texts: What do you call the final sip of water in a bottle (with all the saliva)?

texts:
When I was on a trip a while ago a friend had a word for the final bit of water in a bottle. The point of the word was to emphasize the (purported) high percentage of saliva in the final sip in a bottle. The word was used in situations where multiple people had drunk from the same bottle before the final sip.

I have forgotten the exact noun, but it sounded like /ɣɝʃlɛ/ to me. I'm fairly sure it wasn't a word in original English - it may have been borrowed from Hebrew or Arabic.

I found a reddit page with a similar question for German, where one user mentions "Spuckschluck", but it's not the word I remember.


texts:
"The height of the chair is 1m" - Can I say that "the height" is an attribute of the chair? Or much better to say it's a parameter? Can I say, that "the height" is a feature or a characteristic or property?

UPD. So, I understand that it can't be:
A:Describe the parametres of the chair.
B: The height of the chairis 1m.

Yes? it has to be:
A:Describe the attributes of the chair.
B: The height of the chairis 1m"


texts: Have you been cooking something? or Have you been cooking anything?

texts: "There is a strange smell here. Have you been cooking something?" Is something correct here? As far as I know we must use any in negative and interrogative sentences...


texts: Is there a word for a great price paid in exchange for a great gain?

texts: For example, let’s say that, in return for a Ph.D., the hero had to give up ten years of life. I’d thought of calling that a blood price but maybe there’s a better word? Seems like maybe some Saxons or Picts would have worked some quite dramatic tradeoffs into their folklore – so, just like Irish folklore gave us the wonderful word geas, maybe there’s a short, non-Latin word for a … (substitute in for blood price) … .


texts:
I have seen  people use heart-rendering.

The concern was unwarranted, however, for the company commander ordered, "Ready! Aim! Fire!" and a dozen muskets split the crisp December air with a thunderous volley. In the hushed silence that followed, a lone Tiger broke ranks, ran up to one body, and gently held and caressed it. "It was heart-rendering," a correspondent wrote, "to see the poor brother's agony." Wheat, the only many in the division who was excused from attending the execution, broke down and cried in his tent at hearing the discharge of muskets. [The News-Star (Monroe, Louisiana), December 23, 2011, page 28]

Is there a usage like that? Is it used wrongly for heartrending?


texts: Should "request-after-request" be hyphenated?

texts:
"All day I get request-after-request for help on passing the Quality Assessment."

The sentence above was originally written as, "All day I get request after request for help on passing the Quality Assessment."

I changed "request after request" to "request-after-request," but was told that I was wrong.

Is request-after-request correct?


texts: Can the definite article be omitted when referring to a person qualified by a noun?

texts:
Is there a difference between these references to a specific person:

  "The implication is clear: as the psychologist Jonathan Haidt said..."

and

  "The implication is clear: as psychologist Jonathan Haidt said..."

The first one uses the definite article and is a quote from Daniel Kahneman's book 'Thinking, Fast and Slow', where the article is consistently used in such references. In the second one I've omitted the definite article. It seems more intuitive for me, a non-native speaker, and is something I would use in my own writing.

Are both expressions equally correct? Are there situations that require the article and vice versa?


texts: Is there a Gender/Age neutral alternative to "Sir" or "Ma'am" that can be used when speaking in everyday situations?

texts:
Is there a gender (and age) neutral alternative to "Sir" and "Ma'am" that can be used when speaking in everyday situations?

The word should be appropriate for a sentence such as, "Thank you, Sir."


texts:
Not really a nickname so it doesn't have the clear cut proper noun usage. I believe when referred to as a third party it wouldn't be capitalized, e.g.

"My old man is turning 70 this year!"

But how about when directed at the father himself?

"You're about to turn 70, old man!"
"Hey Old Man, where's the screwdriver?"

Using old man for their own dad is often disrespectful and not that common to begin with, but it does happen. So how should it be capitalized?


texts: On a scale from naive to cynical, what would be in the middle?

texts:
Someone who is naive trusts others without question or examining their claims. Someone who is cynical never trusts anything another person says, even if there's no evidence that they are being anything other than honest.
Is there a word to describe someone who trusts the trustworthy, and distrusts the untrustworthy?
"Street smart" is the only word/phrase I can think of that might fit, but I'm hoping there's something better and less colloquial.

Inspired by this post: On a scale from Optimist to Pessimist, what would be exactly in the middle?


texts: How to positively describe something, such as a war memorial, which doesn't invoke positive feelings?

texts:
If I wanted to express that something such as a holocaust memorial was good to visit I would want to avoid saying something such as "it was great" or "I enjoyed visiting it".

Is there a word that can positively describe something like a memorial without suggesting it was pleasurable.

Some words I've considered, but do not quite fit my needs:

Tasteful: Something could be tasteful, and I could still wish I hadn't visited it.
Thought provoking has the same issue, as it doesn't really describe the quality of the experience.


texts: Word for "Can't be seen with the naked eye"?

texts:
I'm wondering if there is a word to describe something that cannot be seen with the naked eye.
'Microscopic' is the first that springs to mind, but this has too many 'science-y' connotations.
It also implies that the subject is very very tiny, whereas I need a word to describe an object that might not be visible for any reason, for example, it's very far away or is obscured.

'Invisible' is not appropriate as it implies that the subject possesses some sort of magical powers...

Is there a word or short phrase to describe an object that cannot be seen with the naked eye - for whatever reason?


texts:
I came across two different videos in which the suffix -ment was being pronounced in a way that the N sound was completely reduced and the T sound was a stop T.
The words were bewilderment and alignment, and both speakers were from the U.S. Having the N sound reduced like that made it really hard to understand those words.
I had never noticed this before. Is this a specific type of accent or is it something more common?


texts:
What does the "north of the northbridge" mean?

Source: http://duartes.org/gustavo/blog/post/what-your-computer-does-while-you-wait

I tried Googling it but nothing came up. Is it even a common phrase?


texts: "She always sees..." or "She is always seeing..."

texts:
She always sees things that don't exist.
  She is always seeing things that don't exist.

In the first sentence we use verb "to see" in the present simple tense. In the second sentence, verb "to see" in the present progressive, unusual for verbs that express forms of sense perception. Are both sentences correct and interchangeable?  Any subtle difference in meaning between them?


texts: Is a byte considered to be a datum or data?

texts:
Is a byte, a collection of 8 bits, considered to be a datum or data?

I would assume a bit would unequivocally be considered a datum, but I've seen an individual integer referred to as a datum too. Given that integers are often implemented as collections of 32 bits in most programming languages, would that mean that an arbitrarily large collection of bits could be considered a datum?

If a collection of multiple bits can be considered a single datum, at what point does a datum become so large it can be considered data?

For context, I was writing a class to hold an arbitrarily sized number, and I was trying to decide if I should call a list that had a variable number of bits "Data" or "Datum".


texts: Two dollars per hair means two dollars for every hair or two dollars for all the hair?

texts: I was talking to my friend about cutting his hair when this came up. I wanted 2 dollars for every hair-strand that I cut but he said that since hair is plural, I would only get 2 dollars for the whole haircut.


texts: How would we punctuate a sentence which ends in an abbreviation and exclamation mark or question mark?

texts:
I was wondering what to do if I have abbreviation at the end of a sentence which ends in a question mark.

  What is Google inc.?

  What is Google inc.

  What is Google inc?


texts:
My coworker and I have been having this discussion for a day or two...

What is the most correct way to pronounce 'new' or 'news' ?

Does it rhyme with 'few' ? or 'snooze' ?

Does 'new crew' rhyme?

I know both 'noo' and 'nyoo' are correct, but what are the origins of the two different pronunciations?

Asking around the office, it seems that 'nyoo' might have a British English origin, but I would like to know if anyone is more knowledgeable on this topic.


texts: What is the exact meaning of this sentence?

texts: The encouraging mails were not restricted to readers but also to some of the regular contributors to The Hindu .


texts: Why do U.S. Americans say "a good value" (using indefinite article "a")

texts:
Take this example from the Airbnb website: "What would have made this listing a better value?"

This souds absolutely horrible and incorrect to my Australian ears (I would omit the "a"). I've also noticed this quite frequently watching Youtube videos with presenters from USA and Canada.

In the only related question I found, respondees (presumably from USA given the nature of the question) use the indefinite article in their responses without so much as aknowledging that it differs from the phrase given by the OP.

Does the indefinite article not suggest that "value" is a coutable noun, thus making its usage bad English?


texts: Difference between "plotting" and "drawing"

texts: What is the difference between plotting and drawing? I am a foreigner and I have been doing maths for years. Sometimes, I feel that difference but if someone suddenly asks me about it, I cannot describe that feeling.


texts:
Mr. ABC has lived in California since 2010, and he resides with his wife and two children.

Please let me know if "has lived in" in the above sentence is correct? Should it be " has been living in ...." since he still resides in California.

.......................

Since graduating from the University in 2009, Mr. ABC has resided in Las Vegas.

Same question as above.

* Should it be " has been residing in ...." since he still resides in California.

Thanks & Regards


texts: Usage of "For your information" in a formal email

texts:
I am writing an Email to a professor and want to assure him I will refer to his publication in the future. I am just curious whether using "For your information" in the following sentence is right or not. Is there a better replacement that I can use for delivering my intention.
"For your information, Any future publication will be surely referred to your method and paper."
Thanks in advance.


texts: Most dictionaries spell the compound noun "race car" as two separate words, but there is also "racecar" as one word on a  lot of websites. My question is: is it ok to use it as one word "racecar"?


texts: Is (or was) the exclamation "Nuts!" crude?

texts:
During the Battle of the Bulge, when asked to surrender, US General McAuliffe answered with the single word "Nuts!"

I know that "nuts" can be a crude way to refer to testicles ("He got hit in the nuts by the baseball") but I've always thought of the exclamation ("Aw, nuts!") as anodyne. Would a kid saying it in the 1940s have had his mouth washed out with soap?


texts: You can contact John, Jane or me (myself) for more information

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  When is it correct to use “yourself” and “myself” (versus “you” and “me”)?

