texts: What does "uncancellable" mean? / What is a word for "not able to be uncancelled"?

texts:
What does "uncancellable" mean?  Does it mean that something may be uncancelled, or that something may not be cancelled? [Edit:] How would one express each of those ideas?

For bonus points, is there a way to be indicate that something may be not uncancelled?  In-uncancellable?


texts: What can I substitute for "A perfect example for this is"

texts: I need a more sophisticated way of starting a sentence that uses soccer as a perfect example of an ancestral sport from china which evolved.


texts: What to call potential customers/prospects?

texts:
I'm a sales person and I'm writing a mail to make an appointment with prospects.

I'd like to write honestly to them that: "the purpose of this business trip is to visit potential customers".

Is it okay to call potential customers potential customers?
People who would be interested in our products?


texts: "Why has this happened to me today?", I thought.


texts:
I came across the following sentence in a book, and I'm not sure of its meaning. The quote is:

“It would be rude to refuse a gift,” Blake said, eyes cast over her [Weiss'] head towards Cinder, “especially one so hard-won.”
Out of the corner of her eye, Weiss saw the same fingers that had clasped hers adjust that ashen scarf. “I’d never accuse you of having manners, Blake.”
“For which I’m grateful.” Blake replied dryly.


texts: What do you call this part of old windows?

texts: What is the hinged wood covering on old windows called? Is there a proper name for it?


texts: Why are all of these sentences considered grammatical?

texts:
I went to the store and to quench my thirst bought a milk.

  I went to the store and to quench my thirst, bought a milk.

  I went to the store and, to quench my thirst, bought a milk.

To the best of my knowledge, all of them are grammatical. Then why are there commas? Do they create difference? If so, what are the differences? Also, if there is any wrong one, please notify me. Thank you.


texts: some days the pigeon, some days the statue

texts:
There is a common expression in english - "some days the pigeon, and some days the statue". The meaning is self explanatory- Certain days go really well, while other days are pathetic.

Can you guys tell me other such equivalent phrases in English? Thanks!


texts:
I wonder what is the etymology of the word sport.

Vasmer says that it is from disport "amusement", a contraction from Middle English disporten from Old French desporter "to take away", "to distract from the work".

But Starostin's Starling site gives another etymology:

Eng. sport < Old Eng. spyrd, Goth. spɔrd-s "racing" < Proto-Germ. **spurd* < PIE **sperdh-* "run competition"

It gives as cognates Hittite ispart-, Avest. sparǝr- Old Indic -spūrdhán, spárdhate "competition"

So who is correct?

Note also that Vasmer connects Russian spor "dispute" to Avest pǝrǝt- and Old Indic pŕ̥tanā "struggle" so that the s- in PIE **sperdh-* could be s-mobile.

Also take into account the root **per-* meaning "first", "in front", "against" and Proto-Slavic perdъ "before, in front of" < PIE **per-dʰ-o*.


texts: Which adjective explains a general spring problem better?

texts:
I'm checking the balancer springs of an industrial machine in one step of a flowchart where the follow-up decision question asks if the springs are "problematic" (?). I couldn't decide on a single general adjective to include every type of spring fault. I've googled "faulty", "broken", "problematic", "damaged", and "defective". I'm leaning towards "faulty" and "defective".

Which one describes and combines all possible spring problems? Are there other better adjectives to describe it?


texts:
So, “the peacock’s mission is clear: to create as many baby __ as possible.”

Dictionary.com is frustratingly vague on this — it says:

  pea·fowl  [pee-foul] noun, plural pea·fowls (especially collectively) pea·fowl.

So, apparently it could be either peafowls or peafowl. Any idea which one sounds better or is more respectable?


texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  When should I use “in” or “on”?

Would you say:

  A child is sitting in a swing.

or

  A child is sitting on a swing.

Is it the same case as:  in a chair vs on a chair?


texts: personal pronouns in object position but subjective case

texts:
Why is this right?
Give the baton to he who is closest to you when you run by.
Does the case of the restrictive clause drive the case of the sentence object?


texts:
I was having a debate with my classmate the other day about this one grammar exercise. We had to use add a phrasal verb in the blank space in the following sentence (and put it in the right tense):

  That left a lot of machine workers without a job in one small town. They ____________ the newspapers every day, but there weren't many job vacancies.

