texts:
I was just looking at build on Wiktionary and I noticed that in Middle English the word was bilden. Where did the u come from? I can understand why words such as guide have a u; it's to make the g "hard" (/ɡaɪd/) instead of "soft" like a "j": *gide (*/dʒaɪd/).

In Modern English, changing the spelling to bild to follow the earlier spelling wouldn't change the pronunciation (/bɪld/), so how did build gain a u between Middle English and Modern English?


texts: What title can be used in opposition of "Diseases of Attitude"?

texts:
I've been recently asked to watch a video titled "Diseases of Attitude". It's essentially a metaphor for people with attitude problems.
I'm intrigued to make an opposing title, such as "Wonders of Attitude", but that just doesn't seem to work as the opposite of "Diseases" in this context.
What title can be used in the sentence "____ of Attitude" which is the exact opposite of "Diseases of Attitude" in its same context?


texts:
Which one I should use and why?

  There are being fewer jobs for young people these days.

  There are fewer jobs for young people these days.

Personally, I think I should use first one because of the phrase these days, meaning temporary period.


texts:
What does the phrase belt and braces mean and where did it come from?

I have a rough idea but would like to see if anyone has a proper definition for this phrase.


texts: How to pronounce "beach" and "bitch"? What's the difference?

texts: I often talk with friends using the phone and I'm not sure how to correctly pronounce the word "beach". Some people hear it as a "bitch". It really makes me upset! How do I pronounce these words correctly? What is the difference in pronunciation?


texts: When did "learnings" become an accepted countable noun?

texts:
"Learnings"?  In 2006, it was a joke word, meant to suggest crude ESL.
In 2007, it's actually being used in the New York Times.  Was that the black day when it changed over?
NYT excerpt:

“We’re going to learn so much about our readers,” Mr. Smith said of the online-only issue. “We’ll take the learnings and apply them to the rest of our business.”


texts: How to reply when someone says 'It means a lot'?

texts: In a scenario where you have encouraged someone but haven't helped them physically or with your time and they say "It means a lot". Just for the words you said. How should would one respond?


texts: "first time" as an adverb meaning "for the first time"

texts:
Can first time be used as an adverb meaning "for the first time", e.g.

when I met him first time (Confession Tapes, third episode, 02:40)


texts: "Daydream(ing)" Vs "Woolgather(ing)" Vs "Fantasizing"

texts:
What are the current and common idioms used to describe indulging in purposeless and purposeful thoughts?

I know two idioms that in my opinion one of them is used to describe the positive (purposeful) thinking and the other one for useless (purposeless) thoughts:

A. Woolgathering (the verb: to woolgather), which seems to be archaic. {This is a negative one in my eyes, but I'm not sure first of all I am right in this regard. Then, whether it is used in current English.}

B. Daydreaming (the verb: to daydream), which based on dictionary definition seems to be something positive.

Examples1:

  It is good to .............. sometimes. To have a vision and keep thinking about it all the time, can make you more ambitious and increase your motives to get what you want.
  You are always just thinking about your goals. I think it's time to stop .................. . Roll up your sleeves and get to work.

I wonder what shall I use in each case above?
Do my offers fit these examples?
If not, please let me know what are the most appropriate and common idioms for these cases?

Added:

Also, I need to compare "fantasize" with these two.

Fantasize:

  To think about something very pleasant that is unlikely to happen.

I wonder which one is positive and which one is negative and Which ones are synonymous?


texts: Word for who professes discrimination based on culture

texts:
A person that professes discrimination based on race is a racist.

What is the word for defining a person that discriminates based on culture (pretty sure it is not culturist) or social habits?

E.g., Eric Cartman doesn't like hippies, he discriminates against them. But a hippie is not a race, an ethnic, a religion or a nationality. It is a life style not related to any of these.


texts: "Academic Careers in Statistics" vs "Statistics Careers in Academia"

texts:
I am working on a report for survey results about academic opportunities for Statisticians i.e. Careers for Statisticians at Academic Institutions. I understand any of the following titles should work, but I am curious if one of them is more accurate over the other. Or if one of them doesn't convey the right meaning.

Academic Careers in Statistics
Statistics Careers in Academia
Academic Careers for Statisticians

Please advise.


texts:
A Google search for "nonexempt" returns a lot of results regarding employees and overtime pay.

However, I did find this word defined in a dictionary, independent of the overtime pay discussion, for example:

  Subject to an obligation, duty, or liability, especially subject to taxation.
  The Free Dictionary

Now, I have a situation where a certain tenant may be exempt from a common area maintenance charge, and I want to express that others are nonexempt. This is a one word formulation that spares me from saying "obligated to pay" or "subject to the payment" (because saying just "obligated" and "subject" seem insufficient).

Can I say nonexempt in this context?
As in:

  Show all rented and nonexempt properties.


texts:
What is the difference between consulting and consultancy,  if I want to talk about the activity of consultant? Should I say consulting services or consultancy services ?

Many thanks in advance.
FF


texts: Is the phrase "English Spoken Classes" correct?

texts:
I saw an advert for "English Spoken Classes". While reading it, I thought that it was incorrect and should instead read "English Speaking Classes". A quick search on Google returned results for "Spoken English Classes".

Is the phrase correct?


texts: Origin of "one man's trash is another man's treasure"

texts: This might be tough considering the gesture is iterated so many ways, but it's worth a shot. What is the origin of the expression one man's trash is another man's treasure?


texts: A word that means "destroy something beyond repair"

texts:
I'm looking for a verb which can convey the meaning of damaging or breaking something beyond repair. Here is a sample sentence:

"I didn't expect that of you! You just _____ my heart!"


texts: Nobody ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American people?

texts: Was H. L. Mencken the first to say 'Nobody ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American people.", or was he paraphrasing another comentator?


texts: Why are "scaring" and "scarring" confused by some dictionaries?

texts:
Scaring is related to the word scare, while scarring is related to the word scar.

Why is it that some dictionaries get these two words confused?

For example, when you use Mac OS X Lion's lookup feature on the word scaring, you get the result for scar instead of scare:

Looking at Apple's built-in Dictionary app gives us a bit more insight into the source of the problem. If you search for the word scaring, you get the following result:

Notice how it shows entries for both scar and scare. Notice, also, that scarring appears under the word scar. The entry for scare has no form ending in -ing:

Had this only been an issue in Apple's OS, I would think it's a bug specific to that system. However, this appears in other dictionaries as well. The second result on Google for the word scaring is from The Free Dictionary, and their entry for scaring takes you to the entry for scar.

Why do some dictionaries get these words confused?


texts: What is the origin of “burning a hole in my pocket”?

texts:
It's an old expression, but when someone used it today it made me wonder about how the phrase came to mean what it does.

Coinage would not seem to bear an association to being on fire, though if metal coins were red-hot they certainly would sear a hole through most clothing materials.

Paper money can catch fire, and would then catch fire to clothing in order to burn a hole.

The pocket is general sewn of material that is a lighter-weight fabric than the rest of the garment, resulting in it being easier to wear and acquire holes (that can lose money and other valuables)

I understand that the word 'hot' has a general usage to mean 'moving fast' or otherwise 'very active'.

So, I grasp that this can be associated with the desire to spend money.  I then can make the humorous-leap to said 'hot money' effecting a hole in one's pocket.  I'd really rather hear an explicitly validated origin, rather than me making up all this in my head, though.


texts: What is meant by the phrase "a deal happier"?

texts:
What is meant by the phrase "a deal happier" (from Little Women by Louisa May Alcott)?

  ‘You  said  the  other  day  you  thought  we  were  a  deal
  happier than the King children, for they were fighting and
  fretting all the time, in spite of their money.’

Link: http://www.planetpublish.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Little_Women_NT.pdf
(Text occurs at the bottom of page 4)


texts:
In Hebrew and in French there are phrases to describe very cold weather which use animals.

Hebrew: kor klavim - literally: dog cold.

French: un froid de canard - literally: duck cold.

Is there such a phrase in English?


texts: Is it right to say "after which time" as in the sentence mentioned herein?

texts: "Fermentation took place in an incubator at 28C for 24 hours, after which time the grains were separated from the medium with a plastic sieve and plunged in a fresh medium"


texts: "Four plus two equals six" (or "is equal to six" or "is six")

texts:
You write

  4 + 2 = 6

and say "four plus two equals (or is equal to or is) six."

In the question “Is equal to” or “equals”, I read the following comment:

  Equals is equal being a verb, in the present tense. Is equal to is equal being a predicate adjective, with its auxiliary verb in the present tense. English is full of pairs like this, useful if one needs an extra syllable. [...] – John Lawler Jun 16 at 16:18

I am thoroughly confused about the bit "Is equal to is equal being a predicate adjective, with its auxiliary verb in the present tense". Is the verb in the present tense the word is? and is to the predicate with the adjective being equal?

Also, does the word is represent a verb in the present tense in the phrase, "four plus two is six"?

Finally, could you please provide another example that is useful if one needs an extra syllable.

Yes, I understand that they all mean the same thing. What I'm looking for is a grammatical syntax analysis with more examples, since, as John Lawler says, "English is full of pairs like this, useful if one needs an extra syllable."

(As an aside, I once read that this symbol "=" is called an "equals sign" in British English and is called an "equal sign" in American English. A related post can be found here.)


texts:
I was wondering what are the meanings of “any more than” and “any less than”

Which one should I use in this sentence?

I don’t wan to do this any (more) (less) than you do

An example of this could be: X: I don’t wanna do this hw! We weren’t given enough time or sources to do it! Y: I know, I don’t want to do it any (more) (less) than you do. Which one should be used? And what if I say, “I don’t want you to think any less of me...” does that mean I don’t want the other person to think bad or little of me?

Could it be something like: I don’t want to do it any more than you do = I don’t want to do it more than you do. And I don’t want to do it any less than you do = I don’t have the desire to do it neither less nor more than you do? Which one would you use, and which one sounds more natural?


texts:
I am confused by the correct usage of "capacity" (noun), especially from the first person.
According to Merriam-Webster the following to usages of capacity are OK:

He worked in his capacity as judge.
He worked in a supervisory capacity.

