texts: British Mass Nouns versus American Count Nouns

texts:
British English often employs mass nouns where American English would only employ count nouns. Count nouns are nouns which take pluralization and numerical quantifiers like 'many'. Mass nouns can't be pluralized and take volume quantifiers like 'a bit of'. For example:

I like sport.
I like drink.
I pay tax.
I've got toothache/earache/stomachache/backache.
I eat mashed potato/scrambled egg.
I play with lego.

In American English, we would render these:

I like sports.
I like to drink / I like to have drinks.
I pay taxes.
I've got a toothache/earache/stomachache/backache.
I eat mashed potatoes/scrambled eggs.
I play with legos.

These facts are documented here, here and here. But this difference is not mentioned on the Wikipedia page comparing British English to American English.

My question is simply what other nouns which are standardly count in AmE are often mass in BrE?

Further, are there any broad categories of nouns (for example, food nouns) that tend to be count in AmE but tend to be mass in BrE? Or does the difference only exist for particular and isolated lexical items? (The first link I provided says that many foods are not conventionally massified in BrE, for example 'refried bean').

Here are two final caveats:

First, I know that any count noun can be turned into a mass noun by simply putting it in the syntactic position of a mass noun. That's why "I ate (a bit of) chicken" is acceptable in both AmE and BrE. But I am asking about the obvious differences between AmE and BrE regards their conventional uses of nouns as mass and count.

Second, I know these types of list questions are hard for single users to answer, and sometimes generate controversy on EL&U (for example, this one on kennings generated some controvery). Still, I'll upvote any responses that make a novel contribution.


texts: Does "someone appeared to help me" have two meanings?

texts:
Someone appeared to help me.

If I get it right, this sentence can either mean:

"It seems like someone was helping me." (seems like = appear to)
"Someone showed up to help me." (show up = appear)

Am I right?


texts: Is there a word for "when there is no story to a series". Where every episode's/movie's story is independent

texts:
What if I want to convey to someone that you can watch this series from any episode; The series is not in continuation, everything is independent. Black Mirror is an example for this.

Is there a word for this?


texts: As we all agree on, types when plural, always comes after "of" a plural noun.. Like types of cars : meaning different classes of cars. My question here is : when I want to address one type of the "types" of cars, why should make "car" not cars to be this type of car, not cars?? Another example : we have different types of students, but this type of students is the hardest to deal with?  As here I address one type of "different types " as the prepositional phrase "of students"works as an adjective for types or"type"


texts: "This chapter, and the following chapters in this section" — singular or plural?

texts:
I have some technical documentation that has the phrase:

  This chapters describes how to...

And I need to upgrade it to refer to the current and following chapters. What is the correct English phrase to use?

  This chapter, and the following chapters in this section, describes how to...

or:

  This chapter, and the following chapters in this section, describe how to...

In other words, is the thing doing the describing a multitude of chapters (that would "describe" something), or are the multitude considered a single item here (needing "describes")?

Or, are both phrases wrong?


texts: What is the name for a phrase that is difficult to say repeatedly?

texts:
What is the name for a phrase that makes you stumble when repeated quickly?

Example: Say Big Blue Blanket 10 times.


texts: What is the English verb/phrase/expression for cheating customers with an inaccurate scale?

texts:
In the town where I live, many street vendors actively cheat customers by using an inaccurate scale.  As a result, people receive less than what they ought to.

For example, if you buy five apples, which actually weigh 2 kg on a standard scale, the false readout might show 3 kg or higher. As a result you pay for 3 kg worth of apples, but you get only 2 kg or even less.

It's called "扼称" in my mother tongue, which means "to play trick with a tampered scale to take advantage of customers". An example:

  Jack was back home from shopping at the market where he just bought several apples that weighed 3 kg. But when weighing it with his own scale, it showed only 2 kg. Realizing that he had been cheated, he told his brother: "I just got ____ by that sneaky vendor! I'm going after him now."

Is there an idiomatic verb/phrase/expression for this in English? (It doesn't necessarily fit the sentence structure, that's just a suggestion.)

Edit: Someone suggested 'rip off', is that a idiomatic phrase to describe that behavior?


texts: can the term "pro rata" include cutting for non-use in the middle of a period?

texts:
Suppose somebody pays pro rata every three weeks.

I understand that if they cut short during that period,  "pro rata" means the amount is recalculated according to how many days they use and only goes up till when they stopped.

Suppose a company like a phone company takes into consideration if somebody's phone has been inactive for 7 days within a 3 week period. So within that three week period, there were 7 days, before which, they had their phone active. After which they had it active. But during which, they didn't. And the company is fine for refunding for that 7 day inactive phone period.

Would the term pro rata also apply to if the company deducted 7 days of charges from the cost of the three week paying period?

Or does the term pro rata only apply to contiguous/consecutive days between the point of stopping, and the end of the (in this case 3 week) paying period?

this is not a question about company policy, as company policy is to refund for the 7 days the phone was inactive. This is  a question of whether the term "pro rata" applies to that.

though on a related note, if the company didn't refund for the 7 days the phone was inactive, would they still be able to say it was pro rata?


texts: An adjective to replace "so random" (to describe one who is apt to say random things)

texts:
Among friends, we describe a person as "so random" (he/she is so random) if that person says random things (often in group discussions). That is, we do not use it as defined below (i.e., he/she is "so odd").

random (informal, LDOCE #3):

  strange, unusual, or unexpected

  She's great - she's just so random!

odd (ODO #1):

  Different to what is usual or expected; strange.

Therefore, I suppose we're misusing the informal random because the people we're trying to describe are not odd in general (or wonderfully odd like the Luna Lovegood character). They just come up with "the weirdest stuff" sometimes or come "out of left field" a lot (so to speak).

Question:

Is there an adjective to describe one who is apt to say random things (i.e., not a word that just means odd basically)?

If not, an accurate phrase (short and contemporary if possible) would be helpful. Thank you.

Update (20 May 19)

I stumbled upon this definition in Wiktionary (via a link found in a language log).

random (adjective, #6):

  (colloquial) Characterized by or often saying random things;
  habitually using non sequiturs.

  You're so random!

So, other people use it as we do, but it seems to be uncommon (and dated); that makes sense.

Thanks for off-the-wall (and offbeat); I forgot about them.


texts: Word, phrase, or idiom for minor, annoying, but ignored breakage

texts:
My purpose, if it matters, is to help in creating a "short title" as a metaphor for a policy proposal at work.

For reasons of cost or convenience, some people ignore small parts that are broken.  For example, if a knob breaks on the heating controls of a car, many people may tend to "live with" the problem rather than fix it if the control is either unimportant or can still be accessed in some other way (perhaps with pliers).  Or, perhaps a switch plate on a light switch is cracked or broken, but people using that light switch do not see the necessity in replacing the switch plate.  I can give more examples if needed, and I have a "draft" name for the proposal in case there is no word, phrase, or idiom to describe this phenomenon:

Note: Spoiler hidden below to avoid anchoring.  You may wish to try answering the question first.

  "No broken knobs" policy

I have tried Google to no avail, using various combinations of the above spoiler words, along with:

word for something that is broken in a minor way that will be ignored
phrase for minor breakage

and a number of other queries that I have now forgotten.

Are there any particular words, phrases, or idioms that describe this phenomenon?


texts: Will it be right to use this sentence "I'm kind of a writer these days." Normally?


texts: Is it East Coast, East coast, or east coast when used in a sentence such as, "The airline flies to both the East Coast and the West Coast?" I've seen it all ways. I can't find a definitive answer as to if or where capital letters are needed in this phrase. Thanks for your help.


texts:
Morpheme: The smallest unit of meaning that a word can be divided into The word ‘like’ contains one morpheme but ‘un-like-ly’ contains three.Source

The word "restaurant"  /ˈres.tə.rɑːnt/ has 1 or 2 morphemes "res" & "taurant" ?

Why do I ask this question?
It is because the voiceless aspirated and unaspirated stop consonants.

If /st/ belongs to 1 morpheme the t will not be aspirated.

Ex: distaste /t/ will be be aspirated (dis & taste)

but distend /t/ won't be aspirated.


texts: Is the expression "Say your piece" or "Say your peace"?

texts:
I have googled this one and seen arguments for both sides.

Say your piece would imply that you've had the opportunity to make your part of the statement on the subject.

Say your peace would imply that you've had the opportunity to speak and set your mind at ease.

Clearly, they both make perfect sense in those contexts.  To be clear, I want to know which is the form used by most people?


texts: English idiom similar to "grab one, hit the other"

texts:
In my native language there is an idiom which literally says "grab one, hit the other". It is used to express that a group of people possesses the same negative personal traits, habits, vice, etc. and usually it shows frustration and/or annoyance.

My question is: Is there any idiom in English which is identical/comes close to the above meaning?


texts:
I am putting together brochure for an event and we need to list people who are part a committee. If the info for each individual was going to be one line, I would put commas between the person's name, title and organization. But due to the format of the page, this info has to wrap onto two lines. We are making the line break after the person's title -- question, does the comma remain after the title even though we break onto another line or can I get rid of that comma?

EXAMPLE:

Here's how the info would appear if all on one line:

     John Smith, President, ACME Corporation

Here's how we currently have it formatted on the page with a line break:

    John Smith, President
    ACME Corporation

The full page would look something like this (with multiple people listed) -- do I put a comma after the title or not?

    John Smith, President
    ACME Corporation

    Jane Smith, President
    NEW Corporation

    Bill Smith, Vice President
    OLD Corporation


texts:
In the following sentence, should I use a comma or a semi-colon after same?

  The live and staging set-ups are the same, combining PHP, MySQL and
  Apache to power the websites.

or

  The live and staging set-ups are the same; combining PHP, MySQL and Apache
  to power the websites.


texts:
I came across this line in one of Nina Bawden's works:

  I have only once written a book, not to order, exactly, but to please
  a particular audience; a girl of seven who was, as she put it, 'a
  little bit blind'.

I'm trying to figure out what the writer means by 'not to order' in this context.

