texts: "going to" definition, does it imply intent?

texts:
I have had a debate with one of my friends about this little game:

"1 rabbit saw 9 elephants while going to the river. Every elephant saw 3 monkeys going to the river. Each monkey had 1 tortoise in each hand.
How many animals are going to the river?"

Answers:

4 - if you could rabbit and monkeys (which are described as "going to" the river)
10 - if you are counting tortoises in monkeys' hands
19 - if you assume all

my argument is that the tortoises are not "going to", but are being either "taken to" or "move towards" river. That's what I would say if someone holds me and goes to the river.

my friend's argument is that because they move towards the river, they are "going to" the river. he gave example of me being in the car.

Me: If I don't intend to go there, I'm being "taken to", even if in the car.

Question:
does "going to" implies intent of the subject ?


texts:
Given a sentence like:

  I couldn’t not help him right?

I was wondering if that sentence was grammatically correct, and even if it is, what better way is there to rephrase it? Because as it stands, it’s “I could not not help. . . .” and it doesn’t seem grammatically correct although it may be.


texts: Game-development-oriented or game development-oriented?

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  How to connect a word and a phrase with a hyphen?
  “Hardware-counter-based tools” or “hardware-counter based tools”?

As the title states, which is the correct hyphenation of the adjective formed by multiple words? Is it "game development-oriented" or "game-development-oriented"?

By "game development-oriented" or "game-development-oriented", I refer to something that is oriented towards game development.

Sample usage:

  The company's year-long plan is more game development-oriented (game-development-oriented) this year compared to last year.


texts: Is the phrase 'according to me' correct?

texts:
Is the saying "According to me" correct?

I believe it's incorrect, and that "In my opinion" is better.

Can anyone clarify?


texts: I am considering applying for a job, which is a one-year post. Contract duration in the Job announcement reads "available from September 2019 for 12 months". Does it mean that the candidate is expected to start exactly in September or at some point since September?


texts: Word for making something "as if it were real" when referring to a memory or fantasy

texts:
What word would mean to figuratively bring to life or to make something as if it were real in the context of a memory or fantasy?

For example, I am trying to figure out the word that would fill in the following sentences using the above description:

  Mark built his model town in order to [word for to make as if it were real] the fantasy he wished he could escape to.

and [possibly] alternately,

  Victims of traumatic experience will sometimes experience flashbacks, where the traumatic memories are [passive of the same word for made-as-if-real].


texts:
I found the same kind of question in this site, but the answers were not satisfying.
I read several papers on English left-dislocation, but all of them dealt with only left-dislocation of an NP, like (1b):

(1a) Her parents seem pretty uncaring. (non-dislocated version)
 (1b) Her parents, they seem pretty uncaring. (left-dislocation)

So my question is: Is left-dislocation of a that-clause possible?
For example, can I change (2a) to (2b)?

(2a) I still can't believe that he's gone. (non-dislocated version)
(2b) That he's gone, I still can't believe it. (left-dislocation)

Thank you.


texts: Dictionaries call this word a verb, but it doesn't seem to behave like any other verb in the English language. Another question on this site calls it a “conjoined pronoun-verb combination”, which seems nearer the mark to me. What is the reasoning behind the dictionaries’ decision to label methinks as a verb?


texts: What part of speech is the that clause after 'I'm sure'?

texts:
fellow grammarians.
When it comes to a clause, we'd naturally understand that each of them has a lexical class to it, and, the part of speech they serve as in a sentence.
Adjective + that clause has never been a rare usage. It's rather easy to get right the that clause in sentence 'It's important that this will be done' for example. The 'it' here is a formal subject, hence the that clause being the true subject. And the lexical class of this that clause is noun. Therefore, it is both a subject clause, and a noun clause.
But in the case of 'I'm sure + that clause', this gets me confused. 'I am sure' being a complete sentence which ends with a predicative, I don't know what the that clause after the predicative 'sure' serves to be in terms of part of speech. Sure, it should be a noun clause as always, but, what part of speech is it?
Thanks in advance!


texts: A word to mean "To murder your colleague"

texts:
Suicide is to kill yourself.
Genocide is to kill a genus.
Homicide is to kill a human.
Matricide is to kill one's mother.
Patricide is to kill one's father.
Parricide is to kill one's close relative.
Regicide is to kill a king.
Uxoricide is to kill ones wife.

??? is to kill your colleague?

Added extras from Andy's comment


texts:
I'm looking for one word (or a variety of words) that imply ambiguity through synonymous meaning.

  "Do you have that in large?"

  "No sir, we only have it in big, great, impressive, grand, and
  king-sized"

The closest I have are "double-entendre" and "heteronym", but neither is quite right: double-entendre tends to relate to smutty puns, and heteronymic(?) words have to be spelled the same.


texts: English word for something left and forgotten?

texts:
I once encountered an English word that describes something that has aged, because it has been left and forgotten. I am looking to use that word in a sentence now, but I cannot recall it. What word am I looking for? I'm not sure about this but a sentence might start out something like this:

  It has been left to ...

I come to think of "rot". But that's not right. The word I'm looking for puts a weight on the act of forgetting or leaving something behind and the aging as a result of passing of time. It does not directly answer what's happening to the object itself (i.e. "rotting"). It puts focus on the cause, not directly on the consequence.

The word has to do with objects. As I recall, the word is about 6+/-1 letters long, and it may contain the letters m, n and e.

Another possible way a sentence might start out is:

  The [object] was/is [m... n... e...]

I'm not sure about the order of the letters, or if they were in the word. But I seem to recall at least one m letter.


texts:
There is a book titled Running for Mortals. I didn't recognize word mortal. Then I looked up it and get the meaning as below.

  mortal N - A human being

I wonder, is mortal widely used as human being or it is used only for special areas like sports, medical, etc?


texts:
Why is the past tense used here instead of the present tense?

  It should make one focused.

Why can you use this sentence? I thought word make can only be used with the present tense like this:

  It should make one focus.

Can you please explain?


texts: Is there a verb for "to play too much", "to play excessively", or "to play rambunctiously"?

texts:
I am working to translate a language into English/using English glosses.  There is one word that has a meaning roughly similar to "to play too much" or "to play excessively", but I feel these translations do not quite catch the meaning.

I am looking for a verb, rather than an adjective.

Having looked through the thesaurus, I also find a bit of an issue here because "to play", "too much", and "excessively" are either too broad or have too many synonyms, yet I have not been able to find something better to search with.  Therefore, I will try to explain here and I am hoping someone will have a good suggestion for a word/short phrase that touches this feeling a bit better.

Description:
The situation best describes children who can walk and are probably between 1.5 to 6 years old on average (older is possible, but most people calm down a bit by then).  During a given place and period of time, the child is overly active.  S/he goes to one place in the room for a short time and plays with something, after a short time s/he goes elsewhere in the room to play, and this pattern basically repeats.  This activity is likely generally noisy, but not necessarily so.  The activity also distracts parents/guardians who will generally scold the child to sit still, chill out, calm down, etc.

If I can provide any additional details that may help in coming up with a good word or more succinct gloss, please let me know.

EDIT:
Based on comments and answers, I was able to get better ideas for this.  Looking through the thesaurus again with these terms, I compiled a list of things that I think are reasonable contenders.

Current considerations:

to caper (v) Skip or dance about in a lively or playful way
to cavort (v) Jump or dance around excitedly
to gambol (v) Run or jump about playfully
to fool around (v) 1. to spend time idly, aimlessly, or frivolously
to romp (v) (especially of a child or animal) play roughly and energetically
to rollick (v) Act or behave in a jovial and exuberant fashion
to monkey (around) (v) Behave in a silly or playful way

I am leaning towards to romp currently.


texts: If a statement is in the present perfect, should the tense be repeated in the next question?

texts:
Here's a conversation:

  Speaker 1: I have already seen this film.
  Speaker 2:  When have you seen it? [OR]  When did you see it?
  Speaker 1: Last month.

The two questions uttered by Speaker 2 are in the present perfect and the simple past.
Are both of the responses from Speaker 2 correct?


texts: "We merely skimmed the surface of the cities." Does this make sense?

texts: Does that make sense to describe how our travel was rushed therefore couldn't fully enjoy what the cities have to offer?


texts: When is it ok to use symbol "#" vs. the word "number" in writing? Ex. Vendor # or Vendor number; Job # or Job Number?


texts:
I told my friend “Enjoy your coffee.” and she answered “I’ll!”  It took me a second to realise it was “I will!” Why is the first one wrong and the second version not? I know it’s wrong but I don’t know why.

Thanks.


texts:
I'm not a native English speaker, and my language doesn't have the SCHWA sound.
It would be so helpful if there are any tips to make the sound.
Thanks,


texts: What does "we're all bozos on this bus" mean?

texts:
What does "we're all bozos on this bus" mean in the following sentence?

  This reminds me of my lovely old German teacher. One of the first things he told us was "we're all bozos on this bus."


texts: "Its" or "it’s" in "Getting Over It's IMPOSSIBLE PHYSICS!"

texts:
While browsing through YouTube, I came across a video titled
“Getting Over It's IMPOSSIBLE PHYSICS!” which references to a new game titled

  “Getting Over It with Bennett Foddy”.

My question is, is the use of the apostrophe in the video title correct? Should it be “Its” or “It’s” and why?


texts:
I came across this sentence in an exercise:
'Arkwright is considered the father of the modern industrial factory system and his inventions were a catalyst ___ the Industrial Revolution.'

There are 3 choices: to, for and on. I suppose, the last one won't do. Then, how do we choose? What does it depend on? I mean, what is the difference between 'catalyst for' and '...to'?

Thank you.

UPD It would be really cool if someone could explain me general difference between 'catalyst for' and 'catalyst to', i.e. not only in the aforementioned case.


texts: Is "antiturnpikeism" a real word, or a copyright trap?

texts:
The list of words in the OS X /usr/share/dict/words file includes the surprising word "antiturnpikeism". (It seems it's not OS X-specific. It's also in the wamerican package.) I can't seem to find reference to this word anywhere through the normal search engines (except for sites that seem to just use this file for search engine optimization).

