texts: Word for a person who is responsible for their job and doesn't neglect it

texts:
This is a topic for a TOEFL essay:

  What are some important qualities of a good supervisor (boss)?

Now I'm looking for a word that best describes a supervisor that doesn't neglect their work, and success really matters to them. So they force their employees to do their job well.

Is there a good word that fits for this personality of good supervisors?


texts: Can the word "appointment" refer to a person?

texts:
I was wondering if it's ok to refer to the word "appointment" as if it were a person.
For instance: "I am waiting for my next appointment, who is running late."
If not, what are the alternatives?
Thanks!


texts:
I have seen the statements such as the following one in some literature:

  "In the book 'XYZ' the word 'House' is never used in the plural."

To me the word 'THE' right before plural seems very wierd.

Would it be incorrect to write it like this?

  "In the book 'XYZ' the word 'House' is never used in plural."

Why would the first one be better or correct?


texts: Is not a comma more than warranted in this kind of situation?

texts:
From The Two Towers:

To his simple mind ordinary hunger, the desire to eat hobbits, had seemed the chief danger in Gollum. He realized now that it was not so: Gollum was feeling the terrible call of the Ring.

This is not the first time I see this in English. It's equally jarring to me each and every time. If I had written that sentence, it would have doubtlessly been like this:

To his simple mind, ordinary hunger, the desire to eat hobbits, had seemed...

To have "mind and ordinary" right next to each other like Tolkien (apparently) did (unless the digital copy I have has a mistake in it) seems extremely strange to me. Downright wrong! But since I've seen it so many times in English, I suspect that it is indeed valid. I just strongly dislike the practice.
In old texts, they frequently over-used commas, yet not in this case where it truly is warranted for clarity and ease of reading.


texts: Concise words for "completed" and "planned" tasks in meeting minutes

texts:
In a weekly meeting you report what you did last week and what you are going to do in the next week. In a minute you record those informations.

Worked on tasks this week: xy worked on ... and also he ...
Schedule for next week: xy will investigate into ...

I am looking for some concise and meaningful words, describing Worked on tasks this week and Schedule for next week. Just report is too meaningless, because it could refer to everything.
An American word is preferred, but BE also works for me.


texts:
I work as a customer service representative in a software company. Sometimes I receive customer support questions during weekends. I check them on Monday. What is the correct way of saying that I wasn't able to respond 1 or 2 days ago (Sunday or Saturday) because I don't work during weekends?

Is "Sorry, I was away for the weekend" or "Sorry, I was out for the weekend" correct?

Thanks!


texts: How did "bail" shift to signify "money deposited as a guarantee when released"?

texts:
I fail to understand this etymology for bail (n.1) after "captivity, custody" (late 14c.).

"bond money, security given to obtain the release of a prisoner," late 15c., a sense that apparently developed from that of
"temporary release (of an arrested person) from jail" (into the custody of another, who gives security for future appearance at trial), which is recorded from early 15c.
That seems to have evolved from the earlier meanings "captivity, custody" (late 14c.), "charge, guardianship" (early 14c.).
The word is from Old French baillier "to control, to guard, deliver" (12c.), from Latin baiulare "to bear a burden," from baiulus "porter, carrier, one who bears burdens (for pay)," which is of uncertain origin; perhaps a borrowing from Germanic and cognate with the root of English pack, or perhaps from Celtic. De Vaan writes that, in either case, "PIE origin seems unlikely."

How did "charge, guardianship" shift to mean "temporary release (of an arrested person) from jail"? Even if your surety must provide security to take custody of the arrestee, the arrestee is still released. Unquestionably, "release" is the opposite of "captivity".

Then how did "temporary release (of an arrested person) from jail"  shift to mean "money deposited as a guarantee when released"? Indubitably, these are two wholly different notions. "temporary release" is a physical act, and differs from "money".


texts: Is there a word for the act of dimming an oil lamp?

texts:
A friend of mine had this request:

  Alright so I was sitting at this table with a kerosene lamp, and it
  was a little too bright.  Watch out!  So I turned a little knobbly
  thing to lower the flame, and then had the vaguest recollection that
  there was some verb for this precise action, the dimming of an oil
  lamp, but a week of pondering and now some searches for "list of lamp
  actions" have not flushed out any foxes.  Can anyone toss me some
  helps on this one?  I think it may be an archaic word that one would
  find in Charlotte Bronte or Laura Ingalls Wilder, also maybe the kind
  of word that the Decemberists or Joanna Newsom would bandy about to
  show they mean nineteenth-century business.

I briefly checked the OED online and some other sources (well, Google) but didn't find anything sufficiently specific. Does anyone know if this word actually exists?


texts: Can the word "publications" represent books, papers, journals, magazines, etc.?

texts:
The top-voted answer to Is there a noun representing books, papers, magazines, and all the other things one might read? is "documents" and "literature".

I want to know how the word "publications" compares to "documents" and "literature".

Is "publications" the right word to represent books, papers, journals and magazines? If not, why not?


texts: Does "Should I wash my hands of this?" suggest a bribe?

texts:
Should I wash my hands of this?

Has this expression ever been used as a way of suggesting a bribe?


texts: Is the SE "new privilege" notification message a sentence?

texts:
When a Stack Exchange user gets a new privilege, it's accompanied by the following notification:

  Congrats, you've gained the privilege – talk in chat learn more

That phrase "may be oddly worded, but it is a valid sentence," according to Jeff. I'm not so sure. Who's right?


texts: Word for playing the music purely and unpurely

texts:
I am looking for adjectives/adverbs that express the quality and the extent to which the melody of a musical performance adheres to the prescribed composition.

For example,  A4 has a frequency of 440Hz. But if somebody is asked to play or sing A4, the actual performance may result in a note with a different frequency. The greater the difference between the prescribed and the actual frequency is, the more unpure the sound it is.

So what are the correspondent adjectives? Just pure and unpure?


texts: Conditional: "... would not have been turned ..." (is it grammatical?)

texts:
I came across the following piece:

  So sensible, indeed, was the President of the weakness of the excuse,
  that he sought to make a diversion in favor of the Crown by demanding
  of M. NICGOLEWSKI, one of the arraigned, "if the insurrection would
  not have been turned against Prussia had Russia been vanquished?
  "Not," replied the Pole, "unless the leaders of the insurrection had
  been recruits from a lunatic asylum." This retort had a striking
  effect on the audience, and so disconcerted the President that he at
  once adjourned the court. [→]

Anybody know whether "if the insurrection would not have been turned against Prussia had Russia been vanquished?" is grammatical?

My question arises from "would not have been turned" that I would replace with "hadn't been turned".

Sorry if the question is too basic for native English speakers!


texts:
Seque and Sequel - is there a term for pairs like these? ... verb and noun just a letter (or two?) apart?

(Versus other verb noun pairs which are spelled the same such as 'laugh', 'escape', 'light'. 'finish', 'grin' and 'damage'.)


texts: What does "money is like mush not not" mean?

texts:
I'm not sure if it's off topic or not, so apologies if it's irrelevant.
Can anyone explain the meaning of a specific slang phrase, "money is like mush not not"?
I keep seeing it in random places but couldn't find an explanation for it in almighty Google.


texts: Violence incidents or violent incidents?

texts: In an academic paper I discuss violent situations. Is it correct to refer to this as 'violence incidents'? Or should I refer to it as 'violent incidents' instead?


texts: What are the differences between "crack", "slit", "crevice", "split", and "cleft"?

texts:
I was wondering what differences are between crack, slit, crevice, split, cleft and possibly other similar words, and when to use which?

For example, I just bought a bowl and there is a small such kind of flaw in the bottom.


texts: Is it correct to use "friend and self" in a message or email?

texts:
I have seen some people write "my wife and self were invited"
Or
"Please give access to Tom and self"

Is this is correct way of using "self" in a sentence?
Or there is a different way?


texts: Are there different noun forms of 'complex' and 'complicated?'

texts:
There are subtle differences between complex and complicated.  As far as I can tell, though, they both merge into one noun form: complexity.

Merriam-Webster has an entry for complicatedness, but that sounds outright contrived.

Are there any better words for this?


texts: Omitting "to be" from a sentence before adjective

texts:
I have noticed many a time that some sentences do not use "to be" before an adjective.
For example:

the things that I learned from that book have proven (to be) useful to me time and again.

Does omitting "to be" from the above sentence change anything?


texts: Does “out loud” require a hyphen?  As in “think out loud.”  What do you think?  I think it does not.  I noticed that it is commonly used without one.  Even so, it bothers me.


texts:
I was asked to introduce myself and what languages I spoke. So I mentioned all the languages I know and in the end, I added "... and I can speak a little bit of German"

After I said that, I was wondering if I used the correct expression. Should it have been:

I can speak some German
I can speak a little German
I can speak a little bit German
I can speak a little bit of German
All 1-4
None of 1-4

Please provide your comments.


texts: Word for someone who helps a leadman or chief

texts:
According to my observance, I found the following words:

Helper, one who helps others.

Assistant, one who assists others.

Are these okay, or should I need other words?


texts: What do you call a house which has a yard outside?

texts:
What do you call a house that has a yard outside(an enclosed one with walls, though) and two or three rooms inside, and still it's not all that big and luxurious to call it a mansion?

I've searched for it and it seems that "villa" might be an option, however, it's a UK word and I want a US word. Moreover some image searching shows that villas usually have pools in their yards, while we only have a tiny garden with some young apricot and orange saplings and a single palm tree.

It might be just not as common in the English speaker's culture to live in such houses, nevertheless, I need to describe our house in some ways right away!

I also thought about "A large house" but our house is not really that big too. Any thoughts? Thank you in advance.

Edit:

Here's an image from the yard and the tiny garden:


texts: Why is the word 'always' written with only one 'L'?

texts: Does anybody know why the word always is written with one L, although it is formed by putting together two words, all and ways?


texts:
On a website, I show a Google Map with markers. I have some text that says

  If you can't see them all, zoom the map out to reveal the rest.

