texts: Adding a period to finish a non-sentence

texts:
I am curious about whether I should end non-sentences (or very elliptical sentences, if you will) with a period.

For example, I am writing some documentation for some computer code. In this usually I include code like argument_description="Echo times for each input file". Often the user sees this formatted as

  ARGUMENT — Echo times for each input file

Some other times I might be writing descriptions for software packages, then my text might appear to the user as:

  Description:         PAW atomic data generator

Also, on occasion, I might print out a sign for the office saying

  Meeting canceled

or

  Christian's agarose gel, 1.2%

Up until now I have stuck with no periods ever unless it is a full sentence, or part of a longer text. I am more liberal with question and/or an exclamation marks, as they also serve to better carry a more emotional meaning.

But I am thinking there might be some exceptions where a period is needed regardless. Perhaps even among the examples above?


texts: Why does "main external website" sound normal but "external main site" sound awkward?

texts: It doesn't seem like it changes the meaning in an obvious way. Does the order of adjectives matter or is it just in my head and just due to happening to phrase it one way rather than another more often?


texts: What is the English word for a lawyer's client?

texts:
I want an English word for an attorney (lawyer)'s client, i.e. someone who employs a lawyer to defend them in court. Client might actually be just fine, but I am looking for a word more consistent with its counterpart.

By counterpart I mean its opposing position e.g. employer -> employee, caller->callee, etc. The word might be used like this (using the non-existent counterpart lawyer -> lawyee to illustrate):

  She'd had a distinguished career as a lawyer, but now she was the
  lawyee.


texts: The first step "on becoming" or "to becoming" an employee

texts:
Do you say:

  The first step on becoming a permanent employee ...

or

  The first step to becoming a permanent employee ...


texts: Word/phrase for nationally owned company

texts:
Is there a word/phrase for a company whose owners are all from the U.S.?

When I search for "nationally owned company", Google returns "Government-owned corporation", which is not what I am after.

Would it be "fully U.S.-owned"? ("Fully" for emphasis.)


texts:
Which one of the sentences is the correct, and why?

I had breakfast yesterday, hadn't I?
I had breakfast yesterday, didn't I?


texts: I'm looking for a word for the name of a business. The word "business" itself is not appropriate for me as it designates the entity and not the name itself. The word "name" is too generic, just like "title".


texts: How to best include an introductory phrase before getting to the point?

texts:
This question may seem too large in scope from the title, but here's the preface to the answer I seek.

I need to inform my hiring manager (HM) that I have served my last day with my current organization yesterday (which is no more "current" now that I've quit). I need to send a casual message to the manager, but I am still struggling with the way to phrase this without sounding too casual or unintentionally formal. Conveying this information is important as I was unsure of how long my notice period would be and so was the HM.

I am thinking of drafting the message in this manner:

  Hi, just wanted to keep you apprised of my developments..I have served my last day, yesterday, with my current organization. Awaiting to receive an approved commencement date email from NEW EMPLOYER. Can't wait to join your team.

I'd appreciate if someone can better phrase this context as well as please suggest whether usage of ellipsis in sms-es is fine. Is the usage of "just wanted to keep you informed about my developments" as a starting point for the rest of the context fine?


texts: Is there a “universal use” English equivalent of the Japanese ubiquitous greeting, “Yoroshiku onegaishimasu”?

texts:
I think some of you might have heard of the Japanese word, “Yoroshiku onegaishimas” - literally translated as “Please be nice to me” and its shortened form, “Yoroshiku.”

“Yoroshiku onegaishimasu” or “Yoroshiku” is used ubiquitously in Japan as a form of greeting.

When we meet somebody for the first time, when we exchange a name card with a new business client, when we meet our doctor for diagnosis, when we have a job interview, when we  ask a shop clerk / home delivery boy / hotel front staff for a service, we never fail to add “Yoroshiku onegaishimasu” at the end of our conversation. Even an idol singer, actor / actress closes his or her ending messages from the  stage to audience with “Yoroshiku onegaishimasu.”

“Yoroshiku” is really a convenient word with which we can dispense with any other thinkable greeting / thank-you messages.

Even though it may sound a bit exaggerated, you can do well with four basic words, “Douzo – Please,” “Arigato – Thank you,”  “Yoroshiku” and "Sayonara - Good bye" in social interaction in Japan.

Though I think this is a special parlance unique to Japanese, I heard Chinese, 請多関照-qing duo guanzhao-has a similar meaning.

I wonder if there are common or universally used English greeting words that can be compared to “Yoroshiku onegaishimasu” or, “Yoroshiku”, whose main intention is none other than to give a good impression.


texts: "taken necessary" or "taken as necessary" or "taken to be necessary"?

texts:
A is taken…

  …necessary for B
  …as necessary for B
  …to be necessary for B

The most and least popular ones on the web are respectively 2 and 3. On Google Ngram, 1 is the most popular, even though it has recently lost its place to 2, and 3 is again the least popular.

Which one is the best? Why? Or does it really matter?

An example for #1:

  an arrangement has been made with a third party where the third party
  has confirmed that the share has been located and measures have been
  taken necessary for a reasonable expectation that settlement can be
  effected when due. Source


texts: Is healthful considered an acceptable synonym of healthy?

texts: To my ear, healthful does not sound right. This could well be geographical bias on my part.   Is it now a valid alternative to healthy?  Does it have another meaning?


texts: Going through this news article on NDTV website, I saw the headline 'ISIS Suicide Blasts Kill More Than 220 Dead In Southern Syria'. Is this usage correct? Or should it be 'ISIS Suicide Blasts Kill More Than 220 In Southern Syria'?


texts: "Excel at something" vs. "excel in something"

texts:
I've come across a question while writing an exam

  Roger really excelled ___ sports

  A) at
  B) on
  C) in
  D) for

My first thought was 'in', later I remembered using 'at' also. I've searched for this in a few forums, there they say both 'excel in' and 'excel at' are correct expressions and could not really make out any differences.

Now my problem is that I'm an ESL and the above question doesn't give options like 'both a and c correct'. I'm not sure what option to pick for these kind of questions.

So, what is the correct option for above question?. Answers from experts are much appreciated. If both are correct what is the intention of question paper setter?


texts: Word for "changing your mind" or the act of a mind being changed

texts:
As in, the act of someone experiencing something that would change their view or choices about their chosen upcoming event.

Is there another way to say "changed my mind"?


texts: Is the time adverb "this morning" used as present or past tense?  For example- 1) I come this morning and I came this morning. 2) I had come to your house this morning and I have come to house  this morning. Are these grammatically and syntactically correct? And is "this morning" correct to use in future tense?


texts: Need a bit of help with drawing parse trees

texts: I am experiencing a bit of trouble in drawing grammar trees or parse trees. I can draw simple enough trees such as "The girl with long hair is looking at you" and longer sentences with complements (At least I think I can draw them properly). Since I just started exploring grammar trees a few days ago there are a lot of things which I don´t know how to draw. For example " Living in China for so many years made me miss home" How would I draw the clause "Living in china? Another problem is the relative clause. How does one draw that? A complement clause you would mark with CP, but I am at a loss when it comes to other clauses. I know that this might seem like silly questions but I would love to be able to draw  parse trees properly. English is not my first language and my knowledge of English grammar isn't the best so I apologize if the question is strange!


texts: Pronunciation of 'mama' in American English with æ

texts:
I recently heard two instances in recorded music where the word "mama" was pronounced with the first "a" the same as in "cat". Is this at all common, and is it a regional dialect?

The songs are "Statesboro Blues" by the Allman Brothers Band and "Funky Mama Moose" by Roland Haynes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezPZxfS1jys

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKufTgeOszg


texts:
Jeff Atwood writes:

  Vote For This Question or The Kitten Gets It ... every time you forget to vote a great question up, or a bad question down — a kitten gets it!

The kitten looks awfully sad, but why would it be sad for getting a question?


texts:
I have a list of tasks, each happening between a start time and an end time. I want to sort all tasks into 3 categories:

Upcoming   ?
Current happening  ?
pass ? already end ?

What are the best words to name these categories?


texts:
And is one of the most confusing words in English for me. Sometimes it's really ambiguous, even though I am an advanced learner.
Take this as an example:

  There are four American and British people

Does this mean there are four Americans and four British people or are altogether four people?

Can anyone help?


texts: How to say in English that I am going to test a given Unit from a student's book?

texts:
What is the best way to say that a given test is on a given subject?

Can I say 'The test is on Unit 4 from your student book?

How should I rephrase it to make it sound more natural or even correct?


texts: Is there a term for when an allusion to a source becomes more well-known than the source itself?

texts:
I’m looking for a word or phrase to describe when Source B quotes or references Source A, and then Source B becomes so much more well-known than Source A that people attribute the source of the quote to Source B and most references to the quote are to Source B.

For example, in The Shining, Jack saying “Heeeeere’s Johnny” was a reference to Ed McMahon introducing Johnny Carson on The Tonight Show, but now almost all quotes of or references to that line are allusions to The Shining. In fact, if you ask people where that line originally comes from, many people will probably say it comes from The Shining, not even knowing that the line in The Shining is a reference to something else.

Another example is that almost every use of the phrase “brave new world” in pop culture is a reference to Aldous Huxley’s novel Brave New World, not to Miranda’s line from The Tempest, which is what Huxley took the title from. The phrase is often used as a synonym for “dystopia,” although while Huxley’s Brave New World depicts a dystopian society that has taken technology too far, Miranda’s line was genuinely optimistic: “Oh, wonder! / How many goodly creatures are there here! / How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world, / That has such people in 't!” The connotation of Huxley’s reference to the line has almost completely overtaken the connotation of Shakespeare’s original line in pop culture.

