texts: In the context of software analytics, is "analytic event" or "analytics event" correct?

texts:
I'm a software engineer and we refer to "analytics" as the process of capturing data about the user's behavior. For example, we might send an event to Google Analytics to help us determine the percentage of users who are actually interacting with an important feature we recently added to an app.
When we add a new event like this, I'm never sure whether to refer to it as an "analytic event" or "analytics event". I've heard both from my peers. Is one of them incorrect?


texts: Different way to refer to a 'lowercase' letter?

texts:
I am looking for a different word to refer to 'lowercase' or 'small' letters, but I am unable to find any such word.

"Large letter �"; this is used by the Unicode standard for non-latin glyphs, and designates the other type "Small letter �"
"Upper case letter �", which refers to the way pieces of movable type were stored in printshops, along with the designation "Lower case letter �" for others.
"Capital letter �", similar to how you have a "capital city" or "capital ship"; this does not appear to have any sort of reasonable matching designation for small letters, though.
"Initial letter �", which refers to the fact that the large letters are used at the beginning of sentences, proper nouns, and for the initial letters of the words in an abbreviation. This too does not appear to have a comparable way to designate small letters.

A possibility is that one could refer to a lowercase letter as "Common letter �", which is neatly opposite both the "Capital" and "Initial" designations, however I have not seen this used anywhere, and I wouldn't want to make up my own word if it would confuse a reader.

Does anyone know of a designation that is more directly complimentary to "capital" or "initial"?


texts: what word means to hint at something bad or negative

texts: I need to know the word that has the meaning "to hint at something bad or negative" because my friend said to find the word for it. I've tried to go on Google but it hasn't worked, so I need your help please.


texts: Direct speech to reported speech with Hush!

texts:
Please change the sentence from direct speech to reported speech. I cannot solve this problem. Can anyone solve this?

He said, "HUSH! The headmaster is coming."


texts: Five students visit three farmers in their village. their?

texts: Five students visit three farmers in their village.  Here, What do "their" refer to - students? or farmers?? and Why? and Why not?


texts: What is a "contingent argument" (outside of law or theology)?

texts:
I heard John McWhorter use this term and as best I could tell he was referring to an argument based on a something existing in the world rather than on logic.  E.g., I feel offended, so therefore what you said is offensive.
Would appreciate any refinement or corrections if this is totally off...


texts: Why is "-ber" the suffix of the last four months of the year?

texts:
September
October
November
December

Presumably something Latin, but my (admittedly brief) search sees only mention of the number-based root words.

More specifically, what does "-ber" mean?


texts: What is the usual form of "Please do the needful"?

texts:
I was browsing the internet, and found that "Please do the needful" is not an appropriate sentence to use or write.

According to this link, this sentence used to get used in South Asia. What would be an alternative phrasing to use?


texts: Is there a light-hearted word or phrase for a hypochondriac parent?

texts:
The title may not be entirely correct..

Is there a word or phrase that describes a mother/father who is overly anxious about their baby's health?

Not a word to describe both parents together, a word to describe one parent.

Also, a word that could be used in describing the parent to others as well as directly to them. Something like 'Worrying Wendy, Delirious Dad, Medicine Mad Mummy'. I suppose they must have coined a phrase for this in the medical profession.


texts:
Cannot feed A of shape a1 for B of shape b1, which is b2.
A is a2.

I want to express something like this:
[A,of shape a1, is a2] ----feed---> [B, of shape b1, is b2]

Does 'which' always modify the nearest one?
And then how to modify the far one?


texts: Why "admit" with T but "admissible" with SS?

texts:
I have noticed that when the suffix -ible is added to "admit", it becomes "admissible" rather than "admittible".
There are few other examples:

"omit" = "omissible" not "omittible".
"permit" = "permissible"
"transmit" = "transmissible"

These are words that end with it and have ssi in the suffixed forms. I didn't find other words that show the same pattern. Most it words don't have ssi forms in suffixed words.
Also:

commit = commission
emit = emission
admit = admission

I know that S and T are both alveolar sounds (produced at alveolar ridge) but this relationship seems to be confusing. I googled a lot but didn't find anything helpful. I asked some people and they told me "because Latin did it", but no one seemed to know the reason.
Does anyone know why the t changes to ss in these words?


texts: A question about usage of 'Neither ... Nor...is'

texts: 'Neither the dog, nor is the cat responsible for this mess.' Is this statement correct? Shouldn't it be 'Neither the dog, nor the cat is responsible for this mess.'


texts: What are the two parts to a compound word?

texts:
I'm wondering what each word that compromise a compound word is called. For example, You would say:

  "Life" is the first ____ in "lifetime". There are two ____s in "lifetime".

Is the answer I am looking for simply "word", or is there another word for this?

Additionally, would a name be considered the same? For example, if someone were named "Hammerfist", would you say that this name is a compound word and would the same rule listed above apply here?


texts: What does "the world has brought you down to your knees" mean"

texts:
I came across a theme song, I'll Be There For You of an American TV show, Friends but I don't understand the bolded lyrics.

  You're still in bed at ten and work began at eight

  You've burned your breakfast, so far things are going great

  Your mother warned you there'd be days like these

  But she didn't tell you when the world has brought you down to your
  knees that

When I checked the dictionary, I found that:

(1) bring·down

a disappointment or letdown; comedown.

(2) bring you/something to your/its knees

to defeat or stop someone or something

-- > Severe oil shortages could bring our economy to its knees. They played a great game and brought our local basketball champs to their knees.

I'm unsure that probably one of these definitions are similar meaning to bring you down to your knees but I couldn't find the exact words bring + down + knees. Thanks.


texts: What is the name of the symbol used to depict 'eat and drink'?

texts: This is the symbol I am talking about, usually used in Google Maps


texts: Punctuation of "But you know, Bob, you, too, played an important role"

texts:
But you know, Bob, you, too, played an important role.

Is this actually how one would punctuate this sentence? Given how commas work, I think this is correct, but it looks very bizarre.


texts: "not admitting" vs "denying": Does the former imply guilt?

texts:
I always have the impression that "they didn't admit to a crime" tends towards implying that "they" are guilty, while the wording "they denied committing the crime" doesn't have any such bias. Is this just me or is there evidence that lots of people see it like that?

Example:

Headline: "Adam Smith denies sexually assaulting Eve Miller" Subhead: "Prominent critic Sally Johnson demands him to withdraw his bid for presidency, but he refuses to do so because of unsubstantiated allegations."
Headline: "Eve Miller: Adam Smith molested me!" Subhead: "Critics have demanded him to withdraw his bid for presidency. Adam Smith did not admit to the crime."

Both of those are subtly (or less subtly) biased no matter whether the intuition described in the first paragraph is true, but more so if it is.

Maybe it's because not admitting doesn't imply denial (but the accusation stands, so there is only one opinion) and denying the crime explicitly creates two opposing opinions regarding the guilt of the accused, but I can't quite put my finger on it.


texts: How did 'even' shift from signifying 'exactly' to 'so much as, scarcely'?

texts:
Etymonline purports that the adverb 'even' originates from

Old English efne [1.] "exactly, just, likewise." Modern adverbial sense (introducing an extreme case of something more generally implied) seems to have arisen 16c. from use of the word to emphasize identity ("Who, me?" "Even you").

What semantic notions underlie  meaning #1 (bolded overhead) to #2 beneath from ODO?

4 ‘she couldn't even afford the essentials’
SYNONYMS
[2.] so much as, hardly, barely, scarcely

Which category fits this Semantic Shift? I'm guessing Metonymy?

This blog (that references Larry Horn's 1969 paper A Presuppositional Analysis of 'Only' and 'Even') doesn't answer my question.


texts: What's the rule for pronouncing “’s” as /z/ or /s/?

texts: Is there a hard rule for what sound the 's makes? In words like John's, Dave's, man's, lord's, etc. it makes a /z/ sound, but in words like that's, it's, ship's, poet's, etc., it makes an /s/ sound.


texts: Which preposition follows "in the week" when denoting a specific week of the year?

texts:
I'm pretty sure that the correct preposition is of:

  I'll probably start working on this issue in the week of June, 8th.

However, there are thousands of hits on Google using the preposition from.

I guess there are many usages of non-natives among those; but it also appears to me that people tend to use from when talking about a period of time:

  I'll probably work on this issue in the week from 8th through 12th of June.

This tendency is probably based on the fact that it is "from ... to/through ...":

  I'll be working on this issue from 8th to 12th of June.

Question: Is "in the week from" correct/acceptable if a period of time follows? Are there perhaps differences between American, British, and other dialects of English?
Or is it plainly wrong to add the preposition from to the prepositional phrase in the week, disregarding what follows next?


texts: What is the correct capitalization if "3D Printing"?

texts:
How should "3D Printing be capitalized? Why?

A) 3D Printing

B) 3D printing

C) 3d Printing

D) 3d printing


texts:
The definition of "advantage" is roughly "something positive". Definitions for "to gain" are rather varied, but usually mean "to win something" with a positive connotation.

With this in mind, is "to gain an advantage" a pleonasm or not? Does "gaining" imply "advantage"?

Examples of definitions of "to gain": 1 and 2.


texts: Difference between "tune" and "adjust" (in case of "parameter")

texts: I was wondering if there is a difference between tuning a parameter and adjusting a parameter. Could there be a slight difference between them?


texts: How should one talk about multiple Greek letters in text?

texts: I'm writing an academic paper in economics, and I'm using several different instantiations (I guess) of the Greek letter mu in several different mathematical equations. If I want to refer to all of them in my descriptive text, how should I do so? Should I write "mus"? Or "mu's"? Or should I insert the character itself, followed by just an "s"? Or followed by an " 's "?


texts: I'd rather + past perfect/present perfect

texts:
Help guys
I can't understant what's the difference between I'd rather present perfect and I'd rather past perfect.
For example:
I'd rather have spent this money on the holiday (money wasn't spent on the holiday) = we regret or smth...
AND I'd rather you hadn't rung me at work (suggests that he/she did this call then why I can't use present perfect?)


texts: Function of fractions in NPs + form of subsequent verb

texts:
I have two questions about the clause two thirds of the book deals with WWII:

i) how do we analyse the subject of this clause from a syntactic point of view? I'd analyse it as a NP, with the following internal structure: two (determiner [numeral]) thirds (head [noun]) of the book (postmodifier [PP]). Is this correct, or should it be analysed in a different way, and in that case, how?

ii) if the analysis suggested in (i) is correct, then why do we have the singular form on the verb (deals)?

