texts: What is the historical/etymological connection between nerves and the litany of expressions pertaining to anxiety, agitation, and audacity?

texts:
After a nerve-racking day, a nervy man may well get on our nerves. Nervous about offending him, we nevertheless work up the nerve to tell him he has some nerve to so freely enervate us. After arguing for an hour, our nerves are shot.
The English language is replete with terms and expressions that relate strong negative emotions to nerves. The connection is so strong that (in my experience) many English speakers tend to associate symptoms of negative emotions, such as clenched teeth, clenched fists, trembling, shortness of breath, etc. with literal nerves.
To be sure, nerves relay signals between our brains and muscles, and therefore play a role in the physiological response to negative emotions. However, as I see it, there's nothing particularly special or meaningful about the connection between the two.
For one thing, nerves play no role in the genesis of emotions (yes, the brain is technically part of the nervous system, but I highly doubt this antomical factoid explains the origin of the expressions).
For another, nerves play no more distinct a role in the response to negative emotions than many other physiological features: hormones, lungs, veins, muscles, the face, the eyes, etc. Notwithstanding the observation that shaking and numbness are two symptoms of extreme exertion, upset, or distress, and that nerves play a role in both, I see nothing to suggest why literal nerves and metaphorical nerve, nerves, and nervousness ought to be related. Why not use the face, heart, skin, or eyes consistently as a metaphor?
And if we associate nerves with negative emotions, why not also with positive emotions? Why does "getting on my nerves" not describe the physical feeling of euphoria in young love, and "I'm so unnerved" not describe ASMR (i.e. the warm fuzzies), which is a phenomenon directly and near-exclusively associated with the nervous system?
How many English speakers of old were even aware of what nerves are and what their anatomical role in the body is? Would a layperson have known, for instance, that nerves were the organ responsible for conveying sensations of pain, skin irritation, etc. at the time the terms/idioms came into use?
My question: Where does the link between physical nerves and expressions pertaining to anxiety, irritation, agitation, and audacity originate? What was the reasoning behind it? Is it unique to English, universal to all languages, or somewhere in between?
(Note that I'm omitting expressions such as "strike a nerve", "drilling into a nerve", etc., since the connection to literal nerves is obvious in these cases.)


texts:
Mrs. Carey was shy about bathing a boy, and of course the Vicar had his sermon. But the Vicar insisted that Philip should be clean and sweet for the lord's Day. Mary Ann said she would rather go than be put upon—and after eighteen years she didn't expect to have more work given her, and they might show some consideration—and Philip said he didn't want anyone to bath him, but could very well bath himself.(Of Human Bondage)

Can we omit 'to' before 'her' here? Is it common?

  after eighteen years she didn't expect to have more work given to
  her


texts: When to use "in number" and when to use "in numbers"?

texts:
When talking about a quantity of people or things, I get 2 phrases "in number" and "in numbers". It's a little bit confusing for me, so I ask for help. These are some examples I got from online dictionaries

We were eight in number(= there were eight of us).
Letters of complaint were surprisingly few in number (= there were not many of them).
The protesters were few in number, but they were very loud.

.

Nurses are leaving the profession in increasing numbers.
Newspapers are produced in vast numbers.


texts:
I'm reading a journal but didn't get the meaning of following sentence:

Conflict prediction
is based on aircraft trajectory prediction and is less certain the farther in
advance the prediction, however.

That phrase 'less certain the farther' makes this sentence hard to understand.
Please explain the meaning of this sentence.


texts: Name of a person that is intolerant of stupidity

texts:
What noun or adjective would one give to a person that is intolerant of stupidity? A person that becomes annoyed, angry, or of very short temper when conversing or interacting with people of a lower intelligence?

For example:

  The man is very xyzxyz; his son can't do multiplication very well.

or

  She is a(n) xyzxyz. She gets very frustrated when people forget things.

I'm looking almost for a scientific/medical/psychological term. One that would fall into the same kind of group as words like haemophiliac, masochist, nihilist, etc.


texts:
The past perfect serves a purpose: When describing things that happened in the past, it allows us to discuss things that happened before (i.e., in the past’s past).  However, a procession of had, had, had makes writing sound clumsy and labored, especially in a narrative.  I treat past perfect similar to constructions using that: Unless it changes the meaning of a sentence, toss it out.

A: She had called me weeks earlier, and now I remembered what she had told me.
B: She called me weeks earlier, and now I remembered what she told me.

A is strictly correct grammar, but weeks earlier already implies that the phone call happened before my remembering it, so I would favor simple past tense (B).  Am I correct, or did I go overboard in my attempt to avoid the past perfect?


texts: What lies behind the etymology of the word dandelion?

texts:
I am puzzled by the etymology of the word dandelion. I am aware that it is derived from the French “dent-de-lion”, meaning 'lion's tooth' (because of the jagged shape of the leaves).

What puzzles me however is

why the English adopted a French word for a plant which had always existed in England (it must have been called something before it became dandelion);
why the English adopted a French word for a plant which had never been called by that name by the French. The French for dandelion has always been “pissenlit” and if they have never called dandelions “dent-de-lion” why did we?


texts: Express Emphasis without using Italics or Underline

texts:
Are there any methods to express emphasis without using italics or underline? I find that there are many cases where formatting does not allow italics, even if emphasis would add to the text greatly.

I mean, seriously.


texts:
How to connect "outlook" and "future works"?

this report gives an outlook to future works

this report gives an outlook on future works

this report gives an outlook for future works

which one is fully correct?


texts: "I want you to know how much your effort, time, and work {are/is} appreciated."

texts:
What kind of verb we should use after some uncountable nouns separated by commas as the subject of our sentence? In the following example do we need is or are?

  I want you to know how much your effort, time, and work are/is appreciated.

I want you to know how much your effort, time, and work are/is appreciated.


texts: What's a good phrase for a "collection of the places someone wants to visit"?

texts:
The context here is a personal collection of such things. 15 years ago I'd have called this a travel file. For a digital collection, that name doesn't feel right.

Travel diary would feel appropriate for a record or a schedule, but not a list of unscheduled aspirations. And of course, travel guide isn't right.

So far, the closest I've found is travel atlas. There's precedent for using the word atlas for digital collections of places. For example, the website Atlas Obscura is a guide to "the world's wondrous and curious places."

Added: This collection may also include a record places that have been visited. Information someone might refer to on their return, or might share with someone else visiting the same place.


texts: What is the difference between these two "scip"s?

texts:
In a question about ships, I added an answer with the etymologies that underpin both ship and -ship.

"Ship" stems from scip: "O.E. scip "ship, boat," from P.Gmc. *skipan (cf. O.N., O.S., Goth. skip , Dan. skib , Swed. skepp , M.Du. scip , Du. schip , O.H.G. skif , Ger. Schiff )."
"-ship" stems from "O.E. -sciepe , Anglian -scip." (both from Dictionary.com)

There's more to both etymologies, and perhaps the abbreviations are obsfuscating the answer to this question, but how are O.E. scip and Anglian -scip related, if at all (which basically ties back into the original question)?

More apropos this question, to the extent an etymology would differentiate the two, what familial resemblance or other relationship does O.E. have to Anglian?


texts: "Are YOU coming to get me" / "Are you coming to GET me" Is there any grammatical or semantic difference?

texts:
Is there any grammatical or semantic difference between the phrases:

"Are you coming to get me?"—used to imply the question of whether that particular person is coming to get whoever.

And this phrase:

"Are you coming to get me"—implying that the person is late or has been expected earlier.

I'm curious as to whether these sentences have only semantic differences or if there is a difference in the  case or tense—or something like that—used.


texts:
I know disposition means a persons inherent qualities of mind and character and it is a noun. i know you would say "he has a very quiet brooding disposition" but my roommate was cleaning the house and said, "will you help me move the table? I don't want to slide it and disposition the rug."

i told him using disposition in that context was wrong and we argued. i felt he should've used reposition instead of disposition. using disposition he would've said "can you help me move the table so as to not affect the disposition of the rug"

can you use disposition as a verb or is it strictly a noun?


texts: Is "Listen up" a complete sentence or is it just a fragment?


texts:
A word which is closest to the meaning of 'relatable'.
For example, you watch a movie or read something and you have the strange sense of feeling that it has happened to you too, And you attach a deeper sense of meaning and understanding to it.


texts: Is there a word that describes a person who constantly underestimates situations?

texts: Does there exist a single word, either an adjective or a noun, that effectively describes an individual who habitually underestimates things—e.g., cost, time required, complexity?


texts: Is using "their hairs" grammatically wrong?

texts:
I'm Soumya, an author from India.

A reader has challenged me about the use of the word 'hairs' in my book. I have used, 'a few hairs' and that's justified, as hair is a countable noun in that very phrase. But I'm at a confusion for some other sentences. Could you kindly tell me if I'm wrong grammatically?

"The evening zephyr ruffled their long flowing hairs - the Indian village girl's shiny, black hair, and Audrey's curly blonde hair."
"They had golden or brown or ashen hairs."
"His black and white hairs had now turned into complete white."

Could you please help? Thank you!


texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  When is a gerund supposed to be preceded by a possessive pronoun?

  Do you mind me smoking?
  Do you mind my smoking?

  There's little chance of you getting a sunburn.
  There's little chance of your getting a sunburn.

I was taught in school to use the latter of each pair, though have heard the former in daily life. Which is correct, or does it matter?


texts: I want to know when the phrase learn the ropes was first used?


texts:
Yesterday, I watched MasterChef America. There were two teams competing in the challenge of cooking and serving food at a football game. There were 100 voters and the red team won the blue team by 51 to 49.

Since the blue team lost in the competition, they had to do the pressure test where they cook against each other and only few of them would stay in the game. Before the pressure started, one of them said "I know we lost only two points but in the competition it doesn't matter how many points we lose. They balcony is really far away."