In a conversation, how is is correct to say:

  You can contact John, Jane or me for more information ...

or

  You can contact John, Jane or myself for more information ...


texts:
If, as it is written in Oxford Dictionaries, 'it' can be used to identify a person, 'it’s me', 'it’s a boy', why are 'she' and 'he' still used and, furthermore, why are people still discussing as to whether they should be replaced with the singular 'they'?

If any, let us use 'it' then, no?

Under a different point of view, do you, expert minds of EL&U, think that the use of 'she' and 'he', the last barricade of gender in English, is declining and that 'it' is taking their place?


texts: The bug is fixed (in / at /with) version 1.0.45.2

texts:
Which preposition I should use when adding a short note to a trouble ticket when I want to say: "I have fixed the bug. App version 1.0.45.2 contains the fix"?

My ideas are (not sure if any of them is correct):

Fixed in 1.0.45.2
Fixed at 1.0.45.2
Fixed with 1.0.45.2


texts: How to punctuate a sentence with the embedded question

texts: The question- how to wash children's clothes?- becomes a huge problem for young mothers.


texts: "A manual written to help students to understand the module"

texts: Or should it be without the second "to" like this: "A manual written to help students understand the module"? I'm guessing that either is generally acceptable but is there a traditional grammar rule about this? Thanks


texts:
Can sound be considered "blurry?"

I have heard of visual things being "blurry."  Examples of this include blurry photographs or blurred vision.

Is the word "blurry" restricted only to vision?  I have a friend who uses the word to refer to indistinct sound.  For some reason, this annoys me at an instinctual level.  It seems to me that the word to use in such cases would be "muffled."

Popular usage seems to restrict the usage of "blurry" to vision.

I have a bet riding on this.

Also, are there any literary or journalistic uses of this?


texts: "of that" vs "of which"? word "chief" can refer to more than one item in a set?

texts:
Since the last time I messaged you, there have been a number of new developments in my life, chief of which being graduating from college and getting my own place.

Can I say "chief of that being"? Or "chief thereof being"?
What's the difference between "of that" and "of which"?
And is chief only used to refer to one item in a set, or can it be used to refer to two like I did above (graduating college, and getting own place)?


texts: "There is no point in" or "There is not a point in"

texts:
I was thinking about these negations. Do these mean the same thing?

  There is no point in ...
  There is not a point in ...

or:

  I have no clue
  I do not have any clue

etc.


texts: A faceplant is a fall onto one's face. I hypothesize it was created by skaters, derived from the trick "handplant"; that's slightly bolstered by names.org. Can anyone find better info? Be careful searching if you don't want to see injuries.


texts:
In the following sentence I'm not sure where to put implicitly:

  The language doesn't support Int and (implicitly) converts (implicitly) Int to Double (implicitly).

First I put it at the end, because I learned:

  The man drove the car carefully.

But somehow it sounds strange: converts Int to Double implicitly.

Most natural to my ears is implicitly at position two so I would place it there, although comparing "convert implicitly" to "implicitly convert" indicate to put it at the first place (Same for converts (with s)). But most Google hits show its use with cannot, should, ..., so I'm unsure which one is correct in my example above.

Which one is correct and why?


texts:
I understand what the idiom means: as per this question, it means a person or creature unwittingly used as a test for danger, often destructively.

I understand why coalmines: as depositories of ancient organic waste, they are particularly prone to methane and carbon monoxide buildup.

But why a canary? They are technically exotic, native and (at least originally) endemic to the sub-tropical Canary Islands, which gave them their name. They were also renowned for their singing voice, as found out in this answer, and could presumably be quite expensive.

So why would a mining company in Britain and/or America and/or any other English speaking country use such an expensive and exotic bird as a glorified carbon monoxide detector whose sole purpose in life was to suffocate to death? Why wouldn't they use sparrows, or starlings, or some other small songbird native to the area? Are canaries just that easy to breed and keep? Are they super-extra-sensitive to poison gases and thus were the "upscale" model? Were all small, caged songbirds called "canaries" as a matter of course?

Or did the modern idiom simply opt for alliteration over historical accuracy?


texts:
This question is for people who know some mathematics.

Is it correct to say

  The sequence is convergent to 0.

Normally we say: The sequence converges to 0.


texts: Word for a phrase that by ambiguity could be accidentally self-deprecating

texts:
There is a literary technique in comedies where a person says something intending for it to be reassuring and confident, but their words are humorous because when interpreted differently, the phrase could mean the opposite.

An example:  In an adventure story a character Joshua is known for being clumsy and causing accidents.  He convinces the captain to take him along on a journey.  The captain says, "Okay, but you'll have to keep up, we can't have anyone slowing us down."  Joshua says:

  "Don't worry captain, with me along that will be the least of your concerns."

As you can see, Joshua meant to say "You shouldn't be concerned about me slowing you down," but he also somewhat implied "I'll cause greater concerns for you than slowing down."

Is this an example of irony?  Is there a more specific term for this kind of humor that is accidentally self-deprecating?


texts: "On" is optional with time expressions, no?

texts: I say "I don't have any events June 1st" and "I don't have any events on June 1st" are both acceptable grammatically. The rest of the group, which includes a couple people calling themselves linguists, says only the second is correct, i.e. you can't drop the preposition. What do authorities say on this?


texts: Has "utilise" lost its meaning in America?

texts:
My understanding is that "utilise" means to use an object for a task for which it was not intended.

However, in American English, it seems that "utilize" is synonymous with "use", and it seems that "utilize" is used to make a sentence sound more complex or formal.

Is this the accepted usage now? Is the benefit people find in making a sentence sound more complex overtaking the benefit of being able to express the different meanings?


texts:
First of all, sorry if it is offensive (I think it somewhat is).
I was going through http://bleacherreport.com/articles/424590-the-funniest-promos-and-moments-in-wwe-history#page/20

  The Rock owned everyone by calling the
  Canadians mothercanuckers

I heard him saying this in the video but what does that mean?


texts: What do you call the fire that is built outdoors and for cooking only (not for camping)?

texts:
Example:

  The barbecue tasted incredible, with that unique aroma that only [...]
  gives to the meat.

I thought of using the word campfire but in the sentence the barbecue isn't taking place in a camp; it’s just some grilling on the beach. I also thought of open air fire. But I wonder if there’s a shorter phrase or a single word for it?


texts: What is the pluralisation of "hyphen-minus", and what's the rationale for it?

texts:
If I pluralise hyphen-minus, is it "hyphens-minus" (like "attorneys-general"), or "hyphen-minuses", and if it's the latter, why is it different from the pluralisation of "attorney-general"?

Wiktionary suggests the latter, but it doesn't explain its reasoning.


texts:
Collins:

you should feel ashamed

Why does ‘for shame’ mean that? ‘Shame’ there is easily understandable, but I can’t understand why ‘for’ is used there for that function. Did it originate in a longer phrase?


texts:
Recently, at McCain's funeral Obama said:

  "After all, what better way to have the last laugh than to make George and I say nice things about him to a national audience."

Is it "George and I" or "George and me"?


texts: Can the noun "seller" (as in item/product that sells well) be used for restaurant dishes as well?

texts:
Could I say for example "This restaurant roastbeef is a real seller, so you should try it"?
Or is the word "seller" only used for non-edible items?


texts: Which is a better and commonly used word, Bulk or Batch?

texts:
What is a better word which can be used to refer to a large number of files as in following?

  Batch file processing or Bulk file processing

Which is commonly used?


texts:
Bidentate (also called didentate) ligands bind with two atoms, an example being ethylenediamine.

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

Is "an example being ethylenediamine" a inappropriate appositive?

As far as i know, appositive is usually to define the preceding noun.

  My youngest sister, Meghan, will be visiting soon.

"Meghan" is an appositive describing the preceding noun(sister).

So, is the sentence in the beginning exemplifying a different grammar structure than appositive?

thanks


texts: Is putting a comma before two non-coordinating conjunctions still correct?

texts:
Can I put a comma before 'or' in the following sentence:

  Airline work can earn double the salary of factory work, or at least equal

Background:

The rule says you need a comma before a coordinating conjunction: and, but or etc

The rule does not say anything about putting a comma between two non-coordinating conjunctions

'At least equal' is not an independent clause so it's not a coordinating conjunction

Therefore, if I put a comma before 'or' is that incorrect?


texts: What is the origin of the expression "close, but no cigar"?

texts: It's a bizarre expression that I've always taken to describe a situation in which one has very nearly achieved their objective. Where do the roots of this expression lie?


texts: Idiom about tackling smaller problems instead of tackling the root

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  Phrase for focusing on unimportant details

I'm trying to find an idiom about tackling smaller problems instead of tackling their root cause. For example,

Instead of plugging the holes in the dam, let's try to divert the river (or build a new dam).
Instead of hosing down forest fires let's try to stop the kid playing with the matches.


texts: Need of a subject after 'and' conjunction

texts:
Sometimes i see "She went there and she started working." And often i see "She went there and started working."
should I use the subject again after 'and' or not? What is the rule?
Thanks in advance.


texts:
Is the second sentence correct?

  This is a dummy sentence. interk is the best service provider.

Here "interk" is the name of a service provider, which is registered with first letter small.


texts: How to express the phrase "to look absentmindedly" in one word?

texts: I'm not a native speaker and I need some help. I'm brushing up my English doing some exercises. One of them wants me to translate the phrase "to look absentmindedly" using just one verb. Could you, please, give me a hand?


texts: "The Kind of Morning Where/When You..." Which Is Correct?

texts: How do you know which word to follow it up with? "The kind of _____ where/when/on which/during which/that" etc.


texts: Looking for the name of a type of painting

texts:
What's the name of a type of painting that typically contains a crowd of people posed along a plane? Usually they're all focused on one point or an event that is happening in the painting.

I've seen lots of of examples but I can't find any good ones at the moment. The best I could find is this one.


texts:
What does actually snood mean when someone says, 'He is a snood arm wrestler. He eats more than he trains, but he's beaten some of our toughest guys.'
Does it mean that person who's called snood arm wrestler is kind of lazy to train hard and has some extra weight?
Link to the video, I've heard that word there, at 54 second
The video is available only in USA.


texts: A word for the heart-wrenching pain of wanting someone you can't have

texts:
There is a phrase in French that exactly means this: "la douleur exquise"

It literally means "the exquisite pain" and expresses the  pain of wanting the affection of someone unattainable. I think it is not used as a loan phrase in English and the translation does not make much sense.

