texts: What gender is generally associated with "toad" characters in English fiction and folklore?

texts:
The common noun for a toad ("жаба") is of female gender in Russian.
Out of all the English literature that I have read, I can remember only one toad-like character: Mr. Toad from The Wind in The Willows, and he is a male.
I wonder, is this an idiom, or a coincidence? When you encounter an anthropomorphic toad character in English fiction, without gender-specific hints in text, should you think that it is a he or a she?
(I know that real-world toads can switch genders from male to female, but I doubt that most of fiction / folklore take that in account.)
Update:
I can't comprehend the third, genderless possibility (I can accept that it may be true, but I can't wrap my mind around it):

If I were presented with a toad
character without any hints as to
gender, I'd have to suspend judgement.
— (From the comments)

...Can someone think out a query to the Google Ngrams to get a statistics on this? Mr. Toad vs. Mrs. Toad yield zero results both. (Perhaps that is not a good tool then, toads are not that popular.)
In common Google search, Mr. Toad is 489 000 results and Mrs. Toad is 7 590. But that probably does not mean anything, since The Wind in The Willows popularity will affect the search too much.
It is curious that toadess (12 900 results) beats Mrs. Toad...
...Maybe conduct a poll somewhere?
Update 2:
Maybe I've found a way to get statistics.
Search for toad "gender: female" yields 697 000 results, toad "gender: male" — 576 000. (My assumption is that this search should hit forum profiles for users with relevant nicks.)
Without the word "toad": "gender:male" is 18 800 000 results, "gender: female" — 12 000 000. This may indicate that toads are more female than male...
Not sure if it proves anything though...


texts:
I have the following sentence:

"The volatile electricity generation of  renewable energy sources like wind turbines is a challenge for the electricity grid"

Is it correct to use 'of' here? Or do I have to use 'by' (or anything else)?

I'd appreciate every comment.


texts: The use of the word "equity" to mean "average?

texts:
The map below is of CO₂ emissions (from Our World in Data). It labels countries as being either "Below global equity" or "Above global equity".

Here the word "equity" seems to have been used to mean "(world) average". Is such usage correct/common/acceptable?


texts: At my work place, whenever an e-mail is sent to more then one person, it starts with "Dear All" or "Dear all". Should the letter "A" be capitalized in "All" as it is not a proper noun? Would it be wrong not to capitalize it


texts:
I am reading The day that changed the world by Stephen King and in the beginning he mentions that there is a correct usage of and as a noun. Unfortunately, he only mentions it.

I Googled for a long time but phrases with such common words as noun or and gave me various amounts of unnecessary web sites.

Can and be used as a noun? If so, in what way?


texts: when did the word "Alien" begin referring to extraterrestrial beings?

texts:
The etymology of the word "alien" goes as follows:

c.1300 (...)from Latin alienus "of or belonging to another, not one's own, foreign, strange,"

first as an adjective and later transferred to a noun,

"foreigner, citizen of a foreign land," early 14c., (...) In the science fiction sense "being from another planet," from 1953.

according to this article:

the term arose sometime in the mid-14th century and was initially used to describe something as strange or of foreign origin. When dark age monks described something as alien, they meant it seemed unnatural within the context of the society and ecosystem.

and according to the same article:

The first recorded use of alien to mean “not of the Earth” was in 1920 — though one suspects it had happened previously. The word took off with the invention of the aircraft and the subsequent invention of the space shuttle.

And the OED puts some early examples:

1929 J Williamson in Sci. Wonder Stories July 102 (title) The alien intelligence.
/ 1932 C.A. Smith in Wonder Stories Aug. 224/1 The alien ship was now hanging near the tops of the giant plants

I think it is safe to assume the word's connotation with the unworldly, did not begin to overthrow the worldly/of this earth definition until the 1950s when the great science fiction pictures began to be released like, Forbidden Planet, The Thing From Another World, etc. and those delightfully gruesome Mars Attacks cards from Topps.
Prior to the word "alien" I assume extraterrestrial beings, like those that appear in H.G. Wells's War of the Worlds, were more likely referred to simply as Martians which is from 1877 in reference to "an inhabitant of mars", and similarly, Neptunian (1870), Mercurian (1755), Venusian (1866), and prior to that I could only assume anything "unwordly" would have simply been referred to as a divine thing, either it be angel or devil, as in Somnium by Johannes Kepler in 1608 or with Milton who hesitantly suggests life on the moon in Paradise Lost, "Stored in each Orb perhaps with some that live." You also have alien-like creatures in The Adventures of Bulukiya from One Thousand and One Nights, but obviously, none of these refer to the being as "alien", and so anyone who would have read these suggestions may have interpreted them as "monsters" or "devils", rather than actual life on any place other than earth, and the influences of the inhabitants of hell and heaven.
Therefore I think it is quite likely that the word "alien" did come up to mean life which is not from earth around the 1920s, which makes historical sense with the advancement of public interest in space, which would of course reach its height in the 1950s/60s with the space race, but regardless, as for my question:

I am interested if anyone could find anything that would prove the
word "alien" was used, even if in obscure use, pre-1920s? or if there
might have been any uses of the word in reference to the cosmic
pre-20th century?
and if possible, besides the terms I found like "Martian", etc. which words may have been used in place of "alien" prior to its coinage of meaning extraterrestrial?


texts:
Kindly explain what does "real community of people" mean here?
Did the author mean "real problems of community"?
Gabe is known as a guy who believes you will be successful if you focus on solving problems for a real community of people."
http://www.eater.com/2015/11/24/9788798/chefsteps-sous-vide-gabe-newell-immersion-circulator


texts:
I know the title might look confusing, so I would like to explain it in detail here.

As far as I know, we can use past perfect construction when referring to a situation that didn't happen in the past, which is a hypothetical situation.

For example,

If you had told me earlier, I could have fixed it.

And you can use simple past when referring to what would happen if something happened, as a condition that might have actually happened in the past.

If someone talked to me like this three years ago, I would punch him in the face. (You would actually do that because that's how you always did three years ago)

Here I would like to ask whether the distinction I made is correct.

For example,

If he had needed someone to help him three years ago, he would have just asked. (He didn't need anyone to help him three years ago)
If he needed someone to help him three years ago, he would just ask.
(There might have been occasions when he needed someone to help, and he most of the time just asked, or at least that's what would possibly happen if he needed some help three years ago)


texts: Is it 'can you please send me the the files?' or 'please can you send me the files?'

texts: My instinct feels the second one is more polite but I'm not sure if it is grammatically correct. Can someone answer this and explain which is the correct and polite way to frame this question?


texts:
I was taught at the university that the correct usage of this verb is increase by, for example, like in the sentences stated below:

  The company's income increased by 10%.

  By 2015 the population of this city will have increased by 10%.

Nowadays I see the verb increase used without any prepositions and I wonder if anyone knows if there is any difference between these two options and whether both of them are considered to be gramatically correct.


texts: What's a word for helpful knowledge you should have, but don't?

texts:
I'm looking for a word that describes practical/helpful knowledge that one should have, but doesn't, — due to the knowledge being less accessible than it should be. Something along the lines of trivia, but more helpful and not, well... trivial. Another similar word was life-hack, but I was looking for something that denoted knowledge more significant or substantial than novelty.

e.g.

  "Here's some [practical knowledge that you don't have] that'll make your student life easier."


texts: "Now let's..." vs "Let's now..." -- what is the proper sequence?

texts:
Let's now take a look at the birds in the cage.

Now let's take a look at the birds in the cage.

Which of these two sentences is correct? Why?


texts: What does it mean to be "mortally wounded"?

texts:
The only source I could find for a definition of this phrase was Wikipedia, which states a mortal wound "leads directly to the death of the victim. Death need not be instantaneous, but follows soon after." The rest of the article seems like speculation.

The crux of my question is these two points:

Must a mortal wound lead to death?
Is declaring that something is a mortal wound equivalent to saying that death is certain and unavoidable in the present situation?

For example, if a wound is bad enough that the victim will bleed out unless he receives appropriate medical attention immediately, is the wound a mortal wound? Could the same wound be a mortal wound in one situation and not in another, depending on whether such attention is available? That is, does a mortal wound describe the wound itself, or the result of that wound?


texts: An experience that induces self-doubt is a(n) ________experience?

texts:
If I were to challenge a great intellectual, who knows his area extremely well, on one of his points he has made; thinking about how I can repudiate his argument, how I will phrase my counter-argument, how I will back it up, and, above all, whether or not I should open my mouth in the first place could be an intimidating experience, one which induces a lot self-doubt and entails a great deal of reluctance and second-guessing.

What would be a good adjective to describe that experience and capture all the connotations I pointed to?

Thanks!


texts: Can the word "porcelain" be used to describe something fragile in a poetic sense?


texts: Why can past tense be used in conversation asking for people's opinion at the time that the conversation was taken place?

texts:
Part of the conversation is:
"Only problem is, most of the bedrooms were gone already. Was there any particular dorm you were interested in?"
Why did the speaker use past tense "was and were" to ask the other one during a conversation happening at present from their perspective?
Please help me.


texts:
I'm trying to find an adjective for the word species. Usage could be:

The zoo tried to maintain specieal diversity.