What does "the balcony is really far away" mean?


texts: What POS is "welcome" in "welcome to x"?

texts:
In the phrases:

"welcome home"
"welcome to Jurassic Park"

I always assumed "welcome" was a verb here, and the structure was a shortened form of:

"(I) welcome (you) home"
"(we) welcome (you all) to Jurassic Park"

In learning Spanish, I started trying to conjugate "bienvenido" like a verb but it turns out it's ONLY an adjective. So in Spanish, the phrases are:

"(you are) welcome home"
"(you all are) welcome to Jurassic Park"

If I think of these sentences in English, I believe they use "welcome" correctly but the structure seems odd to me.
So in English, in these phrases, what is "welcome" short for and/or what POS is "welcome"? I tried thinking of a definitive example sentence but nothing's coming to mind.
Edit: Maybe "welcome, everyone" shows it's an adj?


texts: The use of hyphen in "twentieth-first-century reader" and "twentieth-first century reader"

texts: Which variant is correct: "twentieth-first-century reader" or "twentieth-first century reader"? Is the use of the second hyphen in the first example a matter of taste or not?


texts: Looking for a word that describes something that is complex and overwhelming yet elegant?

texts:
I am looking for a word that describes something that is both complex (in the sense that it may overwhelm at first sight) and elegant at the same time.

The first word I could think of was "monstrosity" but I feel that carries too much of a negative connotation.

Specifically, this relates to describing my reaction to a vehicle.

I have attached the picture below to give an example.


texts: Is "there has not been" in the passive voice?

texts:
Example sentence:

In Tahiti there has not been a cyclone for 12 years.

Is this sentence in the passive voice? How can you tell?
I believe it follows the syntax rule for passive voice: to be + past participle, but I am struggling to convert it to active voice, so now I'm unsure whether or not it's passive.


texts:
Native English speakers don’t pronounce the ‘o’ vowel  in the 1st syllable.
It's pronounced as an 'ə' instead.

Is this true?

When I say "Today" I say  /tuˈdeɪ/ , NOT /təˈdeɪ/.
Is there a special linguistic term for this type of pronunciation?
I am not sure if it's an idiolect or dialect thing.


texts: "easy to seal tight" or "easy to tighly seal"?

texts:
I am talking about valves, and there is this specific valve which is cheap (not expensive), compact (not too big), easy to maintain (the valve is easy to clean and rarely ever needs to be repaired) and easy to 'seal tight' (meaning, it is easy to tighly seal the valve).

The sentence which I wrote was 'These valves are cheap, compact, easy to maintain and seal tight.'

My teacher highlighted this sentence saying something was wrong with the sentence structure and that 'easy to seal tight' is incorrect. Is it true that it is incorrect? If yes, how should I rephrase it so that the sentence structure is correct?


texts: Use of "mental" and "spiritual" as adjectives

texts:
If I say something encouraging for someone, then I am mentally or spiritually supporting him.

  I mean to input into his head as well as resurect ideas of possibility that has been far out of reach.

Is mental or spiritual support the correct term here?


texts: Why does "one half" have no hyphen, but "two-thirds" does?

texts: I often see the fraction ⅔ written with a hyphen, but I never see ½ written with one.  Is it correct to have the hyphen in two-thirds, and if so why don't we write one-half?


texts:
Etymology question: How did the term "Union Local" develop and why don't we say "Local Union"?

Example: "I expect to get the call to start this plant up immediately,” said Simmons, who worked there for nearly 40 years and heads the United Steelworkers Local 1899.

Quick Citation: "Some steelworkers love Trump tariffs. Others fear them."
; Paquette, Danielle; Washington Post; 03/06/18


texts:
Why is the simple future used in the following sentence instead of the simple present?

  A client software will not transfer files.


texts: A word for an action that's not illegal but morally dubious

texts:
I am writing an essay on Political Correctness currently, and striving to find a word fitting this description. I want to say that something wasn't nice, but it wasn't breaking the law. It wasn't legally wrong. But, in the sight of people around me, it was illegal, disallowed, inappropriate, taboo. But after then, I proceeded to say something else that was actually "legally illegal". What is a term that would replace the words in the quotation marks?

Here is an example:

It's recess, and there's joking everywhere. Then someone cracks a joke at someone else. Everyone laughs. The person whom the joke is against laughs as well, then shouts,"You Jew!" What he said was actually prosecutable. It was "legally illegal" I need a term/adjective fitting this description


texts: Correct terminology for items carried on a fictional starship?

texts:
I'm working on a sci-fi video game project that involves starships and simulation of life on board. I'm wondering what the correct term would be for an abstracted overview for the player of what is on board. For example the starship may have one or more of the following:

Ordnance
Fuel
Food
Medicine
Crew
etc

The issue is that some of these can be grouped into other subgroups such as "Supplies" for Food and Medicine but I need to group all of these elements into a GUI window that needs a title, so I need an appropriate term to group all contents so that so that it translates over to the player as "everything the starship is carrying".

Would "manifest" be the most appropriate, since it'll also apply to crew and in general all contents on board? I've looked into a lot of nautical terms but haven't found anything more appropriate.


texts: How can I politely tell a customer that we only provide e-mail support?

texts:
I'm running an online e-commerce site but use only e-mails for customer service to cut the expense.

When a customer asks me by e-mail if he/she can call me for some questions, how can I politely tell her/him to use only e-mail for enquiries?

Is it O.K. to say "Sorry we accept only e-mail support and don't have phone number" or something?


texts: When sunlight fall on new leaves, they glow. Is there any word to describe this shiny glow of the surface of the leaf?


texts: Any particular meaning to the expression 'stuck still'?

texts: Stuck still, I would like to know what the exact meaning of this expression is. I think it's something like 'frozen in place' by a certain shocking or surprising occurrence or situation.


texts: What does “sunset” mean when used as a verb?

texts:
There was the following quote from Adam B. Schiff, Democrat Representative on President Obama’s request for a formal authorization of Congress to fight the Islamic State in New York Times article (February 10), titled “Obama to seek war bill from Congress to fight ISIS.

  “Representative Adam B. Schiff was uncomfortable with much of what he
  has seen floated, especially the lack of a 2001 repeal. “If you don’t
  sunset that” he said, “any sunset you put in a new authorization is
  pretty meaningless because any president can rely on the 2001
  authority to claim they have all they need.”

Oxford Advanced Learnner's Dectionary at hand defines 'sunset' simply as a noun meaning 1.(u) the time when the sun goes down and night begins. 2. (c) the colours in the part of the sky where the sun slowly goes down in the evening.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen the case of the word “sunset” being used in tandem in the form of both verb and noun in a line in this way.

Is it common to use “sunset” as a verb to mean (as I take it) “to repeal” or “put something to an end” in this way? What does “sunset” exactly mean here?


texts: Should you use past tense for a fact that still remains in force?

texts:
For example what variant is correct?

He was the man who did that first.
He is the man who did that first.
He himself appeared in a film about his life.
He himself appears in a film about his life.
He was the strongest man ever when he was alive.
He is still the strongest man ever even though he is dead.
He said this in his letters.
He says this in his letters.
In this photo he looked healthy.
In this photo he looks healthy.


texts: Abbreviations vs. contractions. Do they differ in pronunciation or only in spelling?

texts:
Lexico and Imperial College London says that the difference between abbreviations and contractions is that contractions omit letters in the middle and not in the end, hence Dr, for example, is a contraction and not an abbreviation.
https://www.lexico.com/grammar/contractions:

Contractions are a type of abbreviation in which letters from the middle of the word are omitted. Examples include: Dr (Doctor), St (Saint), Ltd (Limited), Revd (Reverend).

https://www.imperial.ac.uk/brand-style-guide/writing/grammar/abbreviations/:

An abbreviation omits letters from the end of a word and a contraction omits letters from the middle of a word. <...> Contracted titles such as Dr, Mr and Mrs should not be followed by a full stop.

Larry Trask in his article on the webiste of University of Sussex, on the other hand, have another view, and considers Dr to be an abbreviation and not a contraction:
http://www.sussex.ac.uk/informatics/punctuation/capsandabbr/abbr:

Abbreviations must be clearly distinguished from contractions. The key difference is that an abbreviation does not normally have a distinctive pronunciation of its own. So, for example, the abbreviation Dr is pronounced just like Doctor, the abbreviation oz is pronounced just like ounce(s) and the abbreviation e.g. is pronounced just like for example. (True, there are a few people who actually say "ee-jee" for the last one, but this practice is decidedly unusual.) A contraction, in contrast, does have its own distinctive pronunciation: for example, the contraction can't is pronounced differently from cannot, and the contraction she's is pronounced differently from she is or she has.


texts: Correct way to express "'worthy of falling in love for"

texts:
Please evaluate this sentence for its correctness. I'm concerned about the use of of in front of falling.

  However, you're utterly off in your assessment about failing in love for someone else. I haven't found anyone worthy of falling for, and I will not compromise my feelings to just try.


texts:
Maybe this question is too simple for this site, and I should post it on the english-learners-site, but I will give it a try.

Lets say we have 3 scenarios:

A person who hates all followers of a specific religion, no matter what their background is, but otherwise likes people of all skin colors and origin countries who are not followers of a specific religion.
A person who hates all people with a specific skin color, no matter what their background is, but otherwise likes followers of all religions and origin countries who do not have a specific skin color.
A person who hates all people from a specific country, no matter what their background is, but otherwise likes followers of all religions and all skin colors who are not from a specific country.

"Hates" in this context means believing they are worthless, being prejudiced against them, generally discriminating against them, bad behaviour against them, and disliking them.

"likes" just means the opposite of my explanation above.

So, based on this definition of the word racist:

The belief that race accounts for differences in human character or ability and that a particular race is superior to others.
Discrimination or prejudice based on race.

Would you use the word racist to describe the person in all of the 3 examples I gave? Or are there better fitting words for specific forms of discrimination? Particularly for the first scenario (religion specific racism). I am looking for a better word to describe such a person.

Religion is independent from race, and I am not sure if only country of origin is enough to relate to a specific race so that the word racist could fit here.
Skin color is more obvious, but there could also be some discussion if a specific skin color already suffices to assign something to a specific race.

(I am not a native english speaker, so sorry for any mistakes and if this is obvious for native speakers.)

Edit:

  This question may be related to this Question and this
  Question, but I dont see it as a duplicate at all, because there
  are various different aspects in the question and answers.  Also i
  could not find the questions by search before i wrote my question,
  maybe some of the answers and aspects are similar, but the questions
  itself are different in my opinion. But that is only my opinion, feel
  free to close this, if you think they are too similar. I got some
  useful answers already, so I dont insist to keep this open.