Thanks!


texts: What's the difference between "muffled" and "muted?"

texts:
Both modifications make a sound softer.  It seems to me that engines, for example are never "muted" but commonly "muffled" while it's the opposite for brass horns.  What usage guidance might apply to distinguish between these two in other settings?

For some examples (feel free to supplement), which would I use for:

a machine that is quieter because it's only heard at a distance through a window.
a shocked person whose voice is very quiet as a result
a falling tree/limb cushioned by soft leaves
a crowded atrium once sound absorption panels have been installed
a car engine designed to sound quieter to people around it
a firearm with a noise suppression device
anything I hear with ineffective earplugs


texts: Difference between variants of pronunciation such as /fɑg/ vs. /fɔg/ for "fog"?

texts:
Some dictionaries give two variants of pronunciation (with /ɑ/ vs. /ɔ/) for words like: fog, log, loss, etc. I think that the variant with /ɑ/ has nothing to do with the cot–caught merger because those dictionaries give only one variant for words like law (with /ɔ/).

Is there any perceived difference (dialect, style, etc.) between such variants (e.g. /fɑg/ vs. /fɔg/ for fog)?


texts: What is the word for obtaining a rhyme by mispronouncing a word using a regional dialect?

texts:
Take the lyrics:

  ... Now he lives in the islands
  Fishing the pilin's   (instead of pilings) ...

Is there a word that means to alter the pronunciation to achieve a rhyme (in song)?


texts:
I need a word to describe the arrangement of mammalian teeth, which is strictly speaking bilateral, but can also be thought of as having four quasi-homologous quadrants. "Quadrilateral" doesn't seem to be used this way by dentists according to a quick Google search, although they do use the word "quadrant."

  Thanks to the __ nature of dentition, we can have up to four
  experimental groups per animal.


texts: Why do "blind" and "deaf" have more semantic range than they seem to merit?

texts:
Thinking of sightedness and "hearingness" as real numbers on a scale of 0 to 1, why is it that "blind" and "deaf" mean < 0.5 rather than 0? It doesn't seem helpful to have the meaning of the word for "not having any of the ability at all" be diluted with "having less of the ability than most."
The Cambridge dictionary says deaf means "unable to hear, either completely or partly" I admit that admit that blind in Cambridge simply says "unable to see," but I have seen it in common use to mean partially blind, as in the case of a certain Youtuber who is partially sighted and describes himself as blind (I can't think of his name at the moment).


texts: Does this sentence need a preposition or article

texts:
That work made poor coaching but great training.

Idea being communicated is that the work wouldn't be considered "good coaching" but it was "good training." Note that I am not using an article before good coaching or training.

One could say "That work make a poor coaching but a great training," but this would express a different idea -- an idea of a specific instance of coaching/training not generic coaching/training.

Also, one could add a preposition or some other verb form needed for it to make it look correct, but that may again communicate a different idea than what's desired.
E.g. "X led to poor coaching" or "X made up for poor coaching".

Is the original correct grammatically?


texts: Would a drinking straw, made out of natural straw, be called a 'straw straw'?

texts:
Significant efforts are afoot to reduce plastic waste and one way of doing so is to revert to using natural straws as drinking straws.

This example uses wheat straws but it doesn't matter which plant is used, particularly as the word 'straw' is non-specific (see Cambridge) and can relate to any grain producing a hollow stalk.

So if a non-specific straw is used as a drinking straw can we call it a 'straw straw' ?

Or is there a better description ?

Edit Note : The term 'natural straw' would not be specific to usage as a drinking straw. It could be used for other things. The term 'straw straw' makes clearer both composition and use, I believe.


texts: Idiomatic way to say "You mistaken A for B and B for A"

texts: For example there are two bones in the forearm: radius and ulna. Let's say I call radius ulna and call ulna radius, and you're going to point out my mistake. How would you succinctly express that?


texts: "believe someone to do something" - (why) is it wrong?

texts:
Edit: I added a comment to address the duplicate issue.

I had an issue with English grammar a few weeks ago, that is still haunting me, and I assume it to be related to mixing up grammars.

I translated a sentence from German to English which came out "Even economists no longer believe the markets to regulate themselves". This feels correct to me, oddly, but I am fairly sure it isn't. The problem seems to be in the infinitive, I would assume that "believe the markets to be self-regulating" provides a correct alternative, but I'm still curious to if and why my original version is wrong. I have a hunch I might have taken a Latin or Ancient Greek structure and rebuilt it in English.

Either way, I'm looking for confirmation that it's definitely wrong, and I'm open to speculation where I might have got it from. I know English at a comparably high foreign-speaker level, and am roughly capable of Br. Portuguese, Latin, French, Ancient Greek, and Ancient Hebrew (in a loosely descending order). Only in case somebody can identify a plausible source for my error.


texts: When a Brit is refering to 'the war' which war does she mean -WWI or WWII?

texts: As the title says, when a Brit in modern times writes 'since the war' which war is being refereed to -WWI or WW2?


texts:
When a mystery is too overpowering, one dare not disobey.

This is a sentence from The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. I am not sure why dare is in the infinitive, not the third person singular? Is it because that it is somewhat like one should dare not disobey?


texts:
Hi Willis, I have a question for you.
Hi Willis, I have a question with you.

What is the difference?


texts: "We must act and ACT NOW" - Is this sentence an imperative sentence?

texts:
I am analysing a speech and I'm unsure as to whether this sentence is an imperative sentence or not:

  "We must act and act now"


texts: Question about sentence "The polls were ruled invalid"

texts:
I have a question about the following sentence.

"The polls were ruled invalid"

I know this is in the passive voice in that the subject polls is described as ruled.

But what what part of speech would "invalid" be?

I do not know if my question makes sense.


texts: What does the contraction ain't mean? Is it appropriate to use it in formal settings?


texts: The phrase "caught flat footed"...is that okay to use in professional lanuage?

texts:
We are redoing our company website and we are discussing interview tips.

The phrase "caught flat-footed" came up and it sounds a bit derogatory to me.

Is it okay to use in a professional situation? Or is it slang?


texts:
English uses the suffix -genic to mean "generating / generated by / producing":

anxiogenic (anxiety-producing)
iatrogenic (caused by the healer / doctor)
neurogenic (produced by the nervous system)

What would the opposite suffix be? Something that means, approximately "the presence of this inhibits" or "exclusive from".


texts: Adjective or word to describe the pronunciation of a word or name as written?

texts:
Let's say there's an English word spelled "Bababoo" but it's actually pronounced with the first "B" sounding like a "P."
What word (adjective or noun) is there to describe the pronunciation of the word as written? How about the actual pronunciation?
I guess I might be looking for the technical or linguistic term here.
There's a special case of foreign names as well. W.E.B Dubois, for example, where you have the name in French, so you would assume it's pronounced in the French manner but is actually pronounced otherwise. How could you describe or refer to each of the two different pronunciations of the name (without resorting to specific characteristics like "anglicized" or "french")?


texts: Is "back to front" used in American English?

texts:
According to LDOCE5, "back to front" in British English means

  a) in an incorrect position so that what should be at the back is at the front:

Example: You’ve got your sweater on back to front.

  b) doing something the wrong way round and starting with the part that should be at the end:

Example: He got the commands back to front and the program didn’t work.

I am wondering if "back to front" is also used in American English? If not, then what is its equivalent form in AE?


texts: Is there a term for hyphenating words at margins that normally aren't hyphenated?

texts: 'Hyphenation' is too ambiguous. It doesn't distinguish  mandatorily hyphenated compounds like 'time-consuming' (more examples) vs. optional hyphenation at the margins in publications (example).


texts: Is "sectors of fire with overlapping coverage" the current jargon for "overlapping fields of fire"?

texts:
While watching 13 Hours: the secret soldiers of Benghazi, I heard the following:

[Tyrone] Oz? This is where we make our stand!
[Oz] Guys, let's set sectors of fire with overlapping coverage.

It occurs at 1:28:04 in the movie.
GRS operatives at the moment are positioned at 4 corners of the compound with the advantage of high-ground.
To me it was obvious what he was talking about, but I am wondering if the jargon hasn't changed since I was in the service (prior to 1975).
I'm pretty sure we used to say "overlapping  fields of fire"...

The area which a weapon or a group of weapons may cover effectively with fire from a given position. (US DoD)

"Overlapping" means to set up at least two defensive positions creating a "beaten zone" by establishing arcs of approximately 30 degrees which intersect.

Squad Automatic Weapons [SAW] were normally assigned one to to a fire team, but if there was a second .30 cal. (7.62mm NATO) M-60, M14 or FN-FAL available, it would be possible to create "overlapping fields of fire"  or whatever they call it now...in a pinch, M-16s would do.
Has the jargon changed, or was this an example of inter-service cross-interpretation something or other?
Or is it just Hollywood stuff?


texts:
Are both sentences below grammatically correct?

  The great I.

  The great me.

What is the grammatical breakdown in each case?


texts: Is there an English adjective which means "asks questions frequently"?

texts:
Is there an English adjective [A] such that the following two sentences are almost the same in meaning?

"Joe is a very [A] person"
"Joe is always asking questions"

The phrase "always asking questions" has connotations of being nosey, but that's not what I mean.
A question similar to mine was asked:

A person who frequently asks questions even though they know the answer

Assume Joe does NOT already know the answers to his question.
I want an adjective to describe someone who innocently asks questions on a regular basis, and they don't already know the answer.
"querulous" has negative connotations. I want something positive/friendly.
A word similar to "curious" might work.
However, "curious" people can sometimes be very quiet.
I am searching for a word which literally means "asks questions often," implying that they are a bit of a motor-mouth, rather than a shy, quiet person.


texts: "Automatically" vs "In an automated manner"

texts:
Is there any difference between automatically and in an automated manner? For example,

Automatically

  He's been made redundant, as all of
  his tasks are now done automatically.

Automated

  He's been made redundant, as all of
  his tasks have been automated.


texts: What is the word for: "transform into words"?

texts:
In my essay, I want to use a phrase that would best express 'the act of  transforming real events into words.' I know that initally sounds a bit awkward, but I will give the context to clarify this.