Is this a real word? Have I found one of those fake words inserted just to prove copyright theft of a dictionary? Does anyone know the history of this "word"?


texts: Usage of "I'm incredulous!" as an exclamation of shock or disbelief

texts: Would the exclamation "I'm incredulous!" be an appropriate response to finding out some unexpected news, if the intention is to convey shock or disbelief?


texts:
He has two sisters who live in southern and northern California, respectively.

I saw this on IMDB and I was wondering if the respectively was grammatically correct.

Since nothing is being listed off, is it even needed?

Edit:

Josh Radnor, 7th in the list

If you were wondering, lol


texts: When is it best to write "can't" versus writing "cannot"? Are they interchangeable in every situation?


texts:
We have a TV that folds into the roof in our car and one morning, as it was folded away my son asked, "Please would you take the television down?".

I didn't think this was the correct use of the word 'take' - the TV was not being moved anywhere, just folded down for viewing. Am I correct or is my son?


texts: What do you call a statement like "How to perform a change of ownership"

texts:
What do you call a statement similar to the following?

  "How to perform a change of ownership"

I wish to request user input by asking a question such as:

  "Please enter your title in the form of a ..."


texts:
I'm writing a short story and was wondering which sentence is grammatically correct.

  We lived in a cul de sac.

Or

  We lived on a cul de sac.


texts: Perception of problems when informed of an issue?

texts:
What is the term for perceiving issues which don't exist having been informed of a problem.

More Info

When people are aware of a problem they're more likely to report that they're experiencing that issue; e.g. hypochondriacs will assume they have bird flu if there are announcements about it in the news.

We recently reported to users that we were temporarily running on our disaster recovery servers, and were told that some users had complained of performance problems, though our monitoring shows that performance has actually (slightly) improved, and the reports relate to a part of the system which wasn't affected.  As such we're pretty confident it's just perception rather than reality.

I think there's a term for this.  It's similar to a "false memory", "confirmation bias" and "hypochondria"; though none of those terms is exactly suitable.

Related:

False Memory: http://www.scholarpedia.org/article/False_memory
Confirmation Bias: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confirmation_bias
Hypochonrdia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypochondriasis


texts: Can the word "referable" be used to denote something that can be referenced and what is the difference between "referable" and "referenceable"?


texts: can the expression (give it a go) be broken up

texts:
Is this sentence grammatically and stylistically correct, or is it very weird:

  He insisted to give it yet another quick go


texts:
Part of the Hail Mary reads

Blessed art thou among women,
And blessed is the fruit of thy womb, etc.

I have some intuitive sense that putting the adjective first accomplishes something subtle but important in this poem.  If someone can explain it in a reasonably rigorous but not too long-winded way that would be great.
In the Spanish version I get a clear sense of the speaker confiding in an intimate way, and also providing reassurance.  But maybe that's just cultural context, and it's not actually built into the way the words are arranged.
(Inspired by a review of an older similar question at Spanish SE.)


texts: so, "Spend time doing something" = "Have time doing something", right?

texts:
Ok, check the dictionary, I can see this structure

"spend something doing something"

Ex: I spend too much time watching television.

However, I also see people talk

Ex: I have a good time hiking today.

I checked many dictionaries & found that noone mentions the structure "have time doing something".

So, I am asking myself:

Does "Have time doing something" mean "Spend time doing something"?

There is also no structure "time doing something", though "time to do something".

Because if this structure "have time doing something" exists, then the dictionary should have it.


texts: A Dictionary for English used by poets like Chaucer

texts:
I am trying to read Canterbury tales by Chaucer. Now, I am not a native English speaker. So, the trouble I had in reading it goes like this. Take the beginning,

"Whan that Aprille with his shoures soote,
The droghte of March hath perced to the roote "

Now some of those words are obvious, but it took me considerable googling to get the meaning of 'shoures'.

So, my question is, Is there any dictionary that specialises on this kind of words and spelling?


texts: What does it mean: "The travel money is good for you"

texts:
Someone invited us to participate in a sportive event far away from our home country, and told us "The travel money is good for you and there will be prize money for the event".
Does this mean that the exchange rate is good for us at the moment?
Thanks for your help!


texts: Wonder if anyone knows the provenance of the phrase "my compliments to" and why it entered use (and dropped out of use)? I don't mean "my compliments to the chef" or variants thereof but phrases like "my compliments to Mr. So-and-So and I will see him at six" etc.


texts: If “latter” comes first, and “former” comes second, what comes third? Or fourth?

texts:
If we had an hour long discussion, and discussed 5 topics: A, B, C, D and E in order, to the extent that we are talking about "E" right now, if "D" is the latter, and "C" is the former, what is "B" to be called, following this "latter, former" syntax? Does such a word exist?

Bonus question:
- What about A?

EDIT (for the regulars, the editors, the potential downvoters): If you think that "former" and "latter" are "only allowed to be used when referencing 2 objects", you're right, yes, "former" and "latter" are only to be used for referencing 2 objects. However, there is always a third object which comes before the former object. You say the former object came first per the definition of "latter" but that's obviously not true in all cases (conversations, interactions, etc). In some cases, the former object might want to reference it's antecedent if it indeed has one. If you've only had two prior interactions with a person, the former would indeed be the first. But if you've had three prior interactions, then there would be an object before the former, wouldn't there?

If now is t(0), then the latter is t(-1), the former is t(-2), and the word I'm looking for is t(-3). The bonus, of course, is t(-4).


texts: What’s the difference between “from your lips” and “from your lips to God’s ears”?

texts:
I read in one website that the former is a short version of the later, but I found no other source saying so.
Also, I know the meaning of the former, but I’m not sure what “from your lips” mean.
Is it really just a shorter version? If not, then what does it mean?


texts: Single word request: ... but none of these practices explicitly justified

texts:
Background: varying reasons used for justifying brain tumour non-surgery lead to questionable outcomes. However, there can be cases where operation just couldn't be done due to very poor health status.
I am trying to put this into one title, trying to say that none of the reasons can be considered as justified (surgery is always better). However, may I use the word explicitly here or are there better words? Unequivocal, unambiguous, clear...

High variability of reasons underpinning brain tumour non-surgery, but none of these practices explicitly justified


texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  "Only those who qualify will be awarded a certificate" or "Only those who qualify will be awarded certificates"?

In this question, there is a part that I'm a little confused with. In the original question, before it was edited, this sentence appeared:

  Both Free Merriam-Webster and Oxford Dictionaries had entry of 'cum grano salis'

Seeing this, it kind of looked wrong to me, so I edited it to:

  Both Free Merriam-Webster and Oxford Dictionaries had an entry of 'cum grano salis'

However, right now, I still feel that there is something wrong. I have a feeling that it should be

  "Both ...... had entries of 'cum grano salis'

If it had been "had an entry", I feel that it seems to imply both of them shared one entry.

Am I right? Should it be "had entries"? Is there anything wrong with "had an entry?" Please explain the grammar behind all this.

edit: Please explain the grammar behind all this.


texts:
Is the following grammatical?

  Should I send the letter to her?

If it is, then how come that send can also be used without to?

  Should I send her the letter?

What about the use of send in a sentence like "It sent her mad"?


texts: Using someone for a specific purpose and then discarding them right afterwards

texts:
Korean has a lot of four-word phrases, typically originating in Chinese.
One of them – 토사구팽, (Revised Romanization) transliteration to sa gu
paeng – is literally translated as “rabbit killed, dog thrown away”, or
a little more dynamically, “kill the dog after hunting season”.
Practically, it describes a person who uses people. Is there a word in
English for someone who makes a practice of this?


texts: Is there a word for the opposite of being hollow?

texts:
I'm looking for an adjective that describes an object that, rather than is just the outside, is instead just the inside.
Searching for antonyms of hollow, I have only found the word solid, which suggests both the inside and outside of an object.
I really need a way to describe something as being just the inside of something.
I can only think of words like core or heart to describe what I'm looking for, but those are nouns.

When a tree has only its exterior, the tree is hollow. It is a hollow tree.
When a tree has only its interior, the tree is _____. It is a _____ tree.

Perhaps tree was a bad example, it was the only object I could think of at the time that made sense to be a hollow object. Any object where that description could apply is a reasonable substitute, it does not have to be specifically about a tree.


texts: "Now is the time" followed by past tense verb

texts:
This morning I heard Jeremy Corbyn's speech at the Labour Conference.  Here is a section of that speech.  Can anyone tell me what tense he is using and why?
"Now is the time that government took a more active role in restructuring our economy. Now is the time that corporate boardrooms were held accountable for their actions,  And now is the time that we developed a new model of economic management to replace the failed dogmas of neo-liberalism …"  Is this a Britishism?  (I am American.)  Thanking your all in advance for any insights you can offer.


texts: How does one say: adding a record previously omitted

texts:
Let's say, in accounting, a previous spreadsheet that I passed onto my client had a missing record, but in the newest version, I have now included this missing record. How do I phrase this succinctly, perhaps even with one word?
"A revision to the previous version" would suggest a false record was made rather than the omission of a record.
Thank you in advance.


texts: at the weekend, on the weekend or in the weekend?

texts: which is the right grammatical saying from these, "I will do my work on the weekend", "I do my work in weekends" or "I will do my work at the weekend"?


texts:
I've googled it but the antonym of mass-transit (or public transportation) are not amongst the hits I've got.

I can explain the meaning using a sentence but I'd like the correct term, a noun if possible.

"Going by car" doesn't suffice because buses are, technically speaking, cars too. "Private transportation" seems to be wrong, because it could be publicly available. "Individual-transit" excludes co-commuting, so it's not right, neither...

The context of my question is getting oneself to work, so commuting scope. Taxis, planes, helicopters, submarines and such are very rarely used for said purpose, so they can be excluded. Bicycles, skateboards, pogo sticks etc. are muscles driven and can be equated to walking which isn't within the scope of getting to work by other means than by "one's own machine".


texts:
According to the OED, the word English Nimrod is derived from the Hebrew, where in Genesis 10:8–9 he is described as ‘a mighty one in the earth’ and ‘a mighty hunter before the Lord’.  It is apparently still a popular name in Israel.