This sounds kind of lame, I also considered:

  If you can't see them all, zoom out the map to reveal the rest.

But that sounds even worse. Can anyone offer a more pleasing alternative?


texts:
In The Riddle of the Sands (1903), Erskine Childers writes:

For the plain truth was that my work was neither interesting nor
important, and consisted chiefly at present in smoking cigarettes, in
saying that Mr So-and-So was away and would be back about 1st October,
in being absent for lunch from twelve till two, and in my spare
moments making précis of—let us say—the less confidential consular
reports, and squeezing the results into cast-iron schedules.

That day I made my last précis and handed over my schedules—Procrustean
beds, where unwilling facts were stretched

What is a cast-iron schedule? I have Googled for definitions and documents containing the locution, to no avail. I don't think the locution is being used figuratively and can only venture that it refers to a type of binder used in government offices (the British Foreign Office in this case) at the beginning of the 20th century.
EDIT: I have discovered the concept of Retention Schedule for archival. Possibly this is what Childers means here and possibly it refers by extension to an archive document format with strict rules, especially with regard to text length, hence cast iron.


texts: Movies 'based on' v. 'inspired by' true events

texts: I have heard there is a difference between movies 'based on' verses those 'inspired by' true events. Does one relationship with the 'true events' have more license than another, or is it just the director's discretion as to which phrase to use?


texts:
EDITED TO ADD PRECEDING SENTENCE

  At some point, we all ponder the workings of consciousness; but I pinpoint two catalysts which propelled such musings to a pursuit of brain understanding.  The first is the acceptance, perhaps wishfully, that understanding the brain is achievable within my lifetime.

I want to replace wishfully with something that more reflects the feeling of wanting something to be true to the extent that you believe it to be true.

Also if anyone could comment on the comma use in this statement then that would be great.


texts:
I am sure that this wouldn't have much meaning, but still want to get acknowledged whether usage of double dots is formal.

I have observed people using double dots in business Emails. Usually while adding additional recipients to the thread.
example:

Adding XYZ..

I would like to know the specific meaning of it.

In the world of music, placing double dots .. infront of   note is a shortcut, it signifies addition of its next level note.

EDIT: Does it specify an infinite Pause? Infinite .. I mean by unsure (not never ending).

In general case, if I use this .. in my statement what would it mean?


texts: "We do is to complain" or "We complain about it"?

texts:
I was just reading a News paper. and found this sentence:

  Our impatient host could not understand that our security personnel are under
  so mush pressure in such tense red alert situations. They do their duty and try
  to protect us so that we can go back home safely to our families. And all
  we do is to complain and ignore red alerts.

I am not getting this one. Why it  could not be as  we complain about it and ignore red alerts.

Is there any grammatical mistake while using this: We complain about it and ignore red alerts.


texts:
I was reading this particular sentence:

  She took the disguise of an old woman and came to Eleusis, where she was welcomed by the family of King Celeus.

Disguise means costume. So, does it mean she took an old lady's clothes?


texts: I am particularly fond of Alan Watts. So I was listening to one of his recordings the other day and I haven't been able to figure out what is said at 32:05. It is highly complex to my foreign ears. It might be just as hard for the natives present.


texts: Double words in a sentence, what is this called?

texts:
Trying to find out what double words in a sentence are called. I know there's got to be a word for it. There is for everything!

Examples:

  I had had a good day, until you arrived.
  We know better now that that is complete bullshit.
  I gave her her hat back.


texts:
Mark Zuckerberg said, "Our mission has, really, always been to connect the world."

My questions is:
Can we say "Our mission is, really, always to connect the world"?

What's the difference between "has always been" and "is always" in this context?

Thank you for your help!


texts: Using "and" multiple times within a list

texts:
The sentence in question is:

  Today I went to the store, bought eggs, cheese, and milk, and bread.

Is it ever proper to write the first and? Other cases I find use the and to connect one thing together (Tom and Sue Banks, for example). I haven't seen anything on this usage of "and" in particular.


texts: Is “let me say this on the outset” formal English in business-speak? What does it really mean?


texts: How do you explain the difference between 'place' and 'space'?

texts:
I'm an English teacher myself (to foreign students), but a student of mine asked me this and I wasn't able to give a concise answer. Googling this came up with geography and philosophy results, when I just mean this in terms of grammar. I couldn't find anything on this stack exchange either.
I think space is usually uncountable, but a parking space is an exception. A place could refer to a building or a seat on a train or a place on a course.
Mistakes between them could be: 'I'm looking for a parking place' and 'There's no place in this room'.
But how would you clearly explain the difference between the two?


texts: "We interact daily" or "we daily interact". Which is correct?

texts:
I'm writing a piece and twice people have "corrected" this phrase

  We interact daily with...

to

  We daily interact with...

Is this a real correction? It feels that the former is correct, while the latter is incorrect. Am I right, are they right, or are they both correct?


texts:
I have a form which I have to fill in.
Therer are the fields name, address, email and current post.

I know what to fill in in name, address and email. But what is current post?


texts: What voice should I use when explaining how to program a computer?

texts:
I'm planning on writing a blog about computer programming, and I'm having trouble finding the right voice. I'm looking for something that feels personal and conversational. Third person seems sterile, first person singular comes across egotistical, second person comes across as bossy.

I've been using second person plural, which has an inclusive feel to it, but that takes away from the conversational feel of the non-technical parts of the piece.

Here's a quick example:

Let's say that we have a pipe delimited text file called 'addresses.txt' where
the first line of the file is a header with column labels:

 First Name | Last Name | Street Address         | City        | State | Zip   |
 Homer      | Simpson   | 742 Evergreen Terrace  | Springfield | OR    | 97477 |
 Marge      | Simpson   | 1094 Evergreen Terrace | Springfield | MO    | 65802 |
 Bart       | Simpson   | 1092 Evergreen Terrace | Springfield | IL    | 62704 |
 Lisa       | Simpson   | 59 Evergreen Terrace   | Springfield | ME    | 04487 |
 Maggie     | Simpson   | 94 Evergreen Terrace   | Springfield | WI    | 53176 |

We can use a for loop to pull and print each field of the header

for i in {1..6};
do
    header="$( head -1 addresses.txt |  cut -d '|' -f $i )"
    printf "%d: %s\n" $i "$header"
done

This works when I'm describing how I want the reader to write a piece of code, but it doesn't work when I'm describing the programming language as a whole:

The Bourne shell is a full fledged programming language, complete with
branching and looping constructs.  These constructs can be used on the
command line, affording us a great deal of expressive power without a
lot of typing.

This comes across as dry, and the token 'affording us' is weak. Furthermore, writing the whole blog in the first person plural seems artificial.

How should I approach this?


texts: Is there a phrase for "a close distance"?

texts: I'm trying to describe a sense of distance that makes one feel his/her personal space is invaded. The context would be "She turned around, only to see him grinning at her from _____." I tried "a skip", but it somehow feels strange given the context. Any help would be much appreciated!


texts: How common is 'Sweet as' in the rest of the world?

texts:
In New Zealand, we have slang 'Sweet as', which means 'That's ok', 'No problems', 'All good'.
eg.

Sorry I'm not going to be able to make it today, my child is sick.
Sweet as - can you do next week?

I'm wondering how common this phrase is in the rest of the world, and whether people understand its meaning.


texts: Why have the subjunctive and indicative converged in Modern English?

texts:
It is to me a curious fact that the subjunctive mood of verbs in English has so nearly disappeared in modern times. In fact, even the correct form and usage of the subjunctive in Modern English barely distinguishes itself from the indicative! In many regions and dialects, the subjunctive would appear to be entirely obsolete, replaced by the indicative in all cases. (Educated speakers, certainly in Britain at least, do however still make good use of it.)

The present subjunctive form in Modern English is (in almost all cases) virtually identical to the third-person plural present indicative (e.g. 'He were', 'She own'). This is markedly different from Old English, where the subjunctive form a form was much more easily noticeable. Even by the advent of Early Modern English in the 16th century, the subjunctive was already converging with the indicative.

Other Modern European languages, not only Romance ones such as French and Spanish, but Germanic languages related to English (e.g. Dutch/German) have a much more pronounced subjunctive form. From what I remember of my Classical Latin, word suffixes for a variety of tenses are hugely obvious in the subjunctive.

My question is: why is this convergence of the subjunctive and indicative so strongly the case in Modern English? Is it a general trend in other Germanic/Romance (or more generally Indo-European) languages? Why is its disappearance so much more apparent in English than other related languages?


texts: Can you use "the legislator" as a general term to refer to the legislative power?

texts:
In Dutch, the term "de wetgever" (literally "the legislator", "the lawmaker") is often used to refer to the legislative power, the legislature. This is very often translated in English as "the legislator".

E.g.: "A new ruling by the Constitutional Court will force the Belgian legislator and social partners to harmonise the employment statutes for blue-collar and white-collar workers by 2013, ..." (source: http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/eiro/2011/12/articles/be1112011i.htm)

However, I cannot find good examples of this English term being used this way on UK websites. So, I was wondering if this actually correct.


texts: What does "to go to school on someone" mean?

texts:
This phrase was used when a person addressing other people said:

  You went to school on us


texts: How to ask about notion meaning in plural from?

texts:
If I want to ask about some notion mentioning it in plural? Should I use "is" or "are"?

What is coroutines?

or

What are coroutines?

or better avoid such a forms and be strightforward

What is coroutine?

Intuitively I use "is" like it single notion which just described as word in plural form. But is there a rule for such a case? Or what the form is preferable?


texts:
Would it make sense to say:
‘He’s cautious regarding matters of privacy’
I am trying to say this person takes privacy very seriously and is an especially private individual themselves.


texts: another word for an effortless look as it relates to fashion

texts:
I'm trying to find a word for, just a little undone, as it relates to fashion. For example, you always look very put together but never seems like you've tried that hard and never look too perfect. As if you are done yet undone in some way and can't pinpoint how but the look is envied.