Phrasal verb: look through

My choice was "they were looking through the newspaper every day", my classmate's answer was "they looked through the newspaper every day". Our teacher agreed with him. I still don't feel like it's correct :(

Would anyone tell me which way is right, and why?


texts: What does “as” represent for in “Cantor quits as Majority leader” and “Cantor to resign as Majority leader”?

texts:
Today’s New York Times reported Eric Canter’s defeat in Primary election in Virginia under the headline: “Eric Cantor to step down as House Majority leader” followed by the text copy:
“Representative Eric Cantor of Virginia, the No. 2 House Republican, will resign as majority leader within weeks,”

Time magazine also reports
“Cantor to resign as Majority leader” in the headline, followed by the copy:

“Eric Cantor said Wednesday that he will step down from his post as House Majority Leader.”

Washington Post reports:
“Cantor to step down from leadership post in July.”

I’ m quite comfortable with the expression, “He will step down from his post as House Majority leader,” but not clear with the meaning and specific function of “as” in “step down / resign as majority leader.”

What does “as” represent for in “Cantor steps down ( resigns) as majority leader,” and why is it “as,” not “from”?


texts: What is a better way of saying 'apologies for the typo error'? Typographical also does not sound too good.


texts: Can participant be used for devices or machines

texts:
I have a technical documentation where robots are working together in a team. They are referred to as participants (lower case!). Is this correct in English? How should it be called? (field bus) devices?

I think a participant has to be a person. This is also what a dictionaries say.

  participant

  noun [ C ] us  /pɑrˈtɪs·ə·pənt/

  a person who takes part in or becomes involved in a particular activity:

Cambridge English Dictionary


texts: Is there a word meaning "easy to misidentify"?

texts: It seems like there is a word for this, and the sense is not exactly "hard to identify" but specifically "easy to misidentify". If no such word exists, a word for "hard to identify" could suffice.


texts: What could be the correct idiom for expressing that someone is baking up false allegations without evidence?

texts: Are "barking up the wrong bush" or "sailing on the wings of imagination" close?


texts: People in the state of Nevada insist that it should be pronounced /nəˈvædə/ (with the vowel of TRAP)—this "issue" always comes up during campaigns—while much of the country typically pronounces it /nəˈvɑːdə/ (with the vowel of PALM). Is one correct over the other or are they both equal?


texts: Is the second last "shipping" necessary?

texts:
From this question,

  This is a ship-shipping ship, shipping shipping ships.

The second to last word shipping seems to be redundant. Is it necessary? Does the sentence still preserve the same meaning if it is omitted? Would a general ship be any different than a shipping ship?


texts:
If the temperature of the sea water is warm, glacials would melt.
I know people use "was" instead "is", but here I am talking about a fact and the hypothetical result of it. Don't you think "is" makes sense?


texts: What's the difference between "abbreviation" and "abbreviature"?

texts: What's the difference between these two words, abbreviation and abbreviature?


texts:
reduplication?

If you make the tuna salad I'll make the "salad-salad"

That car is mine but it isn't  "mine mine" it's my brother's

I like him but I don't "like-like" him


texts:
Wikitionary describes soundbite as:

  a short extract from a recorded interview or speech, chosen for its succinctness or concision.

What would be an equivalent word for a written medium, as opposed to audio?

I've used several phrases over the years to describe these but nothing as succinct as soundbite.

Example usage:

  That blog was full of wordbites that expressed the thoughts I had.

What this would mean is roughly one of the following 3 or a mix of them:

That blog was full of phrases which put very clearly the nuanced thoughts I've had on the subject but haven't been able to express very well.
That blog was full of phrases which read really well and communicate the ideas very clearly, which I also had.
That blog was full of quotable phrases which I'd rather use instead of explaining my thoughts in my own words


texts:
The expression hopelessly lost just sounds awkward in my ears. But it seems to be grammatically correct and googling it finds quite a few links, so it seems to be a valid expression nevertheless.

So, is it just me, or is it generally felt as awkward?


texts:
When someone attends an event, he will be awarded some additional leave subject to his boss's approval. Therefore, he will need to submit a leave application to his boss for approval.

