texts:
Is gaijin a term that's only acceptable when it's a non-Japanese person using it self-referentially (similar to n-word privileges in TV Tropes), or is it considered ok to use in normal conversation between non-Japanese and Japanese?

For example, could one say, "Can you rewrite that address in romaji so us gaijin can understand it?", or would it be better to use a more bland term?


texts: What/such + [indefinite article] + uncountable noun (without an adjective)

texts:
I have tried to do a bit of research on the topic, but to no avail. Can uncountable nouns which are not determined by an adjective or a subordinate clause be used with the indefinite article for emphasis?

Which of the cases below are correct (probably both)?

  What patience! What heat!
  What a patience! What a heat!

Now, what I was able to find out. According to MacMillan,

  The answer is that while uncountable nouns don’t have plurals (usually, although there are exceptions to that rule too) they can in certain circumstances be preceded by an indefinite article. These circumstances are when you are qualifying or limiting the noun’s meaning in some way.

In these cases provided by MacMillan, the uncountable noun's meaning is definitely limited by an adjective or a subordinate clause:

  Theirs is a love that will be put to the test.
  You’re going to spend your life chasing a happiness that always
  eludes you.
  I want my daughter to develop a healthy respect for danger but not to
  live in fear.

Another example can be found here:

  "Table M2.3: Using Indefinite Article" in LSEG4 says: "The indefinite article is used with uncountable nouns in order to suggest the idea of 'a kind of'." (For examples please consult LSEG4.)

and then:

  Jane used to display an extravagant Italian elegance.
  John had an incredible thirst for knowledge.

While it is clear with these cases of use, I wonder to which extent this might also be true speaking of uncountable nouns used without any determination by an adjective or a subordinate clause.

  What patience! What heat!
  What a patience! What a heat!

To me, both variants sound correct. The one with the indefinite article seems to be limiting the meaning of the noun. In other words, we have an omitted (presumed) attributive there: What a [fantastic] patience! What a [terrible] weather!, and that seems to be adding a kind of emotional emphasis. However, I'm not quite sure about that, and I fail to find any reliable sources. So, any hints would be really appreciated.


texts: "How do you get on?" or "How are you getting on?"

texts:
I've got a problem with these constructs. The original sentence looks like the following:

  I hear you've got a new job. How do you get on?

Actually, the sentence I wrote above contains an error. The correct sentence is:

  I hear you've got a new job. How are you getting on?

So, I don't understand why we have to use the present continuous instead present simple.

As far as I know we use present continuous tense for the temporary situations or the situations that happen at the time of speaking. Could anyone explain this situation in great detail?


texts: What's the opposite of a "round number"?

texts:
A round number is defined, informally, as one with lots of zeroes at the end, or one that ends with a 5 (perhaps because it's easier to give change to). What would you call a number that wasn't "round" in this way?

I'm less interested in the mathematical definition (where a number has considerably more and smaller factors than its neighbours). For example, consider 1000 to be a "rounder" number than 1024.


texts: Section title for explaining where a subject fits into a field of study

texts:
A car is a form of transportation.  But so is a bicycle.  When a paper is discussing where a subject (say the car) fits into such a system and contrasting the car with the bicycle what should that section of the paper be called?

In my case the paper deals with computer science and a popular way to implement a design principle.  The section deals with showing that the implementation discussed is not the only implementation that fulfills the principle by briefly introducing another popular though older implementation, contrasting with it and explaining how both can fulfill the design principle.

You can do all the same things in a paper about a car, transportation, and a bicycle.  Just thought they would be a little more accessible examples.

I'm hopping for a word or phrase that makes clear that the section will discuss things other than the subject but only to make clear what the subject is and is not.

If it helps, the section is a subsection to the overview that explains how it works at a high level without getting into examples.


texts: "Movies" vs. "Cinema" vs. "Theater" -- what's the difference?

texts:
What are the differences between going to "the movies", "the cinema", and "the theater/theatre" (ignoring the fact that theaters are also for plays and not just movies)?

Personally, "movies" sounds more American to me, and "cinema" sounds more British, but I really have no idea, it's just a guess, I have no idea.


texts: When was the velarized allophone of /l/ (IPA [ɫ]) formed in English?

texts: English, Portuguese, Dutch, and Russian all have velarized [ɫ] at the syllable coda. When did this start happening in English?


texts: What is the origin of the phrase "to beat them off with a stick"?

texts:
What is the origin of the use of the phrase "to beat them off with a stick", sometimes used with an explitive to describe the stick?

The infamous urban dictionary describes the phrase as meaning

  an expression similar to not touching a person of the opposite sex
  'with a 10ft barge pole'  a metaphorical stick describing the action
  of fighting off the advances of another person that is not phsyically
  attractive.


texts: What is the section before the commas called at the start of a sentence after words such as "well" or "however"

texts:
For example:

  Well, that was his answer anyways.

Or

  However, the answer was wrong.


texts: What is difference between outlays and expenses?

texts: Are these two words synonyms? If not, what is the difference between them?


texts: “it will take place” vs “it is taking place” (arranged actions in the future)

texts:
I've been trying to find an answer to a question that has been bugging me for quite some time now: If I have to express future in an action already planned and arranged can I use both I will + infinitive and the present continuous? If yes, is there any differences in the use of one form vs the other?

Examples:
1. I'm seeing the doctor at 5 pm vs I will see the doctor at 5 pm.
 2. The meeting is taking place on the 5th of June vs The meeting will take place on the 5th of June.

I'm asking this because I was taught that in such instances you MUST use the present continuous while using the will+infinitive form is incorrect (even though I see many instances of the latter on the internet).


texts: Difference between "vague", "unclear" and "ambiguous"

texts: What is the difference between "vague", "unclear" and "ambiguous"? All three have the same meaning to me, so when should each be used?


texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  Should we use plural or singular for a fraction of a mile?

I'm working on a website that displays distance to various locations to the nearest 1/10 mile. One of the developers (a non-native speaker) asked me an interesting question: If the distance is 1.0 mile(s), is that singular or plural? Clearly, anything other that 1.0 is plural, but is it:

  1.0 miles away

or

  1.0 mile away

The first option sounds more correct to my ear, but the voice of my elementary school language arts tells me that the latter option is correct.

Edit: Added the word 'away' to the example. It doesn't change the question, but might provide clarity for the answer. Also, regarding numbers between 0 and 1, after more thought, I'm not sure that the answer is as clear as I originally thought. See http://mathforum.org/library/drmath/view/57224.html.


texts: A verb meaning "to make a color brighter or darker"

texts:
I am writing a function which takes in components of a color (as red, green, blue component values) and makes the color brighter or darker based on the fraction that the developer provides. If the fraction is less than 0, it makes the color darker, if the fraction is greater than 0 it makes the color brighter. I am struggling to find a concise, preferably single-worded name for that function.

I have looked at some words that are relevant, such as lighten, darken, illumine, shade, and tint, but all of these tend to imply either making the color brighter or darker, but not suggestive of the possibility of both.

I would appreciate any ideas. Thanks.


texts: BBC has a documentary titled Ancient Rome: The Rise and Fall of an Empire. History channel has a documentary titled similarly but without the 'the': Rome: Rise and Fall of an Empire.  Are both correct?  What's the subtle difference?


texts:
I'm reading in a newspaper:

  "He is a neither-nor judge."

Is the phrase correct?


texts: "advert" and "adverse": same etymoloty but unrelated meanings?

texts:
From Wiktionary and other similar sources like etymonline, the meanings of "advert" and "adverse" are:

  advert: turn attention

  adverse: Unfavorable; antagonistic in purpose or effect; hostile;
  actively opposing one's interests or wishes; contrary to one's
  welfare; acting against; working in an opposing direction.

"ad-" means "to", while "verse" and "vert" both mean "turn".

How shall I understand that they share same etymology but have unrelated meanings?


texts:
I have read that "understand" is a stative verb and means something like "to know well." However, lately I have had some doubts on whether that is always the case. For example, in the following sentence

"I can't understand what he's saying"

I'm not sure whether "understand" conveys an action or describes a state. If it was being a stative verb in that case, then substituting something like "know" should be possible. However, "I can't know what he's saying" sounds very wrong. In addition, dictionary definitions of "understand" often describe as "perceive; grasp the meaning of" which conflicts with its definition as a stative verb. Also, "comprehend" is often defined as "understand" even though I am fairly sure that is generally a dynamic verb.


texts: Capitalization and hyphenation of proper name derived from a number sequence

texts:
I'm writing a sci-fi novel in which humans travel to a nearby star known by the catalog number Gliese 892, where they encounter a sentient species.

Listening to numerous videos about such stars, it is clear that each number in the catalog name is pronounced separately (so it is "Gliese eight nine two," not "Gliese eight hundred ninety-two").

The crew refers to members of this species as Gliese eight-nine-twoians (and jokes about how awkward the name is).

Is there a rule or guideline that can be applied to capitalization and hyphenation of this term?

  I met my first Gliese Eight Nine Twoian?

  I met my first Gliese eight-nine-twoian?

  Something else?

Or

  The Gliese-eight-nine-twoian was nice.

  Something else?


texts: Does 'hook up' imply a superficial relationship?

texts:
I am a non-native speaker.

I would like to express that something happened two years after a character has formed a relationship with a loved one. This is what I wrote:

  Two years after I hooked up with Sarah, we went to Paris.

I was suddenly unsure about the phrasing, though, and wonder if this would imply a superficial, mere sexual relationship rather than a love affair.

If so, are there more appropriate alternatives to describe such a relationship?


texts: Modern term for 'overwhelming information onslaught'

texts:
Grasping for a term that encapsulates the notion of struggling against and being overwhelmed by a torrent of information, which invokes 'The Paradox of Choice' or 'Choice Paralysis,' and falls under the format "a tragedy of errors;" "an embarrassment of riches:"

"a ________ of information."

Trying to avoid dealing exclusively with quantity, such as with 'plethora' or 'explosion,' and speaking more to the inability to fully take in what is being provided.


texts:
What was the Old English word for petal? (As in "rose petal".)