This would match the OED’s definitions:

  A tyrannical ruler; a tyrant. Obs.
  A great hunter; one who is fond of, or given to, hunting.

But you never hear it used that way any longer. Now it’s become some sort of slang that means something more like dunce or idiot or jerk.

While I doubt that PETA was involved, I still would like to know what the exact history is that lies behind this new anti-hunter motif?


texts:
I have this sentence and wonder if it is grammatically correct:

  Companies have always sought out for celebrities to endorse their products.

Should it be just:

  Companies have always sought for celebrities to endorse their products.

I'm about to take the IELTS test and these make me nervous.


texts:
What does the expression "Mid or feed" mean? I realized it was a quote from Einstein.

In addition, what's the meaning of the "mid" and the "feed" in this semi-context?

After a Google search, I see the expression repeated in some online game ("League of Legends"; many related results). What about it, if anyone knows?

I'd love any piece of information, since I'm not a native English speaker, and I couldn't find a clear interpretation.


texts:
Is it true that "thanks a million" is usually used with a slightly negative connotation?
I often use it to end friendly emails. But I have seen somewhere that it has a negative connotation as in this example "You've finished my chocolates, thanks a million!"
I hope people didn't get offended when I used it in emails, my intention was positive...


texts: Term for "Rent calculation according to store revenue"

texts:
Shopping centers and malls can institute a type of charge added to a base rent price.
This charge is calculated -in most cases - based on the tenant's monthly revenue. In most cases the turnover charges will be calculated as a percentage of the store revenue.

For example, a store's monthly base rent is 8,000 dollars, but in addition there is a stipulation that the store needs to pay 10% of its revenue. If it sells $100,000 one month, it needs to pay $10,000 (and if it sells $70,000 it needs to pay the base $8,000).

What is the proper term for this stipulation, in American English?

Example sentence:

  The rent is $8,000, but together with this month's _________, $10,000.


texts: Is it "my passion lies in" or "my passion is"?

texts:
I have the following sentence in my résumé:

  My passion lies in analyzing complex algorithms.

Someone pointed out to me that it is not correct, and that it should be:

  My passion is analyzing complex algorithms.

I found this reference, but it only addresses the first version. Which is correct? If they are both correct, which is 'better'? My native language is not English, so I'm having a hard time deciding.


texts:
In the novel "Brighton Rock", Graham Greene refers to a "half-crown enclosure" in the context of horse racing.

My guess is that it may refer to a type of horse race where half-crown refers to a betting limit, or the size of the purse or payout.

Alternatively, the phrase may refer to a type of race track.

I tried searching the internet but found no explanation except for a few vintage postcards.

Any insights would be appreciated.


texts:
I've spent years in the States and I'm still confused when I should use "the" in sentences.

These are the cases that I know that I have to use a definite article.

case 1: refer to specific objects. he was working at the firm where his colleagues were friendly.

case 2: refer to unique objects. The earth is a planet.

case 3: general statements The human is a foolish species.

What I'm the most confused about are the situations where "the" makes a difference in meanings. For example, I went to the college means I was physically present at the college, and I went to college means I finished a degree.

Using a definite article is very confusing to me. There seem to be many exceptions and special rules, and also idiomatic ways of using and not using a definite article.

Could someone kindly clarify the usage of "the" for me?


texts:
He is arguably the best actor of his generation

In the above sentence the adverb is placed just after "be"
Can we use adverb after "be"? If we can use then please explain properly because I have studied that adverb can be used before adjective and adverb .


texts: I'm currently listening to Casual Vacancy and heard an idiom/expression sex on the legs in this book. Is it some widely used expression or is context required to understand its meaning?


texts: What's the deal with exophoric pronoun references?

texts:
I have been reading about errors with exophoric pronoun references (the paper was mostly aimed at preparing one for a certain standardized test), and found the author saying "In the context of this test, exophoric pronouns are always incorrect." So I have two questions:

1) Just to make sure that I understand exophoric pronoun references correctly, I am wondering if something like

  John went outside in the middle of the day. He found the weather to be calming and relaxing.

would be incorrect within the context of the standardized test? It looks very natural to me, but I think that's because in my native tongue such a reference is acceptable ("he" is exophoric here, am I right?)

2) How unwelcome are the exophoric references in general? Is it just this test being picky, or should I refrain from using them elsewhere?


texts: Where does the General American accent originate?

texts: I’m referring to the usual mainstream American accent that Americans speak with. Where did it come from?


texts:
"Y has 1250 fans" means there are 1250 X for which X is fan of Y. If there are 12 Y for which the "X is a fan of Y" relationship holds for a given X, what's a word or phrase to say "X has 12 __" ?

Similarly, if "X is a fan of Y", then what's the equivalent way of saying this with Y as the subject and X as the object ("Y __ X") ?


texts: What is the hand gesture for shutting someone up?

texts: I don't remember what it's called. Not the single finger on the lips but the full hand. I'm writing a story and can't find another way to write. Haha


texts: For an unlimited time or For unlimited time or other ways

texts:
Is there any other way of saying 'unlimited time'? We are giving away a product for free for unlimited time. The actual sentence looks like these:

Now FREE for Unlimited Users for Unlimited Time.

Do I have to add an 'an' before unlimited or just leave it as it is? Or, is there any other way of saying 'unlimited time'?


texts:
Duplicate: What day is next Tuesday?

I have always considered next Friday to be not this coming Friday, but the one after. This Friday is the Friday at the end of this week.

I have a Canadian friend, however, who enforces the more literal meaning of next Friday — the Friday that comes next.

Is there a correct meaning for next Friday, or does this entirely depend on cultural differences?


texts: Idiom for something that a person does that further bolsters your belief about something

texts: Example: I had by doubts about someone that he is a kleptomaniac and the other day I saw him stealing something and that action further strengthens my belief that he is a kleptomaniac. Any idiom for this type?


texts: Why do "supposed" and "expected" both have similar dual meanings of assumed/predicted or obligated?

texts:
"You are supposed to pay your taxes"

This could mean that you should pay your taxes, under obligation. It could also mean that someone (probably the speaker) has presumed that you do pay your taxes.

"You are expected to pay your taxes"

Again, this could mean that you should pay your taxes, under obligation. It could also mean that someone (probably the speaker) has presumed that you do pay your taxes.

I've always been fascinated, and annoyed, at the dual meaning of "expect". The presumptive meaning of "suppose" is rare in modern English, so this parallel hasn't been clear to me until recently.

Why would these two different words be synonymous for two different pairs of meanings?


texts: Is the game, "go," a proper noun? What about "checkers" or "chess"?

texts:
The game of Go is...

or

  The game of go is...

Apparently the International Go Federation capitalizes it.  Its dictionary entry doesn't appear to be (from what I have seen).  It seems to fit the definition of a proper noun as it isn't preceded by an article (such as "the" or "an").

So which is it?

Also, where does that put checkers, chess, basketball, football, etc.  They are never (or at least not regularly) capitalized, yet they seem to have the same characteristics.

I predict the argument is going to be that Monopoly is capitalized because it is a brand and go should not be capitalized since it is not a brand and it is not referring to a specific instance of anything.  Is that correct?


texts:
What is a word for a winged unicorn or horned pegasus? I've heard a few ways of describing such a fantastical beast, but I don't know which is correct.

They are known as both Alicorns (ali- supposedly from ala (wing), and corn meaning horn), as well as Pegi(a)corn, a portmanteau of Pegasus and Unicorn (I've seen both an i and an a used).

which of these is most 'correct', and did one come first? Furthermore, Wikipedia says that

  Alicorn

  The horn itself [of the unicorn] and the substance it was made of was called alicorn, and it was believed that the horn holds magical and medicinal properties

So that would make my supposed etymology above wrong.


texts: How can I modify this sentence to make sense?

texts:
In fact, when people have a big picture when working, they tend to make less mistakes compared to the people who pay much energy on details at the very beginning ,because those people's work is not as coherent.

In the sentence above, I use “because” to explain why one group of people make less mistakes, not the reason of paying energy on details of the other group of people, how to differentiate?


texts: HOW VS WHAT; whats grammatically corrrect

texts:
What's grammatically correct?

this song depicts how you made me feel for the past few months.

or

this song depicts what you made me feel for the past few months.


texts: Plugging in a list of words into a phrase

texts:
I'm writing a sentence that uses a plugged list of words into my main phrase. I think I picked this up from reading stuff that used a similar construction(?) but I'm not sure if it's formally/academically correct. You may recognize what it is referring to.

  "Those with gold in their bodies are meant to be rulers; those with silver, auxiliaries; those with iron and bronze, craftsmen."

1) Is this correct/advised? (in AmE)
2) Does this thing have a name?


texts: What is a word for an officious person who tells the ending of movie and mystery story, and spoils your interest?

texts:
Oxford Advanced English Learners’ Dictionary gives ‘wet blanket’ as a noun meaning;

  A person who is 'not enthusiastic' about anything and who stops other people from enjoying themselves.

Is there a short word for a person who is 'too enthusiastic' to spare his or her fun in something (e.g. movie, detective story) with others and spoil their interest in it by revealing the ending of the story before others see the movie or read the novel?


texts: "alone among the praise given to any writer..." Is this sentence praising Mark Twain grammatically correct?

texts:
The praise that Mark Twain received is alone among the praise given to any writer in the history of American literature.
  — On Mark Twain's Literary Genius, by Sandra.M.Lee

First of all, is this grammatically valid?

The reason I feel this is odd is that the superlative tone of this sentence is expressed with "alone" and "any writer," the import thereof being, "The praise that Mark Twain received is the most lavish that any writer has ever received."

Is this a variant of this version of mine?


texts: Are the words "network packet" and "network package" interchangeable?

texts:
"packet" and "package" are synonyms when we refer to mailings, but does the same apply to "network packet"?