Does anyone know a term that describes this phenomenon of the allusion becoming more well-known than the source? So far, the closest term I’ve found is “the Weird Al Effect” (on tvtropes.org), but that applies only to parodies overshadowing the work that is being parodied. Is there a broader term that applies to all allusions, not just parodies?


texts: Q: Regional disparity OR regional disparities between 31 counties of a country

texts:
There are differences in health care provision between 31 counties of a country. We would like to conclude that there is a regional disparity in health care in that country. Which of the following sentences is correct?
Regional disparity in health care provision in Country
OR
Regional disparities in health care provision in Country


texts: Where do I put my citation of an article for a short story in MLA?

texts: I'm writing an essay in which I retell the story of an African-American girl who was in poverty, as it is told in a New York Times article.  I want to cite the article properly.


texts: Text for exhibiting different pronunciations

texts:
I'm looking for a text that can be used to showcase various differences in pronunciation across English accents. For example, it could include examples of the various splits/mergers (Mary/merry/mary, fern/fir/fur, cot/caught, etc.), and feature words pronounced differently by, e.g., Canadian, American, and British speakers.

I once saw such a text referenced in a comment to a question here, but, alas, I can no longer find it.


texts:
Select the two answer choices that, when used to complete
the sentence, fit the meaning of the sentence as a whole and produce completed
sentences that are alike in meaning.

  As my eyesight began to _________, I spent a lot of time writing about it — both poems and “eye journals” — describing what I saw as I looked out through
  damaged eyes.

A) deteriorate

B) sharpen

C) improve

D) decline

E) recover

F) adjust

A and D are given as correct answers, but how can one write with improper eyesight.

Shouldn't C and E be correct instead?


texts: Is "I'm not racist, but ..." more common in Australian English than other dialects?

texts:
Is the phrase "I'm not racist, but ..." more common in Australian English than other dialects? The phrase is used as a prefix to something that's likely to be interpreted as racist, probably because it is. Urban Dictionary entry, Things Bogan Like entry.

Both "I am not racist but" and "I'm not racist but" flatlined when looking at "American English" in Google NGram, but "I'm not racist but" got a graph when looking at "British English", which may suggest its usage varies.

If it's uncommon in American English, what are some more common phrases in American English? I wouldn't use it to preface something, but more to draw an analogy about someone who says that he or she isn't prejudiced against (some people), but ...


texts: "Another form of ___ is/are" Which is correct?

texts:
I looked for this on here but I couldn't find it.

I have the sentence, "Another form of patterns is tessellations."

My question is, in this case is the correct word "is" or "are"?


texts: Meaning and usage of "hit the nail upon the top"

texts:
What is the meaning of and proper way to use the phrase hit the nail upon the top?

I've gotten this comment on my blog:

  Unquestionably believe that which you said. Your favorite reason appeared to be on the internet the simplest thing to be aware of. I say to you, I definitely get irked while people consider worries that they just do not know about. You managed to hit the nail upon the top as well as defined out the whole thing without having side effect , people can take a signal. Will likely be back to get more.


texts: When comparing singular with a plural entities

texts:
A professor corrected me a sentence in an academic paper and he wrote:

An alternative to X method is automatic methods

and I am a bit puzzled that you can write a sentence in the form of "[singular entity] is [plural entity]" (or vice versa). Even if this sentence is written in passive form:

Automatic methods are an alternative to X method

there is still this incongruity that I've mentioned.

What's the correct form?


texts: What does 'gotcha' mean? When would you use it?


texts:
outgun: to surpass in firepower

Is there a similar word that could be applied in a story that avoids association with postmedieval weapons? A phrase would be acceptable but a single word would be preferred.

For example:

  With his opponent holding a sword Jim found himself <outgunned>1,2

1: Jim could be holding a knife, stick, or other puny weapon; so he isn't defenseless

2: Jim's opponent could be his twin brother equal in physical prowess; so he isn't outclassed


texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  Which is correct, “you and I” or “you and me”?

I was surprised to hear "you and I," when I expected "you and me." Are the two expressions synonyms to each other?


texts: What’s the grammatical role of "for you" in "I am waiting for you"?

texts: What is the grammatical role of "for you" in "I am waiting for you"? Is it a direct object, a prepositional phrase or what? Functionally, it seems to be of an object, as "you" in "I love you", but I am not sure how English labels objects of verbs which require a preposition.


texts:
"Well, after the Civil War they died off pretty fast, livin' in poverty on the plantation, which was allowed to go to ruin. Finally only four girls were left, sisters, livin' in the old house and ekin' out a bare livin', with a few blacks livin' in the old slave huts and workin' the fields on the share. They kept to themselves, bein' proud, and ashamed of their poverty. Folks wouldn't see them for months at a time. When they needed supplies they sent a Negro to town after them.

(from "Pigeons from Hell" by Robert E. Howard, 1938)

The above "on the share" seems not be a correct form; a phrase found in the dictionary, "on shares," is seemingly more proper for the above sentence.

Can "on the share" also be used?


texts: Word for list of mutual followers or following

texts:
In Twitter there is a follower list and a following list of a person. Just like that, suppose two user are following each other, then what would be the appropriate (if possible a cool word) term for this kind of list where only mutual followers/following are listed?

I thought of going with Mutual, but its really not cool at all. Could you please help me figure it out?


texts: Being right about something you are not educated enough to comment on regardless

texts:
The word I seek describes a person who is right, but doesn't know why.
 It's an amazing word to use in scenario's where people win favor by stating an otherwise known truth for crowd validation,  but they specifically don't know why they're right and you know enough to call them on it.

I know this word exists. It starts with the letter "C" (if I recall correctly). It's a corker of a word and I need it back for my general argument & self-righteous diatribe repertoire. No, it's not comprehension or comprehend.

It's not a common word.


texts: How to describe a document that is a "near-plagiarism" of another?

texts: I'm looking for a word or phrase to describe a work that is a sort of "inferior copy" of another work.  For example, one can often find published scientific papers in China that avoid direct plagiarism, however, re-perform or copy the same experiments, with very minor modification, and then analyze the results in the same manner as the previous research paper.  Here, "derivative work" or "derivative copy" seems to grant the concept of some originality... I'm looking for something that more strongly implies the lack of any real originality, a kind of "near plagiarism" that would almost get a high school student in trouble.


texts: Polite alternative to "I don't give a damn about etc."?

texts:
I need a strong statement of rejection of a concept, thing or practice, that means

  X doesn't give a good goddamn about etc., or X doesn't give a flying f___ about etc.

but with no vulgar words so I can include it in a semi-formal letter.

What else can go after "doesn't give a"?


texts: Capitalisation of pathos, logos, and ethos

texts: Are the words "pathos," "logos," and "ethos," capitalised? I'm not sure if they are proper nouns.


texts: Why "hung it from a tree" and not "hung it on a tree"

texts:
Why in the given context is it "from a tree" but not "on a tree"?

Please explain with a rule or something. What's the rule here can correspond?

  Boo carried the ribbon into the garden and carefully hung it from a tree


texts: What is the adjective for incommunicable experiences?

texts:
There are experiences such as colors, smells or taste which you can not be properly explained to others.
For example there would be no way to find out if a person sees what I think of as 'green' whenever I see 'red' and the other way round because the experience is entirely subjective.
If I recall correctly the term is very specific to this kind of thing and starts with an I, but I might be mistaken.


texts: What do you call someone who is always complaining after getting what they want?

texts: What do you call someone when they're always asking for something, and then is dissatisfied after getting exactly what they ask for?


texts: What is the origin of 'pale, male and stale'?

texts:
The major Cabinet reshuffle of Prime Minister David Cameron this week has been seen by much of the press as an opportunity taken to dispose of ministers who are white, male, middle-aged, middle-class, and hence perceived boring, in favour of more young people, more females and non-whites. And all this in readiness for next year's election.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/cabinet-shuffle-in-britain-culls-the-male-pale-and-stale/article19628249/

The term 'pale, male and stale' has been applied to departees like Kenneth Clarke, Dominic Grieve etc. (It has also been seen as an opportunity to dispose of Euro-enthusiasts in favour of Euro-sceptics, but that's another story).

My question is about the idiom 'pale,male and stale'. Did the expression exist previously? Who can be credited with having coined it?

I ask as one who perhaps fits the description, but am happy to wear it with my old-fashioned shirt and trousers.


texts: Commas or long dash: Used quarter-long,— three-month,— gasoline use was analysed

texts:
Is there a difference between the two sentences? One using long-dashes and the second commas

Used quarter-long — three-month — gasoline use was analysed.

Used quarter-long, three-month, gasoline use was analysed.


texts: Resolving the ambiguity of this sentence

texts:
The movie portrays the rise of X and the conflict of Y.

A reader could interpret the sentence as the rise of two things, but I want them to unambigiously interpret the sentence as the portrayal of a rise and a conflict. Do I add a comma after X then to get:

  The movie portrays the rise of X, and the conflict of Y.


texts: Is there an English equivalent for this Tamil proverb - "A painting of a bottle gourd is worthless while preparing stew"?

texts:
This is an interesting expression that I came across very recently while reading a Tamil magazine. The literal meaning is that you can't cook the stew by just having a painting of a bottle gourd. Apparently, this proverb has different interpretations and is applicable to a variety of contexts. However, the most often implied meaning goes something like this:

  "Theoretical or textbook knowledge (a picture of a bottle gourd) alone is not enough. Practical know-how (metaphorically refers to a real bottle gourd) is also important to accomplish things (making the stew)".

In short, knowledge gained through practice always trumps knowledge gained by reading textbooks alone.

I searched and found an expression - "A little knowledge is a dangerous thing"[TFD] but it emphasizes being over-confident after gaining a small amount of knowledge.