Is specieal the correct adjective for species or is there another word?
Edit:
This link wordcraft forum suggests specific.
Would specieal be more appropriate?


texts: I personally find the term "beat around the bush weird", where did it originate from?


texts:
radius of action
The maximum distance a ship, aircraft, or vehicle can travel away from its base along a given course with normal combat load and return without refueling, allowing for all safety and operating factors.
https://www.thefreedictionary.com/radius+of+action, or
Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms, US Department of Defense, 2005, p442
http://www.bits.de/NRANEU/others/jp-doctrine/jp1_02(05).pdf

On the other hand, the phrase is also used to mean region of influence of a people or an army in terms of how far they can operate from home and still have a reliable supply line:

It's more of Inner Mongolia even if there was no such geographic concept (IM and OM) at that time, but Genghis Khan and his troops were mostly living and haunting in today Hetao district (in Inner Mongolia), northern Shanxi province and northern Hebei Province. However, you know, during the age of cold arms, a horse is like a tank, the Mongolian warriors had a very long radius of action, so it's not a problem if they planned to cross over the Gobi desert into the outer mongolian steppe/wasteland.
http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=957924

I am not sure that the latter usage is common in English. It's certainly present in historiography in the Hungarian language. (Apparently, military historian Géza Perjés claimed to have invented it.) My gut feeling is that this must have been first a technical term from military tactics for range and it acquired the strategic meaning only later because that is a more abstract concept.
What is the etymology of the phrase: when was it first used, with which meaning and in what context? Which language invented it first? (Cf. the German Aktionsradius in Duden.)
Oxford Dictionaries put its origin to the late 19th century but that's all I have found:

Origin
Late 19th century; earliest use found in The Times.
https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/radius_of_action


texts:
I am try to say that it's hard to determine something until you have done it. Is the sentence below correct?

  It is pretty hard to quantify one’s feeling until having seen the show.


texts: Gerund or infinitive in : "... but to do that" vs. "... but doing that"

texts:
What is correct form in between these sentences:

  He had no choice but doing that

or

  He had no choice but to do that.

When I googled "but doing that" I found  388,000 results, whereas "but to do that" Google produced  6,500,000 results.  Can someone please explain why the latter seems more correct?


texts: Is there a word for "flashbacks within flashbacks"?

texts: Is there any single word in English for flashbacks within flashbacks?


texts: What would a specialist be called whose job is to convince people?

texts:
This person would be called upon when, say, a potential partner or client is still doubtful and having a difficult time making a decision. The specialist is paid to find just the right words, arguments, and tone, and has enough natural charm, to persuade them.

The word persuader has a number of meanings and tons of ambiguous connotations.


texts: What is the difference between engagement and promise?

texts:
If I have a previous appointment, what can I say instead of appointment?
Previous engagement? Promise?
And I wonder exactly what they both mean.  (I thought they were similar.)


texts:
It is probably a type-o as “flight” makes perfect sense here. But this book is full of interesting little words and thought maybe it’s an obscure little synonym (or maybe and old school—or olde English—version of it)?

Anthony Nutting, Scramble for Africa, Paperback edition 1994, p 19.


texts: I was reading and I found this sentence, "Some kinds of travel, such as that made by auto, bus, or train incur both time and monetary costs; other trips such as those made on foot, involve an expense primarily of time." Why is That used in the first one and Those used in the second? Or were they interchangeable here?


texts: Word for a person who gathers payments on behalf of other customers

texts:
I'm looking for a word that would clearly designate a person who takes individual payments from individual utility customers (e.g. his neighbours, friends or family) and goes to the utility (e.g. telecoms operator) payment office to pay in the global amount on their behalf.

He or she does not do this as an occupation but rather to help his fellows villagers (e.g. in a large country where the Points of Sales are sparsely distributed) and is himself a subscriber of this utility (albeit authorised for this role).

I would prefer to avoid payment collector which is altogether a different role in most utility jargons.

In addition, I'd also be willing to take suggestions for the individual payers (better than contributors for instance).


texts: What's another word for "unrelated people living together"?

texts:
What's a word to refer to unrelated people living in the same house? By this, I mean that they are not spouses or blood-related.

Basically what's the "house" version of "room-mates"?

I've thought of "cohabitant", "coresident", or even "housemate" but these words give the connotation that the persons involved are related.


texts: Which Mammoth came first: the animal or the description?

texts:
I thought to describe something in my writing as Mammoth, and that got me thinking:

was the word originally used to describe the animal Mammoth, and adapted to describe anything that is colossally large?
was the word originally used to describe something large, and upon discovering the animal Mammoth attributed to it because of its large size?

If it is the former, then where did the word originate from? Or did they just assign a random name to an unknown creature?


texts:
I found this https://english.stackexchange.com/a/376027/223821 answered by @YosefBaskin. Can anyone please tell me theory from book suitable with his explanation? Especially, about the predicate noun and predicate adjective in relation to verb phrase.

Next question is which one is the head if the verb phrase consists of predicate noun or predicate adjective?

Thank you, everyone. :)


texts: What does "spring up here" mean in this sentence?

texts:
What is the meaning of this sentence:

  To wish a vital urban life might somehow spring up here is to play with day dreams.

I understand the meaning of individual words, I just cannot understand it grammatically.


texts:
Does the word "bless" apply only to God? For example, can a human bless anything (such as "bless the day")? Or can only God bless?

Note, I am asking about the usage of the word "bless", and not about religion.

Is there a definition of the word bless that describes an accepted usage of the word in a secular way?


texts:
During watching a gameplay walkthrough of a games named "SOMA"

I came across this sentence, " I got the email off. he must have caught up by now."

What does it mean "get the email off"?

I googled it, but still I can't get it what that means.

Thank you in advance.


texts: Why is the Christian god being spelled with a lowercase letter?

texts:
It's been going on for some time, but the phenomenon which was once seen as almost an act of rebellion is now becoming more commonplace. God, capitalized, is increasingly seen only at the start of a sentence. Leaving aside whether one believes in a god, or in the Christian God Himself, why is this convention not being criticized?

God is after all a proper noun, the name of a deity which for over 2,000 years we have all heard of, and know by that very name. It matters not that god or God may or may not exist. It is a name. And like any other name that belongs to a real person or a fictional character in a book, it ought to be spelled with a capital letter.

I always feel uncomfortable writing about God with a capital letter, I always feel there is a hoard of die-hard atheists ready to accuse me of being a creationist, god forbid. (Should that have been: "..., God forbid"?)

Is the spelling of the Christian "God" politically incorrect?  Is God with a capital letter, grammatically speaking, an archaic tradition? And if so, why?

EDIT: From the answers so far posted, no one has yet mentioned the political and social consequences this deceptively innocent, lowercase spelling may have had on us, on today's society. And this has lead me wondering, whether in the history of the English language there has been anything similar; any linguistic subversion, spoken or written which was in reality a show of defiance toward an established authority such as a government or political leader.


texts: Is there a better way to say: "My question is, is..." (e.g. "The question is, is it the right time")

texts:
It feels a little weird for me (or should I say to me?) to say:

  So my question is, is having two
  'Is' correct?

And also this seems to me incorrect grammatically:

  So my question is, is having two
  'Is' is correct?

Are any of the above grammatically correct? Is there a better way to ask the question in the examples?


texts: Why does the news say "fighters" instead of "soldiers"?

texts:
In news stories about ISIS or the Syrian civil war, the armed, organized people fighting are often called "fighters". That seems strange to me, as I would assume that "soldiers" is accurate and sounds more natural.

Why do they use "fighter" instead of "soldier"?

EDIT: The dictionary doesn't seem to disagree with me here.

Dictionary definitions (from google):

  Soldier

  a person who serves in an army.

so we need to know what an army is:

  Army

  an organized military force equipped for fighting on land.

vs.

  Fighter

  a person or animal that fights, especially as a soldier or a boxer.

By these definitions of these words, it seems like soldier is appropriate: they have fighting groups with commanders, and they coordinate with foreign militaries for support, which to me sounds like they are clearly "an organized military force", and they are fighting on land with equipment, so that seems like they're clearly "equipped for fighting on land."

So what am I missing here?

Is it really as simple as k1eran's comment?

  One man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter. Likewise, one man’s fighter is another man’s soldier.


texts: What is the difference between "options" and "settings"?

texts:
It is quite easy to separate preferences, and configuration, but options, and settings have much similar meaning; So similar,in fact, that I can't pick one over another.

Could you please describe the meaning of these two words? What is it common between them, and what is it different?

I have removed "software UI" from the title, as it seems to lead answers off topic. I'm genuinely interested in subtle difference in meaning of named words.


texts: 'Healthy Body and Me' or 'Healthy Body and I' which one is correct ? It's actually a name of the blog so I appreciate for your advice and also if you could explain why. Thanks


texts:
How to Construct an Unambiguous Joint Possessive that Follows a Verb?

I've read that when writing about multiple possessors who jointly posses a thing, the common practice is to add a Saxon-genitive ('s) to the last noun in the series. (E.g., John and Mary's cats refers to cats owned by both John and Mary.) Whereas, when writing about multiple possessors who individually possess separate things, the common practice is to add a Saxon-genitive to all the nouns in the series. (E.g., John's and Mary's cats refers to two sets of cats: John owns one of the sets, and Mary owns the other set.)

However, joint possessives can be ambiguous when they are placed immediately after a verb.
For instance, I sang to John and Mary's daughter, could mean 'I sang to a guy named John and I sang to this girl who said she was the daughter of a woman named Mary', or 'I sang to a female who calls her father John, and calls her mother Mary'.

Is there a solution to this problem that's recommended by grammarians or linguists?

Thank you

Please don't answer with a recommendation that the construction be avoided. Whether in life or in language, I don't believe that it's helpful to tell a person that they will not be faced with a problem if they stop trying to solve it. Solving a problem (especially a novel one) does more than solve the problem at hand: Solving a problem helps the problem-solver become better at solving problems.


texts: I'm unsure between "I'd ask whoever gave it to you" and "I'd ask whomever gave it to you". As usual, I tried substituting 'he' and 'him' to see which fits, but neither fits both halves (it could be "I'd ask him" or "he gave it to you"). Which takes priority?


texts:
Could anybody tell me is this sentence OK to use in a scientific paper? Do you have any other recommendation?

...and we came to the conclusion that trying to keep a balance between method-1 and method-2 is due to get an appropriate result.


texts: What is the meaning of "here" at the end of a sentence and how should it be used?

texts:
I have had a few international friends ask about "here" when used at the end of a sentence such as "I could use a little help here!" or "buy me some time here!". I would like to better explain this to them, but my best explanation is that adding "here" gives a feeling of desperation to a sentence. Even if that is a perfect explanation of the meaning (which I doubt), it doesn't provide them with an explanation of when it should or should not be used.