Is there an equivalent word or phrase in English?

Note I:

  Sometimes, platonic love is used in this sense (though not exactly for the pain) but it is actually an emotional relationship without sexual desires. I'm not sure if there is a semantic shift in the meaning though.

Note II:

  “Unrequited love” describes a relationship state, but not a state of mind. Unrequited love encompasses the lover who isn’t reciprocating, as well as the lover who desires. La douleur exquise gets at the emotional heartache, specifically, of being the one whose love is unreciprocated.

Source: ~


texts: Is there an English word for a person who makes hourglasses? Someone who works with gold is called a "goldsmith" and silver, "silversmith." A person who makes glass is called a "glassblower/maker" while a person who installs glass panes is called a "glazier." I figure there probably is one for a maker of hourglasses, but I just can't seem to find it... unless it's just simply, "hourglass maker."


texts: Shifting verb tenses when reporting past events

texts:
In the following sentence, is it appropriate to shift the tense? (The tense which is shifted is in italics);

  They were lucky enough to have escaped the clutches of the Giant. However, they had   suffered a tremendous loss. Their resources were reduced to ashes and now, they have just
     lost their leader. Without their leader, they were nothing.

Is the usage of have correct? Does it have to something to do with the word now? If it's wrong, please state an alternative! And if possible, please explain the usage of verb shifts.


texts: Which one of either "where" or "when" works better with "point"?

texts:
I'm a non-native English speaker and I have a troubling question. What is the difference in terms of usage of "when" and "where"?

"The fact that my action was so embarrassing singled me out to the point [when/where] my friends asked me if  I did so on purpose."
"She was angry to the point [where/when] she punched him and broke his pair of glasses."

There is a similar question online:

The word POINT can refer to a place or a time, therefore a relative adverb WHERE or WHEN can be used respectively leading a relative clause as a modifier. However, in Longman, it says WHERE is used whether the word refers to a place or a time, whereas in Oxford, an example clearly shows: We had reached the point when there was no money left. Please help specify. Thanks.

So does this mean we can use the two interchangably?


texts: What is the history and geographic area of the word "finna?"

texts:
In St. Louis, I learned of the word, "finna." I know it is slang/contraction for "fixing to." By asking dozens of people, I've learned that it is used by people of many different races and cultural backgrounds. I've also learned that many who use this word have been using it all their lives (for some, that means at least 50 years).

What I want to know is:

When did "finna" first start being used?
Where did it originally came from?
How far geographically has the usage of this word spread from its original location?


texts: Noun or Adjective for someone who is good in managing resources and/or money

texts:
I am looking to describe someone who is good at keeping track of hir resource use and goods usage behaviour. This can be either for monetary currencies, but also for food, material or other commodities.
Ideas that I had so far are the following, but I am not fully satisfied:

Resourcefulness (too cognitive)
Thriftiness (too mean)
Frugality (too practical)
Proneness to Saving (too inaccurate)
Parsimony (too greedy)

EDIT:

After getting the first suggestions, it seems worthwhile to add that the term will be used with a mainstream audience, and therefore should not be too complicated or too nuanced. (And I am aware that this is quite ironic, looking at the extent of nuance that I am aiming for...)


texts: Simple word for "Convert data strings to bytes"

texts:
I'm searching for a short term of "Convert data to bytes".
It has to be a verb, because it should tell that it's a operation.
I thought of something like "byteify" - but that looks ugly to me...

The conversion I'm talking about is, for example, from a 32 bit floating point value like 567.89, or a string like "123.4", to an array of bytes as output.

Same conversions for any other type (int, short, ...).


texts:
What does this mean?

...there are a number of ways that you can go about + ing
e.g.

there are a number of ways that you can go about analyzing
there are a number of ways that you can go about buying  there
are a number of ways that you can go about saving

Thank you.


texts:
I wondered about the different expressions one can use for heavy or unstable breathing. Rather than being heavy breathing from exercising, it's heavy, laboured breathing due to negative emotions.

Would these work ? :

"uneven breath/breathing"
"quickening breath"

Is there also an expression or phrasing to implement a "breathing that's growing... [rasp/laboured/winded] ?

Are there other expressions to describe the following statement "her pulse quickened". I assume it depends on context, but does this expression implies a positive source or a negative one ?

In terms of regular breathing, can one qualify someone's breath of "steady", or "quite steady" ?


texts: Is it okay to turn adjective into a noun?

texts:
I am a chinese. I am a caucasian. I am an asian. I am a spaniard. I am a vulcan/vulcanee?

Is there such things?

By the way this question is in using adjectives as noun in general and not bound to nationality.


texts:
What is a snake-oil program?

Source Stay Safe Online article


texts: What is it called when we speak of foods using brand names?

texts:
I am wondering about the phenomenon of brand names being commonly used to describe certain foods.

For example, I recently heard the phrase “to eat cheetos“.

Other examples could be to eat/drink...

smarties
kellogg's
pepsi
...

Is there a word that describes this phenomenon of using brand names when referring to certain foods or drinks?

An example for one way of using it:

  “I am sick of people who are constantly [word that describes the phenomenon of using brand names]!“


texts: Use of the adjective "young" in the comparative form

texts: Is correct to use the adjective "young" for objects? For example, in a sentence like this: "This painting is younger than that one.", I think it would be better to use "new" for "painting", but then, using the comparative form "newer" doesn't seem appropriate either. So, my question is: Is "This painting is younger than that one." correct?


texts: Fictional writing: Beginning sentences with a verb

texts:
Would the structure of the following text be linguistically correct in a fictional write-up:

  Her beauty arises to action. Pierces my camera lens. Stabs the prism.

Please take note of the latter two sentences that begin with a verb. Is it okay to use such descriptions, or should I introduce the subject again (the subject being beauty)? My goal here is build the momentum of the narration by using short crisp sentences.


texts:
I am writing an action scene and trying to stress that a character is winding up a punch. For clarity this means frames 1-3 in the image below.
At the moment the sentence is : She winded the first punch.
But this doesn't look grammatically correct to me, and winded also means to be winded from a hit which makes this confusing to read. Two alternatives I'm considering:
(1) She wound the first punch, (2) She loaded the first punch.
With (1) since "wound" also refers to the injury I think it can be a bit confusing to read correctly. What would be a grammatically correct way to say the above?


texts: Term for an unachievable goal which should be aimed for

texts:
Is there a term to describe a goal which it's unlikely will ever be fully achieved, but should be aimed for anyway?

E.g. "All business processes should be fully documented" is a great goal to have.  It's also a pretty unrealistic expectation that this goal could ever be met when the shear number of processes this should cover, tied to the fact that processes change over time so would need the documentation to constantly be updated, is taken into account.

Despite 100% adherence being unlikely it still makes sense to have this goal in mind; since any work towards that goal makes things better / is a step in the right direction.

I like to make it clear when asking for such things that I realise that the request is impossible, since otherwise stating such goals is more likely met with arguments that the 100% achievable piece is impossible, rather than the focus being on making improvements in this general direction.

I've historically used terms like "Utopian Vision" for this, but suspect there's better wording available.


texts:
'Gosh' is a common substitute for the word 'God' in phrases such as 'Oh My Gosh' or 'By Gosh' or just 'Gosh'. Is this just a corruption of the word 'God' or does it have some other provenance? How long has it been in use?

[25nov2017] The usual secondary sources, OED and Etymology Online, don't seem to adequately answer the questions. For example, is 1757 the earliest date of use? What evidence suggests 'gosh' is a mispronunciation of 'god'?


texts:
This is my first question on this website!

I want to say something like "The meeting will be held at 9:30 in the morning of Sep 12, 2019." and "I will be on a travelling business in Sep 30, 2019."

How to naturally use the time expressions “at 9:30 in the morning of Sep 12, 2019” and "in Sep 30, 2019" in daily conversation?


texts:
There are many cases that I have to choose between the -ing form of a verb and the -tion or - age nouns.
Like this question:

Local waves within the harbor make ...... difficult, if not impossible.
1. anchoring
2. anchorage

Which one is correct?
Is this because of grammer, or meaning, or common usage?


texts: Is there a direct antonym to "favorite", not requiring modifiers?

texts:
I've searched a few Thesauri, and wracked my brain.  But antonyms like "hated", "loathed", "disliked" require the modifier "most".

Young children sometimes use "worst" as a direct antonym for "favorite".  Is there a more suitable term?

Is there a single word that is a direct antonym for "favorite"?


texts: pronunciation rule for grapheme "a" in words like "nefarious," "variation" and "temporary"

texts:
English pronunciation / spelling guides appear to state that the letter/grapheme "a" is pronounced either as the "short a" with IPA symbol /æ/, as in "mat" or the "long a" with IPA symbol /eɪ/, as in "baby."

However, apparently there exist multiple words where all references I checked provide the spelling of "short e" with IPA symbol /e/ or /ɛ/ which I take as a variation in the IPA transcription not in the underlying pronunciation.

What I'm unable to come up with or find a reference for is when will the grapheme "a" be pronounced as /e/ (or /ɛ/) instead of the short "a" /æ/ that the typical rules would predict?

Examples of words that have "a" transcribed as /e/:
- temporary
- nefarious
- compare
- share
- dare
- subsidiary
(many more have two alternative pronunciations listed, one with /æ/ and one with /e/)

I recognize that all these examples include the sequence "ar" but I do not know if this is only because I was searching for this sequence in a corpus (based on the original example of "nefarious") or because there exist no other cases.

Actually, I find that my most trusted reference "The ABC's and all their tricks" by Margaret M. Bishop is including some of these words in the group of "-arr-" as in "carry", which my dictionaries transcribe as /ˈkæri/.  This mixes two different pronunciations under the same rule.  Is there no "rule" to help predicting the /æ/ or /e/ realization?


texts: Adjectives for when there is a lot writing or very little writing on a topic

texts:
When talking about "a literature" or a body of research, what are adjectives to contrast a literature with lots of work, versus one with little work?