My co-worker frequently says: "network package". It's like nails on a chalkboard to me, but is it correct?


texts: Is this sentence grammatically correct: "She would make for a convincing Amy."

texts:
This sentence is part of dialogue between producer and actor, when she was convincing them to cast her in film.

The film is ready now. During the premiere, they were recalling a previous moment that happened in past.


texts: Word or idiom for most popular service/offering

texts: Is there a single word or a phrase that means the most popular one of some set of service tiers/offerings? For example a service provider asks "Do you want Deluxe, Premium or Gold?" then instead of asking them back which one is the most popular,  one can simply respond with something like "Give me X" and that would imply the most popular one.


texts: I am from Denmark and my English teacher insists on 'they' being grammatically incorrect when it is used in a singular sense (their hand reached...) No matter what I tell her she is convinced it's incorrect. Are there any "official" rules regarding this matter?


texts: Is this a correct phrase? Does it feel friendly?

texts:
I am working in Sweden right now, and a suggestion has come up to use a global tagline for a project. It's to get everyone talking in a long term discussion about company culture and teamwork, etc.  The line is:

"Join the dialogue"

Now for Swedes this sounds fine and dialogue is a friendly word - in Swedish. But for me, as a native speaker,  it feels formal and stiff. But I see it in lots of places on the net, and the more I hear it I think , well, its ok. Any opinions? It should be a warm invitation for everyone to get involved, but its a rather serious issue as well.


texts:
Can I omit the subject if it has been mentioned in a preceding sentence?

For example, is the phrase inside the parentheses necessary in the below?:

    The sculpture A exhibits degradation at a seemingly increased rate from 30 years ago. However, the surrounding environment is considered not to have changed at a significant level since (the sculpture was) carved.


texts:
To me, "California," "New Jersey," "Texas," "N.Y.," and "1969" are functioning as appositives in the examples below, when in fact they are not. All these words are essential information to the sentence. That said, can we drop the comma after each in the sentences below—yes or no?

Joe said, "The Sacramento, California, police department is under scrutiny."

Midge said, "The Elizabeth, New Jersey, warehouse was inspected."

Stephen said, "The Austin, Texas, jury acquitted the defendant."

Theresa said, "Brooklyn, N.Y., is where I grew up."

Frank said, "February 7, 1969, is my date of birth."

Thank you.


texts: What is the adjectival form of "initiative"?

texts:
Merriam-Webster says in its entry for
initiate that this
word can also be an adjective:

a : initiated or properly admitted (as to membership or an office)
b : instructed in some secret knowledge
obsolete : relating to an initiate

However, this sense means introductory or preliminary, as in just getting
started. But that is not the sense that I am looking for here. I don’t want
an adjective derived from the verb initiate but rather one derived from the noun initiative.
I
would like to know the correctly derived  adjective to fit this blank:

This guy shows great initiative.
This guy is ______.

I am not interested in meanings derived from the verb to initiate,
and to be frank I was quite surprised to find out those other senses.
My
question instead seeks an adjective whose meaning relates to what I believe
to be today’s dominant sense of the noun
initiative: the
one used to represent a positive quality in people who come up with their
own solutions, need not be told exactly what to do, etc. This is the sense
that Merriam-Webster gives as “energy or aptitude displayed in initiation
of action”.
In other words, I need something for this blank below:

People who come up with their own solutions and need not be told exactly show great initiative.
Such people are ________ people.


texts: Can I say 'He was my audience', or 'He was the audience' if I ended up presenting to only one person in a meeting?


texts: A term for "it's raining while the sun is shining"

texts:
Most languages have a popular term or a traditional saying for the occurrence of rain while the sun is shining (a sunshower). Most of these expressions have been handed down from generation to generation and it may be difficult to trace their origin.

My question is about the most common term in your English speaking country, (mention where you're from) its origin and, in case it's not obvious, an explanation why people call it that.

EDIT - This other question,  mentioned as a possible duplicate in one of the comments, is about "rain without clouds" which is clearly different from "the simultaneous occurrence of rain and sunshine".

I'm not looking for lists. I'm looking for the most popular and traditional saying in the US, the UK, in Australia, etc. A saying most people will have heard at some time during their lifetime.


texts:
I am unsure about the following: if I want to say that something is clear for me in particular, should I say:
It is evident to me that...
It is evident for me that...


texts: A word with two meanings though misuse could be lethal

texts:
I'm currently writing an article that includes two contexts of communication: effectiveness and competence. Incompetent people can misuse terminology all day and the ideas are effective and do technically work. However I'm looking for a word or term that has two or more meanings and the misuse of could lead to bodily harm or even death; this is to promote the idea of the aspect of competently communicating one's ideas.

What word if not used competently could end up leading to injury or death in a context that most people could understand with little-to-no explanation?


texts:
I was reading an article on Laptop Display, and I stumbled upon this snippet.
Here, periods are used to separate items of a list, and I have never seen such usage. Is this actually allowed grammatically?
Following is the snippet:

Contrast. Screen Resolution. Black level. Gamut. Uniformity. These words can seem like arcane scrawl to the initiated, but they’re actually not difficult to grasp.


texts: Can something be "exactly" and "probably"?

texts:
I was watching a breakfast show the other day and a reporter was at a museum where they had an exhibition that the lady said was:

  Exactly like what the scientists think the surface of Mars is probably like

Is this possible? Can something be exactly like something that's probable?


texts: Should I use the word "object" as a singular or plural noun?

texts: I'm writing a paper. I wrote, "Many phenomena that heavier objects are reported to fall faster than the lighter ones are observed." However, Microsoft Word corrected to "object." Which one is right? And how I can


texts:
If I want to say that during the accident there were no passengers, how do I phrase it?

  There were no passengers at the time.
  There were no passengers at that time.


texts: Word for good music that channels a lot of bad energy into good energy

texts:
There is some word I look to describe good music or some nice activity in general. It is used as in the music (the activity) channels a lot of bad energy into good energy and it begins and makes you feel light at heart, beginning with kata... something... I think.

"This song is really [...] to me."

I heard that word some time ago and now try to remember it, but I just can't.


texts:
In response to the question "Where is she?", I've heard someone say, "She's back the hall." (Cf. "She's back there.") I understand the meaning to be something like "She's down the hall," "She's in the hall," or "She's in some room connected to the hall."

It seems that back is functioning as a preposition here, as it doesn't quite fit the adverb usage in its entry at M-W.

Is this a common usage in the sense of being documented in a reliable reference work or documented as an idiom or variant outside normal usage? If so, what part of speech is back?

Update: I have found an analogous phrase -- "Back the Alley", a decor and gift store in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania (Facebook page). The proprietor told me the origin of the name: "We started out in an unnamed alley and told everyone to go back the alley to find us."

I have some Pennsylvania parentage, so that may be why this construction sounds perfectly natural to me.


texts:
In English-language papers, I often see "dc" (as in direct current) in lowercase, but "RF" (as in radio frequency) in uppercase. For example, this paper includes both usages at the bottom of page 618:

  This means that the ac (RF) waveform applied to [...]

Some more papers using "dc".

http://instructor.physics.lsa.umich.edu/adv-labs/Mass_Spectrometer/MassSpecQMS.pdf
http://www.vacuumcursus.nl/casussen/jcequad.pdf
http://ir.gig.ac.cn:8080/bitstream/344008/13774/1/08018.pdf

Oddly, this one uses lowercase "dc" and "rf":

http://www.stanford.edu/group/Zarelab/publinks/798.pdf

Where does this convention stem from?


texts: Do I need to place a comma before an address?

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  Where should the comma be placed in the salutation of a letter?

I am not sure if the way I have formulated the title of my question is correct, so if you know better, please, edit it.

The question is simple: Whenever I thank anyone for his or her answer or comments I usually write (eg) "Thank You, George, for Your answer", or "Thank You, Silverglass, for telling me that". Usually in such phrases I place commas on either side of the address, but I don't know if it's correct in English or not.

What about greetings in the very beginning of an e-mail? I do place commas there before the address:

  Hi, Mark,

  How have you been? It's been...

or

  Hello, Peggy!

  Do you know of any...

but I have seen many times that commas before the address were omitted ("Hello Mark," or "Hello Peggy!"). So, which way is correct?


texts:
In this sentence, which would be the better word to use, 'like' or 'as'?

  "Chugging alcohol is like/as talking to God."

What would the difference be?


texts: What term is used for the type of music that evokes a strong picture?

texts:
Some songs, such as Rodeo by Aaron Copland and Symphony No. 1 by Daniel Bukvich can evoke strong images in listener's ears. Rodeo has listeners imagining a wild west setting while Symphony No. 1 evokes a terrifying battle. This may require listeners to have a specific cultural background or some knowledge of the song's history before listening, but once listener's know this background, they can imagine what is happening. Although other music may evoke imagery, the composers of these two songs were very intentional and specific in what imagery they want listeners to imagine. When played at a concert, the audience is often told beforehand about the story.

Is there any term, perhaps a music genre, or word that musicologists or scholars of music use, or word from other similar creative fields that can be applied to music, to refer specifically to such music that is intentionally composed in a way that creates intended imagery for listeners?

Sample sentence: Rodeo and Symphony No. 1 are both examples of ___ music.


texts: How should I interpret “Be different like that”?

texts:
Be different like that!

What does it mean? Is it grammatically correct? I don't think it has any problems, but I am not sure.


texts:
Which pronoun is correct to use in this sentence and why?

(1)Are you sure the guys are okay with me coming?

(2)Are you sure the guys are okay with my coming?


texts:
I would like to place a statistics in front of the sentence, followed by the agency that has reported it. The findings and reports were done many years ago. Which of the two is correct and why?

  Nearly 10 million Americans accept..., the U. S. Office of Public Affairs reports.
  Nearly 10 million Americans accept..., the U. S. Office of Public Affairs reported.