For those interested in knowing the actual Tamil proverb, it is "ஏட்டுச் சுரைக்காய் கூட்டுக்கு உதவாது"


texts:
Jane Austen seems to use them as separate things.  Often the appearance of the face may be deduced from context.  I no longer remember which book or what character I was reading when I encountered something like, "He was not handsome, but he had a good countenance."  (Quotes for convenience.  Probably not a direct quote.)
Thanks for guidance on this.


texts:
I've read plenty of discussions, and I wanted to know whether the following statements are true or false:

contest is more casual than competition
a competition relies more on intelligence while a contest is associated to brute strength (well, I have my doubts about this one)
a contest always involves a prize while competition usually doesn't
a contest refers to a single event while a competition can last a whole season

In my case, it's a programming contest (which sounds better than programming competition I think), it's (supposed to be) fun, it lasts several months and involves a prize. Should I keep contest?


texts: Could we make a contraction of has if it is a main verb?

texts: I real feel confused about ('s) followed by a noun it may be /is / or may be /has / such in this example : she's a baby .


texts: Posititon of an adverb of manner with participles

texts:
I have seen many rules about position of an adverbs with finite forms of verbs but I can't find the rule about where to place an adverb with nonfinitive verbs. For example which of the sentence sounds right:

  1) Slowly driving I could see a beautiful landscape, or:

  2) Driving slowly I could see a beautiful landscape?

And the examples with Participle II:

  1) I watched the temperature gradually rising, or:

  2) I watched the temperature rising gradually.

If both of the sentences are right in both cases I would like to know in which case I need to use adverb before and after participle


texts:
Saw this phrase/expression in CIBC advertisement.

The pleased client asked, "should we re-investment or expand", and the bank clerk said, "you can do both", then the old lady in the back happily claimed,

"Bora Bora, Here We Come"

What does this phrase/expression mean/imply? Where is it coming from?


texts: Etymology of 'smurfing' for money laundering?

texts:
I am only slightly privy to the 1980s TV show with little blue people, itself based on the Belgian comics.
Presumably, the franchise in some way represents or serves as a metaphor for piecemeal installments?  Or gaming the system?
Or perhaps the word smurf has other Dutch or French antecedents.

"Congress Rips TSA for Long Lines, Abuse, 'Smurfing' Bonus Practices"
via - http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/congress-rips-tsa-smurfing-bonus-practices-n572986


texts:
I am writing about how a business can make a change that benefits the community and increases their profits, the line I am stuck on is

'...and rewarding both _______ and financially'

What word can I use to fill in the blank.


texts: "The values of a and of b" vs "The values of a and b"

texts:
The values of a and b = values of (a and b)
The values of a and of b = values of a and values of b
Am I correct?


texts: Origin of "Comparing apples and oranges"

texts:
What is the origin of the idiom "comparing apples and oranges," as in,

  You can't compare those things! That's like comparing apples and oranges.

EDIT: I can find a book from 1889 making the comparison.

Update: 30/03/2017
It appears that the link cited above is broken.


texts: Are there any rules/patterns for selecting "ish" vs "like" as a suffix?

texts:
This question arose on a comment thread over on ELL. Are there any rules or patterns for when we should/do select "ish" as a suffix, rather than "like"? Some examples discussed were that birdlike comes naturally and is easily understood to mean like or in a manner such as that of a bird, but no native speaker would come up with birdish. As for the opposite, there are words such as cliquish, which clique-like would never be substituted for.

Another interesting point that FumbleFingers raised in that discussion is that we have some words which take the suffix ish but clearly and recognizably do not mean "x-like", such as "sheepish". (Perhaps the origin of sheepish is something along the lines of that sheep (the animal) act sheepish, but when you say "He looked away sheepishly" you don't mean "he looked away in a manner similar to that of a sheep.")


texts: Commas with multiple compound adjectives

texts:
When adding commas between adjectives, I usually ask myself the following questions:

Can I swap the adjectives and still get the same meaning?
Can I add the word "and" between the two adjectives and does it make sense?

However, I've run across a situation I need some advice on. How do I deal with the following sentence?

  The thought of a free-roaming ten-foot slithering snake was really creepy to me.

I've never had a sentence with multiple compound adjectives, and it's really throwing me off. Can someone please tell me if its ok to leave this sentence as it is, or do I need to add commas?


texts: Is "an (unique) index" or "a (unique) index"

texts: I'd like to know the role of parentheses on a phrase. For example, which of the following is right, "it has an (unique) index" or "it has a (unique) index".


texts: That's a lot of ___ vs. those are a lot of ___

texts:
That's a lot of cars!
  Those are a lot of cars!

The context is when a someone sees many objects (in this example, cars) and makes the exclamation.

According to this site, lot can handle either singular or plural verbs.  I agree with the author who states that that's sounds better, but the post doesn't seem definitive either way.

  Are both grammatically correct and do they have the same meaning?


texts: Looking for a good* synonym for "continuous" (* "good" defined inside question)

texts:
It's a recurring problem I encounter (maybe problem is a bit of a big word here):

I'm trying to describe something as not discrete, some phenomenon that shouldn't be described or thought of in binary or categorical terms, but allows for nuances of values, and then tend to use the adjective "continuous".

But then the more formally inclined among my friends tend to snarkily ask whether I'm sure the phenomenon I'm talking about is really continuous and eventually Cauchy will be brought up.

In other words, I'm wondering: what's a good synonym for "continuous" (in the sense above), without the strong mathematical associations?

So far I can think of:

"gradual", but that seems to be used slightly different, not describing a phenomenon mainly, but a process (at least, that's my intuition)
"graded", not sure about that one...
"gradable", feels like a good candidate, but is mainly understood as a linguistics terms (for adjectives). Right?

Any other (perhaps better) ideas?

(edit) By comment suggestion of FumbleFingers, some examples:

"I don't think anyone is absolutely, completely 'progressive' or 'conservative' in his or her political leanings, even if they claim that they are. In my opinion, the political belief system of any actual person is necessarily _____ [continuous/on a continuum/non-categorical/fluid/etc.]", where ____ is a placeholder for the word I am looking for.
Discussing philosophical concepts, like choice or free will, expressing the idea that these concepts should be thought of as [continuously] defined, not in discrete or categorical terms.
Similarly, in political discussions: political leanings (left/right) being on a spectrum, not binary.

Another two remarks:

Comment suggestion of "(not) simplistic" is solid, but ideally, I'd like to express it as a positive claim, not by negation
"Continuous" is perhaps the closest term I have, and the best in general, but it is most likely not the best when discussing with some people (since for them, the term is mainly understood in a formal sense).


texts: Meaning of "Twice Upon a Time" and its usage in a sentence

texts: This is my first question on english.stackexchange.com/questions/ask. Could anyone tell me the meaning of "Twice Upon a Time"? It's the title of Doctor Who's Christmas special episode, the last of this ongoing season. I have been browsing the web for quite some time now and been exposed to a variety of uncertain answers.


texts: Are there single words that are defined as "to remain to examine what others passed up"

texts:
I was beach combing the other day and I wanted to know a word for

"to remain to examine what others have passed up."

This happens in beach combing when you are following your fellow companion and are moving slower, searching for what they might have missed.


texts: A word for "negligence of duty or responsibility"

texts:
I need to know a word which means:

  "negligence shown by a person in performing a duty, or a responsibility, or any given task."

or,

  "A person who is negligent in performing their duties/responsibilities."

One possible choice is the use of word "delinquent". Is there any other word?

Please provide the usage of suggested word in a sentence also.


texts: Word for desirable behavior that will be rewarded

texts:
Generally a rule is a standard which describes what not to do to avoid getting punished. I am looking for a word which describes a standard for a positive behavior which will be rewarded (edit: or incentivized). The most prevalent instances of this are probably parents/businesses dangling a carrot to extract some desirable behavior from children/customers(/employees). I am aware that there's a sense in which this can still be called a rule or policy, but these have no positive connotation.

To contrive two related examples:

OverzealousCableCorp has a rule:
Customers whose payment has not been received by 11:59 on the due date will be assessed a late fee of $25.

OverzealousCableCorp has a [requested word]:
Customers who refer a friend that signs a two-year contract will receive a $50 statement credit.

Edit: I wrote this in response to the suggestion of incentive; I think it draws a useful distinction:

  In this case incentive plays roughly the same role as reward.
  Incentive still describes the carrot, but does so in a way that
  suggests a regular, predictable relationship between the carrot and
  the action performed to obtain it. Conversely, reward (at least in the
  sense that it applies to good behavior) has a connotation of
  capriciousness, irregularity, and a weak link to a specific action.


texts: Synonyms for qualitative vs. quantitative

texts:
I would like to describe a business process that can either undergo a qualitative or a quantitative change and seek a better wording to contrast the two terms. Specifically, I am describing an ecological improvement in product packaging when one can either physically reduce packaging material (quantitative) or change the quality of packaging material (qualitative).

Which set of two terms can successfully replace the quantitative vs. qualitative meaning in this context?

EDIT:
This is the actual piece of my essay that uses these terms, which I felt was not as precise as it could potentially be:

  There are two major ways, quantitative and qualitative, to make
  product packaging more environmentally friendly. With the quantitative
  improvement, product packaging undergoes a physical reduction of
  material use, whereas with the qualitative improvement, only the
  nature of packaging material is changed.


texts:
I wonder if "before since" is right in my sentence. If not, could you please help me improve it?

  This company provides products since 2010. Consequently, there is no record of this product before since.


texts: What is the word for someone who checks ID cards before permitting entry?

texts:
What is the word for someone who checks ID cards (to verify a person's age) before permitting entry to an event or venue? Obviously, the word most commonly used in the context of a bar is "bouncer", but that seems very specific to bars/clubs and the word carries its own baggage.

What about in non-bar contexts? In San Francisco, the Sundance Kabuki is an upscale movie theater that serves alcohol for some screens, and they have a person checking IDs at a checkpoint. The word "bouncer" just sounds wrong to me in that context, but the only alternative I can come up with is "ID checker" (which sounds equally odd to me).

Is there a better word for the person who does this job?


texts: I am looking for one word that describes a person who has an eye for detail. This also could be a person who may find it difficult to focus on the global picture as the individual's attention is focused in the details or building block, rather than on the house.


texts:
A satellite is an object which orbits another, what it the word for a object which is being orbited?

The moon is a satellite of Earth, the Earth is a __ of the moon?


texts: What's a term for a container of ambiguous (undefined) entities?

texts:
For example, if an entity may have a variable amount of attributes, with varying attribute keys which map to values of different types.