She was admired by everyone for how she looked,_______, like she didn't even try but was styled impeccably.
Her look was so ____, like she didn't care to look perfect but somehow still did.


texts: Collective Term for Cardinal and Ordinal Directions

texts:
I'm writing a research proposal in which I frequently reference the cardinal and inter-cardinal (ordinal) directions together. Is there some term, no matter the obscurity, that refers to the eight of them?

If there are any related words that come to mind that don't quite fit (like one that collectively refers to vaguely "major" directions), I would like to hear those as well.


texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  How to use “Text” as verb

If I sent someone a text on my mobile phone would I say I texted them?
We say I'll text you so now it's out there as a verb but the past tense sounds so clumsy.


texts: Is Shakespeare really the source of our modern meaning for odd?

texts:
In a recent article, the Guardian states that

  Shakespeare is also responsible for the modern meaning of "odd".

What is the evidence for this? The textual evidence alone is thin and unconvincing.

Is Shakespeare really the source of our modern meaning for odd as unexpected, strange, or unusual?


texts: Which is right? "Ambitious students are more likely to succeed than are those with little ambition / than those with little ambition

texts: Which is right? "Ambitious students are more likely to succeed than are those with little ambition" or "Ambitious students are more likely to succeed than those with little ambition"


texts: Which sentence is the subordinate sentence?

texts:
I have a Hegelian sentence pointing out to the fact knowledge and its object could not be different than each other. But the sentence is too long and complicated, and I cannot understand which one is the subordinate one and which one is not. Can you please help me with this?

  That what has been said, namely that the consideration of knowledge is not different from the consideration of the nature of its object, must hold good without limitation is self-evident in this material especially, or better in it alone.

Furthermore, I cannot understand the expression of "holding good with" and the last part "better in it alone."


texts: How did 'of' change semantically from 'away, away from, off'?

texts:
of (prep.) [⇐]
   Old English of, unstressed form of æf (prep., adv.) "away, away from,"
   from Proto-Germanic *af, [...], from PIE *apo- "off, away" (see apo-). Primary sense in Old English still was "away," but shifted in Middle English with use of the word to translate Latin de, ex, and especially Old French de, which had come to be the substitute for the genitive case.

After my long tiresome enervated search, Google discovered a book that addresses my question briefly: pp 209-212, 235-236 of The Semantics of English Prepositions; Spatial Scenes, Embodied Meaning, and Cognition (Reprint ed, 2007) by Andrea Tyler, Vyvyan Evans. It quotes the OED's etymology of of that confirms the above etymons' influence on the Semantic Field of of.

But how did 'off, away, away from' change semantically into the more figurative meanings? I ask about the big picture and semantic field of of just like how this explanation  explains the underlying meaning of ‘tally’.


texts: What is the origin of the term "cooling glass" as the term for sunglasses in Indian English?

texts:
I live in India, and in the region where I live, I have never heard the term "sunglasses" used while speaking English. The term used here is "cooling glass" (in singular.) The term gets used quite a lot, since sunglasses are popular. (It's the tropics, can you blame us?)

The word "cooling" kind of makes sense. Sunglasses do have a somewhat "cooling" effect.

But I'm curious as to the exact origin of the term. I don't see any trace of such a term in UK/US/AU/NZ/CA English. AFAIK, they all refer to them as "sunglasses."

How did Indian English come to refer to this as "cooling glass"? Was it once a standard term in British English? Has the term come from elsewhere? Or did it just occur somewhat randomly and then gain ground?

By the way, I haven't traveled all over India, much less discussed sunglasses everywhere, so maybe this is only the case in some areas? Can native speakers of Indian English fill me in?

Example of usage from recent Kollywood blockbuster:

Does the term originate from Indian English itself? If yes, how? Or did it come from another dialect, such as British or American English?


texts:
I googled about usage and grammar of that. There are several usages
First, as an objective. For example, I think that it is not a good idea.
Second, as a subjective, such as That he choose to take a bus to work is not a good idea.
Third, as an extension after an adjective, such as I am glad that he survived the situation.
Forth, as an extension of it, such as it is a good idea that voting is compulsory in australia.
Firth, the usage of so...that and such....that. I am so happy that he survived the storm. Voting is a good idea that everyone has a say.

However, my question is that can one use that after a noun to explain more?

For example, I am a fool that I lost my key and got myself locked outside my door. Voting is a good idea that everyone has a say.


texts: What would you call a person who is always confused?

texts: It struck me today what would be the word for confused people. One of my friends is always confused in her daily life, she just can't decide what to do. If I call her, saying "you're a confused person" then it sounds more general. I am just wondering is there any single word for these kind of people?


texts: Why "more severe are" is put in front of "its drawbacks"?

texts: I am learning English. I saw this sentence in a youtube video: Vampire has 4 stages. The higher your Vampire stage is, the stronger you become, but also more severe are its drawbacks. My question is why don't say "but also its drawbacks are more severe"?


texts: What is the meaning of 'should have got forgotten'?

texts:
I came across the following passage:

  In August that year, Baleson wrote to his friend Francis Galton: “I am
  writing to ask you to look up the paper of Mendl [sic] [which] seems to
  me one of the most remarkable investigations yet made on heredity and
  it is extraordinary that it should have got forgotten.”

I attempted to interpret it by myself but the conclusion that i draw contradicts with itself. I consulted to many teachers. Most of them say that, it denotes that it is surprise people didn't remember and i should replace got with "been".  Others says that, the mentioned information is now being remembered

  it is extraordinary that it should have got forgotten

From this image:


texts: Why is it always women and not men in: “Soccer mom,” “Tiger mom,” “Helicopter mom,” “Wal-Mart mom,” and “Security mom”?

texts:
In connection with my question about the meaning and currency of “Security mom,” I was drawn to the fact that all the following labels; “Soccer mom,” “Wal-Mart mom,” “Security mom” are combined with mom and not dad, although education, consumption, security are common interest for both women and men.

In Japan, we have 主夫 -  housekeeping husband. We say 教育ママ、教育パパ- child- education-obssesed mama, papa, and 育児ママ、育児パパ-nursing mama, papa.

Are there any linguistic, cultural or any thinkable factors to suffix “mom” to common or mutual social concerns such as education, politics, occupation, finance, consumption, and lifestyle?


texts:
Please point out where ‘abaft the beam’ is on this picture. I cannot find it.

  abaft
  adv. Toward the stern.
  prep. Toward the stern from


texts:
I provide paint job service for homes, a custom paint job that only I provide, none of my competitors do this kind of paint job. For this service I am looking for a tagline.
In the tagline I want to say because of my paint job people will remember your home
So your home becomes memorable but if I want to say it in short like Get ___


texts: Meaning of “candle” in "I now call to mind that there was a letter in the candle three days ago"

texts:
In the book The Trumpet Major, by Thomas Hardy, there is the following paragraph:

  That was Budmouth postmaster, and he says there's a letter for me. Ah, I now call to mind that there was a letter in the candle three days ago this very night - a large red one; but foolish-like I thought nothing o't. Who can that letter be from?

What is the meaning of candle in this text?

That is the only occurrence of the word candle in that chapter.


texts:
What is the origin of rinky-dink?
The word dinky carries the sense of something trifling,small,shoddy,or insignificant.
Maybe rinky just gives it a reduplicative quality.
But references give the phrase an unknown origin.


texts: Can I use a contraction with names or only with subject pronouns?

texts:
I have a doubt. Can I use this contraction?

  Karen and Tony've got a computer

Instead of the full form of have got :

  Karen and Tony have got a computer

Which one should I use? Or, are both correct?


texts:
I started out to make a program which finds out the number of syllables in a word, which is when I realized that I couldn't decide how many syllables cry consists of.

According to Wikipedia,

  A unit of pronunciation having one vowel sound, with or without
  surrounding consonants, forming the whole or a part of a word; e.g.,
  there are two syllables in water and three in inferno

According to the above definition, cry does have 2 vowel sounds, so the number of syllables should be 2.

Technically, it should be 1, since there is a 'y' and no vowel.

I want to know what the community thinks about it.


texts: What's a good choice of a word or phrase for "subject/target to be analyzed"

texts:
There are words somehow informal like researchee to describe the subject being or to be researched. As far as I know there seems no such single word for subjects to be analyzed, so how do people describe that?
Some choices I can think of is like

analyzed subject: would this sounds like it has been analyzed?
analysis target: purely not sure.

Are there any other choice?
----------------edited----------------
My situation: There I got an algorithm to analyze (what we call an analyzer) a set of products. We have all kinds of information of those products and the output of it is some statistics like rate of defects and total costs. The input set is decided by our customers, maybe it is all the products ordered last week, or some other conditions. My question is how to name "this set of products".
So maybe it's ok to just use the word subject. But I just wonder there's any adjective to describe specifically that this subject is going to be analyzed by my analyzer.


texts: Is it correct to say "I have no intention to run after you, no more!"?

texts:
Provided that "It's totally useless to run after someone who does not make the slightest effort to listen to you", e.g. when you are always there, trying to stop someone from making a mess, but he/she doesn't care about that and continues to go on his/her own and the situation repeats again and again, until you get annoyed and you don't want to help him/her anymore, is it correctly (grammatically and semantically) to say:

"You know what?!?! I have no intention to run after you, no more!!!"?


texts: What pronouns should you use after the pronoun one?

texts:
For instance, if I wanna write: one should not be judgmental if they don't know the truth. Is this correct?

I found this structure e.g. One is said to communicate successfully when he or she is able to express what he or she feels is a bit redundant, I have to repeat he or she all the time.

So, what pronoun should I use in order to refer the previous ONE when I'm writing in the way in the example sentence?


texts: 'eliminating, publicising, communicating, allocating': Are these words gerunds or participial adjectives?

texts:
Are these words gerunds or participial adjectives?