Cambridge gives slightly different guidelines:

He worked in his capacity as a judge.

And Webster's 1913 a different one still:

He worked in the capacity of a judge.

While this is confusing in and of itself, it's still not clear to me how to use this expression from a first-person perspective. Here are the possibilities I come up with:
"I worked in...":

...my capacity as judge
...in a capacity as judge
...my capacity as a judge
...the capacity of a judge

Of the above, which wording would be preferred (e.g. for a cover letter)?


texts:
When Keawe came to himself a little, he was aware it was the night when the band played at the hotel. Thither he went, because he feared to be alone; and there, among happy faces, walked to and fro, and heard the tunes go up and down, and saw Berger beat the measure, and all the while he heard the flames crackle, and saw the red fire burning in the bottomless pit.

It's from "Bottle Imp" by R.L. Stevenson.

I guess the meaning would be "conduct an orchestra" or something.
Is it correct and still in use?


texts: Is "was" in the subjunctive mood here, needing to be changed to "were"?

texts:
My question pertains to the following:

  Mother knocked on the door because she said the bell might wake up the baby if he was asleep.

Should was be changed to were here? Thanks!


texts: What is a phrase or word for 'not logged in' state?

texts:
On a website, if you log in, you're in a logged in state, if you then log out, you are in a logged out state.

What do you call the state before you have ever logged in to a site? Is it correct to also call that being logged out? Is not logged in the same as logged out?

I'm looking for a word or phrase that would apply to either registered or not registered users looking at the site.

Example usage:

  We allow configuring some settings from a not logged in view.


texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  The construction of “Known but to God”
  Difference between “but” and “nothing but”

Is it acceptable to omit the word nothing in the following sentence?

  Knowledge was nothing but a tool.

I remember hearing somewhere the sentence

  You are but a fool!

To my ear, omitting nothing makes it sound more dramatic, but I’m not sure.


texts:
Does the phrase "good effort" imply failure? Like, even though you failed, it's good that you gave it your best shot?

I'm looking for a phrase like "good effort" that does not imply failure. It would be nice if I could find a similar phrase that implies success. This kind of phrase exists in Japanese, but does it exist in English? When someone tries hard and wins, we seem to concentrate on the win, and see the effort as secondary. But the Japanese seem to value hard work over easy wins.


texts: "Abusive" vs "invective" vs "vituperative"

texts:
What is the different between abusive, invective and vituperative? In the following definitions from Oxford, the last two both contain abusive, which makes me hard to distinguish them.

Abusive: Extremely offensive and insulting.
Invective: Insulting, abusive, or highly critical language
Vituperative: Bitter and abusive

The only thing I can say about invective is that it is used only in words, not actions.


texts: Is there an idiom/proverb in English to denote unfair discrimination?

texts:
In Tamil, we have a proverb that roughly translates into English as

If the mother-in-law breaks the pot, it is just clay . But if the daughter-in-law breaks the pot, it is made of gold!

Background
This proverb is funnily (and sometimes very sarcastically) used to highlight the conflicts/difference of opinions between mother-in-laws and daughter-in-laws in the very early stages of a marriage.
In South India, arranged marriages are the norm and in such a setting, the bride typically takes considerable amount of time to adjust into the groom's family. Suppose, if there are any confrontations/ disagreements very early in a marriage between the bride and her mother in law and if the groom is highly supportive to his mother (and his family), this saying is used by outsiders/family members of the bride. In essence, they are accusing the groom for not taking the neutral ground and showing partiality towards his mother (the girl's mother-in-law).
Unfortunately, my research for an English equivalent drew a blank.
Any suggestions?


texts: Phonetic differences between ɑ and ɒ in English and American pronunciation standards

texts:
First, I should state I'm a native U.K. English speaker from the West Midlands.

With 44 Phonemes present in English, I'm having trouble deciding when I should use ɑ and ɒ, from this website we can an example for ɑ with father. Both American and British pronounce this the same I believe.

But on Collins dictionary, for which I am referring to, as they have IPA phonetic representations for both British and American English, the following words follow a similar trend (I could give more but you will get the idea):

honest
gone
robot
hot
body
lot

The trend, is that in all cases, the British IPA would use ɒ, while American would use ɑ. Now from my perspective, this is correct, Americans tend to elongate and turn it into more of an "aw" sound, while British English tends to keep it sharper.

BUT, my problem is that I would like to find examples of words where the British and American IPA of a word, both contain the same ɑ, OR the same
ɒ, so I can note the differences between two different speakers, if any.

I was quick to come to the conclusion that they are equal because the British always use ɒ, while Americans always use ɑ, but the entry of father disproves this conclusion.

So how can I find words like father, where both American and British IPA representations use the discussed IPA symbols, and what is the true difference between the two discussed IPA symbols?

Phonetic questions are inherently difficult to describe, if there is any part unclear, please let me know and I will do the appropriate edits.


texts: Is phrase "wheeled his way somewhere" neutral?

texts:
To put the things into perspective, I am no native speaker. I've learnt English in a variety of places, school being one of them.

My English tutor presented a phrase to descibe a movement of a person on a wheelchair:

  to wheel her/his way somewhere

The phrase struck me as ironic. To say for example Bob wheeled his way into the shop seemed to accent the disability needlessly. Is it ironic or completely neutral?


texts:
What does the expression "to sleep late" mean?
Does it mean " to sleep in" or "to go to bed late at night" or both?


texts: Word or expression to describe the tendency that one have to believe that everyone is like them or the act of doing it

texts:
This is something I noticed among some people I discuss with. When some opinion relative subjects are raised, they tend to imply that, according to their "normality", everyone is behaving like them or have the same opinions on the matters as they do.
The following is an example of a conversation

Acquaintance: We prefer food A. Food A is much better than food
B which is clearly more expensive and not nearly as good.
Me (the tendency): Please, could you stop being (a)/(an) ____? Not everyone have all have the same taste, hobbies and point of views as you do.

One expression I thought about which kinda describes the act of doing that is picturing one self in the others, but it isn't exactly what I am looking for, as it is closer to a parent seeing one self in their child.
I also thought about enforcing your point of view, but that is closer to forcibly convincing your correspondent during an argument.


texts:
We were thinking originally in terms of voting, but of course "abstain" has a more general meaning, of which the antonym is probably "indulge".

But is there an opposite that would be more appropriate when the usage of abstain is related to abstaining from voting in an election?


texts: Did the use of the term I reckon originate in the UK or in the southern US?  I hear the term being used both in British English (like on the BBC) as well as in southern US dialect.


texts:
I'm looking for a more physical description, so ignoring "disengaged" for this purpose. But wouldn't mind hearing why it might still be a good option.

  "You were almost torn apart!" Fabian said and hugged him.
  Christoph released himself from the hug. "Did you see how cunning they were?"

Any ideas?

Thanks!


texts: What's the noun for typical human behavior in a disaster?

texts:
In disaster scenarios, such as citywide power outages or massive blizzards, people often flock to gas stations (for generator fuel) or clear out supermarkets. One might call this "common sense". I think sociology starts to describe this behavior, but what's a more accurate noun?

so·ci·ol·o·gy
(noun)

The study of human social behavior, especially the study of the origins, organization, institutions, and development of human society.


texts: Is there a word that means 'causes/causing evolution?'

texts:
For example

The thunderstone is a evolution-ing or evolv-ifying substance. It causes some thunder type pokemon to evolve.


texts: Is there a word for "The one who walks like a deer/stag"

texts: I want to describe the walking style of character in a story of mine. Is there any such word for describing the walking style of a deer ?


texts: Tom Holt writes in "Open Sesame" on page 237 of the pocket edition "argle bargling in mid-fargle". I understand this means something like "he talks complete nonsens in mid-bustle". Is that right? Thanks for all answers.


texts:
I'd like to double check the sentence. What is wrong with this pronoun agreement:

  Whichever of the six players hit the most home runs, they win the
  contest.

Is it correct?


texts: Is an article required before a math variable?

texts:
Is the definite article required before a variable used to abbreviate a physical quantity?

The ft is the same for both cases at various values of the Lc. As the Lc increases, the fr  also shifts.

ft is the same for both cases at various values of Lc. As Lc increases, fr  also shifts.

If the second sentence is okay, I am still a bit weirded out by starting a sentence with a math notation.
(Lc = Length of the channel, ft = frequency of the transistor)


texts:
Looking for a correct word instead of Unsubmitted referring to orders that have not been submitted yet. Unsubmitted seems incorrect since it has not been submitted yet, giving the misleading notion it has been retracted or removed.

I was thinking Pending but it sounds like the orders are being held pending a decision but the orders just have not been submitted by the person/user. Is there a more accurate word in the future tense for orders that are to be submitted?


texts: Which one is correct? "A teacher of English" or "An English teacher"?

texts:
I want to know which is correct

teacher of English

or

English teacher.


texts: Moving the lower case "c" up above type in the last name McNeil?

texts:
I have been asked twice recently to move the lower case "c" up to line up with the other letters or above them - regarding the name McNeil or McDonald, etc…

I do not recall seeing this done in most situations.

Do you know why it would be necessary?


texts: What is the overlap between "Y" and "I"?

texts:
My son and I were reciting the Spanish alphabet recently. "Y" is i griega, which means "Greek i." This got me thinking about the English letter Y and its function in our alphabet.

All of the words I could think of would be pronounced the same way whether we spelled them with an i or a y.  For example:

  dye or die
  chimera or chymera
  wild or wyld

Is there any case where Y makes a sound which could not be represented by I? If they don't overlap completely, when are they different, and is it for certain types of words (for instance, could we substitute "i" in all words with Greek roots that contain "y")?


texts: Blind Dates Not As Person to Person but As People to People

texts:
Here in Asia there's some peculiar cultural concept especially for early 20's so called 'meeting'(literally called in this way) which is a basically concept of blind dates but not by person to person but by people to people, usually 3 males to 3 females or 4 males to 4 females (very rarely in 2 by 2)

Is there any suggestive English word which mostly well fit to the above cultural collective behavior?