I'm thinking of something like "a broad literature vs. a narrow (?) literature."

e.g., "A broad literature addresses the question of when X causes Y. A narrow literature studies when Z causes Y"


texts: idiom which would mean someone has perfect command of the cello

texts:
I am trying to say someone has a perfect command of a musical instrument. I am looking for an idiom which would convey this.

In my language, we have a saying that literally translates to this:

The cello is a very difficult instrument. The cello is like a wild horse but it is completely tame in his grasp.

First of all, do you think this sentence works in English? If not, is there an idiom which has the same meaning?


texts: When do I use the possessive with "Tiffany & Co"?

texts: Is there a grammatical reason for Tiffany & Co being made possessive in Breakfast at Tiffany's?


texts: Names are supposed to be proper nouns because they refer to a unique entity, right? But what about when the condition of specificity is not applicable? Take the word "Albert". It's supposed to be a proper noun. Why? There are no doubt thousands of people with that name in the world. If you know more than one Albert then just the word in not sufficient for you to know who precisely is being referred to. You'd naturally want to know the full name or any other unique identifying characteristic to pin down the person concerned. For that matter, even the full name (say "Albert West") is something the person is likely to have in common with others on this planet of seven-odd billion people. So while "Albert" (or any other name for that matter) might be a noun, why is it considered a proper noun?


texts: Which usage is right - "The file is in the X Drive" or "The file is in X Drive"?

texts: When you refer to a file in a certain drive in a computer do you say "The file is in the X Drive" or "The file is in X Drive"? I am told that the 2nd option is the one that is correct.


texts: Why are "help" and "assist" not directly interchangeable in a sentence where the context would remain the same?

texts:
I was writing a sentence with the word "help" and wanted to substitute it for the word "assist" but realized I could not do that without restructuring the sentence.

My original sentence, "I'll help you overcome the obstacle" (sentence 1), sounds fine.

But swapping out the word "help" led to: "I'll assist you overcome the obstacle" (sentence 2) which does not sound right.

I feel like it should be: "I'll assist you with overcoming the obstacle" (sentence 3), but I cannot figure out why the direct substitution (sentence 2) is incorrect when the two sentences have the exact same meaning and both "help" and "assist" are verbs? Is sentence 1 actually incorrect?

Additionally, I suppose the original sentence could also have been written as "I'll help you to overcome the obstacle," which would lead to the substitution of "I'll assist you to overcome the obstacle"; this doesn't sound as bad as sentence two but still doesn't seem quite right?

Why can't I directly interchange these words?


texts:
Similar to the rats, Jensen discovered that the animals favored working.

Can i see this sentence like below?

(Being) similar to the rats, Jensen discovered ~
=As the animals was similar to ~

Is this possible?


texts: What is the word for someone who can quickly identify the root or underlying cause/motivation?

texts: What is the word for someone who has an ability to observe/experience anothers actions and words and then quickly identify the root or underlying cause/motivation for those words and actions?


texts:
Do all these sentences refer to unreal situation? Are they grammatically correct?

Can we use 'past perfect' in this structure?

  He seemed as if he hadn't slept for days.

  He looked as if he knew the answer.

  She looked as if / as though she had known everything.

  He seems as if he hadn't slept for days.

  Peter was extremely hungry and ate his dinner very quickly. He ate
  as if he hadn't eaten for a week.

The following explanation from Michael Swan book makes me confused:

  Note that we do not use a past perfect for a past unreal comparison.
  She looked as if she was rich, but she wasn’t. (NOT --- as if she had been rich.)


texts: What is the name of a repair shop specialized in fixing flat tires?

texts: Here in Brazil we have "borracharias" a repair shop with many tires where they replace or fix flat tires. "Borracha" means rubber. Neither Google Translate nor Wikipedia could help me to find an English translation for "borracharia".


texts:
After inviting someone attend an event, is it grammatically correct to say, " Your presence was much appreciated," or "Your presence is much appreciated."

Thanks


texts:
Here is a concrete example taken from a financial article:

  The ancient regime is in the saddle. I have to laugh whenever I hear Republicans ranting that Barack Obama is a “liberal” or a “socialist” or a communist

What does "in the saddle" mean?


texts: When using "HR" for Human Resources, should "a" or "an" be used in front of it in a sentence?

texts:
IS HR an acronym?  Should "a" or "an" be used in front of it in a sentence, such as:
Do you have an HR question?


texts: Term describing self-detriment for personal gain

texts:
What is a word that describes harming or reducing oneself in order to achieve financial or social gain?

Examples

A man purposely jumps in front of a relatively slow-moving car in order to eventually sue the driver and gain a significant amount of money.
A business owner is doing poorly in sales and burns down his building in order to collect the insurance money.
A man purposely falls off of a bridge with a low railing and sues the construction company for lack of the implementation of safeguards.

In all of the examples above, a person induces self-harm or risks their social standing in order to gain money (but social power could be something they could also attempt to achieve). Is there a singular term (preferably a legal term) that best describes this sort of behavior?


texts: A single word to describe a belligerent attitude shift when confronted

texts: I have experienced this human condition in the past. It was a situation where someone asked me a simple question about what I was doing. I rather lost my composure and became somewhat aggressive and belligerent. All the time I knew that the person behind me would support me. I see this a lot with mall cops, police, etc, and it always seems to be limited to persons with some kind of assumed or real authority. This has puzzled me for a long time. There must be a word for it.


texts: One recent trend in Europe  when choosing  a tour or a short holiday is to organise it with the main purpose to go to places where you can taste fine wines and enjoy good food ( especially local and fresh). Is there a proper name  for this sort of tour?


texts: Is it "restricted to" or "restricted from"?

texts:
I came across this sentence:

  The power to rule was restricted to ministers, and it was restricted from king.

What is the difference between "restricted to" and "restricted from" here?


texts: What is the equivalent of this Arabic expression?

texts:
In Arabic, when someone tells you "You look good today," or "Thank you for the flowers, they are beautiful," the polite answer is:

It is not the flowers. Your eyes are so beautiful everything appears beautiful through them.

What would be the best way to convey the same sentiment in English ?


texts:
Are if and whether equivalent in sentences like the ones below?

  How to determine if my saddle is too high?
  How to determine whether my saddle is too high?

  We should check if everything is okay now.
  We should check whether everything is okay now.


texts: "I support John to be our president." - I'm not sure whether this sentence is semantically correct. What I'm trying to say is that I support John (I would like him to be the president), and not that I support him, so I can be the president. If it's not correct, how can I put it elegantly (short), without having to say something like "I support John in order so he can be our president." Please don't stick to this particular example (John, president), what I'm looking for is "support/oppose" + someone/something + "to be".


texts: What's the difference between "shake up" and "shape up"?

texts: What's the difference between these phrasal verbs? Would you say "organization shake up", "organization shape up", either depending on context and desired meaning or neither? How about "documentation" in place of "organization"?


texts: Are the rhetorical meanings of "elliptic", "hyperbolic", and "circular" connected to their mathematical meanings?

texts: The words "elliptic", "parabolic" (or "like a parable"), "hyperbolic", and "circular" all have meaning in rhetoric.  Are these meanings etymologically connected to the conic sections?


texts:
Could you explain to me, please, what the expression "You are a story" means, used in the following dialogue:
A: “You mustn’t pay any attention to old Addie,” she now said to the little girl.
B: “She’s ailing today.”
A: “Will you shut your mouth?” said the woman in bed. “I am not.”
B: “You’re a story.”


texts:
This question bugs for for a long period of time already and finally, I found a place to ask to native speakers.
Consider the following 2 situations:
Situation 1:
There are 10 firms.
Each of the 10 firms has 5 different products. (Say, product1, produt 2, ..., product 5)
Each of the 10 firms sets price for each of the 5 products in each period.
Situation 2:
There are 10 firms.
Each of the 10 firms has exactly 1 product.
(Say, firm 1 - product1, firm2 - produt 2, ..., firm 10 - product 1)
Each of the 10 firms sets price for its own only product.

When you say the following sentence "10 firms set their prices in each period", which situation does this sentence describe, 1 or 2? By just reading this sentence, can you guess which situation the write refers to? In my opinion, this sentence includes both situations and just from it you can not deduce exactly which situation the write is referring to.
Would the following sentence be grammatically correct and at the same time precise for describing the first situation?
"10 firms set their price in each period".
Here, I used price in singular form to indicate that one firm sets only one price.
Basically, what I want to understand is when to use firms and prices at the same time and firms and price as the same time and what is difference between these two cases?


texts: Acronym for ACRONYM describing acronyms as being numerous and/or overwhelming?

texts:
I'm interning in a large organisation, and acronyms are everywhere. On my first day, I felt overwhelmed by them and now that I'm coming to the end of the internship, I want to come up with an acronym for ACRONYM to describe my experience.

Something along the lines of "Acronyms cannot reliably orchestrate new blah blah" would be good. Can anyone help?


texts: What does ‘go nuclear’ mean in “Senate Democrats go ‘Nuclear’ to curb the filibuster”?

texts:
There was the following sentence in the article of Time magazine (November 21) titled, “Senate Democrats go ‘Nuclear’ to curb the filibuster”:

  “During the Bush Administration, Republicans threatened to go nuclear
  when Democrats held up judicial appointments. But use of the
  filibuster has skyrocketed to unprecedented levels during the Obama
  Administration, as Republicans harnessed the procedural tactic to stop
  the President’s agenda.

None of Cambridge, Oxford and Merriam-Webster English Dictionary carries the words, “go nuclear” as an idiom.

Google Ngram shows usage of this word, which was observed early back in late 1930s, much earlier than the drop of atomic bombs in Hiroshima / Nagasaki in August, 1945, and dropping sharply (to 0.0000029% level in 2008) after peaking around 1980 (0.0000060%level).

Though the online slang dictionary defines it as ‘become enraged,’ it doesn’t seem to fit the context of the above quote - Republicans threatened to go nuclear when Democrats held up judicial appointments.