A glob, so to speak. But while each entity is unique, one might iterate over each entities attributes as their attribute keys are already enumerated, but you have to query for them.

Edit:

Right now I have an "EntityContainer" that exists as a wrapper for a list of Entities, which have maps of varying amounts of Key:Value entries.

The Container doesn't know how each Entity is composed, it just provides an interface for a Client to iterate over the Entities, and query for specific Attributes using Keys already enumerated.

The Client knows what it's looking for, but the Container doesn't. Imagine if the Container was a Ship with Wings, Engines, Gears, Fuels, People, etc. However, that Container could also be used to describe a Building with Walls, Windows, Floors, Rooms, People, Equipment, etc. The Client may want to know how many "People" with attribute "Dead" exist in the respective Container.

What would you call this ambiguous Container...


texts: The act of carrying out a task first, earlier than in its scheduled order

texts:
Suppose you need to carry out several tasks in a certain order (which may be an order of priorities, or of supposed dependencies, or just arbitrary). Is there a word, preferably a gerund, for the act of choosing one of these tasks, which is not the first, and carrying it out before all the others?

I mean both of these actions together, not just one of them. So, rescheduling won't do, because it doesn't imply actually carrying anything out.


texts: What's the meaning of the expression "flow of bloodlines, and yours is far too thin"?

texts:
A man is talking to a woman.

  We choose who we mate with. We decide the flow of bloodlines, and
  yours is far too thin.

I am not sure about the meaning of flow of bloodlines. When someone says that a person has a thin bloodline, what does he mean?

Is it common to say that someone has a thin bloodline?


texts: Word or Phrase for Pupil Miosis Caused by Headlights

texts:
Is there a word or phrase for being "blinded" by another car's headlights? I'm looking for a more general term ideally, that would not just apply to headlights.

"Headlight-Induced-Pupil-Miosis" just seems like overkill.

So in the interest of clarity, I'll say my word is HIPM and give a few sentences using it:

  The light house beam crossed her face with such brightness that she stumbled backwards. Her hands scrabbling for the railing in the HIPM that followed.

  He was torn from the dream his eyelids flashing open as if to wrench him free from it's grasp. And then clenching back closed as he was HIPM'd by the sudden sunlight.

  The driver peered into the dark ahead furtively. He craned his neck to avoid the HIPM of the lights behind him in the convoy.


texts:
See,the definition of  "wonderful" in http://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/wonderful?q=wonderful

  very good, pleasant or enjoyable

  We had a wonderful time last night.

  You've all been absolutely wonderful!

  It's wonderful to see you!
  making you feel surprise or admiration

  It's wonderful what you can do when you have to.

So, if I say "Tom, you are wonderful" to Tom, then it could mean

  Tom is very good and pleasant
  Tom is making you feel surprise or admiration

So, "Tom, you are wonderful" can only be understood under a specific context, Right?


texts: What does "Factors" mean when used in a company name?

texts:
I have seen several examples of companies called [Company Name] Factors. E.g. GMF Motor Factors and City Electrical Factors.

Given the nature of both of these companies, my best guess was that Factors has some connection to the word parts, but no definition of factors I can find tallies up with this. The best meaning I can find is from Wikipedia which gives one definition as

  A factor, Latin for "doer, maker" (from Latin facit, "he/she/it
  does/makes"), is a mercantile fiduciary who receives and sells goods
  on commission (called factorage), transacting business in his own name
  and not disclosing his principal, and historically with his seat at a
  factory (trading post).

Is this the meaning of factors being used in these company names?


texts: I'm looking to replace the phrase "takes as input" to make a sentence flow better but I can't think of the right word to use. I want to say "the simulator ______ a spatial map and an algorithm".


texts: What term describes the feeling of routine sacrifice or loss of opportunity due to a conflicting obligation?

texts:
I am in need of a term for the feeling or condition of having to give up some life experience or opportunity due to a conflicting obligation, especially in cases of routine sacrifice of that which is considered "fulfilling".

I say "feeling or condition" because often it is sufficient to say one feels they are in a state of being subject to some condition, e.g. "I feel trapped".

I am interested in a term that has an appropriate connotation as the inverse of guilt. In other words, I am describing the contrasting negative feelings one might have (guilt vs ___) after having prioritized either self-interests or the interests of others, particularly when having a responsibility for the other party such as in parenthood.

Update: I appear to have actually asked for two things here. I was hoping for a means of describing the emotional condition of being bound to this scenario, but my contextual example asked for the resulting emotions that might follow, in which case resentment would have been a possible candidate.


texts: What does the prefix iso- mean in "isolate"?

texts: My question is referring to the prefix iso- and its meaning in the word isolate. My question is, if the prefix means equal, how does that make sense in the word isolate?


texts: Would you say "Politics is terrible" or "Politics are terrible"?

texts: There's a slight argument going on between me and my friends rn


texts:
I have the following sentence:

  The company will be oriented towards the development of three types of
  products: video games, video animations and digital marketing for
  which it will make use of a flexible and easy-to-grow type of
  organization.

I feel there is a grammatical error in terms of how the colon is implemented.


texts: Should one say "0.1 degree Celsius" or "0.1 degrees Celsius"?

texts: The value isn't exactly 1, it's a fraction. But 1 is the only number in the fraction. Should the word degree be singular or plural?


texts: The usage of Formal Words in writing - interested

texts: I was writing a letter and I wonder whether the usage of interested in a formal letter could be considered as a formal word. Also if there are synonyms which are more appropriate to use in formal letters.


texts:
I was just watching CBC. They had a rerun of This Hour Has 22 Minutes. I think the original aired Oct 30 2017. On the show, a lady is promoting a book entitled:

"Biospheric Superabundance: Subscending the Agri-Logistical. Epistemologically-Ontological Anthropocentris"

Of course, it was all a joke, but does this title actually have any reasonable meaning in laymans terms?

And could the contents of such a book really be described as "uber-ubiquitous grail quest mythos vis-à-vis hyper objectification in the face of cosmotheistic macro-accidentalism" or is that a complete impossibility?

I found a copy of the transcript here: http://videoonfav.blogspot.com/2017/10/youtube-daily-social-oct-30-2017.html


texts: To have all one's marbles, usage and origin

texts:
I have seen this idiom used within a negative context such as:

Don't think he still has all is marbles, but could it be used correctly within a positive context?
Plus, where does this saying come from?


texts: What's the term for "government worker"?

texts:
I'm looking for a term in English to describe a person working  for the government of a country (for example France).

I found "official" and in particular "government official" in wikipedia., though I'm not 100% sure it's the term I want. Does this include for example, teachers in public schoools? All kind of workers, even at the lowest level of authority, for example a cleaning guy in a public school?

This question came up because "oficial" (in spanish, my tongue) has some authority attached to it.


texts: what word means "to show off my clothes"

texts:
I'm looking for a word that means "to show off clothes", something like "parade".

  Working from home gives me the ability to show off my fancy pyjamas


texts: There is a specific word for charaterstic of sentences which are not objective and are somewhat related to feelings , there was some "be" property in sentence.i mean there was a sentence example and in that sentence "be"was used instead of another word.I had read this word in one of the comments,I am getting really restless to know this word .


texts: Is this expression correct "The exercise consist of making something"?

texts:
I posted the following sentence in a blog and the majority of people could not understand it.

  The exercise consist of making the buffer A dynamic so that the
  application is able to read and print an arbitrary long string.

I am wondering if the sentence structure is correct. In particular, I am not sure whether I am correctly using "consist of".

What I am trying to say is that to correctly solve the exercise, the use of a dynamic buffer is required.


texts:
“I don't know half of you half as well as I should like; and I like
  less than half of you half as well as you deserve.”

  ― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring

In the sentence above, if I change "I should like" to "I would like", will there be a noticeable difference in the meaning or nuance?


texts: What is the correct word for an extra cost from a customer perspective? The opposite of discount

texts:
The context:
Customer pays for some service 100$. If he chooses an option X, we charge him 20$ more, so 120$ in total.

As a programmer I want my variables to have meaningful names. How would you call this 20$ in this context?

I consider two words: markup (but it is more related to the business than customer IMHO) and surcharge.


texts: Is fair enough completely equivalent to OK? If not, under what circumstances should I say fair enough in my response? Any good examples will be most welcomed.


texts: Alternative to "one more tool in my toolbox"?

texts: I could use "one more tool in my toolbox" to describe a final addition to the various methods I have for doing something. However, I'm not sure about "tool" occuring twice in such a short phrase. "One more arrow in my quiver" sounds a bit weird. "One more weapon in my arsenal/armoury" sound too martial. Is there a more elegant formulation along the lines of needing "one more" something or other in "my something or other"?


texts:
I have a basic question,

Say I have a quote, "I told you so"

Now let's say that quote has been said to me many times.
  How would I write this in a sentence such as the following?

The "I told you so"(multiple) I was told as a kid didn't help.


texts:
I’m particularly curious about the usage in Calvin’s commentary of Hebrews:

  ...at the same time we are carrying on war with sin, our intestine enemy.

However, here are some other examples.


texts: What do you call a person who sells information about other people?

texts:
Is there a word or phrase that would describe a person who collects and sells information (possibly some dirt) about other people? I'm not talking about selling data to organisations, more of collecting useful info and then providing it to other individuals for a fee.

  If you're looking for someone who knows a lot about others, he's the right person, he's _______


texts: What is a gender-neutral way of saying "middle-man"?

texts: As per the title, I'm looking for an alternative phrasing for "middle-man" without the gender connotations.


texts: "Previously, in my life where I detested all types of communication, now I have grown to have an appreciation for it." - Is this a proper sentence?

texts: How should I rephrase my sentence if you think it's incorrect or inadequate? Thanks.


texts: Is there a single word that means "cause(s) of death"?

texts: It seems like this word exists, but maybe it's because I know it in another language (non-Romance) that I thinking it exists. I'm drawing a blank on it. I'd like to write a sentence that says "He listed the [causes of death]: ...."


texts: How are dashes used when referring to the work of someone?

texts:
Example: [Artist] - [Song]

Is that little line supposed to be a hyphen, non-breaking hyphen, figure-/en-/em-dash, horizontal bar, minus sign or double oblique hyphen? Are there supposed to be spaces surrounding that line?