  Eliminating the secrecy surrounding pay by openly communicating everyone's remuneration, publicising performance bonuses and
  allocating annual salary increase in a lump sum rather than spreading
  them out over an entire year are examples of actions that will make
  rewards more visible.


texts: I need help to find a word that's too long to describe in a title

texts:
Is there a word for a group of people that know they're doing something wrong, but they don't want to stop in fear of embarrassing themselves or letting their peers down? An example sentence would be

It's no use trying to reason with them – they're all just [...]s."


texts: Neutral to moderately offensive word for unimportant and uninteresting town

texts: I'm looking for a short term describing a town which is not important, possibly looked down on by people coming from other places. There is probably nothing interesting to do there, etc. One expression that comes to mind would be shit-hole, but I'm looking for terms which are either neutral or at most moderately offensive.


texts: Why do non-native English users often spell "standard" as "standart"?

texts:
I've seen this incredibly often on StackOverflow, but also on a few other internet sites. "Standart" is an extremely common misspelling of "standard".

Is there a reason in how English is taught to non-native speakers, or another language which spells standard in this way, which results in the confusion?

Usually when I see this the rest of the conversation is otherwise flawless, which gives this an air of a careless mistake — e.g. confusing the English word with a cognate in another language. However, I don't know enough about other languages to tell if that's what's going on, or if it's something else.


texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  Which one is correct to say: “It's me” or “It's I”?

Which of these is correct? "It's me" or "It's I".

I hear these both colloquially but need the grammatically correct statement if one is preferable over the other.


texts: Which one is correct? "To have a keen eye for detail" or "To have a keen eye for details"?


texts: Is there a word like melomaniac but for movies or Tv series?


texts: Using of 's, 've and 'd: official or colloquial?

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  Using contracted forms (“don't”, “let's”) in a formal text
  Usage of contractions like “it's” and “that's” in textbooks
  Should contractions be avoided in formal emails?
  Are contractions like “didn't” forbidden in written English?
  Is it better to write without contractions? E.g. “cannot” instead of “can't”

I've been just told that usage of 's, 'd and other similar suffixes is considered to be colloquial and isn't (isn't - another example) acceptable in formal letters. And that instead of that the full words should be used, such as "it is", "I would", "I had", etc

Is that true?

PS: I tried to look at Chicago Style Guide (I've heard of it but never had a chance to look through it) but found that it's paid. If anyone know what CSG thinks about that or any other authoritative style guide - it would be nice if you mention that as well (if only it doesn't violate a particular style guide terms of service)


texts: Word for "something that cannot be other than two possibilities"

texts:
"Something can either be in state A or in state B; it cannot be in both of these states simultaneously, and it cannot be in neither of them. It has to be in one of those two states". What would those two states be called with respect to each other?
For example, something can either be living or dead, it cannot be both or neither at the same time. So the property of being living or dead would be called _________ of each other. It can be called the opposites of each other but that doesn't convey the full meaning. Because "black" and "white" are "opposites", but something can be other than black and white e.g., red. So it fulfills the second condition of not being in both of the states simultaneously but doesn't suffice the first condition of being in either of those states.
For reference, it is called نقیض(Naqeed) in Arabic. There is a separate word for opposite i.e., ضد (zidd).


texts: Why do we write the name of Judges in a strange way?

texts:
I did a bit of law when I was in school, and recently, I recalled a unique feature of the law system regarding the way the names of judges were written, especially those with the title of Justice. Using an example:

Like other common law jurisdictions, when referred to in court judgments as Surname J. Judges in the New South Wales Court of Appeal are referred to as Justices of the Appeal (abbreviated Surname JA).
...(New Zealand) The "Mr" of the title "Mr Justice" was dropped on the appointment of Cartwright J to the High Court. In Court, all judges are addressed as "Your Honour", or "Sir/Madam".

So, if I was to write about a case, and the Judge had made a decision, and I wanted to relate that decision, I would write something like:

In view of the evidence and circumstances, it was ruled by Kritwal J. that there was not sufficient evidence to convict the accused, and hence, the accused was acquitted.

Why do the legal people do this? And what is the origin of this practice?


texts: Aspirants "to" the job or "for" the job?

texts:
Which of the two sentences is correct ?

1. There are huge number of aspirants to the job.

2. There are huge number of aspirants for the job.


texts: What's the meaning of "push through"? (Could you please explain it in the text below?)

texts: The main text is: People who wear exercise watches become trapped in a cycle of escalation. 10000 steps may have been the gold standard last week, but this week it's 11000. Next week, 12000 ... That trend can't continue forever, but many people push through stress fractures and other major injuries to seek the same endorphin high that came from a much lighter exercise load only months earlier.


texts: "Had better" — what is the meaning of this grammatically?

texts:
I'm interested to know why we use had better for recommendation. Technically we're speaking of an action that hasn't yet occurred. Like he had better leave a tip means he hasn't yet left a tip, but I suggest he do.

Why do we use the past tense had if it has nothing to do with the past? Why do we not use the subjunctive here? (He have better leave a tip.)


texts:
Is there any difference in the meaning and usage of in the system and of the system.
For instance:
Organs in the respiratory system and Organs of the respiratory system
Components in a system and Components of a system
Which one would be more appropriate if we want to talk about the functions or roles of a system?


texts: Why does "want" catenate with a nominal plus to-infinitive whereas "insist" does not?

texts:
Why can't you say:

  "I insist you to do that!"

After all, you can say:

  "I want you to do that!"

What's the difference between these two verbs, that they need to be used in sentences with different structures?


texts: Using capital Y in you when writing to many

texts: Can you use capital Y in you when adressing to more than 1 person?


texts:
Let's consider the example sentence

  Alice's trying to frame him had left Bob wary of anything she might do or say in his presence.

If I now wanted to express that Alice allegedly  tried to frame him, would I insert it as an adjective or an adverb?

Put differently: is "trying", in this case, considered a noun or a verb?

Personally, I'm thinking it would make sense for it to be a noun, s.th. the sentence would end up being

  Alice's alleged trying to frame him [...]

And though I cannot help but feel this sounds wrong, I can produce no good reason why I should use an adverb with "trying", here.


texts: A more specific term/compound word for an image that enumerates and shows the parts of something?

texts:
I was wondering if there is a more specific term for something like this:

Diagram is the first thing that comes to mind, but I find it vague for there are different types of diagrams.
I also thought of anatomy, but I don't want to limit it to living things.
Thanks.


texts: What does this sentence mean? "...in order to cope with the mass character of the gazes of tourists as opposed to the individual character of travel."

texts:
Well, I read an article in terms of tourism and need to translate it but I have no idea what is this sentence is about.

  A substantial proportion of the population of modern societies engages in such tourist practices new socialized forms of provision have developed in order to cope with the mass character of the gazes of tourists as opposed to the individual character of travel.

The thing is I understand something said in this sentence is about to prepare for tourists' attractions but I don't get 'what mass character' and 'individual character' really mean in this sentence. Please help me to understand this, thanks!


texts: Word for sound of a crowd talking all around you

texts: murmur is one I'd use for a low voice talking crowd. I'm looking for more alternatives.


texts: Is bludgeon connected with blood or block?

texts:
Bludgeon is a short, heavy club which is thicker or loaded at one end.

Both OED and Etymonline say "origin unknown". There are possible Cornish, Celtic, Dutch, cant, Middle French, Irish and Gaelic origins suggested in various sources.

OED mentions the possible Cornish, Celtic, Dutch origins and the connection with blood:

  Not found before the 18th cent.: origin unknown.
  Blogon (with g = j) is quoted by Dr. Whitley Stokes from the Cornish drama Origo Mundi (? 14th cent.), but its relation to the English is uncertain. Other Celtic etymologies sometimes proposed are on many grounds untenable. A Dutch verb bludsen to bruise, has also been compared; and it has been suggested that the word is of cant origin, connected with blood.

In OED, the first citation is from a dictionary also:

  1730      N. Bailey et al. Dictionarium Britannicum      Bludgeon, an oaken stick or club.

Wiktionary mentions the Cornish and Middle French origins:

  First attested in 1730. Origin uncertain, perhaps of Cornish origin (recorded as blogon c. 1450) or from Middle French bougeon, a diminutive of bouge (“club, stick”).

The Concise Dictionary of English Etymology (By Walter W. Skeat) mentions the Irish and Gaelic origins:

  a cudgel. (C.) Irish blocan, dimin. of ploc, a block; Gael. plocan, a mallet, bludgeon, club, dimin. of ploc, a block; W. plocyn, the same.

Is it possible to trace back further and/or find a more definitive answer/source?


texts: Fear of an effect occurring causing the effect

texts:
For example a fear of not making a good impression on people causing a person to be paranoid of people's opinions and thus not making a good impression on them.

Is this situational irony or something else? I feel like it is, but when looking it up I only see mention of the opposite of the expectation occurring. In this situation the expected outcome is making a good impression, but more specifically the expectation is causing the opposite to occur as opposed to it being out of the person's control.

The sentence I'm trying to use the word in:

  [Ironically] my fear of burning bridges resulted in my paranoia, which is the most bridge burning effect I have exhibited.


texts: What's the word for a party to whom a business proposal is made?

texts: What's a single word for a party who is made a business proposal to, i.e. the person or persons to whom a proposal is submitted?


texts:
If I'm currently studying to specialize in Urology, for example, is it correct to say,
I'm specializing in Urology, or does it imply that I already did my exams and specialized in Urology?


texts: Which is preferred, “… on 2010 or later …” or “… on or after 2010 .…”?

texts:
Which of the following is preferred?  Does it matter?

  Any person born on January 1, 2010 or later, is entitled to ...

or

  Any person born on or after January 1, 2010, is entitled to ...


texts: Academic name for graphs which curve like a bridge

texts:
These are the images of the graphs I want to know the academic names:

I've googled and learnt that their names are Concave Down Curve and Concave Up Curve. However, I want to know if there are any other names for these graphs as I want to use them in a sentence like:

  "The sales from 2011 to 2017 resembles a concave down curve with the lowest point being 2015 at 20,356 sales"

Edit 1: Guys, thank you for your inputs.
However, my question was not that related to math, but was to find a good descriptive sentence for my IELTS writing. Here is the graph I came across in the test:

I noticed that, as people get older, women tend to do more exercises, and then less, their trend shapes like a bridge, while a reversion of that can be seen in men. Now, if I were to compare these two trends while trying to sound academic, should I write something similar to the following?