I've done research. And it seems the word petal is a relatively recent addition in the English language.


texts: "Play it as it lays" or "play it as it lies"

texts:
The title of Joan Didion's book Play It as It Lays has thrown me off since I first heard it.  Shouldn't it be Play It as It Lies?

I have read through a related post on the subject of lay vs. lie and I find no justification in the accepted answer -- "lay is transitive, lie is intransitive." The use in the title is intransitive, so it seems lies should be used.


texts: What are the constraints on replacements of the phrase "Holy S—t"?

texts:
When my friend found out that the new season of Rick and Morty is going to be released this year, he yelled in excitement:

  Holy fucking Rick!

This is not a valid (ie. grammatically correct) replacement for the phrase "Holy Shit."

It made me think:

  What words could replace "shit" in this slang, without changing its meaning?

For example, I know that we can use these:

Holy Fuck

  An exclamation, much like "Holy Shit!", but more offensive, which is good.

Holy Moly

  a term often used instead of and meaning "holy shit" either by a young person in front of *their parents to avoid getting an ass whooping or by a young person in front of peers as a term of surprise, shock.

Now, "fuck" and "moly" are both nouns here. But we can't use every other noun as a replacement for the word "shit" to indicate surprise!

So my question is, given a phrase like this, how can I validate it to see if it's a correct replacement of "holy shit"? What words are acceptable here? How I can prove to my friend that what he said doesn't make sense?


texts:
I acquire measurements from several sensors, and I need to filter these signals. Is there a difference between the two sentences below?

The sensors' outputs are filtered.
The sensor outputs are filtered.


texts: What is the word for this particular action of climbing?

texts:
An action of pulling your body out of a swimming pool by planting your arms down on the poolside and then pushing down to lift your body up and out of the water. Then you would place one of your feet out and step up and away.

Another example would be when someone climbs a dumpster that is tall and comes up to their shoulder level and they climb it up in the same manner.

Is there a specific word to describe this method of climbing up something? If not, how would you write the description of this action?


texts: eLearning writing: Beginning with "while"

texts:
I am aware that using While to begin a sentence brings in a dimension of time to it.

Could you please tell me if this sentence is grammatically correct?
Thank you.


texts: What does it mean when someone say "you have attitude"?

texts:
I've heard many people say

  He/she has attitude

What they really mean is that the person has ego or something like that.
I googled and find this Yahoo answer, which also suggest the same.

Are they correct in saying that?


texts: Some substitutions are more general than others (are). Which is better?

texts:
"Some substitutions are more general than others".

or

"Some substitutions are more general than others are".

I am aware of the concept of using the verbs "to do" and "to be" at the end of a phrase for the purpose of succinctness, I really am. But the second variant seems a bit redundant to me.

Which version is better in the context of a (math) textbook?
What's the difference between them?


texts: Chinese character "denoting" or "used to denote" black color?

texts:
How to say the following phrase correctly:
a Chinese character denoting OR used to denote black colour?

Context

  Furthermore, due to the etymological analysis of a Chinese character denoting black color, peculiarities of cultural information that concerns appropriate lexical unit of Chinese language are determined.


texts:
Consider the following sentences:

  An empty box will do for a table.
  The box will do fine as a table.

One uses for, the other as. Are the two interchangeable? Can the for be replaced with an as without affecting the meaning?


texts: Origin of milquetoast and the negative meaning of milk in modern usage

texts:
I searched the word milquetoast and found out that it is a very pejorative term used in American English (after a cartoon character- Casper Milquetoast) to refer to someone of an unusually meek, bland, soft or submissive nature, who is easily overlooked, written off, and who may also appear overly sensitive, timid, indecisive or cowardly (Wikipedia);   the equivalent of a pipsqueak.

I’m quite taken aback and find it difficult to understand  the connection between the word milk - originally associated  with kindness  and humanness, namely in Shakespeare’s work (milk of human kindness  & milky gentleness )- and the negative  attributes mentioned above.

My questions are:

How did this shift in meaning occur, and what’s the connection between milk and the negative meaning  it acquired? Are there other words or expressions referring to the pejorative use of the word milk in English (American or other varieties of English)?

Milk of human kindness

Definition:

A phrase from Macbeth, by William Shakespeare, meaning humane feeling, concern for other people: “Everyone agreed that Houston was a brilliant thinker and an excellent lawyer, but some people worried that he lacked the milk of human kindness.”

Dictionary.com


texts:
Is valediction in one line at the end of offical letter acceptable?

For example:

Sincerely yours, John Snow


texts: Are quotation marks needed when calling out specific words from a passage?

texts:
Excerpt: In developed countries, running water is available everywhere and air-conditioning is expected not just in our homes but in our cars. We don't realize that these are luxuries.

My sentence: The author mentions "running water" and "air-conditioning" as examples of things we take for granted.

Are the quotation marks required?


texts: Why are words like "Thou" / "Thee" / "Ye" no longer used in English?

texts:
When going through old English literature, especially stories and poems, we can see they have been full of words like "thou" and "thee" and "ye".
Some of my English teachers told me that they were used to stress the respect of the person being identified. What was the reason for their disappearance in modern English?


texts:
Which is the correct preposition to use with rename?

rename to
rename as
rename by


texts: Type 2 conditional "If we liked to..." or "If we would like to..."

texts:
Normally, type 2 conditional follows syntax: If [simple past clause], [present conditional clause]. For example: If we had high accuracy, we would need a lot of processing power.

But is it possible to use "like" in simple past: If we liked to increase accuracy, we would need more processing power.

I tried to search these kind of expressions (if we liked ... we would ...) in internet, and I noticed that it is very very rare. However, there exist millions of expressions like: If we would like [to do something] we would [do something].

So, it seems like in case of "like" it is preferred to use "would" both in if clause and main clause:
If we would like to increase accuracy, we would need more processing power. But this is not according to type 2 conditional, or is it?


texts: I'm looking for a word or phrase that can describe something familiar, but not quite the same

texts:
I'm looking for something that can describe a sense of familiarity, unfamiliarity, nostalgia, and bittersweetness. I've considered deja vu, but it doesn't capture the nostalgia or bittersweetness.
Maybe this will give a better idea of what I'm feeling, but it pertains to the chance that I'll be moving into an apartment that's attached to a former residency of mine. I'm looking forward to moving there since I have a lot of amazing memories from that location, but I have this weird anticipated feeling of familiarity and unfamiliarity since the apartment I will be living in isn't quite the same. To top it off, the bittersweetness comes from an unresolved problem I have with a former and incredibly close friend of mine, who used to live a few houses down from that apartment.
It's a hefty combination of feelings for one word or phrase to describe, I know, but it's really bothering me that I can't find a much shorter descriptor of what I'm feeling at the moment. (Also I'm sorry for being so wordy!)


texts: What does the dedication To The Other Three in the book Beast and Man in India (John Lockwood Kipling, 1891) mean?


texts: Are there any dialects of English that pronounce "regalia" as "rəˈɡälyə"?

texts:
Google tells me that it sounds like this:

  rəˈɡālyə

Other resources say:

merriam-webster.com: /ri-ˈgāl-yə/
dictionary.com: /ri-gey-lee-uh/, /-geyl-yuh/
dictionary.cambridge.org: /rɪˈɡeɪl·jə/
macmillandictionary.com: /rɪˈɡeɪljə/
oxforddictionaries.com: /rəˈɡālyə/

For some reason I want to say it like this:

  rəˈɡälyə

Is there anyone who knows of any communities out there that commonly mispronounce it this way?


texts:
I was reading through some of the posts regarding reference to something "possessed" by more than one person, and I can't seem to find an agreement of the usage of of myself.

Is it correct to say the following?

  The efforts of myself and my ilk.

I understand that something like:

  The efforts of my ilk and I

is incorrect, but I'm not sure about the former. I know it's neither an intensive or reflexive use, so I assume that it is incorrect, but any clarification in this regard would be appreciated.

Thanks for your time.

Edit: While the usage of "myself" has been adequately explained elsewhere, I just wanted clarification for this particular usage. I've heard it used frequently, but I couldn't find a grammatical basis for it. I apologise for the lack of clarity.


texts:
When you say:

  His motive (for the crime he committed) remained a mystery.

It doesn't sound the same if you change "a mystery" to "mysterious" as if the two words didn't have the same meaning. Please correct me if I am wrong.

Another example is:

  ‘I quickly went over to the desk and starting sifting through the
  papers, looking for a clue to the identity of our mystery guest.’

If you Google search them, you have 718,000 hits for "mystery guest" and 142,000 for "mysterious guest". I assume there has to be a reason for that.

  ‘A mysterious benefactor provided the money’

In the above example, it sounds like it is OK to use "mystery" in place of "mysterious" (personal opinion). However, you get only 17,000 hits for "mystery benefactor" and 135,000 hits for "mysterious benefactor", which is 8 times more. The usage of "mysterious benefactor" seems quite differnt from "mystery guest".

[Oxford Online Dictionary]

Questions:

In the first example, "a mystery" looks like it is functioning as an adjective with a different connotation from "mysterious". Is it impossible to say "His motive remained mysterious"? Is it just idiomatic (just the way it is)?
In the second and third examples, what happens if I use "mysterious" in place of "a mystery" or vice versa? Why do you think there is such a big difference in Google hits?

Please don't asnwer with "that's the way it is".

Thank you.


texts:
George is being sick means 'George is bringing up food from his
stomach'; George is sick means 'George is ill'. However, George was
sick can mean either George brought up food from his stomach or George was ill.
Page 422 of Collins English Usage

Is 'be sick' a defective verb for which 'George was being sick' isn't possible?


texts: Is it very necessary to use past perfect tense here?

texts:
Context:

Yesterday, I met my first girl friend.
She was beautiful when I first saw her ten years ago.
Yesterday, I thought she was beautiful as ever.

Questions:

If I try to use only one sentence to express 2 and 3, do you think past perfect tense need to be used? Or do you think I can make it clear just by using simple past tense?
Which sentence is correct and which one is the used more frequently?
Yesterday, I met my first girl friend. She was as beautiful as she was ten years ago.
Yesterday, I met my first girl friend. She was as beautiful as she had been ten years before.


texts: "all [object]'s [properties]" vs "[object]'s all [properties]"

texts:
Which form is correct and why?