Could you please explain "here" in these sentences?


texts: The word that describes maintaining your body on the water surface

texts:
What is the verb or the word indicating the following action:
when you are in the water and you can't swim but you just move you extremities so hard and quickly to remain on the water surface and to not sink down.


texts: What is the correct preposition for searching items?

texts:
I am confused about prepositions for searching in [n] count of items.
For example, we have 1000 items, users can search and find an item, but which preposition fits this meaning well?

Search in 1000 items...
Search through 1000 items...
Search among 1000 items...
Search for 1000 items...
Search within 1000 items...

Do you have any suggestion that is suitable for a native speaker?


texts:
I overheard someone at work describing a task as "quite critical", and then describe another task as (direct quote) "über critical". Forgetting for a minute the colloquial nature of the conversation, is it acceptable in English to use the word critical with a magnitude or degree?

In short, can something be more critical than something else? Or are things simply critical, or not critical?


texts: Is "swimming" a participle in 'I love swimming'? I think it is participle as it defines the noun 'I' in the above sentence.


texts: Word for "Sloppily Drying" Yourself With a Towel

texts:
I'm looking for an effective verb to describe "sloppily drying" yourself with a towel. I feel like there a single action verb is out there, but I've been thinking for a long time and haven't come up with one.

The sentence to complete is: "I [sloppily dry] myself with the towel, missing a few spots here and there, and storm out the bathroom." I'm hoping to replace the bracketed part with a single descriptive verb. The context is that the narrator just finished taking a shower and is fuming. So he wouldn't be focused on carefully drying himself.

Here's another visual of the action I'm trying to describe: imagine a little child is really excited to go play with a new toy, but the parent tells the child to take a bath first. After the bath, the parent can barely contain the excited child. The parent only gets to [sloppily dry] the child with a towel before the child bursts out of the bathroom to go play with the toy.

I don't like "dry" because it's not a strong visual. For example, the Merriam Webster website says the verb definition of "dry" is "to make dry" which is pretty much non-visual. "dry" describes the end result of the action, but not what the action looks like.

"Scrub/scour myself with the towel" is visual, but there's no sloppy feeling to it anymore.

"Frisk" seems to have the sloppy feeling to it (if you think about a TSA/security agent quickly frisking you at the airport), but it doesn't seem like an appropriate way someone can use a towel.

Thanks for the help!


texts: I keep hearing "corn" as a synonym of "maize". This is widely popularized worldwide by popcorn. However, this is American English! In British English, "corn" can mean any type of "grain", especially "wheat", as in the Corn Laws. Why does "corn" mean "maize" in American English? Is there a historical reason to account for this change of meaning?


texts: With his sense of piercing irony, there went none of the typical friendliness of the Americans.


texts: When do British people use the word "cookie"?

texts:
I have noticed that British people usually say "biscuit" to describe what an American would call a "cookie".

However, I just heard a sports broadcaster in the UK using the metaphor "I wonder when he will raid the cookie jar." So, apparently British people do use the word cookie after all. Is that just an Americanism that the broadcaster was adopting, or do British people normally say cookie, and if so in what situations do they say cookie versus biscuit.


texts: Is it big difference if I do not use "literally"

texts:
literally
  used to emphasize that something, especially a large number, is actually true

  The Olympic Games were watched by literally billions of people.

Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English

Is it the same meaning if I do not use "literally" in the above sentence?


texts:
There should be a file, named something.txt.

or

  There should be a file named something.txt.


texts: Difference in starting pronunciations of "station" and "sun"

texts: Why do some English speakers have different starting pronunciations of station and sun? Station is pronounced as e-station while sun simply as sun. Is the difference due to the fact that the second letter is a vowel in sun but not in station?


texts: Is there a word for feeling like you have to do or touch something in a certain spot or you don't feel satisfied?

texts:
I have a thing where I'll be doing something and I get an urge to touch a certain spot somewhere and if I don't, I don't feel satisfied. This feeling comes when I'm doing practically anything. I'll be going up the stairs and I get a feeling of "you have to touch the corner of the wall where the railing ends or you will feel weird". I can stop these feelings by imagining me doing them but then more will form. I wonder if there is a word for this or if its part of a mental thing.

It would be like: "I have ____. I can't help it" or- "I feel ___". I don't know what form of the word it would be.


texts: Before 2000 I *had visited* Poland, Ukraine, France, The Netherlands - incorrect sentence?

texts:
I´ve got the following problem. According to my teacher I can not use past perfect in this sentence:

Before 2000 I had visited Poland, Ukraine, France, The Netherlands.

To my ears it sounds ok and I can not imagine using past simple as the past perfect summarize all the places I had visited before the year 2000.

What´s your opinion on this? Which tense would you use?

Thank you very much!


texts: "What happens to the comma after an inquiring/exclaiming quotation?", he wondered, as he posted to StackExchange

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  How should I punctuate around quotes?

Forgive me for the creative title, because I'm not sure how else to ask this.

If you have a sentence like this...

"What's wrong?", he asked sympathetically, hoping for an honest answer.

or like this...

"Hey! Give me my keys!", he shouted, as he shook his fist.

Is the comma to the right of the quotation mark correct? It seems odd to me, as the !/? already counts as 'punctuation'.


texts:
I am unsure about the first three commas in the following sentence:

  In this paper, I will explain, on the intuitive level, how to use different methods of light polarisation to obtain interesting physical phenomena.

Is it the right usage?


texts: Should we say "borrow from" instead of "borrow off"?

texts:
I hear and read the term "borrow off" frequently however I say "borrow from" as that makes more sense to me. Is it grammatically incorrect to say, "may I borrow the book off your friend"? In my mind this sounds as though the book is on the friend?

Edit: The use of "off" and "from" isn't solely related to the word "borrow". I hear "off" used in sentences like "I bought it off eBay".


texts: Starting a sentence with two subordinating conjunctions

texts:
Is it grammatical to start a sentence with two subordinating conjunctions? For example:

  Because if it rains tomorrow, I will get wet, I hoped for a sunny day.

It seems wrong to start a sentence with "Because if..." and the last two clauses feel like a comma splice, but I can't figure out what's actually incorrect about it.


texts:
In the sentence "I love my veg I do" what is the purpose of the "I do" part?
It seems to me that it gives a sprinkle of assertiveness, but a definite explanation would really help.


texts:
Please Help! My question was not answered on ELL, and I'm studying for the ACT. I don't understand the answer to this question.

Scientists did not find it problematic to explain the physical world with nonphysical phenomenon in seventeenth-century England. Though Bacon did.
A) No Change
B) England, but Bacon did.
C) England; Bacon did.
D) England like Bacon.

The correct answer is B, but I chose D.
I thought a comma was necessary between two independent clauses and a coordinating conjunction. However, "Bacon did" isn't a complete thought.


texts: "Almost only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades"

texts:
Almost only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades.

I have often come across this idiom but still, I don't know when to say or use it!
Even after several internet searches, I have trouble understanding the meaning of this idiom, and more precisely, when to use it.

I got the fact that it means – more or less – that "almost" is not enough, but the situations when to use it is still not crystal clear for me.

Could somebody enlighten me, give me examples? Thanks in advance!
(Please consider that I have to teach this idiom to my students who are actually studying English as a foreign language.)


texts: Is it a prepositional or a ditransitive phrase?

texts:
Prepositional phrase?

I resolved not to allow frivolous preoccupations to deflect me. (I cause, not to receive frivolous preoccupations to deflect me)
It had, after all, brought home to me
(the whole incident has brought home to me)
For Miss Hemmings was looking up at me with a cold searching gaze.
(A cold searching gaze was looking up at me (because of Miss Hemmings)
but I thought it time I introduced myself to you
(I bring myself to you)

Your comments suggestions would be greatly appreciated.


texts:
Which of these sentences is correct?

"Do only use in [an] emergency case"
"Only use in [an] emergency case"


texts: Why should “be” come after “neither a borrower nor lender,” not before them?

texts:
I came across the maxim, “Neither a borrower nor a lender be” in the following sentence of Jeffery Archer’s fiction, “The Fourth Estate” (P.54), and found that the maxim came from Lord Polonius’ speech in Shakespeare's Hamlet:

  Page 72 (of How to beat the bookies) suggested that the sum required
  was ￡10, but as Keith’s father was still abroad, and his mother’s
  favorite maxim was “neither a borrower nor a lender be,” he had no
  immediate way of proving that Lucky Joe (the author of the book) was
  right.

Lord Polonius’ speech goes:

  Neither a borrower nor a lender be

  For loan oft loses both itself and friend,
  And borrowing dulls the
  edge of husbandry.

I suppose “Neither a borrower nor a lender be” is an imperative form that usually requires the verb (be, do) up front. Why “be” is placed at the end of sentense?


texts: What is the word most commonly used for the the sound of glass breaking? (Onomatopoeia)

texts: Please provide me with the word most commonly used for the the sound of glass breaking. (Onomatopoeia)


texts: Can one use "much" as in the statement "I am looking forward to seeing you much"?

texts: It would seem natural (to me) to say "I am very much looking forward to seeing you." Could you then get rid of the 'very' and put 'much' at the end to get "I am looking forward to seeing you much"? .. which somehow sounds on the border of odd and ok. What do you think?


texts: Understanding this lyrics in "all of me" (John Legend)

texts:
I do not see what is going on in this lyrics (John Legend, All of me). What does it mean "smart mouth", "pin you down", or "mystery ride"?  Also, the whole scene in the lyrics sounds like a sexual assault (that "pin you down" gives me that impression unfortunately), but I must have misunderstood the whole story. Any clarification?
What would I do without your smart mouth?
Drawing me in, and you kicking me out
You've got my head spinning, no kidding, I can't pin you down
What's going on in that beautiful mind?
I'm on your magical mystery ride
And I'm so dizzy, don't know what hit me, but I'll be alright


texts:
At my (large, multinational, Germany-headquartered) employer, I frequently hear "on the one hand side... on the other hand side" by non-native speakers. This always sets my teeth on edge. However, I have heard it often enough coming from many different people that I'm getting unsure of my intuition. Then again, it could just be incorrect usage spreading from non-native speaker to non-native speaker.