I'd appreciate any help!

EDIT: Here's a bit of context: The author mentions in the same extract that the girl suggested an idea for a book to be based on jewel thieves and a blind girl who does something brave. Also, the author writes that she's impressed by her ability to navigate through dark corridors even with limited eyesight. Both these factors formed the inspiration for the book.


texts: How do I differentiate between direct and indirect object with an object of a preposition present?

texts:
I am working on the following sentence:

They will look toward me, whom they pierced.

I am aware that a basic rule to identifying an indirect object is to ask, "to whom?" However, in this case, I am confused since the entire verbal idea is "to look toward [with confidence]".

Two questions:

Is me the direct object, the indirect object, or the object of the preposition?
Is to look toward a transitive or intransitive verb?


texts: "Give me one half of that" Vs. "give me half of that"

texts: I can't remember when and where I had this discussion, but I remember being corrected when I was speaking by a stranger saying that it is never correct to say give me half of this; instead, the grammatically correct phrase would be give me one half of this. I've never been a pro at where numbers fit in with the English language, so maybe someone here could shed some light on this.


texts: What words are not capitalized in titles?

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  Which words in a title should be capitalized?

For instance:

The Story of a Boy who Likes Pancakes and is Hungry <- (completely random made-up title)

In this example "of, "a", "who", "and", and "is" are all not capitalized. I'm fairly sure this is correct but I'm not 100% positive about "who". In any case, is there some kind of list of what words are not capitalized in titles, or how do you know when not to capitalize specific words?


texts: Should commas really be put in the beginning of a sentence if I put something in front of the subject?

texts:
I am currently a student at a school with a fairly low english level. I live in a non-english country. I am bringing this up not becuase it really changes anything, but rather to clarify that the English we are learning should not really be judged on a university level. I understand that if I was a Cambridge English master student, this would of course be pointed out. But since this is far from the truth, here is my question if (a) the useage of commas in those examples is correct, and (b), how necessary are they. Do they integral to the understanding of the written text or are they only used in the most official context since no one bothers to put them there.

Anyway, the sentences are:

  Yesterday, I ate a grilled cheese sandwich.

  For months, I hated cheese.

  Luckily, I had my grilled cheese sandwich.

  Every day, I eat my grilled cheese sandwich now.

Now, I know that commas used before things but infront of the subject are common, as seen with the 'Anyway, the sentences are:' and 'Now, I know...'. But in the examples above it just seems out of place. I really value good English and proper grammar, so I am asking you, that, if this is actually how you are supposed to do this, how bad is it to just not do it in most contexts, such as official Email and letters? Will people read that I missed the ',' and will they instantly see me as this babric creature or will they not even notice? Should I also pause after injections when talking?


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

Simple question, should you say "what matters most is that the merger is successful"

or: "what matters most is that the merger be successful"?


texts: Can "however" have the meaning of "along with that"?

texts:
Could you please help me to understand the meaning of the sentence that I have written below? When I translated into my language, I am given the meaning of "however" as "along with that". But I haven't seen before this usage of "however".

  Not all learning teams, however, are equally effective.


texts: I've heard it recently in a movie called " Lone Ranger". Tonto called the lone ranger kemosabe. What does it mean and what is the origin?


texts:
In the phrase

The quantity of insects in/at a time t is given by i(t).

What is the correct?
Thank you so much!


texts: Compact formulation for "the 66% of villages which are the poorest"

texts:
Currently I write something along the lines of:

the two-thirds poorest villages
the poorest two-thirds of villages

But that I am not convinced that these are correct. To me the latter seems to be implying the poorest 66% of people within each village, while the former seems generally weird and unclear. Any good ideas?


texts: An unpunished offence is bound to be repeated

texts:
What I'm trying to say is, "when there's no consequences for bad behavior, this behavior will continue and get worse." Is there an idiom or a phrase to express this meaning more eloquently?
Thank you!


texts: Better term than "hardcoded" for end-user documentation

texts:
The term "hardcoded" refers to configuration that's imbedded in a program's code. To a programmer, it may have a negative connotation (if it is a bad design decision) and to a non-technical user, the term is probably too jargony.

For example, suppose Microsoft Word came with some templates hardcoded into the application. Users can use the hardcoded templates, but they can't modify them. These templates are tied to the version of Word installed too.

In end-user documentation, is there a better way to describe these templates than using the term "hardcoded templates"?


texts: In what cases should I use a comma before "or"?

texts:
Here's an example:

Should I use it or not?

OR

Should I use it, or not?

Which one is correct?


texts: Present Unreal Conditional and speaking about present

texts:
I would like to ask, if the sentence below is grammatical and how can we understand this sentence:

  If the car was sold in the last week, you wouldn't see this in the public database yet.

Also, can we understand from this sentence that selling a car in the past influence the present?

I mean someone has sold a car in the past and to this very moment you can't see it in the database?

Thank you very much in advance for the answer.


texts:
I was writing a blog post just now and I couldn't help but hesitate at the following snippet: "...causing this to not work as expected"

And I couldn't decide if that's correct or if I should use "...not to work..." ot if "...to not work..." is okay.

Can anyone shed any light on this?

"...causing this to not work as expected"
"...causing this not to work as expected"


texts: What does "bowl" refer to in "dust bowl"?

texts:
According to Etymonline the expression dust bowl refers to:

  "drought-plagued region of the U.S. Midwest," first recorded 1936.

The following site  www.pbs.org says that the expression  was coined by a  reporter of the Associated Press:

  The Dust Bowl got its name on April 15, 1935, the day after Black Sunday. Robert Geiger, a reporter for the Associated Press, traveled through the region and wrote the following: “Three little words achingly familiar on a Western farmer’s tongue, rule life in the dust bowl of the continent – if it rains.” The term stuck, spreading to radio broadcasts and publications, in private letters and public speeches.

Its immediate and wide popularity is confirmed by Ngram.

(www.english.illinois.edu)

(encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com)

Questions:

Does "bowl" refer to the shape of the geographical area affected by dust storms at that time?
Had "bowl" been used before to refer to a natural disaster in AmE  or was it just specific to the above mentioned calamity?


texts: What is the proper word to say "terrorist hood" in English?

texts: What is the correct word for the thing that gangsters have on their head during hold ups?


texts:
My boss asked me to translate an email into English and it starts with this sentence:

  Dear @@,
  There will be cherry blossoms in Japan soon.

This is a literal translation.
I think my translation might be awkward.
Could you please help me to improve the sentence?
Thank you.


texts:
I was trying to raise awareness of XSS attacks on a website, by launching a harmless XSS attack and showing the follow message if users fell for it:

  IT WAS AN XSS ATTACK!

  HAD IT BEEN MADE BY A BAD GUY, YOUR ACCOUNT WOULD HAVE BEEN STOLEN.

I want my message to sound serious, but 'a bad guy' seems informal. I quickly Googled a list of synonyms, but, as a non-native speaker, couldn't figure out which fits more in this content. Can you provide suggestions?

Well, maybe I should tell my professor his site is flawed directly.


texts:
Which prepositions can be used with "competence"?

Specificially, which of the following examples are valid/legal:

I have competence on computers
I have competence with computers
I have competence as a programmer
Our company has competence in programming
Our company has competence on programming
Our company has competence with programming and cooking
Our company has competence within the fields of programming and cooking
Our company has several employees with competence with programming
Our company has several employees with programming competence


texts: Origins of "the weak are meat, and the strong do eat"

texts:
In the movie Cloud Atlas, Tom Hanks' earliest character ('Henry Goose') and Hugo Weaving's latest character ('Georgie') use the phrase

  The weak are meat, and the strong do eat

Now, I don't think that's actually quoted from anywhere else, but I was wondering if it was based on / inspired by similar phrases, maxims or utterances from older, more established sources - literary, religious, legal or political.


texts: A word for one who doesn't see his own flaws but always finds flaws in others?

texts:
This person I know always mentions things as my flaws, mal-function, defect, etc. He has a lot of big flaws himself, but he never mention them, whereas he finds very small flaws in others.

I want a word for such a person. I know of captious, critic, sharp-tongued, fault-finder. Which one does best describe the person in question?


texts: The usage of article 'an' in the following case

texts:
It is common to use

  1a an historical event

  2a an hotel

rather than

  1b a historical event

  2b a hotel

Why 'an' is used in such case?


texts:
Consider the following two sentences:

Billy was nervous, as he only had 10 minutes to finish the exam.

Holly was about to meet Tom Cruise, which made her very nervous.

Can the word excited be used instead of the word nervous in this context?

I'm trying to figure out whether excited can be used instead of nervous or agitated - whether in a negative (as in Billy's case) or positive (as in Holly's case) meaning.


texts: Is there a word for someone who believes things will always work out in their favour?

texts:
I'm sure I remember seeing this word online a while ago, but I can't seem to find it now.
I'm looking for a word that describes someone who is always convinced things will work out for them in the end. Like the opposite of a person who believes the universe is working against them.
After a lot of googling, the closest I've gotten is pollyannaish but I don't think its quite right.


texts: A phone call you ask your friend to make to you in middle of a date

texts: Is there a dedicated expression for a pre-arranged phone call you receive to give you an opportunity to politely get out of a situation (e.g. a dinner date)?


texts: What is the name of the sound-measuring bar on your computer?

texts:
When testing to see how loud your voice is in a microphone, there is a visual bar/graph that increases as you get louder--what is this called?

I'm not looking for the name of a device the measures sound (e.g. decibel meter).


texts: I got first place in a competition where it's possible to tie. How would I distinguish that I was an untied first?

texts: I would like to avoid using the phrase "untied first" unless that is actually the accepted way to say it.


texts: Define "plate" from Sweeney Todd musical

texts:
The opening song of the Sweeney Todd musical contains the following passage about his wife:

  There was another man who saw
  that she was beautiful...
  A pious vulture of the law
  who, with a gesture of his claw
  removed the barber from his plate!
  Then there was nothing but to wait!
  And she would fall!
  So soft!
  So young!
  So lost and oh so beautiful!