  News feed, social media, and television where many sought their repose were only repeating what was going on

So, instead of writing repeating I want to use something like liquidify or transcribe. But both these words do not really connotate the idea I want to give. I want to say that these news feeds were just transforming what was outside into words, which made people feel even more besieged.

Any suggestions?

Also, is the question mark in my question text placed correctly?


texts:
I am preparing to pass an English test and one of the subjects in the oral exam could be describing a crime.

I was thinking about talking about a time in which I was approached by 3 underage girls begging for money, I took my wallet out and gave them a couple of coins, but before I could put my wallet back in my pocket, one of them placed a piece of cardboard over the wallet, with a sheet of paper asking me to sign something I didn't understand. In those few seconds another child reached to my open wallet that was under de piece of cardboard and stole all my money bills. I didn't notice it, I still had my wallet but later on I realised I had no bills.

Would this be a mugging? a theft without violence? I need to be very accurate when choosing the words for it because it's a difficult exam.

Thank you


texts:
I was told that such that and for which are not interchangeable, but I cannot determine which one to use. For example,

  (a) The collection of numbers x for which x is even.

Or

  (b) The collection of all numbers x such that x is even.

I would probably go with (b) instead of (a), but I am not sure why. There are times when for which seems more appropriate, such as the following.

  There are subsets of R for which the amount of time the orbit spends in those open sets is not proportional to the sizes of the
  sets.

When should I use such that or for which and when are they interchangeable?


texts: Opposite of "mutually exclusive": word for things that necessarily exist together

texts:
The best opposite of "mutually exclusive" I can think of is "necessarily accompanying", but it sounds awkward.

Most answers I looked up give words like "concordant" and "accompanying", but these words have more passive definitions that mean things are "compatible", "harmonious" or "in agreement".

I want a word with a harder definition that means things must exist together or not at all.


texts: What does the word skull mean in that context

texts:
I was reading an article about the alleged arrest of all Zimbabwean athletes on their arrival to home and this sentence, the legend below the picture of the team, perplexed me.

  Zimbabwe's Olympic delegation in Rio included 31 athletes, with 5th place obtain in rowing, women's skull the best result

What does the word "skull" mean here? It might be an error, I think, so what is supposed to be in its place then?

I looks like it might be a verb, but it can't because of the word "women's" (I do not know the correct linguistic term for it) indicating a possession, it is like an adjective.

And if "skull" here is a noun, than I cannot figure out its meaning. The head bone seems to have no sense here.

Thank you very much.


texts:
Can you elucidate the meaning of the third sentence in the dialogue:
A: “I am no more sick than you are,” said the woman in bed.
B: “Oh, yes you are!”
A: “I just got more sense than you have, that’s all,” said the other old woman, nodding her head.
It means: 'I don't have any problems with my mental health, but you have', isn't it?
Thanks!


texts: In the early 1900s, would the name (Nettie/Nette) have been more likely to be spelled Nette or Nettie?

texts:
I am developing a family album.

In doing so, I have seen the name (Nettie/Nette) spelled both as Nette and as Nettie. I have not been able to locate relevant birth records.

Can someone tell me what the dominant spelling of this name was in the early 1900s.  In this instance, the specific year of birth was 1910.

I believe this is a question of etymology or usage.


texts: An alternative way of asking for the bill?

texts:
When asking for the bill in a restaurant/diner, besides the common "Could I have the bill [/check for US English], please" can I say something like:
"Could you close me out, please?"
I saw that in a series, but couldn't find instances of its usage elsewhere on the web.
Thanks for any input.


texts:
I am currently reading The Creators by Daniel Boorstin and came across the account of how Montaigne essentially created the essay as a literary form. Montaigne used the word "Essays" for his work because the work was an attempt by him to record his thoughts (to "essay" means to "attempt" something in old French). Future works of a similar vein have been called essays after Montaigne's work. This is corroborated by multiple online sources as well.

Boorstin mentions in passing that Montaigne might have come across this sense of the word "Essay" in the Floral Games that he attended as a child in Toulouse. Apparently, in these games, if there is a tie between poets in a poetry contest, the tiebreaker would be decided by giving the poets an incomplete poem and by having them attempt to complete it as best as they could. Whoever has the better attempt is judged the winner. This tiebreaker, Boorstin claims, was called an essay. I couldn't find any corroboration for this online. Have any of you heard this theory before? Your thoughts/references would be much appreciated.


texts: Difference in meaning in "insulation" vs. "isolation"?

texts:
What is the difference between the two? I often saw them used interchangeably until a while ago

If you must use two metals farther apart than 200mV, you need to take steps to protect them, either by insulation or isolation (so they're not in contact) or by using anodes.

If someone knows to explain on a practical example?


texts: A word to describe a person who ensures members of a group receive less favourable treatment

texts:
Is there a word or phrase that describes when:

A single person in a group receives a less favorable treatment compared to other group members. The person's solution is to make sure everyone else also receives the unfavorable treatment rather than he/she to receive the better treatment.

In a sense, pulling everyone down or pulling everyone back.

I'm trying to find a word or phrase that describes this situation. Thanks


texts: Comma placement in a "parenthetical expression preceded by a conjunction"

texts:
I was reading Strunk and White's Elements of Style, and I disagree with the comma placement in the following example:

  If a parenthetic expression is preceded by a conjunction, place the first comma
  before the conjunction, not after:

  He saw us coming, and unaware that we had learned of his
  treachery, greeted us with a smile.

To me, it makes more sense to place the comma after "and", not before it. That is, to write:

  He saw us coming and, unaware that we had learned of his
  treachery, greeted us with a smile.

In the above modification, the main sentence is "He saw us coming and greeted us with a smile", which is perfectly valid in structure; the parenthetical is "unaware that we had learned of his treachery".

I know that a lot of people have disagreed with Strunk & White's writing and claim that it's overrated (and frankly, I sort of agree with those people), so I'd like to know whether this example would also fall into the category of "things Strunk and White got wrong".

Is placing a comma after a conjunction in a parenthetical expression, such as in the example above, grammatically correct?


texts: How would you name/define "huh..." or "hum..." or "hm..." in a sentence?

texts:
Sorry for the convoluted question but I'm not sure how to ask this. These examples should make it clear what I'm talking about:

"Well, hum... you know."
"It's, huh... there!"
"Hm... now where were we?"

Basically, it's something you say while you're thinking, maybe to let the other party know that you're going to start speaking soon or that you're going to continue with your thought.

My questions is, is there a name for these expressions that I can use so I can talk about them?


texts: Is it correct to say "it is not that far a distance"?

texts: Is it correct to say: "it is not that far a distance"?


texts:
In Rihanna's song "FourFiveSeconds", this line is sung in the chorus:

Now I'm four, five seconds from wilin'...

I searched on Google for the definition of "wilin'" and got this:

wildin' (also wilin') verb
to have fun, act crazy with a group of friends

Source: Online Slang Dictionary
Whilst this definition sounds accurate, I would like to know if there are any other meanings.
Also, how common is "wildin'" in spoken American English, and in what dialect or culture?


texts: Did prescriptivists make up pied-piping in relative infinitive constructions?

texts:
A quick Internet search suggests that pied-piping in relative clauses was a natural feature of English even though it is loved by prescriptivists; it existed in older stages of the language, and it was declining by the 17th century, but it was preferred by some prescriptivists and survived into the modern times.

What is the history of pied-piping in  relative infinitive constructions as in the phrase a room in which to read books?  Was it actually more common (or obligatory) in the past as in relative clauses, or did prescriptivists make it up, thinking that the grammar of English should be like that of Latin?


texts: 'has not been yet extensively studied' vs 'has not been extensively studied yet'

texts:
Which of these is correct:

  'In spite of all that, the effect itself has not been yet extensively studied '

or

  'In spite of all that, the effect itself has not been extensively studied yet'


texts: What does one call his/her mother's sister's husband's parents?

texts: I am asking this question for a friend. My friend's sister's husband's parents have become very involved in her kids' lives. She wants to know if there is a relational term her children may officially refer to them as. Thanks for your help!


texts: Is "time period" a redundant expression?

texts:
It seems to me that "time period" is frequently used in speech and writing. But isn't it redundant?

These books were written during different time periods
These books were written at different times
These books were written during different periods

Not sure if this might be the best example but it seems that the same meaning can be conveyed without using time period.


texts: Adjective for a situation that is so depressing that it can make you laugh?

texts: What is the proper adjective that describes a situation that is so depressing that it can make you laugh as well?


texts: Does "cost-benefit ratio" use a hyphen or an en-dash?

texts: Should I write "cost-benefit" (hyphen) or "cost–benefit" (en dash), and why?


texts: I wonder the differences between until now and so far

texts:
Would anyone kindly and readily explain to me the differences between the following?
Until now
So far
In fact, I even can not provide any context, because I really do not understand them.
Thanks in advance.


texts: There's a product described as "Omaha Steaks Burgers" is this proper English?

texts:
There is a commercial that has the description, Omaha Steaks Burgers, it drives me crazy.  It sounds wrong, when I read it, it looks wrong.  It seems improper to me.

  Old-fashioned burgers just the way you like them. Extra juicy with a flavor that's out of this world, our Omaha Steaks Burgers are a grilling favorite. Individually wrapped for your convenience.

Am I right or is my memory of  English classes wrong.  If it was spoken/written as Omaha Steaks' Burgers, I could accept that, but not steaks burgers. Please opine.


texts: A word that describes a process that can be both good and bad

texts:
I am searching for a word that can describe an object or process as having both bad and good elements.

I realize this is a repeat of this previous question, but I do not believe the suggestions answer my question;

Egregious, the proposed answer by the OP, is not a common enough word (anyone I have asked has had to look it up), nor does it mean precisely what I'm after,
Sick is a word that can be used in both good and bad contexts. It does not actually mean "both good and bad".

The context I am working is biological, specifically cognitive impairment (such as dementia). In a publication I am working on currently, I would like to describe the role of inflammation as having both good and bad roles (depending on the situation).

I can think of possible sayings that might apply, for example "swings and roundabouts" or "bitter-sweet", but again these do not seem formal enough.

