texts:
I'm reading a book and I bumped into this sentence:

  He had aged well; his face was lined and wrinkled like every
  other resident of Hilltop, but there was a youthfulness about
  him, a certain quality of energy and vitality that seemed
  to make a lie of all the wrinkles.

So my question is: what is the exact meaning of the structure "to make a lie of" in this context. It is not in any dictionary.

Thanks!


texts: According to the Cambridge Dictionary, above all means most importantly and primarily means mainly. But some people may be confused by the difference between "most importantly" and "mainly". I can mostly feel the difference but I'd like to get more ideas about how to explain the difference between the synonyms "above all" and "primarily" better. Thank you!


texts: Using the word "without" as a substitute for "instead of"

texts:
So I came across the following sentence:

  Use the staircase without a lift or an escalator to save energy.

Even though the description suggested that there is nothing wrong with it,
I felt a bit uneasy about using the word "without" here, as I thought that it would be more natural if it used "instead of".

I did some research, and I got the following definition for "without".

  with the absence, omission, or avoidance of; not with; with no or none of; lacking:

I was a bit confused because when I consider the meaning "avoidance", it seemed to make sense.
As I'm not particularly fluent at English, I thought that I should ask.

So I am curious if it's alright to use "without" in place of "instead of" and if not, why.
Thank you.


texts:
The kuma is the kid that lingers around you when you're eating ice cream. He/She wants the ice cream for himself/herself. Could be a brother, sister or a complete stranger. Sometimes would make a fuss so that his/her mom would buy him/her one or, if not, ask you for him/her a piece of what you are eating.

As an adjective, kuma is how you'd describe that kid. Curious is too cute, greedy is extreme.

Here comes the kuma.

My child's seatmate in class is super kuma.

Also applies to adults.


texts: Should the 'a' in 'agile/Agile' be capitalized?

texts:
I was discussing this topic in a chat over on PMSE and figured I'd pose it to the experts.

Should the 'a' in the word 'agile/Agile' be capitalized? Specifically, when referring to the concept brought about by the Manifesto for Agile Software Development.

On one hand, the term agile may simply apply to the adjective of agility, which coincidentally is part of the title of the Manifesto for Agile Software Development.

On the other hand, it's feasible that 'Agile' is actually an abbreviation of the 'Manifesto for Agile Software Development'. Similar to how 'Manifesto' would be - the vernacular has merely decided 'Agile' as its abbreviation rather than 'Manifesto', presumably due to less ambiguity. And, as far as I know, the abbreviation of a proper noun ('Manifesto for Agile Software Development') should be capitalized. Of course, it could be argued that 'Agile' is referring to the concept brought about by the Manifesto, rather than the Manifesto itself. If so, should it then be considered a proper noun in its own right, or no?

As requested, some examples (emphasis mine):

  The difficulties with requirements gathering and how they change are one of the reasons for the "agile methods."

  What mechanisms promote continuous improvement on Agile teams?

  The term agile management is applied to an iterative, incremental method of managing the ...

  Agile Methodology - Everything you need to need to know -- and do -- to introduce Agile testing to your organization.


texts: Does "Years of experience" take a singular verb?

texts:
I was wondering whether the following sentence takes a singular or a plural verb:

  Years of experience in writing theses has lent him deep knowledge about engineering as a subject.


texts: Can "unlike" and "like" be used interchangeably here?

texts:
E.g. "Motels do not provide shampoos like hotels" vs "Motels do not provide shampoos unlike hotels".

The "like" used in the first sentence is used in the sense of giving an example that provides shampoos, e.g. hotels, and not meant to show relation to a similar example.
Whereas the "unlike" is used in the sense of giving a contrast to "do not provide" thus giving an example that "provides".

Am I getting something wrong here?


texts: is may you reply to my email grammatically correct?

texts:
I'm curious if "May you" + verb is grammatically correct - any comments?

Thank you.


texts: What's a word for exaggerations of "worst, best, least, most, etc."?

texts:
I'm trying to recall a word used to describe cases of hyperbole where a speaker refers to a given subject as the ultimate example of something.

For example, President Trump stated, "I am the least racist person you've ever interviewed" to a reporter recently.

Or if a student were to state, "I am the most open-minded person you will ever meet in your entire life."

Thanks!


texts: In an instance of "Signature/Stamp", does the / mean signature and stamp or  is the meaning signature or stamp


texts: What is the etymology of "You don't look too clever"

texts:
In BrEng, at least in the North, there is an idiom:

  "You don't look too clever."

which means

  "You're looking quite ill."

Does anybody know the etymology of this idiom please?


texts: Can the word "staff" be written with capital S?

texts:
Can I use capital S in the sentence below? The word staff refers to a unit.

  The Board of Directors and the staff of x company wish you a happy and peaceful New Year!

Thank you!


texts: Is there a word for "25 years" like "bicentennial" for 200 years? Is it "Quadranscentennial"?

texts:
I was looking for a word that means "25 years" in the way that "bicentennial" refers to 200 years.

Wikipedia suggests "Quadranscentennial", but I can't find extensive use of that.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anniversary

Is there any word for what I'm looking for?


texts: What is "a room a company provides for eating food" called?

texts:
Companies provide a room which has tables and chairs. In some companies, the room may have other things such as refrigerators and microwaves.

I have been calling this place pantry, but I noticed that pantry is actually a storage for food in addition to kitchen.

I want to know what the correct term is to call that place?


texts:
I'm afflicted with one of those online "Learn English" things that I have to wade through as a prerequisite for something else.

I report lots of errors, but this one I'm not sure of. I intially thought it wasn't a proper sentence, but it would pass in everyday spoken language if the sentence before was something like "Why were taxpayers so grumpy?"

  Because the financial crisis continued, even though governments tried to avoid it.

So is this a valid sentence or not?


texts:
Since I have stopped working, I started to learn English at home.
  Since I had stopped working,I started learning English at home.

Are both questions having the same meaning in this context?


texts: "You don't have to do this" -- is it an offensive sentence?

texts: I said this to someone I don't personally know, who had signed my packet when I am not at home. I wanted to tell him do not do this again next time. I said this sentence but his friends seemed to be offended and shut the door. What does "you don't have to do this next time" mean in this context? is it a rude sentence?


texts:
There's an old play on words that goes like so:

  Grammar: The difference between helping your uncle Jack off a horse, and helping your uncle jack off a horse.

I've been told that it should instead be:

  Grammar: The difference between helping your uncle, Jack, off a horse and helping your uncle jack off a horse.

Is either of these correct? Why?


texts:
In the following passage from Meredith's Diana of the Crossways, Sir Lukin, who tried to seduce the heroine and who has to keep that episode in secret from his wife, is remorseful.

  Reflection washed him clean. Secresy is not a medical restorative, by no means a good thing for the baffled amorously-adventurous cavalier, unless the lady's character shall have been firmly established in or over his hazy wagging noddle. Reflection informed him that the honourable, generous, proud girl spared him for the sake of the house she loved.

My question is: what does the expression "in or over" mean here? Is there any opposition between "establish in" and "establish over" which is referred to? My reading of it is that "her character shall dominate/usurp his mind", but perhaps I am wrong.

Thanks in advance!


texts: What word or expression would you use to describe an employee who is contracted by a company on a project-by-project basis but who cannot be considered a freelancer as he or she works exclusively for this company? In other words, what'd you call a specialist who is not on the payroll, works from home, gets paid per project but is commited to one company? Is it possible to use the expression "an out-of-house specialist" to denote a staff member who is not an in-house employee but cannot be really considered a freelancer? Thanks.


texts:
I just wonder whether this sentence:

  It is on you.

can ever mean this one:

  It is because of you.

This was spoken Tony Stark in the 2012 film, The Avengers.

Is “It’s all on you” a common and natural saying in English-speaking countries?


texts:
Let's suppose that clinical care is poor due to numerous reasons: policy-making, insufficient resources, specialists, education, non-use of standards etc.
How to say this in one word that describes the nature of these numerous reasons? Would it be correct to use different-level?

Clinical care is poor due to numerous different-level reasons.


texts: How to name the supreme power in the universe, in front of various people who believe there is one?

texts:
Even in writing this question, I have been deeply embarrassed : should I capitalize some words ?

Although not a believer myself, I wish to perturb nobody, whatever his / her faith could be : my position is "as long as they are happy with their creed, and don't try to convert anyone by force, should they have gained enough power for it, it's all the best for everyone, why should I bother ?".

The problem arises when I have to address several persons of different or unknown creeds : some have specific names, some others resent as a blasphemy to even mention a name. And I heard that there are 700 different Christian denominations in the USA alone, and how many rules apply, with all the non-Christian others ? And lately, that the word used by Muslims should not be used by any non-Muslim ...

In the USA, "in God we trust" is written even on more or less dirty banknotes ; in the UK, you utter the word only in church or for taking an oath. In French "Dieu sait où il est !" means "Nobody knows where he is is", it's absolutely innocent, an atheist could say that, just a way of speaking. Try to translate this word by word ! Some eyebrows would raise.

Have you a global, general solution ? Thank you.


texts: A word describing the fact that a technology has become commonplace

texts:
I'm looking for this word which is often associated with a technology going from specialist only, to being available for everyone. For instance, this word could be used to describe computers, the internet, or even simply phones.

I can't exactly remember if it's a single word (pretty sure it is though) or a short idiom, but I know it's commonly used.


texts: Interrogative sentences without auxiliary verbs and declarative sentences with auxiliary verbs

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  Is it OK to add a question mark to show inflection?

Sometimes, auxiliary verbs or helping verbs are not present in some interrogative sentences in some specific contexts where they actually appear to be (mostly in simple present tense). Some common examples:

  Where you want to go?
  What happened to him?
  How an induction motor starts?
  Where he lives?
  What he means?
  You know?

Why are these sentences not formulated something like the following? Is it just a shortcut way?

  Where do you want to go?
  What did happen to him?
  How does an induction motor start?
  Where does he live?
  What does he mean?
  Do you know?


texts:
A thought just came in my mind: the Sun shines, but the moon?