Can anyone explain the definition of the word "plate" in this context? I can't find any definition that makes sense in its usage above. Perhaps it is an old English word?


texts: Is is possible to use this construction?

texts: Is it possible to say "He was being run after" instead of "He was being chased" the same way it is possible to say "He was being shot at" "He was being run down/over" etc. or is that not a valid construction?


texts:
Is it proper to call someone a lone lonely loner?

I take lone to mean the only, lonely to mean feeling sad and loner to mean  someone who prefers being alone. So, the usage kind of makes sense to me. Does it actually or is it just redundant word play?


texts: what does the sentence "I'd hate for anything to come between us" means?

texts:
What is the meaning of the sentence "I'd hate for anything to come between us"?
After knowing the meaning of used phrasal verbs and all that, I can get a good enough idea of its meaning. But,I am, however, finding the structure of the sentence a bit weird.


texts:
Are "y", "m", and "d" the singular and plural abbreviations for "year(s)", "month(s)", and "day(s)"?

Examples:

1. The project took exactly 5y 2m 18d to complete. (If this is in fact correct, would 'm' be confused for 'meter'?)

2. It was a 5y 2m 18d project.

Again, I was asked for exactness and specificity with regard to accuracy. I don't know why the boss likes this format, but for some inexplicable reason he does. Any help is greatly and deeply appreciated. You folks on this site are amazing. (Sorry, but I had to give you your props.) :-)


texts: Using the word "Right" to confirm understanding during technical demonstration

texts:
I manage a technical group and I was having a discussion with one of the lead guys who is learning a new technology and when I was explaining a few things, he kept using the word "Right" to confirm his understanding.
At the time I could not tell if he was confirming the correctness of what I was saying or simply his understanding of it. When I asked him if he already knew what I was talking about. He said "no" and then we got into a discussion about what the correct word should be to confirm understanding.
I suggested that using the word "Right" was misleading and depending on inflection could be considered egotistical and/or give of the wrong message (as it did for me in this case). He of course disagreed.
Then again he could have just wanted me to shut up :)


texts: Can "triage an issue" mean "debug an issue"?

texts:
In the context of my office environment (a tech giant), I often see folks using the word triage as a substitute for debugging an issue. Statements like

  We are still triaging the issue...

is quotidian practice on the part of managers and

  I am triaging this...

from engineers.

As per definition of the word, it means "assigning priority to a task". The very fact that the leads have assigned a task to engineers does imply that it's priority has been gauged and somebody has been set upon to debug it further.

Is this an Indianism or is there some other meaning of the term that is being used here?


texts:
I have reviewed several related posts here but am still quite confused with the use of determiners.

Say, in this sentence - "They reviewed the forms again to ensure completeness and accuracy." What difference does it make if I add a "their" before "completeness and accuracy"?

Also here is another sentence I don't understand - "We're pleased to offer you employment with Bank ABC." Why "employment" has no determiners before it? Isn't there a "specific" reference here?

Finally, could you recommend me some authoritative further readings on this topic? I really hope to make the concepts clear. Thanks a lot!


texts: Phrase which describes falsely improving something

texts: Is there an aphorism or proverb in English which describes attempting to improve something fundamentally flawed by dressing it with a lot of ornament?


texts: When can I omit a word while using a certain construction with apostrophe?

texts:
Is it grammatically acceptable to omit the term "house" in the following sentences:

"I had to go to my sister's to get my laptop because I had fogotten it there, that's why I took so long to come back home".

"I'm going to John's to visit him because he told me he was sick".

"Yesterday I went to Michael's, but he wasn't home".


texts: If you are trying to say that a bus will arrive some time in the future do you use "predicted at 2pm" or "predicted for 2pm"?


texts: "Autumn" vs. "fall" — geographical distribution of usage?

texts:
I know that generally autumn is the British term and fall is the American one, but what is the geographical distribution of the two terms outside these countries?

I'm fairly sure that no British person would use fall. Do Americans sometimes use autumn?


texts: Is this grammatically correct? "More often than not, I work on teams where I share a pool of work with other colleagues"

texts:
"More often than not, I work on teams where I share a pool of work with other colleagues."

Is "where" the correct conjunction?
Is it correct to use "teams" (plural) in former part of the sentence and "a pool" (singular) in the latter part?


texts: Punctuation to ensure that both objects are meant

texts:
In addition, a weak interaction between light
  and matter in free space renders the observation of many QED effects, like
  e.g. quadrature squeezing [3] or the phase shift [4{7] of a single emitter,
  difficult.

How do I have to set the commas, so that it is clear, that both the squeezing and phase shift are observed for single emitter?


texts: What is the origin of silent letters in words in English language ?  Why are there silent letters?


texts: Another word for "tricked", but NOT in a negative context

texts:
The sentence I am trying to use this in:

  Hopefully, having understood the terms above will have also tricked you into a better understanding of [irrelevant and arbitrary complex subject]"

The article I'm writing is somewhat inspired by the Randy Pausch's Last Lecture and the concept of Head-Fake teaching:

  The second kind of head fake is the really important one— the one
  that teaches people things they don't realize they're learning until well
  into the process. If you're a head-fake specialist, your hidden objective is
  to get them to learn something you want them to learn.

Lecture Transcript

I am looking to replace the word tricked above with a different one. But most Synonym searches I've found result in words with negative connotation.

I can use either a single word substitution (preferred), or a multi-word phrase that conveys the same meaning. Specifically that the reader was "tricked" into learning one thing, when they thought they were learning simpler thing. But I don't want to convey negative intention like scammed or duped, etc.


texts: Is there an English idiom that means "you can always find a law to convict anyone"?

texts:
There's an infamous phrase in Russian (attributed to Stalin's Chief Prosecutor Vyshinsky):

  "Был бы человек, а статья найдется"

Translated literally, this means

  "if there was a man, an article {{meaning "a law to convict him under"}} will be found"

Is there an idiom in English that reflects the same meaning? (e.g., "we, as the judicial power, can find an appropriate legal excuse to convict anyone and everyone")


texts: Incorrect personal pronoun case in "I Wonder as I Wander"

texts:
In the Christmas song "I Wonder as I Wander", the lyrics say:

  I wonder as I wander out under the sky,
  How Jesus the Savior did come for to die.
  For poor on'ry people like you and like I

It seems to me, though, that "like" here is a preposition--so shouldn't that mean that it should say "like me", not "like I"?

Am I missing a rule of English here, or is it just a breaking-the-rules-for-poetry thing?


texts:
This is actually a question that came up when I was studying Japanese. Unfortunately my grasp of the technical language of syntax is very limited, and I never fully comprehended the idea of a noun modifying clause. The phrase given in my Japanese study guide to demonstrate the difference is (without)

  I took a photograph.

and with

  This is a photograph taken by me.

Can someone break this example down for me, and perhaps provide a few other examples like this for simple and complex situations (if this even makes sense) to help me understand this construct?

It is also possible that the guide has been poorly translated and there is a different name for this. If so, what is it?

Revision

It seems that the question is not entirely clear to some, so although I have my answer I want to add some more information to (hopefully) raise the quality of the question. None of the text above this was edited.

The block quoted text is an example lifted exactly from a study guide, not from notes taken in a class, and not translated from Japanese. It appears to have been designed to show a reader who does not know what a "noun modifying clause" is is and how to apply it in English, before doing it in Japanese.

To clarify, the first block quote is a sentence without a "noun modifying clause" and the second is a sentence with one.


texts: Where does the phrase "the bee's knees" originate from?

texts: So the phrase "the bee's knees" approximately means "it's fantastic" (my definition at least!). But how did this phrase come about?


texts:
I have the sentence fragment:

  each in itself for achieving this pure abstraction of being-for-itself

and I'd like to incorporate it into my paper so that the quotation reads as follows:

  They eventually "achieve the pure abstraction of being for itself"

I know that brackets go around any modified text, but I'm unclear if they "jump across" word boundaries. Do I render this as:

  They eventually "achiev[e the] pure abstraction of..."

or

  They eventually "achiev[e] [the] pure abstraction of..."

I also tend to use "verb[]" to indicate that a suffix has been dropped from a word. Would the usage be the same in that case? Say, for example, I want to make "She was reading the book" into "She read a book." Would this be:

  "She read[] [a] book"

or

  "She read[ a] book"

In both cases, the version with two sets of brackets looks awkward to me, but the version with a single set looks like it might be a typographical error.

I looked at existing questions about brackets but I couldn't find any relating to brackets that cross word boundaries, I apologize if this is a dupe.


texts: Use of apostrophe or hyphen in money amounts

texts:
I'm trying to write a sentence along the lines of "we ordered 200 pounds' worth of stuff", but using the pound sign rather than the word.
Possible options:
"£200 worth"
"£200's worth"
"£200-worth"
"£200's-worth"

Any help appreciated!


texts: "The launch of my career" can we choose the word launch?

texts: Or only the word beggining ? Thanks for help!


texts: What is the proper way to punctuate a question and answer within the same statement?

texts:
How do I punctuate a statement in which both the question and answer are included?
For example: Will budgeting alone fix the problem, No!


texts: Can I use "could" and "would" in the present tense?

texts:
Is it correct to say:

  She speaks so fast that I couldn't understand her.


texts: The expression "to cold pig" something was used by my grandmother to mean throw something away as no longer of use. Has anyone else come across this expression


texts: Idiom: People caring about minor stuff while something terrible is happening

texts: Imagine a situation in which the whole place is on fire, a bomb is about to explode, everyone is running for their lives and someone is checking his looks on the mirror... pretty inappropriate for the situation, don't you think? I'm looking for an idiom or colloquial/slang/informal expression to describe such an indifferent stance.


texts: Are the 'beautiful things' of life, the 'beautiful' of life?

texts:
The following question set me thinking:

Can we use all "nouns" as adjective?