Is "on the one hand side" accepted usage, or is my hunch correct that it isn't?

This question is related.


texts: Singular possessive apostrophe for name ending in "s"

texts:
Creating some copy and want to make sure singular possessive name is correct...

If I have a name of an animal, Jaws, would correct grammar be, Jaws' Laws?


texts: what does "when all's said and done" mean?

texts:
What does "when all's said and done" mean?
Does it have different meanings depending on the situation?
First Guess: it means "most importantly":

"When all's said and done, charity begins at home".

Second Guess: it means "on balance":

"When all's said and done, it is kind of a necessary evil".

Third Guess: it means "you know":

Person A: I don’t have enough cash on hand to pay the bills!
Person B: Not again! When all’s said and done, I think you’ll have to ask your mom for a loan.

Are my guesses correct on what it would mean?


texts:
I have just read the following sentence, and It was difficult for me to understand what the author aimed to convey when she has used "rhetorical flab" in the sentence. I would be grateful if anybody helps me out to understand the meaning of this phrase.
"Yet far too many writers send their best ideas out into the world on brittle-boned sentences weighted down with rhetorical flab"


texts:
What do you call these?

Please provide a reliable source with your answer.


texts: What's the difference between "eldest" and "oldest"?

texts:
When should I use "eldest" and when should I use "oldest"?

Are the differences semantic or regional? (Or both?)

(What got me wondering is the removeEldestEntry() method in Java's LinkedHashMap class.)


texts:
Although it is not necessary, this detail may come in handy later on.

Does this "it" mean "this detail"?

Like:

  Although he is the first black president, Obama has not yet made much out of his blackness.

At first, you don't know who "he" is, but later you find out that it means Obama.

Is this construction common?


texts: Should I put a definite article before a scientific term?

texts:
Which is (more) correct?

  (I am with the) Laboratory of Biochemistry of Hydrobionts.
  (I am with the) Laboratory of the Biochemistry of Hydrobionts.

Is there any rule for using or not using the before Biochemistry?


texts: Is there a weekend equivalent for "weeknight?"

texts:
Is there a word that refers to the nights of the days during the weekend? A weeknight is a night during Monday-Friday, but I don't know one for Saturday-Sunday, or even Friday-Saturday when referring to nights that are not followed by work the next morning.

Example sentence:

  I keep to myself on weeknights, but like to meet up with friends on xyz.

Xyz here should mean "Friday, Saturday, or Sunday nights." I'd be satisfied with Friday-Saturday or Saturday-Sunday.


texts: What's the best word that captures "a simplified representation of a complex process"?

texts:
I've seen and heard the word 'heuristic' used in this sense, but each time I look up the definition, it doesn't quite stretch to fit. A synonym might be 'a stand-in'. Something between a metaphor and a concrete symbol. I'm thinking specifically in the context of cognitive error. For example, "Alex uses her feelings about her mother as a ______ for her relationship with all women".
Thoughts? Is there a word for this?


texts: Is it grammatically and semantically correct to use "didn't much like" as a phrase?

texts:
Does "didn't much like" accurately express the idea that the writer did not like it as much as she would have desired.  Would it be actually wrong, or would it be better if it is expressed as "didn't like it much".

  I didn’t much like ongoing conversations among the group of people I interacted with.

is the sentence that intrigued me

Is it correct to write "didn’t much like" I am not sure but the word much seems redundant and in some ways trying to measure something non-measurable?  I did see that a few bloggers have used this in their articles, but not entirely sure if it's sufficiently authoritative to consider correct.


texts:
If there are two parties and each person is in possession of something belonging to the other, how do you express this in a sentence? For example, if we give them names, we can say:

  Alice is driving Bob's car, and Bob is driving Alice's car.

Is it proper to say this?

  They are driving each other's cars.

I'm mostly asking because this is how I would probably say it in conversation (as a native speaker in the Midwest), but when I type it out it's suggested as a typo, and now it feels kind of weird thinking about it.


texts: How to use articles? When to use "a", "an", "the"?

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  Are there any simple rules for article usage (“a” vs “the” vs none)
  When should I use “a” vs “an”?

Can anyone explain to me when and where to use articles? I always get confused with the usage of a, an, the.


texts: Word/phrase for "I'm already in trouble, I might as well go further"

texts: "I'm already in trouble, I might as well go further" or "I'm already in trouble, I might as well make the punishment worth it." What phrase refers to the state of mind of a person who already believes themselves to be in so much trouble that they might as well continue doing the act that gets them in trouble because it can't get any better?


texts: Which one is correct? (Present Perfect Continuous vs Present Perfect)

texts:
My sister and her boyfriend have not been going out together for a long time.

Or

My sister and her boyfriend have not gone out together for a long time.


texts:
Context

There is this page on Facebook which is created to make all sorts of incredibly complex anagrams, 101 Anagrammi Zen. On that page, I recently commented on the anagram "Alanis Morissette ---> More satanist lies", to notify the page of a typo because they originally had "Morrissette" and the anagram did not work.

I then saw someone else commented, stating that it should be "more lies satanist" and that the way it was it made no sense because words were inverted. I replied with a comment saying:

  Dear , adjectives in English ALWAYS go before the nouns they refer to, except in very rare and mostly literary cases. "More lies satanist" is DECIDEDLY ungrammatical. That it may sound nonsensical I do not argue, but "lies satanist" is surely worse.

I had mentally labeled this person as a Grammar Nazi who commented without knowing what he was saying. He replied that in Italian schools we do so much grammar we become automas, and that this was one of those rare cases.

Now from his name and the rest of the comment exchange, he seems to be English, so if this is really an error on his part it sounds very strange. Yet it sounds terribly like one to me. A Google search found no evidence whatsoever for his claim, but then again the first 10 results for both "satanist lies" and "lies satanist" did not have the particular phrase, so I'm starting to think this phrase does not exist in English, and that one says "satanic lies" instead of "satanist lies".

Question

The question however remains: should I say "satanist lies", with the adjective before the noun as usual, or is this some sort of fixed phrase with the order inverted?

Update

For the record, he's a mothertongue (or so he says). I had missed that part in a comment of his.

Update 2

Seems I fell into a trap: another commenter says this guy was just doing a psychological experiment on reactions of people to others contradicting their claims :).


texts: What does it mean when a guy has an 'eye for the ladies'


texts: I was wondering where you bought that book (from)? Is 'from' necessary in this sentence ?


texts: Why is there no space between U. and S. in U.S. Government?

texts: It appears that when U.S. Government agencies type "U.S.", they do not enter a space between the U. and the S. Is this used elsewhere on acronyms? Why or why not?


texts:
Is it correct to use the word "do" twice in a row?  For instance; "I do do that" or would you say "I do that"?  "You do do that" or "You do that"?

Which is correct, or are they both correct?


texts:
I have this phrase (created myself)

  He was entering into the office slowly / Slowly, he was entering into the office.

(there shouldn't be difference I suppose)

Now, the rules say that if I have an adverbial phrase of place or movement, it should be placed at the beginning when fronting.

My question is: Having both an adverbial phrase of place and an adverb, may I say

  Slowly, into the office was he entering
  OR
  Into the office, slowly, was he entering

One more question: is fronting (like negative inversion) and the abovementioned "case" used in speech? If yes, is it used only in formal speech?


texts: Does this statement compare Football with Slavery?

texts:
Never have we seen such an exploitation of physical abilities since slavery. Until College Football.

We had a debate about this in our English class.

Our English teacher said that since there was a period after slavery, slavery was off the table and it only meant that College Football was an exploitation of physical abilities.

However, I feel like it was a direct comparison because it said that we haven't seen that much exploitation since slavery, and then says "Until College Football".

I'm not saying my teacher was wrong, but I didn't understand her explanation. So which is it and why?


texts: Adverb for doing a routine action so familiar as to not require thought

texts: Adverb for doing something that is so routine you don't have to think about it - like driving a car or riding a bicycle - something you do out of habit and can perform without having to think about the steps.


texts: What to call the symbol where there is a break in content or a break in a graph?

texts:
When a graph or image cannot be displayed practically in a fixed amount of space, people will generally include a "squiggle" to denote that there is some content missing from the middle.

Is there an official name for this kind of thing? It's like an ellipsis, but for graphics.

Here's an example of what it looks like on a graph:

And here's an example of what it looks like in a diagram:


texts: How does one address a blended family in which the members have different surnames?

texts:
I am confused about how to address a family in which all the members have kept their original surname.  What is the proper way to address such a family in a note to a family which consists of a single mother, her parents and children with 3 different surnames?  For example, can one say, "Dear Smith family," even though that surname is not shared by the entire family?

Are hyphenated names related to this or is that only the last name of children born to parents who both keep their surname? If blended families do use hyphenated names such as Smith-Martin, is it possible for a family when the collective members have more than 2 surnames, to use more hyphens (e.g., the Smith-Martin-Jones family)?

I found this, which gives several options for writing an address from a blended family, but my question is about the interior of a card, not the mailing address, and the family is unknown to me except the names of the children.


texts: Are both the "special" and the "needs" in "special needs" adjectives?

texts: In the sentence, "she is a special needs child" (referring to someone with a disability), what parts of speech are the words "special needs"? Are both adjectives on their own, or do they only form an adjective together (and what is that called)?


texts: Does the phrase "espoused narrative" make sense?

texts:
Recently I've been told my usage of this term is incorrect, but I've seen it being used often enough.

Context I've pulled from google

"This may well also allow the EU to illegitimate these terrorist organisations violent will to power by de-structuring their espoused narrative"


texts: What is a good word for filling in the following blank: "Insecurity has a million ways of ______ itself"

texts:
I am looking for a better word than "presenting". I cannot remember this word exactly. The word I am trying to remember is frequently used when talking about apparitions or supernatural beings. Like

  Amongst the densest of rain clouds a fire breathing dragon _______ itself.