I've tried to find more information about this topic on the internet, but no source seems to address this specific type of usage. The sources I've found just answer questions about how different kinds of lines generally are used.

In the titles of music videos on YouTube, simple hyphens seem to be used for this application. Is that really correct?


texts: When did "text" come to be defined as something other than words?

texts:
I think the answer to this question may be in the OED, but I don't have access to the service. I am discussing "texts" using definitions (from dictionary.com) like this:

  text: any theme or topic; subject.

and this

  text: anything considered to be a subject for analysis by or as if by methods of literary criticism.

Within the context of cultural anthropology I'm having a discussion with my students  about how the definition of a text has expanded over the years to include not just texts comprising words but also visuals (e.g., images in advertisements).

I've come across the latter usage of text in certain educational books:

  "Like written texts, visual texts have been carefully constructed by their composers to shape meaning, and to affect and influence the viewer."

Or

  "This resource covers how to write a rhetorical analysis essay of primarily visual texts with a focus on demonstrating the author’s understanding of the rhetorical situation and design principles."

An ngram search for "visual texts" doesn't have many results before the 1960s, and some of the results refer to visual texts in single or double quotes to highlight the non-standard usage.

  "visual texts"

or

  visual "texts"

My question is:

  Since dictionaries are formally acknowledging that a text need not be comprised of words only, when did the concept of a 'visual text' become a subject of analysis in its own right?" (e.g., the MacIntosh logo of an apple; see http://creativebits.org/interview/interview_rob_janoff_designer_apple_logo)


texts: Is there a word or phrase meaning "using the character limit to the maximum"?

texts:
I know there is a word for getting exactly one result in the SERP of google. But is there a word for making a comment here or a tweet that exactly fills the permitted space? I.e., a "0 (zero) character left" tweet or comment that is exactly as long as the maximum length?

For example, my recent comment that was getting long so I had to modify it to fit exactly with 0 characters left.


texts: In a song by Coldplay, Paradise, I found the sentence Away she flied. I'm Italian, and I was not sure that flied could be a form of the verb fly or some other word unknown to me. I looked it up in the online dictionaries, and I found out that it is a term used in baseball. Could somebody help me to understand the use in this song?


texts: Why do we use "hear" in a present time in a sentence with a past meaning?

texts:
I came across  this sentence from R. Murphy's grammar book:

  I hear Sarah won some money. What is she going to do with it.

Could you tell me please why 'hear' is in a present form not in past?


texts: Word for foreigner or person of another race mistaking you for someone?

texts:
When I am traveling Europe I often get mistaken for someone (maybe famous).  I believe it has to do with the foreigner maybe not knowing the person's looks that well but I think it is more of not being able to hone in on attributes that are outside of their race/ethnicity.  Is there a good word or phrase that sums this up?

I took 4 pictures with random people when I was in Europe for a month a few weeks back, and I was supposed to be 3 different people.

Note:  Just to be clear, this isn't someone in a different country saying, "You look like so and so."  This is them really believing that you are that person.


texts: Expressions to describe having immediately understood someone's personality

texts: What words could I use to describe the event of having successfully and completely "read" or understood someone's personality, upon first meeting that someone?


texts: Looking for a gender neutral equivalent for "dairyman"

texts: What would be the gender-neutral version of the term "dairyman"?


texts: Can we say "I am looking forward to being a doctor", or is that wrong?

texts: Can we say "I am looking forward to being a doctor", or is it wrong like this?


texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  English from Icelandic?

Are there any English words that are of a common or semi-common use that originate from Icelandic?


texts: What do you call a Q&A user who posts a question but never checks back?

texts:
I have searched for a term that describes users who post questions and then disappear without trace. These users will post and write their questions in a great flurry,  sometimes ignoring the basic rules of punctuation and capitalization, they will also plead for assistance, and conclude their posts with a thnx. And yet when regular users respond and politely ask for further information these newcomers will remain mute. Answers will be posted but receive no confirmation from the OP (original poster) that their problem has been solved. Only when a day has passed by, do users realize that these newcomers have effectively gone. Disappeared. Vanished. Sparito.

I am not talking about lurkers, users who sit on the sidelines and observe, reading content but never interacting or contributing. Apparently, lurkers are said to  make up 99% of all Internet users.

  In Internet culture, the 1% rule is a rule of thumb pertaining to
  participation in an internet community, stating that only 1% of the
  users of a website actively create new content, while the other 99% of
  the participants only lurk. [...]
  The terms lurk and lurking, in reference to online activity, are used
  to refer to online observation without engaging others in the
  community, and were first used by veteran print journalist, P Tomi
  Austin, circa 1990, when her presence was noticed by other users in
  chat rooms, who queried her reasons for not engaging in chat. There
  were repeated inquiries about her identity and her refusal to engage
  in chat.

  Wikipedia: 1% rule (Internet culture)

No, I am referring to users who do make a contribution, who have taken the plunge, and seem to want to engage but then never come back (unless they have multiple accounts, which seems very unlikely to me.)

I have come to call them Hit & Run users; because they remind me of the expression hitman, they shoot a question and then run away. But is there an established expression, word or phrase used in social media? I have honestly searched but Internet slang dictionaries are no good unless you already know the term you're looking for!


texts: Is there a term or phrase for a person with two singing voice (male - female singing voice)?

texts:
There are some people who have distinct voices when they sing, currently when I Google it there are only phrases like "... with two voices ..." Is there a word for a person who have that ability?

Edit:
Thank you Katherine Lockwood, that was something new and interesting for me actually, but currently the word I'm looking for is the counter-tenor.


texts: Word for focusing on what you do not have?

texts:
I would say “practicing gratitude” to convey the thought of focusing on what one has in life and ruminating on little things in a positive way, the glass half full. What would be the opposite word or phrase for when one habitually focuses on what they do not have. Not necessarily in relation to someone else as in envy or jealousy.

Edit:

As suggested in the comments, here’s some clarification:

Ingratitude just implies a lack of gratitude, I think. I’m looking for the other side of the coin. Someone who would practice gratitude might take note of the small things in life, even keep a gratitude journal, or look for ways to express such to a friend. But I’m looking for a word that describes someone who focuses on what’s missing, as if the person is almost making a list of what he doesn’t have and complaining or ruminating over that.


texts: Regarding present tense and future tense

texts: In this sentence "Look at the timetable. Hurry up! Flight 4026 takes off at 6:20." Can I replace "will take off" with "takes off"？


texts: sequence of tenses (optional and obligatory back shifting )

texts:
Consider a sentence:

  1) The president learned that the earthquake has caused havoc all across the country.

Here present perfect tense is used. First tell me is it correct to use 'has caused' ?

I read once in a grammar book that if the verb in the main clause is in the past tense the the verb in the subordinate clause will also be in the past tense.

So according to this rule it should be 'had caused' instead of 'has caused'.

But at the same time some of them say that if the emphasis is laid on the subordinate clause then present perfect tense can be used. While some say if the emphasis is laid on 'noticing' then past perfect tense to be used. So by this logic one can use present perfect tense as well.

I'm confused.

P.S. -- I'm aware that past perfect tense can be used in every situation but I have no idea when to use present perfect tense in the cases when the verb in the main clause is in the past tense. Help me out.


texts: Dishes on menus and capitalising in naratives

texts: "I'll have a mixed salad," or how about, 2. "I'll have the Mixed Salad." What about, 3. "I'll have the mesclun salad." If in the narrative the speaker is ordering directly from the menu, would it be necessary to use capitals as in example 2. A mixed salad is a very general term but what if the speaker asks for the mesclun salad. A mesclun salad is clearly defined by it's name, so would this need capitalisation.


texts: Can "all of which" be used as the subject of a sentence?

texts:
For example, I wrote this:

However, offering anything more specific than first, second, and third class will slow processing times, increase customer inconvenience and customer inequality, all of which will dampen the customer service experience JetBlue values so highly.

...but can I split it into two sentences like this?

However, offering anything more specific than first, second, and third class will slow processing times, increase customer inconvenience and customer inequality. All of which will dampen the customer service experience JetBlue values so highly.

Why or why not?


texts:
I have a friend from the southern U.S. who uses the phrase “might could” quite often. He’ll say, for example:

  I might could do that this weekend.

When I first heard him say this, it made me do a double-take. I wasn’t sure whether it’s incorrect, or correct but just not idiomatic outside the southern U.S.


texts:
In the following sentence, which one is more common?

  I asked my mother, "Where is my father?"

Or

  I asked my mother, "Where is Father?"


texts: Is the use of " were" correct in presence of "along"?

texts:
Is the following sentence, from a USA Today news article online, correct?

  Vinson, along with Nina Pham, were the two nurses at Texas Health
  Presbyterian Hospital who contracted the virus while caring for Thomas
  Duncan, a Liberian national who died of the disease on Oct. 8.

There is another question on EL&U that targets the same topic, but it does not have an answer selected.


texts: What do you call it when a system's own output is used for its input?

texts:
What do you call the action taking the output of a system (any system: a societal system, a mathematical operation, a recipe) and using it as an input?

I don't necessarily mean when output of a process is always used as its own input, like sourdough production or if a Marmite factory also produced beer. I do not mean that the output is necessarily something that always goes back in; I am meaning that such feedback is possible, neither excluded nor required.

Again, I'm referring to when this action can and does happen. For example: when a university student later teaches at or otherwise works for the same college he graduated from, when a function that takes in functions receives itself, when the fillings that fall from several tacos falling into a tortilla being used as a napkin in order to make one last taco; in general, where a hierarchy points at its own predecessor in a way that logic doesn't break.