The main purpose of this so called 'meeting' could be diverse, such as seeking for potential date-mates or girl&boyfriends, but basically it's a gathering seeking for the any kind of fun something from the other gender.


texts: How is Æ pronounced at the beginning of a word? Or is that simply a play on the confusion of "Æ" pronunciation? The most prominent example is the Tool album entitled "Ænima?"


texts:
Other vegetarian animals, giraffes and rhinoceroses for example,
  help as well.

Do I have to put a comma before "for example" like this:

  Other vegetarian animals, giraffes and rhinoceroses, for example,
  help as well.

or is putting comma just optional?


texts: Should a mathematical variable at the beginning of a sentence be capitalized?

texts:
If a sentence starts with a mathematical variable which normally is lower case, should that variable be capitalized? Or is it better to just avoid starting sentences with variables?

  x and y represent the width and height of the anticuboctahedron.
  X and y represent the width and height of the anticuboctahedron.
  The width and height of the anticuboctahedron are represented by x and y.


texts:
I am learning in Korea. So I rarely have an opportunity of real English.

Anyway, My Teacher said that 'noun + -ly = adjective' and 'adjective + -ly = adverbs'

Then, what about 'verb + -ly'? Is it possible?

somepeople said that is possible and 'verb + -ly' will become adjectives or adverbs.

but other people also said that is impossible.

I really want to know that.

Verb + ly = possible? or impossible?

If that is possible, What meaning they have?


texts: weighted sum of values VS sum of weighted values,

texts:
I studied Neural Network, and there occurs following formula.

S = Sum ( weight of N * value of N )

In the text book and other references, they indicate S as 'an weighted sum of values'.
I have some confusion on it, because it looks like 'Sum' Of 'weighted values', which is exactly the same as the way I read the formula.

Could you let me know what I am missing here?

Thank you,


texts: What does "the D word" mean in the context of discussing the pros and cons of marriage over co-habitation?

texts:
I came across a phrase unfamiliar to me, the D word, in an article of Time magazine (November 18, 2010 Issue) titled Who Needs Marriage? How an American institution is changing.

The D word appears as a caption of a sentence followed by the following sentence, which gives me no clue for deciphering, in parallel with other captions such as the new marriage gap, the kid may not be all right and what to do about I do. I checked the D word into Wikipedia, which defines ‘the D-Word is a worldwide online community for professionals in the documentary film industry_. But this doesn’t make sense at all to me. I know D-Day, but I have no idea about D word. Can anybody tell me what the D word means in the following context together with my second question?

  The D Word
  Even when couples are married, family life is a different experience for those with a college education and those without one. Professional occupations are much more likely to offer provisions for parental leave, the ability to work from home and flexible hours.

(The second question.)
The above section is wrapped up with the following sentence:

  Marriage (of the college-educated) is insulated from some of the stresses of balancing work and family. A sick child throws a much bigger wrench into the machinery of a factory or retail or service worker's life.

In the above sentence, is the machinery of factory a separate phrase from retail or service worker’s life, or the machinery is modified by factory, retail or service worker’s life as a group?


texts: Is it incorrect to ask a question within a question?

texts:
Op's original question:

What would be correct and why?

a. "Do you know? Where can we get puff pastries from?"

b. "Do you know? Where we can get puff pastries from?"

Op's revised question (after some of the answers & comments):

What would be correct and why?

a. "Do you know, Where can we get puff pastries from?"

b. "Do you know, Where we can get puff pastries from?"


texts:
Subject I am verb is adjective: is that passive voice? e.g.

The question I am asking is stupid

I'm not sure because I don't know if "asking" or "is" is the verb, here.


texts: What tense should I use to describe something that could be true, and is true?

texts:
haha, that is what I was going to say, then I figure someone would have already thought that line. Dang!

context: I am surveying Quora home feed and saw an interesting comment. The above sentence is my response. Well, then I start to have the feeling that I used the wrong tense of "think". I am not sure what is the grammatically correct way to say the above sentence. thanks in advance.


texts: Are "monolithic" and "homogeneous" really synonyms?

texts: The thesaurus gives the two adjectives as synonymous. But I wonder if they are context specific? Am I right to doubt their being absolute synonymy?


texts:
Melville addresses his readers

  "ye lucky livers, to whom by some rare fatality your Cape Horns are placid as Lake Lemans, flatter not yourselves that good luck is judgment and discretion; for all the yolk in your eggs, you might have foundered and gone down, had the Spirit of the Cape said the word."

Would anyone want to explain or paraphrase "for all the yolk in your eggs"?


texts: What is the V-shaped thing called one puts in a checkbox?

texts: What do you call the V-shaped figure one uses to check a checkbox? How about the X-shaped figure?


texts:
My initial attempt to settle the question with a google search didn't help as much as I'd hoped:

A search for 'high schooler' revealed approximately 4% of results employing the hyphenated form.
A search for 'middle schooler' revealed a significantly higher rate: 20% of entries employed the hyphenated form. (Including this recent article.)
A search for 'elementary schooler' revealed no use of the hyphenated "elementary-schooler" within the first 100 entries. (I stopped looking after that.) So, effectively, less than 1%.

Based on this search, it would seem that "middle-schooler" is somewhat acceptable and "elementary-schooler" is not acceptable. "High-schooler", however, is unclear.

What I'm needing to decide right now regards the usage of "high-schooler" which I personally prefer to "high schooler". Even though google search trends suggest "high schooler" is used much more frequently, can I get away with using the hyphenated form as a stylistic choice?

My feeling is that if "middle-schooler" is allowed, then "high-schooler" should be just as permissible. After all, someday I might have to type something about a "high high schooler", and I'll wish I had been using the hyphenated form all along.


texts: can "topical issue" be used in this way?

texts:
I want to say that recently people are talking more about music and its effects on the community.

here is the sentence:

"Fine arts, namely music, have been a topical issue latterly, in regard to their influence on the community"

by "topical issue" I mean "a trending topic" or "a topic of the day".


texts: What does the phrase "build into fighting powerhouses " mean in this context?

texts:
Here is the sentence:

  This fighting game allows you to collect some of the biggest names in action movies and build them into fighting powerhouses.

Does the phrase mean "include in the fighters' teams"?


texts:
I am having problems choosing between those two in a phrase I use a lot at work. I am gonna go straight to the example
'Your order status has changed to 'At delivery site at CH 8060 Zurich'
I work in logistics and I send clients updates like this for every job. Postcode and city name can be anything as I operate worldwide.
Question is. Which one is better/corrext here for 'At delivery site in' or 'At delivery site at'
Thanks for your help


texts:
Can this be considered a complete sentence?

There lived a princess named Gretchen.


texts: How did 'purchase' evolve to mean 'firm contact or grip'?

texts:
[1] purchase =  2. [mass noun] Firm contact or grip

I've been trying to understand how the noun purchase evolved to mean definition 2 above. I heed the Etymological Fallacy. I tried OED but it's too terse and jumbled; so I turned to:

  [2] Etymonline for purchase (n.) : ... The sense of "hold or position for advantageously applying power" (1711) is extended from the nautical verb meaning "to haul or draw (especially by mechanical power)," often used in reference to hauling up anchors, attested from 1560s. ...

In view of this reference to a nautical definition, I returned to ODO and encountered:

  [3] purchase = {verb} 2. {Nautical} Haul up (a rope, cable, or anchor) by means of a pulley or lever.

I still couldn't perceive the etymology; so I tried to consider the morphemes:

  [4] Etymonline for purchase (v.) : ... from pur- "forth" (possibly used here as an intensive prefix; see pur-) + Old French chacier "run after, to hunt, chase" (see chase (v.)). . ...

My confusion worsened. How does [3] relate to [4]? In other words, how can a chase forth possibly mean a haul? Any object to be hauled is tied by a cable; so what's there to chase?


texts:
My own brief investigation into the etymology of munge yielded the following entry from The New Hacker's Dictionary:

[derogatory] To imperfectly transform information.
A comprehensive rewrite of a routine, data structure or the whole program.
To modify data in some way the speaker doesn't need to go into right now or cannot describe succinctly (compare mumble).

This term is often confused with mung, which probably was derived from it. However, it also appears the word `munge' was in common use in Scotland in the 1940s, and in Yorkshire in the 1950s, as a verb, meaning to munch up into a masticated mess, and as a noun, meaning the result of munging something up (the parallel with the kluge/ kludge pair is amusing).

It would be very interesting if someone were able to find a connection between the computing jargon and the the Scottish munge mentioned here.


texts: Did "breaking news" originate from the phrasal verb "break in?"

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  Why is news said to be “breaking”?

Studying phrasal verbs I found break in meaning as interruption. My teacher suggested that it can be also used in news as breaking news, but usually the midia use the gerund form. Actually, both sounds very similar in speech so I was wondering if breaking is an evolution of break in.


texts: Single words to differentiate direction relative to point and direction of motion

texts:
I am writing a game engine where I have an identifier built up of multiple words, in the format average-team-attribute, e.g. median-red-distance. There is only really space for a single word in each category.
I have two attributes that I need to disambiguate. The direction that the average position is relative to the observer's direction (relative or egocentric direction) and the average direction in which the team is moving (assuming a stationary observer).
Example sentences:

Their [motion direction] is perpendicular to ours.
The average [positional direction] seems to be to the left.

What single words can I put here?


texts: Comma usage with compound sentences {actually compound predicates as per Rob's answer}

texts:
Rule 101 of compound sentences is that a coordinate conjunction must be accompanied by a comma most of the time when joining independent clauses, yet I stumble across sentences all that time that seem to abuse this rule. Normally, it's a case of the subject not being present in the second clause, as in the following example:

  "They usually start out as an abbreviation, but turn into acronyms
  when they become well known."
  (taken from the Oxford Style Manual)

To me, this comma cannot be correct because the clause after the comma doesn't contain a subject and therefore cannot be independent (right?). As far as I'm concerned, it's not the 'Comma to set off a contrast rule because I can find plenty of other where 'and' is used and the subject's missing in the second clause.
what's the deal here?