The same word could be used here also. This is something I cannot google my way out of.


texts:
The song “Frozen” from Madonna’s Ray of Light (1998) contains the lyrics:

  Love is a bird, she needs to fly,
    Let all the hurt inside of you die.

Does she refer to bird or love? And why is it she there? As far as I know, love and bird both are gender-neutral.


texts:
Which preposition should be used in this sentence:
"She has 5 sessions scheduled for/in the next 7 days."
For context: I want to say that she has booked this number of sessions with the instructor and will take them during the next 7 days. Which preposition should I use in the sentence? I usually use "for" in such context, but also found examples with "in" that seem to have the same meaning...Or can I use both prepositions without no difference in the meaning?


texts: I read a scientific paper repeatedly using the term "sound speed" instead of "speed of sound". It sounds strange to my ears, but in fact why not say "sound speed"? Is it inherently incorrect, or does it sound strange just because we are used to "speed of light"?


texts:
As an Italian, I find the interaction between my language and the English language fascinating. One big problem I am facing now is the scarceness of academic resources on the subject. Apart from some websites such as this one from CUNY and blog or newspaper articles like this one from Harvard, there isn't much one can read about the Italian language in an AE linguistic context.

My greatest interest lies in the sociolinguistic dynamics of said interaction, but anything that has to do with the subject will be greatly appreciated.


texts:
Is shop a CVC word?

Or, to rephrase the question, in the CVC structure, do C and V each refer to a single sound or to a single letter?

As I see it, a C or a V means a sound, and a sound could be 1 or 2 letters, so I thought a word like sh-o-p or b-a-th is a CVC word.

Just now someone told me that in CVC, C or V refer to a letter, so shop is a CCVC word.

Is that right or wrong?


texts: A more mainstream English word for "invoking Poe's Law"

texts:
I'm thinking of a definition like this:

v. Insincerely acting out or pretending at a set of actions and/or beliefs, often for comedic effect, with such vigor and frequency that the actions or beliefs become habitual and are eventually indistinguishable from one's sincere behavior

e.g. "I swear I was only doing it ironically, but people kept telling me I was ________"

The closest I can think of is "invoking Poe's Law", but Poe's Law is specific to the internet and I'm looking for a single word if possible.


texts: If only you could see what I have seen with your eyes

texts: I watch film science fiction The Blade Runer and man says this sentence. he is holding eye in his hand. I see in in a subtitle but I am not understanding this meaning. Can my friends in a Language and Usage website help me understanding meaning? Is this an idiom of English Language?


texts: Word to describe seemingly opposing terms

texts:
Is there a word to describe the feeling of being over- and underwhelmed at the same time?

This oftentimes comes up work when I am faced with a task that seems simultaneously monumental and mundane. As in "This project of editing 10,000 outdated contacts has me feeling _________".

I have considered using exhasperated, hopeless, bored to tears, but none of those quite capture the essence of both words.


texts:
I'm writing up some documentation, and I'm unsure which phrase to use:

  Option X: Find all strings ending with foo.

or

  Option X: Find all strings ending in foo.

Are both correct? (Google spits out both, strongly favoring with.) Which should I prefer?


texts: Usage of Prepositions + Relative Pronouns

texts:
I am going crazy because of prepositions + relative pronouns.

Here are some examples and please read and tell me if in the way that I have understood is right or not.

(1) Do you know the date when we have to hand in the essay?

My grammar book says (1) can be changed more formally like (2):

(2) Do you know the date on/by which we have to hand in the essay?

But I do not know if (3) has the same meaning as (1) and (2):

(3) Do you know the date which we have to hand in in the essay on/by?

I don't know why I feel like (3) is weird. Maybe, because it is wrong?

It is really confusing because I have known that I can make Prepositions + which sentences when prepositions are used with certain verbs like this:

Playing games in which I am interested are good for health.
Playing games which I am interested in are good for health.

              **be interested in**


texts:
In a film I thought I heard a man say "And I you."  I wondered if it were OK because there seemed to be no verb?

Another man said to him "I like you my buddy".  So why did he not reply "So do I buddy"?


texts:
It seems that the phrase "the fact that" is fixed, and we cannot substitute the word "fact" with others? E.g., we can say:

We made this decision based on the fact that he is one of the most the most popular scholars

But it would be ungrammatical to say:
We made this decision based on the factor that he is one of the most the most popular scholars


texts:
I am searching for the proper term that describes the following set of criteria:

1) A word starts with "ab"
2) A word starts with "a"

or

1) The animal is a dog
2) The animal is a canine

As you can see it is not a case of true mutual exclusion because there is only a one-way exclusion. How can this relationship be called?


texts: People who have accepted (an invitation)

texts:
I am sending invitations to people who are eligible to become members. I am wondering what other word I can use that means something similar to 'member'.

Specifically, I have invited certain people ('invitees'), and some of them have accepted my invitation.

I'm looking for a word like 'accepteds' (which I know is not the right word to use), because they accepted my invitation and so their status has changed from invitee to XXXX (a noun based on or associated with a verb that means 'to accept').

I know this sounds like a silly question, but in my own language you can name such people by reference to their action.

Thanks in advance. :)


texts: What punctuation should follow after a list introduced by a colon?

texts: The whole department: John, Jeff, Jean, and the accountant [?] were thrown into jail.


texts: How should the word "brutal" be used in marketing?

texts:
I noticed that some companies use the word brutal for marketing their products.

Examples:

brutal performance – a data storage software markets itself with this, they mean that their software is very fast
brutal engine – a car manufacturer uses this to indicate that their engine performs well

Obviously, the word has a negative meaning when generally speaking, but it seems to refer to strength or robustness (positive qualities) when speaking in a context of technology.

I heard from some people that they associate the word brutal with a negative meaning, so instead of interpreting these messages as how well these products perform, they associate this with bad quality.

So I’d like to know,

What’s the real meaning of this word in such a context?
Does it really have a side-meaning or a negative feeling in such contexts?
Is it okay to use this word as a marketing term to indicate that a product is of good quality and performs well?
What are the alternatives to this word in marketing which could be used to indicate good quality and performance?


texts:
It had been sunny for a week when the storm broke out.

Is this sentence logically valid and sound?

If I think of it, it looks like it means when the storm broke out, it was sunny. There couldn't be stormy weather and sunny weather at the same moment, could it?
It's like being both black and white at the same time.

So it would be natural to say "It had been (or was) sunny for a week before the storm broke out", wouldn't it?


texts:
I can't think of a word that would describe the feeling of not knowing any better.

The description is for a child, and the sentence would go like:

  He was young and an adjective with this meaning instead of the phrase "didn't know any better"

but I'm not sure if there is one. The words I've discarded because they're just not the exact match of what I'm looking for are: naive, ignorant, immature, guileless.

What I want is a word that expresses that this child was in a difficult position, had grown up in a problematic environment and therefore made a wrong decision. Okay maybe this can't be described with only an adjective, but maybe a phrase that isn't "didn't know any better" but has a similar meaning?
Help? :)


texts: Lady Chatterley's Lover: "as rotten as high game"

texts:
I came across the following sentence in Chapter 15 of Lady Chatterlay's Lover, when the keeper talks about the English middle class:

  ... full of conceit of themselves, frightened even if their boot-laces aren't correct, rotten as high game, and always in the right.

What is "high game"?


texts: Right word for repeating something several times to make one believe that the thing is true

texts: What's the right word for repeating something several times to make one believe that the thing is true?


texts: Difference between "Latest version" and "Lastest version"

texts: I see some deveeloper use "Lastest version" but almost other user "Latest version"


texts: I would like to get an idea of who first said "I will not dignify that question with an answer."

texts: I don't know if that is even a quote, maybe just something many have said but I am interested at least to establish a date before 1960 on its appearance.


texts: What is the word for "interaction with business for understanding requirements and present back"

texts:
I'd like to put in CV a succint term as responsibility for "interaction with business for understanding requirements and present back". Business representative ? business interaction (seems not good enough) ?

It would be in CV under the responsibility, telling my capacity of all steps in application/solution development : "management, [missing here for business interaction], design, development, integration, test, maintenance"


texts: Use of the adjective "spurious" to indicate properties of that which flows from a noun

texts:
While chatting with a co-worker, a repeated assertion was made (in the pithy style of Inigo Montoya to Vizzini) that my usage of the term spurious was incorrect when conveying that the output of an implementation of a mathematical function was "fake or false" in the context of the function itself.
For example:

I believe [this tool] is spurious because its output is non-conformant with this function.
That spurious tool does not correctly conform with our analysis. We should fix it.

I am aware of the dictionary definition of the term, explicitly leaning on the subdefinition of "of a deceitful nature or quality" (that is, that the described object may give a false impression because of its incorrect results). However, I am unsure of the verifiable or validatable qualities of this usage of the term.
Is this form of the expression in current accepted use? Some cited examples from reputable sources would help.


texts:
I hope there is a real reason for this and that my question won't be seen as 'primarily opinion based'.

What's the deal with the sudden popularity of the word 'obfuscate' and it's variants?

Ngram shows a pretty big leap in usage of obfuscate and it's variants since the 1960s but personally I've noticed in articles that I've read online recently that more and more articles are using this term.

Is there a reason behind this?

The only reason I can guess is something to do with code and programming (especially ios, android, etc.) but that's pretty much all I got.


texts: One word for an excuse given to make the excuse-giver not look stupid

texts:
Is there a word that names an excuse made so as to not look stupid?