What does “go nuclear” mean, and what is the origin of the word?

Can I say “My boss went nuclear when I told him in face that our business goal is unrealistic and unattainable”?


texts:
sample taken from a Toefl exam

Just as painted designs on Greek pots may seem today to be purely decorative, whereas in fact they were carefully and precisely worked out so that at the time, [sic] their meaning was clear, so it is with Chinese pots.
(langlib.com)

Hi everybody, my question is about the antecedent of "it", and what is the reference of "was"?


texts: Word/phrase that means "to make (someone) fall in love"?

texts:
There's a word in Spanish, enamorar which means "to make (someone) fall in love". What's the English equivalent?

Example sentence:

  He was the only man she wanted to __.


texts: Should I replace "me" and "I" with "he" or "she" when quoting?

texts:
If I quote someone saying "me" or "I", when I quote them should I replace them with "he" or "she"?

For example, if someone says:

  I went to the movies.

Should I quote that like this:

  He/she said "He/she went to the movies".

Or this:

  He/she said "I went to the movies".


texts:
I would like to know the difference between "suffer" and "suffer from". From the dictionary, I cannot distinguish between them. In particular, which of the following should I use:

  suffer interference from other transmitters
  suffer from interference from other transmitters


texts: Is this sentence grammatically correct in this context?

texts:
My instincts tell me that you won't refuse me this one time.

Is the sentence above grammatically correct?  I am a bit doubtful about the phrase in italics - this one time.

Context: I am asking for a favor from someone and I believe that they won't refuse this time (since last time they did).  Is it good to use the above sentence?


texts: I am not a native English speaker, so I would like to ask about the usage of 'was + present participle' and past participle without aux in past form. for example, what's the difference between "I was washing clothes" and "I washed clothes" ? which one is the correct form?


texts: What is it called when an hourly worker is paid at a different rate for doing different things?

texts:
What is it called when a worker is paid a different hourly-rate for doing different things during their shift?

The reason I'm asking is I want to learn a bit more about how payroll is calculated when people get paid different rates for doing different jobs at an hourly rate, and would like to know the common term for that so I could search and read up on the subject.


texts: Is it correct to use "might assuredly" because they seem paradoxical to me

texts:
Is "might assuredly" in this sentence meaningful, or a self-contradictory, as I suspect?

  Requiring students to take imaginative literature might assuredly result from the good intention of colleges to erudite their students comprehensively.


texts: What is a person who fakes responses on a survey?

texts:
I am looking for a word describing people giving fake answers on a questionnaire. The specific behavior is, for example, choosing 'one' out of a five-points Likert scale for all the questions of the survey. I thought of:

cheater, but it seems too negative
liar, but it is not a lie since they did not try to hide the truth
other negative words who are not very respectful

The sentence in which I would like to use this word:
This procedure excluded 24 [cheaters] from further analysis, since they did not give honest answers.

Any suggestions?

Given that much information is spread in the comments I will try to make a summary it to give more context.

Respondents are first year college students (about 1200) filling in three personality questionnaires in exchange for course credits. The three questionnaires address opposing personality traits. As David K pointed out in chat there are statements contradicting each other, say two query per questionnaire. These statements are supposed to receive a score of '5' if one person scores '1' on the other (theoretically). Moreover, there are a total of 75 queries, each with five response options. Therefore I assumed that a person choosing the same response 75 times is giving meaningless responses. I believe the motive is laziness and they are encouraged by the study credits reward, not money but close enough.

A short detour on how I detected the persons giving meaningless answers. I checked whether they used 75 times the same response.


texts: What does ' My stomach turned to water mean '?

texts: I found this phrase in To Kill a Mockingbird, but I am not sure what it means. I understand it is a metaphor. But what is the speaker trying to say here?


texts: I'm looking for an adverb that means "hopefully, but not really"

texts:
I'm looking for an adverb that means an action is done with some hope, but with not much expectation of success. Gamely is the closest I've come.

Example: She dug ___ly into the ground, hoping the pipe was there, even though it really could have been anywhere.

Example: I installed the dubiously-sourced component into the circuit, screwed all the terminals tight, and flipped the switch ___ly.

Example: Pat was pretty sure the bank account had gotten zeroed. Still, he ___ly shoved the cash machine card into the slot.


texts: Word that Means a Pool of PCs that Distribute their Processing Power Equally?

texts:
I want a word or phrase that means a group of PCs that distribute their processing power equally. For example, when one computer is in sleep and another is active, the active computer can be boosted by the asleep computer. I don't think "cloud computing" is the right word because of what I've seen that means a computer that processes on a data center, over a cloud. Also, it usually means there is some "central control", where one computer sends out processing jobs to other computers. However, I want a word that means every computer can access the network and talk to every other computer.

To reiterate: what's the word/phrase used when a group of computers can distribute their processing power across the whole group?


texts: What is the meaning of "that" as an Internet slang?

texts:
I see many times in comment sections of Internet forums such comments as the following:

A: This girl is so ugly and I know nobody will date her ever.
B: That!

What does it mean?


texts:
The Twitter statement about disabling President Trump's account mentions a "permanent suspension":

[...] we have permanently suspended the account due to the risk of further incitement of violence.

Isn't a "permanent suspension" a self-contradiction? I would say a suspension can be for an indeterminate amount of time, but if it's definitely permanent, then it's just a ban, not a suspension. Am I just plainly wrong or is this some sort of euphemism?


texts: 'Broken Shells Make Temple bells' meaning?

texts:
There is a great Irish song 'As I Rover Out'. The 'Omnia' band made a remake of this song called 'Who Are You?'

The meaning of the certain sentence in this remake became a subject of discussion between my collegue and me. Could you please kindly clarify this enigma?

Let me citate the context lines:

"When can I return again and when will we get married?
When broken shells make temple bells, that's when we'll be married."

My colleague thinks it means 'when broken shells turn into, become the temple bells', though I think it means 'when broken shells make ringing the bell of the temple'.

Which opinion is true? Or, maybe, they are equally correct?

Thank you in advance for the answer!


texts: What does it mean to “grow organically”?

texts:
I understand what the term as it's applied to Biotechnology, Chemistry. I am not quite sure what it means when it's applied to other area.

One example is:

  Or do you allow the specifications to grow organically by allowing all of the developers to write their own tests, and forget about having a Software Architect?

which is taken from this SE Post.

Does it mean to grow dynamically with changed requirements or get modified with changed requirements?


texts: Should you put a comma after a question mark in a title in quote marks?

texts:
The convention would be to drop a comma after a question mark in normal speech:

  “Do you want to come to the movies with us?” Mary asked.

Rather than:

  “Do you want to come to the movies with us?”, Mary asked.

But what about when the question mark plays very little to no grammatical function in the scentence, such as in a title.

E.g.

  He completed a dissertation titled 'To what extent was Mao responsible for the 1959-61 Great Famine?' for which he studied many secondary and primary sources.

Or

  He completed a dissertation titled 'To what extent was Mao responsible for the 1959-61 Great Famine?', for which he studied many secondary and primary sources.

This question is separate from What punctuation to use when quotation ends in a question mark?.

Because A) it's not about whether the question mark should go inside the quote marks. That is unambiguously the case because it is part of the title.

And B) it's about a scenario where the question mark has no effect on the meaning of the sentence.

  The sentence is:  He completed a dissertation titled [title], for
  which he studied many secondary and primary sources.

Whether or not the [title] unit contains a question marks seems less relevant to the meaning of the sentence compared with, for example:

  “Do you want to come to the movies with us?” Mary asked.

In the latter structure relaying the question is the primary purpose of the sentence, whereas in the former the question is entirely incidental.


texts: What is the word for thinking philosophically about life?

texts:
I want to complete this sentence:

  Here we stand, around ten or fifteen years ago, when I started _____ about life.

The thinking is not necessarily focused on one particular topic. The closet word to think I found is meditate, but it too focuses on "religious or spiritual purposes or as a method of relaxation".


texts: What does the idiom "for good" come from?

texts:
I'd like to know why this means forever.
As a foreign English speaker, when I heard this idiom I thought it meant like for something good.
What was the origin of "for good" ?


texts: When do I use a direct or indirect article to denote something?

texts:
The concrete example stems from a text that I am co-authoring with a friend whose native language is Czech. Mine is German. It goes like this:

  This regime is called random phase

To me, it feels like a direct article is missing. In English there's not much choice, so a "the" is missing before the "random phase". To him it seems superfluous or even false to include it. Another example is this one:

  We would like to know whether the system is in random phase or in ordered phase

Would one add the article here or not? I believe both options are possible, but I would have a slight tendency towards the inclusion of the article. Correct me if I'm wrong. I wonder also to which extend our native languages interfere. Slavic languages are not prone to inclusion of articles whereas Germanic languages are.


texts:
Is there a suffix in masquerade?

in masquerade, masque means mask, so is -rade or -ade its suffix?

-ade is a suffix in lemonade and blockade, meaning "product".

Note: I have searched it in etymonline, but couldn't find my answer


texts: I need a more mainstream replacement for the noun snark

texts:
I'm looking for a replacement for the noun "snark". Sarcasm won't work because it's a form of humor and I want to add a suggestion of malice or darkness to it.
For example, as a response to a request to include a quote within an answer avoid a "link-only" situation, an author added the following to indicate passages that contained the word:

1: [...] horsepower [...]
2: [...] horsepower [...]
3: [...] horsepower [...]

By quoting only the single word from the passage rather than a sentence or so and repeating the same three times, the author pretends to expand beyond link-only but fails by design.
So while pretense comes to mind, it's also not dark enough. Spite is a bit strong. The idea here was to respond by following the letter of the request but not in spirit, perhaps to mock it.


texts:
Can you explain the difference between the tag questions in these two sentences, only one referencing the initial agent?

John thinks I will help them with that work, doesn't he?
I think everybody likes ice-cream, don't they?

Are there any rules about these questions? Is it connected to the word "think"? Are there that type of verbs?


texts: What word that to describe Query+Response

texts:
In computer science, what would be the right word to describe an object that includes a query and the query's response?