What about the opposite? Can adjectives be used as nouns? What are the rules or the stylistic limits to their usage in this context?


texts: What is the contemporary English proverb for 'Throw in a sprat to catch a salmon'

texts:
Throw in a sprat to catch a salmon

This is used in a positive context that in order to gain something big, we need to spend a little. I am looking for a contemporary English proverb or idiom that implies the same meaning.

Also, I am looking for one which also refers to a cunning person who gifts small and worthless things but in return takes a highly priced thing with him.


texts: How to change following sentence into Reported Speech?

texts: This is not the time or place for this. Please, help I have no idea how to do it.


texts:
To make right decisions, see the big picture first.

In this sentence (slogan), do you need to place "the" before the word "right"? We're having a discussion here and some people think that you don't need it, because it's a plural and/or not a very "definite" thing ("right decisions").

(Also, is the comma correctly placed and are there other mistakes?)


texts:
In another post I was edited/corrected on the use of "to run a search" instead of "to search", but both terms do not necessarily imply the exact same thing.

To run a search, to my knowledge, has more to do with the act of starting a search, most usually on an automatic search engine. You run a search, and wait some time until it finishes. It has the implicit meaning that you are not the one doing the search but, in this case, the computer is.

On the other hand, "to search" would most likely make you think that you are the one performing the search, manually looking through a book, document, or set of any of them.

So, how is this sentence subject for an edit, from this:

  Many times I've run searches across several books for the usage of some words and many times I've found my results quite contradictory.

to this?

  Many times I searched across several books for the usage of some words and many times I've found my results quite contradictory.

Don't you agree that besides being unnecessary, it even loses much of the original meaning? Basically because the running of a search, as I said, automatically implied that the books searched for were online or digital books, and when turned into a simple "searched" that extra piece of information is gone, and those once digital books now may appear to be regular paper books.


texts:
I have a problem understanding the need for the word “no” in sentences like :
I don’t eat no meat. -
I don’t smell no dinner cooking.
...
 Why would we need to add “no” if we already have
“Don’t” in these sentences ?
Is it grammatically correct ?


texts: Why is "not as ... as" preferred to "not cheaper than"?

texts:
In the rephrasing exercise

  A is more expensive than B. > A is not _________ B.

The only correct answer is supposed to be "A is not as cheap as B".

However, a student suggested "A is not cheaper than B".

In Portuguese, that's a perfectly possible construction, but, to me, it sounds awkward in English. However, I cannot explain why (except for the fact I'm sure I have never heard or read such a sentence - but, again, I'm not a native English speaker).

I've checked all my grammars, but I couldn't find anything that could help me explain to the student why not as ... as is preferred to not more/-er than. What can't be overlooked is that I have found no exercises or examples that allow for the not more/-er than structure.

As it is, I'm not even sure if the sentence is possible (even if it is awkward) or if it is absolutely wrong. Whatever the answer, the main problem remains: why? Is it because of the negative to be? Does it require the as ... as structure?


texts:
Which is correct.

Dan thought it would make sense for me and Val to attend training.

OR
Dan thought it would make sense for Val and I to attend training.


texts: What to call a doctor who doesn't really cure their patient with their effort (to get more money from "repeat business")?

texts:
Doctors Are Not “Only Out to Make Money”

I read that article and can't get a good word for that kind of doctors, except the term doctors (who) are only out to make money in the second line of the third paragraph (I add the who). I would like to have a good concise term for this kind of doctors.

  There’s an old joke about the doctor whose son graduates from medical school and joins his practice. After a while the son tells his father, “You know old Mrs. Jones? You’ve been treating her rash for years and she never got better. I prescribed a new steroid cream and her rash is gone!” The father responds, “You idiot! That rash put you through medical school.”


texts: I want to know for what reason we cannot use “what when"

texts:
What if defined as a phrase means:

What would result if ….? (Oxford)
‘What if nobody shows up?’

The differences between if and when is not the question, but if we say what when meaning:

What result when….?

can we say:
What when nobody shows up?
and if not, why?


texts:
Is there a situation in which following sentence is correct?

  "You could have mentioned you would do that"

If so, then in which context is it right? I mean, if the sentence is started by "could have" then the next part should contain "have" after "would" in this case? Is this a rule or does it all depend on the situation in which you're using it? And if so, please present me the right context.


texts: Are there any mutually unintelligible English dialects? So far I've only been able to learn is that English is highly intelligible among its different dialects, but no actual statement that  all dialect are mutually intelligible.


texts:
What is the most common phrase with the meaning of intermediate/interim goal/target/result? For example,

setting up interim goal in a project/agenda
calculating a intermediate result in a bigger mathematical task

Linguee shows more possible contexts I'm looking for, the german common words are Zwischenziel(-target) and Zwischenergebnis(-result)


texts:
What is the correct verb associated with the consumption of soup?
I've come across both the version.


texts: Usage of superlative in the context of more than one item

texts:
Can we use superlative when we are talking about 2 or more items? I'm not quite sure about that since the rule says: "Superlative adjectives are used to describe an object which is at the upper or lower limit of a quality".

I wanted to figure out this before talking to my student who wrote the following sentence:"Only a few games are the most popular in the world".


texts:
I was recently at a pub in Germany with a group of native English speakers (I am a native German speaker) and we encountered the phrase "melted onions" on the menu. "Beef steak with melted onions and vegetables" to be precise.

So essentially everyone thought that this was a wrong translation from the German "geschmolzene Zwiebeln". Only I thought that I had seen the term in English menus before.

Now I looked it up on the internet and can't seem to find a clear conclusion.

There seem to be quite a few recipe websites that use the term, some with the variation "melting onions":

Melted Onions
Beef in red wine with melting onions
Sweet Potato Hash With Bacon and Melted Onions
Beef Roast With Melted Tomatoes and Onions

There are some sources here (e.g. NYT), that I would consider quite reliable, but I am not sure if recipe sites ever are.

The dictionary entries I kind find don't seem to be worth much

https://www.linguee.de/englisch-deutsch/uebersetzung/melted+onions.html

So is "melted onions" a term that is actually used by native English speakers? Is it maybe common only in a part of the English speaking world? (AE?, BE?, Australian English?)


texts: What does "gages and safety pledges" mean in Henry VIII era English?

texts:
What does gages and safety pledges mean in this old passage, and when is the Octave of St. Michael?

  The King to the Sheriff of Notthinghamshire: greeting. If John Smith shall make you secure to prosecute his claim, then put by gages and safe pledges Richard Jones that he be brought before us on the Octave of St. Michael, wheresoever we shall then be in England, to shew wherefore, whereas the same John had delivered a certain horse to the same Richard, at Notthingham, well and sufficiently to shew, the same Richard fixed a certain nail in the quick of the foot aforesaid horse in such a manner that the horse was in many ways made worse, to the damage of him the said John one hundred shillings, as he saith.


texts: What is the meaning of "After hours don't raise too much suspicion"? (Also, is it a badly worded sentence?)

texts:
The sentence is: After hours don't raise too much suspicion.

If it helps to understand the sentence in any ways, here is the context: The sentence is from an onscreen notification of a game called "Sleeping Dogs". During a specific mission, you drive a woman around, do some stuff and one of them is sneaking in a temple and disguise as a monk to steal flowers for her wedding. This is the screenshot of the scene with the sentence.

I know what "after hours" means (the time after working hours, likely after 5PM), but putting it into this sentence, it doesn't make much sense.

I have a few guesses of the sentence's meaning:

The game gives you a hint that "It is after hours right now, so it will not raise too much suspicion".
The game warns you that "It is now after hours, so you'd better not raise too much suspicion".

So, what is the meaning of the sentence? Is it a badly worded one?


texts: How to teach a child using phonics in a different accent?

texts:
This is one of two questions regarding teaching my child to read using phonics. The other related question is:

How to teach the difference between "go" and "got" using phonics?

I am a parent of a four year old boy who is starting to read at school (UK). The school is using a phonics system to teach the children to read.

We live in the north-west of the UK - Manchester, to be precise.

My wife and I are from New Zealand. While our New Zealand accent is not particularly strong, we have occasional trouble making ourselves understood with native english speakers who speak with a Mancunian accent. For instance, when I ask someone for a "pen", I occasionally get a confused look and a question as to why I should want a "pin". Sigh.

Phonics, as a teaching system, is rather alien to both my wife and me. However, we are both very keen to consolidate and reinforce what our son is learning at his school.

I anticipate problems when teaching our son to read using phonics, particularly when we are teaching vowel sounds.

Should I:

(i) not worry - peer pressure and teaching will overcome whatever his silly parents are teaching and how they speak, or
(ii) try to emulate the sounds as he is being taught them?


texts: I heard the "control" word (and other similar words) stress depends on whether it is a noun or a verb. But I can't find any proof to that. Is it really so?


texts:
In german, it is possible to use 'yodelling (jodeln)' to describe an orator's tone when he is mocking someone in a derisive manner.

Is this possible in english, too, or are there other, more suitable terms to express this?

  'Sure, who doesn't need fourhundred pairs of shoes?' he yodelled.


texts: Single quotation marks: punctuation marks outside or inside?

texts:
I use single quotation marks to provide translations of foreign terms and to highlight titles of parts of my dissertation.

I'm confused where I should put commas and periods when they appear next to the inverted comma, meaning inside or outside?

Thank you


texts: What is the term for the unstated elements within rhetoric and/or their use?

texts:
I've always understood that the term rhetoric specifically referred to the conveyance of some concept that is not represented at all in the literal meaning of the words used.

A few examples:
These refugees just keep crossing our borders.
Their crossing of borders is axiomatically bad.

If you prick us, do we not bleed?
We are the same.

These so-called experts think we need more supervision.
We don't need more supervision, and their expertise is in question.

I've just started digging into the subject of rhetoric, and found I've been very wrong in my definition, but still find the concept of that unstated component interesting.