Is there a word that fits the context? "Inflammation is a double-edged sword..." but more scientifically!


texts: Measurements - how they should be written in a list

texts:
Which is correct?

a. Images were obtained at a distance of 4, 8, 12, 16 and 20 mm from the bottom of the plate.

b. Images were obtained at a distance of 4 mm, 8 mm, 12 mm, 16 mm and 20 mm from the bottom of the plate.

c. Images were obtained at a distance of 4mm, 8mm, 12mm, 16mm and 20mm from the bottom of the plate.


texts: Referring to an object previously mentioned in the sentence

texts:
I wish to know, if the bellow sentence is grammatically correct and where I can find more information on forming such sentences

  Can you share with me the coordinates of the measuring station, who's
  data you sent me last week?

Context: Last week a friend of mine sent me some data and asked me to analyse it. Now I wish to know the coordinates, but I'm not sure, if by using who in the sentence, I am referring to the measuring station in the correct manner (is it a he, a she, or an it).


texts: What is one word for "to take one's side"?

texts:
In the context of protecting someone.

  I saw my brother breaking the glass, but my mother was taking his side.

The word I already searched for and decided to not go with is: supporting, siding, protecting


texts:
I have come across these two sentences:

  We had the game controlled. We didn't have the mental energy to finish these games.

Is in the first sentence used the construction have something done? If so, I don´t understand. I thought that by means of this construction „we describe situations where we want someone else to do something for us“. I would understand „We controlled the game“ or „We had controlled the game“.


texts: A word for "from one day in a month until the same day in the next"

texts:
Is there a word that can help me describe a period that isn't exactly a calendar month, but is meant to serve as a month regarding, say, a service or rental period?

For example - if my rental starts on the 15th of January, I am being billed for Jan 15 - Feb 14, then Feb 15 thru Mar 14,  and so on.

  Your contract isn't for complete months, rather for ________________.

What can I call these periods? I need "month" to be used strictly for calendar months. OR - say I call January a Calendar Month, this period would be a ___________ Month?

If I was talking about days, I could say 24 hours, but I can't do something similar here because there aren't always 30 days in these "months".


texts:
Does a term or expression exist for the phenomenon where a person treats unclear future risk as non-important? As in:

I will ignore the coronavirus threat because I'm unlikely to contract it or get severely ill.
I will eat unhealthy because whether or not I will get ill is unclear.


texts: I continue to hear people use the word, "preventative."  I've always considered "preventive" to be correct. I consider the extra syllable in preventative to be superfluous. For example: With regard to medicine, we call it "preventive medicine," not preventative medicine. Which one is actually preferred in modern English?


texts: Would that it were I or would that it were me?

texts:
Which is correct?

  Would that it were I who contracted the disease, and not my 10-year-old son.

Or,

  Would that it were me who contracted the disease, and not my 10-year-old son?


texts: Searching for a word ... Further investigation of results from an analyzed study?

texts:
im searching for the right word in my thesis (my native language is not english). I have conducted a study (interviews) and have already analyzed the results. Now in the next chapter i want to "work" with the results, i want to compare them to other practices and use the results to rate them according to a model. How could i call this, what i'm doing there? The problem is i have already used the word "analysis" in the context of analyzing the data of the interivew.
Thank you!


texts: Is there a specific term for passive aggressive questions?

texts:
My mother never asks a direct question. For example:

Are you going downtown today?
Yes, later this afternoon, why?
Where will you be going?
To the bank, why?
So not to the grocery store or Walmart?
No but I could, why?
Oh, I just need some cream if you're able to pick me up some.
Certainly, I can do that mom.

She's an 80 year old Google freak so I'd like to let her know her method of asking questions is not very effective by making a brief comment with a term she can look up. If I get too wordy or try to explain she tends to tune out.


texts: Capitalization of words derived from proper nouns

texts:
Should words derived from proper nouns be capitalized or not?  e.g. "Romanize/romanize", "Boolean/boolean" (I have seen both forms in the corpora and dictionaries).

Personally I think the derived words are not proper (they refer to a concept rather than a person) and should not be capitalized.


texts:
What is an appropriate antonym for deficient?

  The dissertation is deficient of sources.

It should be a bit more decorated than the phrasing The dissertation contains enough sources.


texts: Is there such a thing as "inverse unrequited love"

texts:
Is there such a thing as inverse unrequited love where someone loves you but you don't love yourself as much as they love you?

I'm thinking about a situation where it's like you're suffering from impostor syndrome in a relationship.

Does this phenomenon have a name?


texts: I don't like either X or Y vs. I don't like X or Y either

texts:
Do the following two sentences mean the same thing:

I don't like either cherry juice or soda.

I don't like cherry juice or soda either.

Although they both convey the idea that the speaker doesn't like cherry soda and also doesn't like soda, I don't think they are synonymous. While sentence 1 can be used as a standalone sentence, that emphasises that the speaker doesn't like both drinks, sentence 2 can only be used to agree with someone else who has expressed the same opinion. What are your thoughts?


texts: Abbreviating a term containing "hypotheses"

texts:
A paper I’m writing refers frequently to a group of anthropological hypotheses, and I would like to abbreviate “anthropological hypotheses.” However, because hypotheses is plural, I’m debating whether to use (AH) or (AHs).
I suspect that (AH) may be technically correct, but In my opinion, (AHs) is better because it reminds the reader that I’m talking about more than one hypothesis. I was therefore wondering what forum-members thought about this.
Thanks very much for your opinions


texts: What do you call the additional paper used during exam and homework?

texts:
When doing exams or homework, one might need some extra paper to make a rough sketch, before writing his solution into another paper that must be turned in. The extra paper does not need to be turned in.

What is that extra paper called? Would "draft paper" fit?


texts:
“These giants, averaged 23 to 27 millimeters in length, nearly double the size of crickets used in Mainland China.”

Is “averaged” used correctly here?


texts: English word (verb) for 'something that has left you a mark' or an experience that you will remember

texts:
My native language isn't english. I'm looking for an english word, a verb in particular, which is used in figurative speech, for 'something that left you a mark' or a feeling, or an experience (I don't know how else to say it; I try to translate in english in the way I would say in my native language; greek) and because of that you will remember it for life. This can be either positive or negative, typically an experience, and the feelings and possible knowledge you acquired from that experience as well.

In my native language we would say that this experiece has "marked" you (sth like that). Meaning that you have thought about it a lot, you have questioned about it, you have discussed it with others etc.

For example: "I saw the 'Lord of the Rings' when I was young and it __verb__ed me." Do you understand?

I thought about the word 'stigmatize', but I don't think this is the appropriate word for it, since I looked it up and it is associated with something negative and/or something more specific to what I'm looking for (could be wrong though).


texts: Why are names starting with a "J" common, while words starting with a "J" are uncommon?

texts:
There's a reason "J" is worth 10 points in Word feud, it's a quite uncommon letter.

  According to Lewand, arranged from most to least common in appearance, the letters are: etaoinshrdlcumwfgypbvkjxqz Lewand's ordering differs slightly from others, such as Cornell University Math Explorer's Project, which produced a table after measuring 40,000 words.

Here's a graph measuring the frequency of "J" in words:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:English_letter_frequency_(alphabetic).svg

Here's a graph measuring the frequency of "J" in names:
http://home.uchicago.edu/~jsfalk/misc/baby_names/images/initial_all.png

Sure, there's a lot of words with a "J" in them (not many relatively), but there's very few words starting with "J". Yet, there's an abundance of names starting with "J". Here, I'll list as many as I can from the top of my head.

Name starting with a J: Jack, Jackie, Jackson, Jill, Janet, Jeremy, Jeremiah, Jake, Jesus, Jacob, Jock, John, Johnny, Jon, Joe, Joel, Janus, Jerry etc.

Words starting with a J: Jar, Jigsaw, Job, Jacked, Jest, Jester, Jeopardize, Jeopardy, Jaguar, Jitters, Jumbo, Jet, and probably some more.

Now, is there a reason for this. Heck, is there even a great difference between the number of names starting with a "J" and words starting with a "J"?


texts: Zucchini in Australia and courgette in New Zealand! Why?

texts:
I can probably understand why the plant is called zucchini in the US and courgette in the UK- could be traced to the proximity of the UK to France but how come it's got two different names in Australasia?

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


texts: Can the verb "solve" be applied to the noun "challenge"?

texts:
For example, "John was asked to solve a complex challenge."

I find this to read very awkwardly, as if someone told me they solved a banana.  Is this a case of verb-noun mismatch?


texts: How to recommend a shop to buy something?

texts:
When someone ask "Where can I buy a book ?", and I know a shop around the corner, can I say "look it's in the shop around the corner"?

Is this correct or what is the best way to say it ?


texts: "This assignment is for the full term of the assigned rights" - meaning

texts:
I try to understand what does

  "This assignment is for the full term of the assigned rights"

mean in the following paragraph:

  The Consultant hereby assigns to the Client all of its Intellectual
  Property Rights in the Deliverables, excluding the Intellectual
  Property Rights in the Client Materials. This assignment is for the
  full term of the assigned rights, including all extensions, renewals,
  reversions and revivals, and includes the right to bring proceedings
  for past infringements of the assigned rights.

As far as I could get it - it means that the assignment of the rights is lifetime for the objects of Intellectual Property.

Am I wrong?


texts: Where does the term Armchair Psychologist come from? I understand it means someone who has no formal training who 'sits in their comfortable armchair' and gives (usually) unsolicited advice to others, but where does this expression come from? When was it first used, etc.? Also, why an "armchair"? Wouldn't a psychologist usually be sitting in an armchair when they're giving an analysis?


texts: Sentence /idiom describing overmarketing a product which is of little value

texts: How do you describe something which has value but little value but exaggerating that it the best and solves all major problems,someone is overdoing/overmarketing his product


texts: What is the best way to explain how to choose between "its" and "it's"?

texts:
Probably one of the most frequent grammar mistakes in the English language is:

  The dog sat on it's mat.

Since spelling checkers don't catch it, and it is even logical, since you would correctly write:

  The dog sat on Fluffy's mat.

What is the best way to explain to a learner of English how to choose between it's and its?


texts: What is a word that means "To modify the format of something so that it conforms to a standard?"

texts:
If I am coding and let's say I decide that for every word I print out, I want to first "change" the format of the words so that they all begin with capital letters. Or, if I want to change the format of a phrase so that there is only a single space between words. Imagine any kind of arbitrary format-changing that doesn't change the data, but does change how it is stored or displayed.

