texts: "Would" means something different in the past than in the future?

texts:
If you use would to describe your action in the future, it means that you plan to do it. But if you use it to describe something in the past, it doesn't mean that in the past you planned to do it, it means you actually did it. Is that correct? For example:

  Whenever I would go there I would often
  notice many suspicious things.

It has nothing to do with planning or intention, even back then in the past. It's not even the past tense form of the present form.

Am I right that the meaning changes?

Also, is there any difference at all with that sentence and this one?

  Whenever I went there I often noticed
  many suspicious things.


texts: Is the structure "can have verb-ed" possible?

texts:
I have seen and heard sentences like these:

He could have gone too far.
John can't have eaten all the cake.

But I don't seem to encounter this structure:

She can have done the work.

I tried Googling it and found some examples, but I'm still unsure if it's acceptable.
I understand that "may have verb-ed" and "might have verb-ed" are frequently used in English. So if, in contrast, "can have verb-ed" is never used or is considered awkward, what's the reason for this?


texts: Adjectives to indicate a problem's size (in good writing style)

texts:
I would like to compile a list of adjectives that can be used to give information about the "bigness" of a problem.

Say for example in a report about the role of stress-related work disability a sentence like

  In the healthcare sector, this problem is particularly xxxxxxxxx

Now, what? Big? Eminent? Prominent? Large? Virulent? Heavy? Important? Aggravating? Grave? Sizeable? Serious?

I suppose all of them would carry the message, but most of them would sound awkward. So, what would be good choices? What adjectives would usually be used in a formal context like a written report?

(I tried to give a very concrete example, but the question is meant more generally: adjectives expressing size that are good for combining with the word "problem".)


texts: Forward slashes: are they acceptable in Commonwealth English prose?

texts:
In Commonwealth English is it acceptable to write this in a magazine article:

  If there are there any nearby towns/villages …


texts:
Apologies if this has been asked before, I don't know the linguistics lingo well enough to find an answer by searching.

Which of the following are incorrect, and why?

I eat cheese and he bread.
I eat cheese and he, bread.
I eat cheese, and he bread.
I eat cheese, and he, bread.

I have a vague sense of some of these being more natural than others (for instance, 3 seems wrong), but I'm not sure whether this feeling indicates style or correctness.


texts:
In the following sentence from The New Yorker (emphasis added)

  Sarkozy [...] has spent much of his campaign trying to woo voters away from Le Pen [...] and he is only going to have grovel for them more

there seems to be the omission of "to" with deontic "have to," with the intent to avoid the sequence of "to ... to." Is that so or is it just a misprint?


texts: What is the difference between "can't" and "mustn't" in the expressing of prohibition?

texts:
You [verb] use your mobile phone while you're driving. It's against the law.

What verb should be used?

don't have to
needn't
mustn't
can't

Is can't correct, or only mustn't is correct?
What is the difference?


texts: Can "plane" (aeroplane) be used as a non-count noun?

texts:
I'd appreciate it if someone would answer my question concerning the following sentence. Thank you.

Many times, planes would crash after they had already started their flight home, most often from damage and mechanical failure. In an interview, V. C. talks about how he witnessed a plane blow up right in front of him, just before landing. He said “they all dropped the bombs in the Adriatic, you know, before they landed. They had to clean off the field before we could land anyway, because there was plane scattered all over.”
(My emphasis)

How is it right to use plane without an article? How can it be a non-count noun?


texts:
Is this the proper use of delineate in this sentence?

"In order to properly discuss the differences between amateur and professional critics it is necessary to delineate between the two."

Or should it be "...delineate the two."?


texts: We had an engineer at our house the other day to check an appliance and he used the term 'tickety boo' at least three times. Clearly being British I am aware of the expression, and I also think I know what it means i.e that everything is running smoothly. But what is its origin?


texts: Why had author used present time describing past events? (Quote inside)

texts:
I read a "Treasure Island" book now and can't understand why had author used present time describing past events.

  Mr. Trelawney had taken up his residence at an inn far down the docks
  to superintend the work upon the schooner. Thither we had now to walk,
  and our way, to my great delight, lay along the quays and beside
  the great multitude of ships of all sizes and rigs and nations. In
  one, sailors were singing at their work, in another there were men
  aloft, high over my head, hanging to threads that seemed no thicker
  than a spider's.

Could you explain me, please, why here we read "lay", but not "laid"?


texts: I know books of episodes of OED, and short guides for a few dictionaries, but I don't know a dictionary guidebook. The book has more than 200 pages, and a long list of viewpoints to evaluate dictionary, and fascinating essays about reading dictionaries, and finally a score table comparing more than 20 dictionaries. In Japanese language (my mother tongue) there is such a book, and I want to know English equivalent. Thanks.


texts: "You have nothing to do" - "Yes I do" / "Yes I don't"

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  When a negative question is asked, what is the grammatically correct way to answer?
  How to answer a negative question without ambiguity?

If someone says "You have nothing to do", what is the proper answer to say "what you just said is true":

  You have nothing to do.
  Yes, I do.

Or

  You have nothing to do.
  Yes, I don't


texts:
Which one should be used?

  To me, it makes no difference, but I'm not really sure why.

vs

  For me, it makes no difference, but I'm not really sure why.


texts: Did I draw this phrase diagram correctly?

texts:
Hello beautiful people,

I am writing an exam on English grammar soon and one part is requiring you to draw a phrase diagram separating the noun phrases, verb phrases, etc..

Now I took a sentence from the first Harry Potter book (c) All rights reserved, and made it into a phrase tree.

Did I do everything correctly?

NP stands for noun phrase

VP for verb phrase

PP for prepositional phrase

All Feedback is appreciated!


texts:
Today, while chatting, I just made a sentence:

  I want you at his place at 9.

But I am not sure when to use place with the meaning, home, or work place? Is it correct usage? What will be the correct sentence instead?


texts: "forward" is sometimes used to mean sooner

texts:
Some speakers intend that "forward" (in time) means sooner.
For example a writer at this link posted the title

"Could COVID-19 have brought deaths forward"

and elaborated thus:

Is it possible the combination of COVID-19 and absence of effective
treatments took the lives of people who would have otherwise died
later in 2020.

In other words, to bring deaths forward in time means deaths sooner. In general, according to some people, an event moved forward in time means sooner. This seems to be the prevailing meaning when securities markets people are speaking.
Events in time are usually depicted along a horizontal axis with distantly past events to the left of the present time and forecasts, if any, are depicted to the right. In fact there is such a depiction at the link. With this picture in mind, "forward" seems to be later in time. That is a starkly different or opposite interpretation.
What do you think is the generally prevailing usage?
I quoted the writer to preserve this example in case his or her question fails the website quality standard. If it fails the internet link may be broken.


texts: "She sings as beautiful as a nightingale" or "She sings as beautifully as a nightingale"?

texts:
The title says it all, which one is correct?

  She sings as beautiful as a nightingale.

OR:

  She sings as beautifully as a nightingale?

I am not a native speaker myself, but for me "She sings as beautiful as a nightingale", sounds more correct to me.

But grammatically, It doesn't seem right, it's supposed to be "beautifully", because it has the verb "sing" before it.

So, Which one is correct and why?


texts: Does the tense in that clause need to agree with the main clause?

texts:
I don't know if the title of this question is accurate or not. My vacabulary of grammar is very limited. May you could understand me by the following example:

She told me that the earth is moving around the sun.

She told me that the earth was moving around the sun.

Which one is correct? Should the tense in that clause always agree with the tense in main clause?


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

Since SSD (solid-state drive) is pronounced es-es-dee, I'm wondering whether one should write "an SSD" or "a SSD".
Saying "a SSD" out loud feels a bit off...


texts: What is the meaning of "the dogs live in clover"?

texts:
I was reading an issue of Atlantic Monthly from 1919 and encountered the following paragraph:

There is no further context, as these are (according to the article) translated conversations and musings of Russian soldiers overheard by a nurse. I'm not familiar with any English expression like "dogs in clover" or "live in clover" (perhaps "pig in mud").

It would seem that the "dogs" are enemy combatants (e.g. Germans) who are enjoying a much finer standard of living on the battlefield than their Russian counterparts. Is this expression used much in English, or is it a Russian or Eastern European idiom? And why "clover"?


texts: What are the most common ways to say "die", i.e. pass away?

texts:
It seems like my question was too broad to answer. I'm sorry for the inconvenience. I've edited my question a little.

So, I would like to know what common terms I can use instead of the word "die." Below are some words/phrases that I've heard before.

I would very much appreciate if you could tell me in what context (such as at a funeral or in a casual conversation) we use those words.

pass away.
(Also, are there any differences between pass away, pass on, pass over?)
kick the bucket
meet one's end
depart this life
have left us
went to sleep
decease
lose one's life
expire

Thank you.


texts:
I am writing an essay about sports and their benefits. I wrote this sentence but I am not sure how correct it is ?

  Many games and pastimes have helped people to engaged in physical activities otherwise they would have not.

If it is correct how do I add more to the 'activities' part ?

  Many games and pastimes have helped people to engaged in physical activities which demand more energy and workout many bodyparts otherwise they would have not.

I am pretty sure the second sentence I wrote is incorrect.


texts: Why is she using "for" instead of "to" after the verb "lose" in this sentence?

texts:
I'm watching the famous TV show, “Desperate Housewives”.
I have learned a plethora of words and grammar things from it,
but now something caught my ears and I'm a bit stuck.
There's this sentence in season 2, episode 6:

  "-My friends just left, and I was hoping you could come over and cut me out of this thing [dress]. "
  "-How was your little reunion?"
   "-It was, um -- weird."
  -"Weird?"
  -"Well, Allison's mad because she's losing jobs for 14-year-olds, Holly is on a strict diet of cruciferous vegetables, and Yazmin is undergoing a new embryonic facial treatment that probably causes short-term-memory loss. I just stood there the whole night, trying to remember why we were ever friends. And I couldn't"

My question is, should it not be to instead of for in the above dialogue? I've googled it already, and I found only examples that bolster my assumption.