Thanks in Advance for any responses I may receive!


texts:
Is it correct to say two shapes are "reflectionally symmetric"?
Or do I need to say they are "reflectively symmetric"?
Or are both words correct, but with different meanings?
Or are both words incorrect?


texts: Distinguishing among classification, typology, taxonomy, and ontology?

texts:
I recently wrote a thesis applying archaeological typology to art attribution. In the process, it became clear that disparate disciplines share analogous debates regarding classification. I'd like to hear more from diverse perspectives. Given that classification as a process is itself a form of definition, it seems appropriate to ask:

  What are the differences among [a] classification, typology, taxonomy, and ontology?

Initially, let's assume that each of these refers not to the process(es) of classification (etc.), but to the results of these processes, i.e. to categories rather than categorization. However, I'm leaving the question open-ended: approach the subject as you wish!

I'm particularly interested in seeing a set of answers that represents a variety of disciplines. Answers that cite dictionaries or common usage are welcome, but I'm far more interested in the "jargon" side of things. Please don't feel obliged to cover multiple disciplines in one answer – in this case, focusing on one discipline in-depth is better than skimming over many disciplines without detail. Overall, partial answers are acceptable (e.g. typology vs. taxonomy) so long as that specific issue is discussed in sufficient depth.


texts: Vocabulary Question: Stane (verb); to stane to do something

texts:
I came across the word "stane" in a poem in the Paris Review, and I can't seem to find a definition that fits its use in the poem. I checked several dictionaries. Some didn't have it at all, and those that did defined it as another form of the word "stone." In the poem and in the few other instances I saw it used in search results, it was used in the wider structure "to stane to do something."
Here is the quote from the poem:

"There’s butchered meat on the bottom —
and ice that’s staning to melt through the shop window."

And here's another quote:

"But as the Nineties beckoned, the freewheeling attitude which makes Griffin such a refreshing interview was staning to look extremely out of time."

And another:

"Today, by contrast, some large companies are staning to see the development of women employees as 'a business imperative.'"

Thanks very much for any help you can provide on this elusive word!


texts:
If someone "corrects" your British spelling, they are said to be "Americanising" -
 or should that be "Americanizing"? ;) - your post. What is the opposite situation called (i.e. American --> British)? Anglicising? Britainising? Australianising?

I would automatically opt for "Anglicise", but that usually implies morphing a word from another language (most logically French or another European language) to make it "compatible" with English. I can't think of an example off the top of my head though.


texts: Is it necessary sometimes to use past tense in formal writing to mean present

texts:
"This could be made a ‘standing item’ on the agenda so that it had to
  be considered before each time that assessments were considered." Source

My question is would it be wrong to write the sentence without backshifting it, like this: "This could be made a standing item on the agenda so that it has to be considered before each time that assessments are considered."

Because if I had to write the same sentence I'd write it with present tense. Would I be wrong in doing that? And/Or Would it seem informal?

Like here, I see this structure especially in the context of giving advice to the clients.


texts: Is "The City Beautiful" (Orlando's motto) grammatically correct?

texts:
I have always wondered why the motto of the City of Orlando, FL (USA) is worded as The City Beautiful instead of The Beautiful City:

Is The City Beautiful grammatically correct? If so, do you have examples of mottos or common phrases that use the adjective after the noun?


texts: His "get-up-and-go" is likely to have "got-up-and-gone" Any hidden meaning in this comment?

texts: I once overheard a conversation between two young women on a long distance flight and one of them said: "He is past seventy, you know. His get-up-and-go is likely to have got-up-and gone." And they both laughed.  That was the only time I ever heard such phrases. I checked some dictionaries and found "get-up-and-go" = energy, ambition, whereas my search for "got-up-and-gone" found nothing. The way the two women laughed makes me wonder: does "get-up-and-go" have a real sexual connotation which the dictionaries omit, or is it an opinion-based, context-related interpretation?


texts: Higher pitch on the first few words of a sentence?

texts:
I've recently been watching some streamers on TwitchTV.  I noticed sometimes they used a higher pitch at the beginning of a sentence for content/important words.

For example in a conversation between two people, I heard "I'm good today", "I'm done with you", etc.

Normally, if I'm right, it should be "I'm good today", or "I'm done with you." (This is what I have learned at school).

So I assume that this kind of intonation must serve some specific purpose right?

Thanks guys.


texts: Idiom for judging a large topic by a small detail

texts:
What is an idiom that describes the following:

  the way a person may draw a certain conclusion regarding a topic based on a small (non-representative) part of it; implying that the assumption is inaccurate, unfair, and based on insignificant details.

My friends and I were discussing the popularity of Japanese anime, whereby one described it as something horrendous based on the one or two she's seen.

Given, anime is a style of film with thousands of unique series, I made it a point that the few that she watched aren't definitive. ]


texts: What word do you use for young horsemen? Like teens or children who are skilled in riding, caring for, or managing horses.


texts:
I am looking for an adjective that describes something as "less noticed."

For example, a piece of work in literature that is "less noticed" by many contemporary people, or some important work that would have deserved to be noticed by many people, but wasn't.

I don't mean something ignored or undervalued; rather, something "not getting enough attention." For example, an important piece of work in literature that, despite its importance, has not been cited enough, because many people are not aware of it.

An example: The work by John Doe is an important contribution to the Theory of Evolution, but it is less noticed in literature.


texts:
Consider this:

  I like to eat here.

vs

  I would eat here.

It appears to me that "to" has nothing to do with the infinitive form of the verb that follows. It is, in this example,  an integral part of like to, not of to eat.

Is my thinking flawed? If you think it is, could you please explain which form of the verb "eat" is used in the second example, if not the infinitive?


texts:
I know that "only" and "just" and word-order are oft-mentioned topics on here, but word-order for phrases and meanings - don't both of these mean different things?
Here is an example of how word order in a sentence can change the meaning.  These two sentences are from a geography site I'm developing:

Between 9am and 5pm, the local market is in full swing. Known for its variety of foreign foods, many people visit it...
The local market is in full swing between 9am and 5pm. Known for its variety of foreign foods, many people visit it...

If I'm correct, the first one implies it's only in full swing at the times specified, but the second one means it's always in full swing. I'm not sure how to phrase this best, due to the ambiguity and word-order.
What's the best way to rephrase this, and how can I avoid ambiguity when doing word-order when placing a word?


texts: How should "please find enclosed" be used?

texts:
In business writing and especially email, the phrase is often used as:

Please find enclosed our price list.
Please find attached the updated contract.
Please find herewith my expense report for ice cream.

While I often use it myself, I find that it sounds a bit off. How did this sentence construction come to be? The grammar doesn't seem to add up: what are the parts of this sentence?
The words enclosed, attached, or herewith looks like it should be a separate clause, perhaps:

Please find (enclosed) the photo of my cat.
Please find, enclosed, the photo of my cat.

Is it more correct with the use of a comma?
Another variant I've seen is with the reverse word order:

Attached please find your daughter's report card.

Does this word order make it any better?


texts: What does the phrase "I have but one claim to fame" mean?

texts: I would appreciate if someone could explain the meaning of the phrase "I have but one claim to fame". I understand every separate word, but the meaning of the whole phrase is fairly obscure to me, as I am not a native speaker.


texts:
Can anyone shed some light on the origin of the use of the word "Bang" to imply a positive adjective?

For example, here are three colloquial phrases which use the word bang to lend strength to the meaning:

  That's a bang-up job you've done!
  That's bang out of order!
  It's bang up to date.

Meaning, respectively:

  That's a really great / the best job you've done!
  That's really out of order!
  It's the most up to date.

UPDATE

I've just thought of another one:

  They had him bang to rights. (i.e. He was most definitely guilty)

I'm still confused as to where this usage originated. Brian Hooper suggests they could all be a variant of bang-up, which sounds plausible.

It would also appear from the comments that a few of these uses (which I can attest are real and recognisable phrases. Well, in England, at any rate) are unfamiliar to our American friends. So perhaps these are colloquialisms that haven't migrated for some reason, or perhaps they are more modern constructions. I will continue to search.

UPDATE 2

I've come across some interesting information regarding the origin of the phrase - it appears in one of Dickens' works, Sketches by Boz, where the term Slap-bang is used to refer to a cheap restaurant.

The deal was that both money and food were slapped down on the table because it was a cheap establishment. From this we get the terms slap down and bang down, which seem to have evolved into bang-up and slap-up respectively as their positive opposites. Slap-up seems to be heard only with regard to food (a slap up meal), whereas bang-up seems to have become a more general expression of positivity.

This still doesn't quite satisfy me with regard to the other uses (bang out of order and bang up to date), but it's a decent start.


texts: Quid pro quo. Why do we not say the English equivalent?

texts:
The term quid pro quo is back on the news again. Every time I here it I ask why do English speaking people still use the old Latin phrase instead of a modern English term meaning the same thing?

What is the best English version of quid pro quo?


texts:
My sister-in-law wrote in her memoirs that while she and her sister were scavenging for food and water in a burned-out town in Germany during the war, they found and used a pede, which she described in terms that made it clearly a carrying pole, like this:

I have not been able to find the word pede, either in German or English.  Perhaps, since she was originally from East Prussia, it was an Old Prussian word?  Or some other language?  I am really perplexed, and my SiL is no help; she doesn't remember the word, either.  But there it is.

Edited to Add: Now that I've accepted an answer ("Yoke"), I've continued to investigate the matter, and it now appears that the word may be Low Prussian: "It developed on a Baltic substrate through the influx of Dutch and Low German speaking immigrants."  This notion is especially attractive because my sister-in-law seems to have picked up the word during her residence in the burned-out town of Preussisch Holland (or Prussian Holland), a town which was specifically settled by immigrants from Holland in the 13th Century.


texts: Is "painstakingly slow" correct when used to mean "painfully slow"?

texts:
I have found 122,000+ usages of "painstakingly slow" on Google, and most of the usages seem to mean "painfully slow" (extremely slow, annoyingly slow).

The US English Oxford dictionary says that painstakingly means with great care and thoroughness. Relying on this, using it to mean "painfully" is wrong. But the commonness of this phrase makes me wonder if there is not more to this issue.


texts:
Regarding a job position which:

Does not seek to replace someone else;
It's not about a new employee;
The person is entitled to work as the Chief/Head of the Department with the command of the CEO, to see how this person will handle this position for a certain period of time until entitled permanently or not at all.