  "A demographic trend which resembles a concave down curve can be seen in women's figures while it is the opposite for men's"

Could you guys give me a more well structured and better sentence without sacrificing the "concave down curve or u-shaped curve" because I really want to include those terms.


texts: Capitalization with parentheses at the beginning of a slide bullet point

texts:
Which is correct for a bullet point in a slide presentation?

  (Continuous) Application deployment

or

  (Continuous) application deployment

This is not a title, but just a fragment like you’d see in a bullet point.


texts: What's the difference between "zero in" and "home in"?

texts:
According to Oxford dictionary, both seem to mean "focus on" or "aim at"

zero in: Take aim with a gun or missile/Focus one’s attention.
home in: Move or be aimed toward (a target or destination) with great accuracy.

Are they interchangeable? If not, what's the difference?


texts:
I write an essay on typography.
I want to keep it more or less informal but
still with some structural highlights.

Typical presentation for central ideas (sort of "bullet points"),
will be in such form:

Statement:
[A postulation of a technical rule, based on experience
and  is believed to be a very probable, "strong" technical rule]
Observation:
[description of observation and possible connection with
the statement]
....

I am looking for good synonyms for "statement" in such context.
It is declared globally, that the essay is  about my own treatment of results based on experience.
The statements are not laws or strict rules, but a verbal
summaries of technical knowledge, and is a possible candidate for such rules.
In other words there is no aim to  prove something in the first place.
An observation is a description, how the statement can be experimentally
supported.

For example:

Statement 1:
Straight text lines is the optimal glyph placement principle.
Observation(s):
Create different curvy text lines and observe the results
...

So it is sort of rule, sometimes obvious sometimes not, sometimes the rule itself is not explainable, still shows itself practically as a kind of global technical rule or potential "law".
The question is what would be a good word instead of "statement" here?

A more lively illustration of the principle in a dialogue:

Peter : Probably we can use the method 'B' to forge this tool?
Michael : Method 'A' works better. If you dig it you'll come
to the method 'A'.


texts: Computer graphic designer vs. Computer graphics designer

texts:
Some English-speaking people call them "computer graphic designers" while others call them "computer graphics designers."

I doubt they have different meanings, but I wonder why they have to use it differently when they are the same. Please advise me if they are different.

I would find anyone strange if he or she calls himself or herself a webs designer instead of a web designer.


texts: Why do some "ing" verbs change tense to "ung" while others go to "inged?"

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  Origin of different past tenses for verbs with the same endings?

Spring has sprung, the bell we had to ring was rung, the sting was stung but when I had to ping a computer it was pinged and the thing I had to bring was brought.

What is the difference between a word that shifts in the past tense from "ing" to "ung" and those that shift to "inged" or something else? Where does it come from?


texts: Type of usage/ commas restrictive appositive

texts:
Volunteer, Lucy has set out to arrange a charity run.

Jenny and her partner, Steven would instead be attached as potential owners.

Could you use two commas here instead of one ? What is the difference in meaning with one comma or two?

Could this use of commas be at the writers discretion or should these examples always have commas. I don't see how the meaning of the sentences are changed dramatically with or without them ?

I can see this usage needing a comma: Jenny and her only partner, Steven.

But I'd be inclined to write: Jenny and her partner Steven would be attached as potential owners.

Volunteer Lucy has set out to arrange a charity run.


texts:
Is

"I prefer coffee over tea"

Equivalent to

"I defer tea over coffer"?


texts:
I would have been sitting there
if I hadn't been working.
I would have sat there if I hadn't been working.

Which usage is correct "would have been sitting/would have sat"?


texts: What is the meaning of "run someone out of town"?

texts:
I know it's hard to understand a sentence without context, but what situation comes naturally to your mind when you hear the following sentence?

  She ran the mayor out of town.


texts:
This document has information about checks to be requested from each department.

vs

  This document has information about checks to be requested to each department.

Is the usage of both correct?

Downvoter: Any help improving this question?


texts:
I was standing on the spot where the murderer had been, thinking, "Did he hesitate? Once the trigger was pulled for the first time, there would've been no turning back."

Can the following sentences replace the original one?

Once the trigger had been pulled for the first time, there would've been no turning back.
Once the trigger was pulled for the first time, there would be no turning back.

Which one would be more natural? Could you tell me the differences among them?


texts: A single word that means or describes a person who has to have the last word in a discussion

texts: I am looking for a single word that is either a noun (like 'liar') or an adjective (like 'talkative') for a person who always has to have the last word in a discussion.


texts:
What is an adjective for the word "reference"? I want to write something as:

  For your reference convenience, I have attached the following
  documents.

However, clearly, "reference" is not an adjective for this sentence to be syntactically right.

What would be an adjective to the word "reference" to tell the idea that an action was done so that the recipient can refer to something conveniently?


texts:
Is the use of "but rather" correct here?

  The United States' decision to drop atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki was not a diplomatic measure to intimidate the Soviet Union, but rather a military measure designed to force Japan’s unconditional surrender.


texts: How do I title a section pertaining to "things I can do" on my CV?

texts:
I am putting together my CV and I have a section that shows a breakdown of all the things I can do as a Graphic Designer. For example,

Logos & Branding
Technical Drawings
Pitch Decks etc.

I already have a section called Key Skills, in which I have the following list

Planning and Organising
Verbal Communication
Visual Communication etc.

How would I title the section pertaining to the things I can do?


texts: Bullying terms in Kipling's "Stalky and Co." (contains spoilers)

texts:
In Rudyard Kipling's Stalky and Co. is a rather long scene when Stalky, Beetle and McTurk bully a pair of boys who have themselves been bullying a 'fag' (dated BrE usage: a junior pupil at a public school who does minor chores for a senior pupil). There are a number of methods they employ and some of those I have been able to find, though not easily, (head knuckling, cock fighting) but most (brush drill, corkscrew, giving the key, rocking a boy to sleep) I can find nothing about.

Are these tortures made up for the purpose of the story or are each these idioms/phrases previously established?


texts: What's the meaning of "plays in the minds of someone"?

texts:
What's the meaning of the phrase "plays in minds of someone"?

For example, in the sentence below.

  The significance of the IELTS is a fact that plays in the minds of hopeful migrants like Mr. Want2Immi.


texts: {The} four Americans{,} who had returned from the island{,} fell ill

texts:
In which case is it obvious that there were more Americans (besides the 4) who returned from the island, and that they did not fall ill:

Four Americans, who had returned from the island, fell ill.
Four Americans who had returned from the island fell ill.
The four Americans, who had returned from the island, fell ill.
The four Americans who had returned from the island fell ill.

Can we continue these sentences as follows:

Four Americans, who had returned from the island, fell ill. The rest of those Americans, who had returned from the island, are perfectly fine.

Four Americans who had returned from the island fell ill. The rest of those Americans who had returned from the island are perfectly fine.

The four Americans, who had returned from the island, fell ill. The rest of those Americans, who had returned from the island, are perfectly fine.

The four Americans who had returned from the island fell ill. The rest of those Americans who had returned from the island are perfectly fine.


texts:
Is there a more formal synonym for "doing one's best"?

For example, as a formal document title: "Is the government [doing its best] to..."

Or is it suitable (i.e., sufficiently formal) as it is?


texts:
So I've been googling for a while and I see that there are sources who says
 "Coaching" in plural is "Coachings" and other sources says that "Coachings" is a typo error.

These are the sources who says it's a correct word:

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/coachings
https://www.wordhippo.com/what-is/the-plural-of/coaching.html

The sources who says that it's an incorrect word are:

Office Word 2016 Spellchecker
JetBrains WebStorm IDE Spellchecker
Chrome built-in Spellchecker.
Couldn't find the word "Coachings" in MacOS dictionary.

In case it's an incorrect word, Are there any alternatives?

What I'm trying to say is something like "A Coach can coach multiple of Coaching(s)".

I know that "Coaching" is a verb of the word "Coach", but lately, people start to use it as term also. I'm want to know how can I express the term in plural.


texts: Good expression for "things are starting to work"?

texts:
Is there a good and meaningful expression for "things are starting to work"?
Italians would say "le cose stanno ingranando", where the verb "ingranare" literally translates "to gear". Can it be used in such an expression?


texts: Single Word Request: Relationship based on context

texts:
Is there a single adjective or noun that means "the right person for the situation"? I'm specifically looking for a word like "condign," "complimentary," "appropriate," "convenient," "codependent," or "mutualistic," but pertaining specifically to a relationship between two people and formed solely because of their situation. Think of two people who bond during an NA group meeting, or who become inseparable after both surviving a trauma, etc.

  "When the battered plane landed and the survivors disembarked, they became ______."

  "He's rich, she's broke; they're ______."

  "They're work friends! That's how they get through the day -- she's his _______ !"

I realize you could fill in the blanks with a lot of things, but I've done some searches through the internet and my thesaurus, and I can't find anything with the right flavor. Any suggestions would help, help at least to narrow it down. I'm not opposed to making up a word, I just want to exhaust the possibilities.

This is my first time asking, so if I can clarify anything or need to correct my formatting, I'm open to suggestions. (And I hope this isn't too broad.) Thanks everyone.


texts: The definite article with names of people and their professions

texts: It is known that generally the definite article is not used with names of people. However, when the names are preceded by  names of occupations then, as some sources say there must be used "the". For example: "The psychologist Mike Smith is going to deliver a speech." But some English speakers say that the article should be omitted. For instance: "Author Conor MacGregor is coming on" not "the author Conor MacGregor is coming on." So, could anyone tell me what variant is grammatical to use with "the" or without?


texts: These children's favorite indoor game is chess- what is the subject here

texts:
Identify the subject and predicate in the sentence
These children's favorite indoor game is chess


texts: Word for "proportional government based on map area"?

texts:
Since the US election the other day, I've started seeing the usual spate of choropleth maps like the one below.