  I will accept the answer with most votes at the weekend, so the
  community decides which answer fits best


texts: Origin of "[noun] enough" instead of "enough [noun]"?

texts:
Sometimes the word "enough" comes before a noun as in "I've got enough money to waste" and sometimes it comes after as in "I've got money enough to waste". Was "[noun] enough" more common in a particular place or time or with a certain group of people? Why is that the less common form?

Searching for "[n*] enough" on the Corpus of Contemporary American English shows that it appears in all types of writings: fiction, newspapers, movie scripts, etc. "Reason enough", "time enough", and "sense enough" seem to the the most common phrases.


texts: "The new guys are dressed a lot nicer than we/us"

texts: Does anyone know the correct word choice between "we" and "us", and explain the reason why? Thanks!


texts: What is the difference between using gerunds vs. infinitives as the subject of a sentence?

texts:
For example: What is the difference in saying "To err is human" vs. "Making mistakes is an intergal part of the human condition?"

In our textbook "Speak Out C1" the author explains that it is more common for gerunds to be used as the subject of the sentence. However, one of my students told me that a previous English teacher taught that it is better to use the infinitive.

Intunitively I feel that the infinitive form is a little bit more poetic-sounding, but is there actually any difference in meaning?

Are there grammar rules governing the usage of these two forms as the subject of a sentence?

Thank you so much in advance for your help.


texts: Opposite of 'damned with faint praise' (2nd variety)?

texts:
Is there a commonly used term for what I would call "Damned with excessive praise"?

The idea I'm referring to is when a speaker uses exaggerated praise in a sarcastic way to disparage an idea or a speaker. I noticed an example in a book recently, but I can't seem to find an exact quote now. The example went something like "John Doe, quite clearly the greatest mind of the past 1000 years, recently proposed the following dazzling idea ...".

Any suggestions?

Note that I added "(2nd variety)" to the question title, since there is already a question with the same name but a different idea - asking about "praised with mild criticism", where the best idiom provided was "praised with faint damns".


texts: Comma vs semicolon for "This is not a war, it's a revolution."

texts:
I understand that they are both independent clauses. Therefore, a semicolon should theoretically be used:

This is not a war; it's a revolution.

However, I think it reads a little weird. And seeing as it's a very short sentence, would it be acceptable to say:

This is not a war, it's a revolution.


texts: Better alternative for "bring something to something"?

texts:
Is it correct to say

  bring some experience to some activity,

as in

  Our product brings new experience to everyday shopping

(artificial example) or there is an expression, that fits better? I thought about

  introduce ... experience to activity

and

  add ... experience to activity.

Also, a grammar checker I tried (Grammarly) says, that

  bring ... experience to activity

is not correct, while

  bring ... experience into activity

is OK for it.


texts: What does this phrase ("..for who knows which ideas now considered ...might one day upset the prevailing paradigm") mean?

texts:
The following sentence is a GRE style text-completion sentence, where you must fill in each blank from only one of three enlisted options.

  It is telling that some scientific ideas that were once (i) _______ have recently garnered (ii) _______ the intelligentsia, for who knows which ideas now considered (iii) _______ might one day upset the prevailing paradigms.

  (i) forgotten
  ridiculed
  protected

  (ii) disapprobation from
  currency amongst
  scorn from

  (iii) overtly elaborate
  patently false
  beyond reproach

The answers given are ridiculed, currency amongst and patently false respectively.

I am struggling to understand the part of the sentence after the comma

  for who knows which ideas now considered (iii) _______ might one day upset the prevailing paradigms.

What does this mean? That there are ideas that sometime in the future will upset the prevailing, accepted view? How does this clue help to decide what answer goes in option (iii)? Without this, I'm also unable to answer the first two blanks.


texts:
Suppose I have some measurement with interferometer number 1, let's call the result A, and another measurement with interferometer number 2, let's call that one B. Suppose that always A>B (in some known, fixed coordinate system and units; the numbers can be negative). What the best way to describe this in words?

Interferometer #1 measures a larger distance than #2.
Interferometer #1 measures a higher distance than #2.
Interferometer #1 measures a bigger distance than #2.
Interferometer #1 measures more than #2.
Interferometer #1 measures less negative than #2.
Interferometer #1 measures a more positive number than #2.
Interferometer #1 measures a less negative number than #2.

I would like to use "a larger distance" but I find that unclear when comparing A=-5 with B=-6.


texts:
I am translating an english lecture (original not in writing) where the speaker gives "roller ball" as a simple example for something "you can touch to learn about it". (so the baseball-meaning will not apply)
The lecture is from the sixties, so the "rollerball" pen was not in broad use, I guess.
There was the proposal that it refers to the ball from a ball-bearing, but it confuses me a bit, as a roller is usually cylindrcal thats why one makes the difference between roller-bearing and ball-bearing.
It would make sense, if one would call a bearing also a "roller", but nowhere I did find this use...
So I hope it doesn't seem too pedantic and someone can give me an estimation what a "roller ball" is likely to be in this exemple.

Ist basically "if you teach him about roller balls, give him a roller ball" ( you know, as opposed to just teaching theoretical about something)


texts: What is the rule in the sentence "she always had this twisted side to her"?

texts:
I can understand the meaning of the sentence "she always had this twisted side to her", but I can't really figure out why it is expressed like this. I mean, if I couldn't get the meaning, how should have I searched for it in the dictionary? Is it a particular use of the verb "to have"? Or of "to"?

For me it would be more natural to just say "she always had this twisted side".
I hope it is clear what I'm trying to ask.


texts: What does it mean - "We all know that you are news"?

texts:
“We all know that you are news - but are you king? King of the Jews?"

(Jesus Christ Superstar music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Tim Rice)

(Scene on YouTube). The line comes after 1:11 in the video.)

What does the news word mean in this context?

I searched and found this meaning in Oxford:

  a person or thing considered interesting enough to be reported in the
  news.
  "Chanel became the hottest news in fashion"

But I'm still unsure if it  applies in this context or whether it  may be a kind of slang from the  60s?


texts: What word would you use for movement of bushes?

texts: Say there's a small animal hidden among bushes and it causes the branches (if they can be called that) of the bushes to shake/move slightly. Now the sound of this could probably be described using rustling, but what word would use to describe the visual shaking/movement of the bushes?


texts:
Horoscope: You'll make a risqué comment to a boss who lately has had his or her head in the clouds…

From the above sentence I can understand that a person is going to make an indecent comment to his/her boss. I couldn't get what the rest of the sentence meant. The above sentence is taken from an email I got.


texts: Is there a word/short phrase for "the most" of something (not necessarily the majority)?

texts:
I don't want to use the word "majority" in many contexts because it tends to imply that 50% or more of something has gone one way. However, I don't know a concise way of saying that something has occurred more than any other. Example:

  Symbolic of the 'red wall' being broken in this election was seeing Blyth Valley falling to the Conservatives. Ian Levy won ______ of the vote.

Ian Levy won 42.7% of the vote in the constituency, so it seems inappropriate to say "majority". It would be useful to have a word/short phrase to signify that the Conservatives won a greater share of the vote than any other party.


texts: How should this sentence structure be interpreted?

texts:
I'm playing an online game in which I came across a message in the form of a sentence of which the structure is new to me.

It read:

  You do not have a hatchet which you have the level to use.

The weird part for me start after the word 'which'. Specifically, how can 'the level' be put there? Without 'the level' it is a regular sentence in my opinion, but the sentence as it is now seems inscrutable for me.

Could someone shed some light on this sentence structure please?


texts: Is using the word "Anomaly" in a positive sense okay? For instance, to denote someone/thing with characteristics of an outlier, sth that stands apart. I'm not sure because I've only heard of the word in a negative context.


texts:
I love you so.

What does this so mean here?


texts:
I've heard that a paragraph should have exactly one subject.  I'm looking at the caption of a figure, and wondering if it should be reworded:

  If the factor model is good, it interrupts the effect of M, but not S.  The residual at X, R, can only be due to single-cause confounders like S.  It acts as an instrumental variable when none of these single-cause confounders exist.

Here, the first it refers to the factor model; the second it refers to the residual.  Is there a rule that the subject should never change, or is it clear that a new subject has been introduced?

Because this is a figure caption, I don't feel like I can break it into two paragraphs.


texts:
I'm learning English and trying to use Voices. Yesterday i had answered on StackOverflow and typed like below

  This file is located here

I think it's the Passive Voice, but in Russian (my native language is Russian) it's the Active Voice, because it translates as располагаетСЯ, where располагает is like English "locate" and СЯ is like English "self".

Can you tell me what Voice is it in English? Did i use it right?


texts: Is "hold out a promise" the same meaning as "make a promise"?  Or did I misunderstand them?  I found definitions for "make a promise", but couldn't find definitions for "hold out a promise".


texts: Michelson-Morley experiments weren't the failure MIT made them out to be,  just as Cold Fusion wasn't the failure MIT made it out to be


texts:
I was pondering the term maiden name when talking with British English speakers recently. They don’t seem to have that term. So my question is two-fold:

Is there another term for maiden name, especially in British English?
Does anyone find maiden a little offensive? I mean, is it OK to call an unmarried woman a maiden?


texts: How is this sentence formed: "The seniors make the freshers write practical files."

texts:
How is this sentence constructed?

  The seniors make the freshers write practical files.


texts: One word for something that is distributed/handed out

texts:
I need a single word which is essentially an item/component which can be distributed to people. I would have termed them as distributables (something that is distributable - a distributable), but I don't see the word ever being used as a noun.

For instance: Things like bookmarks and pamphlets are sometimes 'freebie-handouts' in a library. They are _____ (distributables?)


texts: "I'll see you" is the same as "I'll miss you"?

texts:
In a drama, there is a goodbye scene and the dialogue between sister and brother like below.

  sister: Thanks, Kevin... I guess it's that time.
  brother: I'll see you, Sis. Don't get lost. (his sister is going to go to drive across the country, and they will not see each other for a long time)

What does "I'll see you" mean? Is it the same as "I'll miss you"?


texts: Is there a word for an event that happens in most years?

texts: Is there a word for an annually recurring event which doesn't actually occur in every year?  For instance, a family takes an annual vacation almost every year, but some years it doesn't work out: "We missed our _____ vacation this year."


texts:
I ran across with phrasing "to port over" in some articles.
What does it mean?