Dear natives, please enlighten me why for is used here.


texts: What is the difference between "pretty sure" and "probably"

texts:
What is the difference between pretty sure and probably?
"I am pretty sure I am going to buy chicken for lunch, but we'll see what they have."
"I am probably going to buy chicken for lunch, but we'll see what they have."
Is there any difference? I feel like there are, but I can't find it.


texts: Subject verb agreement question regarding "seem/seems"

texts:
Sentence: "Two weeks seems to be the virus's maximum incubation period."

What is the subject of the sentence? I can't figure out if it's the virus or the incubation period. Also, generally, when you have a plural noun, you're supposed to use "seem" (eg. Those cats seem upset) as opposed to "seems" when you have a singular noun (eg. That cat seems upset), but here, "seems" works alongside "two weeks". Why?

Thank you.


texts:
Do you notice any difference in these sentences' meanings?

  I want to be able to look at it every time I look at my phone.

and

  I want to be able to look at it any time I look at my phone.


texts: Does this double negative make any sense?

texts:
Corporate attorney trying to develop a standard form for hiring decisions, with a check mark for me to fill out. Does the second sentence make sense?

____There is a legal basis to not extend offer of employment.

____There is no legal basis to not extend offer of employment.


texts: A verb for loutish, boorish, uncouth behavior

texts:
Is there a single verb for someone behaving boorishly, in particular someone talking in loutish fashion? I googled it, and there are many nouns as well as off-noun adjectives like "loutish", but no verbs, although google translate from my native language suggests "lout" as a verb.
What do you say to someone who talks boorishly to you, as in "Don't ___ to me!"


texts: Is there a term for adjectives / modifiers that don't, at face value, seem to apply to the noun modified?

texts:
There's a verse in Bob Seger's song Mainstreet that has this wonderful little seemingly-nonsensical word pairing:

  There was this long, lovely dancer in a little club downtown;
  I loved to watch her do her stuff.
  Through the long, lonely nights she filled my sleep,
  her body softly swaying to that smoky beat.

On face-value, the word "smoky" to describe a "beat" just doesn't make sense; smoky isn't really a quality that a [musical] beat can have. And yet, the the words do make sense together and evoke a clearer (err, smokier) image of the nightclub.

Is there a term for this literary device? Are there other examples that come to mind?


texts:
I read about somebody who was sentenced and put in prison for a very long time for a petty crime. I think the word began with a p...

The word means punishing somebody in a completely disproportionate manner.

For example, Matthew stole a candy bar from a 7-Eleven and got put in jail for 17 years.


texts: IN different aspects or ON different aspects

texts:
Which is more accurate:
"He can significantly contribute to the company IN different aspects"
Or
"He can significantly contribute to the company ON different aspects"?


texts: Which would be appropriate accepts or accept

texts:
thanks in advance for answering the following question. I am trying to figure out which one would be correct. I am in process of writing documentation on a technical subject and I was asked to replace 'accepts' with 'accept'. But not sure why.

Both 'right-click'and 'double-click' accept 2 parameters
Both 'right-click'and 'double-click' accepts 2 parameters

-Murali


texts: I am trying to come up with a term for actions Replace/Prepend/Append

texts:
Let's assume I have a text in the notepad: "Some Text".

If I enter more words after the text it will be an append ("Some Text Another Text"), otherwise it will be a prepend ("Another Text Some Text"), if I don't replace the text with a new text completely ("Another Text").

So I am trying to come up with a term for these actions. How do you call it?


texts: "Opposite the mall" vs. "opposite to the mall"

texts:
The new showroom that he has put up is opposite the central mall.

I have doubts about the grammaticality of this sentence. According to my understanding, it should be:

  The new showroom that he has put up is opposite to the central mall.

Are both variations acceptable?


texts:
I am analyzing a text and have come upon this sentence:

  For these fools of men and their woes care not thou at all! 1

I suspect there is something interesting about this construction, "fools of men". I searched the OED for something like this under «fool» and «man» with no luck.

Searching Google, I found other ocurrences which appear to mean the same thing.

  Girls are laid under an apparent restraint by their mothers, in hopes that their outward carriage will deceive poor fools of men, and be the means of procuring them a husband. 2

.

  And then
  I said we ought to be off and show a clean pair of heels. But my
  fools of men refused. 3

What is the meaning of "fools of men"?


texts: Is "healthierly" a word? As in "I've been eating healthierly lately"

texts:
I've been hearing people say:

  I've been eating healthier lately.

This sounds like bad grammar to me.  The word "healthier" is an adjective, so it should modify a noun, but in this sentence, the speaker is using it to modify the verb "eating".  That makes me think that the speaker should turn "healthier" into an adverb by adding "-ly", but the result doesn't sound right to me either:

  I've been eating healthierly lately.

I thought that maybe using "healthily" with "more" would sound better, but that also doesn't sound right:

  I've been eating more healthily lately.

I think this is grammatically correct, but it seems that I'm going out of my way to be correct.  I don't like that either.  The only alternative I can find is to scrap "health" completely and replace it with a synonym:

  I've been eating more nutritionally lately.

What do you think?


texts:
What is a suitable word which fits the blank in "gift _________ ceremony"?

In general the word "giving" can fill the blanks, but I feel there may be a more suitable phrase we can use. Suggestions?

Research:

presentation, feels kind of repetitive
benefaction, sounds like superiority
handout, again, sense of superiority

Context: If it matters, this is regarding the wedding gift for a colleague.


texts: One word for "One who notice very small mistakes"?

texts: Is there any single word for one who observe or notice every single small mistakes of others?


texts: This was a fad in the 1950s. What was it called?

texts: You kept this large plastic ring circling around your waist by moving your hips.  It became very popular overnight and most teenagers got one.  I was very young at the time and I can't remember its name, and I haven't seen any in a long time.


texts: Can anyone give me a really short & sharp distinction between these two words? Are they notorious for often getting mixed up?


texts: Origin of "a hangdog expression of early morning"

texts:
J. K. Rowling says this about early morning commuters: "Muggles bustled past wearing the hangdog expressions of early morning". While I do understand the meaning of the idiom (the same as 'morgensur' in Danish, meaning 'sorry about having to endure this morning'), I wonder where it really comes from.

The only explanation I've come up with is lifting the dog by the scruff. I have a dog, he looks so pathetic when I do this, I want to hug him immediately (and that's supposed to be a punishment, mind you). I couldn't come up with a better explanation and have failed to find something conclusive on the Web to support my idea.

So, when does a dog hang otherwise? :)


texts: Should "data is read from, and written to, disk" have commas?

texts:
In informatics I often come across a sentence of the type (with or without commas):

  "The data is read from, and written to, disk by the operating system."

I don't know whether the use of commas is correct in this case. I've read a few resources online but found nothing conclusive. One of the first hits I got when searching was this one and I was thinking the sentence fits with

  Rule #3:  Use a comma to set off nonessential elements.

  A nonessential element is a word, phrase, or clause that is not needed to complete a sentence. In other words, it can be removed and the sentence still makes sense and is grammatically correct. If removing the element changes the meaning of the sentence, it is essential. Nonessential elements need to be offset with commas, both before and after.

However, both reading/writing are essential operations---from a functional perspective---when it comes to a hard disk.

What would be the correct approach, commas or no commas?


texts: What does "put it down" mean in Brandy's song? I tried googling it, but all I got was the song's lyrics.


texts: Is there a verb phrase for not working on a Monday or a Friday so as to have a four-day weekend?

texts:
I don't mean having a long weekend due to a holiday falling on a Friday or a Monday. I mean when the holiday falls on a Tuesday or a Thursday (Thanksgiving in the US for instance) I'm looking for a verb phrase for "not working on what would be a normal working day, so as to have a four-day weekend, and a noun for that specific day. It may be that all employees are given that benefit or that some of them simply decide to make that Monday or Friday a non-working day on their own.

The French say "faire le pont" (to make a bridge)
In some Spanish speaking countries it's "hacer un día puente", "San Lunes", or "San Viernes" (Saint Monday, Saint Friday)
In Chile some people say "tomarse el sandwich" (to make a sandwich)
Brazilians say "enforcar a sexta-feira or segunda-feira" (a hanged Friday or a hanged Monday.)
In Germany, the word "Brückentag" is used.

I'm not looking for "extended weekend", "Bank Holiday weekend" or "long weekend".  I'm looking for a noun phrase for the Monday or Friday sandwiched between the weekend and the Tuesday or Thursday (e.g. "Brückentag" in German), and a verb phrase for not working on those days ("faire le pont" in French, or "enforcar a segunda-feira" in Portuguese.


texts: Use of 'would' in place of the past simple

texts:
They left the house at 6 and would reach Edinburgh 12 hours later. (= .............. and they reached Edinburgh 12 hours later.)

This is from a famous grammar book. I don't understand how 'reached' and 'would reach' can have the same meaning.


texts: I'm looking for a term or an idiom to point to the weakness of something, specifically a computer program. Something similar to "Achilles Heel" but not that! I just found blind spot : "an area in which one fails to exercise judgment or discrimination", however it seems it is not appropriate for the context.


texts: When we are talking about computers, I see both hostname and host name being used. Which is more proper? Should I put the space in there?


texts: Expression choice for the error of being too exact?

texts: For example, stating a street address with millimetric precision would be too exact and is therefore not applicable and not done. So you can be too exact. Is there an expression for this error or a phrase (like "cutting stones with a surgeon's knife" or likewise if someone uses a tool or an instrument with too much precision for a job)?


texts: Usage of respectively with "or" vs "and"

texts:
Is this a correct way of using respectively in the following sentence

The word respectively should link "X" with "above" and "Y with "below".

  X and Y may have incentives to keep and push stock prices above or below thresholds, respectively.