Which is better to use, sunshine or sunlight?

Can we use "Moon shines"?


texts:
In a word, you are wrong!
  In a sentence, you are wrong!

Which is more natural?

I feel "in a word" is more common than "in a sentence", but "you are wrong!" consists of three words rather than "a word"; so it seems "in a sentence" is more correct.

Am I right?


texts: A way to describe a group of trees of one species using only one word

texts:
While working on a short story I faltered when I tried to depict in a concise and yet expressive manner a fact that main character was at the edge of a birch woodland. I don’t really like a word combination “birch woodland” or “birch forest” and I'd like to express this by means of one word. To give you an idea in Russian you can denote any woodland type consisting mostly of one tree species using one word without explicitly saying XYZ forest (thicket, grove or whatnot). Let’s say there is an aspen copse. Instead of saying this word combination you can just say aspen with a special suffix. This style is more prevalent in literature rather than colloquial language for that matter. I’m trying to understand whether there is something similar in English. I’m aware only of a handful of examples namely pinery (a grove/woodland with pines) and some more esoteric ones such as oakery(oak woodland) and osier-bed (grove with osiers/small willows). I’m not even sure whether last two of my examples do not represent some kind of idiosyncratic vocabulary. My first idea was merely to add “wood” ending to a name of particular tree in order to obtain a desired word such as "birchwood" for a birch forest. However I’m not sure whether this will “work” for all trees because for instance “maplewood” rather alludes to some kind of timber and carpentry material than to a picturesque and vivid description of a grove. I’m looking for a help of native speakers who are well aware of a proper literary style to describe a grove/copse with one tree species using only one word.

UPD. Downvoters please care to explain your reasoning. I do believe my question raises some sort of interesting discussion even though may not have a proper answer.


texts: how did the epithet "nigger" come into usage?

texts:
My research has resulted in theoretical reasons for the usage of the term "nigger", and I have failed to uncover any evidence as to how this nasty little epithet evolved into the usage and connotation it had and has to this day.

When the African slave-trade was in full-swing , my belief is that a good percentage of black slaves  were captured and sold in Nigeria.  If the ship's captain could read, he would probably not be able to pronounce "Nigeria" or "Nigerian" properly nor would he care.  Since a four syllable word is difficult to pronounce anyway for the education level of seamen in the slave-trade of that era, I believe the term was shortened from nigerian to nigger which was easier for them to say.


texts: What's the etymology of sound' in 'sound in damages, tort, contract'?

texts:
OED:

6.  to sound in damages: in legal use, to be concerned only with damages. Also to sound in tort, to sound in contract, etc.

1780 M. Madan Thelyphthora II. 153 There is not one [change] which does not sound in damages, as our lawyers speak.

Which homonym and false cognate listed in Etymonline (below) fits 'sound'? Is this actually a third?

v1: early 13c., sounen "to be audible, produce vibrations affecting the ear," from Old French soner (Modern French sonner) and directly from Latin sonare "to sound, make a noise," "to sound," from PIE *swene-, from root *swen- "to sound." From late 14c. as "cause something (an instrument, etc.) to produce sound." Related: Sounded; sounding.
v2: "fathom, probe, measure the depth of," mid-14c. (implied in sounding), from Old French sonder, from sonde "sounding line," perhaps from the same Germanic source that yielded Old English sund "water, sea" (see sound (n.2)). Barnhart dismisses the old theory that it is from Latin subundare. Figurative use from 1570s.
2. How did 'sound' (v. 1 or 2) semantically shift to mean 'to be concerned only with'?

A couple of examples from English judges
Contract Law: Text, Cases, and Materials (2018 8 ed) p. 93.

...The law simply imposes an obligation on
the party who made the request to pay a reasonable sum for such work as has been done
pursuant to that request, such an obligation sounding in quasi contract or, as we now say, in
restitution.

Anson's Law of Contract (2016 30 ed). p. 180.

In the Investors Compensation Scheme case: [...]
The
exclusion from assignment clause, ‘Any claim (whether sounding in rescission for
undue inﬂuence or otherwise)’ was interpreted as if it had read, ‘Any claim sounding
in rescission (whether for undue inﬂuence or otherwise)’. This construction meant
that only claims for rescission, and not for damages, against the building societies were
excluded from the assignment.


texts: No meetings scheduled today vs No meetings scheduled for today. What is the difference?

texts: No meetings scheduled today vs No meetings scheduled for today. When we want to specify that the statement which is talking meetings about to happen that day. Which one to use?


texts: Usage, meaning and origin of the "swing state".

texts:
According to Tom Murse, a US politics expert, the expression swing state has two different denotations:

  1) The most popular use of swing state is to describe one in which the popular vote margin in a presidential race is relatively narrow and fluid, meaning that either a Republican or Democrat could win the state's electoral votes in any given election cycle.
  and also:
  2) Others define swing states, however, as those that could be the tipping point in a presidential election.

  For example, Nate Silver, a widely read political journalist writing on The New York Times blog FiveThirtyEight, defined the term swing state this way:
  "When I employ the term, I mean a state that could swing the outcome of the election. That is, if the state changed hands, the victor in the Electoral College would change as well."

Ngram shows usage of the expression "swing state" from the '50s.

The earliest example I could find is from the Proceedings of the Constitutional Convention of 1953 from which it appears that the term was already in usage:

  Finally I would like to say that we are a swing state. We are a swing state perhaps historically because the Republican and Democratic parties in this state have for some years now begun to build local political clubs in order to perform the...

Questions:

When, or during which U.S. elections was the expression coined? Which of the two denotations suggested above referred the original meaning of the expression?


texts:
Extra as a prefix can mean apart from or outside of.

extradition
extraordinary
extraneous
extraterrestrial
extradition

This site says it comes from the Latin extrā meaning outside of

However it can also mean 'more' or in addition to when used as a word.

at no extra cost
would you like any extra
extra special

Is one of the uses newer than the other?


texts: Some older person was talking about evicting some renters from her property, and she said to me “she had a snake in her ear”.


texts: What is the origin of "prepone" in Indian English?

texts:
As Merriam-Webster notes, to prepone meaning “to move to an earlier time” is widely used by India's English speakers, but largely unheard outside the subcontinent.

Interestingly, the term was used as far back as the early 1500s with a slightly different meaning, “to place in front of, to set before,” according to the Oxford English Dictionary. Here’s an example from a religious text from 1549:

I do prepone and set the Lord alwaye before myne eyes.

The first usage instance in the current sense appears to be from a New York Times article in 1913, according to the following site:

To the editor of the New York Times: For the benefit mainly of the legal profession in this age of hurry and bustle may I be permitted to coin the word ‘PREPONE’ as a needed rival of that much revered and oft-invoked standby, ‘postpone.’ John J. D. Trenor, New York, Dec. 5, 1913— ‘New York Times,’ 7 December

Trenor is clearly proposing a neologism, which, in my opinion, might have been inspired by common foreign counterparts such as the French préposer, the Italian preporre.
The same site suggests also that:

Barring a few stray examples, most of the citations I've found online are from the '80s onwards and almost all from India. Wiktionary has this line from a 1984 New York Times piece on Indian English:

"It is better to make the booking for Tuesday rather than Wednesday so that later you would not have to prepone it," the reservations clerk said with what seemed unassailable linguistic logic.

All this indicates that prepone had entered common usage here by the '80s, and was seen as a typically Indian expression.

(dickandgarlick.blogspot.com)
Given the above information, I'd like to know if the current common usage of prepone in Indian English is actually derived from the few AmE usage instances of the early 20th century, or if, it has an origin on its own, unrelated to both older usages.
What actually sparked the usage of "prepone" in Indian English from the '80s onward?


texts:
Yesterday my cousin, who is in 10th grade, asked me if could help her to write a book review. I don’t know why but the first sentence of the story in her textbook seems off to me from a grammatical point of view. Since I’m not a “native English speaker” I wanted to ask if this is correct or not.

The story begins with:

  Zoe ran. Harder than she had ever run in her life. She ran through deserted streets, past derelict buildings. Somewhere, not far behind, she could hear the gang coming after her. [...]

Why does it say “Zoe ran”? Doesn’t it imply that she started to run? I’m sure the author was trying to say that she was doing it in a specific moment in the past (ongoing action in the past) so it should be “Zoe was running.” right? Or is it a matter of point of view? Thank you for your help!


texts: What meaning of/phrase based on the verb to call is used in "I call [noun]" (for instance bull****) and considerations with count nouns?

texts:
Sometimes you hear people say something like "I call [noun]", mostly with bullshit ("I call bullshit"; and there's also a question on the site with shenanigans). It feels like an opinionated statement about a situation but I don't find it clear whether this is based on to call someone/something out, on to make a call (like when a referee makes a call in sports), on the idea that the person is naming (calling) what they see something (I call that (thing I'm seeing) [noun]) or even on the idea that someone is speaking their mind bluntly about something (maybe subsuming the expression call it as one sees it?).

Of course things like bullshit or white trashery are noncount whereas shenanigans is seemingly almost exclusively used in the plural form except when modifying a plural noun (for instance shenanigan tactics) or when identifying a list of things which might be called shenanigans (for instance shenanigan no 1). In so many words it's not clear whether the plural form used with "I call" is plural because it's mostly used in the plural form or because the construction is idiomatic with the plural form. So with a countable noun I wouldn't know for instance whether I should say "I call (a) double standard/standards" or if using an article with the singular form would make this ambiguous as if the expression was in fact the head of a sentence about some personal definition of a term (I call a double standard something that...).

What meaning of (or phrase based on) to call is used in "I
call [noun]"? Is it useful to ascertain that or do you see each
example as a set construction with a noun that is not
really related to the core meaning of the verb: if so what does "I
call bullshit" mean?
When the noun is countable, which of the singular or the plural form
is more idiomatic and if it's used with the singular, is a determiner
required/possible; or is it just about usage: if so do you consider "I call double standard", "I call a double standard" and "I call double standards" equally idiomatic?


texts: What does "by all constitutional means" mean in this context?

texts:
This is an extract from a speech Churchill made in 1947.