Should I call this (action 1) apply leave, submit leave, apply new leave or something else?

Note that if we use apply leave or submit leave, we will have another problem as follows. If that someone wants to use the leave that his boss had approved for action 1, he will need to submit this further application to his boss for approval.

Then, should I call this (action 2) apply leave (not again?), submit leave (not again?) or something else?


texts: Why do 120 or so geographical region names end in a and ia?

texts: The web contains lengthy lists one with about 120 names of major geographical regions that end in a and ia. Is there any merit to the idea that this might go back to the Hebrew words raqa and raqia? (If so it could help explain place names like Africa, Raqqa Syria, and Iraq.) The verb raqa involves making a plate (like gold plating, or even, crustal plating) and the noun raqia refers to the plate itself.


texts: After 3 months since approval/in 3 months since approval

texts:
Context: I want to say that the info will be shown in 3 months since approval. So, the sentence should be: You'll see the info in/after 3 months since approval.
I have 2 concerns here:

is there a difference between "after" and "in"? I know that "after" is often used to describe past events. What about the future? Is one of the prepositions more preferred/used by native speakers?

since approval - I know that "since" is usually used with dates (since 1945) and with points of time when we use verbs (since the registration began). Can I say "since approval" without making the sentence too complicated with "since the day your profile got approved."


texts: Basically, as the title says. Is there a word to (best) describe someone who sees and remembers every single thing?


texts: Why are modal verbs never used with "has" even when the subject is singular?

texts: Why is it that modal verbs are always used with "have," regardless of whether the subject is singular or plural? For example, you would say "She has been here" and "They have been here," but you would say "She would have been here" and "They would have been here." Is there a reason for this?


texts: Why is the English word of Chinese origin "Shih Tzu" used to refer to a dog breed not known in Chinese as "Shih Tzu"?

texts:
It is well known that it comes from a Wade-Giles transcription of the Mandarin Chinese word for "lion dog" (獅子狗 shih1-tzu0-kou3, from 獅子 "lion" + 狗 "dog"). This is part is indubitable. There's no doubt about it.

In spite of that, there are a couple of problems.

The English Wikipedia article for Shih Tzu and some of its sources (some may have been removed) claim that the Shih Tzu is so named due to its resemblance to the lion. The Wiktionary entry for Shih Tzu even goes so far to claim that it resembles those Chinese guardian lion statues in the imperial palace or in front of feudal officials' residences.

However, the breed's name in Chinese actually translates to "Xi Shi dog", with Xi Shi being one of the four most beautiful women in Chinese history. Through the Chinese Wikipedia article for the breed and Google Translate, I've learned that this breed may have been called "lion dog" and renamed for "marketing purposes", although this claim has no sources to back it up. Meanwhile, the name "lion dog", in proper Chinese, refers to the Pekingese, a completely different breed that, if you ask me, better resembles lion statues.

So why is the English word of Chinese origin "Shih Tzu" used to refer to a dog breed not known in Chinese as "Shih Tzu"?

Was it really the original name of this breed? Or is it used in English etymologically erroneously for some reason? Was there a name change in Chinese which led to the etymological discrepancy between the English name of the breed and its Chinese name? Or was it just that the English-speaking world somehow confused two different dog breeds?

Edit: I'd like to stress that this is a question on etymology. And the etymology of English loanwords obviously has to concern with the source languages or the original circumstance around the time English borrowed from that source. I'm aware that there may not be any etymologists here who has a bit understanding of the original Chinese words ("lion", "lion dog" or the like), but unfortunately there is no "etymology stackexchange" for me to rely on.


texts: The word probably has the prefix "extra-", but I am not thinking of extracurricular, as that only pertains to that which is outside of the educational curriculum. Any ideas?


texts: What word describes the act of converting a phrase into its opposite?

texts:
Turning a phrase negative (e.g. good → not good, and a question → not a question) is called negation. One can say "I negated the phrase".

What is the act of turning a phrase into its opposite (e.g. good → bad and a question → an answer) called? I'd like to say "I ×'d the phrase."