Thank you


texts: Interrogative negative in conditional sentence

texts:
What will this sentence imply -

  Wouldn't it have been better if you had come earlier?

As we know the negative form of this sentence will imply that "it was better" but it wouldn't have been if certain necessary requirements hadn't been fulfilled .


texts: When and why was the definition of the word "faithful" changed from being "full of faith (TO something or someone else) or faith-filled" to being "worthy of faith (FROM someone else), trustworthy, or constant"?


texts: Is it idiomatic to say (as word choice and usage) "I read some question marks on their faces because of latest news"?

texts:
Lets say that I want to underline that people have some concerns because of the latest news

Is it idiomatically correct to say "I read some question marks on their faces because of latest news in a sentence?


texts:
Chapter III of Silas Marner contains this puzzling phrase:

  Betty Jay scented the boiling of Squire Cass's hams, but her longing was arrested by the unctuous liquor in which they were boiled; and when the seasons brought round the great merry-makings, they were regarded on all hands as a fine thing for the poor.

Who or what is “Betty Jay”?


texts: Which is correct: sleep in the nude or sleep nude? I've seen both phrases being used, and Googling this yields no viable results.


texts: Should there be an apostrophe in the phrase "Comments Section?"

texts:
I have seen on many sites a section labeled "Comments," referring to an area where you can leave a message for someone, or on something. When referring to this section is it correct to say
Comments Section
or
Comment's Section
or even
Comments' Section

From what I've learned about apostrophes is that you use them when you are denoting something belonging to something else.  i.e., Alice's watch.
Would the section, in this case, belong to the Comment(I think I've heard the word "Possessive," is that correct?)?  Or would it actually belong to the "multiple comments" and be Comments' instead?

A second part to this, instead of making another question.
If an apostrophe is in fact needed, would referring to a user's section?
i.e.,  Ralph's Comment's section...
I'm just curious if you could do 2 words in a row with apostrophes.
Thanks.


texts: Where did the word "umpteenth" come from?

texts: Where did the word "umpteenth" come from, and why is it a "teen", if it is supposed to represent a very large number?


texts: how to justify the "rough and tumble" used in this sentence?

texts:
Our clothing is designed to take the greater "rough and tumble" that they expect boys to give it.

This is clearly an attributive clause. What baffles me is that the "it" used in the end. If " rough and tumble" were used as a noun, wouldn't "it" be redundant and against the grammar? There's no need to add an object when "that" actually does the job.
And if "rough and tumble" were used as an adjective, is there a phrase called "give it rough and tumble"


texts:
I'm developing a small space game where players can colonise and own multiple planets.
How would I refer to something that represents a group/collection of planets?


texts: "Precision clock becomes a bag of worms"

texts:
"Precision clock becomes a bag of worms."

In this sentence, I don't get the meaning of 'precision clock' and 'bag of worms'.
I mean, I know the meaning of each phrase, but not under this context.
It came out while a medical examiner was dissecting the body.
I think it's something to do with the heart.

Anyone can answer with these?
Thank you.


texts:
Looking up the etymology of the Devil's nickname, Old Nick, I came across this article in OUPblog written by Anatoly Liberman.

  For some reason, devils, at least in English, are often called old:
  Old Bogey, Old Scratch, Old Nick, and even Old Nick Bogey. [...] But who was Nick? This
  question has bothered numerous researchers.

The author then goes on to discuss several plausible, and entertaining theories but one in particular gripped my attention:

  A fairly recent hypothesis derives Old Nick from Old Iniquity, the name of the devil in medieval plays. The derivation is clever, and the OED mentions it in a noncommittal way, [...] Charles P. G. Scott, the etymologist for The Century Dictionary wrote: “In considering the application of the name Nick thus derived, and of other familiar personal names, to the Devil, we are not to think of that personage as the black malignant theological spirit of evil, but rather as a goblin of limited powers, a ‘poor’ devil, who may be half daunted, half placated, by a little friendly impudence or homely familiarity.”

The expression an old man/woman usually carries a negative connotation, someone who is harmless, and perhaps frail; a figure either to be pitied or deserving of our respect. On the other hand, old when positioned in front of kinship terms or first names has positive connotations. Imagine the greeting between two close friends; e.g. "Hello old man!" and "How's me old mate?" When we mention our elderly relatives, "Dear old Auntie May", and when someone is reliable and trustworthy we say, "Good ol' Barney, you can always count on him."

Curiously, pictorial representations of God in the Occident from the 15th century onwards, depict Him as looking almost elderly.

The social imaginary of the Christian deity  is a bearded man with a lined face and flowing white hair (Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel) — the stereotypical traits of an old man. Although God is advanced in years, He also appears to be vigorous, intimidating and solemn-looking; would we dare call Him old? In this case, was the term old considered too derogatory and disrespectful, six or five hundred years ago?

Whereas if one Googles images of Satan, the devil, Lucifer, etc. one will see time and time again a youthful, strong, malevolent and powerful-looking figure, very different from the adjective "old".

As far as I'm aware, the adjective old is never used in Italian to describe the devil in person, instead Italians will often call him: il male /MA-le/ (evil/wickedness), la bestia (the beast), L'Anticristo (the Antichrist), Principe delle Tenebre (Prince of Darkness), and Satana (Satan). All of these expressions sound grotesque, frightening, and fearful. Now I am well aware that equivalent English expressions exist but there are no Italian equivalents for these English nicknames: Old Nick, Old Scratch, Old Ned, Old Roger, Old Horny, Old Harry, Old Billy, old boy (US term, according to the OED), which sound terribly innocuous, endearing and affectionate to my ears.

Why did the English and Americans freely adopt "old" to describe Satan and not God?
Were the nicknames Old Nick, Old Bogey, Old Scratch etc. meant to be jocular, fearful or derogatory in nature?
Did the word old have different connotations before the 19th century?
And finally, when was the adjective old first used as a nickname for the devil?


texts: Do we say "After 7th grade" or "After THE 7th grade"

texts: I would like to ask if we say "After 7th grade" or "After THE 7th grade"


texts: Why doesn't "bounce" rhyme with "counts"?

texts:
I was surprised to learn, recently, that various online rhyming dictionaries do not consider "bounce" and "counts" to be perfect rhymes. See, for example, here and here.

At the same time, when I say these words as a native American-English speaker, I cannot detect any difference whatsoever in their pronunciation. The "t" in the phoneme "nts" seems to drop out entirely -- but if so, why are these words not true rhymes?


texts: Meaning of "See that wet, see that dry!"

texts:
"You'd share and share alike with the rest, whether you'd been in that particular job or not. There's fifty members, and you'd get one-fiftieth, same as Number One and same as me."
  "Really? No kidding?"
  "See that wet, see that dry!" Jukes laughed. "Say, can you beat it? There's never been anything like it. It's the biggest thing ever been known. He's a great man, is Number One."
  "And do you pull off many jobs?"

The above dialogue is happening between two persons, one is a recruiter of gangster, the other one is would-be gang member.

"See that wet, see that dry!" seems to me 'it needs to be experience yourself.'
But in fact I am not very sure of the meaning since it doesn't look like a common expression. Or it might be an invented expression by Ms. Dorothy Sayers herself.

The story was written by Ms. Sayers in 1929 by the name of 'The Adventurous exploit of Cave of Ali Baba.'


texts: Diffrence between 'compared to' and 'compared with'

texts:
The gross NPA ratio as of end Dec. was  13 % as compared with 8 % a year earlier .

What would be the difference if I wrote compared to in this sentence?

Please explain the use of compare to and compared with.


texts: Interpretation of paragraph in Homer's Iliad Book II [56] translated by Samuel Butler

texts:
I'm having some problem understanding the phrase "but do you others go about among the host and prevent their doing so" in the context of the following paragraph:

  The dream then vanished and I awoke. Let us now therefore, arm the sons of the Achaeans. But it will be well that I should first sound them and to this end I will tell them to fly with their ships; but do you others go about among the host and prevent their doing so.

The phrase "I will tell them to fly with their ships" seems to contradict the phrase "but do you others go about among the host and prevent their doing so".


texts:
If I were not a human and wanted to say this war is only for humans, then which of the following should I say?

This war belongs to Men
This war belongs to the Men
This war belongs to man


texts: What is it called when using 'you' in place of anyone or yourself in example?

texts:
What is the adjective (or phrase) describing the use of 'you' in place of anyone, everyone, or yourself in passing?

Such as the following -

...and you wouldn't dare to eat the last cookie, especially if it were macadamia nut, as this has been the boss's favorite cookie

In the above, the speaker could be on a rant insinuating she would have enjoyed that last macadamia nut cookie, however decided against eating it as it is common knowledge that the boss would be interested in the very same cookie.

If the example were a failed quip, the speaker could combat the post-rant silence by exclaiming I was being facetious!, however in the above example the speaker would like to clarify the use of you by stating I was being [blank]

Any adjectives or phrases to describe the use of you in this situation?


texts: The person receiving notifications ("notifyee" does not seem right...)

texts:
This in relations to a user interface component in a software.

I am looking for a word to describe a person who is to receive email notifications.

This is a user role, like "manager", "admin", "writer", etc.


texts: Origin of the "-y" or "-ie" diminutive suffix to denote intimacy/tenderness? (E.g. Bob→Bobby, dad→daddy, Doug→Dougie)

texts:
Many names seem to get a "-y" or "-ie" at the end when the speaker wishes to denote a hint of familiarity, intimacy, or tenderness. Examples can be seen not just in names, but in terms like puppy, kitty. Close friends of Robert might call him Bobby, whereas, if you think about it, it's hard to imagine Bobby used in a more formal setting.

What is the origin of this practice?


texts: Difference between an "issue" and a "challenge"

texts:
I've often heard the question asked, "What are the challenges and issues faced in implementing X technology?" or "What are the challenges and issues faced by X?".
Do challenges and issues mean the same thing here, or do both need to be answered separately? (If both need to be answered separately then what is the difference between the two?)


texts:
I'm really curious as to know when you'd use participancy over participation. Right now Chrome is telling me that participancy is wrong and not a word. I always believed it to be a word and it is in http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/participancy as a word. Would someone be able to help clarify the difference between to two and some usages. Apologies if this is an obvious question, first post here.