  Many forms of Government have been tried, and will be tried in this
  world of sin and woe. No one pretends that democracy is perfect or
  all-wise. Indeed, it has been said that democracy is the worst form of
  Government except all those other forms that have been tried from time
  to time; but there is the broad feeling in our country that the people
  should rule, continuously rule, and that public opinion, expressed
  by all constitutional means, should shape, guide, and control the
  actions of Ministers who are their servants and not their masters.

I have to translate this into Japanese, and struggling with the word "constitutional" here. Can anybody explain this to me, or put it in an easier word?


texts: Is Gorka’s remark “Is what’s good for the Heinz not good for the Gorka?” so preposterous enough to  be deemed ‘never before rendered in English’?

texts:
In his 3 August 2012 Krathammer Kolumn, Mark Halperin characterized a remark by  Charles Krauthammer about Rick Gorka (Mitt Romney’s aide), “Is what’s good for the Heinz not good for the Gorka?”, as a “sentence never before rendered in English or any other known human language”.

To me it seems that Krauthammer simply asks why what’s taken for granted for Teresa Heinz Kerry is not taken for granted for Rick Gorka, when they used similar words in similar situations.

The only significant difference between Rick Gorka’s and Teresa Heinz Kerry’s remarks  (Krauthammer says both included ‘anatomically risky suggestions’) is that one was made by a man and the other was made by a woman. Actually Hillary Clinton spurred Teresa Heinz at that time by saying ‘It’s good for you. You go girl!’

Is this (difference of sex of the speakers) the only reason why Krauthammer’s remark, “Is what’s good for the Heinz not good for the Gorka?”, is deemed "never before rendered in English or any other known human language"? Is it such a terrible remark for many Americans?

I find it hard to understand the delicate nuances and effects of quips in foreign languages.

Are there other ways of reading “Is what’s good for the Heinz not good for the Gorka?” as a “‘historic’ preposterous remark”?


texts: Use of comma before the words "irregardless", "where" and after a period in time

texts:
I'm unsure as to whether or not to include a comma within the two sentences outlined below (I've bolded the specific sections). In the first sentence, I have a feeling a dash might be more appropriate. Your help is most appreciated.

While challenging, this experience provided me with valuable insight into the strengths and needs inherent to this group and the importance of creating a community that is accessible and accommodating**,** irregardless of age or ability.
Using the skills I learned here, I later embarked on a position working for The Hospital of Sick Children**,** where from 2016-2017**,** I worked as a nursing aid.

Thank you!


texts:
In a sentence like the following:

  You want to know how long you were unavailable.

Should I write "you were" or "were you"?
Second version (with "were you") is:

  You want to know how long were you unavailable.


texts:
When writing dates in prose in the dmy format (29 March 2014), is the correct preposition "in" or "on". I'm seeing it with "in" here, but that construction is foreign to me.

  It was released in 29 March 2010 on Steam for Microsoft Windows, and in 25 March 2010 on Xbox Live Indie Games for the Xbox 360.

"On" would seem to make more sense, from what I know. Verdict?


texts: 'What are you' and 'what do you': same pronunciation in AmE...?

texts:
The ELL question Do Americans pronounce 'are' as 'do' in 'what are waiting for?' brought to my attention something I've not noticed before.

In normal conversational (or faster) speech, it seems What are you waiting for? is pronounced something like Wadaya waiting for?, with (to me) the use of the Flap-T (alveolar flap) for the 'd' sound in 'Wadaya'. Seems to me, one is used, since it has the same context as what a, later, better, etc.

Which leads to: how is this different from the pronunciation of What do you as in Wadaya know/want/say' etc? Do we use an alveolar flap there also, or is there are different - d- sound?  So, mainly, do the two questions What are you and What do you have the same or different pronunciation, when spoken in normal conversation, or faster?


texts: Is there a verb that means "to visit a consulate/embassy to get some papers"?

texts:
That's a long shot, but is there a verb that means "to go to a consulate/embassy to get some paperwork done"?

For instance, as an Italian person:

In Italy, to go to the Laos embassy to get a visa.
In Laos, going to the Italian consulate to declare I have lost my Italian passport and need a new one or a replacement.

Preferably a single-word verb, in any case under 20 characters.


texts: usage of 'other than', 'except' and 'but

texts:
Other than, but and except mean almost the same thing: they all introduce an exception to the preceding phrase.

Does what comes after other than, but or except actually determine which of those needs to be used? Is there some sort of rule?

I don't have a pen other than/except/but this.
I don't have an option other than/except/but to go with her.
I don't have an option other than/except/but going with her.


texts: Does "inserting" yourself in a situation have a negative connotation?

texts: If I say I'm inserting myself into a project or a situation, does that have a negative connotation attached? If so, how can I reword it to avoid that?


texts: Why is "head over heels" used as if it were exceptional rather than commonplace?

texts: Most people spend part of each day standing, and if they have normal anatomy their heads are over their heels in this position.  Even sitting or lying down, the head is higher than the heels (if not over the heels).  Yet the phrase "head over heels" is used in ways implying it is an unusual situation.  How did such usage come to be, and why does it persist?  Why is the more obvious "heels over head" not used?


texts: Judge OF the [county name] Court of Common Pleas or Judge ON the [county name] Court of Common Pleas?

texts: I see this used both ways in advertising materials, but am not sure which is correct. I could not find any reference to this when searching the internet.


texts:
"Devastated by Brexit? Protesting the election of Donald J. Trump? Asking to take down a statue of a racist on your campus? Sexual assault survivors requesting trigger warnings on texts that include graphic rape scenes?"

Society has deemed people falling into these categories as snowflakes (politically), one of Collins Dictionary's 10 words of 2016 and the defining insult of 2016 according to The Guardian.
From my research, there are multiple types of political snowflakes, including:

Special (previously discussed in this post)
Precious
Generation

What I am curious of is not only the history of the word, but also how it has traveled in the last 150 years.
According to Emily Brewster at Merriam-Webster:

"In Missouri in the early 1860s, a "snowflake" was a person who was opposed to the abolition of slavery—the implication of the name being that such people valued white people over black people. The snowflakes hoped slavery would survive the country's civil war, and were contrasted with two other groups. The Claybanks (whose name came from the colorless color of the local terrestrial clay) wanted a gradual transition out of slavery for slaves, with eventual freedom accompanied by compensation to slave owners; the Charcoals—who were also called Brown Radicals—wanted immediate emancipation and for black people to be able to enlist in the armed forces."

In the 1970s, according to Green's Dictionary of Slang, the word appeared to rear its head again. This time, it was used to describe either a white person (regardless of personality) or a black person who imitates a white person.
The earliest documented appearance of the currently used definition that I can find was in the 1996 and 1999 Fight Club (video) films:

"You are not special. You’re not a beautiful and unique snowflake. You’re the same decaying organic matter as everything else. We’re all part of the same compost heap. We’re all singing, all dancing crap of the world."

Did something cause the word to change focus of meaning from race-centered to personality-centered? Was it really sparked by Fight Club or are the two usages completely unrelated?
(Note: This is not a political discussion so please keep all comments and answers about the word history and usage, not political views. All political posts will be flagged for deletion.)


texts:
Why do the words kid and nap become kidnap as a meaning of abduct, when did that take form and why?

Additionally, if nap is really nab, why did nab become nap?


texts: Why are Roman numerals still used today primarily on clocks and film titles?


texts:
I would like to know about any concept that group sales and purchases in a single word, I thought about transactions, is it correct?

I'm asking this because I'm naming a table of a database, both sales and purchases have the same columns (just 3 differ), and I want to unify them, so what should I name it?

NOTE: Maybe there's another concept, if so, please post it. "Transaction" is not necessarily the word I am trying to find.


texts: I thought I heard the store manager (a native English speaker, mid-20's) muttered to himself like "Holy holy." That was when the store was newly opened and was so crowded with lots of customers. He was tremendously busy that day and seemed irritated with the register bug. Did the saying mean "Holy s####"? Is the phrase often used among youngsters in US?


texts:
So, I'm looking for a word or phrase that might mean "an aggressive amount". To explain, I'm trying to find a word or phrase that might mean an excessive amount of something, delivered with force, or somewhat chaotically.

For example, a burst dam - the water would flow out in a huge wave; both excessive and with a huge amount of force.


texts: word that means "that which is being predicted"

texts:
If we are using one thing to predict another, the first thing might be called a "signal" or more generically a "predictor". What might we call the thing being predicted?

For example, if the weather in Iowa is being used to predict corn prices six months later, today's weather in Iowa is a "signal" or "predictor." How might one refer to the price of corn six months hence?

"Target" doesn't seem right. "Predictee" seems cloying (and is in any case not a real word). "Prediction" is wrong, as it refers to expected outcomes rather than reality, and would lead to sentences like "We used the data to generate a prediction of the prediction."

Suggestions would be appreciated.


texts: Should this relative clause, headed by 'where', be joined to the main clause? (1786 UK)

texts:
Source: p 174, The Catholic Christian Instructed in the Sacraments ...,  by Richard Challoner, 1786

Q. But does not Christ say, concerning continency, St. Matt. xix. 11,
'All men cannot receive this saving :' and St. Paul, I Cor. vii. 9,
'If they cannot contain, let
them marry: far it is better to marry than to burn?'
A. No: both these texts are wllfully corrupted in the Protestant Testament. Where he speaks not of such as have vowed chastity, but of other Christians whom he advises rather to marry than to burn with unlawful lust here, and for unlawful lust hereafter

I guess that the relative pronoun Where refers to the Protestant Testament in the preceding main clause, and he = Christ who is cited in the question. If so, why was this relative clause written as a separate clause, preceded by a comma? Why not join it to the previous main clause?
My guess: This dialogue reflects a conversation, so the relative clause may have been spoken only some time after the vocalisation of the main clause, but then I'd counter that the goal of clarity should prevail and so the clauses should be joined?