I don't want to use the term "temporary", nor "interim", which is used in times of turmoil.

Can you suggest a more appropriate term given the situation above?


texts: Is there a word to describe a 'fork-tongued' shape?

texts:
For example, in the image below (the green shape), what is this called?

It is like the bottom of a traditional bookmark, the ribbon of a medal, or a snake's forked tongue. Does anybody know if there a single word to describe this shape? Maybe it's just 'ribbon' but that doesn't specify the pointy edges. Thanks in advance.

For context, it is part of a design I am working on and need a term to describe this element which is used throughout the design. If theres a heraldic or geometric term that's fine. I am hoping to be able to use a word for it (instead of the 'bookmark thingy') and other people realise I am talking about this particular shaped element. Plus, I am interested to know if there is actually a word for this particular shape which there surely must be, but I've never heard it.


texts: Use of an adjective instead of adverb with gerund?

texts:
I keep hearing on the BBC channel their self-commercial that goes like "We are the leaders in global breaking news".
Folks, could anybody kindly explain to me how come that structure is grammatically possible? My layman's understanding is that if gerund is used as a verb, "breaking" (breaking WHAT? breaking news) then only an adverb can be used to characterize the action. That is "breaking news globally", unless "breaking" is meant as as an adjective describing news, which doesn't seem to make any sense.
Thanks for any comments.


texts: Long-Lived … how many pronounce it with a long "i"?

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  Pronunciation of “Short-lived”

I have read in Beastly Mispronunciations that long-lived is pronounced with a long "i." Does anyone actually pronounce it that way?


texts: I can guess it probably means "what's happening", or "what's up". Am I right? I am curious where this phrase comes from and how to use it properly.


texts: There is any relation between "I'm fired" and "I'm on fire"?

texts:
I'm not english native speaker, and joking with a collague in my work we start a wordgame between "You are on fire?" "No, I'm fired".

Because I'm spanish bachelor I want to know if there is any ethimologic relation between these both phrases? In a complex grammar I could think that "fired" was an old verb for a common sustantive (like a participium in latin)

Thanks in advance.


texts: Question about Present Perfect Subjunctive. Is it required?

texts:
Suppose that a dog is required by the terms of his doghouse arrest to maintain shaggy fur.

May I write:

  The condition that Fido have shaggy fur is restrictive.

I believe that this is a form of the present perfect subjunctive in English. Is it? It sounds better to my ear than

  The condition that Fido has shaggy fur is restrictive.

I believe that the second is wrong, though not too offensive to the ear and probably more common.

Can someone clarify the grammatical rules/context here?

EDIT: This was not the present perfect subjunctive, as has been pointed out. Still, this situation is somewhat strange because the once correct subjunctive is perceived as archaic by some.


texts: What preposition should I use in this phrase?

texts:
I wnat to say 'this ilness invoves women who are in their fertility age'.
Which preposition is appropriate?
Should I use related to or relating to
which is an inflammatory disease RELATING TO/ RELATED TO estrogen and it involves 2 to 10 percent of the women IN/AT/INSIDE their fertility age range.
If none of them is good enough to be used in this sentence, please share your ideas.
Thank you


texts:
is this correct?

Which are the different methods by which you can search...

or

What are the different methods by which you can search...


texts:
(humorous, slang) Expressing fear.
(humorous, slang) Expressing empathy with unpleasant or undesirable circumstances.

[Wiktionary]

Yikes! Where did it come from?
OED says "Origin unknown, but compare yoicks int.".
Yoicks is defined in OED as a call used in fox-hunting to urge on the hounds; also occas. gen. as an exclamation of excitement or exultation. OED gives the etymology of yoicks as:

Compare yoaks int., yoi int., and hoicks int., earlier hoik (1607), hoic, which is used similarly to, and appears to be a variant of, hike, hyke, as in hike hallow, hyke a Bewmont (see Turbervile Hunting 31, 112, 175).

Here is a reference to the Turbervile's Booke of Hunting (from Jyl of Breyntfords Testament by Robert Copland, Geoffrey Chaucer, George Gascoigne, Robert Laneham):

Now, OED says origin unknown for hoicks as well.
Etymonline says "exclamation of alarm or surprise, by 1953; perhaps from yoicks, a call in fox-hunting, attested from c. 1770." for yikes. The earliest citation for yikes in OED is from 1971 but Etymonline gives 1953.
In fact, for this sense of yikes, the earliest citations I could find are from 1960 (from the book Where the boys are by Glendon Fred Swarthout):

The earlier examples I could find are related to yike meaning:

An imitation of the cry of the woodpecker. [OED]

The verb yike is a derivative.
This sense of yike suggests that yikes might be an onomatopoeia also. For example, a similar word eek is an imitative of a shriek or squeak.
In the light of these findings, what would be the conclusion and can we find other credible sources? There are two possible routes here and OED is bold to say that origin of yikes is unknown. The possible ultimate origin hoicks has an unknown origin also, according to OED. Why wouldn't it be mentioned as onomatopoeic? (but then one asks it is an imitative of what?)
Note: I checked grammarphobia and Oxford Dictionary of Modern Slang. They basically say the same thing as OED.


texts: What is the origin of British/Irish cinema names?

texts: British and Irish cinema names from a certain period seem to come from a pool that includes The Odeon, The Curzon, The Savoy, The Adelphi (maybe you can think of more). Where did these names come from? Are they prevalent in any other English speaking countries?


texts: what is the meaning of "Entrepreneurial entry"?

texts:
I'm translating a paper from English that is in the field of entrepreneurship. I came across the term "Entrepreneurial entry" in this paper and since there is no equivalent for this term in my language, I wanted to know its exact definition; should I translate it like "entering an Entrepreneurship Opportunity in a business"? or does it have a different definition?

your help is much appreciated


texts: Why do sentences that start with "guess" end with a question mark?

texts:
To me, sentences that start with "Guess" are in the imperative mood, thus, should end with a period:

Guess who's coming to town.
Guess what we had for dinner last night.

Why do a lot of publications put a question mark at the end of these sentences? I've been taught that you put a question mark only if the sentence is in the interrogative "mood". In these cases, we're not asking who's coming to town or what we had for dinner last night - we know who's coming and what we ate. We're telling that second person to guess.

If "Guess _ ?" is correct because it expects an answer just like a regular question, is it acceptable, then, to write:

Tell me who's coming to town?
Tell me what I had for dinner last night because I forgot?

"Tell __ ?" looks just as unsettling to me as "Guess _?".


texts: For + verb-ing at the beginning of a sentece

texts:
Is the following sentence structure grammatically correct? I mean, I've found a lot of examples that have this structure but not at the beginning of the phrase but with a subject before. Here is an example I'm trying:

  For designing the 3D model of a new tool it's necessary to be sure...

UPDATE: This is the research I've done:

  For + verb-ing: the purpose of an object
     However, if we are talking about the purpose of an object or an action, we normally use the for + verb-ing pattern. Note that this pattern commonly answers the question: What are they (used) for? Compare the following:

    Schools are for educating children not for entertaining them.
    Schools are for learning. Life is for living.
    This kitchen knife is especially useful for slicing vegetables.
    What's this for? ~ It's for opening oysters. It's much better than a knife.
    What's this fifty pound note for? ~ It's for buying food for the weekend.

  Note that when the subject of the sentence is a person rather than the thing described, the to + infinitive pattern is also possible:

    I use this small knife to slice vegetables with.
    I use this gadget to open shellfish with.

As it is explained it can be used with a subject before, but I haven't been able to find anywhere something explaining the case when For + verb-ing is at the beginning of a sentence


texts: is ye a subject or object or either, and can it be before or after or either?

texts:
Is Ye a subject, or an object, or either?

And would it go before a verb, or after a verb, or either?

For example

  Seek Ye

A) is 'Seek Ye' valid.
B) if so, is Ye the subject,  as in, you(plural) should seek ____  Or is it the object, as in  Seek you(plural) , as in, seek yourselves

  Ye Seek

A) Is 'Ye Seek' valid?
B) you(plural) seek, or should seek, but without specifying what. Without specifying the object.

Is "Yee seek the table", the same as "seek ye, the table"?

I'm confused about subject and object and the position of ye before or after the verb.. i'm interested in knowing all the possibilities.   which are valid and invalid and what they mean.


texts: What's the exact meaning of "will be held"?

texts:
I frequently read

  "This meeting will be held next Wednesday..."

and sentenctes like that. I understand it means "this will take place", but I am curious about the exact meaning of "be held".

When is it used?
Is it used just in formal texts? Is it also used in normal conversations?


texts: meaning of the phrase "we almost had a moment there"

texts: in the first episode of "True detective" series there's a scene (38:30) when two officers interrogate another retired officer about one of his past case and in the middle of conversation he asks one of them to go get six beers pack for him if they want him to continue. After one officer returns back with beers pack he says "Thank you, boys. We almost had a moment there". What is the precise meaning of that phrase in given context? Watching the episode it feels like it's "we had a moment of understanding" of something like that. Is this correct?


texts: What are other ways of saying "to keep moving forward in times of hardship?"

texts: I'm looking for another way to describe the act of forcing yourself through a s*** week


texts: Present tense in the narrative past tense

texts:
I've read a number of questions here on SE English as well as from Google searches, however I'm still unclear on something.
Consider the following:

Alice walked carefully along the uneven lawn, making sure to keep her ankle straight.
Bob felt as if he was forgetting something as the bus stopped at the curb.

I'm confident these are both correctly conjugated, but as a native English speaker I also know I have a lifetime of repeating the same mistakes over and over again.
The question is why is it that these two are both correct despite one mixing tenses, and what "test" can be used to determine such things?
Some things I read before asking this:

Can you use past and present tense in the same sentence?
Quora: Is it okay to have present tense and past tense in the same sentence?
tenseconsistency.htm
Daily Writing Tips: 5 Lessons for Mixing Past and Present Tense

I've read more, but I'd rather not fish through my history just to show that I'm not just asking due to being lazy.


texts: Antecedent of "which" in "A man coming out of the backdoor of his house which is facing east"

texts:
In a recent quiz there was a question:

A man coming out of the backdoor of his house which is facing east...