Here is an example that actually happened:

  A guy walks up to a girl and starts talking to her. After talking for some time, the girl asks the guy to give her a kiss, but the guy refuses. So to this, the girl said, "I just wanted to test you if you are a good guy or a bad one."


texts: Why is "these" preferred in academic writing to "those?"

texts:
for academic writing
The drugs have other inactive ingredients such as galactose, rhodamine,
and hexylene glycol. Exactly why these ingredients remain inactive has
yet to be determined.
Question: Why do we use "these" ingredients rather than "those"?


texts: Definitions of the word "delete" vs. public understanding of the word?

texts:
I just asked a question on User Experience SE, involving the word delete. This English question is based on that UX question, so its motive can be understood better by reading both questions.

It seems to me that the word delete has a twofold meaning in English.
I found this on Wiktionary:

  To remove, get rid of or erase, especially written or printed material, or data on a computer.
  (computing) To hide, conceal

#1 seems to suggest that the information is permanently destroyed, while #2 suggests the data is only concealed.

How do strict definitions of the word in computing and non-computing contexts differ from the way the general public typically understands the word?

How is the word typically understood by common, non-technical people, in a personal computing context?

As for the message quoted on UX SE, if anyone has a suggestion for it, I encourage them to head over there and post it. :)


texts: Where to draw the line separating non-essential and essential relative clauses

texts:
On Purdue Owl the definition of an essential clause is "restricting the meaning of a modified term" and "if the essential meaning of a sentence changes when you leave out the element or put it somewhere else then the element is essential."

On softschools.com: "An essential adjective clause is one that is needed for the sentence to make sense."

On Grammar bytes: limits a general, ambiguous noun. The essential clause tells the reader which one of many the writer means.

Its examples:

Essential: The man who ordered another double anchovy pizza claims to have a pet dolphin in his backyard pool.

Non-essential: Mr. Hall, who ordered another double anchovy pizza, claims to have a pet dolphin in his backyard pool.

If I replaced "the" with "this" in the first sentence wouldn't that make "man" less ambiguous. Less enough to make the essential clause non-essential?

This man, who ordered another double anchovy pizza, claims to have a pet dolphin in his backyard pool.

Or do "the" and "this" just modify the noun and don't affect whether the noun is vague enough to need an essential clause.

Except in one of purdue's examples:

Nonessential: Company managers, seeking higher profits, hired temporary workers to replace full-time staff. (phrase)

I agree that "seeking higher profits" isn't essential to understand the intended point of the sentence but isn't "Company managers" vague. Is there a more absolute way of defining essential and non-essential clauses? Or are all the definitions wrong and sometimes it's up to the writer to choose between what to keep essential and non-essential like in this example:

The man, who ordered another double anchovy pizza, claims to have a pet dolphin in his backyard pool.

or this one

The man, who I find odd, who ordered another double anchovy pizza claims to have a pet dolphin in his backyard pool.


texts: `Good/correct English' for a 'pay back the effort'

texts:
I'm looking for a term/expression/word that is less plumb then

  Introducing the following concept is difficult but will pay back in the end.


texts: Is 'deconfigured' a valid English word or could you suggest an alternative

texts:
I am writing an IT technical report and raising an issue in it, generally using a passive voice. I am struggling to find a phrase that is concise, does not have an alternative or confusing meaning yet is still valid (British) English.

The phrase I have is:

  "Unused objects not deconfigured, disabled and assigned to unused groups"

Though 'deconfigured' appears often on the Internet in a variety of technical documents by renowned firms it doesn't appear in the OED or any other authoritative source so I am hesitant to use it. I see 'deconfiguring' something as the act of removing configured settings or attributes from the object. This does not place it in the same default state as an object that has not yet been configured

A possible alternative could be:

  "Unused objects not configuration reset, disabled and assigned to
  unused groups"

Though that just sounds awkward and making it sound less awkward always seems to end with it becoming too long and convoluted.

The alternative could be:

  "Unused objects not reset, disabled and assigned to unused groups"

Which sounds better, though resetting one of these objects has a different meaning to changing its configuration and I think that would be confusing for the reader.

Is it best to just use 'deconfigured' in this context (despite its absence from the dictionary, as my reader will probably understand it) or are there any alternatives that can be suggested?


texts: Stress placement in compounds such as "elsewhere" and "inland"

texts: In watching nature documentaries narrated by David Attenborough, I've noticed that in various compounds where Americans use first-syllable stress (elsewhere, inland, life-forms), he uses second-syllable stress (elsewhere, inland, life-forms). So, uh, what's up with that? Is that the (or a) usual pronunciation in England? Are there are any rules or patterns that determine which words show this variation?


texts: Past simple and past progressive. Taught vs. was teaching

texts: Can some one explain me. This sentence:"He taught constantly for forty-five years. ". Here's used Past simple. I would like to know, why, and can I use past continuous:" He was teaching constantly for 45 years".


texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  Is the word 'whose' referring to an inanimate object correct in this sentence? Is there a more appropriate word?

Basically I'm wondering if a sentence like this is grammatically correct: "Meaning is thwarted by its delivery, whose poetry is relative to taste." I cannot avoid it with, "Meaning is thwarted by its delivery; its poetry is relative to taste" because 'its' seems to refer to 'meaning.' There needs to be a word like 'whichs' or something. Or is there?

Please clarify my question if you know the proper grammatical labels for what I'm talking about; I know them not.


texts:
I'm writing a software for a store and I need to put on a report how much money is received when a customer puts an item on layaway, as well as when a customer cancels the layaway and gets the money back.

I just don't know how to name that reversed process of the item being put back to sale. I need a short sentence to make the report understandable.

Example:

Layaways: $459.00
Items back to sale from layaway: $239.00 <-- sentence is too long

Thanks!


texts: What is the best term for a list of options or choices?

texts:
I just looked up "list" and I got "a number of connected items".

Is there a more specific term to use when those items are options or choices?


texts: "I was fresh out of pies to throw at you"

texts:
The sentence was in Lost (TV Series).
I got the overall meaning of the sentence. But what does it exactly mean?

[SAWYER pointing a gun at JACK]
JACK: Trying to be funny?
SAWYER: Yeah, I was fresh out of pies to throw at you. Here you go, sheriff. [SAWYER gives the gun to JACK]


texts: I am a pansexual trans/gender-fluid person

texts:
There's a risk of me potentially offending someone but I am an outsider trying to get to grips with this terminology. Online, I read someone who identified themself as a

  pansexual trans/gender-fluid person

I'd like to know if my understanding of the following terms is generally correct.

I just about get the difference between a transsexual and a transgender. The former is someone who has undergone a sex change that matches their personality and psychological identity, whereas a transgender does not necessarily have their sexual organs altered by surgery to match the sex they feel is theirs from birth.

I believe that a gender fluid person is someone who can fluctuate between feeling male or female, or they perceive to have the characteristics of both sexes within themselves and as such, they do not assign themselves a specific sex.

However, I'm not entirely sure what a pansexual is. Online research suggests it is someone who is sexually attracted and has sexual intercourse with either sex, i.e. male and female persons. But isn't that the same as a bisexual?

(pansexual in Wikipedia)

  Pansexuality, or omnisexuality, is the sexual, romantic or emotional attraction towards people regardless of their sex or gender identity. Pansexual people may refer to themselves as gender-blind, asserting that gender and sex are not determining factors in their romantic or sexual attraction to others.

And Oxford Dictionaries define pansexual as

  adjective
  Not limited in sexual choice with regard to biological sex, gender, or gender identity.

The term pansexual has its origin in 1917 and is a compound of pan- meaning "all" and -sexual, of or related to sex.

Yet, the definition of the older term bisexual, first recorded in 1815–25 but whose meaning of "attracted to both sexes" is from 1914, is very similar to that of pansexual.

From Dictionary.com and Oxford Dictionaries:

  bisexual
  noun 4. a person who is romantically or sexually attracted to both men and women, or to people of various gender identities; ambisexual.

bisexual

  • adjective Sexually attracted not exclusively to people of one particular gender; attracted to both men and women.
  • noun  A person who is sexually attracted not exclusively to people of one particular gender.

Q 1. What is the difference between a bisexual and a pansexual?

Q 2. I understand that the term gender-fluid was created for those who do not want to be defined as a man or woman, but gender-fluid has many derivatives: agender, nongendered, genderless, and genderfree.  Why is there no agreement in the LGTBQ community for a single, simple term to express this gender and sexual preference?


texts:
If my teacher says :

  "I am closing down all online assignments up to Module 3"

Is she closing Modules 1, 2, AND 3, or just Modules 1 and 2 ?
Thanks everyone!


texts: Hypernym for comparisons (less than / greater than)

texts: Question says it all, I'm looking for a Hypernym that groups ">" and "<" and perhaps similar logical comparators (">=") into a word. I'm not sure if "logical comparator" is even a valid term, and using it doesn't feel great either.


texts: Noun for "that which is reluctantly settled for because of the unavailability or impossiblilty of attaining that which was truly desired"?

texts:
This happens to me a lot, but I can't seem to find the right noun for it.

In the saying "A string is useful until a rope could be found," what would you call the string? That's the noun I'm looking for.

In relationships, I don't think I want to end up being someone's _ because she couldn't find that special someone she truly wanted.

O, yes, and adjective form, too?


texts: What is the best time / are the best times for a meeting?

texts:
I'm about to arrange a meeting with a person. I have a feeling that when I say "What is the best time for a meeting?", I'm sort of forcing them to come up with one option only. I'd like to show them that they can suggest several timeframes and I'll then pick the one that is fine with me.

How do I phrase that? First thing that comes to mind is to use the plural times:

  What are the best times to call you?

But the times here sounds as in "good old days".

What is the correct way to express this?


texts: I corrected someone using "navigatable" when they meant "navigable". They wanted to know why it is the latter. Does anyone know? Is there a reason?


texts:
I keep seeing written usage of which in cases where the writer clearly intends it to be restrictive. For example:

"Is there a word which means whatever you want it to mean? Or has no meaning?"
"It will only contain elements from the input sequence which pass the predicate." (And other occurrences on the same page and in the same blog.)

I have been counting these as errors because it is my understanding that that is restrictive, and which is not.

Do I have this right?


texts:
Use "them" or "it", when refering to the abstract concept, fears.