"all [object]'s [properties]" OR
"[object]'s all [properties]"

Here's an example:

In order to use all the machine's available cores.
In order to use the machine's all available cores.


texts: Is there an adjective beginning with "dis" and connoting non-negative meaning?

texts: Out of curiosity, I would like to know whether there is an adjective beginning with "dis" and connoting non-negative meaning?


texts: Connection between 'proxy', 'pronumeral' and 'pronoun'?

texts: I was thinking about the words pronumeral and pronoun; I realized they both share a prefix, and are both proxies for numerals and nouns. I was wondering if there is any connection between the words since proxy also begins with pro. If proxy is unrelated, is there any reason for the two words to start with pro?


texts: Does the phrase "fully n percent" have real meaning?

texts:
For example:

  Fully 46 percent of the recipients polled in the social sciences
  had...

Is this simply a way to avoid starting the sentence with a number? As in:

  Forty-six percent...

I understand that, mathematically speaking, percents can be fractional.  In the context of this example - and many others that I've seen - it just seems superfluous.


texts:
What does that mean when someone is described as a "digital trainspotter"?
Does that mean he is a digital enthusiast?

Thanks for response.


texts: What is a good synonym for "interesting"?

texts:
What's a good synonym for the word "interesting" or "interested"? I find that I use those words a bit too often (e.g. "I'm definitely interested!", "Yeah, that sounds really interesting, I would love learning more about it!", "That's interesting!", etc.)... but I can't seem to find any good synonyms. (Online sites don't really give me good synonyms.)

Any ideas?


texts:
I want to use this word in the context of approve / reject workflows, for example vacation or other stuff.

Does it exist ?


texts: Is "Let's get started" passive voice or not?

texts:
Is the idiomatic expression 'get started' (as in "Let's get started") a passive construction?

Or is 'started' here an adjective?

EDIT

As John Lawler has suggested in his answer, let's not get carried away with "Let's". Think of the title "Let's get started" as merely one example construction incorporating 'get started', as clearly shown in the question itself by "as in".

Also, I think the real issue here is whether "get started" denotes the "come to be in a started state" as John Lawler says in his answer. If it does, I'm sure there's no way it is a passive construction. But does it?

I mean, to my non-native ears, "Let's get started" means "Let's start", which is proven by the fact that they are easily interchangeable in any context. So, if "get started" is equivalent to "start" in meaning, how come it means "come to be in a started state"?


texts: What do you think if you see an image with its description "last night at New York"?

texts:
I saw that a friend of mine who moved to New York City 3 months ago posted a picture on Facebook. She described it as "last night at New York."

The first time I read it, I thought she meant that it was her last night in New York City and that she was going to move somewhere else the next day. So I asked her and it turned out that "last night" means "yesterday night."

There are two questions I have.

Is it confusing to say "last night at some places"? How can I know whether it means "yesterday night" or "the last night that she will be there"?
If the usage of "last night" in this example is not clear, what are some clearer ways of differentiating between "yesterday night" and "my last night in the city"?


texts: The word "pew" (P.U., etc.) and positive or neutral connotation

texts:
Normally, whenever I've heard the word "pew" (or its Bugs Bunny-esque cousin P.U.), it's applied to a bad smell of some kind. I just started learning an old folk song from the Appalachians called "Mountain Dew" in which there's a stanza:

Well, my old aunt June bought some brand new perfume
It had such a sweet smelling pew
But to her surprise when she had it analyzed
It was nothing but good old mountain dew

These words are pretty old, back to the 30s. My question is, has "pew" ever had a connotation anything other than the current (bad)? Or did they just juxtapose "sweet smelling" with "pew" for comic (as well as rhyming) effect?


texts: Just curious. Why do a lot of guys call each other “man”? What’s the origin of that term? EXAMPLE: “Hey, man. What’s up?”


texts:
What is the etymology on "egging on"?

  e.g. It was Jack who did it. But Jane was really egging him on.

Does it actually relate to eggs, or is it simply derived from "urging on"?


texts: What is the difference between explicate and expound?

texts:
I googled it and got the following answer:  As verbs the difference between explicate and expound is that explicate is to explain meticulously or in great detail; to elucidate; to analyze while expound is to lay open; to expose to view; to examine or exposit.
I still don't understand it.


texts: The ( changed ) meaning or classification of words in programming

texts:
I am facing a bit of a dilemma / problem.

I am an amateur programmer ( profile ) , and in programming languages some terms are accepted, known to everyone and frequently used everywhere.

My confusion is  that when I am passing my code in a spell checker, some terms are marked as wrong and / or  need corrections.

Some examples:

accepted term = the suggested / correct (alternative)

plugin = plug-in ( plug in )
uploader = up-loader ( up loader )
textarea = text-area ( text area )
checkbox = check-box ( check    box )
submenu = sub-menu ( sub menu )
metatag = meta-tag ( meta    tag )
screenshot = screen-shot ( screen shot )

Now for those of you that have ever experienced basic programming, those terms would be very familiar, but how should I treat those terms when releasing my software ? (Even while writing here, My firefox browser marks all those terms as spell errors. Better yet, the name "firefox" itself is marked as an error :-)  )

I must stress that I am not a native speaker and English is not my mother tongue (it is a mere 1 out of 8), But I would still like to know what is the correct way to handle those situations.

I do suspect that some of these terms (like checkbox or plugin) have become an adjective by themselves and are no longer exclusively used as a noun or as descriptive term for an action.


texts:
If I want to talk about Irish-Americans, Polish-Americans, and all other [nationality]-Americans, where the country of origin differs but the country they live in is the same, I can use the term "hyphenated American".

But if I want to talk about, say, Polish-Americans, Polish-Australians, Polish-Englishmen, and all other Polish-[nationality], where the country of origin stays the same but the country they live in differs, what term can I use? Polish hyphenateds? Polish hyphenators? Members of the Polish diaspora?

For example:

  Polish-hyphenateds have different views on international relations than Polish people themselves.


texts: Comma and Semicolon Use when Listing Items

texts:
I am trying to list multiple items, but with a specific area they are located in.

  The perfume had top notes of black currant, luscious strawberry,
  and sparkling cassis; mid-notes of ginger lily, bright peony,
  and pink jasmine; and dry notes of amber wood, white patchouli,
  and vanilla musk.

I don't know whether to use semicolons to separate the different areas or colons or even commas. Or, do I use the method used in the example with both?

(Note: Bold is the area location and italic is items in area.)


texts:
This is the line in context from preface of the book Concrete Mathematics:

  Abstract mathematics was becoming inbred and losing touch with
  reality;mathematical education needed a concrete counterweight in
  order to restore a healthy balance.

The meanings given in dictionary says:

Produced by inbreeding.
Fixed in the character or disposition as if inherited; deep-seated: an inbred distrust of radicalism.

I am unable to decipher the meaning in context here because none of the above two meanings seems to be appropriate in this context. What do the authors mean by "mathematics was becoming inbred"?


texts: Why doesn't “astronomy” end with an “s”?

texts:
I heard that many disciplines whose names end with the letter “s” as if they were plural actually came from Greek/Latin words of plural form (e.g. mathematics from mathematika). It seems like, however, some disciplines like astronomy or philosophy also had Greek origins and their original words also ended with the letter “a”.

I have no knowledge of Greek or Latin; does it just mean that those Greek words are not plural? Or are there some reasons why such disciplines get to obtain English names with no “s” at the end?


texts: How do you punctuate a sentence that uses the word "or" multiple times in one list?

texts:
I am editing someone's work and am not sure how to punctuate the following sentence. The list uses the word "or" multiple times for drama.

Option 1: They wanted money or a watch or a camera or some form of payment.

Option 2: They wanted money, or a watch, or a camera, or some form of payment.

Which is correct?


texts: Is there a word for the act of "getting paid to get beat up"?

texts: "Prostitution" is to "selling one's body for sex" as "?" is to "Selling one's body for abuse"?


texts: "Functionalities" vs "features" - what's the difference?

texts: How are those two words different? Are they considered synonyms, especially when describing computer software?


texts:
If I want to add a third option to the construct "Some..., others", what is the best way to put it? Some, others and again others? So:

Some people like apples, others like oranges and again others enjoy bananas.

This sounds a bit off, or not?


texts: A novel/book equivalent of the term off-screen

texts:
Off-screen can be used to describe events in a movie or tv show. For example,

  "Harry's father dies off-screen"

What term or phrase can I use if I'm talking about events in a book?

  "Harry's father dies ----"

Same question for on-screen.


texts: I have googled for the definition of the expression envy of his brethren, but didn't get more than references to the Bible. What does this expression mean?


texts: A word for "someone who started a new work/job/etc. but has a long way to go "?

texts:
I need a word for this definition:

"Someone who started a new work/job/etc but has a long way in front to achieve the goal."

Do you know of any word?


texts: The phrase is quite popular but I wish to know its origin. Is it possible that it has something to do with childbirth (also called kidding)?


texts:
I am a student learning English. I learned in a class that either present or past progressive can be used to express a negative reaction to a situation.
The explanations on the lecture note the professor gave are written as follows:

The present progressive is often used with always to express a negative reaction to a situation.

He's always calling me "Sweetie." I hate that name.

The past progressive with always can also be used to criticize actions we feel are annoying, or which we wish to exaggerate.

At school, he was always getting into trouble.

I am confused because the explanation about past progressive shows that we use past progressive to criticize actions we feel (present) are annoying.
Does the past progressive with always reflect the same tense with the present progressive with always?


texts: It's unconventional, but is "T's & C's" technically correct?

texts: It looks a bit weird and isn't the commonly used term, but is it not correct? The apostrophe would be marking the shortening of "terms" to "t" and "conditions" to "c", of course.


texts:
I understand that certain words when used over time are then embraced into the English lexicon. Is "this'll" one of those words?
Examples:

This'll do.
This'll stay in place.
As an insert, this'll be easier to do.


texts: Once I want to show my expression to thank, can we use only one word "Thank" instead of "Thanks"?


texts:
I am a non-native English learner. And when I was looking up the word easy-going in dictionaries, the explanations really confused me. Is the word easy-going positive or negative? Some dictionaries say it means lax, negligent or careless, while some say it means not easily annoyed, worried or upset.