In this scenario, should I understand the meaning to be 'the house is facing east,' or 'the backdoor is facing east'?
Edit:
As suggested by most people it's an ambiguous question, so I am posting the complete question.

A man coming out of the backdoor of his house which is facing east, walked for one kilometer, turned to his right and walked for another kilometer. Then he turned to his right and walked a kilometer again. Where was he from his house at the end.
a) 1 km away to the north
b) 1 km away to the south
c) 1 km away to the east
d) 1 km away to the west

If we assume the house is facing east, the answer will be 'a', and if we assume the backdoor facing east, it'll be 'b'.
My second question what would be how to interpret it if it had a comma like this:

A man coming out of the backdoor of his house, which is facing east...


texts:
While browsing this SE site, I stopped to look at the "What kind of questions can I ask here?" section of the FAQ, where the following is written:

  Questions on the following topics are welcomed here:

  Etymology (history of words’ development)

I'm not claiming the above is wrong, but I am asking if it's right! My question is about the combination of "words'" and "development". Since "word" is plural but their "development" is singular, does this imply that these words need to have a collective development?

Alternatively, would it be more like the [possibly] intended meaning to have "development" in its plural form, leaving the words free to develop individually or in any combination?


texts: Grammar difference between "Drive Home" vs" "Drive to Work"

texts:
I was configuring my navigation recently and came across this thought and I'm not sure I understand the grammatical rules as to why it is proper to say "Drive Home" but not "Drive to Home". It seems to make sense to say "Drive to My Home" but certainly not "Drive My Home".

Likewise, why is it "Drive to Work" but not "Drive Work" (aside from the obvious different meaning). I get that "Go Work" is different here since Work is also a verb, but "Go to Home" doesn't sound right.

It makes sense to me that "to" should be required as a preposition to a destination, but what makes "Home" different?


texts: Figuring the SVO of the sentence "I'm Tom."

texts:
I was under the impression that every sentence has a subject–verb–object (SVO) where S and V are compulsory and O is optional.

So basically I was wondering in the sentence "I'm Tom." is the subject "I" and the verb "am" ? But what about the "Tom" ? It simply can't be an object right?


texts: What is the difference between to pollute and to contaminate?

texts: I think they might be synonym, but I'm just not sure.


texts: Is "curious of" acceptable or even better than "curious about"?

texts:
Many speakers and internet writers seem to use "curious of" in place of "curious about". For example:

  I am curious of what he thinks.

This is in spite of what seems to be, by the rules of grammar I can find, less correct than saying:

  I am curious about what he thinks.

I have heard both forms uttered so much that there seems in fact a subtle difference in meaning between the two, but I may be imagining things.

Two questions--

Is "curious of" really any less correct than "curious about"?
Is "curious of" actually more appropriate for certain subjects or certain relationships, due to different connotations perhaps?


texts: "Not only one of the most talented actors of our age but kind." -- what does 'kind' mean here?

texts:
I was searching for information about the original novel "House of Cards" and from following site, in the middile of the page, there's sentence which compliment Kevin Spicey as shown below(http://www.michaeldobbs.com/house-of-cards/):

  He's not only one of the most talented actors of our age but kind,
  too.

I don't think the "Kind" here means Spacey's a nice guy, I guess it might imply that he's a good actor of "man kind" (our kind)? I couldn't find any sentence with similar structure as an example to support my guess, so please anyone can explan to me the real meaning of the word "kind" here, better with some example, thanks.


texts: Can "still" and "yet" be used interchangeably when placed at beginning of a sentence?

texts:
Example:

The three picked up their chopsticks and started on the food. The
scene seemed strangely normal to Naomi. It was as if everything were OK,
and her mom were perfectly healthy. In fact, she looked more lively
and energetic than Naomi remembered. The whole illness issue seemed like
a distant, bad dream. Something that belonged to another reality.
Still, Naomi couldn't take the thought out of her head, so she decided
to ask.

If I changed still for yet, would the sentence mean the same thing?


texts: Should the "angel of the abyss" be capitalized?

texts:
I am discussing the doctrine of the Jehovah's Witnesses concerning the identity of Abaddon in Revelation 9:11. The names of persons (e.g. Matthew, Mark, and Luke) along with words that are part of certain titles (e.g. Michael the Archangel, John the Baptist, and Satan the Devil) are capitalized since they are proper nouns. However, some Bible translations render the term "angel of the Abyss" with a capital "A" in lieu of a lowercase "a" like in other translations.
Revelation 9:11 (NIV):

They had as king over them the angel of the Abyss, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon and in Greek is Apollyon (that is, Destroyer).

I find it quite difficult to discern if it warrants capital "A's". Is it a title? Some translators also opt to use a capital "A" when referring to the abyss such as in Luke 8:31 (NIV). Nevertheless, I am not sure if the abyss is specified. Should it be rendered as "angel of the abyss", "Angel of the Abyss", or some other rendering?


texts:
"Each of the first ten whole numbers is written on a card."

The sentence will be used to support the following question:

Find the probability that a card taken at random has a label of an even number.


texts: Is there word for this, other than know-it-all?

texts:
Just wondering, if there's a word for:

One who makes it appear as if they're an expert on a subject while there are also signals (subtly or blatantly noticeable) that this person doesn't know very much on the subject or at least as much as they're acting like they do on the subject; pretending to have much knowledge on a subject matter.

I found pedantic but I don't suppose it's the right word.


texts: "after abusing it for three years" vs "after having abused it for three years"

texts:
I was writing a blog post about my phone this morning, and this is how I started it:

  Last week, after abusing it for over three years, I retired my
  trusty old HTC Desire and replaced it with an HTC One.

This sentence didn't feel quite right to me, so I changed it to:

  Last week, after having abused it for over three years, I retired my
  trusty old HTC Desire and replaced it with an HTC One.

But this doesn't feel quite right to me, either. What am I doing wrong? Which one of these sentence is correct? Why?


texts: As in "that which could be edited," or "editable" if you will.


texts:
Should it be "cheaper price" or  "lower price"?

I'm specifically referring to American English.

"Cheap prices provide more access to customers...."

Shouldn't it be "Low prices..."?


texts:
This is a well-written conspectus for a project.
  Since it's very well written, it makes the project ?conspectible.

Apparently, conspectible is not recognized by the dictionaries I've checked. What is a correct choice of word in this context? Please note that I'm not looking for a synonym in this case, although it'd be nice to get some.


texts: Is there a word or phrase for the price for all units combined?

texts: Unit price * quantity equals what? For example if widgets have a $10 unit price, and a customer buys 3, then what is the $30 amount called? Total doesn't work since there could be other products purchased, as well as discounts or VAT calculations applied later.


texts:
In an app I am writing the user can book/reserve tickets for riding a bus.
Which of the following terms does fit this process best?
'Reserve Tickets' or 'Book Tickets'

Also, in some cases the user would need to make a change/transfer, but can buy tickets for both buses together/at the same time. How would one best describe this process?


texts: Does the phrase "hang upside down" have a symbolic meaning?

texts:
The point is, I'm trying to understand the meaning of the song entitled "Just Like You" by Chromatics.
And here is the except where the above-mentioned phrase is used:
(the full lyrics if needed:
https://genius.com/Chromatics-just-like-you-lyrics)

"He looks just like you
He even says the same things
He's always hanging upside down..."

So.. it doesn't seem to have a literal meaning. Maybe it means "messing around/behaving like a child", or maybe that persons sees the world differently, in their distorted way.
It is probably important to know the story of the song to get its meaning, but I've failed to find any information.

I would be really grateful if you helped.
Till then, thank you in advance!


texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  “Less” vs. “fewer”

I'm placing a button on a website and need to know which is the proper way to write this out: see less events or see fewer events? I'm leaning toward fewer but would like confirmation.


texts: What is difference between 'Before' and 'Until' when they appears in the beginning of sentence?

texts:
Is there any difference between 'until' and 'before'? Eg:

Before we have xxx, we can only do yyy...
Until we have xxx, we can only do yyy...


texts:
If I want to use the verb "seem" to refer to the past, which of the following do we use?
They seemed to like my house.
Or
They seem to have liked my house.
Do we use "seem to have+ PP" to refer to the past?
Thanks


texts: expressing consequences with "as" + present simple

texts:
Looking up "as" in an English dictionary,  I once came across this example: "such a bright light as makes your eyes ake".
Is the simple present correct here? I would actually  expect the infinitive (...."as to make your eyes ake").
In case it is correct, could anyone show me some more examples (either from everyday's life or any book writer)?.
 Thank you very much in advance


texts: When it comes to the idiom involving the phrase "own accord", is it considered correct to say "on one's own accord", instead of "of one's own accord"? To me, the former sounds more natural. Example: "the autodidact enjoyed learning on her own accord".


texts: Is there a more general word for velocitized?

texts:
Velocitized, meaning being accustomed to high driving speeds and feeling like normal speeds are slower than they actually are afterwards, seems like such a useful word to apply in different situations.

  I went mountain biking and going to work the next day was _____.

I've used culture shock to describe this in the past, but that's obviously not always an appropriate connotation. Is there a more general word for this?


texts:
If there is a page that deals with the use of napkins and wine glasses, can the heading be "napkins; wine glasses"? Do you think it's customary to use the semicolon in this way?

I'd appreciate your help.


texts: Capitalization of official divisions of an organization

texts:
Some organizations, like sects, divide themselves into parts—usually, there are two two parts, and those parts are called "outer sect" and "inner sect". These aren't simply an euphemistic term, like "inner city", but an actual, official division done by the organization itself. This division is both physical and hierarchical. The outer sect is physically separated from the inner sect (they correspond to specific physical areas), and "inner-sect member" and "outer-sect member" are official positions, with the former being hierarchically higher than the latter. In this case, are "outer sect" and "inner sect" actually supposed to be written as "Outer Sect" and "Inner Sect"? And, if that's the case, would it mean that the correct way to refer to their members is actually "Inner-Sect member" and "Outer-Sect member"?
I believe that, in some companies, divisions such as the "Sales Division" are capitalized, so would "outer sect" and "inner sect" fall under the same category?


texts:
Examples:

Be watching for an email within 24 hours to begin ordering.