"Let’s put our fears in a little bottle and use it as a
garnish for meals, or sprinkle some on popcorn for scary movies."

OR

"Let’s put our fears in a little bottle and use them as a garnish for meals, or sprinkle some on popcorn for scary movies."

"Fears" is plural, so should i use them? The sentence is poetic, so i am not sure. What sounds better?

Thank you!


texts: "Medicine is good when your family gives it to you not when your friend gives you one or when you take it by yourself"

texts:
I am editing a 5th grade paper. He has autism as well as some learning difficulties. He wrote:

  Medicine is good when your family gives it to you not when your friend gives you one or when you take it by yourself.

This is how I think I would edit it:

  Medicine is good if your family gives it to you, but not if your friend gives it to you, or if you take it by yourself.

It still sounds kind of strange. Is this sentence correct? If not, how could he rewrite it so that it makes sense (still using similar wording).

I know the sentence isn't very sophisticated. I realize that just because someone is a family member, doesn't mean that they are responsible to make such a decision. However, this child understands things in a very basic manner. I don't want to intervene too much as the response is supposed to be in his perspective (What he learned from DARE). I just want to make sure that I edit it correctly.


texts:
This has always made me confused. When I google it, the results seem confusing. For example, some of them says:

  Cocoa and cacao are kind of the same thing. They're also very
  different.

What is the difference between "cacao" and "cocoa"?


texts: How is the name for one's own language created?


texts: Explanation needed: Why is "and" wrong in this sentence?

texts:
It is difficult to predict what kinds of books will be popular in the years ahead, because tastes change and topics either get overexplored and lose their relevance.

I have placed the key words in bold type. Apparently, the word ‘and’ is grammatically wrong. Can anyone explain why?


texts:
I have been stumped in characterizing Medbh McGuckian's style of poetry: she often vividly describes the actions of things in her works to imply what they are. For example, within the context of war, the following stanza could be read such that "From behind the moon boys' graves \ bleed endlessly" refers to the mothers or lovers of dead men sent off to war. Thus making sense of the next clause "from photograph to browning photograph they blacken headlines"- referring to the newspapers held by the indicated lovers to remember their loved ones who died. The later would be perhaps imagery, but what of the first?

  From behind the moon boys' graves
  bleed endlessly; from photograph
  to browning photograph they blacken
  headlines, stranded outside of time
  at the story's frigid edge.

I wouldn't call this metaphor because two objects aren't being compared, rather they are being described. Yet I wouldn't call it imagery because she isn't describing the scene, but instead the very nature of her subjects.

Would this be metonymy, ambage, or something else?


texts: "Not only ... but also" —parallelism in a particular case

texts:
I have been looking around to find an answer to my question, but I was unable to find one that addressed my specific problem.

I want to create the following sentence, but I'm not sure whether it's correct.

  "Not only the world has changed during this time but also we have in particular."

I apologize in advance if I have overlooked an easy solution to this.


texts:
That is the woman who married Tony, isn't it?
That is the woman who married Tony, isn't she?

Are both sentences correct?

If they are, what is the difference in meaning?


texts: Does a change of articles "reset" the item count when it comes to serial commas? For instance, if using the serial comma, does the statement "I am the author of the book XYZ, a presenter and teacher," require a comma after presenter, or does the change in article reset the number of items to two? I don't have a specific reason why it would, but in writing a similar sentence it struck me as a possibility.


texts: What is the proper definition of this suffix, if any?

texts:
What would the suffix of the following words be known as, if anything? I have seen a pattern and am wanting to see if what I am seeing has any actual merit and history, or if this is just me overthinking. :)

History - Historical
Grammar - Grammatical
Metaphor - Metaphorical
Constitution - Constitutional
Botany - Botanical

I have seen definitions stating, "related to, or characterized by" which I like but the definition I thought of would be along the lines of, "of a type of" or, "having the nature of".

My reason for asking this is that some time back it struck me that "epiphanamatical" might well be a proper modification for "epiphany", presuming that the pattern I observed is, in fact, valid.

Thoughts?

Thanks!

Doug


texts:
I am writing an effigy poem homaging Ponce De Leon, "discoverer" of La Florida in 1513 and though it is being written in English (Early modern English), I am very adamant on having "Florida" be enunciated by a reader in its Spanish pronunciation.
So I want it to be pronounced as ((floh-ree-dah) (IPA: floɾiða)) rather than the "American" pronunciation of ((flor-duh or Flawr-I-duh)(IPA: flɔɹdə)).
My question is: are there any "devices" I can use in a poem to signify that the reader should pronounce it in its Spanish-spoken pronunciation. As I find it inevitable that if I do not signify my intentions on the word being pronounced thus, it would be immediately assumed by any non-Spanish reader to pronounce it differently.
For example, I have previously used the accented "é" in my plays, to signify to an actor that the "e" must be pronounced.  Something like this.
P.S. I am not asking for assistance on a different language (so I very much hope I am not going against any of EL&U's rules), I am merely requesting tools to infer that one should pronounce a certain word in its original-tongue's dialect when being used in an otherwise completely English written poem.
Any insight would be lovely and most humbly appreciated.


texts:
Great works of art, such as the Mona Lisa and Whistler's Mother, can be deceptive their simplicity.

Why is can be + adj followed with a noun?

And because of that I'm not really sure about the meaning. Does the person want to say that art can be simple yet remarkable?


texts:
I have seen in many places different sentences but I don't know which tense is it, I am not sure whether those are sentences or not. The sentences are "Adjectives ending with y"
"Terrorists killing themselves"
Which tense is it? Is it a sentence?


texts: Can prepositions and verbs have an indirect object(s) or is the object of a verb(s) or preposition(s) always direct?

texts: This is something I have always wondered, but I have been struggling with the subject-object thing for too long a time now, I can still very much in English learner.


texts: What is the generic term for a thing you subscribe to?

texts:
I'm trying to set up a naming convention for some software I'm working on, and I need a name for the thing that people subscribe to. In my model we have:

Subscriber (a person)
Subscription (the 'link' between the person and the thing being subscribed to.
??? (The thing that the person has subscribed to).

In this case, ??? needs to be some generic name. I'm currently using 'Series', but that's not self-explanatory, and is also somewhat painful (in the software environment I'm using) as the singular and plural is the same.

As an analogy, we might have:

Employee (the person who is employed)
Employment (the position/role of the person)
Employer (the company or person providing the position)

Except that 'employment' is continuous, and I need a discrete term: the subscriber receives a series of individual 'things' as part of their subscription, rather than a recurring payment for a continuous service.


texts: A word for someone who you feel uncomfortable with

texts: I need to find a word for someone who you feel uncomfortable with - like awkward. Someone who you like, but can't really have a normal and comfortable conversation with. Maybe even someone who makes you feel self-conscious, though that's not what I'm really aiming for...


texts: expression meaning "discerning between what is important and what is trivial"

texts:
Is there an appropriate expression for this in English? The context is a sentence about a particular worker in a company who would be a good candidate for a senior administrative position, because he knows how to discern between what is important and what is trivial, i.e., he can "sift out" the trivial matters and focus on what's most important.

There's a nice expression for this in Hebrew - מבחין בין עיקר לטפל. I was wondering if something similar exists in English.

Oh, and to all the translators here, happy international translation day!


texts: Mid sentence insertion in the English Language, does it exist or not?

texts:
I have been having quite a bit of debate with someone about inserting a slight digression in the middle of a sentence. My native language is Turkish and in the literary sense we use it quite often such as this mot à mot translation;

  In London, where diverse cultures meet, which neighbourhood do you
  prefer to live in?

A trained translator told me that in Turkish you can insert a sentence with different subject between commas and go on about your main subject, but using this in English is not proper. Is that so, or can I use commas to mention an off-topic subject in the mid-sentence?

So should I have written like something "Where would you like to live in London where diverse cultures meet?"

NB My sentences are short as this is about a twitter post which has a 140 character limit, and I also want to add hashtags and links etc.


texts:
"If there is only a little bread on the table, keep yours in your hand." - Croatian proverb.

In Croatian language same proverb goes wihout "only". Why british english native translator have translated with "only"?


texts: Can we say that the words whose spelling is much contrary to the spelling rules get gradually expelled from English?

texts:
Can it be said that the words which are spelled too weird get gradually eliminated from English or their spelling changes to more phonetic?

For instance I was thinking about the word "through" which is often nowadays written "thru". Similarly, "light" is often written "lite" and "night" is written "nite". Is there such trend in English?


texts: What is the origin of the phrase "eating on"?

texts: My husband's family uses the phrase "eating on" as in "we have been eating on these leftovers for several days." This isn't a phrase my family uses, and honestly, I find it evokes a repellant mental image for me.  Out of curiosity, I asked several friends around the country (United States) if they are familiar with this phrase. So far, my mother in law and friend's mother in law from the St. Louis area both use it, as does my father in law from Tennessee.  I am from central Illinois and cannot recall my family using the phrase. So I believe it may be Southern English. However, I can't recall seeing this  used in print or literature by any authors with whose work I am familiar (William Faulkner, Fannie Flagg, Flannery O'connor).  Is anyone familiar with the phrase "eating on" who can tell me it's origins or regional usage? Thanks!


texts:
When it's OK to omit "where?" For example, is it OK to omit it in the following sentence?

  This is the one of the few places (where) you can breathe real air.

In which situations one's not allowed to do this?


texts: What is the sequence of events in this excerpt from a book? [Past Perfect and Past Continuous]

texts:
The excerpt:

But this was not all. There was social revolt too and this often transcended the racial struggle. The disenfranchised lower classes were demanding the ballot, and the workers were insisting on the right to organize trade unions and to strike - not only for higher wages and better working conditions but to gain their democratic political ends. Indeed a general strike had finally brought universal manhood suffrage and with this the end of political dominance by the Austrian Germans, who numbered but a third of the population of the Austrian part of the empire.
To these developments Hitler, the fanatical young German-Austrian nationalist from Linz, was bitterly opposed.