I would like that readers understand it as:

X has only the incentive to push and keep prices above thresholds.

Y has only the incentive to push and keep prices below thresholds.

Is it better to use "or" or "and" between "above" and "below"?


texts:
According to OED:

  1.1 trans. To give or put in (obs.); to take in, include, inclose; esp. to take in, inclose or reclaim (waste or unprofitable land). Now
  dial.

A few examples from OED:

  1592 Bacon Observ. Libel in Resuscitatio (1661) 113 Wast, and
  unprofitable Ground Inned, Reclaimed, and Improved.    1640 Somner
  Antiq. Canterb. 290 Appledore mershes were inned in his time.    1852
  Humber Conserv. Act 2038 Any part of the shores‥shall be inned,
  gained, or reclaimed from the water.    1875 Parish Sussex Gloss.
  s.v., I inned that piece of land from the common.

Collins Dictionary provides an even broader definition:

  to enclose

I cannot understand precisely what the verb's meaning is in this context, even though many examples can be found on Google Books. It is often used in reference to marshes, but also to lands and grounds.

The question is: what is the precise meaning in this case? Enclosed as separated from other lands? Included as moved under the right of property? Reclaimed as dried? All of these? Or do I miss something?


texts: Difference between "read", "scan", and "skim"

texts:
What is the exact difference between read, scan, and skim? Is the difference related to the concentration on the text, or is there anything else?

The answer is really important for me, since I often see these words in the texts I read.


texts: Word to describe subconsciously retaining value judgments from rejected worldview

texts:
What is a single word or short phrase that means the following: the human tendency to make a judgment from a perspective one considers false? Or perhaps to make a judgment with values one does not know one has?

For example, say that one half of the world has blue grass and the other has green. John is from the side with blue, but his culture falsely promotes the idea that the grass is greener on his half of the world and that the other side has yellow grass. One day, John discovers that the grass here is blue. He concludes that green grass does not exist because, as everyone knows, the other side has yellow grass.

I understand that this might be a strange question, but I have noticed the tendency of people to accept certain pieces of information promoted by a particular worldview as beyond dispute, so that even if the person rejects that worldview, he or she still judges various aspects of the world from the rejected perspective.

I am trying to come up with a word to describe that tendency on a psychological level and not a logical level. There are several logical fallacies that could describe this.

EDIT:

The following is to provide an example that will be more easily understandable to everyone. Please do not take it as an attack on any particular worldview...

Jane is reared in a certain religion tradition which teaches that the material world is evil and the immaterial, otherworld is good. When she is 18, Jane rejects this religion and consequentially stops believing in the existence of the 'otherworld', but subconsciously retains its judgments.

Her subconscious thought process is this:

Heaven is good. Earth is bad.
Heaven does not exist.
Earth is bad.

Clearly, she maintained a premise (value judgment) she should not have even though she rejected the 'facts' of her religious tradition. Keep in mind, I see the logical fallacies that could apply but I am looking for a psychological description.


texts: Connection between the words Apollo, Apollyon, and Apologise

texts:
I've tried researching this topic before, in re Apollo, the Greek god son of Leto and Zeus and twin brother of Artemis, and its possible connection with the "angel of the bottomless pit" as referenced in Revelation 9:11.

Some sources seem to agree that there is some connection with the god apollo, if nothing more than an orthographic one, (pardon my Greek but,) Apollyon apparently means "destruction, or destructor", if and to what extent, Apollo means the same thing, I still have not received a satisfactory answer.  (The coincidence seems too strong to me to brush over completely).

Does anyone know what if anything, the Greek suffix (if it even is a suffix) -ion or  -yon mean?  My gut feeling is they are indeed related, but having nothing more than my "gut feeling" to go by, I have let this inquiry drop for now, up until a couple of days ago I came across this passage from Herodotus Book 1, chapter CXXXIX:

  their names, which agree with the nature
  of their persons and their nobility, all end in the
  same letter, that which the Dorians call san, and the
  lonians sigma ; you shall find, if you search, that not
  some but all Persian names alike end in this letter.

and a little bit latter in chapter CXLI:

  As soon as the Lydians had been subdued by
  the Persians, the lonians and Aeolians sent messengers to Cyrus, offering to be his subjects on the same
  terms as those which they had under Croesus,
  Having heard what they proposed, Cyrus told them
  a story. Once, he said, there was a flute-player who
  saw fishes in the sea and played upon his flute,
  thinking that so they would come out on to the land.
  Being disappointed of his hope, he took a net and
  gathered in and drew out a great multitude of the
  fishes; and seeing them leaping, "You had best,"
  said he, " cease from your dancing now ; you would not
  come out and dance then, when I played to you."
  The reason why Cyrus told the story to the lonians
  and Aeolians was that the lonians, who were ready to
  obey him when the victory was won, had before
  refused when he sent a message asking them to revolt
  from Croesus. So he answered them in his anger.

it should be noted, that in the translation I was reading it used the word apology instead of story

Does anyone know if the original greek uses apologia? or was that an interpolation of the translator?

It does seem to make sense, if you construe that an apology, if taken by its archaic meaning, "an argument in defence of a position", acts like a destroyer of sorts, destroying the possibility of future alliances, and may fit in to other possible themes of culture shock when comparing customs and habits of the various Greek and Persian city states, especially in a context of an ambassador's audience with a King and its expected protocols etc.

I am well aware that in many instances Greek mythology uses personifications (as well as their parthenon of gods), treated as gods, they are nevertheless called by a simple word like for example: the gods "Sleep", and "Dischord".

Please, Please, Please!  Can someone (with a firm understanding of ancient Greek) tell me what exactly does the WORD Apollo actually mean?


texts:
I read an article about Sundar Pichai Google CEO.

  ...

  Since then, things have gone well at Google under Pichai's leadership,
  while things at Alphabet have been a bit more rocky. Some of those
  bumps can be attributed to the whole idea behind Alphabet in the first
  place: making businesses like Fiber, X and self-driving cars.

  That split elevated Pichai to CEO and perhaps allowed him to institute a little more focus inside Google.

Can anyone help me to understand what does mean "That split" exactly?

Is there another expression instead of?


texts: Why are not "infamous" and "inflammable" the opposite of "famous" and "flammable"?

texts: Why are not infamous and inflammable the opposite of famous and flammable, like incomplete, inactivity, inappropriate and so on?


texts: Another verb for "to skate by" or "to skirt by"

texts:
People sometimes use the phrases to skate by x and to skirt by x with the meaning: to do x with ease or to do x with minimal effort. Is there another verb that sounds like to skate or to skirt that is either used or more often used for the same purpose? Examples of sentences in which the phrase would be used are:

  Before I went to college, I could just [verb] by school.
  I used to respect Felix, but now he just [verbs] by at work.


texts:
I think when we talk about someone else it is not hard to choose the right word between "bring" and "take".  But when we talk about ourselves it seems that it makes no difference whether we choose one or the other.

For example :

  I will take three suitcases with me when I travel to Paris.
  Since Mary has just moved to town, I will bring/take her with me to luncheon on Sunday.
  When I opened my luggage in the hotel room, I realized I had forgotten to bring/take my new suit for the interview.
  I've brought / taken my car with me.

So especially what is the right word for sentence 4 and why?


texts: "has" vs "have" usage after enumerating two subjects, the first one in plural

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  Singular or plural following a list

I'm inclined towards the 2nd sentence, because 1) the first subject is plural and 2) there are two subjects.

Sub-question: but what if the first subject would have been singular?

  Specifications and game design has already been completed for it.

or

  Specifications and game design have already been completed for it.


texts: There are many posts about lays/lies on the internet, but half of them contradict the others. It's an important letter - which is the proper form?


texts: "Records" vs "recordings" in a record label company's name

texts:
The typical names of a record label companies are usually composed of one or two words accompanied with another one word which is "records" or "recordings".

There are Decca Records, Columbia-CBS Records, Capitol Records and many other [some word] Records. But there are also Big Brother Recordings, Wichita Recordings, XL Recordings, etc.

Are there any semantic aspects to prefer "records" over "recordings" or maybe it is just a matter of taste?


texts: Strive for excellence VS Striving for excellence

texts:
"an environment that promotes strive for excellence / striving for excellence"

I would like to know which one is correct ? Because I dont quite catch how to use the phrase "strive for excellence".


texts: gardenersplanet vs gardenerplanet, which one to choose

texts:
I have a domain name called gardenerplanet but when i look at other websites that start with gardener the word is always used in plural from for example: gardenersworld.com, gardenersedge.com, gardenerscorner.co.uk. Does that mean gardenerplanet is spelled wrong? I am making a social media website that is ment for gardeners. Does gardenerplanet.com make sense? I've seen other domain names where the first word isn't plural like gameplanet.com. English is not my native language so i would love to hear your opinion on this.
Thank you


texts: The contrasting meanings of the word "chill"

texts:
One meaning, the one that I've always known and thought about it when someone said the word "chill", was "very relaxed or easy going" with the example "in general, I am a pretty chill guy", as given  by the definition when you search the word on Google.

However, another definition is "an unpleasant feeling" or even to "horrify or frighten someone", with the example "there was a chill in the air".

Even though the word chill in the first example is informal, still I find the 2 definitions in contrast with each other — opposite.

My question is why do we have today this word with two completely different meanings? When did the informal meaning appear? Does it cause some confusion?


texts:
It is expected of/from you to find the solution.
  Such rude behavior was not expected of/from you.