Please be watching for this Questionnaire coming your way in March or April.


texts: What is a word for ignoring or overlooking evil actions?

texts: Example:  The good people of Germany ____ the Holocaust.


texts: Are chapter headings and other semantically smaller parts as the title capitalized?

texts: I found the question Which words in a title should be capitalized? Regarding the number of answers votes and also according to my personal taste I like to capitalize titles. But what exactly are titles? Only the single main book title? What about other smaller semantic parts? Chapter headings, sub-chapter, ...


texts: What's the difference between "discuss" and "debate" and "argue"?

texts:
These difference are "formal" or "informal"?

Actually, by E-mail, I often use "discuss" in case of private and work.
I've never used "debate" and "argue".


texts:
Could anyone offer some similes for a strenuous activity.

The context is that:
you can have all sorts of great ideas at random times and random places but

"when you actually sit down and make an effort to come up with a good idea it’s more akin to [insert simile for something strenuous or difficult]"


texts: Does '' bear down on'' mean: bite or take strong measures against?

texts: I am learning phrasal verb on https://www.englishpage.com/prepositions/phrasaldictionaryB.html. According to this website,'' bear down on'' means bite or take strong measures against. And I looked it up on Longman and Oxford dictionary, but i couldn't find these meanings. :((


texts: Need a word similar to two-faced, for when a person or group does something Patriotic, but not for love of country, rather for personal gain?

texts:
Need a word for two-faced or self-serving patriotism. Patriotic displays by groups or individuals that are clearly motivated by what can be gained rather than love or honor of country or countrymen.

For example, the NFL has large Patriotic military displays at nearly every game.

However, the NFL is paid tens of millions of dollars by the United States Military to put on these patriotic displays. Not to mention the revenue from increased viewership and increased sales due to the warm fuzzy feeling of being duped into thinking that supporting the NFL is somehow patriotic.

Most recently, the President of the United States ordered a patriotic flyover of military jets. The stated intent was to honor medical professionals combating COVID19.

However, the Presidents approval ratings are in the toilet, the elections are only months away, and this is clearly about the President trying to win favor in his bid for re-election.


texts: "Haven't you got X ?" or "Don't you have X ?"

texts:
In British English negative questions with the verb have (when it's a lexical verb and not an auxiliary) can be formed in two ways. Is there any difference between them?

Type 1

Haven't I got your number?
Haven't you got her number?
Hasn't he got your number?
Haven't we got her number?
Haven't they got our number?

Type 2

Don't I have your number?
Don't you have her number?
Doesn't he have your number?
Don't we have her number?
Don't they have our number?


texts: Is there a specific word or name that refers to someone who studies a lot but is not intelligent

texts: I have heard this word in other languages. It refers (in the bad sense) to those persons who are really hard working, study a lot, memorize, but in fact do not have the intelligence knack. They are not wise, but hardworking.


texts:
"Though the technology behind a Poké Ball remains unknown and has evolved through the centuries to accommodate the diverse requirements of their creators, the basic mechanics are simple enough to understand and tend to remain constant."

So basically, I've had a random mind blank, and I've been reassessing whether specific sentences require commas or not.

I've mostly been using this website: https://www.grammarbook.com/punctuation/commas.asp

It's been really helpful to understand all of the comma rules but how does it work in this case? According to the website I posted above, the sentence requires a comma if there's two independent clauses but 'the basic mechanics are simply enough to understand and tend to remain constant' can't really stand by itself can it? Not to mention there's no conjunction linking it.

Or even this sentence here above 'It's been really helpful to understand all of the comma rules but how does it work in this case?'. It feels like it needs a comma after the rules but 'how does it work in this case?' can't really stand by itself because it's referring to something, right?

Sorry if this isn't the right place to ask all these questions, but I'm having a huge blank space right now which is really frustrating. Maybe I'm just overthinking. Thank you to anyone who offers their assistance in advance. I appreciate it.


texts: How to break a paragraph of running text with a example block or figure?

texts:
This may have been asked before, but I couldn't find it with my limited vocabulary of linguistic terms.

When writing a paragraph of running text that's broken up by a (code) example block or figure, how do I end the previous incomplete sentence and how do I continue the sentence?

I used to do it like this, with a colon and ellipsis:

  For instance, the rewrite rule:

 |[ i + j ]| -> |[ k ]| where <add>(i, j) => k

  ...expresses constant folding for addition.

Here's how the Rust programming language book does it, capitalizing the continued sentence:

  You can also set another attribute based on a cfg variable with cfg_attr:

#[cfg_attr(a, b)]

  Will be the same as #[b] if a is set by cfg attribute, and nothing otherwise.

Here's how the Stratego language manual does it:

  For instance, the rewrite rule

 |[ i + j ]| -> |[ k ]| where <add>(i, j) => k

  expresses constant folding for addition.

What is the correct way to do this?


texts: Variations of "I'll let you know when it's done"

texts:
Do all these sentences mean the same thing or are there any subtle differences among them?

I'll let you know when it's done.
I'll let you know when done.
I'll let you know when it has been done.
I'll let you know when I've done it.
I'll let you know once it's done.
I'll let you know once done.


texts: Can/Should I put a comma before "for" in this sentence?

texts:
China’s domestic brands have made huge strides in the years since 2012, creating new features and products that take into account what Chinese users want, for a small fraction of the price.

i can't understand the usage of "for" in this sentence. Is this usage a conjunction or a preposition?


texts: Whats correct "an quiz icon" or "a quiz icon"?

texts:
I'm always struggling to understand the rule behind "a" and "an". Can someone point me to a general rule or explain me when to use what?
How do I correctly write about an icon is it "an quiz icon" or "a quiz icon"?


texts: Origin and meaning of the "-tar" suffix in photography

texts:
A very large number of photographic products have names ending in "-tar." Most of these are camera lenses, but there are examples of film and even camera brands that follow the same pattern. The practice dates back to the nineteenth century, with the Zeiss Protar lens being possibly the first example. Others have included:

Kodak Ektar lenses and film
Vivitar cameras
Leica Summitar lenses
Schneider Xenotar lenses
Kern Switar lenses
Keystone Keytar lenses (yes, before it was an awesome musical instrument, it was a lens)
Zeiss Triotar lenses
and many others.

"-ar" alone is also seen, with the Zeiss Planar and Tessar lenses being early examples. And while we're at it, we might as well throw in Nikkor, Nikon's name for its line of SLR camera lenses.

I've looked into this and haven't uncovered much in the way of definitive answers; the best guesses I've seen have been along the lines of "Zeiss started it and the other lens makers copied Zeiss because they thought it sounded cool." I thought I'd bring the question here to see if the community's etymology expertise can provide any insights. (That this is strictly "English-related" is debatable, I suppose, but I believe the question belongs here because of the familiarity of several of these brand names in English contexts.)


texts: How to ask if someone could add an example which improves the explaining of something?

texts:
Aim: to ask someone to add an example, which improves the explaining of something

In Dutch one could say: Zou u een voorbeeld kunnen toevoegen om het antwoord te kunnen onderbouwen? Which means "Could you add an example to ... the answer?"

Should one use underpin, substantiate or something else in this case?


texts: What does it mean if someone says they are "blessed"?

texts:
If Person X says that they're "blessed", does this have to imply that they believe they've received a blessing from some higher power? Or could it just mean they feel "fortunate" or even just happy with their circumstances?

If Person X was an atheist, would it be an "inaccurate" statement if they said they're blessed? Given the current usage of the word, would it be an acceptable way of communicating that they're simply happy with what's happened to them?

EDITS:

This question assumes Person X is communicating via writing, so pronunciation of the word "blessed" isn't a factor. There's also no context supplied by Person X (they don't state their beliefs, and don't divulge further after the one sentence where they say they're blessed). What Person X is blessed about is some kind of project, which has no religious affiliations.


texts: Can we use singular countable nouns after "any"?

texts:
Which one is correct ?

1.A. There isn't any student in the class.

1.B. There aren't any students in the class.

how is that in questions?

2.A. Is there any student in the class?

2.B. Are there any students in the class?


texts: What is a term for the "process of copying somebody's work/invention"?

texts:
I need a phrase to mean process of copying somebody's work is in the context of industry/manufacturing. Is there a concise phrase with the meaning similar to "plagiarism" by a competitor in business (e.g. copy a car engine or design of the car)?  I am describing a situation where a competitor can benefit from the lack of R&D costs, and bring their product to market with a higher profit margin.

reproduction
cloning
replication

I think "This was done to make the reproduction of their work by competitors more difficult." sounds not so bad and also doesn't lose the desired meaning.

The style is that of a technical register.

It seems that counterfeiting is too strict for the current sentence.

Perhaps I should restructure the sentence:

  Not least of all it was done to make the reproduction and distribution of their work (e.g. through reverse engineering of products and technological processes) by competitors more difficult (as the result of competing in manufacturing speed).

In this way both meanings are covered, though it is not a single word nor a phrase, rather enumeration of the senses: reproduction (clone/copy) and distribution (selling).


texts: Confused about the use of "to" in a quote

texts:
The former Manchester United star has now hit a record 25 La Liga
  hat-tricks and has 45 goals this term to lead Lionel Messi by three
  in the race for the Pichichi.

I am confused as to the meaning of "to" in the above paragraph.

Is it like saying I prefer walking to running?


texts:
Can "more" be used with "simply put"?

I would like to write: "More simply put, ..." giving a simpler explanation of the idea in context.

I couldn't find useful answers for this question on the internet. Any other synonyms of this phrase are welcome too.

Note: This is for a scientific paper.


texts: What can I call a longer passage in an academic work (text equivalent to "Figure")?

texts: I want to number blocks of texts in my work (parts of a movie script or something the creators said) so that I can refer to them throughout the essay. Is there an equivalent to 'Figure' to label these passages?


texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  How to write decimal values in words

How do you read numbers like these?

0.12 "oh point twelve", "zero point one two", "zero and twelve hundreds"

And these ones?