Likewise, should it be "Americans accept" or "Americans accepted"?


texts: 'The idea how/ the idea of how/ the idea that how' a recessive gene might become dominant

texts:
What word should come in place of (?) in the sentence below? Personally, I would use of or that.But I am not sure if these are correct or if I should forgo any word at all there. I would appreciate the logic behind your answer(s). Also, what clause is introduced by how in this example sentence?
The scientist put forward the idea (?) how a recessive gene might become dominant in a later generation.


texts: Is it grammatically incorrect to make a surname plural, without making it possessive? Or is it merely informal? (For example, "The Smiths are coming along, too," or "The Petersons are a very pleasant family.) Most people use this sort of language all the time. I've been studying grammar for years, but never have I come across a rule that states this as either incorrect or correct.


texts: Best way to describe "turning ideas into reality"

texts: I'd like to ask if sentence “We accelerate ideas” sounds odd or natural? What is the best word/phrasal to describe transformation of the ideas into reality/real things?


texts: There used to be (probably still is) a saying that had the sun shining up a dog’s arse ocasionally. Can you remind be how it went?


texts: Master thesis, master's degree thesis or master degree thesis

texts:
I searched online and I understood that "master's degree" retains the apostrophe, while the relative thesis is commonly referred to as "master thesis". However, of the forms

Master thesis
Master's degree thesis
Master degree thesis

Which one is wrong, which is right and which should be preferable to use on a thesis cover? I know that in English theses it's common to use the phrase "Thesis prepared for the Degree of Master of Science" but I can't do this. Thanks.


texts: Is there a term for generally not wanting to be associated with established groups?

texts:
I usually stay away from considering myself to belong to groups1 because I don't have control over them and their reputation derived either from actions committed in the past, present or future by those who were, are or will consider themselves or be considered by others as members of such aforementioned groups, or from different definitions of what the groups are about, causing as a result different interpretations and assumptions with prejudice.

That way, from my view, most stereotypes and presumptions can be avoided even if I do have some similarities that would make someone associate me with a particular group.

Is there a term that resembles that of what I just explained?

1 Examples of what I mean by groups from the top of my head (list not exhaustive and possibly slightly incorrect):

Religion: buddhism, christianism, including (non-religions terms/philosofies) atheism, theism, nihilism, and so on.
Political parties/systems like anarchy, democracy, dictatorship, monarchy, those kinds of views and whatnot.
Particular subjects / others: gamer, virgin, weeaboo, introvert, extrovert.
Gender (online).
Etc...


texts: Should I use plural or singular with "or"?

texts:
Which of these sentences are correct?

1. The songs or the title of the playlist was updated.
2. The songs or the title of the playlist were updated.
3. the title or the songs of the playlist was updated.
4. The title or the songs of the playlist were updated.


texts: What do you call that noise one might make in response to something they are unimpressed or appalled by?

texts: This is probably a stupid question. You know, that exhalation of air? Close to a tutting sound. It's like a non verbal response when someone is disgusted or appalled by something another person says/does.


texts: "Scary looks the future of AI" - Is this a correct sentence?

texts:
I was writing this sentence and it feels correct to me, but I am not sure.
Can you guys share if the following sentence is grammatically sound and if it conveys the following meaning?

  Scary looks the future of AI

Intended semantic meaning: The future of AI looks scary


texts:
What would be the antonym of the phrase "Gospel Truth" be?

Consider the usage in the sentence: "Don't consider articles in the newspaper as the gospel truth" what would the opposite be?

Specifically I'm looking for some sort of evangelical/biblical references which would depict falsehood.


texts: "...who didn't have a..." vs "...without a..."

texts:
I titled a short story "The Girl without a Soul". But recently I've been thinking on naming it "The Girl who didn't have a Soul."

Do they mean exactly the same? Which sounds better as a name for a short story?


texts: Uses of saxon genitive with the word Google as the owner

texts:
I would like to know which one of these expressions is the most correct and why?

  Google´s car

  The car of Google

When I refer to the driverless car Google has invented.


texts: I'd be glad if someone could tell me how numbers like "2.3.4.5.6" are read (pronounced)? "Two dot three dot four..." or "two three four" or maybe "two point three point four"?


texts: "instance of time" vs. "instant of time"

texts:
The following two sentences quoted from this scientific paper (emphasize added) actually mean the same thing: at any moment.

  For such plants this is related to the choke/valve openings, compressor, and pump settings at every instance of time. These are the control elements.

  The idea is to operate the plant, at every instant of time, as near optimum as possible.

Are "instance of time" and "instant of time" interchangeable?

If not, which one should be used? The phrases often occur in Physics textbooks with the same meaning.


texts: study comedy "at" or "in" the XYZ theater

texts:
I will study comedy at XYZ theater

Sounds more intuitive.

Which one is grammatically correct and why?


texts: Which one is correct? "Explain what this is?" or "Explain what is this?"

texts:
Please explain what is this?
or
Please explain what this is?

Which one is grammatically correct?


texts:
In the CBS TV political drama Madam Secretary, Season 1 Episode 17, Secretary of State comes back from Iran after successfully stopping a coup secretly plotted by some Iranian anti-government officials in coordination with a few U.S. officials. During a meeting with her in his house, Foreign Minister of Iran is killed and her bodyguard gets gunned down trying to cover her. She comes back unscathed but feels very sorry and guilty for his death. It (stopping the coup) becomes a big story and she can be a national hero.

The following conversation takes place after she comes back to her office.

  Her assistant: If there's a hero in this story, it's you.

  Elizabeth McCord (Madam Secretary): What did you just say? Because
  what I thought you said is that I'm the hero of this story.

  Her secretary: Excuse me, ma'am, Daisy didn't mean to imply...

  Elizabeth McCord: Excuse me, Nadine. See, what's confusing is how you
  could possibly say something like that just days after you attended
  Frank Cole (her bodyguard)'s funeral. A man who literally
  threw himself in front of bullets to save me, which is the very
  definition of heroism. You come at me with this win the cycle
  crap again, it'll be the last time you do. You understand?

I can guess what it means from the context, but I can't find the exact meaning even though I tried Googling and looking it up the dictionary.

What does win-the-cycle crap mean? What is its etymology? I tried Ngram Viewer but there was no result. Is it neologism?
What is the definition of cycle in the context?


texts: Are both "Hit and miss" and "Hit or miss" valid English phrases? Hit-and-Miss Misses the Grammar Mark claims that "Hit and miss" is illogical, but I see both in Google NGrams.


texts: Use of 'would' for evidentiality in American English

texts:
In American English, "would" is used more often than in British English. It seems that one reason is using 'would' for evidential use in American English. especially for indirect evidentiality and when the time frame is future.
I sometimes read news from ZDNet, and they frequently use 'would' for saying that something is not said/expected by the author, but said/expected by experts/community in the field.
for example from ZDnet news Losing Boot Camp for Arm Macs is no great loss

It was almost inevitable (at least from an engineering perspective)
that a boot loaded that could load Windows would be available for
these very PC-like Macs.

So do Americans use more and more 'would' for evidentiality in comparison with British English and in comparison with for example 50's American English?


texts:
I have often come across various posts that people make on any social media platform as, for example:

  En route to the Taj Mahal.

or

  En route Paris.

Although what I have been taught that it always has been only 'en route', without 'to'. What I feel is that it's a mass-mistake committed by so many people, that they have started to believe in the fact that it's also true (i.e., 'en route to').

Hence, I would like to have an even more expert view on this.

Although, I myself have done a bit of my own research:

-Historical comparison of en route to vs en route

So my inference has been that:

As the meaning 'en route' itself means while travelling from/to a place, hence, it's useless to add to in any sentence.
If one would look into the historical data, especially of British English, provided by Google, then both the words have been in existence but the mostly the old school writers prefer to use only en route instead of en route to. This can be easily distinguished by the usage of both of these choices.

Thereafter, I would like to finally know that if my research and inferences are correct.


texts: Should "something, and therefore something" be referred to as singular or plural?

texts:
For example, if I have the sentence

  Due to the improvement of our algorithm, our model, and therefore simulation, becomes more realistic.

Should the becomes be instead written as become? Does this sentence imply that I am referring to only the model, or both the model and the simulation?


texts: What is an adjective that describes 'one way' and 'two way' flow?

texts:
A few example are in order:

One way flow

An injection.
A river flowing into an ocean.
A mothers love.

Two way flow

Phone calls.
The flow of water between two oceans.
Herpies.

So, as you can see, all these things share the same property informally called 'flow', though it can only be one of two things in any point in time. As said property seems to be quite universal, I was wondering if there's an official term for what I dub 'one way flow', and 'two way flow'.


texts:
The following is part of a blog post in The Huffington Post:

  In the perfect world we would all be morning people. We would wake up calm, refreshed and ready to tackle the day. But this isn’t a perfect world, and many of us have hectic morning routines that are considered a success only if we're able to make it to work on time and with no coffee stains on our shirts.

I don’t understand the last sentence where it reads “only if we’re able to make it to work on time”.

Doesn't the verb make have to be followed by another verb without to?

Or, is this sentence used in a different way?


texts:
The Wiktionary lists under the meanings of paraxial:

  (mathematics) Parallel to one or more axes of the coordinate system
       paraxial rectangle

The respective information was added without any reference and given the following reasons I am skeptical about it.

Para means close to and similar, not parallel, which is for example reflected in another meaning:

  (physics) Near an optical axis
   paraxial radiation

On the other hand, I am aware that the actual use of a word may depart from its etymology.
Other dictionaries do not report paraxial meaning axis-parallel, but this may be due to the term being rather rare and technical (some dictionaries don’t contain paraxial at all).

My question thus is: Is paraxial actually used in the meaning of axis-parallel by some communities? Be aware that in many contexts, close to the axis may imply axis-parallel or almost axis-parallel. Relatedly, I am interested in uses of paraxial for something that is parallel but not close to an axis.


texts:
Is there a word or phrase better or more common than "mentally expensive" to describe something that requires a lot of mental efforts? or "mentally expensive" or "mentally costly" are ok?

Example: It is a tedious task to understand and summarize this 1000-pages book; it is about theoretical mathematics and is written 700 years ago. It is a task that requires a lot of mental effort. It is mentally costly.

I am searching for a word or a phrase to replace what is written in italic.


texts: Proper technical terms and sentence structure regarding web apps

texts:
Could you help me with a particular sentence in English? I am not a native speaker.