I am quite sure that from is the correct usage in both cases, but of could be used in the first one. Can somebody corroborate?


texts: Are these two meanings of "brood" related?

texts:
I am aware of two meanings of the word "brood". One is to do with children:

the young of an animal or a family of young

the other is to do with being in a bad mood:

a: to dwell gloomily on a subject,
b: to be in a state of depression

(both these definitions are given at Merriam-Webster).
I am wondering whether there is a relationship between these two meanings. I'm no etymologist, but usually when I look up the root of a word with two meanings like this I can sort of see how it could be interpreted in the two different meanings (even if they are quite different). But in this case all I can see is a root to do with breeding. So I can't see how the other meaning came about.


texts:
what is the subject of last clause ?
But shrinking the band gaps of such materials just that little bit further, to the point where a brilliant red is reflected instead, has so far proved beyond their chemical skills.

what is subject of predicate “has” in the las clause?


texts:
Here's the situation - I meet a friend and I tell her about yesterday

Hey John!
Hi Sarah!
How was yesterday's trip?
It was great. Karl took me to the country side to show me his new house. It reminded me of the/a house I rented in Oxford.
....
a house I rented in Oxford. - in this case, one of the houses I rented in Oxford?
the house I rented in Oxford. - in this case, I rented only one house in Oxford?


texts: English equivalent for a Portuguese saying on “bad company”

texts:
In Brazilian Portuguese, we have:

  "The bird who goes around with a bat wakes up hanging upside down"

Original: "Passarinho que anda com morcego amanhece de cabeça pra baixo"

The literal meaning is that the bat is a bad company (the kind our mothers warn about) and the bird will wake up like a bat, hanging on a branch upside down.

I suspect this kind of humour is more prone to happen in the "New World" than in the old Europe, but maybe all English-speaking people share a similar expression. If not, which expression(s) could be globally understood?


texts: Is there another word for bipartisan to mean all parties?

texts:
I find myself needing to write about a "bipartisan" issue, in a country which, unlike the US, doesn't have two main parties. Would the word thus still be "bi"partisan, or something more akin to "omnipartisan"?

Sorry if this is a stupid question, but I just don't know.

Thank you.


texts: Where did the "unavailable" meaning of "Out of Pocket" come from?

texts:
The phrase "out of pocket" is often used in my office to mean "unavailable".  I've found reference to this on the internet as well, but no obvious clue to where this meaning comes from.

Where does this particular meaning come from?


texts:
Is there an expression in English for what someone does if he/she charges well below the market rate for a product or a service?

Here in Israel we call it "breaking the market" - a practiced shunned by practically everyone offering that product or service, since it may devalue the product/service.


texts: Need help distinguishing auxiliary 'be' vs main verb phrase 'be'

texts:
"The greater part of what my neighbors call good I believe in my soul to be bad."
Is the 'be' in the sentence above an auxiliary 'be' or is it serving a main phrase verb?
From my textbook, the auxiliary 'be' occurs before the present participle of the main verb, but 'bad' is not a verb so I am leaning towards it being the main phrase verb, but the phrase 'to be bad' seems to be adjectival as it is describing things his neighbors call 'good'.
Edit: My new position is that this is just that 'to be' is an infinitive verb and I am over thinking it.


texts: Is there a process name for an island becoming unisolated?

texts:
I previously asked this on the history stack exchange but unfortunately had no good luck, and I was recommended to give this stack exchange a go, so:

Basically I would like to know if there is an official term for the process which an independent island would undertake once reaching the point in societal/technological development to travel to other islands/land masses and end their isolation by interacting with other peoples through trade/war/etc.

Just to clarify, I mean the island's isolation ending due to the island itself exploring the outside world, not other people landing on the island and colonising it (etc).

Also, if there is only an umbrella term which refers to isolated people in general making outside contact, please provide this but clarify this to be the case.

Thank you very much!


texts:
Which one is a correct one:

  With this letter I intend to...

or

  With this letter, I intend to...


texts: Is using past participle instead of present one more polite?

texts:
On christianity.stackexchange.com I asked this question:

"Is it true that John Paul the Second restored the practice of selling indulgences in 2000?"

and one supporter suggested that I replace selling with sold as in this way it will sound less accusatory.

While not being a native English speaker and at the same not doubting a bit about that supporter's command of English, I am still puzzled here about how changing the tense of the verb can make things sound less accusatory. In fact, I don't quite see how the question is accusatory in the first place. Perhaps, there is some subtlety in English grammar here that I am not aware about.

Can anyone, please, explain this to me?


texts: I was ready to drop; however, I wasn’t going to sleep in front of the librarian and students. Hence, I looked for a spot where I could hide while sleeping.


texts: Why can’t I turn “fast-paced” into a quality noun by adding the “‑ness” sufﬁx?

texts:
I needed to write a word that expressed the quality of being fast-paced.
"Fast-pacedness" sounded off and I looked the dictionaries up.
Collins is my favourite one. Webster I use when I need to give a word a casual glance. Oxford seems to have the most formal descriptions.
None of them contained the word.
Which leaves me thinking what's the criterion in the first place, for that not to be a possible word.
And of course, I rephrased my sentence and it looked much better then, but I remain with a question that's worth, I assume.
[EDIT]
The context was located inside a debate where it is assumed that the world changes very fast. There [supposedly] is a generalised fast-paced[ness] affecting and permeating basically everything, which was not there in the 18th century and before, and was [also supposedly] noted by writers beginning in the 19th and ahead.
Although there's no sources or quotes about these supposed writers, the book that started the discussion repeats this assertion often, and I wanted to capture this quality of being fast-paced in a single word. There are other aspects not related to velocity, but change, but I was not concerned about that for a choice of words.


texts: Is "wot wot" or "what-what" an authentic British expression? If it's supposed to be mocking, what is it mocking?

texts:
Some background first: As I was reading some past answers on English L&U, I came across this old question, where the top accepted answer maintained there were distinct class differences in the use of the expression "cheers" amongst the British. Some people disagreed with the tone of the accepted answer; in particular, the answerer was accused of stereotyping in the comments, and his response was challenged by another user who in response gave what he obviously considered a laughable stereotype of upper-class English speaking: "Top drawer, what?!"

I remembered then that I'd often seen and heard "wot wot" used in the same mocking way.  For example, one of my childhood friends, if he wanted to play mock-Briton, might say something like: "Tally-ho, old bean, wot wot?"  Googling informs me this usage isn't just idiosyncratic on his part; evidently, lots of people are interested in the history of this phrase, as Google suggests "wot wot British" as a query, with IMO few helpful responses on the first couple of pages.

So is this impression accurate: Did upper-class (or any class, for that matter) British really use to speak like this, i.e.  is this expression mocking because it's so archaic that it seems funny now?  If not, where did this caricature come from?


texts: Is there a word for the study of how technology shapes society

texts:
Is there a word for the field of study of how technology affects societies?

For example: How cheap cars affects the design of cities.


texts: What exactly means "epistemological" here?

texts:
I have a hard time describing the meaning of the word epistemological, and thus the proper meaning of the quote, in my own words. I do get the big message but I'd love to be able to answer the question "What does epistemological mean?" if someone would ask me.

  «[It] may be said of all the debates in the foundation of mathematics:
  either they are technical and accessible only to logicians, or they
  are epistomological and draw their examples from concepts we meet in
  school. The result in each case is a debate that does not interest,
  and does not seek to affect, working mathematicians.»

Definition of epistemological

: of, relating to, or based on epistemology : relating to the study of the nature, origin, and limits of human knowledge


texts: "Throw you with a stone" vs "Throw a stone at you"

texts:
In South African English a common mistake is to say:
"I will throw you with a stone"
where the correct phrase is:
"I will throw a stone at you".
Why is the first sentence wrong when one can say:
"I will cut you with a knife"?
Both are "I will" -action- "you with" -object-.

Possible reason: the object is distanced from you in the first case and "with" indicates grouping. Once you have thrown a stone it is separate from you but the knife stays in your hand ("with" you).

See Google Ngram for usage of the phrases.


texts: 'Let's get our socks on'/'Aren't we clever' Pronoun Usage

texts:
I sometimes hear people using us, we etc. when talking to young children in order to refer to the child: e.g "Let's get our socks on"; "Aren't we a clever boy". For how long have people done this? Is this as common as I think it is? And does it occur in other languages?

As a point of possible interest I might add that in Antony & Cleopatra (about 1607), when Cleopatra is helping to lift up the dying Antony on to her monument, she uses we/our in a way that might be interpreted as resembling this usage:

  Cleo.:
  [...] but come, come Anthony,
        Helpe me my women, we must draw thee up:
        Assist good Friends.

  Ant.:
  Oh quicke, or I am gone.

  Cleo.:
  Heere's sport indeede: How heauy weighes my Lord?
        Our strength is all gone into heauinesse,
        That makes the waight.

Of course this could just as easily refer to both of them, although it seems to have some relation to the 'hedging' described in Edwin Ashworth's comment.


texts: Other than when used as a name, is there any evidence of the word “puck” before Hockey

texts: Was trying to search history on the word puck, but couldn’t find what I was looking for. It seems that before 1870 there are only instances of “puck” when used as a name. Some sources, like Etymonline, indicate it originated from “poke”, which referred to the hitting or striking of the object. Was wondering if there were any other potential sources of this word as we often refer to other similarly shaped object as “pucks”.


texts: What is the difference between "assess" and "evaluate"?

texts: What is the difference between assess and evaluate?


texts: What is a word for "a person who studies all subjects"?

texts:
I think it should be "philosopher", but I am not sure.

Does philosophy encompass all subject matter?

Is there a word that describes someone who studies all subjects?

So, if a scientist studies science, and a theologian studies religion, is there a word for someone who studies both?

A sample sentence might be:

  The '_____' is constantly learning, because the universe is infinite.

Here is an analogy:

  Science is to Scientist as Everything is to '_____'.

Edit:

The word is likely to end with -ist or -er. The word should describe a person who specifically studies everything. My made up word would be: "everythingologist".


texts: Saying or expression for "behave or f... off"

texts:
I remember reading a saying or expression that was used to warn someone to behave. It was along the line of (teaser because it contains an offensive word):

 Stay and behave here or fuck off

If I recall correctly, it was mostly used in jobs or businesses to tell employees to either behave or leave. An example would be:
An employee is acting up so the boss tells him or rather gives him a warning and says "behave or f... off" (it didn't have the word "f..." but I feel that both have more or less similar meanings of dismissing someone).
I've been scratching my head for that expression but can't seem to find it.


texts:
I'm sure his has a general form and welcome a link to a duplicate, but as I don't quite know what to search for, here goes.