Just to update you. I am a native uk english speaker. Thanks for your answers so far


texts: Is there a name for the Mc or O' when used at the beginning of a surname?

texts: My daughters asked me what the Mc, Mac, and O' beginnings of names are called. Is there a specific name for that specific part of a surname?


texts:
In an interview on Late Night with Seth Meyers, the CNN journalist, Jake Tapper, said the following about the author of Fire and Fury

  Jake Tapper: Oh, yeah! I mean, I, I think Michael Wolff very clearly–and I think he's been pretty open about it. Umm... Early on, he wrote a vaguely flattering piece about President Trump […] it had a nice picture on the cover of er.. The Hollywood Reporter […] And then he did an early interview with Steve Bannon that was, umm, oh, offensively, er... just handing him the microphone an-and talking […] But it was all, what's called in my business, beat sweetening. He was sweetening the beat. He was gaining their trust and they fell for it.

I might have said Michael Wolﬀ was softening the President up and the White House administration. Would that be correct or is sweetening the beat more negative, more backhanded?

Slate Magazine, in April 2009, defined it as

  A beat-sweetener is a gratuitously flattering profile that a reporter writes about a government official in the hope that it will encourage (or, at the very least, not impede) that reporter's access to the official in question. … [It is] a meal prepared for someone other than yourself, and there's no reason you should waste precious time ingesting it.

Is it jargon, only used by the press or do Americans use this expression in the workplace, at home, and at school? Is it relatively well known?
What expression would the British press use?
And what is this “beat” that is sweetened? The only thing that comes to my mind is the beetroot vegetable.


texts: Term for a misspelled word, where the "misspelling" is a correctly spelled but out of context word?

texts:
You mistype a word.  You make a "finger check".  You accidentally transpose letters typing too fast, or from muscle memory.

A spelling checker does not recognize your typo because your incorrect typing resulted in a correctly spelled (though wrong and unintended) word.

Only careful human reading (or maybe very sophisticated context analysis) will catch this mistake of a word that was not intended to be used.

What is the term for such a 'misspelling' (or this specific class of typographical error)?

People have argued that by definition, the mistyping is not a misspelling.  This makes talk about locating these errors even more difficult because of the ambiguity of "spelling error" in this context.

What term would you use when requesting an editor to specifically look for this "misspelling but not a misspelling" class of error?


texts: "each day" → "daily"; "every other day" →?

texts:
Is there an adjective that means "every other day"? I found "bidaily" but it seems to mean "twice a day", not "every second day" (not even both as "biweekly" does).

I'd need this word to very concisely describe a questionnaire by its issuing frequency.


texts:
"forced to make due with"

I don't know it doesn't sound right to me, is it grammatically correct?


texts: "It was a brilliant performance delivered in silence worthy of her name" — is this word order acceptable?

texts:
It was a brilliant performance worthy of her name.

There's no problem here, but what if you then add this:

  It was a brilliant performance delivered in silence worthy of her
  name.

What's worthy of the persons name is the performance, but in the second sentence, being the antecedent, it seems like it could be interpreted to mean the silence was worthy of her name.  I don't think you could place a comma between silence and worthy, either.

I suppose you could say:

  Delivered in silence, it was a brilliant performance worthy of her
  name.

But I only want to use that as a last resort.


texts: Word order in english (adverbial modifier of place)

texts:
Could you tell me what’s wrong in this phrase:

"In this database, there are failed copies of the file."

Is it grammatically correct to write "In this database" at the beggining of a sentence?

Thank you.


texts: Word order in: What would be the further steps?

texts:
What is the right word order in sentence:

  What would be the further steps?

or

  What would the further steps be?


texts: Is it grammatically incorrect to split two separate items as adj1, or adj2, noun? For example: adj1, or adj2, n = adj1 n and adj2 n

texts:
I'm writing some content and a coworker stated that the following was incorrect:

You have the option to use the red, or green, ball.

or should I be saying:

You have the option to use the red ball or the green ball.

Is there one that is more grammatically correct than the other?


texts: What is a word for someone who is not the sole decision maker?

texts:
For example, a parent can be the decision maker over a child's actions if under the age of 16. They can be a sole decision maker, active in making decisions for the child.
But, what is someone who does not make all the decisions - kind of like a co-parent, but more general. Co-decision-maker. More passive, someone who consults another individual before making the decision or works in harmony with someone rather than taking control and making all the decisions.


texts: Gerund + Noun vs. Noun + Noun vs. Adjective + Noun

texts:
What's the difference between these three? Are they all grammatically correct?

  "Migrating behavior"

or

  "Migration behavior"

or

  "Migratory behavior"

Which one should I say?

I have searched google scholar and found out that there are some papers using "Migration behavior" and some other papers using "Migratory behavior", so I am a little bit confused.

Thanks.


texts: Word for "influencing or manipulating people without their knowledge"

texts:
What is the word that describes the process of influencing people without their knowledge?

For example, "Social Media content is drastically influencing people's opinions without their knowledge".

Or should I leave the sentence as is?


texts:
The saying goes like "ಬಡವನ ಸಿಟ್ಟು ದವಡೆಗೆ ಮೂಲ".

When roughly translated to English it means:

  A poor man's anger only hurts his jaw [due to all the grinding of teeth in the process].

How to express this properly or idiomatically in English? Is there any alternative proverb with the same meaning?

Edit: Poor in terms of wealth (material), not judgement. It's often the poor who pay the prices. Anger due to their helplessness.


texts: Ambiguous connotation of "just" - How do natives interpret these?

texts:
First of all, these questions are a bit related but not what I'm actually asking about:

Is “I just spent all my money” grammatically incorrect?
“I just ate them” and “I've just eaten them” - What's the difference in American and in British?
When is the present perfect tense used instead of the past tense?

And this answer to the second question as well as its comment does indicate the problem I'm continually encountering.

I tend to overuse the word just. Sometimes I don't even recognize it but if I carefully re-read my English I often find sentences like:

I've just implemented the method.
I've just eaten an apple.
I've just closed my eyes for a few seconds.

The problem is, that in all these sentences I don't want to emphasize that I did that recently, just a couple of seconds/minutes ago, or that it might have any connection to the present, i.e. my present actions, although the action indeed just happened of late (and that's why I use the perfect).

In these cases just is meant to be simply or only:

  A: Are you gonna eat with us to lunch now?

  B: Sure, I only ate an apple and now I'm really hungry.

  A: Are you tired?

  B: No, I simply closed my eyes for a few seconds trying to focusing on the issues.

While these two sentences are just examples I invented for this question, the first sentence I introduced above is one of those I actually wrote. Regarding this first example, I consulted an American colleague and asked him how would he interpret the sentence

I just implemented the method.

and he answered:

  When a native English speaker reads that, they do not understand the 'just' to mean that you recently performed the action - they understand it to me that you 'simply' performed the action.  It gives the connotation that you could have done more if you had spent more time on it, but getting it done quickly and easily was more important to you.

So far I'm happy with this answer, but I still have some further questions:

How do British natives interpret that, especially when using the perfect?
How do you (Briton or American) emphasize the other meaning, i.e.

if you understand just as recently do you use only (which sounds somehow awkward to me in sentences in perfect tense) or do you rephrase the sentence as I did with the invented examples, or
if you understand just as only how do you then emphasize recently?

The main purpose of this question is to find out if I should put more focus on phrasing these kind of sentences, i.e. using simple past even for an action happened just now when I want to emphasize only, or if I can go ahead using this sentence structure.


texts: to phrase... where is the noun it modifies?

texts:
She is not a person to fear.
  She is not a person to be feared.

It is fine to use both forms, but I cannot catch the definite difference between them in meaning. Also, why is it OK to use both forms? It seemed to me that when there is "noun+to phrase" structure, this to phrase is linked to the subject. For example:

We didn't have anything to wear. (Who had nothing to wear? Us!)

But unlike this example sentence, the to phrase in sentence 1 implies that I or we are the people who should not fear her,  which means that it's not modifying its subject "her", but other nouns that are not even in the sentence. The sentence itself makes perfect sense to me, but I don't know why it is. Can someone please explain why it is grammatically fine to use sentence 1 and the difference in meaning between those two sentences?


texts: How to concisely handle words that don't have an antonym

texts:
I work in software for a living, and have had a problem recently with the language I use to describe software components. This profession increasingly reveals itself to need the skill to accurately and concisely describe something. My problem is thus: Often I create actors that do something, and other actors that undo something, but I cannot simply invert the words I describe the former with to describe the latter. I need words to name "the thing that undoes".

To use a recent example: the word "wrapper". A quick search in the internet reveals that wrapper is a word, and has a listing of synonyms... but there are no antonyms. Similarly, I tried enveloper and packer, expecting at least "unpacker" to be a word, alas it is not. I haven't done an exhaustive search, yet there seems to be a pattern of words of this form not having an opposite.

Ignoring the legality of the words and using "unwrapper" is a possibility, but spellcheck is going to complain. Maintaining exclusion rules also seems rather... tiresome.

I'd also like to avoid having to use too many words to describe things that undo something. I could have a pair such as "wrapper" and "wrappedcontentremover", but that is mighty inelegant.

For clarity's sake, I mean "one who wraps" and not "material used to coat".

Is there a way to handle this in a legal and concise way?


texts: When two or more dependent clauses are used?

texts:
I want to explain my problem with the following sentence:

  No one knows if the excited stammerer knew of the earlier word, or simply made a mistake or if the story was just a clever marketing ploy of Lowe's.

We know that, when a clause starts with if that this clause acts a dependent clause. But in that example there has two dependent clauses. Is it possible?