A gerund sounds forced. "Oppositeing"? "Oppositising"? "Oppositeifying?" Maybe I'm getting too fixed on conjugating "opposite".


texts: speech is to speaking as [X] is to writing and [Y] is to reading

texts:
I'm writing a CV and would like to describe my English language skills... how well I can read, write and speak English. Well, it seems I'm lacking a couple of nouns...

If speech is to speaking as X is to writing and Y is to reading, what could X and Y be?


texts: What is the the role of the two a’s in “we planned to meet a few times a year”?

texts:
How can I rewrite this sentence without the two a’s?

  We planned to meet a few times a year.

I think this would be the best way to show the role that the two a’s play in the sentence.


texts: Like this "Read, write, and think", this is classified as independent clause but they contain verbs only. Is it possible to thave an Independent Clause with no subject?


texts: What is the grammatical error in this sentence?

texts:
Knowing that they will have to deal with the consequences of eliciting
  another's enmity makes islanders more cautious about what they say or
  do.

I know it doesn't have very good flow, but is it grammatically correct? My English tutor says no, but I don't know what differentiates that sentence from, say, a phrase like "baking makes me happy" or "realizing I had homework to do made me eager to get home."


texts:
I wonder if there is clear guidance about the following construction:

  We say that a foo admits a bar, if baz is quz.

I feel that the comma before if breaks the structure of the sentence, and introduces some ambiguity (is the if introducing an independent clause?).

I would very much appreciate pointers to the appropriate sections of a manual of style.


texts:
Generally I think of a catchphrase as being a phrase that is regularly repeated by a character or person to the point that it becomes an immediately recognizable part of their identity. The definitions I've found are a bit more vague though.
(Merriam-Webster)

  A word or expression that is used repeatedly and conveniently to represent or characterize a person, group, idea, or point of view

I recently heard someone refer to Bogart's line in Casablanca "Here's looking at you kid" as a catchphrase. I wouldn't consider this a catchphrase, just from my own understanding of the word, but I'm curious if it actually is. That phrase is certainly an immediately recognizable part of Rick Blaine's (and Bogart's) identity, but not as a result of him regularly repeating it.

So is an iconic phrase such as "Here's looking at you kid" a catchphrase or is that a misuse of the word?


texts: Is "one" unnecessary in this quote of Melville?

texts:
I cannot make much sense of one in the following passage from Moby-Dick:

Now the various species of whales need some sort of popular comprehensive classification, if only an easy outline one for the present, hereafter to be filled in all its departments by subsequent laborers.

If outline is a noun in this passage, then one must serve here as a pronoun. If so, isn't the sentence lacking in punctuation? Rewriting would make it less ambiguous:

Now the various species of whales need some sort of popular comprehensive classification, if only an easy outline, one for the present hereafter to be filled in all its departments by subsequent laborers.

Furthermore, I can't help thinking that one is not needed here at all:

Now, the various species of whales need some sort of popular comprehensive classification, if only an easy outline for the present, hereafter to be filled in all its departments by subsequent laborers.

If Melville correctly worded this sentence, what is the function of one in it? What are your thoughts on my modifications?


texts: Is it 'a flight' or 'flights' when two people travel together?

texts: My niece and nephew are joining us on holiday. Do I say You will need to arrange 'a flight' or 'flights' for yourself and James to arrive on Saturday morning, the 16th? This is assuming they will be travelling together on the same 'flight'.


texts:
When there are several plural nouns in a sequence, do they all take the plural form or does only the last noun take the plural e.g.,

  The application is a precious instrument full of information, advices, curiosities and suggestions.


texts: Which is proper usage: "What I've Learned" or "What I learned"?

texts: I'm having argument with a colleague of mine over which statement is more correct. I figured the English language gurus of StackExchange would be able to set us straight.


texts: What does "betrun-cheoned" [betruncheoned] mean in Suttree by Cormac McCarthy

texts:
McCarthy's works are filled with obscure words, but this one is particularly strange, and prior to me posting this question, almost constitutes a Googlewhack.
I'm reading the Kindle edition and so it could even be a misprint.
The passage is this:

The black wiped his eyes with one huge hand. Stories of the days and nights writ there, the scars, the teeth, the ear betrun-cheoned in some old fray that clung in a toadlike node to the side of his shaven head.


texts: Is it redundant to say "remove the presence of X" instead of "remove X"?

texts:
I sometimes come across "remove the presence of", e.g. "remove the presence of these compounds". You can try a Google search for the exact phrase "remove the presence of" (with quotes) and you can see for yourself. It seems to be used in reference to chemical substances.