Whilst answering a question on the Mathematics Stack Exchange, I found myself needing to say the mid point of one diagonal of a rectangle is coincidental with the mid point of the other and that that point is the centre of the rectangle. So I said:

  "The key is to prove that for all rectangles, the mid points of the
  diagonals are coincidental at the centre of the rectangle ..."

It suddenly struck me that the correct form might have been:

  "The key is to prove that for all rectangles, the mid point of the
  diagonals are coincidental at the centre of the rectangle ..."

I suspect this is related to "everyone took off his hat".

Could someone explain the reasoning behind the correct form.


texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  When do you use “Did + 1st form” instead of “2nd form”

When is do used in affirmative sentences? For example:

  I do think that this is going to be...

Is it only used to emphasize a concept?


texts: Keep the good work up / Keep up the good work - Are they both grammatical?

texts: I have always heard “Keep up the good work”, but “Keep the good work up” also sounds fine to me. Is it acceptable?


texts: The phenomenon of someone talking about someone else all the time

texts: I got a friend who keeps talking about a colleague. My friend is pretty disappointed by the other guy's behaviour and keeps on harping about it day in day out. Is there one word/concept which sums up this behaviour of my friend?


texts: A term for the object of insincere justification

texts:
Sometimes people make insincere arguments to justify an action (or inaction), based upon the impact to a particular group.

For example, a person might say "Building that sports arena near my house is irresponsible! Think of how many homeless people we could house with that money!" In truth, the person does not want the arena near his or her house, and does not really care about whether homeless people are housed or not. What is the term used to describe the homeless people in this situation?

Another example might be large industrial agriculture organizations defending government policies "to protect the family farm" when these organizations are not family farms and do not care about protecting family farms. What is the term used to describe family farms here?

The best term I can think of is "smokescreen", as in "Homeless people are being used as a smokescreen to hide other concerns about the sports arena" but this seems informal, and there are probably better phrases (formal or informal). What are they?


texts: What is the meaning of "contain the group"?

texts:
I come across the following BBC news:

  These gains have undercut the core pillar of the US strategy against IS. But airstrikes and limited ground operations by local forces can contain the group if not defeat it as yet.

How to understand "contain the group"? I have tried to google it, but get nothing.


texts: What "A small town girl with big city dreams" means?

texts: Can you please explain to me this sentence? I can't understand it :(


texts: When do you use “learnt” and when “learned”?

texts:
Is learnt UK English and learned US? Is it that simple?

I’m used to using learnt, but my US spellchecker says it is wrong.


texts: word describing name and birthday collectively

texts:
i'm looking for a word that would exclusively denote the person's name and birth data

it should be analogous with words such as contacts denoting entities such as email, phone number, address perhaps, that can be often seen in cv's, or credentials which is another collective word for username and password


texts: Is there a name for this method of writing that includes pictograms?

texts:
I've seen people write (usually in a humorous way) a 'code-like' message where parts of words are replaced with a pictogram that sounds like that word-part.  E.G.:

  (eyeball) (tin can)(rope knot) get the (hole in ground) (earth) in my head,
  yet.

becomes

  I cannot get the whole world in my head, yet.

I once saw this used in a fictional book, and wonder if it has an actual name.

Edit: the answer also helped by re-find this wonderfully imagined race that communicates via rebuses.


texts:
I want to use singular they with the phrase known as. I am not sure if the appellation following known as should be in the singular or plural. Which of the following is correct?

After completing the Hajj to Mecca, wherever one goes, they are
known as a Hajji.
After completing the Hajj to Mecca, wherever one goes, they are known as Hajjis.

Or, with a gender-neutral appellation (based on the comment below)

After emigrating to the US, when one visits India, they are jokingly called an American Desi by their friends back home.
After emigrating to the US, when one visits India, they are jokingly called American Desis by their friends back home.

Which one is grammatically correct?


texts:
Can anyone please tell me what the difference between as and like in the following sentence is. And which one is correct?

Here's the example:

None of the other students helped the old man across the road, like/as John did.


texts: Word Identification - Act/Believe of living in harmony with nature

texts:
I'm looking for a word to describe a virtue or character trait relating to the belief or practice of living in harmony with nature.  It should not have any negative or derogatory connotations, nor should it imply any sort of primitiveness as the people in question might well be very technologically advanced.

Natural or naturalness are the best that I have come up with, but they also both seem a little bland and on the nose.

Something like savage or barbaric is closer to what I'm aiming for, but obviously those both have a negative tone which precludes them from being used a virtue for which someone might be praised.  Uncivilized is also similar, but would imply the backwardness that I'm trying to avoid also.

Example: The people of Utopia have learned the value of ________, so that, while they have not sacrificed their technological advancement, they have been careful to keep their progress sustainable and to remain conscious of their environment at all times.


texts: I’ve heard a lot of musicians and music lovers say: ‘I can feel the music inside of me.’ Is there a word for that?


texts:
Which is correct:

This call is being professionally answered by Company A.
This call is professionally being answered by Company A.
This call is being answered professionally by Company A.

Both seem a bit awkward. Is there a better phrasing?


texts:
If I'm not mistaken, tens of means 10 to 99 and hundreds of means 100 to 999. Is this correct? I found in some dictionaries that tens of is actually not correct.

I also found that hundreds of could also mean any arbitrary large number. So how would people usually interpret hundreds of? Based on context?

In my case, I want to describe numbers of some items that are usually 50-90 but sometimes could be around 100-200, but definitely not as many as 300 or so. I want to really emphasize that there are a lot of these items. In this case, can I say "... have tens or even hundreds of ..."? Would people misinterpret what I actually want to say?


texts:
A friend tweeted

  I am following a 1000 accounts now

and I told him it was wrong but he says it's correct. I'm of the view that the correct one is

  I am following 1000 accounts now.

So which one is correct?


texts:
I am arguing with my colleague about what phrase is easier to understand, i.e. "accounts for up to" vs "is gained from". My wording is the following:

  Sometimes this sector accounts for up to 70% of GDP in developed countries.

My colleague insists that her sentence is much better and sounds more idiomatic for a native speaker for English as compared to my wording. Her version is the following:

  Almost 70% of GDP in developed countries is gained from this sector.

Is her version (= the last one) more natural for you? Did she formulate the idea in a better way?

The sentence was originally formulated in Russian and translated into English. The Russian sentence has the word that means "sometimes", i.e. it is not always the case. It happens from time to time


texts: Is it correct to use the superlative word "best" as a verb according to prescriptive grammar?

texts:
I've often stumbled across phrases like these (perhaps not the last one) and felt that they sounded a bit awkward:

  Nothing can best the sheer capacity of […]

  X would best Y any day.

  I best you.

I'm a layman in terms of grammar. At first, I just wanted to see if this is correct by any standard (which it appears to be). Then I came across the fact that there seems to be two factions (in lack of better a word) comprised by people specializing in descriptive and prescriptive grammar, of which I may lean more towards the latter. So, in conclusion, I seek to know if the above examples are unequivocally correct according to prescriptive grammar.


texts: Why is the word "being" used as a suffix with "human"?

texts:
Why is the word being used as a suffix with human, as in human being, instead of creature?

Please answer philosophically.


texts:
Is the genitive of POTUS
POTUS'
or
POTUS's


texts: Would you elaborate between have been v-ing and have p.p.?

texts:
I have flown to Toronto a great deal this month.
I have been flying to Toronto a great deal this month.

Would you possibly explain the different between them?


texts: One word to denote natural items found on ground

texts:
Does there exist one word or one term to denote natural items found on the ground such as trees, grass, rocks etc.?

A word that encompasses both inanimate as well as animate objects but that is not man-made.


texts: "I gave it a lot of thought" vs. "I thought about it a lot"

texts:
I've heard the following expression often and I have a few questions.
.

  I gave it a lot of thought.

What is "it"? Is it dummy or something you are referring to? Does it sound differnt from "I thought about it a lot"?
If it is something you are referring to (an idea, present, plan to buy a car, etc.), how can you give your thought to it as if they could receive your thought?
If you change the above into a passive voice sentence, which one of the following two would it be?

  "It was given a lot of thought" or "A lot of thought was given to it".

If you Google them, you get 184,000 hits for "I gave it a lot of thought", but you get 413,000 for "It was given a lot of thought", and 301,000 hits for "A lot of thought was given to it"

Even though there are differences in the number of hits, I would still prefer using "I gave it a lot of thought" to using the 2 passive forms. Is there any difference in their meanings?


texts: Looking for possible words to describe certain meanings

texts:
In order to come up with a good company name in the field of Information Technology, I'm working on compiling two groups of words.

First:

Words that have similar meaning to: improvement, doing things right, success, building well, etc... Something like "Bettering" but bettering itself does not sound good to me.

Examples:

Improvement
Bettering
Boosting

Second:

Words that mean: a place where working, thinking, tinkering takes place

Workshop
Workroom
Labs

English is not my first language so I was hoping you could help me. Could you help me with suggestions? I'd really appreciate it.


texts:
If my girlfriend having a vaginal spotting or bleeding , and if I want to ask her how much bleeding she got, which could be better Question?

how much bleeding was there VS How much bleed you got?


texts: I am looking for a noun meaning 'having 300 thousand inhabitants' so that I could say for example 'a 300-thousand city' instead of 'a city in which 300 thousand people live' or 'a city inhabited by 300 thousand people' etc. can I use the former form, and if not, is it possible to use another noun to do so?


texts:
Ok, I want to find a word that contains  plasticware, copper stuffs, glassware, paper, etc. Generally, the word should convey the meaning "everything that can be recycled".

I searched "recycleware" on Google & found some results but It seems that "recycleware" is a name of a company.