Would anybody like to give some examples of this kind of sentences? At the same time, I have failed to realize the meaning of the cited sentence.


texts:
In the following excerpt from the short story Three questions by Leo Tolstoy is a line I have questions about:

  'Do you not see,' replied the hermit. 'If you had not pitied my weakness yesterday, and had not dug these beds for me, but had gone your way, that man would have attacked you, and you would have repented of not having stayed with me. So the most important time was when you were digging the beds; and I was the most important man; and to do me good was your most important business. Afterwards, when that man ran to us, the most important time was when you were attending to him, for if you had not bound up his wounds he would have died without having made peace with you. So he was the most important man, and what you did for him was your most important business. Remember then: there is only one time that is important -- Now! It is the most important time because it is the only time when we have any power. The most necessary man is he with whom you are, for no man knows whether he will ever have dealings with any one else: and the most important affair is, to do him good, because for that purpose alone was man sent into this life!'

I'm having two problems actually -

who is being referred to by the 'he' (in italics) , general public or the one with you are
"have dealings with anyone else" , what does this phrase actually imply ?


texts: What do you call collective intelligence?

texts: Collective intelligence is a form of wisdom of crowds. What together an aggregation knows is often pretty comparable with expert opinions. What is one word (or at most two) that describes this kind of community knowledge?


texts:
I went to a drug store and said:

I took this cream from you guys THE last time.
Is 'the' necessary?

Is there any difference between 'last time' and 'the last time'
Similar problems:

THE last time I looked, he was in the backyard.

You weren't here THE last time I came.


texts: I've often wondered why the words conscious and aware are synonyms, yet self-conscious and self-aware have such different meanings. Is there any reasoning behind this stark contrast in meaning between two compound words with such similar roots? Were their meanings always so different, or did usage cause their connotations to diverge over time?


texts: Break quotation in the middle of a sentence with a complete sentence

texts:
An announcer is saying, "Please welcome our very own John Smith!"

The announcer pauses after "welcome."

I'm trying to write it like this:

"Please welcome," He pauses for effect. "our very own John Smith!"

I'm just not sure how to punctuate and capitalize it. Should "he" be capitalized? Should effect have a comma or a period after it? Should "our" be capitalized? Is there a way to do this without moving the words around?

I understand there might not be a conventional way to do this, so if you have any ideas about what feels most natural to you, please do leave a comment!


texts: Is there a word or expression for someone who knows various things, a little bit of everything, but is not specialised in anything?

texts:
Like a pantomath but without being an expert in each subject.

  A pantomath (pantomathēs, παντομαθής, meaning "having learnt all",
  from the Greekroots παντ- 'all, every' and the root μαθ-, meaning
  "learning, understanding") is a person whose astonishingly wide
  interests and knowledge span the entire range of the arts and
  sciences.

Update

I don't think this question is a duplicate of Is there a word for describing people who know many things but superficially? as "not specialised" isn't a synonym of "superficially". Also the referred question has many answers not related to this one in terms of content and quality (as this one already has), and has been marked as a duplicate of What is the word for a person who does different jobs?) so it won't make sense to mark this as a duplicate.


texts:
Are these sentences both grammatical ?

  "This is a big step towards the project's completion."
  "This is a big step for the project's completion."

If so, how do we decide between the first and the second one?


texts:
History, origin & usage of term ‘Showroom’ instead of shop/ store/ storefront?

How/ where did it come about?
Who came up with it?


texts: "breaking the window" or "breaking of the window"

texts:
I've come across this:

He insisted that he had nothing to do with breaking the window.

Is it correct? Shouldn't use the preposition "of" between "breaking" and "the window"?


texts:
I am looking for a word or phrase that communicates a program's phase after it's pilot phase (sorry for the redundancy)

So if HUD has a pilot program right now, but I want to formulate a question of when will this program be (blank this is word I am looking for)

Thank you


texts: Difference between "commit suicide" and "suicide"

texts:
One of the examples in my English composition book (for learning to write my language's sentences in English) was "Why he committed suicide under such a good circumstance is an unsolved question.", but what I would have written would have been "Why he suicided...".

What's the difference between "commit suicide" and "suicide"?  (I think I saw 'commit suicide' more than just 'suicide', and the spell checker of Google Chrome says that 'suicided' is not a  word, even though I think it isn't wrong.)


texts: What is the meaning of the "will already have...." structure?

texts:
I am wondering about the meaning of a sentence which includes the "will already have...." structure?
The exact sentence is a part of IELTS practice test which says:

" ....in today’s tutorial we’re going to discuss the essays that you have to submit by the end of next week. Some of you will have already started them,... ".

Tnx


texts: Is this wrong? "What are each of them's objections?"

texts:
Let's say I've put forward an idea to a number of people and each person has several different objections to it.

I know I can say:

  What are each individual's objections?
  - OR -
  What are the objections for each of them?

But can I say:

  What are each of them's objections?

It sounds awkward, but is it wrong? I don't want to say:

  What are each of their objections?

Because the "their" in that sentence refers to all the people and therefore all the objections. What I want is to ask for the objections grouped by person.

Also can I say:

  What are each's objections?


texts: It is common to see ligatures such as Æ or Œ in reference to classical works such as Œdipus or Æsop but these do not seem to have names. Strangely enough in the Old English alphabet there were similar letters such as æsc or ash, and œthel or ethel. Is there a connection between the classical ligatures and the Old English ones? If so, why do we use Old English names and not Latin ones? And if not how rare is such a coincidence? Bonus question: It seems from the comments and answers so far that the only times we use ligatures are in reference to classical works but the only names we have for ligatures are Old English or Runic names. Why might this be?


texts: When can 'almost' be used instead of 'almost like'?

texts:
Jack is almost like a father to me.
Jake is almost a father to me.
My aunt almost sounds foreign.
My aunt almost sounds like foreign.

Why can't I write Jake is almost a father to me instead of Jake is almost like a father to me? If second sentence is wrong, what do you think about fourth? Is it correct? The first and third one have been collected from Practical English Usage by Swan. According to the discussion (that will be discussed by the experts of this site about the questions stated above), what will be the correct form of following sentence?

Our cat understands everything almost like human.
Our cat understands everything almost human.


texts: Technical terminology for a non-technical audience

texts:
In documentation for a non-technical audience, I was asked about usage around the term "regular expression."

My colleague was asking if one of "RegEx", "Regex" or "regex" would be preferable, I responded with "regular expression" on first usage, then "expression" or "pattern" on subsequent usages.

Has anyone else had to tackle this question?

I fear my AP style guide is silent on this topic.


texts: How to say "find a way to do something" better, in English?

texts:
For example, I want to do something, but I don't know how to do it even I had tried.

A real example, I'm using an open-source library, and I want to add some of my own functions:

  I may want to add a until() and trimLeft(..) and trimRight(...), that I can write it as:

  string("/").trimLeft().until(string("/"))

  But I don't find a way to do it.

Here I'm using "find a way", but I don't know if it's good. Or "find a solution"? Or "find a method"? Or some other words?

In other case, e.g. I don't know how to open a box, is there any other way(right?) to express "I don't know how to do it"?

There may be a lot of mistakes in this question, I'll be very appreciate if you can point them out.


texts: Isn't the word "shotgun" a self-redundancy?

texts:
I was googling the reason for why it's called "shotgun" to ride beside the driver when it suddenly hit me - why on Earth is the firearm called "shotgun"?!

Is there any other kind of a gun than one used for shooting?! Why is it called "shotgun" instead of just a "gun" or a more technical term (9-gauge, barrel gun etc.)?


texts:
A: "Cablegram for Mr.Smith"

B: "I am him."

B: "I mean, I am he."

Why the correction? What difference does it make?

Similarly: "I am not her" / "I am not she"?


texts: Is there a term for "purposely deceptive behavior"?

texts:
Is there a word for representing one's self as weak or unintelligent in order to lull an opponent into a false sense of security and thus gain advantage?
I have been using "disingenuous" but that's not correct.


texts: "Were happily recovering" vs. "were, happily, recovering"

texts:
The hospital informed us that both victims were happily recovering.
  The hospital informed us that both victims were, happily, recovering.

What is the difference in meaning between the two? Aren't they the same?


texts: What is the name of something that possesses a desire?

texts:
What's the name of an object that possesses a desire?

As examples, all humans possess desires. More generally, sentient beings possess desires. However, we can up the abstraction. Organizations possess desires. States possess desires.

What is the name of an entity that possesses desires?


texts: What is a word that describes the environmental products of human activity?

texts:
My business is inventing and producing more sustainable solutions for the use of energy, water, food and materials, that are consumed in the course of living and working  in domestic, commercial and industrial premises (locations where people congregate), plus the treatment and disposal of waste streams from the activities carried out in those locations. The Ecological Footprint of a building is a measure of how much area of biologically productive land, water and air the building requires to produce all the resources the people in it consume and to also absorb the waste generated.
The word I am looking for will describe the collective energy and matter that flows to and from the natural environment as a result of human activity in a location. The collective inputs and outputs or "products of human activity" so to speak.
Wikipedia uses the word Anthropogenic Impact in a discussion of human impacts on the environment here. I also found the word Biocapacity in a related glossary at Footprint Network, but nothing close to what I need.
The best I can come up with is "Products of Anthropological Impact" (PAI). I would use the word as follows; "The system is designed to reduce 'PAI' through a smarter understanding of how humans go about their daily activities and optimise the 'PAI' for various classes of activity".
A compound word or phrase would be acceptable.


texts: What meaning "Chip on their shoulder" takes here?

texts:
The context is below.

  Bansal is the famous coaching center to clear Engineering Entrance test. Bansal students had a chip on their shoulder, even though they weren't technically even in a college

The meaning for the phrase chip on their shoulder is a form of physical challenge, inviting opponents to knock the chip off and so provoke a fight. I can understand its meaning refers to they are so much alert to face any question or puzzle related to engineering entrance test. But why author added the clause even though they weren't technically even in a college? It confuses me. Does it mean only students those goes to college should pocess that kind of attribute or mindset?


texts:
What is a one-word synonym for "religious symbol"?

Examples:

  The Cross, Star of David, Khanda, etc.

Alternatively, if such a word does not exist, a neologism would suffice. Here is a casual conversation context:

  "Can anyone name the religious symbol in the middle of the diagram?"

My reasons for seeking a synonym are brevity, cadence, and intrigue. Though I don't mind a multisyllabic synonym/neologism.