Which is correct? Do you think this word means a good quality or approval. Does it mean that the meaning of the word easy-going differs depending on the context, or it's a difference between British and American English

    [American Heritage Dictionary]

    adj. 1.

    a. Living without undue worry or concern; calm.

    b. Lax or negligent; careless.

    c. Relaxed or informal in attitude or standards:an easygoing teacher who allowed extra time for assignments.

    [Merriam-Webster Dictionary]

    a : relaxed and casual in style or manner: an easygoing boss

    b : morally lax

    [Collins English Dictionary]

    If you describe someone as easy-going, you mean that they are not easily annoyed, worried, or upset, and you think this is a good quality. [approval]

    [Chambers Dictionary]

    adj. not strict; relaxed, tolerant or placid.


texts: What is the meaning of "poetry" ? And how far it is different from "Poem"?

texts:
In a concert I heard saying Poetry is : "words carrying the meaning little concealed and little exposed."

It may sound convincing but thats not word to word meaning neither complete. It is just a beautiful meaning that is pleasant to hear.

  Meaning of poetry?


texts: How to wish a colleague going on maternity leave?

texts: I would like to wish a colleague who is going on maternity leave. I have known about the pregnancy for a while now so saying "Congratulations on your pregnancy" doesn't sound right. All suggestions are welcome.


texts: What is the noun for 'self-evident' or 'obvious'?

texts: I am looking for a noun to describe something that is self-evident. I don't think I can say 'this is a self-evidency', but searching online and on this forum, I haven't found a proper alternative yet.


texts: Is there a generic word for young livestock?

texts: So I am looking for a generic word for calf, lamb, chick, kid, etc.


texts: What expression should I use to indicate that one felt comfortable in a new place after initially feeling uncomfortable?

texts:
I have a new friend and he is a new comer here. He needs to adapt to the culture here. Last week he told me that he felt uncomfortable.  Yesterday, he said that he felt at home. He has been two weeks here.

My question is, how do I say, "he finally felt comfortable here"? Is there any idiomatic expression? I checked in a dictionary and found: feel at home


texts:
I was trying to compose the following sentence: "This country has no existing agencies for ... such internet surveillance like the US do". What verb should I choose here? I've thought about 'carrying out', 'performing', 'maintaining', but none of them has the meaning I'm looking for (I hope the meaning I'm trying to convey is clear from the context). Any ideas?

By the way, is the sentence otherwise correct?

I think "conducting" is the correct word; I've just found it while looking through suggested questions. But I'm not going to delete the question: maybe someone will find it useful.


texts: Is there a word for the use of a nationality to change the meaning of a noun?

texts: In phrases such as Russian Roulette, Dutch Courage and French Letter the nationality changes the meaning of the noun. Is there a word for this?


texts: Etymology of "informal British" word "bent" (meaning: dishonest, corrupt)

texts:
I have been seeing some of my British friends using the word "bent" to mean dishonest, cheater, immoral etc. "Bent" as adjective is defined in Lexico as British informal Dishonest; corrupt.
I wonder where it got this sense. I searched different etymology dictionaries such as Wikitionary, Online Etymology Dictionary (Etymonline), Etymology Online, Etymology Geek but none of them says anything about this sense of "bent".
Etymonline has a note about the adjective "bent" but it is about the shape (curved). I have no access to Green Dictionary of slang. Can someone tell me where "bent" acquired this sense?


texts: What is a one or two word phrase for "Social Media following"?

texts:
I am writing an application and need to find a short way to describe a shared group of people who follow certain aspects; for example, hashtags in Twitter or fans of certain pages on Facebook.

I had considered the term  audience but that doesn't really fit. But what about the expression advocates?


texts: How to determine whether to use "with whomever" or "with whoever"

texts:
In these sentences, should I use whoever or whomever?

I'm going to the park with whomever/whoever.
I'm going to the park with whomever/whoever I want.

Thanks!


texts: The word "Bluechip" is used to refer to large cap companies which are in existence for at least 10 years. But why are they called Bluechips? What does the word denote?


texts: What's the word for using the names of letters and numbers to sound out a word?

texts:
For example, LXS = Alexis, or RTQL8N = articulatin'.
I seem to recall there being a word for this.


texts: Is there a word for a travel guide specifically for emergency situations?

texts:
The area I live in sees a lot of tourists. I want to build a mobile app that is kind of a travel guide - but not one that tells you about points of interest and the best restaurants, but one that provides advice when something goes wrong.

Like, what to do

when having an accident
when getting ripped off in a restaurant or shop
when encountering a wounded animal
when losing your ID or passport (consular services nearby, etc.)

So it's a travelling companion that gives advice in times of need, specifically. The marketing proposition is that this app helps you be prepared.

I'm having trouble coming up with a good name for it. It's for the island of Lanzarote, so it should be Lanzarote <something>.

What might work here?

Words I've thought about:

Companion - nice, but a bit generic, no?
Advisor / Advice - kind of works, but a bit generic and maybe doesn't convey the "in times of need" aspect well enough
Navigator - not really, it's really just there with helpful local info if something goes wrong. There's other products that help you plan your trip, etc. That's not what this is about.
Helper - not sure


texts:
Which of the two sentences below is the same as the following "The gracious GOD teaches us as if we were children".

The gracious GOD teaches us like children.
The gracious GOD teaches us as children.

Could you help me with it?  Thanks.


texts:
I tried to say this:

  Due to it will have less features than the actual standard system, the performance will be better.

Basically, I used a sentence after due to, and one of my English friends said it does not make sense and is not grammatically correct.

What is wrong with using due to at the beginning of a sentence?


texts:
The question might seem absurd, but I am curious as to why 'barefeet' is not a valid English word.
Why is it 'barefoot' and not 'barefeet'?


texts: can't have worked vs mustn't have worked

texts:
I'm trying to understand why answer is B?
My answer is A

I can't fine any rules how to explain it.

She's got a terrible mark in the exam so she ....very hard at all.

A. mustn't have worked
 B. can't have worked
C. didn't work

Thanks


texts:
The verb "to tempt" refers to enticing or influencing somebody to do something, with strong connotations of that thing being something wrong, something they should not do.  But when I think about it, I can't come up with any word that specifically means to entice or influence somebody to do something good.  Probably the closest I can come up with is "inspire," but that doesn't quite feel like the concept I'm looking for.
Do we have a good word for "positive temptation" in English?


texts: Semicolon usage in conjunction with a conjunction

texts:
I once was blind and deaf to the Saviour's beckoning but He reached
  into my disobedient heart and lovingly led me to surrender my will for
  His; to trade death for life and sight and sound; and to seek His
  glory and Kingdom first.

Is the use of the second semicolon correct in light of the fact that a conjunction is also in place?

I thought it might need something more to distinguish the new phrase from the previous one that also has two conjunctions.


texts: What does spite mean in "spite of despondence" in the poem Endymion by John Keats?

texts:
The poem Endymion by John Keats reads:

  A thing of beauty is a joy for ever:
  Its loveliness increases; it will never
  Pass into nothingness; but still will keep
  A bower quiet for us, and a sleep
  Full of sweet dreams, and health, and quiet breathing.
  Therefore, on every morrow, are we wreathing
  A flowery band to bind us to the earth,
  Spite of despondence, of the inhuman dearth
  Of noble natures, of the gloomy days,
  Of all the unhealthy and o'er-darkened ways
  Made for our searching: yes, in spite of all,
  Some shape of beauty moves away the pall
  From our dark spirits. Such the sun, the moon,
  Trees old, and young, sprouting a shady boon
  For simple sheep; and such are daffodils
  With the green world they live in; and clear rills
  That for themselves a cooling covert make
  'Gainst the hot season; the mid-forest brake,
  Rich with a sprinkling of fair musk-rose blooms:
  And such too is the grandeur of the dooms
  We have imagined for the mighty dead;
  All lovely tales that we have heard or read:
  An endless fountain of immortal drink,
  Pouring unto us from the heaven's brink.

I believe it is short for "in spite of", as is later supported by the line " yes, in spite of all ". I am convinced of it.

But my teacher says spite here means 'specks'. Another source says it stands for 'malice'. I asked my teacher how would he explain the  'yes' afterwards. But he could not give a satisfactory answer.


texts: Word for incredible sadness that almost overpowers the joy from the same event?

texts:
I had a dream about my oldet son's upcoming high school graduation.  It devolved into me counting a large soda-cupfull of coins to pay for slices of cake and I woke up in tears for having wasted so much time doing that when I should have been just celebrating.  I realized that even though I am incredibly proud of him and extremely excited to see where his life takes him (MIT is a real possibility), I am also deeply saddened by the end of his youth.

There will be no more hanging out with his robotics team and chaperoning trips to competitions.  No more back-to-school nights to meet his teachers.  I won't get to hang out at school with other parents -- my main source of friends, these past 15 years.  My little buddy is growing up and becoming a man.

So, yes, while I am very, very happy about his impending graduation, I am also horribly, terribly saddened by it.

Is there a word for this?  It might be used in this way:

I'm feeling very ---- about Jared's upcoming graduation.

or

I am ---- right now.

or

How are you?  /  I'm ----.

Edit:

In response to the suggestion that this is a duplicate of this question -- that question was asking about being both happy and sad with the implication being that one is equally each.  The sample sentence there was:

  "At least we got one vote," she said with a (word I'm looking for) smile.

It seems that the sadness in that example is both justified and not overpowering.

Of the answers suggested for that question:

Bittersweet is the closest but is not really right.  Bittersweet is happiness tinged with sadness; I'm looking for a word that means happiness that is nearly overpowered (or is overpowered) by sadness, when happiness is the appropriate response.

Ambivalence is "The state of having mixed feelings or contradictory ideas about something or someone" (per Oxford) as @CJDennis pointed out.  It doesn't really indicate anything about one emotion being stronger than the other; I would have always thought they would be more or less equal.  The word I'm looking for, however, would specifically indicate that the Sadness dominates the happiness.  Ideally, it would also imply that happiness is the expected/acceptable response.

Rueful doesn't fit; there's nothing to regret and nothing humorous.