I am writing about my company from our official twitter account where mistakes are not forgiven. I want to say that we are moving from one software release model to another and I need it to be short (below 100 chars).

Currently I have a sentence like this:

  We have set aside the cloud-based version of XXX and will simply offer a standalone app. What do you think?

XXX is the name of our product.

I googled some parts and different variations of the sentence and there were very few results which lead me to think that there is something wrong. The specific parts I have trouble with – "standalone app" and "cloud-based version". Is it considered slang? What about "self-hosted web app"?

Sometimes I over-think stuff like this and can't decide what's right or wrong.


texts:
Consider:

  This book provides a solid psychological understanding of these experiments, and adds a few expansions and conclusions of its own. It also provides …

My question regards the comma. I have been told that having the comma there is an error.

According to Wikipedia this seems to be the case according to “some style guides”. The reason is that the stuff after the comma is not independent; it’s dependent on what comes before.

What do you think? It would seem to me the comma helps a lot, because those two “and”s without any comma make the sentence rather cluttered. That’s why I put the comma there. So I’m not sure.


texts: Is there a specific term which can be used for books glorifying evil or the villain?


texts:
I am currently using devd/Academic-Writing-Check for my master thesis in computer science. One thing it complains about is the usage of e.g.. What is wrong with that?

For example, I wrote:

1. In the case of many classes (e.g. 1000~classes of ImageNet) ...
2. This threshold can either be set automatically (e.g. such that 10% of all pairs are above the threshold) or semi-automatically ...
3. \item Color space (e.g. RGB, HSV)


texts: How to convey the idea of 'each of more than one person saying a different thing'?

texts:
I am a non-native English speaker. I have a question about forming the following sentence:

  "One one person is saying one one thing."

I mean each person is saying a different thing.

I want to express this angrily.

Is the sentence correctly formed?


texts: What is the origin of the phrasal verb “rope into”?

texts:
e.g. “I was roped into doing it”

From what I can find on the web, “know the ropes” originates either from sailing or theatre. “On the ropes” may originate from boxing.

The one article I found related to “roped into” explained that in Ancient Greece, slaves were sent to the streets with ropes dipped in paint to mark any citizens who were refusing to vote. This article didn’t have any sources, and while Ancient Greece was a strange place, I’m still skeptical.

Does anyone have a source for the origin of the phrase “roped into”?


texts: Having completed and after having completed

texts: (After)having completed his work, he left his office. Is there any difference in meaning between with and without 'After' in the sentence


texts: What is this touchscreen "kiosk" called?

texts:
Some shopping centers have a touchscreen "kiosk" with a map and store finder software that helps customers to find their "unfindable" store.

Do these have a name? I have tried to find some examples on the web, but I don't know what to search for.


texts:
There's a book entitled Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead.

It's not clear what exactly phrasal verb Lean in in it's title means. Does its meaning differ from the meaning of the verb to lean in the context of the book's name?


texts:
I want to refer to the future. When someone asks me: "what are you going to do when you have a chance to look at [something]?". How should I reply?

Basically, the question is which one is correct (or none):

  It will depend on what I see

or

  It will depend on what I will see


texts:
I am wondering what the precise differences between preternatural and supernatural are.

I know praeter is Latin for beyond so that preternatural literally means beyond natural.  But how exactly does that compare to supernatural?  Isn't supernatural just the same thing?

I also have the vague idea that on the "scale of unnatural-ness" we should have

unnatural < preternatural < supernatural = most unnatural.

Is that the only distinction?


texts:
I am reviewing an article, and the author uses the phrase

  ... this algorithm achieves the most superior fairness ...

Initially I thought the phrase is not correct, just like saying that something is more better than something, but I did a google search and got more than a million hits (using quotes).

So my question is: is the use of "most superior" ever correct? If not, why not?


texts: In Chesteron's play Magic a character often uses a phrase such as “as old Buffle used to say” or variations thereof. Is this, or used it to be, a common phrase? Does it have a specific meaning or is it just a foible of that character (the Duke)? The only connection I seem to find is with a character in Dickens's “Mrs. Lirriper's Legacy”, a Mr Buffle.


texts:
What would be a word to describe a person attempting to start a conversation?

For example,

  "What a nice necklace that is. Is that from Peru?" [word here]ed Henry.

Or...

  "I'm glad I finished this, the boss will sure be happy to see that it's done," [word here]ed George to his colleague.

It's not as obvious in the second case, but the word should denote that he's expecting a response.


texts:
Consider the following English sentence:

  I explained John's and Arthur's progress.

What would be the best (i.e. more elegant) way to change it if, instead of Arthur (or John), the 2nd person was myself? I was thinking of "I explained John's and my progress" but it just doesn't sound right to me ( I am a non-native English speaker).


texts:
I never heard of the idiom "basket of deplorables" and did´t find it anywhere.. could someone explain it?

The meaning of deplorable according to my dictionary (as adjective):
deserving strong condemnation; completely unacceptable; shockingly bad in quality.

My thesaurus lists two kinds of synonyms: (1) in the meaning of disgraceful (and also, as one of many, hateful) and (2) in the meaning of lamentable.

The context of this quote is a speech, where H. Clinton described Trump supporters.

Is the described group characterised as lamentable/disgracful, the included persons or is it meant more as a description of the groups behaviour (lamenting in a hateful/disgraceful way)?

Which synonyms would be most suitable in the given context?

Thank in advance! Best regards!


texts:
For the participle "included", there are two options that both sound similar to me. However, one option might be preferred above the other. It might also be that there is an underlying grammatical rule that I don't know. It's about word order. Which of the following phrases should be used?

Take a look at the included instructions.
Take a look at the instructions included.

Is there a general rule that can be used here?


texts:
I have structured several sentences in an essay this way:

  "Somebody believes that a computer able to defeat a Go grandmaster is
  intelligent."

Is it required "that" or it can be omitted? Indeed this is a literal translation from my language (italian), though it sounds a bit awful in English.
Thanks


texts: Meaning of "excited much", "stalker much"

texts: What does 'excited much' or 'stalker much' mean exactly, and which context are they used in? I don't get the usage of much after a noun or adjective. I often see this construction in comments, for example.


texts: He's been ordered to have the dog destroyed because it's dangerous but he refuses to comply. What is the role of the "to have the" in the sentence and how it is separated from he's been ordered to destroy the dog?


texts: How to phrase “define analyses” using only nouns?

texts:
English is not my mother tongue, and I am wondering how to best phrase define analysis using two nouns.  It could be  define analyses, too: it doesn’t matter whether it’s plural or singular.

To me, analyses definition sounds odd. However, analyses specification sounds not right. Can anyone come up with a better phrase?


texts: Does "suggest" + another verb go with an object or subject pronoun?

texts:
I've found this phrase in an English grammar book: "She suggested us going there."

Is it right? I'd say: "She suggested going there to us" or "She suggested we go there" etc ... but I would never say "suggest us".


texts: What do we call a house built with random material?

texts: I am looking for a term to describe the actual houses inside slums, shanty towns or spontaneous settlements? Please check out the attached to know exactly what I mean.


texts:
I am not a native speaker, in a business environment, I saw my American colleagues use this term often in MS-Outlook (setting up meetings) and e-mails. For example, it might appear in a meeting notice's subject line:

  Tag up on Project-X

Is this equivalent to "catch up on something"?

What troubles me is that I can't even find this term anywhere in online dictionaries. And this looks so popular that I feel shame/shy to ask. Could anybody share with me some links from where I can catch up on these popular  jargon? Thank you


texts:
I called on your mobile just now, but could not reach you.

Is the construction of the sentence correct?


texts: What's the English equivalent to the German "Manufaktur"?

texts:
I'm looking for the English equivalent to the German word Manufaktur.

Basically, a Manufaktur is just a factory, but in German it is assigned with "premium" and "hand-made". The term comes up as a little bit old-fashioned, but it is used for factories that work in a rock-solid way and produce very high quality products.

When you call a factory a Manufaktur, you think of the products as being "art", not just "products". E.g., there may be a Manufaktur for jewelry or watches. But also luxury and premium-brand clothes are made in a Manufaktur, not just in a factory.

The Latin origin (manus = hand, facere = to make) has a big influence to the German meaning of the word.

When I looked it up in the dictionary, I was given manufactory  and manufacture as translations. A little Googling pointed me in the direction that both words are highly assigned with industrial production - and the premium approach is not given in the English word.

So, to cut a long story short: What might be an appropriate translation of the German word "Manufaktur"?


texts: Word for 'Chaotic, Erratic movement/decisions'

texts:
As the title suggests, I was wondering if there is a word that fits a similar description to chaotic or erratic movement or decisions.

In one way, a word that could be inserted into this sentence 'That man can't stop ******'

Or if there's a seperate word, 'I wonder why I feel ****'.


texts: Confused about the placement of commas in the following sentences

texts:
"I believe in no God, no invisible man in the sky. But there is something more powerful than each of us, a combination of our efforts, a Great Chain of industry that unites us." - Andrew Ryan

What are the rules that permit the use of commas after the words "God", "us" and "efforts"?


texts: What should I say when meet a person for the first time?

texts:
What should I say at the end of the meeting, assuming that I've never meet that person before?

Should it be something like:

  "It was a pleasure to meet you."

or just

  "Nice to meet you."?


texts: Whats the best way to phrase this? "Gary Payton tells Marcus Smart that he reminds him of himself"

texts: Is "he reminds him of himself" correct usage of pronouns in this case?


texts: Is my analysis of the grammatical structure of this sentence correct?

texts:
If you want something in your life you’ve never had, you’ll have to do something you’ve never done.

Dependent clause

You — subject
want — main verb
something — direct object, assertive pronoun
in — preposition
your — possessive pronoun
life — noun, direct object

Relative clause

that (elided) — relative pronoun
you — noun
have never (adverb) had — present perfective

Independent clause

you — subject
will have — main verb
to do — infinitive
something — direct object, assertive pronoun

Relative clause

that (elided) — relative pronoun
you — noun
have never (adverb) done — present perfective


texts:
When we look up a word on Google, it provides a nice dictionary which always contains a chart demonstrating Use over time.