I have seen "nepotistic" and "incestuous" used as pejorative metaphors, but these are only metaphors, and are not neutral. I am looking for either a single word or a phrase.


texts:
Because road traffic has plummeted and the army has been put in charge of supplying towns and cities with food, illicit vehicles heading to rebel hideouts stick out like lines of powder cocaine on a mirror.

(This is a paragraph from an article title "Pandemic and War" by The Economist in the international section.)
I've checked images of lines of Coke on a mirror, but I'm sure very unsure of the analogy here. Does it mean that there are lots of illicit vehicles?


texts:
Some years ago, I watched an episode of the show Just Shoot Me! where one of characters used the phrase "The Jackass Syndrome" to describe the situation were two people who are quite similar in some ways can really hate each other (it was followed by a short scene in which, after two people met for the first time, each of them walked away muttering "jackass" in reference to the other person).

Over the years I have noticed that sometimes people that are indeed similar in some aspects (that they may not be aware of) can not get along with one another.  Is there another word for this situation?


texts: From native English speakers I often hear the phrase "How are you?" intonated differently. Sometimes the word "are" is stressed, and sometimes the word "you" is. What is the difference between these variants?


texts: Why there is no "TO" in "having had nobody stand up for me"

texts:
I do not understand the following:

  Having had nobody stand up for me

Why it is not

  Having had nobody to stand up for me

Because:

  There is somebody to stand up for me.


texts: What’s the difference: "I didn’t do anything" vs "I haven’t done anything"

texts:
Imagine the following scenario:

I looked at a girl and gave her a smile. My friend next to me has put a serious look on his face and is staring at me. I turn to my friend and figured that I'd say one of these two versions, but I don’t know which.

I didn’t do anything.
I haven’t done anything.

Which of those is better and when? Is either one actually wrong, or do they mean different things?

What about these others:

I’ve done nothing.
I did nothing.

Or even these:

I wasn’t doing anything.
I was doing nothing.


texts:
I encountered the following sentence:

  He and two friends were going through someone's car and someone caught them and shot at them, killing my student.

What does "go through someone's car" mean?


texts: Where does the phrase "No ifs, no buts, no coconuts" come from?

texts:
I've seen various entries for "No ifs, no buts, no cuts", but no explanation of the other phrase.

What is the etymology?


texts: Why is a young man called “son,” but a young woman is never called “daughter”?

texts:
In American English, it is acceptable and common that an older man calls a man his junior, "son"—even if the younger man is not the older man's child (or related to him in any way).
Definition of "son," according to Oxford Dictionaries Online:

1.6
(also my son)
Used by an elder person as a form of address for a boy or young man.

Example:

“You’re on private land, son.”

At the same time, I have never heard "daughter" used to address a younger woman. What is the reason for this linguistic divide?

In my preliminary research on this topic, I found a somewhat related question that was asked on the Q&A site, Quora: Why is there the phrase "son of a bitch," but not "daughter of a bitch"? The provided answer is that societies around the world have historically been patriarchal; females were regarded as inherently contemptible.
I'm not sure this explains or has anything to do with my question. I would imagine that even during the time when women were regarded as second-class citizens, polite terms for a senior man to address a girl (or a senior woman to address a woman her junior) still existed.

On a separate note, the dictionary definitions of "son" that I've looked at do not specify the gender of the speaker of this term. However, based on my experience, I had thought that only men use this term. Is there any validity to my understanding? Have you ever heard an older woman call a boy, "son"?


texts: Term for someone who has been 'liked' on social media

texts:
In our system we have the ability to 'like' someone. Similar to how you like someone on social media websites.

Is there a term for someone who has been liked? As in a 'Likee'? Similar to how you have a 'Payee' and a 'Payer'.


texts: Which of the following is correct: "It cannot be seen, nor touched." and "It cannot be seen, or touched."

texts:
Helen Keller said, “The best and most
beautiful things in the world cannot be seen, nor touched . . .
but are felt in the heart.”

Shouldn't it be "cannot be seen or touched" since the word "cannot" is used?


texts: Are there any synonyms for the word high-concept?

texts:
Are there any synonyms for the word "high-concept"?

Here is the sentence:"The same goes for some of the high concept scenes in the film – I was often creating a new mix down nearly every single day with new ideas and sounds for him and the picture editors to review and reflect on".

According to dictionary it means "a simple and often striking idea or premise, as of a story or film, that lends itself to easy promotion and marketing" but I couldn't find an appropriate synonym of it.


texts: Phrase for when someone leaves a group/place in an unusually quick manner

texts:
For some reason I remember the phrase "that sounded runny" used when someone leaves a group/place in an unusually quick manner. But apparently that is incorrect. Can anyone help me with the correct phrase/usage? I remember the phrase being used in some TV show(s) or movie(s), but cannot put my finger on any specific instance.

Edit: I am looking for a permutation or correction in "that sounded runny" itself.


texts: omitting relative pronoun in a non-restrictive clause

texts:
We often omit relative pronouns in restrictive clauses. E.g. "I am flying to a place I love" instead of "I am flying to a place that I love."

It seems ok to omit the which/who in the following. But what are rules for omitting relative pronouns for non-restrictive clauses?

  The treatment, which was covered by insurance, lasted days.

  The treatment, covered by insurance, lasted days.

  John, who was buried in debt, sold his house.

  John, buried in debt, sold his house.


texts: A proverb/idiom synonymous to "changing horses in the midstream"

texts:
Is there a synonym to the idiom in the title which uses the simile of changing table cloth during the meal/dinner and if so, how is it properly worded?

Heard it in a US movie dubbed in my native language but couldn't trace its English origin in Google and in the movie's transcript.

Thank you.


texts: I would like to know what's the meaning and in which situations would one use the expression "Enter [somebody]", like "we were trying to find a solution. Enter John".


texts: Is the term "walking across a tarmac" grammatically correct?

texts:
The term in context:

  Mr Obama and his daughter Sasha, 14, walk across a tarmac in New York on Friday.

Shouldn't it be

  walk across tarmac

or

  walk across the tarmac

or

  walk across a road/footpath.

I would think that tarmac is not a word to be preceded with 'a'.


texts: Why exactly is the verb "to throw" used when an error occurs in the program?

texts:
Why don't we use "to generate" or "to get"?

E.g.:
"External component has thrown an exception", "JavaScript had just thrown an error straight away", "Instances of Error objects are thrown when runtime errors occur".


texts: What figure of speech is this, "assaulted by a haircut"?

texts:
"That guy is assaulting us with that haircut".

There's some hyperbole in there, but its definitely a substitution of some sort.


texts: Can I use "both" when referring to more than two?

texts: In order to succeed in this position, you should be able to engage both the rich, the educated and the pious, as well as the poor, the ignorant and the immoral.


texts: Possessive form for a surname ending with "z"

texts: What is the proper possessive form for a surname that ends with “z”? Is it z’ or z’s?


texts: Is the idea in the below sentence comprehensible? Is it grammatically correct?

texts: He blustered to the extent that it contorted his abdomen until he heard his stomach growling through hunger.


texts: Is "I also don't know" less correct than "I don't know either"?

texts:
When do you use "I don't know either" and when "I also don't know" (or any other verb instead of "know")?

I've been taught that "I also don't know" is not as correct as "I don't know either" - just like "I always don't know" is not as correct as "I never know" - but I've been hearing recently native speakers use "I also don't know" quite often.

Perhaps "I also don't know" is also correct, but it has some different meaning?


texts:
Islands lie amid important sea lines of communication.

Is this correct? Or should I use 'among' or choose a different grammar pattern altogether?
Amid is used for uncountable nouns, whereas among is used for countable ones, but to me 'amid' sounds more appropriate in this case. Especially since amid often denotes position (which is what I need here) and among implies mingling.

I've seen a similar question with amid/among sound/sounds. There someone said: "It's probably better not to regard 'amid the sounds of the crowd' as a count usage, as inclusion of a numeral would be unnatural." So I guess amid can be used with countable nouns as well in certain cases.

How about:

Islands lie in the midst of important sea lines of communication.

or should I go with:

Islands are surrounded by important sea lines of communication.

Any advice is much appreciated.


texts:
Can I use oldtimer for a place or an item that people get used to using during certain times?

For example:

  That photo booth has become an oldtimer for the fair goers.


texts: What is the correct usage: In the morning of ... vs. On the morning of ...?

texts:
In the morning of 19 April 2016, Taliban militants attacked a security team.

Or

  On the morning of 19 April 2016, Taliban militants attacked a security team .


texts: Can you explain what "for which" means here in this sentence?

texts:
I'm learning "Composition of Functions" in Aleks and come across this sentence. But I can't understand what "for which" means in that sentence:"The domain of f.g is the set of all x in the domain of g for which g(x) is in the domain of f."

I found a similar answer here "Such that" versus "for which"

but I'm confused because I don't know which antecedents the word "which" in "for which" refer to: "the domain of f.g", "the set of all x" or "the domain of g" ???

Can you explain it to me? I'd appreciate it.


texts:
Example: In Arabic, "Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem" [you may see different transliterations, or all written as one word] means "All the praises and thanks be to Allah, the Lord of the worlds." In writing and speech it is typically referred as "bismillah". [You may come across "basmala" and perhaps other variations also.] Bismallah is not the name of "Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem", nor its acronym.

Is there a word in English for such referencing?


texts: Position of direct object and prepositional phrase

texts:
I send something to someone.
/I send to someone something.

I made a cake for my mother.
/I made for my mother a cake.

I know with certainty that in these pair of sentences the first ones are grammatically correct; however, I have doubts if it would be possible to put the prepositional phrase before the direct object like the second cases of the pair of sentences. I know that if we have the direct and indirect object , we should put the indirect object before the direct object, so my question is not centred on that but on how it would work out the sentence with a direct object and a prepositional phrase.


texts: Countable uncountable noun vs always singular noun

texts:
I always refer to LDOCE for definitions of words. There is additional info on the senses there. That's why I love it. But, I am still deeply confused with these noun classifications; countable uncountable noun and singular noun. For the former, let's take talent and voice for example. They are classified as countable and uncountable nouns there. Question: under what circumstances are they used as countable nouns?
For the latter, let's take appetite (desire for food) and faculty (natural ability) for example. They are classified as singular nouns. Question: are such nouns always used as singular nouns regardless of how many kinds are referred to?


texts: What is the difference between "sardonic" and "sarcastic"?

texts:
Basically, sardonic and sarcastic both stand for mocking gestures, but what is the difference in their contextual use?