The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, William Shirer

The question:
How come the workers "were demanding the ballot" if the general strike mentioned later in the passage had already brought universal suffrage? I suspect the tense choice may have to do with the word "finally". If someone could clear this up for me, that would be great!


texts: "Hard disk" vs. "Hard drive" vs. "Hard disk drive"

texts:
Recently, I experienced a communication failure talking to somebody about a "hard drive" until I could actually show the person what I was talking about.

  "Oh, a hard disk! I thought you were saying something else, like
   'hard drive.'"
  "Yes, I probably did say hard drive."

What difference is there between these two, if any?

The title of the Wikipedia article uses the less concise "Hard disk drive" which I've also used, and could be disambiugated in this question/answer as well.

Here is a Google Ngrams view of the two terms, showing that "hard disk" used to be more common but "hard drive" is increasing in popularity and the edge that "hard disk" has now is mostly attributable to the fact that it comes first in "hard disk drive."

Cross-link to related question: Etymology of the use of "Drive" to refer to a digital storage medium


texts: Saying "I can read XXX" is precise in referring to the ability to understand only written text. Saying "I can understand XXX" could refer to either reading or understanding audio. Is there a single word that means only the ability to understand audio?


texts: How would you say "it is not an uncommon belief that X's solution ends the search for a solution of problem Y"?

texts:
I'd like to carefully say that people not well trained in a field think that some solution X basically closes the whole problem Y, which is false.  But instead of saying it is a common misconception, I'm saying it carefully: it is not uncommon.

I don't want to say "it is a common belief that X ends the search for Y" because that's not careful: experts know what's going on, but they'll also recognize that some people do have misconceptions and this is surely a case.  At the same time I don't want to say something that sounds too odd or unnatural.  How would you say it?  (Do keep in mind that this is very formal writing, of course.)

Related question.


texts: The dialect is American English, but I'd be interested to know if this varies between dialects.  Is it"togglable" or "toggleable"?  Because neither dictionary.com, webster.com, nor Outlook's spelling suggestions/checker tend to have any record of this word.  I have a hard time believing it's not a word in proper English though, and I would be tempted to think its spelling is "toggleable".


texts: What's an idiom to express the idea "the correcter stands corrected"

texts:
I'm quite confident there is a short and to-the-point idiom to express the idea of someone who is an 'expert' in his field, suddenly is found in a situation where he is ignorant.
Something that would sound like, or express the idea "the correcter stands corrected". Like saying: "A-ha! You who are a linguist and always correcting everyone's spoken and written language, look at the mistake you just made!".

Of course, the idiom would be an expression of that idea so it doesn't have to be language-related as I've explained here.


texts:
Is there a single word that describes non-domestic errands like filing taxes, paying credit card bills, printing job related documents, filing an application for a driving license, etc.?

For example, if I were to dedicate my entire week to do only the above type of tasks, I would like to say this:

"My entire next week is dedicated to ________."

I need a single word that fills the blank above.


texts: Negative question; what's the affirmative answer here?

texts:
My wife and I communicate in English. She's Japanese, I'm Norwegian and we're both language enthusiasts; this makes for a lot of interesting language discussions.

This is something that surfaced today:

  "Is this not so good anymore?", says my wife, holding up an old container of barbecue sauce which she thinks has gone bad.
  "Yes", I answer, meaning that the sauce has gone bad.

Disregarding that a) the question could probably have been formulated in a different way to make it less ambiguous and b) I could have been more verbose in my answer; would answering "Yes" or "No" to this question, in English, indicate that the sauce has, indeed, expired?

Both of our native languages handle these kinds of "negative questions" a bit differently and we can't seem to figure it out in English.


texts: What part of speech is "booed" in the following sentence?

texts: I have a friend who says sentences like, "Santa Claus deserves booed".  I would say, "Santa Claus deserves to be booed". Are we both correct?  Leaving out the "to be" part of the sentence seems odd to me.  Thank you for your response.


texts:
Australia day is nearly upon us! And that means it's time to throw another steak on the barbie and say real Aussie things like "ridgy didge".

Flaming heck, what's that even mean, "ridgy didge"? I've been saying it for years in sentences like,

  I'm true blue, fair dinkum, ridgy didge, dinky die Aussie.

Does anyone know what "ridgy didge" means and where it came from?


texts:
Okay, so I've become aware of the phrase "you'll have had your tea", which is something of a cliché of a Scottish dialect. I'm not actually sure if it's currently in common usage or not.

But I have become interested in what it means. Literally it seems to be "there'll be a point in the future when you've already eaten", but it might be "I assume you've already eaten now".

What do Scottish people mean when they say this?


texts: What is the difference between "hang on" and "hold on"?

texts: I often hear the words hang on and hold on, especially on TV. People use them when they want someone to wait for something. What's the difference between them?


texts: the expression is roughly equivalent to " Cover your breast over the baby's mouth"

texts:
In my own language, the "Cover your breasts over the baby's mouth" is such a lovely and interesting idiom. It's derived from the thing that is: a baby cries very much and the mother is too busy with her business and she dont appease a baby, she just "cover her breasts over the baby's mouth", immediately the baby no longer cries.

In my country this expression implies such as this situation: the guy A prosecute B, unfortunately for A, B has so much powers as well as money, so B just simply  uses these things to overcome the trouble. In general, the "Cover your breast over the baby's mouth" is action of high-rank people suppress the feelings, opinions of low-rank people, and this action is usually illegal or inappropriate.

I want to translate this expression into English in such a naturally way. Please suggest me something for this.


texts: What is the term for when one letter is lowercased when a name is in all caps?

texts:
Oftentimes when my last name is used in all caps on official documents, one of the letters is lowercased to denote that the following letter is capitalized. For example:

DeVos = DeVOS

What is the term for this? I've reviewed other questions regarding camel case and Pascal case, but I haven't been able to find an answer. Thank you very much for your help.


texts: Offering a specious argument by diverting attention?

texts:
I am looking for the word that describes this situation -

In the US, there are people looking to eliminate the estate tax. Their argument is "This will save families that are leaving farms to the next generation." In my opinion, the truth is that there are multiple billionaires who would simply like to preserve their wealth.

The argument that the tax proposal helps farmers is just a _________ to obfuscate the true beneficiaries of the proposal."

We are on english.se, please do not reply with a political response. The same word would suffice for the contrived -

"The town's mayor is lobbying heavily to have land parcel 234 made into a public park. His proposal is a __________ to divert attention from the fact that the owner wants to put a building that would block his lake view."

Edit - In my exhaustive research, the simple word that comes close is just "diversion", the stated motive is a diversion from the real motive. The more eloquent phrase was "Red Herring" -

  A red herring is something that misleads or distracts from a relevant
  or important issue.[1] It may be either a logical fallacy or a
  literary device that leads readers or audiences towards a false
  conclusion. A red herring might be intentionally used, such as in
  mystery fiction or as part of rhetorical strategies (e.g. in
  politics), or it could be inadvertently used during argumentation.

which may very well be correct, but of course, I am here asking the question, hoping for a more appropriate word for this type of scenario.


texts:
Consider:

  It is pleasant to look at.

  So pleasant that you do not want to let it wander out of your sight.

What would be a word for pleasant to look at?

Something that's pleasant to my eyes... as said by @Mysti Sinha - eyesome.


texts: Difference between singular and countable nouns

texts:
Cambridge dictionaries use various labels and codes, among them are:

[C] Countable noun: a noun that has a plural.

[U] Uncountable or singular noun: a noun that has no plural.

[S] A singular noun.

I do not understand the difference between a singular noun and the singular form of a countable noun. For example, with the entry "word"

sense 1:
noun [C]
a single unit of language which has meaning and can be spoken or written

sense n:
noun [S]
a brief discussion or statement:
The manager wants a word.

What if the manager wants to have several discussions? Is it impossible for us to say "The manager wants some words." because "word" here is singular?
I am confused.


texts: How to emphasize that a problem is represented even in smaller group?

texts:
I am trying to emphasize the significance and prevalence of some problem by showing that even in a small group of people this problem is represented very well.

Just for example, let's say that we are discussing crime problem and I know that there are many people who were robbed in my school. At the same time, I know that there are 3 people in my class who were robbed in the last month, which is a lot.
I want to express the following idea:

  look, even in our class there are 3 robbed people, imagine how many people are robbed in the school overall

So, I come up with something like this:

  Only among our class 3 people were robbed in the last month!

or

  3 people were robbed in the last month, only among our class!

(I am not sure if it should be "only" or "just")

However, one guy has said that this sentence would confuse him, because it sounds like a statement of fact that all robbed people were only from our class, or that our class is the only class where exactly (or at least) 3 people were robbed.

Is it true? Or is it just a matter of where you place an accent in this sentence
when you say it?

If it helps, then it would sound like this in my mother language (Russian):

  Только среди учеников нашего класса 3 человека были ограблены в этом месяце!
  Только в нашем классе 3 человека были ограблены в этом месяце!


texts: Punctuation in "tomorrow" followed by date followed by time

texts:
Which is more correct?

  Tomorrow, April 7, at 10:00 a.m.

or:

  Tomorrow, April 7 at 10:00 a.m.

EDIT: This question was prompted by someone telling me that it's incorrect to separate date and time with a comma; therefore I'm not asking about "helped my uncle, Jack, off a horse"-type cases in general, but whether there are any other, specifically date-and-time-related, factors at play here, as that person seemed to suggest. From what I gather, the answer is no. Perhaps I should've made that clearer right away, but I think this question is not a duplicate at least insofar as I was intending it to be more specific than the question it's been marked as a dupicate of.


texts: Suppose I'm drawing a rectangle on screen. I can resize it — change its length and/or width to make it bigger or smaller overall. Now suppose I'm drawing a line, which I can make shorter or longer. Is there a word describing this action, other than resizing the line? It's one-dimensional and doesn't really have a size, and there's no such word as relengthing.