Over time, an interesting fact has always occurred to me that the frequency of use of many words is declining. I found it really abnormal and somehow intriguing. Could you kindly point out what might be the reason and what it might indicate? Any possible answer would be welcome.

PS: I’m not sure whether this question is off-topic, if it is so, please leave a comment, and I will delete it. Thanks!


texts: What did Obama mean by " ... something like this might have happened again"?

texts:
After a deadly random shooting at Fort Hood the other day, President Obama was quoted as saying as follows:

  In Chicago, President Obama said that White House and Pentagon
  officials were following the events closely. “We are going to get to
  the bottom of exactly what happened,” the president said. “We’re
  heartbroken something like this might have happened again.”

What does he exactly mean by saying "we're heartbroken something like this might have happened again" instead of "We're heartbroken something like this happened again?"


texts:
I received a note addressed to “Mr/s Eric [my last name].” Both on the front of the envelope and in the greeting of the message.

Is this shorthand for Mr & Mrs?


texts: Asked about if you can come to the party and you want to know the number of the people who’ll attend it, which is more commonly used, “How many people are going?” or “How many people are coming?”


texts:
For a foreigner, the usage of 'In + time' and 'after + time' are kind of confusing..

The system will be turned off in 5 minutes.
The system will be turned off after 5 minutes.

I'm confused because many translations in my language are just the same.
Based on my research and study, 1) is right. But I want to make sure.

In a dictionary, IN means after a particular length of time.

(F.Y.I) I want to mean that... like... the system will be turned off when 1min, 2min, 3min, 4min...has elapsed and (finally) 5min ! = the system shutdowns.

And if possible, could you explain what the difference is between them?


texts: What does "Possibly being eaten by Diana" mean? Thanks

texts:
I need some explanation of what "Possibly being eaten by Diana" means. Thanks.

My Chinese subtitle explained that Ms. B will have lunch with Diana (Ms. B's lady boss). I'm guessing that probably means Ms. A will not have lunch because Diana has Ms.B buried with work. Ms. B is an assistant and started working just right out of college. [It's conversation from American Drama, younger]

Ms. A : Hey, what are you doing for lunch?

Ms. B: Possibly being eaten by Diana (B's lady boss). Why?

Ms. A: I'm supposed to meet Lauren (A's friend), and I could really use your help keeping her entertained while I read this thing.

Ms. B: Sure.

Ms. A: Yes. You're the best.

Diana : Back in an hour. And think about the book!


texts:
When you meet an individual for the first time, would you say

  Today I had the pleasure to meet him

or

  Today I have had the pleasure to meet him

?


texts: "for the most part of the route" versus "for most of the route"

texts:
I encountered this question in a standardized test:

  As we neared the summit, the whole group of hikers—thinly spread across the mountain for most of the route—condensed, forming an illuminated line along the trail.

Now, the question asks us if the sentence is improved if we replace the italicized word with the phrase: the most part.

I have two questions here:

Are both statements (before and after replacement) grammatically correct?  I know this is not a reliable way to check grammatical accuracy, but upon googling both phrases I found lots of pages (with otherwise impeccable English) containing each version.
Which of the two statements is preferable (even if both are grammatically correct)? Is there any specific reason for this?


texts: he said the project will be carried out vs he said the project would be carried out

texts:
When do I have to use "will + verb" after that clause?

  He said the project will be carried out.

vs

  He said the project would be carried out.

According to the tense agreement, I think the first sentence is right.

Is there any slight difference?


texts: Use of the word 'off' to indicate a quantity

texts:
Over the years I've come across people saying things like:

  The system has 2 off host and 1 off service connections.

This is nearly a verbatim quote from a technical document that I'm reviewing.

This happens quite a bit in my work place (verbally and written), and in my mind this is simply incorrect, and 'yucky'. I think it comes from people filling in a request sheet where they are after a specific thing from stores... for example:

  3x {PART_NO} - specific cable

From here, I can understand that it is a mutation of 'of'...

  I'll need 3 of these specific cables.

Regarding the first quote:

Is this accepted / proper English?
Is this in common usage?
Should this be corrected? (It's a public document)

In this scenario I'd rewrite it:

Remove 'off'
Re-order so that the last item is plural, to match 'connections'

  The system has 1 service, and 2 host connections.


texts: Does "to err on the side of ... " indicate wrongdoing?

texts: Does the phrase "to err on the side of ...," specifically "err on the side of caution,"  indicate that it is wrong to be "on the side of," the object? "Err" makes me think of "error," and is such the word in question in the phrase. Additionally, is this phrase considered an idiom?


texts: What does "metadiscursive framework" mean?

texts:
In their article "The language of text-messaging" (which appeared in 2009, in S.C. Herring, D. Stein & T. Virtanen (eds), Handbook of the Pragmatics of CMC. Berlin and New York: Mouton do Gruyter.), Crispin Thurlow and Michele Poff use the phrase,

  Given this modest but growing body of research, it is surprising that
  public and policy-level discourse about text-messaging continues to
  fixate on its deleterious impact on literacy and standard language use
  -- especially of young people (see Thurlow 2006, 2007). No review of the literature on texting would, however, be complete without briefly
  considering this broader metadiscursive framework.

I googled this term "metadiscursive framework" and only got 8 hits, so I think it is relatively uncommon. The term "metadiscursive" is referring to "metadiscourse" which is discussion about a discussion (or maybe, about discussion). So I have a hand waving idea of what this means, but I will need to introduce it to the reader in plain language (using the magic of apposition).

Any ideas how I could define this term in plain language?

UPDATE

Here are some more examples of the term's usage:

From "Middle English medical recipes: a metadiscursive approach", here.

  The first person singular pronoun is associated with authorial
  identity while its plural counterpart is connected to the concept of
  community. This is essential in the metadiscursive framework as it
  points at the idea of communication as always accounted for in terms
  of social contexts.

From "The Moral Resonance of Arab Media", here.

  As I suggest, genre provides a way to discuss the organization of talk
  and poetry -- a "metadiscursive" framework -- as poets and signers
  build consensus over the kind of community that is best able to
  address the needs at hand.


texts:
A causative construction is used, for instance, when we have / make / ... someone do something for us. For example,

"I had the painter paint my house".

We could render this passively too:

"I had my house painted",

meaning that I arranged for a painter to come and paint my house. Or another example:

"I had my car fixed",

meaning that I did not fix my own car rather I asked someone to fix it for me.

But sometimes, we use the exact same construction, that is, "have/get + object + past participle", to denote that we have performed something:

"I got my homework done" or

"I need to get this done by tomorrow".

I am confused! How can one determine when the construction is causative and when it is not?


texts:
I came across this phrase when completing an exit interview for my summer internship and I'm not sure how to interpret it.
An example of the use is:

"What do you like least about school?"

I'm not sure whether the answer should be something positive, but not especially exciting, or whether it should be interpreted as "What do you dislike about school?"

Edit: Maybe I need another question for this. But this is the part that confuses me.

Why does "least" negate? There are things that I hate, things I dislike, things I dislike a bit, things I don't dislike or like, things I like a bit, things I like, and things I love. Why does "like least" pass over the neutral boundary into the negations?


texts: This might be the worst book of mine that

texts:
Is there anything wrong about the following sentence?
This might be the worst document of mine (i.e. written by me) that you have ever read (or "that you are going to read"?).
Thanks a lot.


texts:
I am writing some (mathematical) scientific paper. Which are correct:

"Let x=2, then x is in the set A."

or

"Let x=2. Then x is in the set A."

or

"Assume we have two sets, then one of them must be non-empty."

or

"Assume we have two sets. Then one of them must be non-empty."

or

"If t>0, then the function has no roots."

...


texts:
Let's say for example this sentence :

Finally, you're here! Where were you ? What took you so long ? _______!
1- I've been waiting here for hours.
2- I waited here for hours.

which one is correct to say ?


texts: When to use investigate, and when investigate into?

texts: I am translating a text about investigations by the International Criminal Court. I see "investigate into" in various references, but find only "investigate" in the dictionaries. Are both correct? When do you use one and when the other?


texts: Why is the prefix "Trans" shortened to "X"?

texts:
In technical literature as well as aircraft user interfaces where there is not enough space to write the whole word, the prefix "trans" is shortened to "x".

Transmit -> Xmit
Transfer -> Xfer

I am interested to know what is the origin of this. I am curious because "Ex" and "Trans" do not have a similar sound.


texts: Is the usage 'the message didn't send' grammatically correct?

texts:
I have often encountered this sentence on Facebook; even a web-search of this string indicates that it is used quite commonly. However, is it correct to say so?
The dictionary definitions of the word send do not seem to be consistent with this usage.


texts: "on the link," "in the link," or "at the link"?

texts:
Which is the correct usage:

Follow the instructions on the link mentioned above.
Follow the instructions in the link mentioned above.
Follow the instructions at the link mentioned above.


texts: Meaning of "Object" in the expression "If money were no object."

texts: The expression "If money were no object" is in fairly wide use.  I've always interpreted the word "object" as "material" (so, "if money were immaterial") or "objection" (so, "if [lack of] money were no objection").  In a recent newspaper article, a city auditor was quoted as saying "If money were no object, ... but of course money is an object."  This made me wonder what the underlying meaning of "object" is.


texts:
It seems colons are used more restrictively in English than in my native language (German), so I'm having a bit of trouble with it.

Do you think the use of the colon in the following sentences is good style in English, or should I better replace the colons (by semicolons)?

This leads us to the main goal of this work: to define a statistical model for object recognition.
I am following my father's advice: first I look left, then right, then I cross the street.

I'm really using the colon here for ", which is": "This leads us to the main goal of this work, which is to define a statistical model for object recognition" to make it more concise. Is that wrong? Are there any other good ways to make it as concise as possible and get rid of superfluous words like "which is?"


texts:
In the book Grammar Lab, there were examples of words that would give away the tense, for example, the words "yesterday, last week, the last time, when, etc" and "since, for, yet, still, so far, etc" Now I have found some words that might be one of these but I need to make sure I can confidently use these words with the correct sentences.