Are there any other words that represent a similar gesture?


texts: "turn them all off" or "turn all them off"?

texts:
"turn them all off" 84,800 results

"turn all them off" 63,200 results

both are correct?


texts:
This may be aimed more at developers; but lets say you have a string with a possible variable in it assigned to another variable.

$myVarBeforeReplacement = 'some_string_with_{var}';

Then after some manipulation you get the desired string by replacing that variable

$myVarAfterReplacement = 'some_string_with_its_var_replaced';

I am trying to think of two separate but somewhat related words to describe the string in each stage. I don't want to use processed / unprocessed as that can imply at the other processes going on.

Similarly I don't want to used formatted / unformatted since the string can also go through formatting. Replaced / unreplaced seems a little long winded and antiquated.

I was leaning on raw but cooked(?) makes no sense.


texts: Seeking concise expression or word for "Taking ownership of an existing term used by an adversary, then using it against them."

texts:
As example:
"“While we have already tried to build a new and viable society around concepts such as democracy, sustainability, sustainable development and resilience, all these terms have been corrupted by forces determined to incorporate and embed them into the Anthropocene where they become ‘business as usual’.” in  Exiting The Anthropocene and Entering The Symbiocene.

I seek a word or shorter phrase to express the words in bold font.
Also encountered in a French language conversation when the term - neo-colonialism - was taken and used in a manner contrary to it's original intention.
A word or short expression for using the enemy's (verbal) weapons against them.


texts:
I have difficulty getting the meaning of "take" in this sentence.

  So what will it take to reform a decades-old mode of transport that is entrenched not only in the daily lives of millions, but in the national psyche?

Does "what will it take to reform...?" mean something like:

  what will be like if a decades-old mode of transport is reformed...?

or

  what will be necessary to reform...?

or something else?


texts:
Is "since" ambiguous?
Cambridge Dictionary - Since: from a particular time in the past until a later time, or until now
However, whenever I hear: "I haven't done x since y." I interpret it as the last time they did "x" was "y".
However, by the dictionary, it means 'from y on, I haven't done x." (The last time I did "x" was before "y".
Is there a reason why?
What if you say: "I haven't done x since y on." Does this make sense.


texts: Why are "malign" and "malignant" pronounced differently?

texts: Why are malign and malignant pronounced differently?  What is the rule that separates that pattern from, say, sign and signage?


texts: I learned the language of Plato and Sokrates at school - is it 'old Greek' or 'ancient Greek'?


texts: 'mawkish' : What semantic notions underlie 'maggots' with 'sentimental in an exaggerated or false way'?

texts:
mawkish  {adjective} = expressing or sharing emotion in a way that is exaggerated or embarrassing
  SYNONYM[:] sentimental

mawkish (adj.) on Etymonline:

  1660s, "sickly, nauseated" (a sense now obsolete),
  from Middle English mawke "maggot" (early 15c.; see maggot), but the literal sense of "maggoty" is not found.
  Figurative meaning "sickeningly sentimental, insipid" is recorded by 1702.

I accept that (the mere thought of) maggots can sicken or nauseate, but how did the notion of 'sickly, nauseated' shift to mean sentimentality?
OED doesn't expound.


texts:
I'm curious to know if anyone know a word that describes the process of removing an item from a blacklist.

For example if we replaced the word "blacklist" with "ban" the one would "Ban an object" and later "Lift the ban".

What would be the word / phrase used to describe the same process with regards to blacklisting?

Whitelist is unsuitable because it carries the connotation of everything being banned by default and only certain items are allowed.


texts: What’s the difference between ‘such’ and ‘this’?

texts:
I was solving following problem. I had to fill in the blank with a right word.

Q) ... In your e-mail, you stated that the compartment does not close properly. _____ issue was brought up by other customers in the past. Our technicians ...
A) This
B) Their
C) The other
D) Such

I thought the answer was ‘Such’ as the meaning of ‘like’. This is because other customers also had similar problem in the past. However, my text says that the answer is ‘This’. I understand it also makes sense, but I don’t know what the difference is. Could you explain this please?


texts:
I wrote the next sentence:
"Oh Dad, you think my room is a mess? You should see my life". But then I remembered that in questions obviously you have to put the verb "be", and the doubt came, is the sentence correct or I should write; "oh dad, do you think my room is a mess? You should see my life.
Thank you for your help :)


texts: Is there any word or phrase for providing a way/solution just for now?

texts:
Is there any word or phrase for "providing a way/solution for now/for the nonce"?
Example:

We seek a theory that help us explain A and B. Theory T seems to help
us explain A for now, but we haven't yet examine T to see if it has
any problem and if it can explain B too.

What is the verb/phrasal verb to say the for-now service that T provide for us?


texts: "Imagine" a word for "picturing" something that doesn't involve sense of sight

texts:
There are many ways to describe hypothetical situations, but they all center around the sense of sight:

Envision
Imagine
Picture

Are there others that don't involve sight? It feels incorrect to say that a blind person "envisions something," so I'm looking for words that are sense-neutral.
It also feels inappropriate to "picture how this food tastes." Are there words for imagining a hypothetical smell, touch, taste, or sound?


texts: "Would have" in the main clause of a real past conditional

texts:
(Addressing a person who's not sure whether they have paid their fees - real past):

A. If you have paid the fees, they have activated your account.
B. If you have paid the fees, they would have activated your account.

Is B an acceptable usage to indicate speculativeness in the main clause?


texts:
Why are there different ways of indicating gender for animals?
For instance, by inflexion we get:

lion (male) & lioness (female)

where the female is distinguished from the male. Here the male is also known by the general (have I used this correctly?) term for this type of animal, i.e. lion.

But, in another instance, we have:

duck (female) & drake (male)

where the male is distinguished from the female by a distinct or different word and also from the general term for this type of fowl, i.e. duck.

Then, for kangaroos and rabbits, we have:

buck (male) & doe (female)

where neither are known by the general term, nor is there any inflexion; instead,  distinct names are used.

Why do these different ways for indicating gender exist? Why is it that in some cases the male is differentiated from the female and vice-versa. And why in some cases are both female and male known by words so different from the general term used to describe them?


texts: What's the correct preposition to use when describing the aspect ratio of a screen?

texts:
I'm referring specifically to aspect ratios of TV screens.

A common aspect ratio of a TV screen is 16:9. Would this be pronounced "sixteen to nine" or "sixteen by nine"?


texts: Word for "item that can be bought or sold"

texts:
I am looking for a single word like "product" but it means that it has monetary value and can be bought, sold, or traded.  Specifically I'm trying to write about how Native Americans did not consider land something to be sold until Europeans came.  I'd like to say

  Native Americans did not consider land to be a _______ (sellable object)

If that's not possible, I could use an antonym instead:

  Native Americans considered land to be a ________ (unsellable object)

The words I've thought of, product and  commodity, don't quite work.  "Product" implies something made, not sellable.  "Commodity" connotes an agricultural product or raw material.


texts: "You're not the boss of me" vs "You're not my boss"

texts:
For some years now I've heard You're not the boss of me increasingly more often relative to the more "correct, natural" (to me, at least) You're not my boss. Thanks to the magic of NGrams, I've confirmed my suspicions that it's not just the company I keep...

At first I just thought the "boss of me" version was just a childish equivalent, but now I'm not so sure. If I extrapolate the graph (bearing in mind NGrams doesn't quite reach today yet anyway), it seems likely the new variant is already (or soon will be) the standard form. What's going on?

In case that's not considered a proper ELU question, I'll rephrase it as "What if anything do people perceive as different about the new version, which might be causing them to prefer it?".


texts:
Came across the following quote:

  Never try to outstubborn a cat.

Googling did not help. What does Outstubborn mean?


texts: Is it correct to start a sentence with "Please find the attached revised invoice", with two adjectives (attached and revised) one after another?


texts: Is there a single word that can represent "lingering fear"?

texts: "Lingering fear" is when after a fearful/traumatic experience, you still have some fright remaining despite there are no more dangers. I was wondering if there's any single word that can possibly represent this?


texts: Idiom about forgetting about someone/something

texts:
Someone provides something that only caters to half the group - what's an idiom for what he did to the other half by forgetting about them?

Let them go to the dogs? Something like that...


texts: How does one formally address and email when the gender of the recipient is unknown?

texts:
What is the correct way to address the recipient of a professional email, when only the last name of the person is known? Would it be more polite to say, for example "Dear Mr/s Smith" or "Dear A. Smith"
I don't have much experience writing formal emails and could really use some advice


texts: How does "panegyric" work in "Tom is very panegyric while talking to his co-workers"?

texts:
Tom is very panegyric while talking to his co-workers.

From What is a sentence for panegyric?

What's the meaning of this sentence?
I have search the meaning of panegyric, but can't understand what it's saying here.

Can anyone post some sentences using the word panegyric to understand it?


texts: Is there a word or phrase for someone who has difficulty telling his right side from his left side?

texts: For some neurologic reason such person can't tell right side from left side. He may have a ribbon round his wrists to save him trouble.


texts: What is the correct terminology for describing the modes of application of a product to a plant?

texts:
What is the correct word (or sequences of words) for describing the following two processes?

1) The application of an agricultural product, such as a pesticide, to a plant, through the leaves. If you need an example sentence to work with, how about:

This product is for ... only.

My first trial is to fill the dots with "foliar application". Another idea that comes to mind is: "on leaves application" or "application on leaves". I don't like any of the options I came up with.