Is there a term for it, and if so, what is it?


texts: Are "wonder" and "wander" etymologically related?

texts: Especially in lyric-writing, where used more figuratively than literally, e.g. (mental) wandering and wondering, the two seem often interchangeable. And I can see wondering being conceived as an analogue of wandering (only, in one's mind). However from peering at their etymologies (see: wonder and wander), it appears this isn't the case—or have I simply not dug deep enough?


texts: What is an appropriate word for doing something to [ undo ] your deficiency in something?

texts:
For example, a person who has an undergraduate degree in Electrical Engineering, and wants to apply for a Master's in Computer Science, has not studied some of the pre-required courses for an admission in the Computer Science program. In other words, he is deficient in some of the CS courses. For this reason, he takes a few extra short to ________ his deficiency.

What word should fill in that blank?

"I took the course titled ABC from the institute XYZ in order to _____ my deficiency, as I have not studied the course AZX in my undergraduate."


texts: What's the meaning of "there's no stinkin' way" in this paragraph?

texts:
When I started explaining the project’s work scope to people in the school, I learned quickly that most believed the technology classes would be my biggest challenge. One special education teacher’s comments captured the opinion I heard again and again:

  "There’s no stinkin’ way you’re going to get the shop teachers to work with you on this."

What's the meaning of "there's no stinkin' way"?


texts: Are there any short single words that differentiate between ratio and sum type relativity?

texts:
I've been digging through the thesaurus and I can't seem to find a good word.  The impetus for this is that I'm a programmer and I'd like a short, sweet way to distinguish between two very similar but also very different things.

I have a list of things, like pages in a book, and sometimes I want to get a page by number, and other times by relative position (like the page half way through the book).

Naming a function for getting a page by number is easy getPage(pageNum: number).  But I can never figure out what to call the other one... getPageFromRatioOfLength(ratioOfLength: number) is a bit too verbose.

So my question is, if someone had $10.00 and got taxed $5.00, what kind of words could they use to ask whether they had been taxed -$5.00 or -50%?  Are there any short, sweet, single terms that can describe and differentiate between these two forms of movement and relativity?


texts: Why did the past tense ending -t change to -ed?

texts:
My posts are often questions for further knowledge about reasons for language change. In this extract from 1750, there are three variations on the past tense form. Once again, I am grateful if anyone can assist with explaining why or when contemporary use became standard practice.

  It appeared that the Priſoner went to the Proſecutors Shop and
  cheapen’d ſome Handkerchiefs, that he carry’d one to the Door to ſhew
  to a Woman who was there, and asked her if ſhe liked it; and as ſoon
  as he was gone they miſt the Handkerchiefs off the Compter.


texts:
Some people quite frequently use "Hmmm" in their emails and messages.

What does this mean? Does it mean they are annoyed?


texts: Subject-Verb Agreement with "years" (measurement?) as subject?

texts:
Subject-Verb Agreement, wondering which is correct in the following?

  Our years of grammar experience have / has taught us...

Assuming "have" is correct. And that phrase "of grammar experience" doesn't determine. But I'm confused now after having read that plural "years" is thought to be singular because "years" is a measurement, I believe was the argument, here:

Measurements
Generally a number, fraction, or quantity of things is considered singular if considered as a mass (ten gallons is enough) and plural if considered as separate units (ten dishfuls were slowly doled out). Sums of money, time, distances, and other similar measurements are often singular (Only years of dedication earns a climber the right to stand on such a peak).

I realize there are somewhat similar questions already on your site but I can't find one that solves completely. There are many opinions but not many final words. Thanks


texts: Does the phrase “mug my day off” make sense?

texts: i heard “mug someone off” so i was wondering about “mug something off”. Have you ever heard someone say it? And if so what does it mean exactly?


texts:
A chart is often used to mean a map or graph of some description, but also the top selling musical hits week by week:

  A map showing coastlines, water depths, or other information of use to navigators.
  An outline map on which specific information, such as scientific data, can be plotted.
  A sheet presenting information in the form of graphs or tables.
  See graph.
  (often charts) A listing of best-selling recorded music or other items: A hit single that reached number 3 on the charts.

The free dictionary

All these other definitions have a consistent idea of visual representation of data, but the charts as applied to music is different in that it's a simple one dimensional ranking.

Do they have origins in some particular representation that was more chart-like? Perhaps that got adopted into common usage to create this exception. And possibly related, is there a particular reason it's often charts?


texts:
[Clue: he was born three weeks ago, on 23 September 2014.]

Originally, as I understand it, the word birthday meant the day of one's birth. It was a one-off event.

I don't want to quarrel with the idea of extending this to cover anniversaries of one's birth. I'm comfortable saying that I've had forty birthdays, or thereabouts.

I'm not sure how far back the concept of celebrating the anniversary of one's birth goes, but it at least pre-dates Moses (Genesis 40:20), and therefore long pre-dates the English word birthday. This isn't a question about how that custom arose, but about the way we use the English word birthday and whether it makes sense. Does it refer to the day of one's birth, or an anniversary, or both?

Convention seems to dictate that my son's first birthday is when he's a year old; his second birthday will be when he's made it through another year; and so on. Now this is odd: if his first birthday is in a year's time, what's become of the day of his birth? Is this now considered not to be a birthday at all? I'd have expected him to become a year old on his second birthday, and so on.

In summary, the language drift seems to have gone like this:

notion of birthday = the day of one's birth;
notion of birthday extended to include anniversaries;
notion of birthday now restricted to exclude the day of one's birth.

Is this a bit weird, or what? Has it just happened so that the cardinals (four years old) line up with the ordinals (fourth birthday)?

Is it because birthday is now shorthand for anniversary of one's birth?

Am I missing something?


texts: Is it grammatically right to start a sentence using the phrase 'As there are/is'

texts:
Scenario:
There will not be any class today, since some other programs are arranged during the duration of class.
Is it good to write this sentence as:

As there are some programs going on, there will be no class today.


texts: Can an entire phrase consisting of a noun and a prepositional phrase modifying the noun be considered the direct object?

texts:
I have two questions related to the following sentence:

I saw pictures of animals.

My first question is, what is the direct object of the sentence?

(a) The direct object is pictures.

(b) The direct object is pictures of animals.

(c) Either or both pictures and pictures of animals can correctly be termed the direct object of the sentence.

My second question is whether there is a grammatical term for a prepositional phrase like of animals that modifies the direct object of a sentence, and if so, what is it?

I'm hoping to receive an authoritative reply to both questions by someone who truly understands grammatical terminology, and not a criticism of the sample sentence or a suggestion of how to rewrite or replace the sample sentence. Thank you.


texts: Is it incorrect to use "&" instead of "and" in a professional document?

texts: To save space, I often use "&" instead of "and". I noticed many B2B websites,brochures and reports don't use "&". Is it wrong, or considered shabby if you use the short form?


texts: Is there a word or term to describe when someone focuses on a specific example, rather than the problem at large?

texts:
For those who don't play video games, there's a growing trend in the industry called "Microtransactions" - a small fee the player can pay for certain things in game. Usually something small, such as a cosmetic item to change the color of their equipment, or a fancy Mount to ride on. Usually, these convey no actual benefit to the player aside from looking cool and unique. But there are games that abuse this (especially on mobile devices) where you can pay for convenience; get experience faster, objectively better items or other advantages, pay now for extra Lives or whatever.

Having defined that term, I had a discussion recently about the trend of Microtransactions and how so long as a game doesn't implement them in a manner that gives paying players an objective advantage over other players I think they're perfectly fine. I cited a game as an example of one that I was told implements these microtransactions unfairly, and I was apparently misinformed.

The other person in the discussion then went on a tangent about how the example game is totally fine and how wrong I was, completely ignoring my initial statement that the discussion is actually about and discrediting everything I said because of a poor example.

Is there a phrase, term, or something to describe the train of thought where a person "pokes holes" in a specific example and overlooks the greater picture like this?


texts:
Infixes appear in words such as 'absolutely' to form 'abso-bloody-lutely', or as 'educate' to 'edu-ma-cate' in the Simpsons. I was wondering if there were any formal infixes.

The only ones I could come across were accepted by Merriam Webster and were 'cupsful' and 'handsful' (as opposed to the more common 'cupfuls' and 'handfuls'), and they don't seem overly correct, either.

The question this has been marked as a duplicate of is similar, though not the same, in the sense that prefixes 'un' and 'de' are not the same. My question was more so in regard to the words 'cupsful' and 'handsful' and whether or not they are acceptable alternatives to their common counterparts, though I didn't specify that very clearly. Thank you to Mari-Lou A and JEL for assisting me in finding the answer to the former question.


texts: How to express "consistently beat one's own record" concisely

texts:
This is for a write-up in an academic document stating accomplishments.

I am looking for a term that is a near-equivalent of beat one's own record, exceed expectations and set new records.


texts: "Looking to + infinitive" vs "Looking to + gerund"

texts:
Which is the correct expression, looking to build or looking to building?

  Whether you are looking to build. . . .

or

  Whether you are looking to building. . . .


texts:
Which is the correct form?

Tommy and she went to the store.
OR
She and Tommy went to the store.

I hear the second example much more frequently in conversation, but I believe the first one is actually grammatically correct.


texts: Is there a word that describes someone with a "false sense of doing good"?

texts: You get the so called "do-gooders". Some of them are misled by incorrect information so they have a false sense of doing good. Here is an example: Someone that recycles paper thinks that they are saving trees. In fact they reduce demand for trees resulting in forestry companies planting less trees so the opposite actually happens in practice. They have false "Greenpeace" images in their mind of age old natural forests that are destroyed to make paper. Some people will listen to reason and change their opinion. Others however will insist that they are right since you are destroying their "feel good" emotion.  I suspect that they actually have a psychological problem. I am looking for a word that describes such a person.


texts: Is it okay to say from " the physics point of view " ?

texts:
So I am a mathematician, and I am trying to explain the consequence of an equation from " the physiscs points of view".
Is it okay to state it in this manner:  "from  the physics point of view "   ?


texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  Central Pennsylvanian English speakers: what are the limitations on the “needs washed” construction?
  Using -ed vs. -ing in the “needs washed” construction

I've noticed in forums and advertisements a surge in the use of this mixed tense phrase. I would never say this- I would write "needs to be fixed" or "needs fixing".