Footnote:
I lit on this work only while reading definition c. for 'to vow' on OED.


texts:
Is there some other way of saying “I’ll buy you… Let me buy you… I would like to buy you (a drink, lunch… etc)”
My point is that I would like to avoid using the word “buy”, because it sounds to me like putting the emphasize on the paying (I will pay for you), which I find inappropriate or even impolite, even if you say: “I would like to buy you a drink”.
In my language we use other word, which is close to English honour. It’s difficult to translate it, but it would be something like: I would like to honour you with a drink (or lunch or whatever). In that case the emphasize is put on that that I’ll be glad to serve you (with whatever) and it’ll be my pleasure (buying, paying, money are not important in that particular moment).


texts: 'If you asked me now' or 'If you ask me now'?

texts:
What is the difference between those two:

'If you asked me now...'
'If you ask me now...'


texts: Is this phrase additional information that needs to be separated by commas?

texts:
Which of the following sentences is correct? Are commas correct in this scenario?

  These religions and their underlying philosophies made China’s social
  structure less balanced.

or

  These religions, and their underlying philosophies, made China’s
  social structure less balanced.

Thanks in advance for your help; looking forward to understanding the usage better.


texts:
Sometimes I notice that there is a difference in opinions regarding the use of 'must' relating to probability.
These three sentences look to me correct:

He must be in the library  (He and the key to the library are absent)
He must have done the work. (No tools in the room)
He must be lucky. (He won a lottery)

But the use of 'must' in the three examples below looks to me incorrect:

He must be in the library. (Usually he is there at this time)
He must have done his work. (As a rule he finishes at 5 but now is 6)
He must be happy. (He won a lottery)

What is your opinion?


texts:
Are both these sentences correct?

There isn’t a cat in the kitchen.
There isn’t any cat in the kitchen.


texts: What do you call a suggestion/statement that's phrased as a question? (e.g., "Maybe you should/n't have ...")

texts:
I'm talking about something like this:

  Well then, if you didn't want to get mugged, maybe you shouldn't have been carrying around that big purse in the middle of the city at night?

It's clearly spoken as a question with an upward inflection, and it seems proper to end it with a question mark, but it's less of a question and more of a suggestion/statement. Calling it a "loaded question" doesn't seem correct.


texts: What is the meaning of 'remaining in still'

texts:
On Wiktionary the entry for the word Pitch is:

A dark, extremely viscous material remaining in still after distilling crude oil and tar.

What exactly does the phrasing 'remaining in still' mean?


texts:
Is penultimate commonly used in English, or are its variations (such as second to last) more common?

I need to use it in conjunction with the expressions First Payment Date and Last Payment Date to name variables while programming.

In my mother language (Portuguese) Penultimate Payment Date would be fine, but it feels strange in English. (I know feels strange is not very helpful, but I'd like to know how to convey the meaning in the most natural way.)


texts: What is the difference between "make it up to" and "make amends"?

texts:
It seems both "make it up to" and "make amends" have same meaning.
Is there any difference?


texts: How best to describe poor communication in terms of low-rate of exchanged messages

texts:
I had a communication problem with a customer via an instant messenger.
Please advice on how to say formally that I had to wait long for his responses and we exchanged just a few phrases per day.

I thought the following was a possible solution:

  "the project completion took longer than expected because communication was too slow."

But I checked collocation dictionaries and did not find a phrase "slow communication".


texts: Idiom or phrase to indicate that mere sympathy does not help

texts:
Are there any idioms or phrases to indicate that mere sympathy does not make a good case in the context of the following sentence?

Instead of proving his innocence, he relied on his personal stories. Mere sympathy does not make a good case, so he needs to bring evidence.


texts: Should I capitalise 'God' in the saying 'He's playing God' or not?

texts:
Should I capitalise 'god' in the saying 'He's playing God' or not?

I looked at an old thread about capitalising 'god', but didn't see mention of this particular saying.

At the moment, I think I should, but I just wanted confirmation.

Any help will be gratefully received :)


texts: The word "I" is singular, but it does not follow the subject-verb agreement for a singular subject

texts:
When you have a singular noun as subject, a singular verb follows. However, the pronouns "I" and "you" are singular but singular verbs do not follow after them. Does anyone know something about this reason or historical explanations?

For example, you say "I live" instead of saying "I lives".


texts: What does 'cut each other off' mean when it is in the context of driving or walking?


texts: Word for stealing an item then returning it without the owner's knowledge?

texts:
Does there exist a specific word to describe the action of stealing an item, keeping it for a few days then returning it from where it was taken?

An example: A friend of mine "lost" his personal diary for few days while in the college hostel. Someone (unknown to the owner) was definitely interested in reading about his life story. He found the diary on the table after a week. So someone stole it temporarily and gave it back.

Is there is a specific term or phrase to describe this action performed by the person who stole and later returned the item?

Edit: Thought I clearly posted the question. But this has turned out to be something totally different. The question is just about the action of the person who used the item and replaced it without the owner's consent. I don't think my example really captured what I wanted to ask.

Assume that a person is in need of an item and so he searches for it. The person finds the item somewhere then steals it and leaves the place and remains a silent observer. He uses the stolen item for his personal gain and also looks out what's happening in the place where he stole the item. The owner of the item and friends start searching for it and they don't get it. Now this person feels like he might get caught or he might have finished using the item as long as he wants and he stealthily places the item in its original place when the owner is not around. This has nothing to do with the owner's memory. I am just asking about the action of the person who stole it initially and then replaced it.

If borrow is the word for it, then the owner should be able to say, "A person borrowed my precious item without my consent." But I don't know if it captures the stealing intent of that person. I hope I made it clear.


texts:
I just received a proofread version of an academic manuscript from my copy editor. She essentially changed all of the instances in which I had written "given that" to "given." I've tried to read up on the distinction, but I am getting contradictory information. From a reading-aloud perspective, it just does not sound right to me to take out the "that", but that may just be my bias.

For example:

  "Given that the CEO had recently resigned, the company had trouble raising its next round of financing."

was changed to

  "Given the CEO had recently resigned, the company had trouble raising its next round of financing."

Are "given" and "given that" actually interchangeable? According to the dictionary, they both mean "when you consider something"...


texts: Difference between “Do you like latte?” and “Do you like lattes?”?

texts: I was having this debate with a friend. She would ask “do you like latte?” When asking me if I liked the drink latte. I explained it would be “do you like lattes?”. However, she then asked “how come you don’t say, do you like coconut waters? Or do you like sodas?” That part kind of stumped me. It seems more correct to ask “Do you like lattes?” But I cant think of any other examples where you would pluralize the word like that.  Thank you for your help as I am kind of stumped.


texts:
I've got a question and I realize that the easiest way to answer it is to tell a story which will explain why the things are going in this way.

However it does not look natural to start telling story when you are asked a question. I need some phrase or proverb to designate that this story is related. What is the best way to tell this?


texts: What's is a deep meaning for "You are dead to us. We hope you fail"

texts: Can you explain this phrase "You are dead to us. We hope you fail", please? It looks like sarcasm. Is it OK for colleague farewell? Is "We hope you fail" a good wish and why?


texts: Which is correct,"who/whom do you want to be?" In one book I found that "to be" follows who and not whom, but the sentence should have an objective pronoun whom if we go by the normal rules, as it is the object here.


texts: Understanding the phrase "What x lacks in y"

texts:
I've gotten into an odd sort of argument on Reddit which is boiling down to basic reading comprehension.

It stems from "# 5" on this list

  What Finn lacks in Force sensitivity — though he may want to take a class or two in lightsaber dueling, just to be safe — he makes up for in courage and dedication.

The statement "What Finn lacks in force sensitivity" is causing a whole bunch of confusion.  I'll just leave what this guy is saying here:

"what is the "WHAT" Finn lacks "IN" force sensitivity? I'll tell you, it's referring to " Finn doesn’t quite have a handle on how the Force works" ..That's what Finn lacks IN Force sensitivity according to the paragraph meaning he is force sensitive because it states he lacks knowing how the force works in his force sensitivity not "Finn lacks force sensitivity""

So... I don't quite understand what this guy's even asking, and it's starting to hurt my head.  It's making me realize that I might not understand the phrase "what x lacks in y" all that well, and now I'm wondering how it's grammatically correct at all, because as this guy says... what does the word "what" refer to, in this case?


texts: Confused on how to use "instead" in the middle of a sentence

texts:
I am dumbfounded on why the man does not spring for Walton’s help, instead, he makes sure the vessel is headed North.

I'm confused on how to use "instead" in the middle of my sentence.

Is that grammatically correct?
Any help would be great!


texts: Could this use of "awhile" in a 1882 book be a mistake?

texts:
I found the following sentence in John Payne's translation of The Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night:

  So, when awhile of the night was past, he entered [...]

I think I understand the difference between "awhile" (adverb) and "a while" (noun phrase). It also seems to me that "awhile" tends to be more common in older (pre-20th century) texts than now. But I would say "awhile" does not fit in this case, as "something of the night" asks for a noun, not an adverb. Can I assume this is a mistake or misprint, or would this usage be acceptable in a book published in the 1880's and with an archaizing language (plenty of "thee" and "dost").

By the way, Burton's translation, uses "a while" in the same passage:

  Now when a while of the night was past, he entered [...]


texts: Single word for when an Archer is pulling back a bow

texts: Is there one word for when an archer is drawing back his/her bow ready to fire?


texts: Is "they do also" acceptable US English grammar?

texts:
I wrote the following sentence recently:

  These ongoing costs bring benefits of auditability, security, and convenience for users, but they do also increase complexity and running costs.

Google Docs wants me to remove the "do" from "they do also." I'm a native English speaker (US) and I think Google's suggestion, while not precisely wrong, eliminates meaning and useful cadence from my sentence.

My questions:

Is my use of "they do also" in this context acceptable for standard English (non-jargon-y business) grammar?
Is my use of this phrase overly elaborate, and/or my meaning better served by eliminating the "do"?


texts:
Just because .01% of people may be at risk of frying themselves on the third rail doesn't mean they need to modify the system for that miniscule percentile. It just means you need to let Darwinism run its course.