0.345, 12.45


texts: What we call tests that we can work from home?

texts: For designer's and writer's jobs, candidates get tasks that they can work from home and later they submit it. Can we call that type of tests 'an aptitude test?'


texts: what is the main clause in conditional sentences

texts:
I have a compound sentence followed by an if clause, how do I know what the if clause is referring to?

Sam will become a husband and a stepfather if he will marry Jane.

My understanding is that the subject (Sam) and verb (become) extends to “husband” and “stepfather”. So that “Sam will be a husband and Sam will be a stepfather = Sam will be a husband and stepfather.”
If this is true, does the “if” clause refer to Sam becoming both a husband and a stepfather or does the “if” clause only refer to Sam becoming a stepfather? And why?


texts:
Want to know what does this sentence mean.
It has been a long time I havent used windows XP..
Does this means he is using it now?


texts: When did "pizza" first appear in the dictionary?

texts: My friend said "pizza" was not in a collegiate dictionary from the early 80s.  He said he confirmed that recently when he found the same edition of that dictionary.  I know the word has been around for a very long time!  Was it just that one dictionary?  It seems like a collegiate dictionary would be even MORE likely to contain "pizza"!  Maybe they just assumed all college students know what it is...


texts: what is the meaning of the word Malta .. I saw the word today on Google Maps


texts: Should I put my surname after my given name when I introduce myself?

texts:
I'm confused about if I should put my surname after my given name or not when I tell a western people what my name is. I would like to use the Pinyin version of my original name instead of choosing a Christian name as my English name when I communicate with western people.
Should I reverse the order? Or is it okay to write my Pinyin name just as it is? If I do, will western people get it wrong and think that my last name is the surname when it's actually my given name.


texts: Apparently, the word upon has its origin in the words up and on. Since I recently heard a non-native speaker pronounce upon as ['ʌpɒn], I would like to know if there is any record regarding the evolution of its pronunciation. Was (or is) it ever commonly pronounced in this way?


texts: Should it be: "each other's belongings" or "each others' belongings"?

texts:
In this sentence:

  I'm proud we're not one of those couples who have to snoop through
  each other's belongings.

Is the above correct? Or should it be "each others' belongings"? Can you ever say each others' in any situation?

Thanks for any advice!


texts: Australis, Austrinus, Australe - in constellations

texts:
I was having a look at the official constellations, and I noticed three with similar names:

Corona Australis
Piscis Austrinus
Triangulum Australe

Now the "Austral" definitely means "southern", as these constellations are otherwise known as the Southern Crown, Southern Fish, and Southern Triangle, respectively.  (Also the origin of the name "Australia".)  Predictably, they're also all in the southern celestial hemisphere as well.  My question is - if they're all the same word, presumably of Latin origin, then why are they spelled in three different ways?  I'd assume some sort of different noun-forms, which Latin is notorious for, but since they're all used in the same context, you'd think they'd be in the same declension.  Anyone know why these names (and specifically these forms of the word) were chosen for these constellations?


texts: Word for a cushy position awarded to a crony?

texts:
I'm struggling to recall this word. If I recall correctly, it's of French origin. My search has so far been fruitless.

The nearest equivalent I came up with was the idiom pulling strings but that is obviously English and not a single word.

  pull strings / wires
  (a) to use one's influence or authority, usually in secret, in order to bring about a desired result.
  (b) to gain or attempt to gain one's objectives by means of influential friends, associates, etc.:

  He had his uncle pull strings to get him a promotion.


texts: When should titles like "captain" or "admiral" be capitalized?

texts:
Please excuse the contrived example below, but I am wondering if this example is properly capitalised? I'm assuming that capitals are used when addressing someone directly, but lower case is used elsewhere.
Can someone give some rules on this?

  The captain walked into the room.
  "Hi, Captain," said the admiral.
  "Hi, Sir," replied the captain.
  "Call me Admiral."
  "Hi Admiral."
  The captain and admiral stepped forward.
  "Prime Minister, this is Captain Jones," said Admiral Brown.
  "Pleased to meet you," said the prime minister.


texts: Where did the word 'golliwog' come from?

texts: I am aware that the term is considered offensive. And I know that it refers to soft faced black dolls. But before that character was introduced, did 'golliwog' have meaning? I mean was it made up, or was it coined from other words? I am not really sure I made myself clear.


texts: Alternative phrase to use in place of "to support our claim ..."

texts:
I am writing a paper where I face the following situation.

1) I have made a claim (something holds true when something else holds true)

2) To make my claim more concrete I follow the claim with experimental analysis.

I want to say something like "To make the claim concrete", we show the experimental results ...

I thought of using "to support our claim, ...", but that seems too mild. I want something more imposing.

Is there a way to say this more elegantly?


texts: What is the etymology of the adjective "bumper"?

texts: Looking at Etymonline and Dictionary.com only reveals that it was slang from 1759.  Why did bumper come to mean unusually abundant, and why is it always paired up with the word crop?


texts: Should the comma in this sentence fall before the quotation in the word "We"? Thank you

texts: Never give up on someone with a mental illness. When "I" is replaced by "We", Illness becomes Wellness.


texts: What do you call the anniversary of moving somewhere?

texts:
My company is soon to celebrate its ten-year anniversary of moving to their new location. We are going to make some posters to announce it, but I can't think of a more succinct, punchy kind of way to say it.

10-Year Anniversary of Moving to 〇〇 ?
10-Year Relocation Anniversary ?

They all sound quite strange and ill-suited for posters. Any suggestions? Thanks much in advance!


texts: Objective or Impartial or Unbiassed information?

texts:
I've already read this post: Unbiased vs Impartial difference , but what I wanted to know is which one to use when refering to information without bias or prejudice. Objective information, impartial information or unbiased information ? or is the same?

To put you in context, I'm talking about giving drug information without prejuidce. I'm working on a harm reduction project for a local NGO in which we are planning to go to raves and electronic music parties to give information about psychoactive susbtances.

Thanks


texts: double whammy usage for two good things?

texts:
The phrase "double whammy" is used in a situation where two bad things happen but can it be used in a situation where two good things happen?

I didn't know "double whammy" is used in a situation with two bad things! All I believed was whammy was something good.

Can anyone suggest another phrase for a situation where two good things happen?


texts: What does "take dead aim" mean? Does "dead" do anything?

texts:
I've heard this term, to take dead aim at something. Does the "dead" in this expression do anything? I remember hearing the expression "I'll do my level best" and was quite sure leaving "level" out would leave the statement unchanged in meaning. Is this a similar case or not?

Here are examples of its use:
Video 1
Video 2
Tony Abbott takes dead aim at Malcolm Turnbull

I'm thinking either the "dead" contributes nothing to the meaning, or possibly it functions as an intensifier, in the same way that "right" functions in "I'll go [right] for the jugular". Maybe it means in a stronger or more aggressive way?

It just seems to me that "take aim" seems to get the point across, what does the "dead" mean?


texts: Is it "View on Facebook" or "View in Facebook"?

texts: Which is correct: View on Facebook or View in Facebook?


texts:
I wrote this sentence as the email subject this morning - "Will login not before 12 pm".

This has got me thinking if what I wrote is correct or the sentence should have been - "Will not login before 12 pm".

Are both the sentences technically correct?


texts: Is the question "What is your body figure" grammatically correct?

texts:
Is a question "What is your body figure" grammatically  correct?
or "What is your body sizes?" I think this one is wrong. Which one is better?


texts: Can "to close one's eyes" mean "to die"?

texts:
I am proofreading a translation and I came across this sentence:

Man’s entire life, from the moment he first sees the light of day until he closes his eyes, does not suffice to fully understand the great mystery of the human soul.

In other languages, including my own, the expression "to close one's eyes" is often used as a respectful metaphor for someone's death. Is that the case in English? I looked in a few dictionaries online, and they rather give the meaning of the expression to close one's eyes to something (meaning to voluntarily ignore something).


texts: Is there any exception of apostrophe rules?

texts: Why is there no apostrophe 's' after “election body” in the following sentence? Congress goes to top Court over election body 'inaction' on PM's speeches.


texts: "exerts and responds to forces to/from their surrounding"": how to revise?

texts:
I want to say
"[...] such as how it exerts forces to their surrounding and responds to forces from their surrounding"
However, I do not want to repeat "forces to their surrounding" twice, so but if I connect "exerts" and "responds" together, then I won't be able to change the preposition "to/from" coming after "forces".
So, how can revise this sentence in a compact what so that I won't need to repeat "forces to their surrounding" twice?


texts:
In the fragment "...to obtain optimum VTs at minimum number of simulations", should it be "a minimum", "the minimum", or is it fine as written?

Is this similar to the case of "a number" vs. simply "number"? I prefer to keep it without an article. Please advise.


texts: Is there a real difference between "null" and "zero"?


texts: Monsters! another question about what-was-it-then

texts:
Etymonline has the original meaning of monster as

c.1300, "malformed animal, creature afflicted with a birth defect"

but I am curious to know the term used at that time -- and even earlier -- for (one of) its current meaning(s): "mythological or fantastic creature: dragon, fairy, brownie, griffin, etc.".

The same entry suggests aglæca as a possibility.  Any further support (or conversely, examples showing this use to be poetic or otherwise unusual) would be most welcome.

Also of interest would be terms in other Indo-European languages (esp. Latin, Greek, the Germanic languages, and the Indic languages) before, say, 1000.


texts: What are alternative ways of saying "pressing the keyboard"?

texts:
I am looking for alternative ways of saying "pressing the keyboard" to include in a slogan. So I want a short and sweet phrase.

I have these three phrases in my mind: Stabbing the keyboard, poking the keyboard and hitting the keyboard. Are they correct or does it sound odd?


texts:
Of late I've noticed that this phrase seems to be tossed around all the time especially in the context of political discussions. What does it exactly mean? For example, take a look at the following excerpt from a Facebook page:

  ...self-described "homeschooling, Tea Partying, conservative mother"
  Megan Fox (not that one)...

I have also noted various inflections of this phrase at times, e.g. "He is a tea-partier" or "She has a habit of tea-partying her way into every discussion."

What does it exactly mean? Is it just a derogatory term for GOP'ers or conservatives? Or is it something less political and more social?