I will note that, while not some chest-thumping manly man, I'm also not overly demonstrative, so that waking up crying about this is definitely significant; it's not just a case of wistfulness or something.


texts: Is there a term for sharing a word between multiple lines of a poem/song?

texts:
In Jonathan Coulton's "Sticking It To Myself," the first word or phrase in one line (bolded) often also serves as the last word in the next line without repetition:

And I heard everything you said
Those things to try to get inside my head
Is full ...

Sticking it to my-
Self-control
That's not the only thing I lack
A plan
Just my own gun against my
Back down now and let this hostage
Go away

This is as opposed to the chorus of The Wanted's "Glad You Came," which does something similar but repeats the word on the next line:

Turn the lights out now
Now I'll take you by the hand
Hand you another drink
Drink it if you can
Can you spend a little time?
Time is slipping away
Away from us, so stay
Stay with me, I can make
Make you glad you came

What The Wanted's "Glad You Came" does by repeating the last words of one line in the start of the next line is called anadiplosis, but the name of the rhetorical scheme or literary device I'm seeking is that of the first example where the words at the end of one line are not repeated but instead themselves become the words that start the next line. Is there a name for this rhetorical scheme or literary device? If so, what is it?


texts: scope of 'everybody': infelicitous use of 'it'

texts:
Irene Heim claims the second 'it' is not felicitously used in this sequence of words. It must sound awkward.

Everybody found a cat and kept it. It ran away. (source: (5) on page 225 of 'File Change Semantics and the Familiarity Theory of Definiteness')

What would be an alternative then? My mind tells me 'the cat' and 'the cats' work here, depending, respectively, if they found one cat together, or if each of them found one cat, with possibility of some of them sharing one here and there.

Does connecting the two sentences solve the problem?

Everybody found a cat and kept it, and it ran away.
Everybody found a cat, kept it, and it ran away.

Also, I think splitting the first sentence makes the first 'it' infelicitous too. Am I right?

Everybody found a cat. They kept it. It ran away.


texts: Multiple things belonging to a group of people?

texts:
This phrase is coming up over and over in the paper I'm editing... basically the author is talking about the many different things all belonging to a group of people. For example (these are not the phrase in question, but variations):

"...preliminary assessment of female athletes' perceptions of nutrition..."

"...gain a better understanding of females athletes' needs and interest in nutrition..."

"...the relationship between nutrition and performance from the male athletes' perspectives will be..."

These phrases all just feel awkward, but it comes up so often (these are all from the same short paragraph) that I feel it would be disruptive to the flow to always insert an 'of', e.g. "gain a better understanding of the needs and interest of females athletes in nutrition". Is there a proper way to write these sentences?

I also don't want to reduce the plural athletes or plural perspectives, as one of the main goals of the paper is that there are many athletes, and they each have a different perspective or perception or opinion that should not be amalgamated.


texts:
I hear and read these three words used in the same context in English, but is one of them more correct than the others?

"The witch's cat picked up his ears"

"Last year, when Mahmout heard that EGA would pay for several thousand mules for Greece, he perked up his ears."

"As they were speaking, a dog that had been lying asleep raised his head and pricked up his ears."


texts: Is "bevel" used correctly here, to mean a slope of little angle?

texts:
I was thinking about writing these lines in a poem, in which I use the word "bevel" to refer to a driveway that is not completely level, but rather on an angle.

  Out beyond the driveway,
  Where the car sits quietly on a bevel.

I know it is not typical to refer to a driveway as a "bevel", and I must admit I am using this word to achieve a slant rhyme with another word higher up in the poem.

But I wanted to know, does it make sense here? Would you deem it acceptable? Especially given the license typically afforded to the author of a poem?

Here are some dictionary entries that made me hope I could be using the word correctly.

  (Wiktionary) 1. An edge that is canted, one that is not a 90 degree angle; a chamfer.
  to give a bevel to the edge of a table or a stone slab

  (Merriam Webster online) 2a. the angle that one surface or line makes with another when they are not at right angles

But I must admit that neither give me confidence. I would appreciate your opinions!


texts: What is a word for having a lot of life experience or a person with a lot of life experience?

texts:
I am trying to think of a word, other than mature, that means "to have a lot of life experience" and that would be able to describe a person with such.  (By "life experience" I mean more than just growing up and learning to live in the world; more like "to be good at interacting with people and dealing with things negative and positive as if it were a skill.")

For instance the word guile can mean to have sly or cunning intelligence (from a quick google search of "define guile"). So with guile you could say that a person has plenty of guile.


texts:
Is it correct to say "Account Buttons" or "Accounts Buttons" when referring to buttons, where every button represents different account?

If I use "Account Buttons" doesn't mean that there are few buttons for the same account?


texts: "Event is raised when maintenance occurs or scheduled" vs. "or is scheduled"

texts:
Which sentence is correct?

  Event is raised when maintenance occurs or scheduled.
  Event is raised when maintenance occurs or is scheduled.


texts: What does "persecutory trends" imply in this definition?

texts:
I read a definition of the word "paranoid" in Merriam Webster which was:

  characterized by suspiciousness, persecutory trends, or megalomania

I'm not sure what specifically "trends" mean above. Another definition of the word suggest that the one affected with paranoia feels as if other people are trying to harm them, but when I read the relevant definition of "trend" (which is "a prevailing tendency or inclination") it seems to suggest the person "does persecution" not "feel persecuted". What am I missing?


texts:
I have a phrase which I want to write, but I'm not sure of the correct grammar.

I want to say:

  He sat (dramatic pause) and I (beat) nervous of what he was about to say...

Would I write this as:

  He sat. And I, nervous of what he was about to say...

Or

  He sat, and I, nervous of what he was about to say...

Or are both wrong and there's a better way?


texts: What is the difference between "Height" and "Summit"؟

texts: What is the difference between "Height" and "Summit"?


texts: I just saw this on internet and i know  this is a slogan and how to use it too, but i dont know the whole meaning of this phrase.


texts:
(1)   If you want anything to eat, there are plenty of
  eggs.

  (2)   If you are at all hungry, there are plenty of
  eggs.

  (3)   If you're the least bit hungry, there are plenty
  of eggs.

Of the three types of sentences which one sounds most sincere and generous?


texts: How to write when "is" is pronounced like apostrophe one?

texts:
Here's what the protagonist in a movie said (I'm typing what I heard, may or may not be grammatically correct): "Balls in your court".

In that phrase, the term 'balls' is shortened version of "Ball is..."

What I don't understand is that how do I write a grammatically correct sentence which has a shortened version of "Ball is in your court" that sounds like "Balls in your court"?

Is it "Ball's in your court" OR "Balls in your court" (as I mentioned above) OR is it something else?

I'm skeptical about "Ball's in your court" because that apostrophe would imply that it's about something related to the ball; it just feels out of place.

I hope the question is clear otherwise let me know. Thank you.


texts: What's that word for the action you do right after rinsing and wringing a shirt, but before setting it out to dry?

texts:
This is really funny, but I'm writing a story, and need to describe an action I've done and seen others do almost all my life - here in Uganda at least, but I can't seem to find the word or expression for it!

Basically, as part of the process of washing most clothes, especially shirts/t-shirts, after one had finished washing the fabric in water, right after the final rinsing (not using a machine, but bare hands), and right before placing the fabric on a hangar or wire to let it dry, there's this action we do:

for a shirt for example, you hold it by its base on both ends, and doing a motion as though using the shirt to blow out a fire, cause more water to be lost from the fabric, and also to help lessen the possibility of creases forming in the fabric prior to hanging it out to dry.

It's the above act that I can't find the right word(s) for, and if anyone here knows of or has seen this act being done, maybe they might offer some suggestions?

Note: I'm almost close to 30, but don't think I've ever heard anyone describe that action with a word, yet it's so common [here] :-)


texts:
She drives well on a highway.

This sentence makes sense to me, but so does the next one:

  This car drives well on a highway.

I'm not sure why. The car can't drive on its own but second sentence isn't saying that it's simply saying a driver can drive the car well on a highway.

Let's say if I want to say "Drivers are not allowed to drive tow trucks on a highway". Can I rephrase it and say "Tow trucks are not allowed to drive on a highway"?


texts:
I'm having trouble understanding these few lines:

In recent decades, we've come to assume that respecting our fellow citizens' moral and religious convictions means ignoring them. But this stance of avoidance can make for spurious respect.

What does 'to make for spurious respect' mean? I guess 'spurious' here means 'non-genuine', but I am confused of how this fits in to the phrasal verb 'to make for'.


texts: "both" vs "these" referring to two phrases

texts:
Consider the sentence:

"The library is infinite, or it is not a library. [NEXT SENTENCE]".

In [NEXT SENTENCE], I need to say something along the lines of : "both of these options/situations are identical", or "these describe the same thing", or "these are synonymous", but I can only do so in three words. Some of the different possibilities are thus:

"The library is infinite, or it is not a library. These are identical".

"The library is infinite, or it is not a library. Both are identical".

"The library is infinite, or it is not a library. These are synonymous".

"The library is infinite, or it is not a library. Both are synonymous".

Is it better to use 'both' or 'these' in this example to refer to a property shared by both the "infinite library" and that which is "not a library"?

Alternatively, are there any other ways of expressing this?


texts:
Saw this sentence recently and the "too" is bothering me.

  Nothing should be stacked too high that it might cover a fire suppression system or sprinkler head.

I can't give a rule as to why, but it feels like it should be "so high".

Am I mistaken or is "too" incorrect here?


texts: In technology, the "master" controls one or more devices known as the slave(s). For the novel I am writing, I prefer avoiding the connotation of Master/Slave. Is their a word, term or other phrase that depicts this relationship more eloquently?


texts: What is a "longstop"? (British, I think)

texts:
I've come across this word applied to God in a book by Julian Barnes but I don't understand it.

  And perhaps God doesn't mind being addressed only in emergency. It may
  seem to bystanders that any sensible deity ought to be offended by
  such spotty, self-interested attention.
  But He might view things differently. He might, modestly, not want to
  be a daily, occluding presence in our lives. He might enjoy being a
  breakdown specialist, an insurance company, a longstop.