What's the difference between percent and percentile? And how do I use percentile in context?


texts: What's the meaning of the bold sentence in this paragraph?

texts:
Feedback includes any information you get about yourself. In the broadest sense, it's how we learn about ourselves from our experiences and from other people—how we learn from life. It's your annual performance review, the firm's climate survey, the local critic's review of your restaurant. But feedback also includes the way your son’s eyes light up when he spots you in the audience and the way your friend surreptitiously slips off the sweater you knitted her the minute she thinks you’re out of view. It’s the steady renewal of services by a longtime client and the lecture you get from the cop on the side of the road. It’s what your bum knee is trying to tell you about your diminishing spryness, and the confusing mix of affection and disdain you get from your fifteen-year-old.

  So feedback is not just what gets ranked; it's what gets thanked, commented on, and invited back or dropped. Feedback can be formal or informal, direct or implicit; it can be blunt or baroque, totally obvious or so subtle that you're not sure what it is.

(source)


texts: Can I use excluding at the end of expression of interval?

texts:
I want to express the fact that first part one of an XML file extents from the beginning to the Parameters section, but it does not include Parameters section.

Can I express it like this:

  The first section extends from the beginning of the file to the
  Parameters section excluding?

If not, is there some other way of using word excluding in such expression?


texts: What tense uses a modal with "be" and a past tense verb

texts:
I am trying to determine the tense of a certain verb group.  This group uses a modal/auxiliary with "be" and the past tense of the action verb. Examples:

  He may be finished.
  She must be loved.
  It can be done.

These can be modified by adding an adverbial preposition.

I can't find help on any tutorial websites, so far.

P.S.: I'm trying to determine if this is something like "present perfect" or "past continuous", etc.


texts: What's the difference between "archaic" and "obsolete" in dictionaries?

texts: I have come across both of these terms when searching words via google. Is there a difference between these two terms, or is it just a case of one dictionary prefering one term over another?


texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  “Covered with” vs “covered in” vs “covered by”

From J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (June 1997):

  He bent down and pulled his wand out of the troll’s nose. It was
  covered in what looked like lumpy grey glue. ‘Urgh — troll
  bogies.’

Or in its shamelessly bowdlerized version, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (October 1997), ‘translated’ from the original English for the American mass-market audience:

  He bent down and pulled his wand out of the troll’s nose. It was
  covered in what looked like lumpy gray glue. “Urgh — troll
  boogers.”

From Colin Fine’s explanation, I can picture the troll’s boogers widespread over the wand, not hiding it. In the example, can “in” be replaced by “with” keeping the same meaning in the reply?


texts: Which of the taxonomy categories could fit the example provided by this post?

texts:
We know that 'scientific disciplines divide the particulars they study into kinds'. But there are also taxonomy categories that rank above a kind (of particulars). In that case, the kind mediates that higher category and a particular: it acts as a middle category between them. For example, a biological species mediate a relevant particular and a genus, a member of which the species is itself. In this case, the name for the middle category is a species and for the higher one genus.

Now consider an example I am specifically interested in. Each object is characterised by the property of color (a higher category here); furthermore, we do not have one color but instead many kinds of color (white, yellow etc.--a middle category) which are instantiated by objects in the form of actual particular instances of them (a particular).

What would be right words (names) for the middle and higher categories in this example (for I doubt that the 'species' and the 'genus' could fit there)?


texts: What's the appropriate response to "How are we?" and what is it actually referring to?


texts: Should I write 'organization' or 'organisation'?

texts:
I can not choose what to write for my project about being organised...
Should I write:
organization
or
organisation
Is it just a spelling difference between American English and British English?
(I use British English in my school.)
When I search up and try to get an answer, it will say, "British English uses 's' more than 'z'. But sometimes, they use 'z'."
Can you please help?
Thank you.


texts: Single word for feelings of helplessness/hopelessness?

texts:
I wish I had a bigger dictionary in my brain.

I'm looking for a word describing a feeling you get when you're stuck in a place you cannot escape.

It would best describe how reality makes you feel when you watch an inspiring movie, video, or TV show. You wish that you could live that life, but know that reality isn't so kind and there is little hope it will be better.

Discouraged doesn't seem quite the right word:

  deprived of courage or confidence; uncertain how to act or proceed. (MW/TFD)

It could be used in the following sentence:

That person has such an wonderful life; when I think of my own, I feel _____.

A list of possible fitting words would be splendid. The online thesauruses don't seem to be doing me justice.


texts: I need help regarding sentence diagramming

texts:
How would you diagram a sentence in which two independent clauses are connected by a semicolon? Do you draw them the same as conjunctions, or is it something else?

I looked around the internet and got nil answers. Please show me the way to tackling this problem, and thank you in advance.


texts: Is "standout" a proper adjective to describe a "leap"

texts:
I am wondering if it is idiomatic or even meaningful to describe a leap as standout.

Example:
"He took a standout leap into growing his business"


texts: What I'm going to do is, I'm going to ask you about this sentence form

texts:
Is there a name for sentence forms that tell you that they’re about to tell you something? For example:

“What he did was, he went to the bus stop to meet his friend.”
“What she’s doing is, she’s priming the canvas with gesso.”
“What I’ll do is, I’ll call you if I’m running late.”

These sentences could be described as “unnecessarily wordy” or maybe “circuitous”, but is there a technical, grammatical term for these sentence forms? If not, then is there a term for the italicized phrases?


texts: What is the meaning for this sentence "Things have been crazy busy" ?


texts: Here is our students/Here are our students

texts:
Which is correct:

Here is our students.
Here are our students.

Thanks.


texts:
I was just posting a question to the Homebrewing StackExchange, and I found myself pondering the proper way to express my sentiment.

I first wrote "an hour's rest", but upon review, I deemed the apostrophe extraneous. What is the proper way to form this phrase? I can't make a case for the word 'hour' being plural or possessive, so I'm beginning to think the whole letter 's' is unnecessary.

Thoughts, anyone?


texts:
“I will never be as much comfortable and happy with others anymore as I am or was with you“
Is this sentence correct? If not then which would be the grammatically correct way to say this.

P.s: I added am or was because it was for some people who I used to be friends with, and for some people who are still my friends


texts:
This BBC report (link) suggests that we should use "Dickens' Great Expectations", but I remember there is a rule from Strunk and White (here) that would suggest "Dickens's Great Expectations".

Is this just a difference due to British English vs American English?

BBC's report:

  Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council's grammatical error
  appeared on an advert for a performance of Charles Dickens' Great
  Expectations in July.

Strunk and White

  Form the possessive singular of nouns with 's.

  Follow this rule whatever the final consonant. Thus write,

Charles's friend
Burns's poems
the witch's malice

  This is the usage of the
  United States Government Printing Office and of the Oxford University
  Press.   Exceptions are the possessives of ancient proper names in -es
  and -is, the possessive Jesus', and such forms as for conscience'
  sake, for righteousness' sake. ...


texts:
Be better off could be used to express that something is better than another. For instance,

  I would be better off driving insead instead of taking a bus.

Can we say

  I would rather drive than take a bus?

with the same meaning? So, my question is about differences and grammar of this structures.


texts: Whiff is to smell as X is to sound. What's X?

texts:
Example sentence:

  I was near enough to catch a _ of her words.

What's a word that means whiff but for sounds?


texts: Meaning of "exactly" in casual conversation

texts:
My question involves a group text conversation between friends whom are all native english speakers.

Friend A began the conversation with a photograph of himself dressed up for a night on the town, asking the group whether or not his outfit would attract the opposite sex.

Friend B responded by saying that he did not approve of his jacket and Friend C quickly agreed saying "he had already talked to him about wearing that jacket.."

Friend D defended Friend A by telling him that she really liked the jacket at which point Friend C responded with the one word "exactly".  What was meant by this one word response in this circumstance?

It seemed to cause a mixture of laughter and offense but I do not understand the underlying meaning of this word.


texts:
Poetic technique for taking a usually comforting thing in a scary context?

Context:
I was wondering what the name of the poetic technique was, where one takes something which is usually light, comforting and playful and takes into a chilling context.

For example:
Dolls sometimes are programmed to say

"Take me with you! We'll have fun."

But if we take this into the context of a broken doll in a pile of rubble, the "Take me with you! We'll have fun." suddenly seems like a plea for help.

Question
Is there a name for the poetic technique of taking something with positive connotations and changing it such that it is chilling, like above?

Thanks!


texts:
The police and other authorities sometimes seal the door to a crime scene or similar with an adhesive seal. Here is an example from Germany, where it is called a "Verschlusssiegel", literally a 'closing seal':

What is this called in English? Either officially (the technical term) or colloquially.


texts:
What is the way to place these sentences below? Are they fine or are there some rules?

"Mayra is very happy in her life with Harry."
"Mayra is very happy with Harry in her life."


texts: What's the difference between "decoding time" and "time of decoding", "data compression" and "compression of data"? And why isn't it "decoding's time", but "decoding time"?


texts:
On the one hand,

  During the course of the summer, Esther got engaged.

sounds weak and informal.  On the other hand,

  During the course of the summer, Esther became engaged.

sounds weird, like saying Esther "became robbed."

Which is correct and could both of them be used?


texts:
Are there any differences between "penultimate", "the last but one" and "second to last"?

From my point of view, they mean the same. However, I'm not a native-speaker, so I'm not sure.

Could you please tell me if there are situations where to better use one option instead of other.


texts: Word for an out of home experience as a youth

texts:
There was a term I read years ago, probably in my college course on childhood development, and for the life of me I cannot remember the actual term.

It describes a trip or experience where a pre-adult leaves their home for a period and experiences life away from their parents and household rules and such. After the trip/experience, the youth returns home. It's either implied or explicitly more than 1 day, and usually between a week and 6 months in length. Typical examples are summer camp and boarding school. It could also be an extended field trip, living with a relative during the summer, or going on a camping trip (provided their parents don't go on the same trip). Kiki's training period in a new city in Kiki's Delivery Service would fit the bill.