[source and discussion]

These are problematic for representing the results of political elections, because what matters in those elections is (usually) the total number of votes cast by persons, while the maps are weighted instead by area. For instance the map above is predominantly red, but it represents a result in which blue had a couple percentage points of advantage. This is possible because many of the red areas are large but contain only a few people, while many of the blue areas are geographically small but have very dense populations.

I'm looking for a single word which describes a (hypothetical) system of government where equal areas on a map earned equal representation in the legislature. I would expect such a word to follow the same structure as "democracy," which has a Greek root (δημος/"people") plus the suffix -cracy from κρατος/"state." Other examples in this model are "aristocracy" (αριστος/best), "kleptocracy" (κλεπτον/thief), "kakistocracy" (κακος/worst). Branching out a bit would include "monarchy" (μονος/"single", αρχος/"ruler"), or similar models.

This word would fit in a space like

  In a(n) ________, maps like the above would be distortion-free representations of an election result; there would be no difference between a(n) _______ and a democracy if the population density were the same everywhere.

I have an idea for what this word should be, which I'll put in an answer, along with my reservations about it. If a better word already exists, I would love to know about it; if the word that I've coined is well-attested and I just can't find it, I'd like references to that as well.

Also my Greek is super-rusty, so corrections to my etymology here are relevant and appreciated.


texts: What is a better antonym pair than “upmost” vs. “deepest” for blood vessels?

texts:
I’m thinking about the opposite ends of a blood vessel, so perhaps the “upmost” blood vessels and “deepest” blood vessels.  My problem is that I like neither word quoted in the previous sentence.

What pair of opposing words would work better in this sort context?


texts: Correct hyphenation for conjunction of hyphenated compound adjectives

texts:
Consider the following sentence:

  The labour-intensive and time-intensive part starts tomorrow.

I want to write this without rewriting the word "intensive."

Is this the correct way to do it?

  The labour- and time-intensive part starts tomorrow.

Note the hyphen hanging after the word labour. Or should there be no hyphen after labour? Can anyone point me to a reference that talks about this?


texts: Word for item or concept which has permanence?

texts:
I'm interested in a word (noun) to use to refer to an object or concept which has permanence.

For example, substituting ###, I would say

  "Many of the objects we interact with in real life are ###s, if you leave a ### for a while it will still exist when you come back.  But some things, like an ice cube, a bad smell, a virtual particle in physics or a local variable in programming, are not ###s."

The antonym, a word for an item which displays impermanence, would be interesting as well.

[EDIT]
The motivation is that I want to name an abstraction in my computer program. It is a type of container to put data in, instances of this container will hold data that (has) more permanence than a typical data (element) will. Typically, you name an abstraction after the thing it represents. If you have an abstraction that holds data about one person, you name the abstraction itself "Person". While trying to name this abstraction, I got curious to know if there was a generic word.


texts: A word for the opposite of favorite (or opposite to the most favorite)

texts:
I have a collection of five objects as a series. Clearly, I can order these objects by my preferences. I distinctly prefer two of the objects over the others.
I say the first two objects of my preference are my favorites, but the first is my most favorite object.

How should I name the rest of the objects with one word, and how do I present my lesser preferred object the same way (one word)?

I do not dislike my lesser preferred object, but what if I did? How would that change the relevant describing word?


texts: Would not be able to versus will not be able to

texts:
Linda phoned and explained that she would not be able to come to the party the next day because she was still sick.

Why do we use would not instead of will not?


texts: Why does "do you read me" mean "do you hear me"?

texts:
Why does "Do you read me?" mean "Do you hear me?"

This phrase is used (in movies) during radio communication, for example.


texts: What is the etymology of the phrase "Lovely weather for ducks"?

texts:
There's a lovely, odd little song by Lemon Jelly called Nice Weather For Ducks, which references the idiom Lovely Weather for Ducks.

Despite conventional thinking, rain is not lovely weather for ducks, because the rain washes away the oil in their feathers that lets them float.

But accuracy aside, I could not find an origin for this phrase online, and now it has me curious.

Where does phrase originate, and how long has it been around?


texts: What is the origin of the pejorative idiom "You Doughnut"?

texts:
American English (You Donut)

In informal speech the phrase is used to highlight stupidity.

E.g.
You Donut

  An individual whom is extremely stupid. Lacks intelligence and common sense.
  An idiot. A mild insult often used in the work places of southern England.
  Somebody who does something incredibly stupid. An idiot.

Yet I find it a peculiar turn of phrase. You would hardly refer to someone as a meringue to convey your contempt for how they have behaved or how stupid you believe them to be.

One of the entries in the link posted above, states:

  Word Originates from Scottish town Strathaven

But I was able to find no more information as to how the meaning of the phrase first came about, or even to corroborate if the phrase was first used in Strathaven.

The article: Don’t get honey-fuggled, you doughnut! And other inventive uses of food in English published by Oxford Dictionaries, mentions the phrase in passing:

  Initially, my first thoughts were of food and insults. It struck me
  that there are rather a lot of (mostly mild and affectionate) insults
  involving food. Along the lines of ‘don’t do that, you doughnut’...

But mentions nothing of the origin of the phrases meaning.

How does the doughnut work here as a vehicle of derision? I'm interested in the origin of meaning specifically. Why has the everyday doughnut entered the vernacular in certain parts of the English speaking world as an appropriate metaphor for stupidity?


texts: What is the origin of the term "cone of shame"?

texts:
What is the first known use of the term "cone of shame"?

This refers to the plastic cone affixed around dog's necks when they have had a procedure or medical condition.

Wikipedia fails to shed any light and limits itself to saying

  Also known as an Elizabethan collar, E-Collar, Buster collar or pet cone, (sometimes humorously called a pet lamp-shade, pet radar dish, dog-saver, or cone of shame)

Image source


texts: Can you use "stub out" as a verb regarding code development?

texts:
I know that in code development people talk about "stubs," which are bits of dummy code. In plumbing, "stub-outs" are blind ends of plumbing waiting for fixtures to be installed later.

Can you verb that noun? Can you say "stub that out," "stub out those [things]," or "stub that"?


texts: Should words be capitalized because they're loanwords?

texts:
In the English language Wikipedia article on noh theatre, "Noh" is frequently capitalized even when it's in the middle of a sentence. The only reason I could see someone doing that deliberately is because it's a loanword from Japanese. (The other possibility is that some of the authors are writing in English as a second language, but I doubt that's the explanation)

Assuming that italics are available, should words be capitalized because they're loanwords?


texts: My school homework asks for abbreviated versions of words, one of which is 'Who are' can this be abbreviated to 'Who're or would it be 'Whom'? Jessica, aged 8


texts: Alternate word for impersonate in terms of Items or things

texts:
Well actually I'm searching for the right word for a particular scenario or maybe behavior.

Suppose I go to a shop and ask for an item but they don't have it. Now the sales person's priority is to make a sale and he impersonates
(I know  it's not the right word) another item and tells me it's what I'm looking for.

What word do I use in place of impersonation?


texts: What is the “-ine” word that pertains to sheep?

texts: If porcine means pertaining to pigs, bovine pertaining to cows, and caprine pertaining to goats, what is the -ine word that denotes pertaining to sheep?


texts: What is the best antonym for the noun "analogue", as in "a good analogue"?

texts:
I want to express a comparison between two concepts but emphasize their difference rather than their similarities.

Am I wrong in assuming that "analogue" connotes similarity?

Sample sentence: "In terms of walkability, Boston is a good [analogue] to sprawling Western cities like Phoenix or Salt Lake City."


texts: Is "Take note of ___ into account" proper usage?

texts:
Is this sentence correct, with "take note of" and "into account" referring to the same thing?

  Please take note of the sales prices into account in any future preliminary or suggested price to any third party.

My boss dictated this to me, and I can't figure out exactly what it is... But it sounds wrong.  Redundancy, maybe?


texts:
Are there any adjectives meaning "being worked on" or "being in progress or development"?
I need an intermediate step between "open" and "close" (talking about the process of fixing a software bug or implementing an application feature).

Thanks.


texts: Is there a better / correct term for the de facto usage of ‘ironic’?

texts:
The word ‘ironic’ is known to be quite frequently misused, to the point that some dictionaries have actually started accepting the de facto usage as another definition, usually calling it situational irony.

Is there a better, more appropriate term for this construct?


texts: Is wrong to say "two and two are not five"...?

texts:
Since the childhood days we have been memorizing the tables of numbers saying :

two ones are two (2 x 1 = 2)

two twos are four (2 x 2 = 4)

two threes are six (2 x 3 = 6)....

However recently I came across a rule stating that if the mathematical operation of two or more fixed numbers(constants) yields a fixed numeral, then the singular form of verb should be used to denote the operation connecting the operands and the result.
This makes the sentence look like :

Two twos is four.

Is it really so??


texts:
Consider the following sentence:

  Whenever possible, default and explicitly mapped names are honored as written.

It seems to me that default and explicitly both talk about how the names are mapped, and thus default would also be an adverb, but I don't see default listed as an adverb in the dictionary.

But they could also be nouns when written as thus:

  Whenever possible, default and explicit mapped names are honored as written.

What would be the clearest way to write this and can 'default' be an adverb as shown above.

Another pass at the sentence might read:

  Whenever possible, default mapped names and explicitly mapped names are honored as written.


texts:
Why is the phrase "moral support" used, when it seems like it would more accurately be "morale support"?

Is this just a misspelling that has become canon, or something else?


texts:
Edited again:

A certain political issue is typically framed by both sides of the debate by a question that I consider invalid as it implicitly assumes the acceptance of some false premises. I once referred to this as a "false dichotomy" without really knowing what that phrase meant, when what I actually meant was something closer to "false conceptual framework."

Is there a way to summarize what I'm getting at here in one handy phrase?