Are the phrases "back then, at that time, when I was young" used with Past Simple rather than Present Perfect? If not, can you give me examples of sentences against the statement? Do you know any other words that might give away the tense?


texts: What is the verb for “arranged marriage”?

texts:
Can you say:

His father married him off to an arranged marriage.

She was arranged to be married.

What verbs do the people arranging the marriage take? What about the people arranged to be married?


texts: Pun with "effervescent" and "fiddlesticks"

texts: I read a pun in a children's joke book "Effervescent enough covers on your bed, your fiddlestick out." I know that "fiddlestick out" is "feet will stick out", but what is the "effervescent" punning on?


texts: Ambiguity with the case of relative pronoun followed directly by a name (noun)

texts:
Here I have a practice GMAT exercise, the answer to which I am having a hard time grasping it. The exercise is as follows and the goal is to pick a replacement from five choices for the part in bold.

  In 1713, Alexander Pope began his translation of the Iliad, a work that, taking him seven years until completion, and that literary critic Samuel Johnson, Pope's contemporary, pronounced the greatest translation in any language.

Final answer:

  In 1713, Alexander Pope began his translation of the Iliad, a work that took him seven years to complete and that literary critic Samuel Johnson, Pope's contemporary, pronounced the greatest translation in any language.

I am having trouble comprehending this answer, in particular the part "that literary critic ...". The "that" is a relative pronoun referring to the translation work. I find it somewhat odd to see/read a relative pronoun directly followed by a name (noun). It seems like I could read it as if it's referring to a particular Samuel Johnson out of many.

Not sure what I am missing here. Perhaps, a couple examples (simpler) with the same pattern would help with my understanding. Thanks.


texts: Is it correct to use quotes before a comma when not representing spoken text?

texts:
In another question I asked, I used quotes to demark specific terms, but after I posted the question, I wondered if I'm doing it right.

Usually, when quoting something a person says, the quotation mark goes after the comma or period, like so:

  "This is my opinion," she said.

However, I sometimes use quotes not to represent something said by anyone, but instead for delineating a set term or phrase to make it clear that those words go together and none of them should be mistaken for a part of the rest of the sentence. Like this:

  Should I say "stand up", "standup", or "stand-up"?

This looks weird to me:

  Should I say "stand up," "standup," or "stand-up"?

... but maybe I'm wrong about the rules.

Is it correct to use quotes in this way? And if so, are the quotes positioned correctly relative to the other punctuation marks?

Are there other alternatives for delineating terms without the use of quotes?


texts: "I played two music" vs. "I played two pieces of music"

texts: I have a Canadian friend who sometimes helps me improve my English. A few days ago she sent me a list of some words (nouns) which the plural form is the same of the singular. One of these words was "music". I said to her that I didn't know that "music" don't need the "s" at the end to function as a plural word, and that it sounds wrong for me to say something like this: "I played two music". Actually, I was suggesting that, for me, "musics" sounds more "correctly". Then, she said that "I played two music" is indeed wrong and the correct is: "I played two pieces of music" or "I played two musical pieces". Can you explain why, And give some more examples of ways to use the word "music" in the plural form?


texts: Term for disappointment beyond all expectations?

texts:
"Utterly disappointed" comes to mind, but I am also looking for something to include worse than feared, despite hoping for the best.

For example, a situation where the expectations are reasonable, but the situation fails to even be understood properly from the beginning yielding to a wholly incorrect result.


texts: A name for the sound of liquid discharging from a bottle into a glass

texts:
Today, I googled, and could find the terms, like dip and plop.

Is there any word when we pour water into the glass, and we hear the sound produced within a bottle?

  As I poured myself a drink, I listened to the water ______ into my empty glass.


texts: Differences between "abundant'", "sufficient", and "enough"?

texts: In the case I want to say there is a lot of things available and implies 'the more the better', which word should I use?


texts: Is there any verb for making a girl more girly?

texts:
'Feminize' is used for making a boy more girly. We can say, "She is forcibly feminizing her boyfriend." But is there a word for pushing a girl to be more feminine?

The Oxford Dictionary of English suggests to me that feminize should be reserved for males:

  Feminize (also feminise) ▶ verb (with ob.) | Make (something) more characteristic of or associated with women as office roles changed, clerical work was increasingly feminized ◼ Induce female sexual characteristics in (a male).


texts: Is there one word that means ' an exaggerated action'?

texts:
ex. I falcon punch him so hard he woke up back in daycare.

I'm looking for a word to use in place of 'over the top' in the sentence 'I'm a student of over-the-top Kung Fu.'


texts: Word for a person who agrees with everything the teacher says

texts:
In college, I see that some of the students who sit on the first bench just keep on smiling or laughing at every joke the teacher makes. Everytime! Even if it is not funny!

The closest word that I could find was  obsequious. But I don't think it does the job here because those students are not that much obedient or attentive to appease the teacher nor I would say they are sycophants.

They just act so fakely in that little time in order to please the teacher even though after the lecture they would just not give a damn what the teacher was talking about.


texts: Expression when you want to say that you think it is the cause of the error

texts:
I am an IT engineer.

What expression do you use when you want to say that you think something is the cause of an error?

A seems to be making the error.

Does this make sense?

Is the cause of the error the subject?

I write this:

  Unknown variable mysqlx-bind-address seems to be making the error.

Is it correct English?


texts: I have a sensory details chart that needs to be filled out soon!

texts: Can anyone give me a few college level words, or a sentence,  to describe what the rural outdoors taste like? The setting is a large terrain with cows, goats, horses, and a big lake. Could there be somthing in the air that you could taste while outside in this setting?


texts:
Drop by/in is usually used for a casual visit to small places like someone's office or house, but what about a larger locale? For example, can you say...?

  Next time you drop by Toronto, please call me.

What alternatives do you suggest?


texts: Can we say an achievement "is" a title for someone?

texts:
All scientific progress consists in the advance from a less to a more adequate hypothesis. The Greeks were the first to follow this method, and that is their title to be regarded as the originators of science. (John Burnet, Early Greek Philosophy)

I think the author means that the Greek way of doing science earn the title for Greeks. But I do not know why he uses the link verb "is". Is it a figure of speech?


texts:
In the U.S., we seemingly prefer the former to the latter. However, I was sitting with my friends when one of them stated that he was "disorientated" while we were playing a video game.

My theory, at the time, was that he made the language connection between a "youtube game commentator" and "disoriented", resulting in a mash-up of the two words. Due to the rise of usage in the word "commentator", at least in the U.S., it made plenty of sense.

However, I just did some look-up this morning, out of curiosity, and it seems that the British prefer the latter to the former. It seemed a bit odd to me, so I asked some acquaintances in an SO Chat Room, and an interesting proposal was made.

Perhaps "Disoriented" is more of an adjective, where "Disorientated" is more appropriately a verb.

An example would be:

Adjective: He became disoriented in the forest.
Verb: He disorientated himself in the forest.

Thoughts?


texts: Word for simultaneously smiling at something heartwarming and exhaling air involuntarily

texts: What is the word or phrase for that action when someone smiles at something heartwarming and exhales air involuntarily at the same time? It's not a laugh or even a chuckle, more like a hum with no vocalization.


texts:
What does this phrase mean?

  Being a crabbit is not gonna make it any easier for you.


texts: Future simple or present simple with "when"

texts:
-When will you arrive in this city again? - In a month.

I was always taught that we don't use the future simple after "with", but I came across with this sentence in my textbooks. So i'm confused why we don't use the present simple in this example?


texts:
"Your rain  of love
Turned the land of my barren heart
Into a valley full of winsome flowers"
Can I use winsome here? If not then suggest me some words that I can use with flower
And please let me know if there is any other grammatical mistakes.


texts:
What is the difference between the following sentences? Basically, I would like to understand how the meaning changes with the usage of only in each of them.

He only speaks English.
He speaks only English.
He speaks English only.


texts: What is the origin of 'be my guest' idiom?

texts:
I was surprised when I found out the meaning of a dialog like this:

- May I do something?
- Be my guest.

As for me, it looks really weird. Why 'be my guest' has the meaning 'do it, I don't mind'?

And one more thing: is it strictly informal, or it can also be used on writing (let's say, in email conversation)?


texts: To make a long story short, formal or informal

texts: I know from here a couple of good alternatives for "to cut/make the long story short", I'm just curious if it is formal to use it or not.


texts: Why the word building is used insead of using built?

texts: We used to say the word as building.   Generally, we use the gerund form in the present continuous tense. Why are we using the word building when it is already built?


texts: "a" or "an" for words that don't start with vowels but sound like they're starting with a vowel

texts: Is it correct to say or write an student or an store?


texts: Is there a more concise term for a long-term girlfriend/boyfriend than "significant other"?

texts:
I've been together with my boyfriend for around 9 years now. There are times when I want to communicate that I am referring to someone who plays a major role in my life, like that of a husband, and "boyfriend" does not seem adequate.

To me, "boyfriend" seems to signify a newer relationship, one that is still in the experimental phase.

I've tried out a couple of other words, but they don't seem to carry the meaning I want.

"Partner" seems too detached, and makes me think of business partners.

"Companion" makes me think of a dog.

"Lover" seems too casual and is not really something I'd want to use in the workplace or when I'm trying to appear professional.

"Significant other" is what I would like to say, but I dislike using the term because there are so many syllables and it seems so wordy.

Is there a shorter term to use to describe a long term boyfriend/girlfriend that fills the role of a husband/wife?


texts: "the growth of he and his sister" in this sentence from the Guardian

texts:
Just read this line on the Guardian:

  He dismantles his bedroom and helps tidy the house, daubing white paint over the pencil marks on the doorframe which have measured the growth of he and his sister from infancy until now.

Can't figure out how he is correct here. Shouldn't it be him?


texts:
Is there any difference between these two sentences? Which one is grammatical in speech?

  I will do my best.
  I will do my level best.