2) Same situation as above but this time the application of the product is through the roots of the plant. In order to fill the dots, I came up with "radical application" which I think is an entire different concept though, and "through roots application" which I like a bit better but I'm not sure if it is correct.

In short I'm looking for technical terms for filling the dots.

A sidenote: for "correct" I mean either the technical terms or the words generally accepted and used to express the concept I described.


texts:
I'm looking for common phrases similar to "What would you do?" I'd like any phrase that signifies the call to action to make a difficult hypothetical decision.  For example, "Take your pick" is a possible answer because it is a common phrase, but it doesn't work that well in context of making a difficult decision so it wouldn't work.

I know this is a really specific request, but ideally the phrase really captures the essence of difficult hypothetical decision, perhaps an ethical dilemma.
E.g. "Would you prefer a slow and mildly painful death, or a quick and very painful one? WHAT WOULD YOU DO?" (replacing what would you do with something else)


texts: I would suggest that the reason for the fault is/was/would be lack of attention

texts:
Which of the above three options sounds more natural?
If I wanted to distance myself from the statement to a greater extent than implied by "would suggest", should I keep "would be lack of attention"?
Secondly, of the two options is/was, does it make sense to choose "is", even though the error in question occurred a long time ago?
Thanks.


texts: Should the English word for noodles be ''lamen'' or ''ramen''?

texts:
The Chinese word for noodles is lamen, or la-mien, and the Japanese also call it lamen, using their hiragana/katana syllaby. So the word is spoken with the L sound in both China and Japan (Taiwan, too), not the R sound.

However, modern English spells it and speaks it as ramen and I wonder:  was this an editing/spelling mistake made by Japanese or English editors in the 1950s? Ask any Japanese person in Japan and they will tell you it's really lamen. Why did English-speaking countries turn it into ramen and is there any way to turn it back to its correct spelling and pronunciation: lamen?


texts: What tense do you use to refer to an adult's childhood as a child prodigy?

texts: I'm currently writing a biography of a fictional character. Should I write "X is a child prodigy" or "X was a child prodigy" if X is currently an adult? My gut tells me to go with a past tense since X is no longer a child, but X is still outstanding in their field, so the prodigy part can still be refered to in present tense.


texts: How can I use a different sentence structure every so often

texts:
Instead of saying "you told me to call him when you are back" (note that here both 'you' is the same person ) can I say "you said that call him when I am back". In both can you also tell me that using "you are/were back" and "when I am/was back" okay?

And here "Last time I called here at the HR department someone said that I would be notified of any developments on my CV" is it necessary to say "someone said that you would be notified..."

Thanks for giving it a thought.


texts:
What could be meant by cold water customer in the following, where Yankee sailors are discussing the politics of their president?

  'Who says the old man at the helm of the Yankee nation can't steer his trick as well as George Washington himself?" cried a sheet-anchor-man.
  'But they say he's a cold water customer, Bill," cried another; 'and sometimes I somehow has a presentation that he's goin' to stop our grog.'

(Melville, White-Jacket)


texts:
Is it possible to change Nouns to Adjective by adding "of" before the noun? Like:

  of help = helpful => not of any help = not helpful
  of interest = interesting => of a lot of interest = very interesting
  of problem = problematic => of a lot of problem = very problematic
  of no use = not useful => it's of no use = it's not useful
  of no importance = not important => It's of no importance to me = it's not important to me

I am wondering if there is any case where this method doesn't work.

Update: Let me rephrase my question this way: Can this rule be applied to those nouns that already have a meaningful adjective? I mean, the noun book does not have any adjective, so I don't expect of book to be a meaningful adjective! My question targets only those nouns that have a known adjective.

Update 2: Some Ngram diagrams:
"not important to" vs "of no importance to"
"not useful to" vs "of no use to"
"not helpful to" vs "of no help to"
"not valuable to" vs "of no value to"
"not interesting to" vs "of no interest to"

Update 3: I just came across the following sentence in wikibooks:

  Of special mention are the shift operators

I think "of special mention" here means "specially mentionable". Doesn't it?

Update 4: Yet another example I found in here:

  Please post any question that you feel is of worth and the reason why.

I think "of worth" here means "worthwhile" or "worthy".

Update 5: A comment posted here:

  Then two-step is not of any use to you. Two-step is for personal computers and apps that only you would use.

Update 6: Another example from here:

  Assuming all the devices in your signal path are of more or less comparable quality

Update 7: Another example from a book I recently read:

  Of what use is talking about interests, options, and standards if the other side has a stronger
  bargaining position?


texts:
If I have software SW, and I want to enhance its performance by adding a capability, say X, to it, what do I call this process?

Is it correct to say:

  Realizing X in SW?

Or:

  Building X in SW?

I feel that building and realization are not two suitable words for this reason.


texts: What was slang for "absentminded" or "empty headed" before "space cadet"?


texts: Is it correct to start a sentence with the infinitive of a verb without the "to"?

texts:
The context is: "Yes, your card made me close my birth month with a flourish!   Receive it on the last day of April was perfect and very meaningful to me."

Is it correct to start the sentence "Receive it on the last day......" ?

Thanks!

Christina


texts: Single or Plural: Asking for names of people

texts: If I were to ask the name of two people, should I say "What is the name of PersonA and PersonB?" because each person has only one name or "What are the names of PersonA or PersonB?" because I am asking for two names?


texts: Can "that" introduce a clause that contains unecessary information?

texts:
I was wondering if it was acceptable to make a sentence less choppy by using “that” without a comma to introduce a clause that could be introduced with a comma followed by “which,” because the sentence would still be grammatically correct without the clause.

For instance, if the nonrestrictive clause in sentence (1) was removed, the sentence would still be grammatically correct, even though it would then be less instructive. However, (2) flows better than (1) because that clause is written as if it were nonrestrictive.

(1) The painting depicts a priest drowning the girl in a lake, which the avowedly anti-Christian artist may have used ambiguously to represent water’s ability to free the soul by killing the person.

(2) The scene depicts a priest drowning a girl in a lake that the avowedly anti-Christian artist may have used ambiguously to represent water’s ability to free the soul by killing the person.

Thanks very much for clarifying this issue for me, even though I may not have phrased my question in the best way possible.


texts: A particular word or sentence to descibe a situation

texts:
Background:

A company has clear-cut tasks designed for efficiency, but some tasks are ambiguous. One can either accept a task or not; that is, another will do it, and that's fine on all sides.

However, no one wants to take uninteresting tasks, and everyone is already occupied with routine work.

Does English have a concise word or sentence to explain a situation in which no one wants to accept such a task?


texts:
The following sentence is a sentence in my composition, and I think it is reasonable to write a sentence in this way. However, a grammar checker has said that the preposition word is unnecessary. Is it a false negative check result?

if children spend much time on watching interesting TV shows


texts:
It is hard to use long noun phrase subject. I hope to make it easy to read.

For example,

  The relation between luminance and pupil area under dynamic condition
  will be computed.

In this case, The relation ~ dynamic condition is my subject but it is too long.

Then, should I use like this?

  The relation will be computed between luminance and pupil area under dynamic condition.

It looks 'between' modifies 'computed', not 'the relation'....

I will appreciate if you teach me how to deal with such a case.

Thanks in advance.


texts: Phrase that means a sequence of projects, each of which builds on the previous project.

texts:
I'm writing a proposal in which I describe a series of small projects/experiments. The projects start out small and basic, then the subsequent project builds on the results from the prior project. I need to convey the idea that the projects have been carefully selected to complement each other, and that the sequence in which they are executed is important. I'm sure there is a word or short phrase somewhere that describes this idea succinctly.

The sort of phrase in which this word would be used:
"The new technique will be applied in a series of projects designed to blah blah blah." Or: "The new technique will be applied in sequential projects that rely on yada yada yada."

Here are some related words I've considered:

"Sequential", "successive": These are ok because they tell the reader that I am doing one project after another, but they don't convey the relationship between the projects.

"Progressive": Getting closer, but this word also can mean "revolutionary" or "modern" and sounds a bit weird in this context.

"Escalating": Has the right feel, but it's too intense, and doesn't denote a series of events.

Thanks for helping.


texts:
If you want to give various bits of information (say variables like age, nationality, occupation, and so forth), would it be correct to use the phrase 'in short detail?'

This is the sentence I have come up with:

  In Participants (§2.2) I describe the individuals that partook in my study, offer in short detail their key demographics and backgrounds of each of the interviewed respondents, and their designated roles.

I've looked the phrase up, bit can't find references in dictionaries, and for the rest Google comes up with either really old sources (18th and 19th centuries) and texts of which I can't tell if they use the term correctly.

Thank you!


texts: A word denoting the sound of turning pages

texts:
The two words (adjectives) I found in Yahoo Answers site, that perhaps (I am not sure) describe the sound of turning pages, when they rifled by the wind: fluttering and flapping.

Other than those adjectives mentioned above, is there any noun or noun phrase that refer to the sound of turning pages when being rifled by a wind. The word that I need doesn't necessarily have to do with the sound produced when we manually (by hands) turn the page(s) of books.

  I heard the ______ of
  the turning pages, as
  they were rifled by the
  wind.


texts: What's the origin of the sarcastic phrase "big whoop"?

texts:
I used "big whoop" today and realized that while I know how to use it, I have no idea what it literally means. Looking into it, it is very related to the sarcastic phrase "big deal" but I can't find much about the origin.

The Oxford Dictionary says that "big whoop" originated in the 1980s while its entry on "big deal" says that it came from "Early 20th century; earliest use found in Frank Norris (1870–1902)" but gives nothing about how it originated.

I tried looking both terms up on Dictionary.com, but "big whoop" isn't found while for "big deal it says that it likely first originated in poker or business in a sarcastic way to describe how relatively unimportant a particular deal was. That makes sense to me.

But how did "big whoop" come to mean the same thing?


texts: What's an antonym for the adjective "concrete"?

texts:
For instance, profit margins are concrete, observable numbers whereas human needs can't easily be quantified.

The sentence I'm trying to write is:

  Due to the fact that human needs are ______, ...