  There have been a few instances, where porting functionality over to the Zend Framework resulted in immediate performance gains.
  _the initial port over tends to perform a little slower*


texts: what's the meaning of "the first [number]"

texts:
I usually come across a sentence like "the first [number]".
For example,

  If the number of questions is 100, a student submitted answers to the first 10 questions.

I don't exactly get the meaning of "the first 10" in this sentence. Does this means that the student submitted answers numbering 1 ~ 10?


texts: Should "baby" be capitalized when placed before a name?

texts: Can baby ever be used as a title? In the sentence, "I thought baby Cora was such a cute infant!" should baby be capitalized? Thanks!


texts:
Since the Eastern Jin, parallel prose was used even for minor reports
  and notices; in the Tang, it became the antithetical form.

I'm confused about what this sentence is saying. Is it saying that in the Tang, parallel prose was not used?


texts: Do I need to put a comma before every "because"?

texts:
I am correcting a document and was told that I have to put a comma before every occurrence of “because” mid-sentence.

Example:

  This might be because another algorithm was chosen.

The corrector remarked that I ought to place a comma in this sentence: This might be, because another algorithm was chosen.

Can you explain the rules for placing commas in sentences with “because”?


texts:
I have been commissioned to script a series of brief videos on the importance of data accuracy and consistency. The videos are directed to employees of a company with offices around the world—North and South America, Europe (but not the United Kingdom), East and South Asia, Australia and Africa.

The videos are to be in English, which is the lingua franca of all company communications, and are to be couched in a "bright" colloquial style.

I am drafting these employing the singular construction of data, because this usage is dominant in US business circles, and the plural construction would sound either "odd" or inappropriately "formal" to most employees.

My question is: Is the plural construction so dominant among English users in any of the business communities where my client is active that I should advise that two versions of the videos be produced, one employing data in the singular and the other in the plural?

I may say that I have consulted these ELU questions: 1, 2, 3, 4, and none appears to address my concern; and the discussions I have found on Google dwell rather on what should be taught globally than what is actually used.


texts: Did the CNN reporter mispronounce the word 'wary'?

texts:
In this CNN report, a CNN reporter said this:

...
Xi complied and as they were in the process of returning, you might recall, the president tweeted out wondering aloud if they would thank him for his role in their return. All three of them did and president tweeted at them saying, he was glad that they were home, that they should be wary of many pitfalls in life.
...

The word 'wary' starts at 35 seconds of the video.
Firsts things first. I understand that some writers misuse the word 'weary' when they should use 'wary' instead.
Now, the question is, did the CNN reporter really mispronounce the word 'wary' or can that be a correct pronunciation of the word 'wary'?
Simply by the pronunciation of the word, it sounds to me like 'weary'. But contexts dictates that it be 'wary'.
EDIT
Regarding the context dictating that the word should be 'wary', here's what Trump tweeted (according to this Politico article):

"Be careful, there are many pitfalls on the long and winding road of life!"

EDIT
This question is closed based on the erroneous claim that the mispronunciation of "wary" as "weary" is merely an isolated mistake on the part of the CNN reporter himself.
The same mistakes of using "weary" instead of "wary", however, have been noticed even in writing.
Here's what Garner's Modern American Usage says on page 851.
Specifically, see the third paragraph and the following three examples.

Now, if native speakers can easily misuse "weary" even in writing  when they mean "wary", no wonder native speakers will easily misuse "weary" in speaking when they mean "wary". Therefore, I seriously doubt that the CNN reporter's misuse of the word is a one-off mistake.


texts: Mixing use of K for thousands and MM for millions

texts:
Traditionally, M is used as the symbol for thousands and MM for millions in the business world, particularly in accounting. However, there has been a growing tendency to use K as the symbol for thousands instead of M.

Would it be considered acceptable to use K for thousands and MM for millions, effectively mixing symbols?

For example, in a document that requires the use of symbols because of limited space in a table, I see "500K-1MM" to stand for "500,000-1,000,000". This document is written for a general professional audience.

My thoughts are:

If K and MM are used, it's bad style because the symbols are being mixed up. But if M and MM are used, non-experts might not even be aware that M is a symbol for thousands and get confused. It seems like that the safest choice to ensure comprehension is to use K and MM, but something about mixing the symbols just doesn't seem right to me.

Thanks!


texts:
/ˈkwestʃən/ or /ˈkwesʃən/ or both?
The dictionary says that it should be pronounced like "kwes+chun", but our teacher says "kwes-shun", and insists that both pronunciations are acceptable. He does the same for "suggestion". Is that really true?


texts: In art, what do we call a painting within a painting and the painter painting himself?

texts:
In art, what do we call a painting within a painting being painted by a painter painting the painting who is also painting himself?

I mean sth like this picture:


texts: Is there an English grammar equivalent of the Italian "complemento"

texts:
In Italian, translating from the Italian wikipedia as accurately as I can muster,

  a "complemento" is a part of a sentence (one or more words) that specify, clarify and enrich the meaning thereof.

Italian has a loooong, punctilious list of various possible types of "complemento", for example:

I have plenty of diamonds — "complemento" of abundance
I am short of diamonds — "complemento" of privation
It's made of diamonds — "complemento" of matter
Some of the diamonds are valuable — "complemento" of partition
Each of these diamonds is valuable — "complemento" of specification
It's worthy of diamonds — "complemento" of value

I can't find anything like this on the English wikipedia - although adjuncts sound suspiciously similar, I'd say none of these are temporal, locative, modicative, causal, instrumental, conditional or concessive - although there certainly are some that are, and not all require prepositions:

I'm waiting there - "complemento" of being in place
I'm going there - "complemento" of motion to place
I'm going to Rome - "complemento" of motion to place also.

The next closest thing would be adverbial complements, but most of these aren't required for the sentence to make sense, or tied to the verb.


texts:
I asked him where he was and why he wasn't answering, which he
  responded that he was fine and he was at home to.

  I asked him where he was and why he wasn't answering, to which he
  responded that he was fine and he was at home.

Which one is the correct one? Do you find the first one clumsy?


texts: How to describe "the remaining portion of a target" in a simple term or phrase?

texts: Let's say I run a car dealership and I gave my sales a target of selling 50 cars this month. They have sold 25 already. Is there a word to describe the remaining 25 cars? For example, the goal of selling 50 cars is the target. The 25 cars sold can be called fulfillment or completed.


texts: In computing, what is the plural of 'child' in terms of inheritance?

texts:
For example: when using inheritance with classes in Java, I have a parent and two classes which inherit from that parent. Do I refer to these as 'children' or as 'childs'?
In other words, what is the plural of 'child' in terms of class?


texts:
What is the correct verb for killing an animal for food?

Can it be "Slaughter" or "Butcher" or "Harvest" ?

I am looking for a verb a farmer would use.

For example: "I will "verb" two of my cows this year."


texts: What is another way to say "baby steps"?

texts: I am trying to name a timeline of the American Revolution. The title has to be clever. I was thinking something like " Baby steps to America's Independence " but that was one of the examples soo... I need another way to say it......


texts:
Is using a comma after 'or rather' necessary?
The sentence would be: "So begins the most intriguingly opening book I’ve ever read. Or rather, the only book that was gripping from the very start."


texts: Does "developed products" include products still in the development process?

texts:
Here is an example sentence:

  We carry out life cycle assessments on developed products to determine their environmental burden throughout the life cycle of the product.

I am trying to figure out if this would include products still in the development process such as completed prototypes, or if it only refers to products the company is ready to put on the market. Based solely on grammar it would seem that it would not include prototypes, but I get the feeling actual usage is not quite so simple.


texts: Using present participle and past tense of an acronym

texts:
In computer networking (my field), there is a term, Network Address Translation, which almost always takes its acronym form “NAT,” and is pronounced like we say gnat (the annoying little insect). NAT often gets used as a verb (as in the word “translate”). For example, somebody might say one of the following:

You should NAT that address as 169.254.37.29
What are you NAT(t)ing that device as?
That gets NAT(t)ed as 169.254.37.29

When speaking, we say this kind of thing all the time. But when writing it in an e-mail, it has always bothered me as to how to express the second two examples... should it be NATed (which doesn’t fit English’s pronunciation guidelines of two Ts to make a soft a), or NAT’ed; NATing, NATting (looks stupid), or NAT’ing?

In the past I have often just skipped it by saying translating or translated, but that’s not how we talk when we use the term, so it seems artificial.


texts:
When we say "never mind that" to mean disregard or don't worry about, is it a verb altogether (a phrasal verb) or is "mind" the verb that's modified by the adverb never? Examples:

Never mind what he told you
Never mind his suggestions

You can say "Mind his suggestions." although that would sound old-fashioned. Is "never mind" just the negation of that with the adverb never?


texts: Should I write numbers in words or as numerals when there are multiple next to each other?

texts:
I hope this is not off-topic:

How do you write things like this: The machine was tested in 5 3-players games, 2 4-players games...

Or: five 3-players games, two 4-players games...

I want to say e.g. that it was tested 5 times in games of 3 players, and so on.


texts:
Many (particularly sci-fi) shows or books invent words to replace real words, for example 'frak' in Battlestar Galactica replaces the 'F' word to get through censorship.

Is there a word to describe a word like 'frak', a word used in place of another? Not necessarily always replacing a curse word, I'm only using this as an example. My first thoughts were proxy or intimation but that's not quite right.


texts:
Is the use of ruddy as a pejorative intensifier truly a Briticism? Many dictionaries list it as such, and I've seen it in fiction as a marker that a character is British, but I don't seem to hear actual Brits say it. Google Ngrams say it's used just as much on either side of the pond, but especially for a word that's mainly used (in this sense) orally, that's very unreliable.

Is it still in use in the 21st century, and if so is it truly particularly British? If so, is it generally British or is it specific to a particular region or social class? Or is it just one of these words that pass off as British outside the UK because it just doesn't get used much anymore?


texts: Definite Articles vs Non-definite Articles

texts:
1,A chicken I bought yesterday is missing.