So, Do we have a word like "recycleware" which includes everything that can be recycled?


texts:
“Those girls, who serve in the restaurant are very enthusiastic.”

I’m from vietnam and my teacher said that relative clause which have demonstratives such as ‘this’,’that’,’these’,’those’ requires comma like the sentence above. Is that true ?

  “Those girls who serve in the restaurant are very enthusiastic.”

Is this sentence whithout comma grammatically wrong?
I would be grateful if someone can help me make it clear.


texts:
Since adjectives are used to describe nouns, can verbs be used to describe nouns as well?

For example:

  Two men standing with clenched fists are US athletes.

Here fist is a noun and to describe a noun, an adjective is used. In this case the adjective should be clenched but the dictionary shows that clenched is a verb.

So does that mean that verbs are also used to describe nouns?


texts: What is the possessive form of "Ralph's", "Ralph's" being an American store chain?


texts: "Please think to send me your solution by next Friday. " Is it correct?

texts:
I would like to ask my students to send me the solution of an assignment. The deadline is Friday.

Is it correct to write "Please think to send me your solution by next Friday." ?

Thanks for your help.


texts: "Want to see my mother smile" vs "Want to see my mother smiling"

texts:
I would be happy if my mother smiled. My mother never smiled. In this case, which sentence should I use?
1. I want to see my mother smile always.
2. I want to see my mother smiling always.

Another context is that, My mother is always happy. She has a smile on her face always. I am happy when I see my mother is smiling. In this case, which sentence should I use?
1. I want to see my mother smile always.
2. I want to see my mother smiling always.


texts: How common is "kia ora" in New Zealand English?

texts:
As I understand it, the Maori greeting "kia ora" is used by many New Zealanders.

How likely is this greeting to be used in New Zealand English by people who don't speak Maori?

On one end of the scale, it could be in common, everyday use.  On the other end, it could be something only bilingual Maori/English speakers use while code-switching between Maori and English.

(Someone with experience conversing in New Zealand would be able to answer this question much better than someone who's never set foot in that country.)


texts: Terms for generic forms of 3D motion on the 3 axes

texts: Consider up & down, left & right, and back & forth. Up & down can be stated generically as "vertical". Side-to-side is "lateral". What about back & forth?


texts: Word/phrase that means a series of problems of increasing severity caused by a small error

texts:
Something small goes wrong, and this triggers something slightly bigger, which triggers something slightly bigger, and so on and so forth until you end up with a chain of problems of increasing severity until it ends in catastrophy.

Something like the old saying "for want of a nail the battle was lost", only highlighting that each intermediate issue was a problem in its own right, not just a stepping-stone to the final disaster.

Is there a common word/phrase that specifically describes this? I'm thinking "cascade of ever-increasing problems", but this seems clumsy, and I suspect there might already be a neat word or expression that covers it.


texts: Are "information fluency" and "information literacy" synonymous?

texts: Information fluency is a term I’ve just come across. I prefer information literacy, but are they considered synonymous and is the former superseding the latter?


texts:
I want to write a sentence like

"There is  routine work which Mr Robert is responsible for."

or in the form of non-essential clause

"There is a routine work, which Mr Robert is responsible for, that needs to start this Monday."

I'm not sure if these sentences are weird because when I Google then, there are only sentences with a form like

"Mr Robert is responsible for  routine work."


texts: What is the adjective form of the word adjective? I wanted to say something like adjectivial but that's not a word.


texts:
For this sentence, I'm not sure whether to use had or have:

Ever since I saw Harry Potter, I had/have been interested in Muggle Studies.

"Have" sounds better, but "had" and "saw" are both past tense.


texts: What are the other ways of saying "turn on/off the light"?

texts:
I'm writing about a person who comes into the room twice and both times turns the light on and then off.

I'm wondering if I can avoid repetition with the expressions like

taps the light switch (off);
slams the switch on;
shuts the light (off).

Are those three grammatically correct? Or maybe there are more common ways to say that?

Thank you!


texts: I'm looking for a word (verb) meaning decorate/embellish too much — in a bad sense — and in particular having the tint of being too much so that something instead of being beautiful becomes fussy and ugly.


texts: "glad to receive something" or "glad to have received something"?

texts:
which is correct?

"I am glad to receive your letter."

or

"I am glad to have received your letter."

The intent is to talk about a specific letter recently received in the past.


texts: what does it mean "I believe that fire is hot"?

texts:
I found "I believe that fire is hot" sentence in the internet.
In the point of view of my country language, that kind of sentence is strange.
It's just like someone say "I believe that my mother is a woman".
So, what does it mean "I believe that fire is hot" ?
Addition:
I've just downloaded the article which contains that sentence. :

With all due respect to these previous efforts (and many more I have
not the time to synopsize), I will here propose my own continuum of
belief types, with a somewhat different emphasis than any of those
above. My main concern is to distinguish types of verification and
degrees of commitment.
Here are some examples: I believe that fire is hot; I believe that an ax is a tool for chopping; I believe in gravity; I believe the
earth rotates around the sun. I believe that the bird I saw was a
raven; I believe you left the light on. I am convinced that there is a
universal conspiracy against me. I believe God speaks to me and that I
am his messenger. These beliefs are differentiated on a number of levels. In the first instance, the belief that fire is hot is indisputable and proven by immediate personal experience. Fire burns. Source

Which I don't quite understand, if it's proven by immediate personal experience, why the sentence still use the word "believe" ?.
Isn't it just like somebody see it's raining and say "I believe it's raining now" ?
More addition:
To me, it will make sense if the one who say "I believe that fire is hot" has not experienced it yet. For example a kid who is about to touch a fire, the mother say : "don't touch it. it's hot".
If the kid believe his mother's words, then it makes sense if the kid say "I believe that fire is hot".
If the kid doesn't believe his mother's words, then the kid may say "I don't believe you" which indirectly means in the point of view of the kid "that fire is hot" is not correct. Assumed the kid ignore his mother's words, so he touch the fire and find it's hot. Wouldn't it'll be more appropriate that the kid say : "now I believe you, Mom" than "now I believe that fire is hot" ?


texts: Is there a word or expression for someone who takes an over-optimistic view of things?

texts: Someone who takes an over-optimistic view of himself, his own country and all other things that have meaning/value to him. And who doesn't see or admit the smaller, yet not insignificant, things. E.g. as well in an attempt to win other people over of something or give them the impression of his own greatness (by leaving out whichever isn't going to benefit that impression he wants to make.)


texts: A word or phrase to describe the act of annoying someone by staying close to them and repeating something

texts:
How do you describe it when someone annoys you by repeating something (a favor, question, etc.) over and over and standing near you all the time?
I thought of "to breath down one's neck", which means to stay close to someone and watch everything that they do, but it misses the speaking part.


texts: Classification of species into native or invasive

texts:
In conservation efforts, whether a species is native or invasive to a particular area is often of interest. There are also sometimes additional classifications. For example, I'm working with a data set that allows for a species to be classified as "global." Other classifications sometimes distinguish between "non-native" and "invasive." (I'm not personally entirely clear on what the differences are; the point at the moment is that native vs. invasive is not a simple yes/no category.)

I'm trying to name the field that the value of this classification will be stored in. Is there a word or short phrase that describes this quality that I can use? Technical or specialized terms are absolutely fine; this name won't be seen on any kind of generally available interface.

Potential words that come to mind are "nativeness" or "invasiveness," but I'm not at all confident these carry the meaning I intend.


texts:
I don't understand the meaning of case in this sentence:

  That may be wise policy, but it will also create an impression that many more potential problems exist than is the case.

I also don't know how to explain the comparative more ... than in this sentence.

Please paraphrase it to improve my understanding.


texts: When a title is used as a common noun, should it be capitalised?

texts:
In the company I work for, we have a process called an Engineering Request, the document produced as a result of following the process is also referred to as an Engineering Request. Typically, it's written in its capitalised form as it's the title of a process (and document).

My question is, when the term is used as a common noun, for example, "We will provide you with all the relevant Engineering Request documents", is it correct to capitalise it? It just doesn't quite feel right when the term is used as a common noun, and as such, I tend not to capitalise it, but when my documents are reviewed, the reviewer tends to capitalise them before sending them out to customers.


texts: Term describing the smallest possible unit of data

texts:
I want to write something like:

  In cases where the smallest unit of data is available (e.g. houses, persons, vehicles), we can use more detailed models.

So I am looking for something describing non-averaged and specific data.
However, I'd like to use a less bulky / more professional expression. Things that sound kind of ok to me (as a non-native speaker), but are maybe misleading:

  In cases atomic data is available (e.g. houses, persons, vehicles), we can use more detailed models.

or

  In cases where bottom-up data is available (e.g. houses, persons, vehicles), we can use more detailed models.

As this is obviously a technical description of databases, the term can be "borrowed" from programming languages (as I did in my "atomic" example).


texts: What does the phrase "To be much for" mean?

texts:
'There dosen't seem to be much for correlation between intelligence, and kindness.' ('Genocide Bingo' by Exurb1a on YouTube)

What does 'there dosen't seem to be much for' mean?

It's the 'for' that's confusing me.


texts: Does the ending to this sentence need an extra verb?

texts:
My sentence is as follows:

  I lodged a complaint with Acme Corporation, a private entity.

Does it need to be changed into:

  I lodged a complaint with Acme Corporation, which was a private entity.

I appreciate the meaning between the two sentences is slightly different. I would just like to know if the first sentence is grammatically correct. It looks correct to me but I have been told that only the second version is grammatically correct. Is there a 'rule' governing this situation that I can reference?


texts: Word to describe something that is about to become trending?

texts:
In Swedish there exists a word called bubblare. This word describes something that is about to get popular or up-and-coming. Is there an English equivalent to this?

The word trending is kind of what I am looking for, but the state right before it actually takes off. Something is going to become a trend but havent't yet.