What is the word that describes what I am doing to these words or phrases?


texts: What is the actual/true meaning of "humanism"?

texts:
Today in school I was told "humanism" had to do with your religious ideas but in a dictionary it says,

  any system or mode of thought or action in which human interests, values, and dignity predominate.

So what does it really mean?

(I found the definition on http://www.dictionary.com/browse/humanism?s=t)


texts: Which verb form should I use in the sentence "What we really do is supply/supplying our customers with top-notch services"?

texts: To me, 'supplying' sounds more natural. Yet, a friend of mine from the UK says it should go without -ing. Please advise, which verb form is more preferable.


texts: Can you link the [ʃ] sound and [s] sound?

texts: How do you pronounce "English Speakers"? Do you treat sh and s as similar consonants?


texts: What do you call someone who supports others by checking in with them when they're trying to achieve a goal?  Not a sponsor.


texts: From the "Baghdad bounce" to the "dead-cat bounce"

texts:
The world of finance has always been creative in using metaphors to describe financial phenomena. Specifically I am referring to a situation where  financial market suffers a consistent fall and traders attempt to detect when prices are at their lowest and then buy stocks hoping for a bargain.

  in the early 90's  this false recovery signal was referred to as the  Baghdad bounce after the rise in popularity that both George Bush and Tony Blair enjoyed following the fall of Baghdad in the Iraqi War. That popularity waned somewhat later when it became clear that pulling allied troops out of Iraq was likely to take longer than the public had first anticipated, (The Phrase a Finder)

a few years later it was substituted by the now more popular:
dead-cat bounce to indicate a temporary recovery in stock prices after a steep fall which may wrongly and dangerously be taken  for a real recovery of a positive trend.

  Despite its obvious US origins, its first recorded appearance is in a report from the Far East in the issue of the Financial Times of London for 7 December 1985. It turned up again the following year in a piece written by a staff reporter on the Associated Press that spells out its origins and which has been widely quoted since:

  One of the most vivid, if a bit indelicate, word pictures painted by the bears on oil comes from Raymond F. DeVoe Jr. at the investment firm of Legg Mason Wood Walker. DeVoe suggests the printing of a bumper sticker reading: “Beware the Dead Cat Bounce”. “This applies to stocks or commodities that have gone into free-fall descent and then rallied briefly,” he says. “If you threw a dead cat off a 50-story building, it might bounce when it hit the sidewalk. But don’t confuse that bounce with renewed life. It is still a dead cat.”

  The phrase gradually caught on during the 1990s but became very common during the financial downturn after 2000. Usage slackened off somewhat for a few years but the expression was revived during the world financial turmoil of 2008 onwards. (World Wide Words)

Ngram: dead-cat bounce.

My questions:

1) While the Baghdad bounce has a clear origin, I don't see where the reference to  a dead cat comes from. It is an old tale or metaphor which was rehabilitated for  the Stock Markets frequent falls  or is it just an invention of an imaginative journalist?

2) Is the expression dead-cat bounce used only in a financial context or has it entered everyday idiomatic language for different situations?


texts: Where should be period be placed when a sentence ends with a quote in parentheses?

texts:
As the title suggests, where should a period be placed when a sentence ends with a quote inside of parentheses? For example (and yes, I know this is a weird example):

Henry tripped on his shoelace and fell, skinning his knee (and saying "oww")

The period has been removed because I don't know where it should go. I can see two possibilities that make sense here:

Henry tripped on his shoelace and fell, skinning his knee (and saying "oww").
Henry tripped on his shoelace and fell, skinning his knee (and saying "oww.")

I would assume that whatever ruling on this applies for periods, the same ruling would go for commas, although this is a pretty weird one so maybe that's not the case.


texts: Is there any difference between remembers everything and never forgets?

texts:
If we have the two sentences:

  John remembers everything.

and

  John never forgets.

Are there any nuances or tones that give different meaning to the two phrases.


texts: Three years: current (2012), last (2011), but is there a term then for 2010?

texts: I have three years I am putting on a chart: current year, last year, and I'm not sure what to call the year that came before the last. Does it have a name? Would it be "pre-last"?


texts: Word that means "the opposite of what you would expect"

texts:
I'm looking for a word that means the opposite of what one would expect. This word might be used to express the surprise that a teenager's grandmother uses text messaging much more than he does, or that a city seems brighter at night than it does during the day.

I'm not seeking the word ironic or irony which refer to the use of something to describe its opposite experience or emotion.


texts:
Sorry about the rather uninformative title. I'm curious about what you would call something like this:

  A University of Iowa student has died nearly three months after a fall in Rome in a suspected robbery attack in Rome.

The part that I put in bold text is what I'm particularly curious about. As far as my short grammar knowledge goes, I can identify that "A University of Iowa student" is the subject and the rest of the sentence is the predicate (I think), but what would we specifically call the bold text part? Something like an "adjective phrase?"

I'm curious because the sentence makes perfect sense and is complete even with "A University of Iowa student has died" without the rest of the stuff and would like to know if there's a specific term to denote such phrases.

Thanks!


texts:
What preposion is suited to the following sentence,  in or by or at?

  our team introduced practical processes and possible solutions available in our/the company.

And if there is some better way to write that, please show me.


texts: How would you name a chief administrator role?

texts:
Say, I have an administrative role in my software application which is intended to assign other roles among other administrators. So I'm looking for a simple and clear name for that senior administrator role.

So far I only got one idea - principal. Can you suggest anything else?


texts:
What is a cracker-barrel sage?

Context:

  The influence of many years spent in America talking to (and often down to) Americans also gave his performance a kind of Barnum quality: Hitchens the cracker-barrel sage selling snake oil dressed up as urgent verity.

Does it originate in the article The Cracker-Barrel Sage by F.P. Wortman or does it pre-date that?

And what actually is a cracker barrel, for that matter?


texts: Why "somebody stop me" instead of "somebody stops me" which is grammatically correct?

texts:
The famous line of Jim Carrey in the move The Mask: "Somebody stop me!"

Grammatically, I believe it should be "somebody stops me" because somebody is third person singular.

So, why is it acceptable to say "somebody stop me"?


texts: Should I capitalize a word from the middle of a quote if the quote and word occur at the start of the sentence?

texts:
I was writing an essay for a school assignment, when I encountered a quote similar the following:

Nobody has encountered a black hole, because they're simply too far away to reach.

I then needed to write a sentence like the following:

"they're simply too far to reach" refers to how black holes are tens of thousands of light-years away at the nearest.

I then wondered if "they're" should be capitalized to say "They're" instead, because it's the first word in that sentence. Should it?


texts: "We went swimming later in the afternoon, Jack and I."

texts:
Why does the following phrase sound old fashioned?

  We went swimming later in the afternoon, Jack and I.

I am trying to describe what is happening here by breaking the sentence down into its basic components, but I am having difficulty doing this. The "Jack and I" part is the Noun Phrase, right? Is there a certain language formality to placing this at the end of the sentence behind the comma? Am I crazy in thinking that the above format sounds more formal than "Jack and I went swimming later in the afternoon"?

I'm adding some more information that has come up through the conversation below:

I pulled the line from a young adult book written in 1942. I'm studying the text and trying to identify elements that make it 'feel old.' One of these elements is a general presentation of phrases in a more formal way (as compared to other modern YA publications.)


texts: Is this idiomatic usage of 'daylight' and 'with'?

texts:
In a recent Washington Post article, one finds the following sentence (the underlining is mine):

  GOP candidates are stepping up attacks on their rivals over any d̲a̲y̲l̲i̲g̲h̲t̲ ̲t̲h̲e̲y̲’̲v̲e̲ ̲s̲h̲o̲w̲n̲ ̲w̲i̲t̲h̲ ̲T̲r̲u̲m̲p̲.

The OED does record a similar phrase, with the meaning 'a perceptible difference or distinction between one person or thing and another'. But all the examples there have daylight between [two things] rather than daylight with [one thing]:

  This drawing the line between professional and amateur sports is getting to the point that it is pretty difficult to see d̲a̲y̲l̲i̲g̲h̲t̲ ̲b̲e̲t̲w̲e̲e̲n̲ ̲t̲h̲e̲m̲.

  In a two-hour interview with the staff of the New York Times, he sought very skillfully to suggest that there was clear d̲a̲y̲l̲i̲g̲h̲t̲ ̲b̲e̲t̲w̲e̲e̲n̲ ̲h̲i̲s̲ ̲p̲o̲s̲i̲t̲i̲o̲n̲ ̲a̲n̲d̲ ̲t̲h̲e̲ ̲P̲r̲e̲s̲i̲d̲e̲n̲t̲'̲s̲.

  Shatner may have been his predecessor in Star Trek, but he likes to think there's a fair amount of d̲a̲y̲l̲i̲g̲h̲t̲ ̲b̲e̲t̲w̲e̲e̲n̲ ̲h̲i̲s̲ ̲t̲a̲l̲e̲n̲t̲ ̲a̲n̲d̲ ̲S̲h̲a̲t̲n̲e̲r̲'̲s̲.

On google books, it was easy to find other examples of usage like that recorded in the OED (e.g. here, here, here, here,... ). On the other hand, I have been unable to find any examples of usage like that in the Washington Post article. As best as I can tell, what the author should have written there is any daylight they've shown b̲e̲t̲w̲e̲e̲n̲ ̲t̲h̲e̲m̲s̲e̲l̲v̲e̲s̲ ̲a̲n̲d̲ ̲T̲r̲u̲m̲p̲.

Does anyone know if the usage in Washington Post is attested in other sources? Or is it an invention by the author of that article?


texts:
I am writing my Statement of Purpose. I am writing a sentence such as

  I moved to a small town called Falmouth where I ....

Should I use named or called?

  I moved to a small town named Falmouth where I ....


texts:
The Court also, however, reaffirmed that
  quotas were illegitimate and found that the undergraduate program, which mechanically awarded
  minorities a fixed twenty points, was therefore impermissible because it was too similar to a quota.
  However, it upheld the law school’s program, which purportedly treated race as merely a vague
  “plus” and aimed for a “critical mass” of minorities rather than a fixed quota. But Justice O’Connor’s
  majority opinion barely responded to the criticisms of the dissent that the so-called plus ended up
  being statistically dispositive and that the critical mass was in fact, historically, a disguised quota,
  largely taking the government’s word that the process was individualized.