2,Her father was shot by a man trying to rob his retail store.

Theoretically, a phrase that refers to something identified uniquely should take a definite article.

Like scenario 1, "A chicken." indicates I bought more than one chicken yesterday. If I only bought one chicken, this sentence should be rephrased as "The " chicken I bought yesterday is missing."

But Scenario 2,   many people feel that "a" doesn't exclude the possibility that there was only one man robbing.
How is this happening?


texts: I've read in various places the first minute of a day described as 12:00am.  Now, whilst I personally prefer to use 24h clock notation and therefore don't have this problem as I can simply describe this minute as 00:00, how is one supposed to express this time using am/pm notation?  Is 00:00am common (strange because there is no 00:00pm), or is the least-bad way to say 12:00am (strange IMHO because it seems to imply that the previous hour was 11:00am when it was actually 11:00pm)?


texts: sentence combine with past tense and present continuous tense

texts:
Is the following sentence correct?
I have confirmed their result, also showing that their theory is acceptable.

I suppose that it involves very basic grammar, but I am just not sure. Can anybody help me?


texts: What's the correct way to write "foodservice"?

texts:
The Cambridge Dictionary writes it in two words while the Wiktionary writes it in one. Wikipedia mostly writes it in one word, but sometimes in two.

Should it be written "food service" or "foodservice"? Or is there a special rule over this?

ps: I'd link to the Wikipedia article, but I don't have enough reputation. Sorry about that.


texts: What's the verb to describe a good guy becoming a bad guy?

texts:
I am looking for a verb to describe the action of a good guy becoming a bad guy. There is a word for it in my mother language, but I am not sure if there is a word for it in English.

The verb, which could be literally translated as 'become bad, turned into a bad guy'. an example would be:

  He used to be a good cop, but now he___,  mingles with the gangsta on the street, sad thing.

update: thanks everyone for your answers and comments. it seems a word to describe this behavior of people working in law enforcement is unanimous, but a word to describe this behavior that includes ordinary folk seems remains controversial.


texts: What is the name of this grammatical phenomenon?

texts:
I have observed that many native English speakers (esp. American English, in my experience) tend, within the same sentence, to start a new clause whose subject is an element of the previous clause. Here is an example:

That is what fascinated me about programming—is that it changes the way you think about the world.

In this sentence, "what fascinated me about programming" is used as an object in the first clause, but then gets reused as the subject of the second clause.
Other examples:

This is something we talk about a lot—is the size of the community is substantially smaller than the React community [...]

(source)

This is what I think went wrong is what Trump did very effectively is tap the angst and the anger and the hurt and the pain that millions of working-class people are feeling.

(source)

I have only noticed this phenomenon in spoken English, as opposed to written English. What are its name and origins?
Note: I'm aware of the double copula (a.k.a. "double is"); this is related, but different.


texts:
Someone from Mars is called a Martian. Someone from America is called an American. Someone from Europe is a European. Someone from Hyrule is a Hyrulean.

We are not far from colonizing other planets, let alone Earth's only moon. Obviously you wouldn't call someone from the moon a lunatic right? What if you are on Mars? What would I call a foreigner from Earth? Earthean doesn't sound right.


texts:
My main language is portuguese and I'm stuyding English.
I've searched inside Cambrigde Dictionary and didn't find it. But searching for the word itself, I find texts/articles using this word.
- Word used as bond/link synonym. To express the idea of attach something to another.
So I'm here to get help to learn if this is a real word or not.
ps:
There is the word in Portuguese/Spanish Vincular / Vinculação.


texts: Word or phrase for an argument that shows a claim is false?

texts:
What is a word or phrase for argument that shows the presupposition is false?

E.g.:

  Someone said writing requires big hands. I showed them that someone can write well with small hands. Therefore, I have argued against what he said.

What is this method of argument known as?


texts: I have a website which I saw the SEO & Web Design & Development Videos. To short the title, I use "Website Building & SEO Videos Collection". But I am not sure "Website Building" is the right term? Is it correct word for "Web Design & Development"?


texts: A word to describe the class to which synthetic and natural belong

texts:
What word would you use to ask if something is synthetic or natural?

  What was the ____ of the materials in this shirt?

Should mean I am asking if its made from natural or synthetic materials.


texts: Can the word "ignorant" be used as a noun?

texts:
Googling would suggest that it can, but believing everything you read on the Internet is a risky business. I have the Concise Oxford English Dictionary eighth edition 1990 and a Chambers Twentieth Century Dictionary from 1977 and neither of them list the word ignorant as a noun. Sadly I do not have access to the full OED as my local library has just closed.

I saw the word used by a native Hindi speaker, and I think it is being used as a synonym of ignoramus. It may well be that this is accepted usage in Indian English.

A quick footnote:

WS2 makes the excellent point that ignorant can be used as noun in phrases like:

  He is the kind of politician who relies on the ignorant for support

So that answers my question in the affirmative. However the way I saw the word being used was more like:

  You are an ignorant

I would be interested to know if this is proper use of English, or possibly a proper use of Indian English


texts:
I'm interested in the use of "around" as a synomym for "about, concerning, related to", which doesn't seem to be recorded in current dictionaries. I'd call it an academic/pseudo-academic usage and tho' I dislike it, I find it interesting and wonder when it first appeared and whether it's increasing in academia and in media like The Guardian. Some examples:

  Many of the procedural issues around policy implementation were being addressed. [...] Whilst there are perfectly understandable reasons for this, due to the late entry of women into the academy, and particularly into the kinds of discipline represented at this university, it was felt important to 'problematize' gender in the management context, both in terms of issues around 'representation' and in terms of the practices of the incumbents: the growing literature on male managers suggests that they may experience constraints in their own work which may be related to particular constructions of masculinity, and Heads of Department were therefore seen as key informants in this sense (see Kerfoot and Knights 1993). [...] Parker and Jarry's (1995) Foucauldian analysis sees the new academic subjectivity as inexorably complicit in the production and reproduction of a Fordist mass higher education. At the same time, they contribute to a debate which is still going on, around the idea of 'active citizenship' in higher education. ("Gendering the Management of Power in Higher Education", Jackie Goode and Barbara Bagilhole, in Gender, Work and Organization, Vol. 5, Num. 3, July 1998.)

  Feminist critiques of menopause have been beneficial in opening up important public health debates around menopause. [...] Extending earlier feminist critiques around menopause and HRT, this paper discusses a critical feminist engagement around issues of women's perceived non-compliance with HRT. ("Managing menopause: a critical feminist engagement", in Scand J Public Health, Dec. 27, 1999)


texts: How should I phrase this sentence for accuracy?

texts:
Have you ever had one of those days when you can not think of the right word or word usage in a sentence? Can someone help me with this one?

"We help each other reach his/her full potential". Each other and his/her do not seem to go together.

Thanks,
D.


texts: If "pending" is a preposition, why not "awaiting" and "remaining"

texts:
I have found these three examples of pending, awaiting, and remaining from Your Dictionary, all of which show that they are prepositions:

Philip, who had been left in charge of Palestine pending the decision and had won the respect of Varus, became tetrarch of Batanaea, Trachonitis and Auranitis, with ioo talents.

Katie held her breath, awaiting the awful news.

We stole one weekend together, remaining in New York, before answering a summons to join the others in Massachusetts.

According to the officially compiled dictionaries:

Pending is an adjective as well as preposition.

Remaining and awaiting are both adjectives.

Why are remaining and awaiting not prepositions?


texts: Is the phrase, “prescribe childbirth” current and easily understood?

texts:
I was puzzled when I came across the following passage in Wikipedia, free encyclopedia dealing with W. Somerset Maugham’s biography:

  “Maugham’s mother, Edith Mary had tuberculosis, a condition for which
  her physician prescribed childbirth. She had Maugham several years
  after the last of his three older brothers.”

Can we take it literally?
In today’s common sense, any childbirth should tremendously consume physical strength of the mother to be. Provided it was a superstition that childbirth is a good remedy for treating tuberculosis in Maugham’s mother’s time, is the phrase, “Her physician prescribed childbirth” current, and easily understood by native English speakers without explanation? .


texts: Which is correct, criterion- or criteria- in a compound adjective?

texts: Which is correct "criterion-based analysis" or "criteria-based analysis?" I have seen "criterion-referenced testing" and also "criteria-based assessment."  I understand "criteria" is the plural and I think this is a compound adjective.  So, as an adjective shouldn't "criterion" be invariable? I've seen academic writers use "criteria-based assessment" in scholarly research articles.  Thank you for your replies.


texts: When should I not use a ligature in English typesetting?

texts:
Typesetting that goes beyond the scope of basic MS Word (e.g. LaTeX, or even modern Word versions with a good OpenType font) often uses ligatures for certain glyph combinations, the most common being

f + f = ﬀ
f + i = ﬁ
f + l = ﬂ
f + f + i = ﬃ
f + f + l = ﬄ.

I would assume, however, that there are cases in which a ligature shouldn't be used. Are there any rules or standards telling me when I should use a ligature and when I shouldn't?


texts: "I've been looking to do [this or that]." Is "looking to do" idiomatic?

texts:
Pretty much that's the question. I wanna think that I have heard it used many times ("I've been looking to do that for the longest time"), but now I'm not sure.
Thanks!


texts:
What is a good synonym for the phrase turn to used to mean the firm intent to do an action after having completed a previous action such as in these examples?

  He completed the reports then turned to the accounts.

  We've discussed the vacation - now let's turn to the salaries.


texts: Is there a name for "the string of characters typed randomly on a keyboard home row"?

texts:
Or, in other words, is

  asdf;ksa;llfsdfsadfasdk;lfjasjfdk;lasfjldfjsafjdsl;fjajfdlksaj

called something?  Does this specific phenomenon have a name?  Could you refer to it generically, as in, "The screen was filled with [the term]"

You get it by "mashing your keyboard" and I once saw keyboard mash associated with it, but I'm not sure if it was just describing the action or naming the product.