An example:
A music program lists the top 5 most popular songs every week. In addition to this list there is also one song that is guessed to become popular enough to enter this list in the near future. This song is called bubblare.


texts:
I'm looking for a precise word to describe someone who is hypocritical on moral issues,
for example:

a cult guru who claims to be holy while doing something evil.
or a company which partakes in some kind of sordid business practice while pretending to be holier-than-thou.


texts: "Calling a spade a spade": synonymous expressions?

texts:
I'm looking for expressions that are equivalent to

  "calling a spade a spade."

In some environments and verbal contexts, this phrase needs to be avoided -- please take my word for it.

Thank you.

I shouldn't have used the gerund in my question.  Where I need to use this sort of expression is in a discussion I'm losing patience with, and I want to say, effectively, let's not pussyfoot around with euphemisms. I'm going to tell it like it is, and Let's not mince words here, both work quite well.  Thank you all.

In response to @Pharap,

  Do you have evidence that someone has taken offence at this before or
  is this merely preemptive?

I want to avoid problems.  I live in a small town where everybody has their sensitivities.  I was once in a hiring committee where a person objected to someone calling one of the candidates a "dark horse."  I believe I read that some town in California decided not to use the term "manhole covers" any more because of the "man" syllable.


texts: Is this grammatically correct: "It has happened for a while now."

texts: If not, why? I think it sounds awkward but I cannot be sure it's incorrect.


texts:
Forgive me if I miss something very obvious; English is not my native language.

I am currently taking an online (sort of) Math class that aims to teach creating/writing unambiguous Mathematical statements. (Don't worry, I'm in the right SE site and my question isn't about Math). The professor gave an example of ambiguity in human language (English) that according to him may mean the same but actually have two different meanings.

He said, "One American dies of melanoma almost every hour." is not the same as "Almost every hour, an American dies of melanoma."

Well for me, the two sentences means the same. Is the article "an" is reason for the supposed change in meaning of the sentence? Or is it the placing of the adverbial phrase "almost every hour"?


texts:
What is it called when a character knows something the audience doesn't?

For example, if the character was stating something obvious like "today is your birthday", saying it only to inform the audience, what is that called?


texts: Why is the word 'is' not considered a preposition?

texts:
I am reading through the blue grammar book and the following is the definition of prepositions-

A preposition is a word or set of words that indicates location (in, near, beside, on top of) or some other relationship between a noun or pronoun and other parts of the sentence (about, after, besides, instead of, in accordance with). A preposition isn't a preposition unless it goes with a related noun or pronoun, called the object of the preposition.

If we consider the sentence- "he is honest", 'is' shows the relationship between 'he' and 'honest', it tells us he has the quality of honesty, I understand why it is considered a verb but do not understand how it is not a preposition as it satisfies the definition above?

Link for the relevant passage- https://www.grammarbook.com/grammar/probPrep.asp


texts:
I am a physicist and while reading research articles I quite commonly find the expression "In the following", below you can find two examples:

In the following, we will (verb) ...

or

... will be discussed in the following.

However this expression always sounds (reads) off to me. Somehow I cannot accept that in this cases "following" could be used as a noun, always as an adjective, and a noun - be it "chapter", "section" - should follow "the following".
But let me deepen my frustration with the topic. My mother tongue is Portuguese and I have read English books since I am 12. Whilst doing my physics master's degree I used several textbooks written by American authors, but it was only when I started my work career in optics, and started reading research articles, that I started noticing this expression (it does sound so horrible to me that I would have noticed it before).
Now, optics research in my area was - and in certain part still is - dominated by German researchers. I also live in Germany since 2010 due to that fact. I notice that my German colleagues love to use that expression, because they have the literal translation of "in the following" as "im Folgenden".
I later found that indeed in the English dictionary the use of "the following" as noun is fine, but I wonder if this is just a neologism due to the almost full century of the current scientific proliferation, as rarely do I see American or British authors using that expression.
So, to condense my question in two:
Does anyone know if this is a neologism, product of non-native speakers being forced to use English for communication?
When doing revisions of my colleagues' works I always suggest changing this expression to the adjective case. Should I just let it go, or does this actually enhance readability? I really find the expression horrible, like something is utterly missing, is this also the case with native English speakers?
PS: I did find this question which does partly answers my questions, regarding dialects, but which in the examples never uses "following" as noun. Also this one which in the examples does not use "in the following", but simply "the following:" followed by an enumeration, which is totally fine by me, and also something I would use, because I see it as a special kind of adjective? Like, it gives a quality to each following item, or the enumeration, which is not the same kind of quality I see in "in the following."
I am really sorry for the long rambling.


texts: Are there counterpart English expressions to Japanese proverb, "the nail that pops up is always hammered down?

texts:
I was once reminded by Robusto-san of a Japanese popular saying, ‘出る釘は打たれる - the nail that pops up is always hammered down,’ when I complained about  sequential down-votes that I received.

I wondered at that time if this expression is unique to the Japanese collectivity-oriented patterns of thinking, which Shichihei Yamamoto defined as ‘rice-growers’ mindset’ to simply mimic what others do without having your own thought - when the neighboring farmer starts planting rice, you plant rice. When your neighbor crops rice, you crop yours. When the neighboring farmer starts to repair a thatched roof made of rice straw, you mend the thatch of your cottage.

In the famous book, “Japanese and Jew ” written by the pseudonym of Isaiah Ben-Dasan, Yamamoto argues basic differences of the ways of thinking between the Japanese and the Jew - agricultural people vs pastoral people in his definition.

We have a lot of proverbs to teach us to be meek, or flexible at best, such as “泣く子と地頭には勝てぬ‐You cannot argue with a crying child and your magistrate,” “長いものには巻かれろ- It’s better to be obedient to those in power,” “喬木は風に弱し-A tall tree is weak to a gale,” “柳に風折れなし‐Willows don’t break in storms (because they have  branches and leaves supple enough to fend off strong wind).”

“触らぬ神に祟りなし‐Don’t get involved (with the problem), and you won’t get a slap from God,” and “Silence is gold (I think this is a Japanese version of German proverb, 'Reden ist Silber, Schweigen ist Gold' transplanted in the Meiji era in late 19 century),” can be classified into the same “Don’t be conspicuous” lesson group.

I understand westerners value assertiveness based on individualism against oriental collectivism, and wonder if the concept like ’出る釘は打たれる- the nail that pops up is hammered down,’ is viable at all in the western societies as a matter of comperative culture.

Are there any proverbs or sayings that admonish values of being unnoticeable (not saying insignificant) or an advantage of staying just in average that can be compared to ‘the nail that pops up is hammered down’?


texts: Word that means a combination of respect, empathy and being concerned for others' well being

texts:
What I'm trying to convey is the desire not to do harm to another person because you value not harming people.

"Respect" is almost there but it carries the additional meaning of respect for authority and sort of implies an unbalanced relationship.

"Empathy" also captures something of this but empathy seems more about emotions that are shared rather then behavior.

"Concern" also feels wrong as it seems to be too fleeting.

If I was to use it in a sentence it would be something like "The moral of the story is that a relationship without XXXX results in tragedy no matter how much the people involved love each other".


texts:
Is "guideline" actually a synonym for "rule"?

My understanding was that a guideline is a suggestion, but I could certainly be mistaken.

Sources like: thesaurus.com suggest that it is, but some common usage might suggest that it isn't.  An example is the scene from Pirates of the Caribean where a character says "... more like guidelines than actual rules."

Note: I'm not suggesting that the language in films is flawless, but rather a possible reflection of how the word is actually used.


texts: What would be a good word for expressing "a gesture of sympathy/empathy"

texts:
I've had someone say "I'm sorry!" to me to express a gesture of sympathy/empathy, whereas my answer to that was "Don't apologise for things you cannot control..."

The only thing I can think of in English that comes even close to what I want to express is "my condolences" but in this case, no one died, so that's not a good fit neither...

So, a question to the experts: What would be a good idiom to use to tell someone that I empathise/sympathise with them, without saying "I'm sorry..."?

Note: This question is a bit similar to this one but that one doesn't really answer my question and Google didn't turn up anything useful either...  :-(


texts: What does 'accent of', 'thousand minute particulars' and more in this paragraph?

texts:
I'm having so much difficulties understanding the below paragraph.
There are several parts that I am absolutely clueless.

"Should we really care for the greatest actors of the past could we have them before us? Should we find them too different from our accent of thought, of feeling, of speech, in a thousand minute particulars which are of the essence of all three? Dr. Doran's long and interesting records of the triumphs of Garrick, and other less familiar, but in their day hardly less astonishing, players, do not relieve one of the doubt. "

What does 'could we have them before us?' mean in the first sentence?
And what is the type of grammatical structure underneath? I just don't get how 'could' can come after 'past'.
What does 'accent of thought' mean? This phrase sounds so abstract. What does 'accent' mean in particular?
What does 'a thousand minute particulars' mean? I looked up the word 'particular' as a noun, which said 'specific detail' but it still doesn't make sense to me. Is it author's way of saying..perhaps 'theatre'?
Is there a difference in meaning if I take out 'of' in front of 'a thousand minute particulars?'
Because I have so much questions with the second sentence, could someone be so kind and rephrase that sentence (question) with easy words.

I didn't know English language could be so confusing and cryptic. T-T


texts: What's a catch-all term of invocation and evocation?

texts:
In this case, I shall define the two by the following:

Evocation - To bring out. To use a power that you have inherently, such as pulling two objects together.

"Jane evoked a fireball."

Invocation - To command or produce by speaking the name of. This includes a name you have personally given to multiple powers strung together.

"Jane invoked the name of fire, and the bonfire solo in two."

Please note that conjuration refers to the former and not the latter, magic is too broad, incantation is the latter, and enchantment is a subset of the latter.