  Julian Barnes. Nothing to Be Frightened Of

I've found the phrase longstop or long-stop or long stop date, but it doesn't seem to make sense in the text. References to longstop as a single word without hyphen appear almost only in .uk domain, so I think is British English. I also found this explanation in a book:

  In cricket a 'longstop' is a fielder who is placed a few yards
  directly behind the wicketkeeper so that if the wicketkeeper fails to
  stop the ball then the long-stop is there to provide cover for the
  wicketkeeper and stop the ball reaching the boundary. The principle in
  Hastings-Bass used to have this role in case trustees caused a loss in trust in the exercise of their powers (like the ball getting past
  the wicketkeeper) by simply having the exercise of those powers
  reversed after the event.

  Alastair Hudson. Equity and Trusts

But I don't fully grasp it. What is the longstop Barnes is referring to? Would you provide any examples or synonyms?


texts: A word for feeling simultaneously happy & sad

texts:
I'm looking for a word that means feeling both happy and sad at the same time. Here's a sentence I'd like to use it in:

  "At least we got one vote," she said with a (word I'm looking for) smile.


texts: Using the present tense in recounting past events

texts:
There's a particular colloquial usage of the present tense in recounting past events that has a shade of meaning that I've been unable to put my finger on. As an example, instead of:

  And then Bob said to her, "Sorry, I'm not going."

saying:

  And then Bob says to her, "Sorry, I'm not going."

It seems to me that this expresses an attitude of mild disapproval toward the action recounted, by using the present tense. Further along the same spectrum might be:

  And then Bob goes, "Sorry, I'm not going."

or even:

  And then Bob is all like "Sorry, I'm not going."

What's a more linguistically sound way to describe what exactly is being encoded by this usage of the present tense?


texts: Difference between "it's imperative you..." and "it's imperative THAT you..."

texts:
"it's imperative you post a picture of your pug" or "it's imperative THAT you post a picture of your pug"

What's the difference?


texts: Word/phrase/name for the phenomenon where early adopters tend to end up behind because of their early adoption?

texts:
If you've ever been to a very fancy/expensive hotel, you often have to pay for wifi, and the wifi is very slow. Compare this to a cheap road-side motel where it's included and fast. There are a few reasons this happens, but one of them might be that the fancier hotel bought in to the wifi infrastructure earlier, which means they have more expensive/older/less performant equipment.

Another example could be railways or public transportation: the areas that first invested in public transportation have aging infrastructure that is lacking in the new technological advances that late-comers to public transportation got to take advantage of. And sometimes the existence of the older transit options prevents progress (like drivers being resistant to computerization, making a railway/transit system less on-time or not able to make use of automated systems) -- or that the actual railways themselves are not physically compatible with new technology, and a region is unwilling to do a wholesale replacement.

My mind is thinking this is an 'early adopter paradox', and that I might have come across papers studying this, but I can't think of what the word or phrase or name for this would be.


texts: "Take off", "head off", "leave". What else can be used to politely indicate that I am leaving

texts: I got a feeling that it is rude to say "I'm gonna leave" or "I'm leaving". Is it really impolite?  And the term "take off", I have only seen it used on the series "Friends". Most of the time, it is used for the departure of a flight. So the only option I have now is head off, but it seems informal. Well, you can't expect me to say "I'm gonna boost" on a formal occasion. So, what else could be used to inform others that I am leaving?


texts: Can the word "paired" be used when describing more than two objects?

texts:
Is the following sentence acceptable?

  Matches are played three v. three. In the first hundred matches, teams are randomly paired.

Can "paired" be used in this case, since it is 3 teams that are being put together?

EDIT:
There seems to be a little confusion on what I'm trying to describe here. The game is a robotics competition (FIRST Robotics Competition). Teams of up to 50 people each build a robot and bring it to a competition. The matches are played 3 robots vs. 3 robots. In the first hundred matches, the 3 robots on each alliance are randomly paired.


texts: Sinister: Left slides to malicious, but how?

texts: How did "sinister" migrate from the Latin for "left" to English for "evil"?


texts: Midnight Cowboy quote that I can't understand

texts:
In Midnight Cowboy, Dustin Hoffman's character (Ratso Rizzo) says:

  "You can't scratch yourself without getting a bellybutton up the old kazoo there."

This was when he was talking about going to Florida, Miami Beach, and the ladies there. He was talking to a handsome man (Jon Voight), who was trying to be a hustler in New York but could not succeed.

Clearly I don't know the meaning of scratching or bellybutton, or how they can be related to each other, or I cannot find the logic by which to understand this sentence using my current knowledge of English.


texts: Is it possible for nature to create an embankment or is the word used exclusively for the result of human activity?


texts: The difference between "to think about" and "to think of"

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  Difference between “think of” and “think about”

What is the difference between "to think about" and "to think of", when we can mix them and when not? I often met them in any paper I read. My dictionary doesn't provide with details regarding this situation.

Thanks.


texts: What is the difference between "beneficial" and "beneficent'? They seem to have the same meaning of "helpful".


texts:
Not sure if I should be on another site, possibly Math, but is there a generic symbol specifically for "multiple"
For example, I'm trying to breakdown solutions based on number of cases

0 Cases -> Do solution 1
1 Case -> Do solution 2
"Multiple" Cases -> Do solution 3

Was thinking of "X Cases", but that can also be singular


texts:
I was having a chat to my girlfriend when something came up and I said

"Speaking of dads, I had a dream where me and yours were going...".
Here  "me" refers to myself and "yours" to her dad.

She corrected me saying that this was incorrect, however could not quite identify where. Later I said that I should've replaced "me" with "I" and swapped the order around. However, this still felt clumsy and she insisted that was still incorrect.

What is a good, conversational, way that this might be said? Furthermore, are there any correct uses of "me and yours" , idiomatic or otherwise?


texts: "Stay in touch in case you will" — possible?

texts:
Is the following sentence correct? I am not sure about the future tense after the "in case". Tried googling but could not find any phrase like that..

  I would like to stay in touch in case you will be looking for someone like me next year.


texts: "Menu of services include" or "...includes"?

texts:
I'm not sure about the pluralization here:

  menu of services includes

or

  menu of services include

Which is correct?


texts: Is this sentence correct? Could you please help me?

texts:
This process has been used to aggregate CNTs into metal matrices such as silicon, copper, aluminum and nickel.

It sounds ambiguous to me since I cannot tell by who, when or to what extent has this process been used. It may be correct, though. What do you think? How would you make it clearer?


texts: What's the meaning of “floor discussion”?

texts:
What's a floor discussion in the following sentence?

  Promptness is necessary so that, by the time the Conference opens,
  your material will have been compiled for use in a report, a panel
  discussion, a workshop, a floor discussion, or a committee agenda
  item.

NOTE: I asked this question in English Language Learning but then thought it is more suited to be posed in here.


texts:
Hello everyone I was working on the following question:

I said the error was A, because it should be how to preserve right? But apparently that is not the error, I cannot seem to find any other errors.

Which one is it?


texts:
How were blockbusters called before the word blockbuster came along? I mean major productions, historical epics and prestige films of the 1930s, e.g. Gone with the Wind (the term "prestige film" is also quite a latecomer). I believe Germans have the word Großfilm…

I guess I want to emphasize more the monumentalism and expense of the film rather than it’s actual box office success. Has anyone encountered some old expressive words for such films?


texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  “I have been keeping ignoring you.”

The following sentence sounds odd to me, however I cannot think of any rules that would make its syntax incorrect:

  "I would recommend considering upgrading to the latest version of the product"

What would be the correct way of communicating this statement?


texts: Are more than one "ground zero" multiple "ground zeros" or "grounds zero" or "grounds zeros"?

texts:
A ground zero is the location under an explosion in the air.
Like the places in Hiroshima and in Nagasaki.
The term is often used to refer to the New York City site of the September 11 attacks in 2001. Both 1 World Trade Center and 2 World Trade Center were attacked separately, but ended up as one joint pile of debris. So there is only one ground zero in Manhattan. The nuclear explosions in Hiroshima and Nagasaki resulted in two of these locations. But what is the term for multiple air burst sites?

I think it is one of the following four:

ground zeros

This could represent both (ground zero)s or ground (zeros). I can describe the two distinct identity elements of two mathematical groups as two zeros, and a ground related to the zeros would be called ground zeros.

ground zeroes

This describes a single ground which is zeroing.

grounds zero

This describes the zero location of multiple grounds, which share the same zero, so that would fit the case of multiple airburst sites, but it depends on that both places are are compared in one coordinate space and therefore share the same zero.

grounds zeros

This would be strange as it involves the plural twice, so it should describe at least four elements, at least two grounds multiplied by at least two zeros, and we have two places, not four.

Of course it could be none of them.

So what is it, and why?


texts: "Knock yourself out": what meanings does it have?

texts:
Here's the text:

  A: Nobody's fed me all day and I'm still part of this family.
  B: There's a sandwich in the fridge.  Knock yourself out!

What does it mean by knock yourself out?


texts:
I was reading this article

http://www.organics.org/8-beers-that-you-should-stop-drinking-immediately/

when I saw

  Propylene Glycol is controversial, and is said to may be potentially harmful to your health

As far as I know, "may" cannot work as an infinitive like this, but I decided to try to Google for it, and found other cases, e.g.

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2007/11/11/21341/experts-danger-of-nuclear-armed.html

  Now it is Iran that is said to may be bent on acquiring nuclear arms, and President Bush who has declared that "unacceptable."

I'm beginning to think that these are not mere typos. But what's going on? I tend to believe that the authors are native English speakers, at least I didn't find any other signs of non-native-ness in the articles. Is it dialectal?

Please note: I am not looking for answers along the line of "This is wrong".


texts: What's the word for the "back arm" if there is one?

texts: We have the word "forearm" — but what's the other half of the arm called by itself? Does it have a corresponding positional name?


texts:
This is a doubt from the poem Television by Roald Dahl and it is there in our 10 STD school textbook. I and my teacher had a bit of conflict with the figures of speech here:

...In almost every house we've been,
We've watched them gaping at the screen...

My teacher says that the above sentence is inversion, saying that the correct order is We've been in almost every house..., and that while indentifying figures of speech, we have to refer each line separately.

I argued that we can't consider it that way and that it is not inversion as the sentence is in proper order.