I think it started with ex-, but I could be wrong on that since the word often goes with "experience".

Example sentence: "My son is 12 now, and he should really have a(n) _____ experience soon."


texts: How to use a oxford comma in situation given below

texts:
I have a dataset which contains three series: positive sentiment, negative sentiment and frequency of tweets.

Which of the these sentence can be used in academic writing? I am confused with the placement of oxford comma.

(A). As this dataset consists of three series: positive sentiment, negative sentiment and frequency of tweets, it is the best fit for our work.

or

(B) As this dataset consists of three series: positive, and negative sentiment, and frequency of tweets, it is the best fit for our work.

or

(C) As this dataset consists of three series: positive and negative sentiment, and frequency of tweets, it is the best fit for our work.


texts: Does "make something of a meal out of [something]" mean essentially "make a meal of [something]"?

texts:
I have found in a dictionary the meanings of the idiom "make a meal (out) of something":

  P5. to make a (also †one's) meal of:
  a. To consume as a meal, to devour; (in extended use) to take advantage of, exploit, ravage, etc.
  b. fig. To treat with undue fuss or attention, esp. for effect; to make (a task, etc.) unduly laborious.

["make, v.1". OED Online. March 2016. Oxford University Press. http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/112645?rskey=KbJCp2&result=2&isAdvanced=true (accessed March 11, 2016).]

What I would like to know is whether I understand correctly that the inserted expression "something of a" does not modify the meaning of the original substantially, i.e., it only weakens the original idiom.

I want to be certain that I correctly understand this sentence:

  Indeed, one way to sum up Mackie's argument [...] is to say that Russell made something of a meal out of 2+2=4.

(Mathematics, Education and Philosophy: An International Perspective, 1994, edited by Paul Ernest, p.30.)


texts: "Company-assigned" or "company assigned"

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  When is it appropriate to use a hyphen?

In phrases describing something that has been assigned to someone, should the phrase be hyphenated or not?

He uses a company-assigned phone number.

or

He uses a company assigned phone number.

What is the rule for similar phrases?


texts: Is there any difference between "word-for-word translation" and "word-by-word translation" and is the latter actually valid?

texts:
First off, some data:
According to COCA word-for-word has 60 usages, 3 of them are "word-for-word translation". Word-by-word has 26 usages, none of them are "word-by-word translation" (but some with "transcription").
The definition of word-for-word:

Oxford: In exactly the same or, when translated, exactly equivalent words
Merriam-Webster: being in or following the exact words, verbatim
The Free Dictionary: one word at a time, without regard for the sense of the whole

Only the last dictionary contains a definition for word-by-word, too:

The Free Dictionary: one word at a time

The definitions given by The Free Dictionary are, obviously, identical to each other.
Google hits:
Word-for-word ~21m
Word-for-word translation ~318k
Word-by-word ~3.8m
Word-by-word translation ~95k
According to usages and dictionaries word-by-word is, at least, less popular. And assuming that there may be a lot of usages from non-natives among the Google hits, this could be an indicator for word-by-word being even utterly wrong.
In another forum I found the following statement:

When I translate something "literally," (wörtlich) it still follows the main rules of the language I'm translating into. What you mean is "word-by-word" (wortwörtlich) to me.

I assume that this was written by a German but I don't know it. However, if this would be true a "word-by-word translation" would be a translation where I keep, for instance, the order of the words, disregarding if it makes sense in the target language.
Some examples:

Original: word-by-word
Word-by-word translation: Wort bei Wort (That's a terrible translation!)
Original: It is critical to know...
Word-by-word translation: Es ist kritisch zu wissen... (That's a terrible translation!)
Original: Ich glaub, ich spinne.
Word-by-word translation: I think I spider. (I guess only Germans understand this.)

A "word-for-word translation", however, would be an attempt to keep the word-choice as close as possible but following the rules of the target language (e.g. order of words) and also considering if the statement still makes sense in the other language. Here are better translations for the examples above:

Wort für Wort
Es ist wichtig zu wissen...
I think, I'm going nuts. (Actually, this is not a word-for-word translation but rather a sense-for-sense translation.)

So, my questions again:

As neither Oxford nor Merriam-Webster have any entries for word-by-word in their dictionaries: is word-by-word actually valid?
If yes, is there any difference between "word-by-word translation" and "word-for-word translation"? If yes again, what is it specifically?


texts: Having passion and determination "is or are" crucial to your future success

texts:
Having passion and determination is / are crucial to your future success.

I've searched google and there're results which give both as being correct.

  Any rules for such structure "Having A and B is / are" ?

Ex:

Having a baby and a career is/are .....
Having a wife and a car is/are .....

Anyone can help with this?


texts: Alternative words of phrases for "confirmation feedback"?

texts:
What I mean by confirmation feedback is imagine you're filling out an online form of some sort, and once you reach the end of it you press the submit button. If the page doesn't prompt a text message saying something like 'Your form was successfully submitted' or doesn't redirect you somewhere else, and instead, remains on the same page and processes your form submission in the background, you might think the page did not record your form submission. If the page, however, gives you some confirmation feedback, like redirects you to a different page, you can rest assured knowing you submission was valid.

What are some alternative ways of saying what I'm trying to say?


texts:
I am writing an article for a magazine about my visit to my village. I want to use a better word or phrase for 'my village' or 'my native place'. The following is the part
'When  i heard of stories of hardships and suffering from my grandparents I realized how fortunate I was to live in the city I now call home. When the day came to visit "my village/my native place", I felt uncertain and nervous..'
And better word or phrase to make the content more appealing?


texts: Does this sentence sound correct: " I've been encouraged by you to apply for PhD program."?

texts:
I've encouraged by a professor to apply for a PhD program about three months ago. Now I'm trying to send him an email asking him for some advice, but I guess he probably does not remember me. Is this sound weird to write it like this:

"
Dear Professor X,

My name is Y, and I've been encouraged by you to apply for the PhD program. ...
"

Regards


texts:
Is this sentence fine?

  He gave his opinion on this issue. I’m more against it than for it.

Or what else can I say expressing the same meaning?


texts:
Is it common to address a female sales clerk as Miss in the US?
What about ma'am?

If neither is proper, what would you suggest?


texts: Multiple Numbers Comparison with "times in"

texts:
Dear potential resolvers,
I'm currently stuck with this enigma:

Distance between last two pelvic-fin rays 2.7-4.0 times in body width at pelvic-fin origin

The "times in" part confuses me. Does this mean the distance between last two pelvic-fin rays equal 2.7-4.0 times the width of body at pelvic-fin origin, OR it means that the body width at pelvic-fin origin is equal 2.7-4.0 times the distance between last two pelvic-fin rays? If it is the former, then why bother put "in" in there?
The same problem is also for the following: "Snout length 1.9-2.1 times in head length".
I do hope my inquiry get resolved soon!
Sincerely,
TNLK


texts: What does 'it' refer to in this example?

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  It's raining. What is?

'It is raining.'

What does 'it' refer to?

I know some people might say 'the weather' but you wouldn't say: 'The weather is raining.'

But you would say: How's the weather? It's raining.'

Bit confusing.


texts: Etymology and meaning of the word "pizzled"

texts:
I heard of a term today called "pizzled" and am confused about it as there is a plethora of different definitions for the word.

I first heard it in a speech by David Shing TNW Europe Conference. He said that it was a combination of "pissed" and "puzzled." I immediately thought it was made up and that it is new slang.

But then after further investigation I found traces to a short story where it was used in a strange way in 1955, see here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autofac.

In addition, Wikipedia said "pizzle" is an old english word for penis, see here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pizzle. In addition Wiktionary had the following: "Having the penis in a different tincture than the rest of the body."

What is the etymology and meaning of this strange word?


texts: "An erratum to" vs "Erratum to" vs "Erratum"

texts:
I have had to write an erratum (single) to one of my papers recently. I searched the internet and I found out that there are at least three versions as follows:

An erratum to "the title of the paper".
Erratum to "the title of the paper".
Erratum: "the title of the paper".

I chose the pattern number 1, but I was wondering which one of these patterns are more grammatically correct?

When there are more than one error to address in the paper, I suppose there is only one option (Errata to "the title of the paper"). Am I right?


texts: English rule for ending past participle?

texts:
I have two examples of ending past versions. My question is Are there any good ones left is as same as Are there any good ones which are left and we omit which are there? Which English rule is that?

Examples:

Are there any good ones left?
The items described below are eligible:


texts:
Is there a term for sentences which structurally reflect their meaning?

Here are some examples:

I write less.
The last word of this sentence is "anything".
I ALWAYS WRITE IN UPPERCASE AS IF I'M YELLING!!!!
Why is this question ending with a question mark?

Is there any general term for such sentences?


texts: The name of the type of words like "party" and "quest"

texts:
My company often comes up with product names such as "HatQuest" "DataParty"

as a programmer I wish to make a generator for these types of names, How would I best find a list of words for things like "party" and "quest".

I can't really use verbs since "DataSit" or "HatOpen" don't really work and nouns are inappropriate since there are so many of them.

What kind of words am I looking for so I can obtain a list of them?


texts: Is "Underground" a proper noun or a common noun?

texts:
The definition on the Oxford Dictionary is a little bit confusing for me. The dictionary doesn't call it a proper noun, but the first letter is capitalised in the example.

Since I know the Underground as a transportation system specific to a place (e.g. London), I would expect it to be a proper noun. Checking the dictionary didn't help me.

  underground

  NOUN

  (often the Underground) British An underground railway, especially the one in London.

  ‘travel chaos on the Underground’

Is it a proper noun or a common noun?


texts: Once and for all: What's the plural form of "Octopus"?

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  “Octopuses”, “octopi”, or “octo”?

I've heard octopi, octopuses, octopodes, octopoids, and every time someone uses any of those, all people in the surrounding area immediately launch into an argument about which it is.