Another edit: I've since realized that the correct term was indeed 'false dichotomy' in my particular situation, since the false assumption being made was that a certain thing was assumed to be in either state A or state B, rather than on a continuum between A and B.


texts: What does taking responsibility mean (in politics)?

texts:
You often hear it on the news. Some embarrassing nonsense goes down, and then some honcho steps in front of the cameras looking concerned and goes, "I take full responsibility for what happened."

What do they mean by that, exactly? Are they willing to be put on trial? Ready to pay a fine? Eager to resign? Do some community work for free? What?

I believe I've heard the President, and some others in high positions, say it on a few occasions. What do they mean when they say it?

  Today I want to say this, as president and as Commander in Chief I take full responsibility for all of our counter terrorism operations including the one that inadvertently took the lives of Warren and Giovanni.

President Obama from the White House (Here's the link)


texts: What is the collective noun for a group of giraffes?

texts:
My son's primary school teacher has written

  A kaleidoscope of giraffes

But elsewhere I see  a tower of giraffes.  And yet elsewhere again I see journey and few others.


texts: What do you call something that has a lot of features?

texts: Simply put, let's say I want to advertise my app, and I want to say it is full of features. Is there a word that I can replace "full of features" with? And how can I say "it is the app with the most features" but in a more formal manner? Thank you beforehand.


texts:
When should I use On/In/At?

I was In/At School? In/At Home?
See you On/In/At Monday?
I left the book In/At my parent's house?

Other use cases I cn't think of right now?

And why is there a distinction?

Thanks!


texts: Stabbing and running, how are they related?

texts:
When you literally run through some where, e.g.

  I have run through the streets of London

it is quite clear what is meant.

At a slightly more figurative level one might say,

  I will run through our procedures with you.

This is also clear. One is teaching another something quickly, as if to make their mind run through the information.

But if I were a pirate and I found a dead body, I might say

  He's been run through with a cutlass!

Now, I know that to run through means to stab all
the way through the body, but how has run through come to mean that?


texts: Origin of the phrase "Dissent among the ranks"

texts: I've said this plenty of times myself and have heard it elsewhere, but I did some minor research online and found nothing to indicate I got the phrase from somewhere particular or anything.  Does anyone know perhaps where this phrase came from?


texts: Making a concept or a view "more present"

texts:
Is there a word or expression for the process of making a concept, an index or a view more present? That is, in people's minds and in the public or social sphere?

Notes:

I'm interested in a word describing the result rather than the effort (i.e. not "promoting" the idea).
It's not about more people subscribing to your idea, it's about it being "out there" - noticed, discussed, debated etc.
It's not that this idea, or notion, is unknown. It is known, as something vague, and obscure. People know of it, but don't know it well.


texts:
Is there a difference in meaning between the following two phrases.

  I'm not noticing anything different.

and

  I'm not noticing any difference.

I have a feeling that the former is a bit more localised as it suggests something to do with 'thing' ..


texts: A 2nd grade verbal classification about dish and casserole

texts:
I am stumped by this question that my daughter asked me.  This is a verbal classification question, in case it is not clear.

Determine why the first 3 words are similar, then select the word from the available answers that is most similar to the first three words.
First three words: platter, bowl, plate
Available answers: dish, spoon, casserole, tongs, oven

Both my daughter and I chose "dish", but the correct answer is "casserole". Can somebody help explain why?


texts:
I once read that JRR Tolkien, a linguist by profession and of The Lord of the Rings fame, wrote his masterpiece using elements of archaic English to emulate the Bible.
Following a question on writers.SE, and comments below, this statement is not as clear as I took it. As non-native speaker, I stumbled upon a few words the first time that I read the book (in original version).
It is clear that he did use a few words that, IMHO, were deemed archaic already by the time the novel was published in 1954. Most notably amongst them are the use of thou and thee. He also used less common or less modern words (or meanings), as can be seen in this list. It is even the subject of a book. As an illustration

“Begone, foul dwimmerlaik, lord of carrion! Leave the dead in peace!"
A cold voice answered: 'Come not between the Nazgûl and his prey! Or he will not slay thee in thy turn. He will bear thee away to the houses of lamentation, beyond all darkness, where thy flesh shall be devoured, and thy shrivelled mind be left naked to the Lidless Eye."
A sword rang as it was drawn. "Do what you will; but I will hinder it, if I may."
"Hinder me? Thou fool. No living man may hinder me!"
Then Merry heard of all sounds in that hour the strangest. It seemed that Dernhelm laughed, and the clear voice was like the ring of steel. "But no living man am I!”
-- J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings (source)

Tolkien is known to have written a story to give life to made-up languages. And I have the feeling he used (somewhat) old(er) English for the speech of the Elves with Men, equally for educational purpose.
I understand that one needs to define some terms, in particular "archaic". I would say that archaic words and/or expressions are words and/or expressions that would be out of place (due to it being too old) in a conversation of the time, and which would be noticed by the participants of the conversation as such. Or hasn't been used commonly for 50-100 years.
Now, from the elements above, did Tolkien use archaic elements of language when writing the Lord of the Ring? Or do these words strike me as old because I am non-native and/or they are not so much in use today, but were faily common back then (when he wrote it) at least in University circles where he was.
PS. I did hesitate to ask this question in Writers.SE, SciFi.SE, ELL.SE or here. But ultimately as it is about English language as such I thought it was better here. But please to tell me if I should ask it somewhere more appropriate?
PPS. I hope I managed to limit the "opinion-based" part of the question.


texts: Word for someone who starts to question his faith?

texts: I'm reading a book about a boy who starts to question the existence of God. He believes He's there but he has no proof so he starts to question if He really exists.


texts: Can someone please explain the difference between 'has already' and 'had already'?


texts: Can “inverted” be used to indicate that something is "inside-out"?

texts:
If something is inside out, can it be said that the object is inverted?

My understanding of the word inverted is simply "the opposite state," but I would like to get a bit of clarification just to be sure.


texts:
Consider this sentence

  She always dreamed of man / a man / the man like you.

What is the difference between them?


texts: What is the English equivalent to the Chinese/Japanese saying, “塞翁失馬— Life is like Old Sai’s horse”?

texts:
Dr. Shinya Yamanaka, 2012 Nobel Prize winner in Physiology or Medicine, the initiator of all-around (iPS) cells told a recently-held public symposium, quote:

  “I’m often asked by many people: ‘You are happy that you've won the Nobel
  Prize, aren’t you?’ But I tell them that everything in life is just like 'Saioh ga uma' (塞翁が馬) –
  Old Sai’s horse. I was unsuccessful as an orthopedic surgeon, but
  luckily I found my way in molecular biology." – The Asahi, Oct.4, 2014 issue

“Life is like Old Sai’s horse” is a popular Japanese saying, which is based on the story described in Chinese classic literature written by 准南子- Huai nan zi, the ancient Chinese monarch of Huian nam in circ. BC 135.

The story begins when a horse kept by an old man living near a fort (塞翁) ran away one day. All the neighbors came to console the old man, but he told them not to worry. Ｍonths later, Old Sai's horse came back, accompanied by a faster horse. Old Sai’s son loved horse riding. He fell off and broke a leg one day while riding the faster horse. The son became lame. Villagers consoled Old Sai for his son's misfortune. But Old Sai said, “Don’t worry. There’ll be a good day after a bad day.” A year later, the village was attacked by the Hu Country's army, and the fort was destroyed. All the young men of the village were called to the military. Nine out of ten of them died during the war. Old Sai’s son was exempted from conscription because he was lame, so he was unharmed. The story goes on and on describing the happenings of a thread of fortune and misfortune of his family in turn.

So when we say “It’s Saioh ga uma -塞翁が馬(塞翁失馬)” in Japanese (Chinese), we mean that life changes, happiness (success) and unhappiness (failure) rotate. We needn’t to be too glad and too sad at each instance.

Though “the ebb and flow” occurs to my mind as a possibility, I’m not sure of whether it fits the concept. Are there more suitable English equivalents to “Old Sai’s horse”?


texts: The plural of "index"–"indexes" or "indices"?

texts:
A table may have one index, or it could have more [...]?
Is it indexes or indices? I'm just asking because I've noticed they're both used quite often. Even Wikipedia seems to support both variants (as in this article). Though, it prefers to use indices.

Simply put, which is the preferred plural?


texts: Alternative ways of saying "from start to finish" of a book

texts:
I am trying to express something along the lines of:

  [...] where the visitor can read entire books from start to finish.

In Norwegian we say "fra perm til perm", which roughly would translate to something like "from hardback to hardback" indicating that the first hardback is the beginning of the book, and the second hardback if the last page.

Is there any way to express something like this in English?


texts: What is the meaning of "morality is a question of time"?

texts:
I  never  succumbed  to  that  or  to  any  of  her  many  other  lewd  temptations,  but  she  did  not
  believe  in the purity of  my principles. Morality, too,  is a question of time, she would say with a malevolent smile,
  you'll see.  - Garcia Marquez, Gabriel, Memories of my melancholy whores, Ch. 1

What is the meaning of question of time in the above paragraph?


texts: Word for one nation taking the culture of another

texts: Is there a word or terminology for when one nation takes the culture of another as its own, similar to the word "plagiarised" for when one takes the writings of another?


texts: Looking for name of common numbered lists

texts:
I'm looking for any recognized name or perhaps to coin a term that that refers to a proper name given for a list of things that is regularly defined by the number of things in a list:

  Seven Deadly Sins
  Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse
  Seven Wonders of the Ancient World
  Five Stages of Denial

Has anyone heard of a name for what these are called?

If you had to come up with a name, what would it be?
Enumeronym?  (Hate pairing Latin and Greek roots, but...)


texts: Fondness and Love, what is the difference?

texts:
I have a question, I got this message from a man.
He said some time ago, "take great care, this comes with fondest good wishes" then he changed to "take care, this comes with my love"

What is the difference between these two? I see fondest good wishes is use as a  sign off, but not the latter.


texts: How do I correctly punctuate this sentence?

texts:
How would you punctuate this sentence:

"People who are tired, physically, mentally, or emotionally, need the energy that they can get from your magnetism."