I referenced http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/dispositive?q=dispositive but I still don't apprehend the meaning here? Is this a technical term exclusive to statistics?

Source: P242, America on Trial, Alan Dershowitz


texts: Should I use "prosthetics" or "prostheses" for a plural noun?

texts:
Just looking around Google, it appears that "prosthetics" as a plural noun is used in non-technical marketing literature, while "prostheses" is used in technical journals. Is there any difference in meaning?

I already know that "prosthetic" is supposed to be an adjective, but I see it used often as a noun. Is that incorrect?


texts: "Has changed since March 1" vs "Changed on March 1"

texts:
My address has changed since March 1. The new address is now 123
  Mapple Street.

Is the verb tense in “has changed” correct in this case?

If the action is completed, it seems like it should be:

  My address changed on March 1.

"Since" seems to imply a continuous state, not a one-time action, so something like:

  I have a new address since March 1.


texts: What do a Welsh dresser, a rabbit's pen and "Silver Lady" all have in common?

texts:
What do a Welsh dresser, a rabbit's pen and Silver Lady all have in common?

The Welsh dresser is a piece of furniture that contains cupboards and shelves for displaying plates and various chinaware or crockery. A rabbit's pen is normally a type of cage made out of wood where rabbits are kept. And lastly, Silver Lady was a hit song by David Soul, an American British actor who became world-famous in the 1970s

The answer is... (hover mouse below)

   they are called hutch in the USA, or Hutch as in Hutchinson. The latter being the simpatico police detective in the TV series Starsky & Hutch.

My real question is, I would like to know why Americans call a kitchen chest of drawers a rabbit's “home”.

Disclaimer: I have done no research. I could probably find the answer for myself, but I'm sure I can't be the only person who has ever asked themselves that question.


texts: I'm fairly certain I've heard/seen a word to describe someone who likes or studies lighthouses, similar to audiophile for someone who likes music. Does anyone know what it is?


texts:
Many restaurants offer a menu which doesn't change from day to day, and in addition offer one choice which varies from day to day, perhaps depending on which ingredients are available. This choice can be called dish of the day (perhaps “soup of the day”, etc.) or special (“today's special”) or perhaps other expressions (what else is there?).

How prevalent are the various ways of formulating this concept? Does it vary between dialects? Is there a nuance in meaning?

(I guess really fancy restaurants would use du jour…)


texts:
The period between sunrise and noon is called "morning", between noon and sunset is "afternoon". Is there a term for the period between midnight and sunrise?

Edit/Clarification:
Wikipedia defines night as "the period of time between the sunset and the sunrise when the Sun is below the horizon", and I think most people would agree (please correct me if I'm wrong). So, "night" is not the answer I'm looking for. Is there a term specifically for the period between midnight (00:00) and sunrise, excluding the period between sunset and midnight?


texts:
Here's the quote written by Lucy Hawking, daughter of Stephen Hawking, about her father's funeral. "On the bleak greyness of a Cambridge spring day, we set off in a cortège of black cars towards Great St Mary’s Church, the university church where distinguished academics by tradition have their funeral services."

Does bleak mean "cold" or "not welcoming" or "sad" (the day was March 2014, is it cold in Cambridge at that time?)
Does greyness mean "sadness" in the context?
What will be the meaning of "bleak greyness" in the context in simple words.


texts: What are the short answers to general questions with "have + any"?

texts:
There's just a problem, and I can't find a correct answer to solve it.

It conserns the so called "short answers" to general questions. The poblem may be simply ridiculous, but nevertheless...
The problem is in looking for a short answer to a general question with "have + any" in American English. For example, you've got a question:

In British: Have you got any sugar?

In American: Do you have any sugar?

There's no problem to answer in British English:
- Yes, I have some. or - No, I haven't got any.
But how can it be done in American English?

The auxillary verb "to do" is used and must be placed in the short answer, as far as the rools demand.
What shall we have in the answer?

With "do" we have:

Yes, I do some. But what do you do?
No, I don't do any. But what don't you do?

May be the correct answer in such a situation is:

Yes I do have some. and
No, don't have any?
Or...

Please, help me to take in the situation.

Yours sincerely, Victor.


texts: What is the appropriate way to talk about an article that has been published in a journal? Has it been accepted "into" the journal, "to" the journal, "in" the journal, "by" the journal?


texts: What is a word for being jailed for something that you didn't do, or something that someone has framed you for?

texts: Just looking for a word that defines being jailed for something that you didn't do, or that someone framed you for.


texts: The term for a person who provides a reference for someone for a job

texts:
When writing a CV or something similar, one often provides contact information to a person, who may be contacted for references about oneself (e.g. about work attitude or other qualifications).

What is the person, who provides the reference or testimonial, called?

edit: I did come by the term referee, but that does not feel right as I associate that more with sports.


texts: When did informal use of the word "like" become prevalent?

texts: When and why did the word "like" come to be used to introduce an action, or even as a meaningless filler word, e.g. "He was like, [action or quote]."


texts: What might be a good antonym of implicate in the context of troubleshooting an engineering problem?  I can think of exonerate and vindicate but both sound more about crime than to refer to a component previously thought to introduce a design flaw in the overall system.


texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  What is the correct way to pluralize an acronym?

What's the plural form of "SMS" (if X), like:

  I'm concerned, I sent him over a million X but got no response.

I usually use text message to get rid of that situation.


texts:
"If they would have been painted this afternoon, the walls would be completely dry by tomorrow evening."

The quoted sentence is ungrammatical. I believe it has something to do with tense, but I do not believe that the 'if...would be' structure requires parallelism. So what is wrong with this sentence? Thank you.


texts: Does the word "simpleness" actually exist?

texts:
I always thought the word "simpleness" didn't exist and this was even confirmed by some American friends of mine. However, I tried to look it up on some online dictionaries and I was surprised to find out that some of them report this word while others don't.
What's the story behind "simpleness"?


texts:
What is it called, or how would you describe, when a character utters a line of dialogue in response to information contained within the preceding narrative?

Example:

  At sunrise Thelma peered cautiously out. The Owl was gone. "Until this evening," said Thelma  – Catwings, Ursula Le Guin, 1988


texts: As far as I know, adjectives modify nouns. So we can say "American gum", "Australian gum", etc. Why then do we say "gum Arabic" instead of "Arabic gum" ? Thanks in advance.


texts: Difference between "All is well" and "All are fine"

texts:
Always had this confusion !

In speaking,

All is well
All are fine

I heard a lot of people using above two these sentences many times so I got confused of the usage of "is" and "are" after "ALL".

When should we use "is" and when should we use "are" after "ALL" ?


texts: I know what "look about" means but in this sentence, I failed to figure them out

texts:
"she looked about her expecting the owner would not be far off; but she could see nobody."

Look about means to look around to find someone, so in this sentence, I think it should be "looked about the owner" instead "looked about her" because she was trying to find the owner.
Am I right?

Thanks in advance


texts: Why can the relative pronoun be omitted?

texts:
Look at the sentence:
—> That’s the actor who was a pilot in Star Wars.
The relative pronoun is the subject so we cannot omit it.
I know that we can omit the relative pronoun if it’s the object.
My question is :
Why can the relative pronoun be omitted from these following sentences ?
1)
—> My brother, who is a former professional hokey player, coaches elite high school hockey.
becomes:
—> My brother, a former professional hokey player, coaches elite high school hockey.
2)
—> Teachers who work online have flexible schedules.
becomes:
—> Teachers working online have flexible schedules.
3)
—> The man that was bitten by the dog went to hospital.
becomes:
—> The man bitten by the dog went to hospital.


texts:
In the New York Times:

"And it worked — boy, did it work. Visitors flooded Hulu upon its public opening in March 2008."

Dictionary.com:

4. immediately or very soon after
5. on the occasion of

It seems to these two definitions are both fitting in this context.  What's the meaning of "upon" here?


texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  What is the name of the first decade in a century?

When talking about decades in the 20th century, it is customary to refer to them using only the last two digits. For example, the 1990's are typically referred to by "90's", and so on.

As we move into the 21st century, I've noticed that similar conventions are being applied. The first decade has been called both "2000's" and "00's". However, while pronouncing something like "90's" is relatively simple, there is no clear way to pronounce "00's".

None of the possible pronunciations I've considered seem correct, so what is the right way to pronounce "00's"?


texts:
Which is correct: me and my wife or my wife and me?  The sentence in which this is used is

  Ms. Smith informed me and my wife that she was afraid of being accosted.


texts: Is there an idiom for “can take truth unprettified whatever it is”?

texts:
Here's the scenario: I screwed something and that caused some real harm. Now another person could just tell me, “Dude, you screwed X and this caused this and this harm," but instead he will try to be supe- diplomatic and vague to “not hurt my feelings.”

I’d like to tell him, “Dude, stop that diplomacy and prettification — I can take the ugly truth, whatever it is.”

Is there a widely recognized idiom for conveying that message?


texts: Comma between two questions after introductory clause

texts:
Should there be a comma between two independent questions that follow an introductory clause:

So when you arrived, was Mr. Smith still in his vehicle or was he out of the vehicle?

-or-

So when you arrived, was Mr. Smith still in his vehicle, or was he out of the vehicle?

Answers with references are greatly appreciated!

Thanks!


texts: Is Valley Girl speak "like", entering the language?

texts:
So like, I had this teacher? And he's like, "You're late?" And I'm like,
"There's like other people late too?"

I've always cringed at the word "like" strewn about in a spoken sentence. Well now I've seen it in print, right in the middle of an otherwise articulate National Geographic article. Not once, but twice. As far as I could tell it was not being used tongue in cheek. In the Feb '10 issue, in the article about the Congo Chimps. See last two paragraphs here: http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2010/02/congo-chimps/foer-text/2

"Sure enough, they built their nests directly over our tents," says Morgan.
"I was like, This is great! But our trackers were like, No way, man, this
is very bad news."
"People were like, Curiosity: Hmmm, how do you define that?" says Sanz,
34, now a professor at Washington University in St. Louis."