Likely if you referred to it by producing it in brief, i.e., "asdfasdf", people would know what you're talking about—but I started wondering about a general term after noting that my own version of this, tumbling out of a Dvorak layout, looks different:

  asaoteosantehustnaoheusnaohsuetnaotnhuehsaoeutnsoa

It seems there might be a space for a generic descriptor, given QWERTZ or AZERTY-specific variations, or possible equivalents on more esoteric devices (like stenotypes).


texts: A word to call a person who disguises its self-serving *exceptional action/achievement* behind a fake altruistic goal?

texts:
I'm looking for a word to call a person who uses a social cause as an excuse to publicly do something exceptional he loves, and who disguises its self-serving motivation behind this fake altruistic goal.

  "I've painted this work of art / I'm traveling around the world on
  foot [I have a lot of fun doing that / I gain status / money] to
  sensitize against poverty / weather warming..."

Side note: you could also propose a words or expression that is used very locally (it's forbidden to ask for a new word on this forum, since according to @chappo "there can be no objective and authoritative solution" for it).

The word should specifically target actions that :

are exceptional (even a little)
attract the gaze of the public
are presented as something altruistic

So this question isn't a duplicate of these which target very broad (or other) concepts:

Term for self-serving behavior disguised as altruism?
What do you call an 'unselfish' action made with a selfish reason?
A word for someone who does something for personal gain or financial reward?
What do you call a person that goes to extreme ends to accomplish a goal?

These don't fit (too broad or only describe a part of it):

virtue signaling
slacktivism (doesn't fit, but it's the kind of creative word I'm looking for: it's fun, and you don't need to know it to understand what it means)


texts: Can you use "get" in a past tense sentence

texts:
I had a voice over where I was asked to record the following line in a script:

"Our small initiative turned into a sizeable movement with the support of influencers, who helped spread the word and get people to make a pledge by greenifying their Facebook profile pictures."

Since the sentence is in past tense, shouldn't "get" be "got"? It felt strange for me to use "get" instead of "got". When I raised the question, the copy writer said it's like saying: "who helped get people..." Now that sounds correct in that case. Thank you for anyone who can explain and clarify this for me.


texts: Is this a correct usage of "just creates more questions than answers"?

texts:
I was reading 'How Did Scientists Discover a Massive Hole in the Great Pyramid?' in Slate...

Now, a new room has been discovered in a Pyramid.

  The real question, however, is what’s inside the big room? Is it a hoard of valuable, rare treasure from the era of the Fourth Dynasty? A special room for ceremonial purposes or part of the burial rituals for Khufu? The deceased pharaoh’s missing mummy itself? The discovery really just creates more questions than answers. “Being inaccessible, we still don’t know about any possible entrance points, and there may not be any, if this is some sort of construction gap,” says Harvard University–based Egyptologist Peter Der Manuelian. Moreover, he emphasizes, the muons don’t shed light about the void’s individual chambers (if any), form, size, or any possible objects (emphasis mine).

The writer says "The discovery really just creates more questions than answers" but something is wrong there; There seems to be some implication which is not suitable for this situation.

I think, if there were some mystery or unsolved Problem, and somebody gave some "unsatisfactory" explanation, then we could claim "this [just] creates more questions than answers", implying that the explanation is not sufficient or not complete; we might be better off without this explanation.

In the case of a new room in a Pyramid, there may be new questions to be asked, but are we better off without this discovery ? Does it require the phrase "just creates more questions" ?


texts: The difference between "pressured" and "pressurised"

texts:
I often hear people talk of being pressurised into
doing something, but I'm almost certain this is incorrect. A can of
deodorant is pressurised, or a tin of beer, since in both cases the release of pressure yields a delicious bubbly beverage (in the former) or a pleasant smelling, easily applied spray to eliminate underarm smells (in the latter).

If one feels a degree of pressure to do something, does that not mean
that one feels pressured into doing it, as opposed to feeling pressurised?

The term pressurised seems to me to be of North American origin (I refuse to use a z instead of an s). This seems reason enough not to use it, given that American English is a different language to British English, however I see it time and again in British English language media.

There seems to be little in the way of consensus on other parts of the internet so I thought I might ask here.


texts:
I am watching Younger, an American drama. The following exchange occurs in Season 1, episode 1, 16:10:

  A :Jane Austen has over 1,000 followers. How cool is that?

  B :Am I supposed to congratulate you?

  A: No, I just thought...

  B: Just expected a gold star for doing your job. That's the problem with your generation.

What does "Just expected a gold star for doing your job" mean?


texts: What is someone (or something) that causes phobia called?

texts:
I'm looking for a word that describes someone who "could be a person or a object" that causes phobia.

For example, those with Anthropophobia could tell about people:

  They're ________.

I recenlty this image (a meme, actually) where in Yu-Gi-Oh! series there is a character called Seto Kaiba which in a duel against Yami Yugi lost after Yami summons Exodia, The Forbidden One.

Exodiaphobia (fear to Exodia):

In this example, Exodia "or the one who summons him"  can be called what?


texts: Usage of comma vs. semicolon for combining two clauses in a caption

texts:
I have a short piece of text used as an image caption. Here is how it looks right now:

A picture of a painting of the Brooklyn Bridge by Aubrey Caron, reproduced here with permission from Aubrey Caron

Is this caption is grammatically and typographically correct? Is the phrase after the comma a parenthetical element? Is comma (",") the right punctuation to use here or should it be semicolon (";")?


texts: How come you say "best part" if meaning "most of something"?

texts:
When I read the first time that someone spend the best/better part of the day doing something, I took best literally.

Although I now know its meaning, it's confusing me over and over again whenever I read such a sentence.

What's the reason for saying best part and not, for instance, most part?


texts:
In the following sentence: This project aims to help the visually impaired people to practice their life normally.

I argue that the "the" is unnecessary in the sentence because saying "This project aims to help visually impaired people to practice their life normally" is sufficient, also I don't see any reason to add more identification to "visually impaired people".

However, we can say "This project aims to help the visually impaired to practice their life normally." (dropped "people") because "visually impaired" needs more identification and "the" does that job.

Other friend is arguing that in the first example we need "the" and it's wrong to drop it.

Which one is the correct usage?


texts: Why is the British tv show "the Undatables" not called "the Undatable" without 's'?

texts:
There is a tv series on Channel 4 called "The Undatables" which I have just started watching.

The title keeps me wondering why it's not just called "the undatable" like the poor or the rich?

Last time I checked my grammar book, you only need an adjective after "the" to refer to a certain type of people.

Can you at least tell me why do you think the producer decided to make it plural by putting the "s" at the end?

Thanks


texts: Name for a word whose sound is contrary to its meaning

texts: As onomatopoeia means words that sound like what they mean, is there a word which means words that sound contrary to what they mean?  Pulchritude is an example of such a word.


texts:
An Introduction to the History and Principles of Heraldry.
  An Introduction to History and Principles of Heraldry.

Which one is grammatically correct, with "the" or without "the"? Why?


texts: Meaning of "On that note" and how do you use it?

texts: What is the meaning of "On that note" and how do you use it? Does it mean "while we are talking about the same subject?"


texts: English equivalent for the Persian idiom "send someone out in pursuit of black chickpeas"

texts:
"To send somebody out in pursuit of some black chickpeas" is a Persian idiom that implies 'to make or ask someone to run an errand so that you be able to have/ buy some time in order to deal with your private affairs in their absence', like having or continuing a (secret) conversation with someone else.

According to its etymology, since 'black garbanzos/chickpeas' were rarely available in the markets, when someone wanted to buy them, they had to search many stores for a long time, and most of time they couldn't find them at all.

Today, its meaning has changed somehow, and it doesn't necessarily mean that we ask someone to run an impossible errand, but it means we use that errand as an excuse to send them away for a while just to have time to do something in their absence.

Example scenario:

Suppose your classmate has come to your house and you are talking about some girly issues in the sitting room. Now you want to tell her a big secret about one of your classmates, but not in the presence of your younger sister who is sitting there too. So you ask her to go to the market and buy some snacks for you. In this way, you will have some time to continue your conversation until she is back. So you might say to your friend:

  Well, I sent my sister out in pursuit of some black chickpeas.  I'm sure that she won't be back for another 15 minutes, so we can talk more freely now."

And your sister, before leaving the house, might sarcastically say to you:

  Okay, but I know this is just an excuse, and you are just sending me in pursuit of some black chickpeas!!! so don't think that you can fool me!

Is there any idiom, expression or proverb that conveys the same meaning or connotation in English (i.e. to make or ask someone to do an errand just in order to buy time so that you can deal with some of your private affairs)?

I have found to be/go on 'a wild-goose chase' but I'm not sure if I can use it or not.


texts:
below is the original sentence I would like to say:
"I would like to help the team understand what are the factors that have the potential to sway our financials significantly"
I am wondering can I change the sentence to below:
"I would like to help the team understand what are the factors having the potential to sway our financials significantly"
Thanks


texts:
What is the meaning of lie preparing in following sentence?

  For him, the globe lay preparing quintillions of years without one
  animal or plant.

and what he means by "without one animal or plant"? Is it idiomatic or archaic?


texts: What is the use/meaning of hedder as an alternate to header

texts:
I’ve been told that hedder is an acceptable way to refer to a header in journalism, but I can’t find any reference to it being a valid spelling or to whether it has the exact same meaning or might carry something like the distinction between text and copy.

Any insights are appreciated.


texts: Is 'quiescing' a valid word? What does it mean?

texts:
What does quiescing mean in the following context?

  Quiescing a Database

http://download.oracle.com/docs/cd/B19306_01/server.102/b14231/start.htm


texts:
I would like to post a screenshot of my upcoming app. What is correct to say, "sneak peek on" or "sneak peek at"?

  Here is a sneak peek on my app for iPhone.
  Here is a sneak peek at my app for iPhone.


texts: Do I need to mention 'has' ( present perfect tense) twice when connecting the sentences with and?

texts:
Is this sentence correct as is, or should I remove the second has since that phrase is connected to the preceding one with and?

  As Mr. X has replied your email and has requested the 'PDF files' of the project, here please find attached the requested files.


texts: Is calling someone "old school"- offensive/derogatory?

texts:
My colleague, a relatively young school teacher, prefers not to use e-mails.
He is digitally absent.