So, which one is the actual plural form of octopus?


texts: What is the English word for a place where elders congregate in the morning?

texts:
I know I learned this word in high school during one of Mr. Byrd's history classes. It has been over a decade since then and now I can't recall what it was.

I distinctly remember that we were learning about the historical governing practices of villages and small communities. There was a name for the informal morning congregation that was common among elders, generals and community leaders. We learned that people of influence would often meet in the morning to discuss current events and politics. These meetings would at times undermine the official means of governance within the community. I remember this clearly because there was a cafe in our small town where this exact thing was still occurring but I can't for the life of me remember what it was called.

Does this sound familiar to anyone else? I tried googling it but there are simply to many websites of young people complaining about old people crowding out McDonalds to find anything useful. Thanks in advance for your help

*edit This is a word for the place but only because the place is used for the "for the informal morning congregation".


texts:
This is something that confuses me from time to time. When making an analogy in literature, is it better to use the phrase "as if" or "as though", or is it completely a style thing?

E.g.

  She looked frazzled, as if she had just gotten off of a roller coaster.

or

  She looked frazzled, as though she had just gotten off of a roller coaster.


texts: Can I use the phrase "Can I get x please" and have it considered 'proper' english?

texts:
I seem to say it quite a lot without really realising it. I know of course, it should probably be something along the lines of "May I have" - But is "Can I get" really that wrong?

Thanks


texts:
I have an old-fashioned image in my kitchen, probably America-in-the-50s style, with a drawing of a burger costing 50 cents and the following text:

  Burgers with all the trimmings

I didn't know that the verb trim could be used in this way but, according to the dictionary, the word trimming actually means "an additional garnishing". So I suppose it refers to ketchup, mustard and probably also to bacon, lettuce, and tomato slices in this case.

The Merriam-Webster link above shows that the word is in the 30% bottom of words in popularity. So I'd like to know: does this word sound outdated today to the American English speakers? If so, when was it more used? And what could be a better word to use today with the same meaning?


texts: Why is it “I better not (+verb)” instead of “I better don’t (+verb)”?

texts:
This question will seem weird to a native speaker because “I better don’t” sounds inherently wrong and unusual. But if you think about it, it’s an irregularity; normally when a verb is negated and there is no auxiliary already present, the auxiliary “do” is inserted and usually contracted with the “not” to form “don’t”. The exceptional construct “I better not” baffles some non-native speakers.

What is the etymological history behind the construction “I better not (+verb)”? Did this sentence use to contain an auxiliary which has disappeared?


texts: Is "to [verb] will [verb]" a complete statement?

texts:
Let's have, for example, the following phrase.

  To create fancy product will require more effort.

Is it a grammatically complete and correct sentence?


texts: "You did a good job [at/in] answering my questions"

texts:
Which phrase is grammatically correct?

  good job at answering my questions
  good job in answering my questions
  good job answering my questions

Or, are all the phrases correct?


texts: A metaphor or easy way to say "definitely produce"

texts:
I'm having trouble with a noun or metaphor that has the connotation of "definitely produce without exception." Below is the context.

"Note that the tendency to imbue the world with purposes per se is no _____ for belief in the existence of God but can easily set the ground for it because humans, as a species, are highly sensitive to the presence of agents in their environment."

For a sentence this long, it's tricky to write with phrases like "...per se is not able to produce the belief in..." or "per se will invariably lead to beliefs in..." Instead, something short and sweet (or even informal saying just to get the point across) probably works better.

A friend suggested "... per se is no magic brush for belief in the existence of God..." It sounds close to what I have in mind though is this metaphor well understood by everyone?

Thank you in advance!


texts: Punctuation mark for the odd, weird or unusual

texts:
I have been writing a game monography where I put together the analysis of several computer games. In order to help readers, I decided to use some punctuation marks to bring their attention to specific games. So, for instance, I decided to put a star (or just an asterisk, *, in ASCII) on the games that I consider are good, two stars (**) on games that are really good and so on. I think this is consistent on how things are rated using stars.

Now, every now and then I review a game that is really weird or unusual, even if it is not good at all. So I wanted to also bring the readers' attention to these oddities by using a different punctuation mark on these games titles. So far I have been using the tilde (~), but this is not consistent with the usual usage of this symbol.

After searching for a while I have been unable to find a symbol that is used on this sense. Probably it doesn't even exist. So my question is, is there any symbol that is used on this context? if not, what is the best way to get around it? Should I use another well known symbol by indicating what its usage mean in the text? Should I use a not widely used symbol to avoid confusing people?


texts: Better wording to represent " to show this in image..."

texts: I made a diagram that I want to show but I am confused with how to present it, like should I say " so this is how it looks in picture/diagram" or "to represent this graphically or in picture" or something like that. Basically I want to say that - this is how it looks like in diagram but I don't want to sound stupid or un-professional with wordings. So please help me


texts: What is the origin of the term "In Spades"?

texts:
Near as I can tell, this phrase seems to be based on the idea that the suit of spades is of higher value than any other card - which I believe is only true in the card game "Spades".

Is this card game the origin of the phrase?  If so, when did it become a popular phrase to describe what it means today?


texts: Term for poems structured by repetitive devices

texts:
Terms such as "blank verse", "free verse" and "heroic couplet" are used to refer to poems with particular forms.  I am curious to know whether there exists a term for poems that are strongly structured by means of repetitive poetical devices such as anaphora, epistrophes and parallelisms.  A good example is Tolkien's "Ring Verse":

Three Rings for the Elven-kings under the sky,
Seven for the Dwarf-lords in their halls of stone,
Nine for Mortal Men doomed to die,
One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne
In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.
One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them,
One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them
In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.

Another example comes from the lyrics of the song "Last Quest" by the band Kerion:

Far away beyond the hills
Far away over the rivers
Far away this magical journey
Ride with me under the moonlight
Ride with me across the trees
Ride with me in green valleys where the sun shows all its light


texts: An expression similar to "frame of reference"

texts: I am trying to explain a mathematical point that is used for comparison such that all values are compared to it, like a "frame of reference". I've also thought of "pivot of comparison". Are any of these two correct or is there a better expression for this?


texts: What term describes implying an unspoken question?

texts:
This is not an ethical, moral, or legal question - I'm looking for the language terminology relating to the quoted text of this hypothetical situation (simplified from a real-world one):

Bob gives Alex a monthly allowance. Whenever Alex needs more money or wants something, he will suggest the need and source, without actually asking a question, for example: "Bob, I'm short on money and know you got paid today, so was hoping to get some money early."

A similar question mentions "declarative questions", however in this situation, Alex never sounds like he is asking a question; rather, Alex's statements sound more like instructions or orders in that compliance is expected, and non-compliance is treated as a violation of an agreement that doesn't exist. (I know this is dysfunctional - again, I'm only looking for terminology.)

Is this just "passive voice" or is there a more specific term relating to a person's chronic inability to (or choice not to) make requests / ask direct questions?

Update: It seems "implies", "prompts", or "hints" seem to be the closest terms for this. I'll leave it open for a bit longer.


texts: Changing a person's name into an adjective

texts:
What do you call it when a person's name or group's name is changed into a adjective? Is it "conversion" or "functional shift"?

For instance, saying a band's music is "Beatlesque" or that someone's singing will be "Aguilerian" (implying she will be singing with some gusto).


texts:
Is there any English grammar book which describe how to talk/write English instead of understand English?

For example instead of detailing all situation where "would/will" is used, describing all different way to talk about past (or now, future, etc.)


texts: I often see question "Got milk?" in ads related to milk and milk products. Does it have any hidden (maybe "Urban Dictionary" kind of?) meaning, any humorous/playful allusions in popular culture, movies, etc.?


texts: Fill in the blank: A "general term" vs an "umbrella term". How to choose?

texts:
Chronic pain is ________ term for any type of persistent pain, from migraines to fibromyalgia, that lasts anywhere from several months to the whole of life.

  Option 1: a general
  Option 2: an umbrella

I am told that the answer is option 2. Why not option 1?

My dictionary says:
An umbrella term is a word or phrase that covers a broad interval or set of functions or items that all fall under a single common category.
From my understanding a general term means a common term. E.g. Engineering is a general term for computer engineering, mechanical engineering etc.

I intuitively understand 'an umbrella' is a better option but I am not able to justify it logically.


texts: Do I need the colon in the following sentence?

texts:
So she just looked from the outside: at the shelves with clay cups and
  vases aligned like runners on their marks; at the pottery wheels
  lining the table in the middle like people in a meeting; at the table
  itself, dark like the stage of a canceled show.

Do I need the colon at the beginning of the sentence? Why or why not?


texts: Expression for 'One who cares about one's social rank'

texts:
What is a word or expression for someone who cares about what social rank they're in. Someone who wants to have money, something similar to ambitious?

Vain is not the word I'm looking for.


texts: Verb Tense Exercise: Simple Present and Present Continuous

texts:
I am answering a verb tense exercise when I came across this:

I am currently travelling with Liam, a student from Leeds University in England. He is a nice guy, but impatient. He always walks ahead of me and complains that I am too slow. I (do/ am doing) my best to keep up with him, but he is younger and stronger than I am. Maybe, I am just feeling sorry for myself because I am getting old.

According to the site, the correct answer is "am doing". Please further explain why it is the answer and why "do" isn't.
Another question was this:

Right now, Liam is sitting with the owner of the inn. They are discussing the differences between life in England and life in Nepal. I do not know the real name of the owner, but everybody  just calls him Tam. Tam speaks English very well and he (tries/is trying) to teach Liam some words in Nepali. Every time Tam says a new word, Liam tries to repeat it. Unfortunately, Liam also seems to have difficulty learning foreign languages. I just hope we don't get lost and have to ask for directions.

According to the site, the correct answer is "is trying". Please further explain why it is the answer and why "tries" isn't.


texts: Which is correct? Launch Ceremony or Launching Ceremony?

texts:
I have been having a disagreement at work. We have several events where we commemorate the launch of something like the start of an alliance or an award.