Is this a local usage that has gone worldwide recently? I'm not one to be very strict about colloquial English, but this one is grating to me.

Edit: For many, many examples, try this Google Search: http://www.google.com/search?q=forum+"needs+fixed"


texts: Past tense of wake: is there a difference between "waked", and "woke"?

texts:
I just stumbled over the verb "to wake", which according to various sources has two valid forms for the past tense: "woke" and "waked".

Some further research stated, that there seem to be two (Old / Middle) English verbs - one strong, one weak - today's "wake" stems from, hence the two forms for past tense:

waken, meaning to cease to sleep and
wakien, meaning to stay awake, keep watch

Now, as there are two origins, I'm wondering: Are there (subtle?) differences in meaning when using "woke" or "waked" today?


texts: Compound Modifier in "Information Storage and Retrieval System" - No Hyphen

texts:
The term "information storage and retrieval system" seems well established, but "information storage" is a compound modifier preceding the nouns yet has no hyphen in almost every instance I can see written online. Is this correct? I know that using hyphens in compound modifiers is often considered an issue of style, but typically I see most style guides recommend that compound modifiers preceding the noun (well-established convention) should be hyphenated, whilst ones after the noun need not necessarily be so (the convention is well established).

Many thanks.


texts:
I've looked up the phrasal verb fire off in the major dictionaries. Although no dictionary states that the phrasal verb suggests no intention of hitting a target. All the example sort of suggest so. Am I right or that's just a stretch?

The ship fired off warning shots

They fire off a volley of shots

Mexicans fire off guns to welcome the new year


texts: Why the opposite meanings of the word “bollocks”?

texts:
The phrases the dog’s bollocks, the bee’s bollocks, and golden bollocks are used to mean something or someone excellent, fine, or well thought of. But if one were to say a load of bollocks,  or bullock’s bollocks, it would mean something not very good at all.

Does anyone know why bollocks has this opposite meaning according to the phrase it is used in?


texts:
"As far as he was concerned it was the discovery of the millennium, and he was prepared to do whatever it took/takes to find investment."

Any knowledgeable takes on the matter?


texts:
English is not my first language, and in my language (Bosnian) we write just as we speak ; so from time to time, I encounter phrases which I know I have heard before, but am not sure if I am writing them correctly.

Do you say sound approach to describe an approach to a problem which is logical, makes sense, and is practical?

The reason I ask is that I could not find it in a reliable online reference, and I have a feeling that I am spelling it wrong.


texts: Is the double word necessary in this sentence?

texts:
Can anyone let me know if I can replace the second 'problems' (at the last of the sentence) with the word 'them'? I prefer not to use the word 'problems' twice in my sentence.
They too faced the day-to-day problems of life and did not perform supernatural feats to solve their problems.
Thanks


texts: 'Blowing Dixie double four time' and 'He can play the honky tonk like anything' meaning

texts:
in Dire Straits "Sultans of Swing" what is the meaning of these two lines:

In the first verse:

  You get a shiver in the dark
      It's been raining in the park but meantime
      South of the river you stop and you hold everything
      A band is blowing Dixie double four time
      You feel all right when you hear that music ring

As I understand blowing Dixie means something like fooling around. But what is double four time?

And then later:

  And Harry doesn't mind if he doesn't make the scene.
    He's got a daytime job, he's doing alright.
    He can play the honky tonk like anything,
    Savin' it up for Friday night.

What does it mean? Is he playing really good but saving it up or doesn't do it very well?

Thanks.


texts: Is there a name for these sorts of paradoxical inversions?

texts:
They most often come as advice on how to solve problems that seem the reverse of what would be expected:

  In order to think of a solution you must stop thinking about the
  problem.

  In order to be a good leader you must know when not to give orders.

I'm sure there must be a name in rhetoric at least, they often have the quality of being immediately pleasing or slightly amusing in the same way a joke or a pun does.

Sort of like a stronger form of antithesis that goes beyond putting opposites together and suggests the opposite is actually the solution.


texts: What is an unambiguous single word for a five-pointed star without enclosure?

texts:
I am looking for a single word that describes this thing (1):

but not this thing (2):

The obvious choice here would be pentagram, but in colloquial use, that word unfortunately refers to both (1) and (2), as well as a number of variants of (2) that have other enclosures surrounding the 5-pointed star. (In mathematical use, "pentagram" uniquely refers to (1) and not (2), but I am not writing for a mathematical audience, so that's still a no-go.) It also has connotations I would like to avoid (devil worship, goat sacrifice, etc.).

If all else fails, I can just call (1) a "five-pointed star", but that gets to be a bit of a mouthful.


texts:
Which one is correct?

  Just another random thoughts.

or

  Just another random thought.

I'm writing a blog post about recent musings.


texts: a word for becoming emotionally involved

texts:
a word for when someone becomes emotionally involved with what's happening.
It's a word close to empathy, for example, when someone is telling a really touching story and it's like you're feeling what's like under their skin.

It doesn't mean to be sorry, but when something someone says/does etc. gets and holds onto you, and you feel attached to it


texts:
We are discussing on ELL how to get rid of pronoun ambiguity. The intial sentence with apparent pronoun ambiguity was

  When Anne’s grandmother died she lit an extra candle for her on her birthday.

An improved version

  Anne lit an extra candle for her grandmother, when she died.

is free from the apparent ambiguity but contains still a - let's say - potential one. Provided that afterlife exists and one can celebrate birthdays with birthday cakes and candles on it there, she can also refer to Anne. There certainly exist examples for sentences where there is the same ambiguity created without reference to supernatural things.
The question now is if one can overcome this ambiguity by licit, acknowledged means. The following propositions exist. But are they licit and aren't they disrespectful?

  Anne lit an extra candle for her grandmother, when that died.
  Anne lit an extra candle for her grandmother, when that one died.
  Anne lit an extra candle for her grandmother, when the latter died.

Are there better ones?


texts: Why is there an "a" in "beggar"? Why not an "e"?

texts:
Why does beggar end in -ar? Many identically sounding words just use -er, if not all.

Examples:

bumper
pepper
tagger
chanter
pegger

They all use the -er version. Also, history shows that beggar was once spelled with an -er:  begger.

Why did beggar adopt -ar over -er, and why haven’t other words done the same thing?


texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  Should an adverb go before or after a verb?

Is it correct to write a sentence this way?

  Now we can speak about the steps that I’ve previously listed.

Or it would be better move the temporal adverb to the end?

  Now we can speak about the steps that I’ve listed previously.


texts: "solder" and "salve" phonetics between AmE and BrE

texts:
Many will know that there are differences in AmE and BrE pronunciation of the words "solder" and "salve".

On the topic of "solder", there are already two questions here asking about the correct American pronunciation of "solder". Neither of these give a good answer explaining why, but there's at least one anecdote:

  This doesn't come from a dictionary, but I had a relative who spent
  most of his free designing clever circuits (from the 1920s onwards).

  He always told me that the correct British pronunciation was "sodder",
  but that over the years it had started to be pronounced "solder" -
  which he believed was to avoid the embarrassment of a word that could
  be misinterpreted as being related to sodomy when speaking to people
  who didn't have a background in electronics (or pipework!).
  Answer by user Tim Wintle

Another answer by caxtontype gives the etymology from Merriam-Webster which suggests the introduction of the 'l' came about later:

  Middle English soudure, from Anglo-French, from souder to solder, from
  Latin solidare to make solid, from solidus solid First Known Use: 14th
  century
  Answer by caxtontype

There's no corroboration of the "sodomy" explanation or perhaps even the expression "sod it".

Regarding "solder", I would like to know if anyone has access to a BrE dictionary from about between 1800 to 1900. That way, if it provides pronunciation we can know whether the 'l' sound was added to "solder" fairly recently in BrE.

Another case of the Americans dropping the 'l' is in "salve":

  n
  1. (Medicine) an ointment for wounds, sores, etc
  2. anything that heals or soothes
  Collins English Dictionary

In BrE the pronunciation is given as "sælv" whereas in American the 'l' usually is dropped.

Wikipedia has some extensive information about the very common dropping of the 'l' during the Early Modern English period, that is, roughly the late 1400s to the the late 1600s:

  Words with /alk/ and /olk/, which again followed the same pattern, but
  also dropped the /l/, so that words like chalk, talk and walk now have
  /ɔːk/, while folk and yolk rhyme with smoke.
  Words with /alf/ or /alv/
  (calf, half, halve), which simply lost the /l/ (the vowel of these is
  now /æ/ in General American and /ɑː/ in RP, by BATH-broadening). The
  word salve is often pronounced with the /l/; the name Ralph may be
  /rælf/, /rɑːlf/, /rɑːf/ or /reɪf/. Words like solve were not affected,
  although golf dropped the /l/ in some British accents.
  Words with
  /alm/ and /olm/, which lost the /l/ and lengthened the vowel (the
  lengthened [oː] later becoming diphthongized in the toe–tow merger).
  Words like alms, balm, calm, Chalmers, qualm, palm and psalm now
  generally have /ɑː/ in the standard accents, while holm and Holmes are
  homophones of home(s). Some accents (including many of American
  English) have reintroduced the /l/ in these words as a spelling
  pronunciation. The word salmon generally retains a short vowel despite
  the loss of /l/.

  ...

  The /l/ has also been lost in the words would and should.
  Phonological history of English consonants

Regarding "salve", I would to know whether the American dropping of the 'l' is a result of the provenance of the British colonists and their accent/dialect. This is because evidently many of these changes didn't occur universally, that is, certain accents or dialects of English underwent certain of these changes during the Early Modern English period, and others didn't. The population of British colonists in 1688 was only 200,000.
Thirteen Colonies

So I would like to know if the explanation of the difference is that this small number of colonists came from English-speaking parts where the 'l' dropping phenomenon happened, whereas the majority of English speakers in Britain spoke English which wasn't affected by this loss of the 'l', and if that explains the current difference.