  During a recent teacher's meeting, while I appreciated his efforts
  towards content development, I also called him "old school".
  (associating a sense of pride in being Old School)

  I can tell, the comment has made a difference, our relation has dived
  south.

Is calling someone "old school"- offending/derogatory?


texts:
The attached picture is of a delightful little creature which throughout the UK is known as a Ladybird (not sure what you call them in America) EXCEPT in Norfolk, where it is known as a 'Bishy Barney Bee'. The name is believed to be derived from Bishop Bonner who lived during the 16th century, and was known notoriously as 'Bloody Bonner' for his ruthless persecution of Protestants under Mary I.

I would be very interested to discover more about the connection between Bishop Bonner and the Ladybird. Can anyone help me please?

The British among you will know of the nursery rhyme which is recited with a Ladybird in your hand and at the end releasing it to fly away.

In Norfolk it goes:
Bishy Bishy Barney Bee,
Fly away home,
Your house is on fire,
And your children all gone.

Perhaps the rhyme has some connection to Bishop Bonner, though throughout the rest of the UK it is recited as :
Ladybird, ladybird, fly away home etc.


texts: Why are diacritics used in words that apparently don't need them? Is it some sort of poetic license?

texts:
In his poem Spring and Fall, Gerard Manley Hopkins uses diacritics where one would normally not see them. Does anyone know why?  Here is the poem:

  Márgarét, áre you gríeving
  Over Goldengrove unleaving?
  Leáves
  like the things of man, you
  With your fresh thoughts care for you,
  can you?
  Ah! ás the heart grows older
  It will come to such
  sights colder
  By and by, nor spare a sigh
  Though worlds of
  wanwood leafmeal lie;
  And yet you wíll weep and know why.
  Now no
  matter, child, the name:
  Sórrow’s spríngs áre the same.
  Nor
  mouth had, no nor mind, expressed
  What heart heard of, ghost
  guessed:
  It ís the blight man was born for,
  It is Margaret you
  mourn for.

Notice, for example, how he wrote "is" in the last line, compared to the one on the line before. Is it some kind of poetic license? Is it to indicate what syllables should be stressed?


texts:
Is it proper grammar to write:

  Please join my wife and I for coffee...

Or is it

  me and my wife

Or

  my wife and me


texts:
Is it ever proper to use myself and when starting a sentence? Here is an example of what I mean:

Myself and some very successful people are building a team across the Globe!

or Myself and (Name) are going to be on the call tonight.


texts: What do I reply to "Elementary, my dear Watson"?

texts:
I was exchanging email with a colleague of mine and she gave me some clues to figure out something. I used those clues and reached to a result and I told her the possible two answers. She then replied saying "Elementary, my dear Watson", which is a phrase taken from "sherlock holmes", but unfortunately I do not watch it and have no idea that what she meant to say and what I'm supposed to reply.
Help me out.


texts: Would you classify 'being + past participle' as passive or gerund?

texts:
Upon reading the English translation of Murakami's 1Q84, I've come across two sentences with the use of 'being' + past participle that I can't seem to be able to classify:

It's all very painful - as painful as actually being cut with a knife.

And

She imagined people being mauled by this big dog and found herself scowling.*

Would you classify these sentences as passives or gerunds? Perhaps something else entirely?
*I changed some words due to sensitive content, but the structure is intact.


texts: Title for a person one has had children with

texts:
I'm looking for a word meaning "Someone X has had children with".

  Joseph really gets around. He's had 15 girlfriends, and 2 [] so far

Or

  Martha has 3 children, but has had them with two []


texts: What is an adjective that means a person that easily trusts others?

texts:
I'm looking for a word that could describe a person who is very gullible and easily trusts people.

My specific example is Fortunato from Edgar Allen Poe's story: The Cask of Amontillado

Edit: the character's name is Fortunato.


texts:
What's a synonym, preferably solely in one word? I tried circumvent and its synonyms (eg bypass, sidestep, ...), but still desire a better one. Example:

  If you decide to go above the teacher, always tell the teacher your
  intention and that you're unsatisﬁed with the outcome of the situation.
  Principals will loop back to the teacher before they respond to you
  99 percent of the time so it only hurts your relationship if you go blindly
  around the teacher. Use words that are professional and positive as sug-
  gested later in this chapter.


texts: Saying that the mail has an attached form filled up by me?

texts:
Let's say I'm writing a letter to a university and my mail has an application form attached to it. How can I say it in a more formal and concise way than "Please see the attached application form that I filled up." or "Please find attached my filled-up application form."

I would appreciate it if the answer starts with "Please see..." or "Please find attached..." Thank you!


texts: Meaning of "Honor Brite" in an Alan Parsons Project song

texts:
In "Games People Play" from album "The turn of the friendly card" by the Alan Parsons Project, we hear:

  Games people play/You take take it or you leave it/Things that they
  say/Honor Brite/If I promise you the Moon and the Stars/Would you
  believe it/Games people play in the middle of the night

What does Honor Brite mean in this context? I have heard that the song might bear links with Eric Berne's eponymous psychology book, does it help?


texts: What does "to beat someone to something by some time period" mean?

texts:
Beat me to it by about 30 seconds
  (Source: The first comment under this answer.)

I can't find "beat to" in my phrasal verb look up table, nor this usage makes any sense to me. But it looks like I'm the only one who didn't understand it, because nobody asked him "What did you mean by that comment?" there.

Can you please explain this sentence to me?


texts:
I want to know if a sentence like this is possible: "After leaving school, John became a barrister, Alex a judge and Mark a writer." In the last two instances, "became" is omitted to avoid unsightly repetition. But it is grammatically correct to omit verbs in cases like these? Most of the examples I can find online deal with parallel constructions rather than list-like examples like these.
Any help much appreciated, thanks!


texts: Word for “by no choice of your own” such as your skin colour

texts: Is there a word for something you can’t change about yourself?


texts: What's an accurate/alternative way to represent the idea of a "blueprint"?

texts:
This is in a programming context, for some financial software.

An Investment can have a lot of Processes that apply to it (ex: both parties need to sign 'x' set of documents, called 'Subscription' documents, so a process might be the Subscription Process)

Each process consists of a variety of ordered tasks. (ex: Investor Signing, then Sponsor Signing)

So, there's two kinds of data I need to store. Data about the 'Process' and the 'Tasks' in general, that's the same no matter the investment. And then there's data that's specific to each investment.

So, off the bat, I was thinking, I'd have "blueprint" versions of processes/tasks that get linked up with the individual, investment-specific ones.

InvestmentProcessBlueprint (general process info needed by every investment)
InvestmentTaskBlueprint (general task info needed by every investment)
InvestmentProcess (data specific to an investment)
InvestmentTask (data specific to an investment)

So in a sense, the blueprint produces the other task. But...this doesn't feel quite right to me. And that's because it diverges from natural language that, spoken by people who were just introduced to the software, would make sense to them. I'm not sure what other word fits, or how to twist these concepts around.


texts:
As I know Because of is an adverb which describes the verb and Due to is an adjective that describes the noun.
Could you please notify the noun and verb that each of them modifying in the following sentences?

This in turn will stimulate further investment due to the multiplier
effect

and it is because of these health hazards that stays on the
International Space Station are restricted to six months.

Bamboo is a favored plant among architects and designers because of
its incredible strength and durability.


texts:
If I have a process which is automated (I have a laundry separator which creates piles based on reflective light wavelengths and material density), can I then say that today I did laundry automatedly?  I wouldn't say automatically; that particular word's definition is overloaded.  One might think that I came home and tended to my laundry without thought.

Instead I would like to describe this action being done by an automatic machine.  This particular word does not seem to have a bona fide definition anywhere.


texts:
What does "Go along the ground" mean? I couldn't find any source explaining it.

Context:

  I got to the top FIRST. I've never ever won a proper race before. I'm
  hopeless going along the ground. I nearly always come last. But I
  can fly upwards like a rocket. I spread my arms when I was all alone
  at the top.

A children literature. You can find that bit exactly here: https://fullenglishbooks.net/english-books/full-book-buried-alive-read-online-chapter-4


texts: Common expression for having a rich man's taste but a poor man's budget?

texts: What is the common expression for having a rich person's taste and poor person's budget?


texts:
I am not a native speaker and it sometimes surprise me how many different meanings some words have. An example is the word call - when I was learning English I thought it was only "shout" or "to ring someone" but the list of meanings is almost endless: http://www.thefreedictionary.com/call .

What are some other such words so that I can be careful when interpreting their meaning? As if I could execute the query "give me a top ten list of words with most definition lines on TheFreeDictionary".


texts: Is there a word to refer to words that appear as though they have been misspelled?

texts:
Take for instance the following, relatively uncommon terms:

Froward [Forward]
Obverse [Observe]
Perquisite [Requisite/prerequisite]
Effront [Affront]
Ingenuous [Ingenious]
Infarction [Infraction]

Is there a term which collectively refers to words that look misspelled but are in fact valid words which are not just alternative forms of the 'more common' words?

Clearly, the words appear normal to one who is accustomed to them. I'd hazard that only 'froward' and 'infarction' are words that, to some native English speakers who aren't well read, might appear as misspelled words. {Others, like apposite [opposite] are far more common, but appear to be incorrectly spelled to those only presently learning English.}


texts: Can adjectives be used like this? (genitive)

texts:
It's easier to explain myself with examples like:
The dead's last wish was...
The long-lost's children were found (if long-lost refers to, for example, their long-lost ancestors, or basically anybody else depending on the context)
The cursed's sword was buried with him, etc.
It seems as if in these sentences (if they were correct) the adjectives turned into "nouns".
I believe these examples would be correct like this for sure:
The last wish of the dead was...
The children of the long-lost (parents?) were found,
The sword of the cursed (warrior) was buried with him, etc.
My question is whether it was possible to use adjectives and genitives together? Or can it depend on the context?
I'm Hungarian, and in Hungarian we can use adjectives like this, since they become instantly nouns, and any adjective can be turned into a noun like this. I'm just not sure whether it was also the case in English or not. I've seen such stuctures in books, movies and video games, but I'm unsure if those were only "literary exceptions" or they were also grammatically correct.
Thanks for your help!


texts: Are cobblers solely in the shoe profession?

texts:
No pun intended.
A friend posted on social media looking for a "shoe cobbler". I realize cobbler is an antiquated term, but I wanted to know if it was necessary to specify 'shoe'?

  cobbler
  OLD-FASHIONED
  someone whose job is to repair shoes
  (Macmillan Dictionary)


texts: Word for a software bug that occurs again after having fixed it?

texts:
What's the word for a software bug that reoccurs after being fixed?