Should I use a colon after "tired" and a semi-colon after "emotionally"? Or are commas sufficient?


texts:
What does "kitchen sink approach" mean in this context?

  Where some startups focus on the minimum viable product, (name of startup) has gone for a kitchen sink approach that approximates the functionality you might expect in more mature offerings. (name of product) can even be the platform that runs your application, if that’s what you need.

Full article

Does "kitchen sink approach" mean providing a lot of features?


texts: Hypernym for climbing/descending stairs but not walking on even ground

texts:
Writing a concept description for a product, I'm trying to describe the possible modes of operation tersely.

One of those modes of operation is "Walking on even ground", another is "Ascending or descending stairs, holding hand rail".

I was wondering, is there a hypernym I could use instead of "ascending or descending stairs" that describes both actions while excluding walking on even ground? One potential candidate would be "using stairs", but that sounds very bland.


texts: Noun for "Things that can be improved/might change their state"

texts:
(Note that, while the title is similar, this is a very different question from Noun for "things that could be improved", as in that question, things refers to properties on a single object.)

I am looking for a (plural) noun to list things that can still be improved or things that are not completed yet or more general: things that might still change their state. I do not know how to make it more clear, other than to explain why I am looking for such a word:

I have a computer application that contains a list of tasks that undergo state changes, from new(when a task is made) to in progress(when work on it has started) to completed(when work has finished) to closed(when work has been checked, tested and accepted by the boss). There also is a disregarded state for tasks that are deemed unfixable or unimportant for some reason.

There is a page that lists all tasks in new, in progress and completed, as for all of these, there still is some action the user should take. Until now, this page is named All, but that name is confusing as closed and disregarded are not shown there. That is why I am looking for a better term to describe this page/tasks in this list.


texts: What defines best the cobwebs ability to withstand weight/pressure/force?


texts: Proper use of the contraction "don't" in questions

texts:
I was reading a fantasy novel and I came across this piece of dialogue:

  Don’t you know what a Conquest Knight is?

And the main character replied by nodding his head.

But this confused me because the question could be asking if he does know, to which he nods his head, or it could be asking if he does not know, to which he nods his head.

Well from reading the story I can tell you that at this point in time the character does not know. And because he nods his head the question must be asking if he does not know.

But, left as is, it could be interpreted one of two ways:

  "Do you not know what a conquest knight is?"

  "Do you know what a conquest knight is?"

Basically, I am asking if the contraction don't is used improperly in the sentence or if the contraction itself has always been that ambiguous.


texts: What is the difference between "comprehensive" and "complete"?

texts:
I thought these two words mean the same thing, until I read the following sentence:
"Comprehensive, complete and mature C++ frameworks that save
lots of work and help bringing the product to market sooner".

I am confused by the two bold words above.

complete: With all parts included; with nothing missing; full.

comprehensive: Broadly or completely covering.

With the above explanation, I still can not understand the difference between them, can they replace each other?

Can "The list may not be complete." be replaced with "The list may not comprehensive." ?


texts: "Bring 6 eggs. If there are potatoes, bring 9."

texts:
This is with reference to this comic, called A Programmer's Life (translated from Portuguese):

  Programmer: My wife asked me to go to the market and said: “Bring six eggs. If there are potatoes, bring nine.” There were potatoes. But she got mad when I arrived only with the 9 eggs…

The intended joke is that the programmer has stereotypically interpreted the instructions over‑literally, and has got into trouble with "normal" people who communicate less precisely.

Which is fine (ha ha), but I feel that the actual over-literal interpretation here would be to bring "nine" somehow. The programmer has actually done a bit of correcting-for-ambiguity that is necessary for understanding human speech. Specifically, he has supplied "eggs" to "bring nine", interpreting it as "bring nine eggs". (He should have supplied "potatoes" instead, of course.)

My question is twofold:

Is there a name for this process, in which a missing object (referent?) is inferred?
(Does it have some fancy linguistics name, like "coreference resolution"? Are there some good articles / book sections about it?)
Are there contexts and sentences like "[Verb] n X. If there are Y, [verb] m" (both "[verb]"s stand for the same verb) whose natural interpretation would actually be "[verb] m   X", even though both "[verb] m X" and "[verb] m Y" are perfectly meaningful in isolation?
(This would make it clear that the interpretation is not a grammatical issue alone, but very much situation-driven.)


texts: Is “Give (get) space” a common usage for “give (get) flexibility / freedom”?

texts:
NSNBC (March 26) reported that President Obama was overheard telling Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to “give him space" until after November during his meetings in South Korea on missile defense, and Time magazine (March 26) called Obama’s ‘Space’ Case “Gaffe of the Week.”

ABC news reported:

At his 90 minute meeting with Russian President Dmitri Medvedev Monday, President Obama said that he would have “more flexibility” to deal with controversial issues such as missile.

I have once heard “have elbow room” used to mean have freedom / flexibility of action (decision).

Is “give (get) space” commonly used as the equivalent to “give (get) flexibility”?


texts: Can I quote in the middle of the sentence or the whole sentence? Quote some words in the middle of the sentence.


texts: What is the best word for "brain drain" within a company?

texts:
I'm writing a proposal for work. For it, I would like a word that describes the concept of brain drain - lots of people leaving the country and taking their knowledge with them - but that is limited to within the same company.

Wikipedia (and others) defines brain drain as:

  ...the large-scale emigration of a large group of individuals with technical skills or knowledge.

What I'm looking to describe, however, is a situation where one or two very knowledgeable people change jobs, switch departments, or leave the company (not necessarily leaving the country) without imparting that knowledge to others. Is brain drain the best fit or are there better words?


texts: "Are" or "Is" when linking two singular nouns in a sentence?

texts:
When you are talking about about two singular nouns and link them together in a sentence with a conjunction such as "and" which verb form is correct?

For example, would you say "Where is the broom and mop?" or  "Where are the broom and mop?"


texts: Do I place a comma after the word Dad or is it correct as is?

texts:
Dearest Gabriella,

You are an amazing daughter!
We are so proud of all that you have accomplished.
Congratulations on your graduation.
Wishing you all the success and happiness the world has to offer.
"The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams"

Love always,

Mom, Dad and Gregory


texts: Is it correct to use the word ‘transit’?

texts:
Is it okay to use the word  transit as it is in the following structure:

  to enable the transit of the road...

to make the road possible to go across it?


texts: Looking for a word meaning a person who thinks he's the one to do everything

texts:
Since English isn't my first language I think this is the best place to ask this question. I had no luck while looking for an answer on Google.

I'm looking for a word describing a person that thinks they’re the one and only person doing everything (e.g. in a business) while it is not necessary the case.

It could also be a word with a meaning similar to a person claiming all the success of a business but none of the failures.


texts: What term means "one who enjoys learning"?

texts:
Is there a term that means "a person who enjoys learning"? This term might be used to describe someone who:

Is a self-motivated learner.
Is curious, wants to understand many things.

I understand the term "philosopher" might be a good fit, in terms of its root words, however, the general population has an inconsistent understanding of this term, so I am looking for a more precise term.


texts: What's the word for "to have a quality, idea or emotion faintly"?

texts:
I know that "be imbued with" is used to mean "to have a a quality, idea or emotion very strongly".
But what's the word for "to have a quality, idea or emotion faintly and indistinctly"?


texts:
Let's say we have a poem that has a first-person point of view and then goes like:

  I have eaten the cookies

Now, when I write about this poem and want to describe the action in the poem, would it be okay to write the following?

  The narrator has eaten some cookies

If not, what is the proper way to write about the narrated action?


texts:
Hello to anyone who sees this!

I'm looking for a word similar to "skepticism", but more positive. (Here, I define skepticism as the belief that we can never have certain knowledge.) Sorry if this format is weird, trying to follow the rules of single word requests:

Usage: "There was still much ___, but it had to be done."

Might be unclear, this noun describes a view/feeling, not a person.

I've searched for synonyms for skepticism, doubt, dubiety, etc. Not on any specific websites, just looking the words up on Google and clicking any results that looked useful.
I've got some pretty specific needs for this.

I'd prefer:

a short word, as in less characters and as many or less syllables as "skepticism"
a word that means something similar to being willing to question and give up beliefs

I need:

an English word specifically, even if it's a lesser-known one
a noun

Words I've tried are all too negative, or they switch too easily.

"Skepticism" - it's a very interesting, but still too strong, view in philosophy.
"Doubt" - this is mostly used in a negative way, as in "but still, they doubted him".
"Uncertainty" - this sounds less like questioning your beliefs, more like general confusion.
"Hesitancy" - this is questioning, but it's seen more as a weakness than a strength.
"Incertitude" - less a question, more a feeling that you don't actually know something.

I'm okay with closed compound words, but no hyphens.

Thank you in advance for any help, and if I need to change anything in the question, please let me know. This question is probably unnecessary, and I probably missed something when looking around.


texts: What's a phrase used to describe a "user defined" dream?

texts: I have this strange ability to be able to control the events and environment in my dream. I know the term lucid dreaming means that you are aware of being in a dream, but this goes a step further. Is there a phrase to describe this kind of dreams?


texts: Hyphenating compound adjectives with more than two parts

texts:
my question is about hyphenating adjectives that have more than two parts. For this example, I can find four different options:

working life oriented
working-life oriented
working life-oriented
working-life-oriented

Which one is correct, according to the finest rules of British English grammar? Thanks!


texts: Alternative way to phrase the relative clause "which I don't find X to be"

texts:
I wrote down the following sentence. But I think it's quite awkward. Besides, Google tells me that the clause which I don't find him to be occurs only twice across the internet.

He'll do this if he's smart, which I don't find him to be.

I was trying to combine two thoughts into a single sentence.

I don't find him to be smart
He'll do this if he's smart.

Is there an alternate way to articulate the thoughts in a single sentence that's more elegant?


texts:
If 2020 were a school year, we'd have to repeat it.

or
If 2020 was a school year, we'd have to repeat it.

Personally, I personally was is the way to go here. I'd appreciate being corrected if I'm wring here.