbyterian like me, and belonged to the Scotch minister.” According to dictionaries, "minister" only refers to priests or other high rank religious officials; in other words, it refers to people. Yet this was the first time "Scotch minister" appeared in the work, and therefore the word "the" sounds a little strange, and an "a" might sound more natural. I wonder if the expression is an allusion to the Presbyterian Church of Scotland, which is the national church there. Is it possible that "the Scotch Minister" could refer to the Scotch Church instead of a mere person, or it is just that the narrator of the story took for granted the priest was known to the intended audience in the context?


texts: Is there a kind of heating system called "a beater"?

texts:
I found the following phrase in a book.

"the monthly payment on their new furnace since the beater that came with their house died last month"

And now I'm wondering if there is any kind of heating system (or a part of a heating system) which is called "the beater."

Otherwise, is it just a typo? (maybe for "the heater?")


texts: Word for the moment of excitement after creating something

texts:
My friend and I are very creative. We love to create things like movies.

When we sit down after hours of filming and editing and finally watch the finished product, there is always this one moment where the both of us get very very excited about what we created and we just want to go crazy.

Well I know it can be described as "excitement" but I was wondering if there is maybe a more specific word for it.


texts: Term for someone who is dead (or dreaming) and does not know it

texts: Looking for a word or phrase that refers to someone who is unaware of their state, as if they were dead or dreaming but not knowing it. Closest I've come is something like "walking dead"/"dead man walking" or "Dunning-Kruger" but ideally looking for a single word, less idiomatic. E.g., "His inability to execute his work made him into an impotent husk, a [person who is dead or dreaming but does not know it]." The intended use is more metaphorical than literal.


texts:
Keep in mind either of the statements occur the next day, that is the context must be considered to be in only past tense and FYI I know "to be" is for present and "to have been" is for past so kindly pls don't gimme that explanation.

  Son, you were supposed to be here at 9:00 PM, what happened?

OR

  Son, you were supposed to have been here at 9:00 PM, what happened?


texts: What is a word that describes a secret that passes on from a person to person?

texts:
I forgot this word. I tell a person a secret and ask him not to tell it to anyone else. That 2nd person tells another person and tells him not to disclose it to anyone else. But this goes on.

Important thing here is that, the info should be kept secret. But he assumes he is only disclosing this to another person (may be a close friend or spouse) and that that info will not go out. But the other person assumes the same and passes on to his close friend or spouse or someone s/he most trusts, etc..

Note that, the info passes from one person to another person. Not group or mass public.


texts: Can I say "medium-term", as with the adjectives "short-term" and "long-term"? Do they need prepositions?

texts:
I would like to use an adjective to express something in between the two adjectives short-term and long-term. Does medium-term make sense here? What is the adjective I can use?

What preposition, if any, do I use in a sentence with any one of these three adjectives? For example:

  She told me the consequences are _ long-term. (in a / in / at / ??? )


texts: What is the origin of the British "guv"? Is it still used colloquially?

texts: I.e. is there a known historical reason behind why the British began calling each other "governor" and "guv"? The various online dictionaries I've consulted say it is now a way to refer to those of elder status, but I was wondering how it was adopted in the first place.   And is it still used frequently amongst native British speakers?


texts: Should the word "Gentile" be capitalized?

texts: I've read some texts and versions of the Bible using the capitalized form of Gentile and others using just a lowercase version. I couldn't find any standards on its usage.


texts: How : neither a relative pronoun nor a relative adverb

texts:
Relative pronoun : who, whom, whose, which, that
Relative adverb : when, where, why

Is "how" neither a relative pronoun nor a relative adverb? Is 'how' only a subordinating conjunction in a noun clause?


texts: Proper call to action text for button: "Request system alert to be closed"

texts:
I'm working on an application. Sometimes, when performing certain tasks, something fires an "alert" (a message that something went wrong). The app notifies this and also gives the possibility to request this alert to be closed (they are not simple notifications, they need to be examined and then closed)

I need the call-to-action to be short and concise. It cannot say "Close alert" because that implies that the action takes effect instantly, and that's not the case. The user must make a request, and after some processes complete, the alert is effectively closed. When the user makes this request, they will see the alert's status change from "open" to "closing"

These are the options I've been given and none of them sound right to me:

Request closing
Closing request
Close request

English is not my native language and they all sound weird to me. In Spanish, call-to-actions are in infinitive ("Cerrar alerta", "Aceptar", "Cancelar", etc) while in English they seem to be imperative ("Publish", "Try it", etc.)

Thanks for your time.


texts: Common/less formal word for "distinctiveness"

texts:
The building looks plain. Its only distinctiveness is the cat logo.