Please explain me what is right and what is wrong. Please give a complete analysis of the sentence also.

Thank you.


texts:
Is it grammatically correct to omit the second "the" in the sentence

  The viscosity and the density of water characterize its speed.

and write instead

  The viscosity and density of water characterize its speed?


texts: Meat is sold at the butchers' or meat is sold at butchers?

texts:
I'm not an English speaker. Could you tell me what is wrong with the sentence below?

Meat is sold at butchers.

The correction says meat is sold at the butchers'. I have no idea why need to have the before butcher'.


texts:
The concepts of Irony, Sarcasm and Cynicism are often mentioned in one breath. I however, have never seen how they're intertwined and what they exactly mean. I must have seen at least a dozen different definitions for each words, often not matching. To a layman like me, this is what these words seem to mean (just from hearing it in everyday usage):

Irony: Something that you particularly don't expect (for any reason) happens.
Sarcasm:Saying one thing, and actually meaning the opposite, in a mean way.
Cynicism: Insulting someone in a very painful, rude way. Also, having absolutely no positive feelings towards something (being cynical).

However, this is what I am taught now, and it just seems plain wrong:

Irony: Concealed mockery by saying the opposite of what you mean (Isn't this actually sarcasm? You never hear someone say I was being ironic!, riht?)
Sarcasm: Stinging mockery. (When is it not stinging? This doesn't seem true to me..)
Cynicism: Rejecting towards idealism and enthusiasm, sometimes meant to hurt. (This one is by far most confusing to me..)

So my questions are:

Are any of these definitions right?
If so, has everyone been using the words ironic and sarcastic incorrectly?
What the heck is the difference? They all seem the same, even their definitions..


texts:
I've seen a sentence

  Your donation will help aid flood victims.

A dictionary says "aid = to help".
So the sentence is "Your donation will help help flood victims."

I was wondering if "help aid" is correct or it means something special.
Why not just

  "Your donation will help flood victims."

or

  "Your donation will aid flood victims."


texts: Is it appropriate to use the salutation "Dear All" in a work email?

texts:
I have observed that in my work place, whenever a mail is sent to more than one person( like an information, meeting request or a notice etc.), the mail starts with the salutation "Dear All". This, somehow, doesn't seem correct to me. For me, a salutation should address the reader individually, at least in its singular form, as in "Dear Colleagues".

Am I correct in thinking that?


texts:
My limited understanding is that it applies to a company that comes first when people think about a particular topic. Could I say Microsoft is a mind-share leader for Operating Systems?

The expression is on various websites, and my company just chose it as its slogan.


texts: 'Not being able to' vs 'Being not able to' , which is grammtical?

texts:
which is grammatical between the two sentences below?

We end up not being able to deal with new situations.
We end up being not able to deal with new situations.


texts: Where does the pejorative meaning of "shower" come from?

texts:
shower  British informal
  a group of people perceived as incompetent or worthless

I think this term is becoming obsolete.  It's certainly not something I've heard in the street recently.  The first place I encountered it was the 1959 film I'm Alright Jack.

  Major Hitchcock:  They're a shower.  Absolute shower.

According to wiktionary it comes from shower of shit but there is no justification given.


texts: Usage of the word "meet" in the context of a phone call/video conference

texts:
Is it acceptable English to use the verb meet in the context of a phone call or a video conference?

To provide a bit of background, I am writing an email to a business associate overseas. There is little chance of an actual face-to-face meeting taking place anytime soon, however a phone call or a video conference would obviously work fine.

I don't want to be the one to suggest a method of communication, but would rather let the business associate decide in what way would they prefer to conduct the conversation. For this reason, I was thinking of using a neutral verb, e.g. meet. Can I use a phrase such as "I hope we can meet to discuss topic X in the near future" in the context of a phone call or a video conference?

Intuitively, I would say that this sounds a little awkward. Nevertheless, given the fact that phone conference calls are often referred to as meetings, I was thinking that this sort of usage of the word might be acceptable after all. What do you think?


texts: Usage of Articles(definite vs indefinte)

texts: "Find the area of a triangle whose side is 3cm, 14cm and 7.5cm." Is this sentence correct or should we use 'the' instead of 'a' because we have specified/defined the triangle by specifying its sides(with the help of a relative pronoun)?


texts: What is the term for words like “Look” and “Listen” followed by a comma at the start of a sentence?

texts:
What is the technical term for the part of speech in bold?

  Look, I'm not sure what you've been told, but carrots don't glow in the dark unless they mean business.

or

  Listen, the only thing keeping him alive right now is that carrot.

I want to find some information on this kind of word for a class I am teaching. I want to find more examples and instances of usage.

The problem is that I'm finding it impossible to come up with a search term that correctly encompasses it. I'm sure if I knew the technical word I could find more information myself, but just searching with "look" and "listen" is hopeless, because they are such common words.

From what I have been able to ascertain so far, the answer appears to fall somwehere between the camps of interjection and discourse marker, but not into either exclusively or perfectly.

Anything to point me in the right direction would be appreciated.

EDIT: Just to be clear, I need to know the technical term so that I can search effectively for explanations and usage examples. I will then use these to craft an explanation that is easy for the students to understand. I am not looking to use the technical vocabulary to explain things directly to students.

SOLUTION(?)

Not sure enough to post it as an answer, but it may help others with a similar problem to know that term attention-getting device seems to be used a fair amount. Here are some interesting (though slightly tangential) resources I found:

Imperatives of visual versus auditory perception as pragmatic markers in English and Dutch
Links between Eyebrow Movements and Voice Variations : an Experimental
Investigation
Discourse Markers in Native And Non-native English Discourse

Also found some good information here which helped me form my teaching plan, though again not precisely what I was looking for:

As I Was Saying: How and Why to Teach Discourse Markers


texts:
I'm wondering what the direct opposite of "concur" is. For example, disagree is the direct negation of agree. Is there such a word?

Thanks!


texts: Gendered Pronouns for Privacy-Masked Individuals

texts:
I was editing an academic paper for a friend, and she used several internet users as case studies to document their behavior on social media. For privacy reasons, she omitted their names, and referred to them as User 1, User 2, etc. In the main body of the analysis, she refers to them like:

  User 1 is a male construction worker in Swogland. User 2 is a female 2nd generation Swoggish immigrant in NYC.

  User 1 posted updates 5 times in Swoglish, but only when talking about elephants. He does not appear to like elephants very much, so his choice may indicate his distaste for the Swoglish language.

  User 2 posted all 20 updates in Swoglish, but the content and competency of her posts suggests she was a Swoglish learner, and so she might be using Swoglish to practice instead of using it to communicate with her online subscribers.

I thought it seemed strangely familiar to refer to them using gendered pronouns in context, while actively depersonalizing them for academic reasons. It looks like we are telling a personal story about them instead of treating them as anonymized subjects.

I suggested avoiding pronouns as much as possible, and referring to them as User X each sentence, and when a pronoun was absolutely necessary, using a singular 'they' or 'their', as follows:

  User 1 is a male construction worker in Swogland. User 2 is a female 2nd generation Swoggish immigrant in NYC.

  User 1 posted updates 5 times in Swoglish, but only when talking about elephants. User 1 does not appear to like elephants very much, so this choice may indicate their distaste for the Swoglish language.

  User 2 posted all 20 updates in Swoglish, but the content and competency of the posts suggests that User 2  was a Swoglish learner, and so might be using Swoglish to practice, instead of using it to communicate with their online subscribers.

Was this the right academic style?

* EDIT *

I added a second example to stress that we do in fact know the genders of the users. It just feels more narrative and less scientific to use their pronouns while hiding their names.


texts:
Consider the following sentence:

  This takes a lot of time and money to keep going, [. . .] I have little.

Which would fit best in that ellipsis?

of both which
of which both
both of which

In my mind (and to my ears), of both which sounds correct, but I'm not sure.


texts: Employee vs Employe Which Is More Correct/Common

texts: It is always interesting when a word has multiple accepted spellings. I'm wondering what people here have to say on this particular word.


texts: Does it make sense to connect different ideas that start with "to" with commas?

texts:
I'm currently writing a statement of purpose and had a question.
What I want to write is something like:

My past research experience has ranged from creating X, to doing something with Y, and finally to doing Z1 and Z2.

The reason why this sounds a little awkward to me is because normally when I hear the phrase "range from A to B" I think of a starting and ending point without any stops in between. In this particular case, I'd like to include the intermediate information but also give it a sequential feel.
Is the way that I wrote fine, or is there a better (or perhaps correct) way to write it? Thanks.


texts: "This October I will have been xxx yrs in this country"

texts:
I'm new so please excuse if I'm asking something that had been many times before. I'm a foreigner living in UK, who loves English language so I strive for perfect use every time.

Sometimes people ask me how long I have been in this country. I like to round the number of years to the month in which I came, which was October. Therefore if someone asked me today I would have said:

  I will have been 7 years in the country this October.

or if today was sometime in December I would have said

  Last October I have been 7 years in the country.

So simple question: are these forms correct? Or should I just do the simple "I will be 7 years here this October"?


texts: Figurative meaning for "open a parenthesis"?

texts:
In this article one can find the following construct:

  ... To answer this question, it is ... necessary to open a parenthesis.

( And then the author goes into some details. But he does not literally use any parenthesis as I do right here. )

So my question is -- did the author invent this figure of speech, or does it exist in contemporary English ?

Upd. As FumbleFingers have mentioned below, Google Books search for "will open a parenthesis" shows the meaning "to be mentioned in parentheses" to be rather common for this expression.

The moral: there is not just Google, there are also Google Books. )


texts: Semantic question about the definite article

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  Is there a usage of “the” that indicates one out of a group of many?

The definite article is used when the referent is “uniquely identifiable” to the hearer, as many linguists say.

However, when it is used to express genericness as in this example:

  The lion is an animal.

I just don’t think that the noun is referring to a “uniquely identifiable” entity.

As someone whose mother language has no article, I want to know how the definite article can refer both to uniquely identifiable referents and also to generic referents as well.

Could anyone explain?

Native speakers of English understand sentences that use the to express genericness even when they haven’t learned the usage, which means that what the indicates is ultimately one and only one.