My colleagues (whose first language is not English) insist the correct usage is e.g. "Innovation Award Launching Ceremony" whereas I'm certain "Launch Ceremony" in the context of an award or an alliance is more appropriate. I can't explain why though and I've looked all over the internet for the rule that applies to this scenario.

Anyone want to give it a go?


texts: Which of real time, real-time and realtime is correct when you are talking about seeing something as it happens?


texts: "news in letters" Is this a countable phrase?

texts:
......As a result, the news in letters was already out of date when people received it.

1) Is it better to use "were" in this case as we are talking about news in several letters?

2) also should I use "had been" instead of were?


texts:
Does "just" here mean "only" or "not for a long time"?

Context:

As the infant develops he begins to establish internal maps of the world and, having experienced touch, he develops a way of imagining how that world must feel, even when he is just exercising his visual system.


texts:
I am English and my girlfriend is Canadian. We had a dispute about a word she was using. The word is reprocreate, i said I don't believe that is a word and she said it was in Canada.
Obviously I know the word procreate but have never heard of reprocreate.


texts: Word for when an auto insurance company does not have vehicle parts and instead provides some reward like discount in next year's insurance etc.?

texts:
Can you please tell me the technical term that refers to the situation when my car insurance company provides me some compensatory rewards e.g. discount in next year's insurance, cash amount etc. because they cannot provide the damaged parts of my car? Thanks.

Sample sentence:

  As a ___, our company is providing one year's free insurance because we are not able to obtain the spare parts for your particular vehicle.


texts:
I was wondering if the following sentence is correct:

  Born into an intellectual family in China, I was brought up in the traditional Confucian culture that values modesty and hard work, and at the same time, witnessed how modern technology revolutionized Chinese society in the past two decades.

I’m not quite sure if “at the same time” and “in the past two decades” conflict with each other.

Thank you for your answer.

Best,

L


texts: What does ‘Konrad Lorentz’s observation was “one sentence”’ mean?

texts:
New York Times (May 20) introduces a study of Dr. Johanna H. Meijer at Leiden University Medical Center in the Netherlands that proves mice are really enjoying wheel-running in the article titled, “Mice run for fun, not Just work, research shows.”
I was drawn to the phrase, “the Lorenz observation ‘was one sentence’” in the following sentence:

  As a “brain electrophysiologist” studying biological rhythms in mice,
  she relished the chance to get out of the laboratory and study wild
  animals, and in a way that no one else had.

  She said Konrad Lorenz, the great-grandfather of animal behavior
  studies, once mentioned in a letter that some of his caged rats had
  escaped and then returned to his garden to use running wheels placed
  there. But, Dr. Meijer said, the Lorenz observation “was one
  sentence.”
   - Source

I surmise 'Lorenz observation “was one sentence”' means his observation scratches only an aspect of whole, imcomplete, or just superficial, but I’m not sure.
What does observation (view, remark, conclusion) is “one sentence” mean?

Is the phrase, “one sentence” used very often in this way? For instance, can I say “It’s one sentence of the politician, we cannot conclude he is nationalist.”


texts: What does the phrase "get someone to move" mean in this context?

texts:
Here is the sentence:

  This year saw apps that got us to move, and games we were moved by.

I am not sure about the meaning of the words "got us to move" here.


texts: "As powerful as just, as beneficient as wise..." Is there a literary device for this phrasing?

texts:
In a letter from Lewis and Clark to the Oto Indians, I read:

  Know that this great chief, as powerful as he is just, and as beneficent as he is wise, always entertaining a Sincere and friendly disposition towards the red people of America, has commanded us his war cheifs to undertake this long journey...

From Letters to a Nation: A Collection of Extraordinary American Letters by Andrew Carroll

Is there a name for the structure "as x as he is y" that is used in consecutive sentences and describes a common person or thing?


texts:
The city posts signs near my house that read:

  Dump no waste whatever

The meaning is clear in context: don't dump any waste here.  But the sign sounds incorrect.  To me, it seems "whatever" should be "whatsoever."  Is the sign correct?  Is it using an archaic form of "whatever"?


texts:
It's not suicide
'Suicide' means

suicide, n.1 a. One who dies by his own hand; one who commits self-murder. Also, one who attempts or has a tendency to commit suicide.
suicide, n.2 a. The or an act of taking one's own life, self-murder.

(OED Online)
As can be seen from those definitions, 'suicide' has a denotational association with 'murder'. Citing only the relevant senses, 'murder' means

A. n.
1. The action or an act of killing.
a. The deliberate and unlawful killing of a human being, esp. in a premeditated manner; (Law) criminal homicide with malice aforethought (occas. more fully wilful murder); an instance of this.
In Old English the word could be applied to any homicide that was strongly reprobated. It is therefore sometimes difficult, esp. in early use, to distinguish clearly between this sense and sense A. 1c.
....
c. The action of killing or causing destruction of life, regarded as wicked and morally reprehensible irrespective of its legality (e.g. in relation to war, death sentences passed down by tribunals, and other socially sanctioned acts of killing); an instance of this.

(op. cit. Emphasis mine.)
The denotational association of 'suicide' with 'murder', which is a "wicked and morally reprehensible" act, leads many to the view that

it is not suicide in the traditional sense when a cogent, non-depressed person, [often] elderly, chooses to die in a non-violent manner with
family in attendance and/or in support.

From Report of the "ALT Suicide" Group: See this report for details on the results of three surveys, the responses to which also suggested that 'suicide' is widely considered an inappropriate word to use when referring to the type of death described.
What is it?
What would be good single words to use for the following senses, parallel to the senses of 'suicide' given above:

n.1 a. One who chooses to die for good and compelling reasons. Also, one who attempts to die for good and compelling reasons.
n.2 a. The or an act of killing oneself for good and compelling reasons.

Dignicide has been suggested and is a neologism in use with those senses, but the results of the three surveys detailed in the report cited previously ("Report of the 'ALT Suicide' Group") suggest that coinage is not generally looked upon favorably.
Euthanasia is another possibility. It doesn't work for sense 1, and no derivational form (for example, 'self-euthanist') is in contemporary use with that sense. For sense 2, 'euthanasia' does have a similar meaning:

In recent use: The action of inducing a gentle and easy death.

However, 'euthanasia' does not work in an example sentence such as

Mr. X YZ committed euthanasia.

because it does not have the denotational reflexivity ("taking one's own life") of 'suicide'. Even supposing that limitation could be acceptably overcome by a nonce-word or neologism such as 'self-euthanized', for example,

Mr. X YZ self-euthanized or committed self-euthanization.

it may be felt that 'euthanasia', like 'suicide', is "strongly reprobated".


texts: Can I remove the second 'a' when asking "Is it a peach or a banana?" without changing the meaning?

texts:
Is there any difference between asking

  Is it a peach or a banana?

vs.

  Is it a peach or banana?

The latter sounds to me like a yes/no question, while the prior does not. Is it just me?


texts:
Consider these sentences, please:

He writes beautifully, as befits a poet.

She was buried in the cathedral, as befits someone of her position.

As befits a Quaker, he was a humane man.

These are sentences taken from different dictionaries. As we can see, all of them use the phrase "as befits."
Q: As it is clear from the above examples that the verb "befit" in the phrase "as befit(s)" does not have a visible semantic subject. So, Is it always "as befits", using the singular form of the verb, or do we use "as befit", using the plural form, in some contexts?


texts: I heard the saying, "life of Riley" when someone was talking about my cat, and I wondered what the origin of the expression is. The only thing I can think of is that it comes from the name of someone who was pampered and lazy, a king for example.


texts: common phrases for a right idea but poor execution

texts: What is a relevant phrase for a "right idea but poor execution" because all I can come up with is promised so much ,but delivered so little. I just need something more precise and appealing than that.


texts: What is the question tag for: "They got the answers, ____?

texts:
What would be the appropriate question tag for the sentence

  "They got the answers yesterday, ______?"

Is haven't they the correct question tag?

I would also like to know the different American and British style in answering this question.


texts:
While working in IT, it is common to refer to a quick and dirty solution to a problem as a 'Hack'.

For example, if your chair legs are uneven, a hack for this problem would be to place a piece of paper underneath one of the legs such that it compensates for the difference in length to the ground.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, it is also possible to Overengineer a solution and create a chair that universally accommodates uneven floors.

Would there be an elegant one syllable word that describes the latter undertaking?

I had a look around online on other websites and 'Splicing' was suggested, as it refers to the joining of strings rather than 'Hacking' them apart (Messily).
Personally I think this term has already been used too much in genetics and icecreams and was hoping for an alternative.

Thanks!

Edit: An example of usage for such a word would probably be:
- in the context of a Hackathon of some kind, one would say "This isn't a hack, it is *****" or if someone degrades your work you'd say "I'm not hacking, I'm *****ing"

or something along those lines.


texts:
Among the following sentences, which is right?

  John, when work alone, is very productive.
  John, when working alone, is very productive.

And also, what is this kind of clause called?


texts:
Can we use "around about" together as in the following sentence?

  The building was built around about 2 years ago.


texts:
My boyfriend sent a message.

Nothing someone says before the word 'But' really counts.

What is the meaning of the above sentence?


texts:
When I was reading the book Because of Winn-Dixie, on page 89 I found a paragraph as follows:

  "Oh, lay off her," Dunlap said to Stevie. Then he turned to me. "He don't mean it," he said.

Can anybody tell me why the writer uses "don't" instead of "doesn't"?


texts: Confusion about what the pronoun refers to

texts:
What does "it" refer to in the following sentence?

Humans instinctively seek structures that will shelter and enhance
their way of life.  It is the work of architects to create
buildings that are not simply constructions but also offer inspiration
and delight.


texts: Is there a ly word describing 5 times a week?

texts: I need a ly word for five times a week. Is there even such a word?


texts: Word for an additional period of time allowed for something

texts:
I don't know what word, idiom or phrase to use if I want to say "I want to be allowed to use some specific offers for additional period of time."
For example I am allowed to use software for one month I want to use it for one more month---

thanks in advance