I'm pretty sure distinctiveness is not an everyday word. What's a better alternative?


texts:
Should there be a comma after you in the following sentence?

  If the afternoon works best for you, please let me know and I will try to adjust my schedule.


texts:
Should the words inside a set of parentheses be capitalised?

For example:

  ... usually read for personal
  enjoyment (Recreation) or ...

or

  ... usually read for personal
  enjoyment (recreation) or ...


texts: A word for using touch to find something

texts:
Let's say that I dropped a pen under my couch.  I can't see it, but I know it's there somewhere, so I reach in and _______ with my hands/fingers.

The word "search" would work, but I'm looking for something specific to touch.  "Grasp" is close, but that's the verb for after the verb I'm looking for.


texts:
I came across this sentence in the American Heritage Dictionary, but still do not understand it.

  This proposal is the best so far, modulo the fact that parts of it
  need modification.

The definition of modulo provided is correcting or adjusting for something, as by leaving something out of account.

Please elaborate on the meaning of modulo the fact. Does it mean the same as the following?

  This proposal is the best so far, but note what parts of it still
  need to be modified.


texts:
They need TO control TO somebody.
They need TO speak TO somebody.

How can I explain why the first one is not correct???


texts: Term for making a text more meaningful, intelligible, understandable and useful

texts:
By annotating, rewording and/or other modifications such as:

expanding first uses of acronyms
title casing names, book/article titles
adding footnotes with references for published mentions

Example of original text:

  A DJP as described in air matters travels at 80km/h.

Modified text:

  A Dynamic Jet Projectile (DJP) as described in Air Matters travels as fast as an inner city train (or 80km/h).


texts:
I have a question regarding the use of hyphens. My native language is German, and there is a set of rules regarding hyphenation. There are mandatory and optional rules for it.

Now, Consider the following 2 sentences:

  This template is distributed under the MIT license. For license details, please read: LICENSE.txt.

In German the hyphen in: MIT license (MIT-Lizenz) is mandatory by rule 28 (according to "Duden" -- see link above), because MIT is an abbreviation. On the other hand, licensing details would actually be written as Lizenzbestimmungen, but you could use a hyphen (Lizenz-Bestimmungen) to clarify one part and make it more readable (rule: 23).

When exactly are hyphens mandatory in the English language?


texts: Do these two sentences have exactly the same meaning?

texts:
Sentence 1:

  That's what I was hoping to use this machine to find out.

Sentence 2:

  That's what I was hoping to find out by using this machine.

Sentence 1 seems extremely strange to me. I thought of it for like half an hour but couldn't get the meaning. Maybe that's because I am not a native speaker. Do these two have exactly the same meaning?


texts: Why do politicians all say "and" when they state a year number

texts: "In two thousand AND eight blah blah blah until two thousand AND thirteen blah blah blah"  Is there some grammar rule that if you're stating a year you should say "and" within a number or is there a rule that in politics you should say "and" within a number?


texts: Word needed for "checking with additional data / method results"

texts:
I am searching for a word that describes

  validating or non-validating a result of a research by cross checking
  with some additional (new) data or using a another method to see if we
  have been right

I think to use the word "cross validation", but unfortunately that is already used by a very specific technique in statistics https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cross-validation and since I need the word in a research context, it might easily be misunderstood to refer to the statistical technique.

Example sentence:

  The statistical machine would provide a multivariable /
  mutli-dimensional cross validation.


texts:
Some pieces of writing delight people with a vision that causes them to act together with purpose. They have some essential quality. Adam Smith using the idea of the Guiding Hand of the Market. Or the songs of John Lennon offering a new future. Or the speeches Martin Luther King, including his ‘I have a dream’ speech. Or the preamble to the United States Constitution, “We the people.” Or even the writings of John Calvin and Thomas Hobbes. These contained some vital essence or distinctive spark that lead people to rally around them.
Others aim for this, and miss the mark entirely. Example of this would be drab Corporate Mission statements of the late 90s, done more for conformance with the crowd than gathering people around an idea: “To ensure our employees to deliver more for this company’s shareholders and customers.”
My question is:  What is the phrase for 'essential spark' or 'unifying vision' that unique pieces of writing have that bring people together around a cause?


texts: "I never drink" "I don't either/ I do too/I never do, too"

texts:
It might seem trivial but I'm not really sure which one is grammatically correct.
To agree with a sentence with never we should use too or either?

A:  I never drink.
B: .............

Thanks


texts: Is the phrase "make waves" used with the sense "create a snowball effect"?

texts:
I was writing a post for my company's blog talking about Open source, and wanted to wrap it up with Let's make waves.