I'm embarking on some test-driven development (TDD) for a project, and I want to use the right term but have forgotten the word.

It's not reversion, but I think it sounds similar.

Though I've used it many times I can't recollect the term right now, and Google isn't helping me.

Addition 1: The bug is imaginary in this case. It only reappears once, after I fixed, because of a new change I introduce. I'm not talking about something that that keeps on popping up.

Addition 2: The correct answer popped up 7 minutes after asking. The amount of bikeshedding the keeps on coming after that is hilarious.


texts: Word for finding/looking out something in dark?

texts: There is a specific word for your effort when you can't find something because of no light around. Please help?


texts: "Ninehammer" as variant spelling of "ninnyhammer"

texts:
I'm reading Neal Stephenson's historical novel Quicksilver, published in 1998 and set around 1700.  There are several passages where the characters use the word ninehammer, as in the following:

"... For never have you seen such a gaggle of frauds, fops, ninehammers, and mountebanks."
(Book Three, "Daniel and Churchill on Tower Causeway". This scene takes place in London in 1688, and the character speaking, Daniel Waterhouse, is an English gentleman.)

It seems that this is meant to be a variant spelling of the archaic word ninnyhammer, meaning roughly fool, which is apparently the origin of our modern word ninny.  But I wasn't able to find any other sources using this spelling.
Is there any evidence that this spelling was ever in common use, or is it an invention of the author?
The word appears several times in the novel, consistently spelled ninehammer, so it seems unlikely to be a typographical error.
I did find a post on Wordwizard that investigates this word and discusses the etymology of ninnyhammer, but it also doesn't seem to find any evidence that the spelling ninehammer is historical.
It should be noted that the dialogue in the novel is sometimes clearly anachronistic, which is evidently a conscious choice by the author.


texts: Why does "it" have a dehumanizing connotation?

texts:
There are a number of questions here on gender neutral pronouns, and one of the things that always comes up is that "it" should never be used to refer to a person (usually an adult). The general reasoning for this rule is that "it" is used to refer to animals (in some cases), and inanimate objects. Basically, it's considered dehumanizing.

What I haven't seen, though, is an explanation for why it's considered dehumanizing (other than the circular logic that it's only used for non-human subjects).


texts: Is that grammatically right if I use two predicates without using a conjunction to link them?

texts:
Is it grammatically right if I use two predicates without using a conjunction to link them? There are many sentences using this structure when I read a composition.
Examples:

He became a teacher, established his own family twenty years later.

I saw nothing decent in him, saw nothing more than a selfish man.

Usage of conjunction: http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/conjunctions.htm


texts:
Are each X and each of the Xs interchangeable?

For example, in the following sentence, I would use each of the characters:

  Each of the main characters is interesting.

But one could also write the following:

  Each main character is interesting.

Instinctively, I prefer the former. Am I right, and if so, is there a written rule favouring the former sentence?

For what it's worth, Google returns 724,000 entries for each main character, and 11,600,000 results for each of the main characters.


texts:
I introduced my 6-year-old to the concept of "homonyms" (though I've probably got it conflated with homophones or vice-versa). Since then he's been trying to find homonyms.

He asked me just now: "Can names be homonyms? Like 'Cole' and 'coal'?"

My hypothesis is that the answer is probably "yes", but can someone answer me definitively: can nouns & same-sounding proper nouns be considered homonyms (as in the above example)?


texts: "Modified after" or "Modified from" another source

texts:
If I modify an image based on another source, how would I say that?

Description of new image, modified after Stockfisch et al. 2017. Or
Description of new image, modified from Stockfisch et al. 2017.

Are both correct? I've seen both but I think 'modified after' is the somewhat more accepted expression.

Context: Modifying figures for publishing in an academic journal.


texts:
Is it valid to say to differentiate in combination with whether or can I only differentiate between things?

Examples:

  He was not able to differentiate whether
  that wine was an expensive or a cheap
  wine.

or

  The client is not able to
  differentiate whether a request comes
  from the server or another client.


texts: Interpretation of "For the listener, who listens in the snow, And, nothing himself, beholds Nothing that is not there and the nothing that is."

texts:
Regarding the poem "The Snow Man" by Wallace Stevens, can anyone please help me interpret the last stanza, the part marked in bold here?

  One must have a mind of winter
  To regard the frost and the boughs
  Of the pine-trees crusted with snow;

  And have been cold a long time
  To behold the junipers shagged with ice,
  The spruces rough in the distant glitter

  Of the January sun; and not to think
  Of any misery in the sound of the wind,
  In the sound of a few leaves,

  Which is the sound of the land
  Full of the same wind
  That is blowing in the same bare place

  For the listener, who listens in the snow,
  And, nothing himself, beholds
  Nothing that is not there and the nothing that is.

Is it correct to rephrase/paraphrase the last stanza of three lines along this way?

And he (the listener) beholds nothing,
Nothing that is not there and the nothing that is?

Do those mean the same thing?


texts: 'Lots' as a noun or quantifier with ellipsis?

texts:
I'd like the opinion of the community on the status of lots when used in the following:

  Your tutor will be an experienced teacher from whom you can learn lots.

Is lots here still a quantifier or does it become the noun/object?


texts:
What is a wheenydom?  It's in the following context: (from a tech-related article)

  I know that PowerShell is cooler and such than TCSH and BASH, but this smells of Windows wheenydom to me.

Google gave me no results except where it's mentioned. Is it mistyped?


texts: Meaning of "Let us hit with him, and not miss with him"

texts:
I'm reading one of Sir Philip Sidney's prose essays, "An Apology for Poetry" and I bumped into the following phrase which I never heard of. Can anyone please help me with it?

  Yet will some bring in an example of Eunuchus in Terence, that containeth matter of two days, yet far short of twenty years. True it is, and so was it to be played in two days, and so fitted to the time it set forth. And though Plautus have in one place done amiss, let us hit it with him, and not miss with him.


texts:
Which of the following is the most appropriate usage

"You have to be always logical in your analysis."
"You always have to be logical in your analysis."
"You have to be logical in your analysis always."

Thanks.


texts: Does the term "comma separated" mean "Goodbye" in any way?

texts:
I've received an email from a colleague who is leaving the company — and it's titled "comma separated" along with the usual yadda-yadda.

This is the first time I've come across this usage of the term — is it standard?

Actual quote:

  It is never easy to say goodbye, but comma separated it is.


texts: Using an abbreviation for 50 pence pieces, 50ps or 50p's?

texts:
When using an abbreviation for a coin such as the english 50 pence piece it is 50 p. But how do we make this a plural? 50ps or 50p's?
In the following context: I have nine 50 pence peices.

In speech this would often be said as "I have nine 50p's" Indicating that I have nine 50 pence coins.

Should this be written with or without the appostrophe?  "I have nine 50ps" or "I have nine 50p's"


texts: What is the English pronunciation of "nougat"?

texts:
Nougat is a French word, deriving originally from the Latin panis nucatus - (nut bread), one of the principle centres of its manufacture being in Montélimar in Provence - presumably for the almonds, where almost every shop seems to be a confectioners selling little else but nougat.

In Britain we traditionally pronounce it NUGGAT, and many people still do so. However some give it its "correct" French pronunciation of NOO-GA.

Are both forms acceptable in Britain, and how does the rest of the English-speaking diaspora deal with the matter?


texts: Are you also supposed to spell out *decimal* numbers under 100?

texts:
I know that you are supposed to "spell out" numbers under 100 in texts, such as:

  Sue had seventy-five cows.

Rather than:

  Sue had 75 cows.

But what about numbers under 100 which are not "full" numbers but decimals?

  Betty had fifty point seven apples.

That just looks weird. Surely, for such cases, you do:

  Betty had 50.7 apples.

... right?


texts:
I read this in my history book:

  In fact, as DG Tendulkar writes, "Gandhiji was equally concerned with the sufferings of the minority community in Pakistan. He would have liked to be able to go to their succour.

Reading the definitions of the word "succour" itself alone, I can easily understand what the author want to say. But what I want to ask is whether the phrase has any idiomatic significance.


texts:
Someone says: "Have a nice weekend!"

Which of these replies suits best? Consider saying this to a foreign person, not a friend:

"Same to you."
"You too."
"I wish you, too."

Feel free to post if there's an even better answer.


texts: Term for competitor that is not the favourite

texts:
In a betting sport such as horse racing or boxing, the competitor for whom the odds are lowest is known as the favourite.

Can the other competitors be termed something in contrast?


texts: Word (adjective) to describe a harsh sound

texts:
Context: My brother just played a video with loud screeching noises in the background about 5 feet from me as I was reading a pleasant book. I turned to chastise him, exclaiming,

  "John! Turn that off! That sounds is so _______."

I couldn't find the proper word. Discordant, biting, harsh aren't quite right. Anyone have any suggestions?


texts: Contemporary synonym of "thereanent" or "thereabout"

texts:
I want to express that one thing concerns another, using an adverb, such as in:

  I mended the sink and wrote her a note thereanent / thereabout.

Meaning:

  I mended the sink and wrote her a note about that.

I've done a quick internet research, which yielded the following results:

Thereanent is a term of Scottish origin, and apparently not in common use today, so it's very likely to be understood only by a small group of people [1, 2, 3, 4].
The usage of thereabout in this sense is considered archaic. However, it is rather commonly used today, in the same sense as thereabouts, which has other meanings: near that place or time; and approximately that number or amount. Therefore, it is likely to be misinterpreted or cause confusion when used with the same meaning as thereanent [5, 6].

Is there a contemporary synonym of thereanent or thereabout?


texts:
"I find it harder and harder every day to live up to my blue china."
What did Oscar Wilde mean by Blue China?? Did he use it to refer to his friends who betrayed him??if yes,why "blue china"?