When I read that I had to shake my head and go back to re-read those sentences. I'm just curious what people think of this, and if you have seen any other examples in like a literate context?


texts:
what is the difference between the following?

I'd rather you went home now.
  I'd rather you go home .


texts:
Comparison

He visits his family less frequently than she does

He speaks Spanish more frequently than I

In the first example why "does" is used after the pronoun she and why "do" is not used in the 2nd example...


texts: "Both win in this case, the students [...] and science..." is the sentence incorrect?

texts:
I am unsure regarding this usage of 'both'. A friend of mine told me it is not correct.

  Both win in this case, the students who learned a new technique and science with more replications.

Could someone check it for me? Why is that a mistake?


texts:
A person with a cold will have nasal mucus in their nose building up. They continuously try to forcefully inhale the liquid mucous substance in the nose by breathing it in so that the nose stops running for a moment.

I would like to tell them not to that as over time it will cause headache. I want to know if there is a word for inhaling phlegm. For example

  Don't ________, because it will cause headache.


texts:
Do you have any plan...

  A. for going to law school?
  B. to go to law school?
  C. of going to law school?


texts:
Bothe of these phrases seem to express and depict the same meaning.

As I can remember, John was kind-hearted and tolerant; let alone, he was a man of God.

As I can remember, John was Kind-hearted and tolerant; not to mention, he was a man of God.

How to use and differentiate between them?

Dictionary:
not to mention:
In addition to or as well as what's been discussed; used for adding a comment that emphasizes the main idea of what you have already said.

Let alone:
used for saying that something is even less likely to happen than another unlikely thing; used to emphasize that something is more impossible than another thing:


texts: Can "hence" be used at the beginning of a sentence?

texts:
Can the word ‘hence’ be used at the beginning of a sentence? For example:

  Hence, I am not feeling well, I am unable to work.


texts:
Is there an expression in English for "being asked to act on your own suggestion"?

Here's an example of the scenario that I'm thinking about:

  Wife: Husband, the living room light is broken. We need to buy a new one.
  Husband: Sure, honey. When you go to the market today, could you buy a new light?


texts:
As per this joke from xkcd.com , what's the meaning of bulk rate?

  "As you can see, by late next month you'll have over four dozen husbands. Better get a bulk rate on wedding cake."

I understand "bulk" is a bunch of elements, but does it mean in this context that you get a better price if you buy many?


texts: It seems both dent and dint can mean an impression or hollow in a surface. Is there a reason for the two spellings? Do they have different connotations?


texts:
The English verb "there be" in its various forms "there were," "there is," "there are," "there will be," etc. are equivalent to the Spanish verb "haber" in its forms "hubo," "hay," "habrá," etc.

Technically, when used in this way, "there" is an adverb (some say it is a noun or expletive, but I disagree). But "there" is also an adverb with an entirely different meaning and, for at least some native speakers, a different pronunciation when used to designate location: "We went there for our honeymoon."

So is "there be" classified as a phrasal verb of the form "adverb + verb"?

ADDENDUM: Does anyone know when this form arose in English?


texts:
I am a non-native speaker.

Think about a man who is sitting beside his wife in a hospital all along. Would unremitting be unsuitable to describe him?

  The whole night through, the man sat unremittingly beside her.

I am asking because I looked up the definition for unremitting and found that both relentless and incessant are strong synonyms which I thought possess a rather negative connotation of rigidity, stubbornness or annoyance.

Edit:
Note that I am not looking for alternatives or synonyms. I'm interested in a possible implication of something that may be disapproved of unremitting


texts: "if... were to..." form can only be used with unlikely but "possible" conditions, not for "impossible" conditions?

texts:
I am confused over the difference using "were to" and past forms in conditionals.

Was told that "were to" is only for unlikely but "possible" conditions but past form is for impossible/fantastical.

For the following sentences, 1 is correct but 2 was deemed to be wrong.

1) If I had three heads, what kind of hat would I wear? - OK

2) If I were to have three heads, what kind of hat would I wear? - NOT OK

Hope to seek more advice and if u have any links/resources, please do provide them. Thanks :)


texts: Is this punctuation wrong or just stilted?

texts:
I tend to over-punctuate because I don't have a clue (or I use speech as an guideline)

Are the commas wrong or just awkward in the sentence below?

It was controversial, in part, because of the lying. . .


texts:
After taking part in the Presidential Inaugural ceremony, all online articles refer to Amanda Gorman as a poet.
Poetess,  meaning a female poet, is a well established term of the English language, so why do they call her poet?
PS: I don’t think that the suggested duplicate question has much to do with what I am asking. My concern is specific about the usage of the term poetess.


texts:
I saw this sentences below somewhere and am struggling with the grammar structure.
" Britain to restrict promotion of unhealthy food from April 2022 "
Just wonder why is " to " needed here in this sentence? if I were the writer, I would omit/cut "to" and make the verb restrict in plural form.
Can someone explain or give the title of this grammar structure? so I can chase down.


texts: What's the difference between "debate" and "argument"?

texts: These words seem to have similar meanings, possibly with different connotations.


texts:
What does phrase "we're up the block" mean? And specifically word block.

  Now it's two o'clock
  The club is closed and we're up the block


texts:
My frustrated Polish friends (often baffled by article usage because their own language has no articles) wanted to know why there's no definite article before the expression "picture No. 24" (as in "Could we have permission to reproduce picture No. 24?") - and I couldn't tell them!

Can anyone help?

Many thanks,

Alex


texts: Any idiom do you know means like"we'll do this one time but the hard way"?


texts: Difference between Assistant and Assistant to

texts:
I've been speaking English since I was 4 so I'm pretty confident with my English skills. However, when I visited my former university, I talked to one of the professors and found out she is now the 'Assistant to the Dean'. I started a conversation and asked her if she's in fact the current Assistant Dean. She corrected me saying, "No, I'm the Assistant to the Dean." Her reply felt more like an admonishment. I think she finds being called 'Assistant Dean' as insulting.

What's the difference? Did I do something wrong? Thanks for the help in advance.


texts:
Can I use 'or' twice in this sentence?

  I don’t know whether it was a last-minute programme or they didn’t get information about the programme or the school did not get to inform the parents on time.

Or should I write

  I don’t know whether it was a last-minute programme, they didn’t get information about the programme or the school did not get to inform the parents on time.


texts:
In French there is a phrase "désert médical", which means an area (usually rural) devoid of medical staff and hospitals.

The literal translation into English would be "medical desert". Is this phrase in use in English? Or is there an equivalent phrase that is in use? If no to both, would it be understood by an English speaker?


texts: How to refer to "earlier" letters in the alphabet?

texts:
Concerning the order of letters in the alphabet, how does one refer to "earlier" letters?

For example, "Names starting with "earlier" letters come first in lists."

Would that be "earlier," "higher," "greater," or what?

Adding a tad bit more context, I am actually looking for the most proper way to write the sentence I used as an example. If I'm being confusing, I'll try to better explain myself after some sleep.


texts:
I think it is best not to be impolite.

Is the above sentence fine, or should it have better instead of best in it?


texts: What's the etymology of 'hire purchase'?

texts:
I understand, and am not asking about, the meaning of 'hire purchase':

  A system by which one pays for a thing in regular instalments while having the use of it.
  North American term instalment plan

Rather, why were 'hire' and 'purchase' were adopted to describe instalment-payment plans?

'hire' already signifies 'obtainîng the temporary use of (something) for an agreed payment' that differs from  an instalment plan, where the payor pays for the permanent use of something after the last instalment. So using 'hire' to mean 'lease' is not only inaccurate, but causes ambiguity and confusion.

'purchase' is obviously inaccurate. The payor hasn't purchased anything as she's still paying instalments, and the payee probably still holds the title of the object.


texts: What do you call an interval that includes a boundary of a restricted domain?

texts:
In mathematical writing, what do you call an interval at the end of another interval? Here is an example usage:

Theorem: Let B be a subset of interval [0,1]. ...

Proof: We first prove the theorem when B is ___, that is, B = [0,x] or B = [x,1] for some x in [0,1]. ...

I'm not sure if there is a mathematical term for this. Would "an end interval" work?


texts: How difficult was that decision to make vs How difficult was it to make that decision?

texts:
How difficult was that decision to make?

How difficult was it to make that decision?

How difficult was that decision to be made?

Are there any differences among the above-mentioned sentences?


texts: A single word meaning "Monetary Anti-Counterfeiting Measures?"

texts: I saw it once long ago in a book on money, but cannot remember it and have never found it online.


texts: Mass Noun em-dash List-of-Plurals em-dash Verb

texts:
Is it just me, or?

  All of the content you see on Stack Exchange—all the questions, answers, edits, reviews, users, badges, tags, and more—is stored in a relational database.

Seems technically perfect to me. Why does it not read well, then? The singular is after the parenthetical jars, why?


texts: As adjectives in general usage (not in jargon terminology), are the words pragmatic and practical synonymous? If not, how do their meanings and proper usage differ?


texts: "Have been + verb-ing" vs. "have + past participle"

texts:
What's the difference between the following constructions of present perfect:

I've been waiting for you for seven years.
I've waited for you for seven years.

Googling yields no satisfying results. I also asked a native speaker and the one wasn't sure about the difference between the two, so I would like to know if there is any.


texts: Is it proper to pluralize when amount is unknown?

texts:
The rules I know:

  0 count of item : "zero items plural

  1 count of item : "one item" singular

  greater than 1 count of item : "many items" plural

  less than 0 count of item (as in mathematics) : "negative one item / negative x items"

This leads me to believe that it's proper to use plural form in any situation where the count is not exactly 1.

Jonny has (unknown amount of) apple - (to me this is wrong)
Jonny has (unknown amount of) apples - (to me this is correct)

If Jonny has (unknown amount of) apples, is it then acceptable to say:

  Jonny has apples - (I think so, and there are many examples of this in English; however it occurs to me that Jonny may have 0 apples and therefore you wouldn't say 'Jonny has apples' but rather 'Jonny has no apples' or 'Jonny does not have any apples')

Is there any situation in where this is not the case? For example if:

  I know that Jonny has 0 apples and I give him 1 apple.
  Jonny now has 1 apple.

  But if I don't know how many apples Jonny has and I give him 1 apple.