I was pretty sure that the expression meant something like Let's replicate this, and amplify it in every new replication. Like the fact of doing something small but nice, so others join, do something else that's small too, but summing all that you end up with something big.

But a couple of colleagues told me they didn't know that phrase at all, and I couldn't find any reference to it myself.

Have I made that whole definition up from nothing? Is it a known expression? Could I have translated it from another language?


texts: Using the definite article with grocery products

texts:
If you ask someone working at a store 'Where's milk?' would that be right grammatically or does it have to be 'Where's the milk?' I know in the kitchen you would say 'Where's the milk?' or 'Where's the salt?' but i'm not sure if it would be the same case here perhaps because in the store you would be talking about milk in general.
Even if 'Where's milk?' is wrong, then why does 'Where's milk in this store' sound right?


texts: Adjective or words to describe a family name evoking a specific origin?

texts:
Some last names can be immediately linked to a location or social class, even if they're not of foreign origin.

For example, my family name is evocative of small-time farmers from the south-west of my country.

How to describe a name that immediately betrays the geographical and social-economic origins of a person?


texts: "with and without" vs. "with or without"

texts:
If I want to abbreviate a statement of the form

  We consider a model with X and a model without X

I am not sure if

  We consider models with and without X

and

  We consider models with or without X

have the same meaning? Is one preferred over the other?

I would expect that "and" is correct, because it is the same "and" as in the original sentence. However, "and" may confuse readers because "with and without" is not possible for a given model. Should I avoid the construction completely?

PS:

The actual statement I am considering is

  [...] there is very little difference between results obtained with and/or without a Rashba coupling.


texts:
In book I am reading ("German for dummies") appears the following sentence:

  Pronouns are the handy group of words that can punt for nouns so you don't sound redundant.

This sentence does not make sense with any of the definitions of punt found in the dictionary.
Is there another meaning, or is it a typo?


texts: What is the category name to describe "day", "night", or "dusk"?

texts:
I'm applying tags to a set of recorded data files, and I have to classify by when the recording appears to be taken (if it's light or dark).

TimeOfDay: Day
TimeOfDay: Night
TimeOfDay: Dusk
TimeOfDay: Dawn
TimeOfDay: Night/Day # (the recording spans both Day and Night)

Is there another term to describe "time of day"?

Edit: As per the comments, removed most of the specific constraints - question now focuses on the terminology.


texts:
The question is from the transcript of a podcast:

  Mmmm, blueberries. It’s the height of the season, and I’ve been tossing a handful onto cereal, into pancakes or just straight into my mouth.

I don't understand what does the sentence "It's the height of the season" mean.

What does "it" refer to? Does it indicate "blueberries"?
What does "the height of the season" mean?


texts: How to properly reference the century one lived in when their lives cross from B.C. to A.D

texts:
Socrates lived in the 4th century (B.C.). My kids live in the 21st century, and so forth.

What is the most concise way to reference a historical figure, like Livy, who lived from 59 B.C. to A.D. 17? It seems cumbersome to say he lived from the first century B.C. to the first century A.D.. I considered saying he lived at the turn of the 1st millennium but not sure if that is standard.


texts:
On Downton Abbey, I heard Mrs. Crawley say:

  "Don't let's make a thing out of it!"

On The Goodwife, I heard Dianne Lockhart say:

  "Let's don't invite trouble for ourselves."

It seems that both of these are saying, "let's not."

What is the correct way to say this?  "Let's don't"?  Or "don't let's"?  Or are they both right?
What is the basis of this grammar?  Is it proper?


texts: Is 'basically, yes' reduntant or incorrect?

texts:
I tend to use this phrase a lot, but I don't know if I'm being redundant or not.

Some example dialogue would be:

Friend 1: So you're saying that you have a notebook that can kill people if you write their name in it.

Friend 2: Basically, yes.


texts: Do you use a comma after an exclamation inside quotes?

texts: Mary listens to Joe say, "Hello!", and then he leaves.


texts: Why is there a ‘w’ in the word ‘Answer’?

texts: This might sound silly. I understand ‘w’ is silent. But what purpose does ‘w’ serve? Why is it important to have ‘w’ in there? Why not just ‘Anser’ like it’s pronounced?


texts:
Are the answers I chose correct. My choices are in bold.

I have been pumping/I have pumped up three tyres. Would you like to do the forth?

I have been greasing/I have greased my car. That's why my hands are dirty.

She  has  been polishing/has  polished  this table all the morning and she is not  satisfied with it yet. ( I chose both answers as correct, but accroding to the test my answer was wrong.)