Edit: Just heard Bill Maher, American comedian pronounce "salve" with an 'L'.
Video


texts: Difference between change (n) and coins (n)

texts:
I am interested in any differences between the two nouns change and coins in actual usage. These nouns have different but similar meanings. I am only interested in the difference of the meaning of:

change (n):

  money in the form of coins

coins (n):

  small, flat, and usually round pieces of metal issued by a government
  as money

Source: Merriam-Webster’s Advanced Learner’s English Dictionary

The difference between these two definitions is not always clear for me. Are there slight differences or are these two terms 100% interchangeable?

What is the difference between:

a) I've got a $10 bill and about $3 in change.
b) I've got a $10 bill and about $3 in coins.
a) a pocketful of loose change
b) a pocketful of loose coins
a) The beggar asked us if we had any spare change. [=a small amount of money that we did not need]
b) The beggar asked us if we had spare coins. [=a small amount of money that we did not need]
a) Have you got any change for this note?
b) Have you got coins for this note?
a) I had no change for the parking meter so I didn't pay.
b) I had no coins for the parking meter so I didn't pay.
a) gold/silver/copper coins
b) gold/silver/copper change
a) I have a dollar in coins.
b) I have a dollar in change.
a) He collects coins from around the world.
b) He collects change from around the world.


texts: Is there a word for a style of art that is a great example of its own style? And a word that can be applied to its artist?

texts: I was mainly thinking about musical artists whose songs have style that is very recognizable as an "artists name" song or as a specific genres song. Not a super pressing question but just something that I am curious about.


texts: Which is the correct past tense of "spin": "span" or "spun"?

texts:
All the while I was writing my answer to this question, something was bothering me about this excerpt from the quotation:

  When Adam delved and Eve span,

The past tense of delve is properly delved, but to keep the symmetry in tense, shouldn't the past tense of spin be spun here?  Why is it not?


texts: is it correct to refer to a plagiarism, like a book, as a plagiarized book?

texts:
I stumbled upon a thread on Reddit saying that a certain game review was plagiarized. My initial thought was that someone stole some ideas from this review. However, it turned out that this very game review was a plagiarism.
But could it be that plagiarized can be used adjectively so something is plagiarized means something is a plagiarism? But then, if someone plagiarizes material A to publish material B, shouldn’t material A be called plagiarized?

Or maybe plagiarized is used wrongly here.


texts:
While innocently passing by on my way to Big Rep City, I happened to overhear (alright! I was dropping eaves) a dialogue in some podunk Commentary Cafe wherein two fellow ELU consumers were debating whether the term “Yuppie” was an acronym or a portmanteau.

Rapidly approaching the status of ‘ancient of days’, the term Yuppie brought me back (kicking and screaming, mind you) to the Eighties and made me long for the good ol’ days---the Sixties, man---when suddenly I had a flashback and the mental fog that is my cognitive life unaccountably dissipated long enough for me to realize that both of these users were wrong. Yuppie was neither an acronym nor portmanteau, but rather, half ‘n' half.

The Eighties term, Yuppie, was in fact, the illegitimate bastard of the unholy union of the acronym Y.U.P. with the late-Sixties to early Seventies term, YIPPIE, which in turn was an appropriation of the last syllable of the Sixties counter-cultural epithet, HIPPIE. And the previous meaning adhered as an echo in each further elaboration. Just as Yippie was a play on Hippie while adopting an antithetical political stance, so too Yuppie is a play on Yippie, yet conceptually antithetical.

Unfortunately at this point my brain-fog returned and the trail went cold so that’s as far back as I was able to follow the breadcrumbs ... so 1) does anybody out there know where those crumbs lead? 2) are there any other terms in current usage that have similar developmental histories?

Edit: An integral facet of my OP relates to the acronym/portmanteau controversy overheard in commentary and referred to above. This part of my question has only received explicit attention in commentary. My position is clearly stated so, 3) will those of you who feel I err please refute my position, citing to authority, in answer form?


texts: Quotation marks in a multi-paragraph quote

texts:
When quoting one person in a (long) multi-paragraph monologue (shortened here), should the ending quotation marks for one paragraph be omitted if the next paragraph starts with an attribution tag? I have not been able to find an answer to this anywhere.

"Everyone has to have a flag. <--- Quotation marks here, or not?

After a moment he added, "They were the only ones left."


texts: Manifest vs. Manifested in relation to the glory or presence of God

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  “Manifest” vs. “manifested”

I'm proofreading a manuscript for an author who writes extensively on the presence or glory of God manifested in this natural, earthly realm. The author uses the terms "manifest presence of God" and "manifested presence of God" interchangeably.  I'm concerned this is not accurate.

I read a previous post on this site about the topic, but it does not seem to address my question in this context.  I welcome input.

Here's an example of usage from the text:

...As I continue devoting myself to God, I continue experiencing the manifest presence of God. His manifested presence is a supply that strengthens my spirit and makes me strong and keeps me going on and on, further and deeper in God.

Dear friend, living in the manifest presence of God is a choice. It’s a choice we must make in order to go forward in God. We must make the choice and then contend against the natural, physical sense realm, which will always try to crowd out God’s presence in our lives. The natural way of life tries desperately to pull us and everything we do into the flesh to do without Him. It’s Mary and Martha all over again.


texts: My father just asked me if I could buy some 'steel-toed' shoes on "the Internet". So I went to [That Popular Shoe Site] and typed 'steel toed shoes' in their search field and it showed me lots of watches, some crampons and various and sundry steel items, but no shoes. When I typed 'steel toe' (without a D) it showed me tons of shoes with steel caps in the toe area. My father and those around him have said 'steel-toed' shoes for as long as I can remember. Is this a generational thing, a regional thing (we're New Englanders) or is steel toed shoes just not correct? Thanks.


texts:
People here (Hong Kong) like to pronounce n0 ("n subscript zero") as "N-nor"; "N-zero" seems to be acceptable. I am wondering what's the most popular pronunciation in English.
I am actually a little confused by "N-nor". Where does it come from? Is it understood in America or England?


texts: Men who are lured by the seductive beauty of women are called?

texts: What do you call such a man who is taken advantage of by the attraction of beautiful woman. This person is basically fooled by such a woman/girl.


texts: Single word for parent who has lost their children (not orphan)

texts:
Is there a word for parents who have lost their children?

Obviously a child who has lost both parents is an orphan and has been orphaned.

I am struggling to find a word for parents who have lost their children, though.


texts:
Some verbs take their object directly, some don't. For example:

  you bounce into a programmer's cubicle with a huge grin on your face

the word "bounce" here cannot have its object, so we have to use "into" to help it with its object.

Is there a formal name for this grammar phenomenon, then I can search Wikipedia for it to learn more about it.


texts:
Premises
The common Proto-Germanic prefix
*ga‑
affixed to past participles was reduced in Modern English, obscuring its
historical participial morphology now beyond modern recognition, as seen
for example, in:

e‧nough.
y‧clept.
a‧like from Old English
anlic, reinforced by Old Norse glikr.
hand‧i‧work  from
Old English handġeweorc <  hand + ġeweorc.
a‧mong from Middle English ymong
and this from Old English onġemang from on “in” + ġemang “mingling”.
The regional prefix a‑ as in a-been, a-scattered, a-muddled,
a-ready (which can still be found in southwest England and the southern
United States).

From these examples, it seems that a simple vowel sound remained in the initial, unstressed position after any initial consonant sound before it had been worn down. We know that there had originally been one from comparison within the Germanic language family.
For several reasons that shouldn’t matter here, I still associate this
prefix with palatal consonantal
sounds in English, such as
in:

Modern English
yearn /jɚn/ akin to
Danish and German gerne /ˈɡɛrnə/ and to Faroese
gjarna /ˈdʒarna/.

The regional Low German
(Plattdeutsch) for English “enough”, jenug with initial palatal /j/,
(unlike standard German genug
with initial /g/).

Also Francophone gently /ˈd͡ʒɛntli/.

The diphthongization seen in the Modern English first-person singular
nominative pronoun I /aj/
with /j/ (sometimes represented as /aɪ/, and corresponding to Latin ego), that is consonantal in regional cham, "I am".

Modern English yes
/jɛs/ from Old English
ġīese /ˈji͜yːse/.

Question
Does this prefix surface anywhere in a form that would ever sound like
ja‑ as in English jar /d͡ʒɑr/, or at least like ya‑ as in English
yahoo /ˈjɑhu/?
Rational
In this case there may be some minute chance that
jam-packed
could just possibly be akin to German gepackt, the past participle of
packen meaning “pack” and
used in virtually the same sense in German as it is in English, although
often with a leading intensifier: voll, völlig ∼ full, fully.


texts: Word to describe both adding and removing but not updating

texts:
I am looking for a word that can describe the act of adding/removing objects but at the same time avoid a word that has to do with updating.

So, given

adding an object,
removing an object,
updating an object,

I want a word for ((1 and 2) and not 3). So I guess words like alter won't do.

Edit: I am actually making an application, and I have three methods; adding, removing and updating. But there is some logic in both the adding and removing that is common. I then decided to make a fourth (helper) method. That's why I need this word so badly.


texts:
I need one word that replaces the short phrase "easily found", or something similar such as easily detected, identified,
discovered, spotted, etc.

For example, "The relevant content was easily found on the page."

I realize this might be too vague, but maybe someone more creative than me has something.


texts: Are there verbs that are always reflexive besides "perjure"?

texts:
On a recent newscast on CNN, an analyst said,

  Trump's lawyers want to avoid questions that might challenge his recollection and lead him to perjure himself.

Hearing this got me to thinking about the nature of the word perjure in that it can only be applied to oneself.  Someone else can't perjure you, you can only perjure yourself.

I wondered if there was a term for this, and in searching on Google I found this Wikipedia page on "reflexive verbs", and it actually uses "perjure" as an example.  But the wording is a little confusing and implies that many verbs can function as reflexive verbs but they are not always used this way.  On the other hand, "perjure" as used in the Wikipedia example seems to be a case where it is always reflexive.