There must be something common between the normal usage of the and the generic usage. That’s what I want to know. Telling me what kind of lion would come to mind when seeing a sentence like

  The lion is an animal.

would also help.


texts: Does "They don't have a life" sound correct?

texts:
As he and I walked past a group of individuals, my rude friend said:

  They don't have a life.

I hadn't heard the expression before that. Does it make sense?

They were individuals (plural) but he said "life," which is singular. Shouldn't he have used "lives"?

  They don't have lives.


texts: What's a single word for someone who writes literature?

texts:
As the title suggests, what's a single word to  call someone who writes literature?
(By Literature, I refer to great works such as those written by Keats, Joyce, Faulkner, Bronte, etc.)

Exempli gratia, we call someone who writes poetry a poet, a playwright writes drama etc. So, in general, what do we call someone who writes literature?

(Mathematician+Physicist+Chemist+...)=Scientist

Then, (Poet+Playwright+...)=?

Any help is appreciated.

EDIT: By literature, I mean fictional works such as poetry, play, short-story, novel. Science fiction can also be considered. Some Feynman-esque papers might suffice to fall in the category. Although it excludes text books, scientific papers and the equivalent.


texts: "Couldn't do" or "could do" in idiomatic context (Christgau review)

texts:
Below is a review by music critic Robert Christgau of a Flaming Lips album. I've pasted the entire review, but my focus is on the first two sentences. Primarily, is it idiomatic to use "couldn't" here? Because unless I'm wrong, isn't the point of what he's saying that you don't have to hate Sgt. Pepper to think it "could" do with a little ribbing, etc.?

  You don't have to hate Sgt. Pepper to think it couldn't do with a
  little ribbing, travesty, desecration. In fact, you could love it as
  much as I do and think that. As hilarious sobersides from multiple
  generations charge indignantly that the Lips and their various beards
  fail to "interpret" the songs, all three modes of deconstruction are
  in play on this grand hoot of a fore-to-aft remake. Highlights for me
  include a theme statement that gains meanings it never had from its
  attendant distortions, a creaky "When I'm Sixty-Four," Miley Cyrus so
  sweet on "Lucy in the Sky," and Julianna Barwick adding just what
  "She's Leaving Home" cries out for--a female voice. Only "Fixing a
  Hole" truly fizzles. As for "A Day in the Life," yeah--the original
  rocks. A-


texts: "Over three occasions, each of 3 nights, a total of 21,830 moths were collected, representing more than 1250 morphospecies." Especially ,the meaning of "each of 3 nights".


texts: Would it be proper to include (e.g.) after an example?

texts:
Usually e.g. is used after a general statement to give an example:

  Use some sort of cloth to clean the table (e.g. a dish rag or kitchen towel).

If the general statement is implied from the example, we can remove it completely and include something like (for example):

  To clean the table, use a dish rag or kitchen towel (for example).

My Question:

Would it be appropriate to use e.g. here instead?

  To clean the table, use a dish rag or kitchen towel (e.g.).


texts: confusion in two sentences of present simple

texts: As we know that there is a sentence "Allah says" this sentence is correct, but when we say "God bless you" why not " God blesses you"


texts: Plurals of acronyms, letters, numbers — use an apostrophe or not?

texts:
When I was in high school back in the 1970s, I was taught that to make a plural of an acronym, a letter, or a number, one should add an apostrophe and "s". Like I would have written this sentence, "... back in the 1970's ..." I would write "one CD, two CD's". Etc. I followed this rule faithfully for years until a co-worker told me it was wrong. Now I can't find any source that agrees with what I was taught.

Is this a rule that has changed over time? Was the convention in the 70s that one should use an apostrophe but this has changed and now we do not? Or were my high school English teachers just confused?


texts: What is it called when someone asks a question but it's not really root/true question they have?

texts:
In other words, they are asking a question which seems to them like the right question to ask ("How do I get to point B from point A?") when they are really at point A and are trying to get to point C.

They think they should just ask for directions to point B but if they asked how to get from point A to C, there may very well be a better answer thank first asking how to go A=>B (and eventually asking about B=>C).

I feel I read a 'fancy' name for this — a law, theorem, or fallacy of some sort and cannot find it again :(

Thanks in advance for you help!


texts:
What makes the following a simple sentence?

  James cleaned and polished his brother's car.

Isn't this a compound sentence made of two simple sentences

"James cleaned his brother's car." and "James polished his brother's car."?


texts:
Recently I got an offer letter from one of the top companies. However, because of some unexpected situations I want to reject the offer. In the mail I've explained all the reasons, but I am finding it difficult to find a sentence for the end of the mail. Should I say "I apologize for the inconvenience" or "Sorry to inform you that I am rejecting the offer"

Would usage of 'reject' be rude?  Could someone suggest an exact sentence or a set of sentences? Thank you.


texts: I was hoping to find the antonym for "faction", i checked http://www.synonyms.net/synonym/faction which provided other related. However, I didn't want to use a word that could be related to 'evil' :)


texts: Why do you use "much" when mentioning RAM?

texts:
How much RAM do I need?

Why do I need to use much here? I was under the impression that if I'm mentioning anything countable, I should use many. You can always quantify RAM, so this seems very counterintuitive for me.


texts:
I am not a native speaker. Could you please explain the difference between the phrases "take a look at" and "look at"?

For example:

  Take a look at this issue.
  Look at this issue.

What is the difference? Or are these phrases equal?


texts: Word that means "something that can be abbreviated"

texts:
The two answers that spring to mind are "abbreviable" and "abbreviatable," however neither of them feel correct. Searching the Internet has yielded no conclusive results - dictionaries seem to contain no entries for this, and people seem to restructure their sentence to avoid this problem. Trying to find usage of the two candidates I thought of is just as inconclusive, with no definitions or accepted standard.

Is there a correct answer? A single word is preferable.

An example in English would be "The phrase 'I don't know' is abbreviable to 'IDK'."

The original intended usage is for a Python project. Using more than one word for this would be too verbose.

class AbbreviatableIdentifier:
    ...


texts: "length in bytes" vs "length by the byte" and "paid in hours" vs "paid by the hour"

texts:
"The variable len indicates the buffer length in bytes."
  "The variable len indicates the buffer length by the byte."

I'm a computer programmer, so I know 1 is far more common than 2.

However, please consider the following two sentences:

  "He is paid by the hour"
  "He is paid in hours"

I also know 3 is far more common than 4.

Which of these phrases should be used in what scenarios?


texts: 'Artisanal': what is its modern cultural history?

texts:
As an AmE speaker, the word 'artisanal' sounds very new to me.

I see it every where nowadays on advertising and packaging for grocery store items like bread, cheese, olive oil, and I've seen it associated with whiskey and beer (presumably an adjective for 'microbrewery').

It's modern meaning is clear: 'artisanal' is 'made by an artisan' (rather than mass produced), or 'in the style of an artisan' (that is, mass-produced but with ingredients and process ending in a product that seems less industrial than others). For example, 'neo-Tuscan bread' and the word 'artisanal' appear on the same packaging for a loaf of bread.

Google NGrams has:

with a large increase since the 60's. Looking at the links there, the 70's are full of references, but mostly to 'artisanal fisheries' (which sounds like a euphemism for 'local' 'non-industrialized' or 'subsistence'.

My question is is there any specific instance or set of instances where the marketers got hold of this? Was 'artisanal' used for other than fisheries back then? Was it used in the current sense of 'craft/hand-made' before the current marketing faux-folksy onslaught?


texts: Interpretation of: Patients received treatment within the first 2 days of hospitalisation

texts:
Patients were hospitalised on 1 January 2020.

Patients received treatment within the first 2 days of hospitalisation.

Does it mean that patients received treatment on one of the two days: 1 January 2020 or 2 January 2020?


texts: what is the correction preposition to be used in the blank? (in/of)

texts: Have you read the humorous stories _ the Panchatantra?


texts: Question marks missing in J.P. Donleavy's "Ginger Man"

texts:
I am currently reading Ginger Man, by J.P. Donleavy, a paperback edition by Abacus (UK). I have noticed that in a lot of sentences that are typically questions, the question mark is missing.

For instance,

  "Would you mind bringing me the bottle to replace the amount splashed in my face."
  (page 119).

Is this thing common in novels written in English? (Personally, I haven't noticed it elsewhere.) Is it because of the author's style? Or a typo by the publisher?


texts: Should I use 'among others' or 'such as' in this context?

texts:
Here are my constructions:

  Ability to monitor and configure devices among others the company's
  Cisco Systems, workstations and servers using open-source and
  Microsoft software.
  Ability to monitor and configure devices such as the company's Cisco
  Systems, workstations and servers using open-source and Microsoft
  software.

So my question is, should I use 'among others' or 'such as'?

Thank you in advance for your help.

P.S.
This is an item in a list.


texts:
I've learned it is obligatory to invert subject and verb when 'only when' is placed at the beginning of a sentence. However, I've recently found the sentence below.

"Only when the rule can have some meaningful effect it is to be applied."

Some English teacher in my country said this sentence is grammatically correct. He said inversion shouldn't happen in this case because a pronoun 'it' is used as a subject in the main clause and 'it' refers to 'the rule'. I'm not sure whether or not the sentence is correct, but I'm pretty sure that teacher doesn't know what he is talking about.

I think that sentence should be "Only when the rule can have some meaningful effect is it to be applied."

What do you think? Is it incorrect? If so, why is that?

Many thanks in advance.


texts: Isn't "dummy" in "HTML Parser for Dummies" considered offensive?

texts:
What does "dummy" mean here (in the section Getting Started)?

  Getting Started
  For novice users, an introductory guide on how to set
  up your environment to use the HTML Parser is provided in HTML Parser
  for Dummies.

Does it mean stupid person? If it does, isn't it too offensive to use like that?


texts: How do you derive an adverb from "difficult"?

texts:
Consider this sentence:

  The solution to this question should no more difficult be obtained than that to the other question.

Is this sentence grammatical?

Is difficult here used as an adverb?


texts:
What is the difference in meaning between management and treatment?
Is the word "treatment" just a medical term or can we use it in another situations? i.e in order to say "I want to relieve his sadness " can I use treat instead of relieve ?