Please note that 'Calling' works fairly well, yet it doesn't sound technical enough for my purposes.


texts:
I saw a sentence in the new york times
"... and create child care problems for parents who count on their children being at school for at least part of the week."
why did we use " being " here? and I guess it's a non-finite clause but I don't know how to convert this sentence into finite clause. or I already wrong that it's a reduction, if so, what subject should I study to learn it ?


texts: What's the meaning of "as ignorant as the last joined drummer boy"?

texts:
I encountered this expression here

  Napoleon once described Ney as 'ignorant of my projects as the last joined drummer boy', yet he still made him Commander of the Army's left wing at Waterloo.

I find this expression weird. How can "the last joined drummer boy" be related to ignorance?


texts: "I want this so bad I'll do anything for it!"

texts: When someone says this, we know he obviously doesn't mean he'll "do anything". In this case, what kind of statement is this? It isn't a literal statement too, right?


texts: When two words produce a distinct meaning

texts:
I've thought about how we say "bad guy", when we refer to a character in a game or a story, with a different cadence than we say "bad guy", when we mean "a guy who is bad".
"Bad guy" in the former sense is almost its own word, with its own meaning and pronunciation.
Possible other examples:
Hot dog
Black belt
Lazy eye
Green card

Is there a term for this phenomenon? If I could describe it, it's when two words become a unit as opposed to discrete words.


texts:
I was reading one's bio, finding the usage of humble in that sentence confusing to me.

Here's the context.

  Born to a very humble family, Charles Zhang’s parents were residential
  physicians at a small arsenal near Xian, China.

Does it mean that Zhang's family is not well off enough or Zhang's family members are humble(modest)?


texts: "Bring to a boil" vs. "bring to the boil"

texts:
Which is grammatically correct? Are both valid? Is it perhaps regional?

Bringing something to a boil.
Bringing something to the boil.

I've always heard and said it "a boil" until I heard the cooks on America's Test Kitchen (Bridget Lancaster at least) commonly say "the boil". I figure a professional chef would know how to talk about boiling water, but "the boil" still sounds weird to me.

So what's the deal?

Note that "bringing" is not necessarily part of the phrase. One might say "let it come to a/the boil" or "now that it's reached a/the boil". My question is about "a boil" vs. "the boil".


texts: What does it exactly mean by the word patronize?

texts:
There is also a related word: condescending.

What I understand is,

Patronizing and Condescending means the same thing.
They both means, "To behave in such a way as he/she is superior, and hence others deserve his/her sympathy".

But, I am confused about the following explanations,


texts: Capitalization of certain terms in English Literature

texts:
In English literature, improper capitalization of some phrases is common.  A friend of mine calls them 'Milnesian Capitals'.

These tend to be used in late 19th early 20th century British writings.  A.A. Milne wrote that

  '[Winnie-the-Pooh] was a bear of Very Little Brain.'

Terry Pratchett uses Milnesian Capitals frequently,  particularly in dialogue.

Are there any rules or conventions governing their use?  Is it an older style that has been discarded?


texts: Addressing someone with no specified gender

texts:
How do you address someone whose gender is not specified, when you are writing something? Take this as an example:

  The teacher said we should go; ____ said we are good pupils.

Would you insert he or she?

I’ve often read she in these cases, but is this a general rule?


texts: Which is correct? "Confident in" or "confident of"?

texts:
To me, they sound interchangeable.

So,
"I am confident of my abilities."
"I am confident in my abilities."

However, I'd like to know from people here at English Stackexchange as well. Is there a reason to use one more than the other?


texts: Aphorisms that use two words in reverse order

texts:
I've found aphorisms often that play on the meaning of two words and their interaction and was wondering what one might call them.

An example is the PJ Harvey song name:

  The whore hustles and the hustler whores.

They are quite simple but interesting.


texts: Does “I don’t have either late-night nor between-meal snacks” sound natural?

texts:
Does the sentence sound natural?

  I don’t have either late-night nor between-meal snacks.


texts: Reconcile *differences* rather than different *things*

texts: With exceptions, reconciliation occurs between disparate things.  It seems to me that referring to the differences between those things as being reconciled or reconcilable (or not) is a mis-use of the words reconcile and reconcilable.  Yet, the term irreconcilable differences is common place.  Is this just one of those mis-uses that have become formally acceptable, or am I totally off-base in assuming that it seems wrong?


texts: Present Perfect Simple versus Present Perfect Continuous: a tricky case

texts:
The parents come back home, see the living-room is in a terrible mess.

Do they ask their little ones "What have you done?" or "What have you been doing?"

What is understood in each of the questions?

I call this a tricky case because the usual criterion to distinguish between Present Perfect Simple and Present Perfect Continuous, the focus on the result of the action for the simple, and on the action itself for the continuous is a bit difficult to use here, isn't it?


texts: “Musical teeth?” What on Earth does she mean?

texts:
I just received this rather baffling pair of sentences in correspondence:

  Tenors are usually like hens' teeth and about as musical. We think your teeth are more musical than that!

The context is that I regrettably had to call in my absence due to having taken ill. I think it is meant in a positive sense, but I can't make heads or tails of it.


texts: Phrase/expression for something that is insignificant compared to something else

texts:
In Norwegian there is a phrase, piss i havet, that directly translated means; piss in the ocean. This phrase is used when talking about something that might usually be significant, but looked at in the bigger picture, it is insignificant. Now, this concept seems quite basic to me, so I believe that there is an English equivalent. I'll give some examples of where the phrase is used, to better paint a picture of what I mean.

Usually, dropping a hammer is an unpleasant and loud sound. It will garner attention and people will be affected by it. Perhaps they'll tell you to not drop the hammer so much. If you are on the middle of the hellfire of war, on the battlefield, dropping a hammer would not garner much attention. The noise it makes blends in as soft sound when there are much louder sounds about. The noise of the hammer dropping therefore becomes piss in the ocean. What is the actual phrase for this?

Another example is, if you're making an absurd million dollars every week, five dollars becomes piss in the ocean.


texts: Word meaning A journey of self discovery and introspection

texts: What would be an appropriate word for "A journey of self discovery and introspection" or possibly, "To discover that you are not how you conceptualized yourself"?


texts: I want to use captive audience in my sales copy but even though that phrase is exactly the meaning I am trying to convey, I want to avoid the word captive as it carries a negative connotation. Is there a 2 or 3 word phrase that has the same meaning but has a positive, or at least a neutral connotation?


texts:
I know to speak English.
I know how to speak English.

What is the difference between the sentences above?


texts: What do you call a person who started something that is later followed by everyone? For example, someone started to stay late at night till 8 p.m. and later everyone started to stay till 8 p.m..


texts:
In a sentence using fewer as a comparison between the present time and other occurrences, I might want to adjust the comparison. Are there any rules about how to modify fewer? Does it vary if the number is now larger ("less few") or smaller ("more few")?

  There are

  any fewer
  much fewer
  little fewer
  a lot of fewer

  people in the street than usual.


texts: What is the expression for sofa or cushion "go down"?

texts:
As we usually sit on the sofa or use cushion, it is not the condition of the first one. The part we usually sit become sunk(?)/ go down.

Then how can I say this?

  Sofa [went down?].


texts:
1.

  The correct way to perform a conventional, or general, deadlift is to grip the bar on the outer rings with your index finger.

2.

  The correct way to perform a conventional, or general deadlift is to grip the bar on the outer rings with your index finger.

3.

  The correct way to perform a conventional or general deadlift is to grip the bar on the outer rings with your index finger.

Once in third grade my grammar teacher told me too many commas was bad. I don't know how true that statement is.


texts: Term for "person who just keeps talking and won't go away"

texts: I'm looking for a polite word for someone who traps you in a conversation.  I'd like to avoid suggesting that the person is foolish, just that they continue a conversation in spite of all hints that you need to leave or hang up the phone or get on with what you were doing.


texts: A few wordings from the article about Einstein

texts: "a healthy dose of extreme misogyny" to his xenophobia with the observation - This was what I read from the article but what was the meaning of that, especially the wording "a healthy dose"? Anyone who can help on this? Thanks in advance.


texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  Why is this sentence correct? “She suggested that he go to the cinema.”

Which one is correct?

  Therefore, I highly recommend that she be given the excellence award.
  Therefore, I highly recommend that she is given the excellence award.


texts: Is there a word for a low-grade actor/writer/singer/etc who's gained a widespread attention and support?

texts:
This word should fit in this blank:

  A: Why are you wasting your time listening to that album?
  B: All my classmates are huge fans of this singer!
  A: That's only because s/he is (a) _____ .

Phrases or idioms referring to such a person will also be appreciated.


texts:
Onomatopoeia is defined as:

The formation of a word from a sound associated with what is named (e.g. cuckoo, sizzle).

Is there a term for describing the formation of a word from a shape/image associated with what is named; and/or a word so formed?
The oldest word like that I can think of would be
delta

A triangular tract of sediment deposited at the mouth of a river, typically where it diverges into several outlets:
Origin: Mid 16th century: originally specifically as the Delta (of the River Nile), from the shape of the Greek letter

The newest I can think of would be XOXO (O and X are crude visual representations of a hug and a kiss respectively). I know it's arguably not a word, still...
Then we have words like U-turn, T-bone and V-neck, which are named after the shape of the letter (as against words like X-rays, A-team and B-boying)
Is there any term that describes words like this?
PS - If there isn't, neologisms are welcome in comments.


texts:
Women in xxx country are viewed as disposable/dispensable commodities

Which word is more appropriate? I see both in common use.


texts:
Is the comma in the following sentence needed or should it be removed?

  Do you get the same thing every time you visit us, or do you like to switch it up?

I keep thinking it should be:

  Do you get the same thing every time you visit us or do you like to switch it up?

My reasoning is because "do you like to switch it up" is a dependent clause that relies on "Do you get the same thing every time you visit us" to make sense and be a complete thought.

Any insight on this would be super helpful; I'm kinda confused on why it's even right or wrong -- or if I'm wrong in my thinking! - and I'd love to be able to find out why this is bugging me so much!