  In grammar, a reflexive verb is, loosely, a verb whose direct object is the same as its subject, for example, "I wash myself". More generally, a reflexive verb has the same semantic agent and patient (typically represented syntactically by the subject and the direct object). For example, the English verb to perjure is reflexive since one can only perjure oneself.

Is there a term for verbs that are limited or mostly limited to reflexive use, such as perjure?  Are there other words, or a whole category of words, that can only be used this way?


texts: English abbreviation for: added by redaction

texts:
In Dutch, for example in a newspaper, when someone is quoted, the redaction might decide to explain something, or add more information. This would be done using the 'red.' abbreviation (for redaction). Like this:

  "Karen was very sad when Rodger ( her dog, red.) died..."

Does such an abbreviation exist in English, and is this something that is actually done in English texts?


texts: The Wider Empire and the wrong parts of Britain

texts:
The following quotation is taken from an article by Fintan O'Toole titled This glorious and unruly English that lets everyone in. (The Observer, Sunday 15 September 2013)

What do the terms "the wider empire" and "the wrong parts of Britain" refer to respectively?  I suppose that Canada, Australia, New Zealand and India are included in the former, and former British colonies in Africa are included in the latter.  Am I right?

  Writers from the wider empire, as well as from the "wrong" parts of Britain, could have written the same (as James Joyce did).


texts: Looks like it's not a game: Yes, it does: So... does it look like it's a game?

texts:
I posted this question as a non-English mother tongue.
I've seen a conversation as below (comments on https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OCU862nVpJ0):

A: 8:56 Looks like it's not a game!
B: yeah, it does.

So, did B agree to A or not? I am a bit confused with two interpretations.

Yeah, it looks like it's not a game
Yeah, it looks like it's a game

I learned to say 'yes' or 'does' for a positive response and 'no' or 'doesn't' for a negative response.
So, if B said 'does' to 'looks', the answer is (1.), but if he said 'does' against 'it is not', then the answer is (2.)
One thing is that, 'does' cannot come after be verb, so I think (1.) is more probable.
However, since I am not the native, I want to hear the answer from the native or an English expert.


texts: How to use the expression "loser hands"?

texts:
I heard sentences which involved the expression "loser hands", e.g. "this is one of the loser hands" (with reference to some concept which someone had expressed perplexity about).

Which is the correct usage of the epression "loser hands" and could you give me any example?


texts: What do you call the first doctor that a patient meets?

texts:
Usually when a person is infected by a disease, they will first visit a nearly hospital or dispensary. In medical terms the first doctor he meets is called something specific.

I remember this word from the book by Richard Preston called The Hot Zone which was about an ebola outbreak many years ago.

Edit: General practitioner is definitely not the word I'm looking for. I am aware of all the terms such as GP, specialist, consultant etc. The word, or term I'm looking for addresses the first point of specialized care a patient encounters. This is called something along the lines of 'initial medical entry point', and the doctors at that point will try their best to contain the disease without letting it spread, based on the diagnosis. Sorry for any confusion.


texts: Can "Mr", "Mrs", etc. be used with a first name?

texts: Is it correct to use Mr/Mrs with a first name?


texts: What is the correct pronunciation and spelling of "asterisk"?

texts:
Every now and then I get caught out by a spellchecker around the word asterisk.

I can accept that this is the correct spelling, however I hear a lot of people pronouncing it as asterix also.

Is it just me and this is a gradual changing of the word and most people are doing it or am I hearing things because I make the mistake myself?

Is the popularity of Asterix the Gaul responsible for this mispronunciation and spelling or is it due to natural changes that happen in any language?


texts: Adjective to capture "Tell the gossipers and liars, I'll see them in the fires"

texts:
In the English language, what adjective can be used to describe the underlying personality of a person saying

  Tell the gossipers and liars, I'll see them in the fires

(Taken from Johnny Cash)

From what I have researched righteous comes close but as the person in question assumes damnation himself (he/she will see them in hell) it is not adequate.

The theme (I'll see you in hell) seems fairly common in English literature and/or movies. Usually (but not always) presented with a positive connotation related to a somehow damned hero figure so I assume this is a common concept with an adjective that can be associated with it.


texts: Brief / debrief, flammable / inflammable — is there a term for pairs of words that appear to be antonyms but aren't?

texts:
Is there a word for a pair of words that would appear to be antonyms from their construction, but actually have the same or similar meanings?

For example, brief / debrief.  From The Guardian:

  A spokeswoman for the European commission said Barnier would debrief ambassadors and MEPs on the European parliament’s Brexit steering group.

The meaning wouldn't change much if it instead said:

  A spokeswoman for the European commission said Barnier would brief ambassadors and MEPs on the European parliament’s Brexit steering group.

One can debate on a subtle change of meaning and as to whether the second use is actually correct (some dictionaries state that the verb brief means to inform ones superiors specifically), but we can probably agree that debrief is not, in this context, the antonym of brief, despite the prefix de- usually indicating a reversal (such as in decode, decompress, demystify, detoxicate).

Another example may be flammable and inflammable.  The prefix in- often indicates a reversal (incredible, invisible, inalienable), but inflammable is rather a stronger version of flammable (intoxicate is not an antonym of toxicate, but doesn't have a similar meaning either).

Is there a word for the situation where two words would appear to be antonyms but aren't?  I was thinking of auto-antonym, but that is a single word having two opposite meanings.  Here, we have two seemingly opposite words having (almost) the same meaning, which is related but not quite the same.


texts:
My daughter, who is in the 4th grade, was asked to answer questions about the following sentence:

  What time can you meet us at the school on Tuesday?

She was asked questions about the usage of can and meet in the sentence. Specifically, she was asked whether the words were action, linking or helping verbs, and then she was asked whether those words were past, present or future tense.

Apparently, they are teaching a future “tense”.

My questions:

Are can and meet past, present, or future tense in this sentence?
Should this sentence begin with the preposition at or is it correct as written?


texts:
In many grammar descriptions, it says that adjectives that end in -ed are used to describe a feeling (or how a person feels) or an emotion. It is used to describe a temporary thing.
With an adjective like "rented", is this a different type of adjective? Or is this just an exception to the rule?
Here are some of the grammar explanations that state this:
https://www.grammar.cl/Notes/Adjectives_ED_ING.htm
https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/grammar/beginner-to-pre-intermediate/adjectives-ending-in-ed-and-ing


texts: What does “crocuses” mean in referring to the midterm election?

texts:
There was the following sentence in the article of Time magazine (May 7) under the title of “5 things politicians must stop saying”:

  The midterm elections are coming in much the way of crocuses — provided
  crocuses bought billions of dollars worth of ads to announce their
  approach, spent most of that money saying mean things about other
  crocuses and were gerrymandered into safe gardens anyway, so really
  what’s the point? But never mind, they’re coming all the same.
  http://time.com/90382/politicians-words-stop-saying/

According to Merriam Webster Dictionary, crocus is:

Any of a genus (Crocus) of herbs of the iris family developing from corms and having solitary long-tubed flowers and slender linear leaves
A dark red ferric oxide used for polishing metals,

and has nothing to do with politics and elections.

What does the word, crocuses represent for in the context of the above article?


texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  A word for being troubled at others' potential schadenfreude against me

This is the ability to laugh at others' misfortune.  What word would you use if you knew that your misfortune was causing others to laugh at you?  Example; standing huddled in the rain to have a cigarette, knowing that your friends are inside in the warm.


texts: Is "A great place to start to move up the ladder" a grammatically correct sentence?

texts: "A great place to start to move up the ladder"... We are in a quandary because of the sheer magnanimity of the message and importance it conveys.. Looking out for some quick answers regarding its grammatical correctness..


texts:
Several technical articles write about vendor using it as a verb:

https://www.python.org/dev/peps/pep-0518/#configparser quoth:

  While one could standardize on what Python 3 accepts and simply vendor the backport of the configparser module

while https://github.com/sdispater/poetry#installation states

  Poetry provides a custom installer that will install poetry isolated from the rest of your system by vendorizing its dependencies

Both merriam-webster and cambridge only list the noun vendor, and not the verb.

What do they mean?


texts:
Suppose that a user uses a search engine for searching. It is expected that his searches are mostly about his main expertise/interests. However he may sometimes search other things that accidentally catch his attention. Is there any word for those searches? Some candidates may be:

Out-of-expertise searches
Out-of-interest searches
Out-of-focus searches


texts: The most common way to refer to non-immediate family?

texts:
Example:

  When my mother came back from the island, she came back as a newborn Christian. [...]
  was shocked, especially since none of them belonged to that religion.

(In this case, they refer to the mother's parents/brothers/sisters, and also the husband's parents/brothers/sisters. Not the husband because he was dead. And not the speaker because he was still a baby. So there's no immediate family.)

What would a native English speaker use in cases like this? Her family, my family, our family, or my relatives?


texts: "I showed the monkey himself in the mirror". Why is this sentence grammatical?

texts:
I am asking this question for a homework assignment where we have to explain why certain uses of reflexive pronouns i.e. himself, herself, are grammatical or ungrammatical.

For one of the questions, we have to explain why the use of the reflexive pronoun "himself" in the sentence "I showed the monkey himself in the mirror" is appropriate.

I read from various online websites that we generally use reflexive pronouns as the direct objects when the subject and object of the sentence refer to the same entity.

However, in this case, I thought that the subject of the sentence is "I" and the object of the sentence is "himself". According to the rule, the sentence "I showed the monkey himself in the mirror" should not be grammatical but it sounds correct nonetheless.

Can anyone offer an explanation for this? Thanks in advance!


texts: Is "I don't work here" literal or does it mean "I am not an employee of this establishment"?

texts:
Part of my work involves visiting retail establishments during business hours.  Often, when mistaken for an employee of the store, I am asked a question about where to find something in the store, to which I politely respond, "I'm sorry, I don't work here".

But I got to thinking, I am working, and I am "here".  I know that I could be more precise with a more verbose reply, but is my quick, convenient response truthful?  Conversely, it would not be true to say, "I work here", right?