Would I still say that Jonny has 1 (an) apple? or is it acceptable to say Jonny has apples because I don't actually know for certain how many apples Jonny has?


texts: is it 'a usual' or 'an usual'? 'A usual' sounds more correct in my head ('Today was a usual day.') than 'an usual', but u is a vowel. Which one is correct and why?


texts: What is the word for exaggerating support for an argument by citing numerous sources and making your claims look more robust than they really are?

texts:
Anyone who has gotten into an argument over the internet or watched one in a comments section has seen that each side of the debate goes into a google search frenzy spams multiple links to "evidence" supporting their cause.

Very often, these "sources" are not unique studies that actually add to the discussion but are parroting the findings of a single study, such that the mass of citations collected can really be condensed as one lone piece of evidence. The true  purpose of citing multiple pieces rather than the single study is to make the person's argument seem stronger than it really is.

What is the term for this? (I know doing a similar pattern for resumes is called resume padding but when I search for the word "citation padding" there does not seem to be any such term) It is a behavior I've seen in any polarized argument, ranging from wikipedia editing wars, to youtube comments, and even academic debates.

Thank you.


texts: "Do you think it will take?" - how come it means to *succeed*?

texts:
I'm watching Upload in prime-video. An Actress was doing something (putting someone depressed to bed in VR, hoping that it will make him wake up happy again; but it really doesn't matter), and another actress asked "Do you think it will take?", meaning to ask whether she thinks this will work, will help. Minute 22 if of any help. Both the Hebrew and French translations seem to understand it the same as I did ("Ça marchera, tu crois?", and "?את חושבת שזה יצליח" - again, if of any help), but I've never heard such translation for take.
I just looked up all the entries of take in Oxford dictionary (as well as in Urban), and none refered to even a similar meaning.
So: have you ever used take as to succeed at doing something, how common is that and could you kindly give an example for such usage?


texts: What is the name of the profession of car body repairing

texts: I am getting stuck finding the English word for "The person whose profession is to repair a car's body", for example removing the rust and painting the car.


texts: Does the article "a/an" apply to the parenthetical or the word that follows?

texts:
I just asked a question a moment ago, the subject of which was
"Is there a word for taking an (possibly undeserved) authoritative tact?"

And I immediately had the follow up question of "was that sentence grammatically correct?" Namely, does the article a/an connect to what's in the parentheses (in which case I should have used "a") or to the adjective that follows, which the article actually refers to (in which case I did the right thing).


texts:
How to describe the dry, drying, or solid state for such as blood?

Do people just say blood dries or the blood is dried?

I did a web search of "blood solidifies", but it did not look like a correct usage.

I would like to understand both colloquial and formal usage of this description.

Another thing is that pudding does not dry out because when it solidifies, it ends in a gel-like, soft, and flexible state. How do I describe this solidifying and have-solidified state?


texts: Why can "which" and "who" be dropped in some sentences?

texts:
These two sentences are trying to express the same thought:

Now we examine the trunk, which is also called the boot, especially outside North America.

Now we examine the trunk, also called the boot, especially outside North America.

First, are they grammatically correct? If so, why is it ok to drop the "which is" from the first sentence?
Similarly with "who", we can say "This is Robert, who is also called Bob." or "This is Robert, also called Bob."


texts: Meaning and Emphasis Depending on the Placement of "Only"

texts:
My dog only likes people food.

  My dog likes only people food.

  My dog likes people food only.

In each of these sentences, how does "only" affect it (i.e. emphasis and meaning)? Are any of them incorrect?

My understanding is that the first sentence conveys my dog liking people food and nothing else (not limited to food). The second sentence is slightly different - my dog doesn't dislike everything, but when it comes to food the only food he likes is people food.

Is there a good rule for the placement of "only" in sentences? Which is the most grammatical and comprehendible/unambiguous?


texts:
I'm reading a news on BBC and there's a sentence I can't understand its meaning:

Nancy Pelosi, Democratic leader in the House of Representatives, tried on Tuesday to stage a symbolic vote to support the findings of Russian interference, but was blocked by Republicans.
(https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-44870835)

Could you explain what the bold part means please?


texts: What does "tenable" mean to Shakespeare?

texts:
Hamlet:
If you have hitherto conceal'd this sight,
Let it be tenable in your silence still,
And whatsoever else shall hap to-night,
Give it an understanding, but no tongue:

Tenable seems a strange word. I don't know if it means any of the following:
a) told outright
b) explained quietly
c) remain intact
d) kept secret
What did Shakespeare mean by tenable in this passage?


texts: What is the term used for some kind of punishment

texts: What is colloquial word for kind of punishment for children/teen when he's not allowed to leave home (go to friends etc), but only school-home-school... ?


texts: How to write correctly: "inequivalent" or " nonequivalent"? I am interested in writting this word in mathematical texts.


texts: Lecturer "in Courses" vs "of Courses" vs "at Courses": What's the correct preposition?

texts:
I would like to add my experience as an online lecturer to my LinkedIn profile details.

Should I use "Lecturer in, lecturer of, or lecturer at Online Courses" as the job title, or consider a completely different preposition altogether?


texts:
I'm rather confused about that word - 'Born'
According to Cambridge it is a verb.
According to this Quora's answer it is an adjective.
According to someone in ELL it is a verb in the passive voice.
Besides that, I'm not sure in which situations would we use these verb conjugations, as suggested here (Reverso):

a) Preterite - I borned
b) Present -  I born
c) Present continuous - I am borning
d) Past participle - borned

Any further information about that word will be appreciated.


texts:
I just wrote a friend of mine who has travelled the world quite a bit, having lived in at least four countries for more than a year. I told him,

  Everyone who has met you is impressed by your worldliness.

Did I use this word, worldliness, correctly? I know it has at least a couple connotations: one having to do with worldly desires, the other having to do with knowledge of the world. I'm not sure which connotation comes across in my sentence, or which meaning is more common/appropriate.


texts: Can I use the word bipartisan in a non-political context?

texts:
Example:

"This wasn't a unilateral decision, but rather a bipartisan one."


texts: Is "stepmother treatment" Indian English?

texts:
When I googled stepmother treatment, I found that it was mainly used in India to refer to neglect, disregard or inattention. Most of the other non-Indian links talked about the literal treatment by the relative.

Does this phrase/idiom belong only to Indian English? In India, stepmothers carry this stereotype of being vile women, by the way.


texts: What is the difference between oneday and someday

texts:
I thought that oneday is used for representing past tense and someday for future.
but I saw oneday is used for representing future in the context yestreday.
Can "oneday" represent future as in "Oneday, I will be a doctor."?


texts: Adjective or noun for "uses rules that are commonly accepted even if not consistent"

texts:
I'm working on defining technical terms to explain three ways to calculate the length of time between two points in time despite the oddities of Daylight Saving Time (DST):

Always use real-world elapsed time (like a stopwatch). This will be called "absolute".
Always use clock time, even if the clock time did weird things during the period like skipped an hour (because Daylight Saving Time started) or repeated an hour (because Daylight Saving Time stopped). This will be called "local".
Use a mix of the two strategies that matches how normal, non-technical people would think about it. For example, from 5:00PM on the day before Daylight Saving Time ends or starts to 5:00PM the next day should be "one day", not "one day and one hour" or "23 hours." But a time period that starts an hour before DST starts and ends an hour after DST starts should be "2 hours" even though the clock is 3 hours ahead.

What should I name #3?

The connotation I'm looking for is something that's intuitive and works well, despite not being technically consistent.  A word that means "rules that are commonly accepted and good enough for most purposes" is what I'm looking for. Alternatively, I'd be happy with a word that means "Do something different on one side than is done on the other, for good reasons even if those reasons seem a little arbitrary."

Ideally the word would be:

relatively short (under 10 letters)
a common-enough word that most college-educated, non-native English speakers will know it
easy to pronounce for non-native english speakers
easy to spell
single word is very strongly preferred
preferably an adjective, but the right noun could be OK
non-judgemental, so if someone chooses another of the 3 terms, #3's antonym won't make the user feel like we're criticizing their choice

The closest word that I've found so far is "common" in the sense of "common law". But I think that meaning of "common" is too obscure so I'm hoping to find a better term.

Here's some other words I've considered and reasons why I rejected them:

normal - too generic
everyday - too generic
expected - some users may not actually expect this behavior, so I don't think this works
standard - in my industry (software) this has the connotation of "laws" or "regulations" which is not what I'm trying to convey
customary - close, but feels a little to vague to me
colloquial - this is the closest I've found, but the word is probably too obscure and hard to spell for our global audience
quirky - emphasizes weirdness, which is the opposite of the connotation I'm looking for.
pragmatic - very close to what I'm looking for, but pragmatic implies "making the best of things" while this term should be closer to "how people usually talk"
best fit / best effort - not bad, but 2 words is not ideal
idiomatic - close, but too obscure
divergent - too much emphasizing difference vs. sensibility
sensible - too opinionated; don't want to imply that users who chose another option are not sensible
parallel - not exactly right because parallel implies doing things separately, but I'm more looking for a collaborative connotation, e.g. date and time working differently but in harmony.
split - same problems as parallel
blend - too much emphasis on the mixture, not enough on "what just seems right"
compromise - implies too much mixed, muddled
evolved - emphasizes too much about the process of how we got there, instead of "what we have now is fine"


texts: 'Citizen' is to 'citizenry' as 'subject' is to ...?

texts:
What is the word for subjects (of a monarch or ruler) when regarded as a single entity?

E.g. "The role of the citizenry in civic life"

E.g. "The howl of the _____ under oppression"

Edit To my understanding, a 'citizen' is an individual person, 'citizens' a number of them, and a 'citizenry' a conceptual singular actor directed by popular will. Since individuals living under particular constitutional arrangements might be designated subjects but not citizens, is there a word that describes a collective entity that is similar to a citizenry but composed of people with the status of subject?

Edit Evidence of research. I found no suitable matches for intuitively-composed derivatives of 'subject' (e.g. 'subjectry', 'subjecture', 'subjecturate') using a popular Internet search tool, nor amongst words related to 'subject' as listed by some word reference tools.


texts:
I am very confused. Unless I am mistaken, I know "it" has to be a noun of some sort, but I am unable to figure out what noun "it" is referring to.

What is "it" in the following sentence:

  It is clear that Bob likes doughnuts.

Heres another couple of examples:

  It is impossible to fly.