I only have been hearing/have heard about him twice since he went away.

He  has  been riding /has ridden, that's why he is wearing breeches.

I have been pulling up/have pulled up dandelions all day. ( I chose both forms)

I have been hearing/ have heard from her regularly.  She is a very good correspondent.(I chose both forms)

I have been making/have made sausage rolls for the party all the morning.(I chose both, but I am not sure 'have made' is correct.)

How to explain why using  other choices would be wrong?


texts: Double use of future tense after "I hope that"

texts:
I was wondering whether it was correct to use "will" twice in the following sentence:

  I hope that 2016 will be the year I will get to travel.

Using the present tense in the second half of the sentence sounds more natural to me:

  I hope that 2016 will be the year I get to travel.

Also, my understanding is that the first "will" (after "I hope") is not mandatory and that the present tense can be used instead. So, it could also read as "I hope that 2016 is the year I get to travel".

Finally, would "I hope that 2016 is the year I will get to travel" be correct ?

Thanks a lot!


texts: Is there any mistake in this sentence below? Should 'it' be deleted in the sentence?

texts:
I saw the sentence like this

What memories do you think it will happen today?

I think 'it' is an unnecessary word for this sentence.

What is the meaning of the sentence above?

And is there any grammatical error in the sentence above?

sorry, I have no more context in the sentence. That is the campaign title.


texts: How do you rephrase a belief that is held by all or both sides?

texts:
Mutually shared belief?
Sounds awkward though.


texts:
He was stationed as a guard at northern city-gates. There were fifty guards totally, at each city-gate, appointed to protect the gate from robbers, marauders and thieves. There were two junior commanders at _____ gate, each of them commanding twenty-five guards.

Should I use each in the blank space or every? Personally, I would like to use "every", since "each" is already being used several times. Would the sentence be grammatically correct and appropriate if I use "every"?


texts: we could have written the following and BE RETURNED the same result set (grammar)

texts:
When there is only one instance of the column name in the query, then qualifying column names becomes optional. Thus, we could have written the following and be returned the same result set...

I can't understand how be returned is worked into the sentence. Is it we could be returned the same result set or what? Who's the subject of be? Please, break it down for me.


texts:
What does it mean to "rack in some serious cash"?
Does it mean to make money quickly and making loads of cash?


texts:
Is there a word which describes intentionally misusing or abusing diacritics, in contexts where they are neither needed nor appropriate, for purely stylistic reasons. For example:

  I submittéd my résumé to thé récruitér

Or perhaps the best example, the metal umlaut:

  Spın̈al Tap

Or in the most extreme case:

  za͎͌l̰͝g̻̕o̬̅ ͎̂ẗ̥́ex̲̚t͓̃


texts:
The word "ale" has a variety of different specific meanings (e.g. beer brewed without hops, or beer brewed using warm fermenting yeast, or beer with a higher alcohol content than lager, or sometimes just any kind of beer). But all of those definitions refer to a type of beer -- an alcoholic beverage brewed via fermented grains.

I can see why ginger beer is called that: it was originally brewed and fermented like beer, just with ginger instead of a grain, and did contain as much as 10% ABV (though these days it's not brewed anymore and is non-alcoholic). But I can't find any evidence that ginger ale ever contained alcohol, or was ever brewed like ale.

So how did it get the name ginger ale?


texts: A phrase to mean "if that point is solved, the rest of the problem will be solved"

texts:
I am looking for a phrase that is in the same spirit such as "single point of failure", or "bottleneck". Example:

  Being two engineers short is <-term goes here-> in this situation. If we
  find two engineers, the project will meet the deadline.

Another one:

  Electric cars are improved enough to be on par with internal
  combustion engine cars. However, the long charging time is <-term goes
  here-> behind the problem that electric cars are not as widespread as
  internal combustion engine cars.


texts: Is it correct to say "They quoted us for $20"?

texts: Could I say "They quote us for $20 for this project"?


texts: What is the difference between "loquacious" and "talkative"?

texts:
What is the different between loquacious and talkative? I don't see much different in their definition:

  Loquacious: tending to talk a great deal; talkative.
  Talkative: fond of or given to talking.

Regarding M-W Dictionary, they are different as follow:

  Talkative may imply a readiness to engage in talk or a disposition to enjoy conversation .
  Loquacious suggests the power of expressing oneself articulately, fluently, or glibly

But I don't see the different. Isn't that anyone who is talkative is also having an ability to talk fluently, therefore matching the description of talkative? Is it true that loquacious has the same meaning of talkative?