It seems redundant. Is this proper? Does in mean anything different than simply "remove X"? Or, maybe it's just a chemist's way of saying things?


texts: Does one remonstrate another or does one remonstrate with another?

texts:
If I am protesting forcefully the actions of another, let’s call him Joe, would it be better to say:

  I remonstrated Joe over his choice of words in that argument.

or would I say:

  I remonstrated with Joe over his choice of words in that argument.

Because he is the target of my remonstration, no?

Because close votes are collecting, let me explain why a simple internet search thus far has not led to me to a definitive answer:

The link supplied which suggests that suggests that adding “with” is usual was quite quickly found by me, and I didn’t think it necessary to state that I had come across that link, as the whole purpose of me asking would be negated if I had never heard someone say “aren’t you to use with with that verb?” I’m asking because I don’t know what the difference is when the target of the remonstration is present, versus when you’re discussing someone with whom you were remonstrating, for instance, if two editors were remonstrating the closing of a publisher. That would be an obvious use of with to connote multiple involved parties.

I don’t say I beat with you, whereas I might say I debated you or you might say I debated with you. Is remonstrated used in the same way as debated in this case, where you may choose or not choose to use with or is with required when using remonstrated?

More specifically, I said it as a direct statement to him “I remonstrated you” (a smaller clause from a larger sentence, with context)


texts: What is the difference between "graphic" and "graphical" as adjectives?

texts:
Are the two adjectives completely interchangeable, or is there a distinction between them?

Does it matter which I choose?


texts: How are relative familial titles used for members who died prior to your birth?

texts:
This may seem an odd and morbid question, but I am curious about the use of relative familial titles when the family member you are referring to died prior to your birth.

For example, say my mother has a brother named Bruce. When I am born he becomes my uncle. While we are both alive I would refer to him as Uncle Bruce. Even when he dies, I would continue to refer to him as Uncle Bruce, as in, "Remember the time we went to the beach with Uncle Bruce?" Moreover, I would argue this title stays even after my death. My children might say, "My dad's uncle was a shoe salesman."

But how would I refer to my mother's brother Bruce if he died before I was born? I would think I would refer to him as "my mother's brother." It seems odd to refer to him as my uncle because he was not alive when I was born, therefore he only attained that title posthumously.

And would it make any difference as to when my mother's brother died? Say my mother had a brother who died when he was an infant. Would he still be referred to as "my uncle?"


texts: Is there a difference in meaning between "not to make" and "to make no"?

texts:
I was asked today whether

  In order to make no mistakes

was correct. I said yes, but that I found it a bit strange and that I would rather use

  In order not to make mistakes

The outcome is the same, but I sense a difference in meaning. Is there really one?


texts: Is "in the old decades" grammatically correct?

texts:
An example sentence would be like: "In the old decades, banana was the main type of food".

Is this sentence grammatically correct? If so, does the phrase "in the old decades" have similar meaning to "a few decades ago"?


texts: What is a phrase for constantly doing some or the other thing with an object?

texts:
I'm looking for a word that means constantly doing something an object. I've heard the word 'mendel' 'mendeling' used in context with gadgets but I seem to find no information about it.

For ex. Jack can be seen constantly mendeling with circuits

I'm not sure if that's the exact spelling.


texts: "You laid down your life that I would be set free." Why is "would" used here?

texts:
You laid down your life that I would be set free.

In this sentence, I was wondering what's the role and meaning of 'would'.
And in my short knowledge, Isn't it right that 'so' should be at the front of 'that'?
It'd be grateful if you could help me to satisfy my curiousity. Thank you for your time.

source: Phil Wickham's song 'This is amazing grace' lyrics


texts: How to interpret Nancy Pelosi's statement?

texts:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/reading-between-the-lines-of-trumps-oval-office-tussle/2018/12/11/7c7099f4-fda1-11e8-a17e-162b712e8fc2_story.html?utm_term=.809469483529

TRUMP: I also know that, you know, Nancy’s in a situation where it’s not easy for her to talk right now, and I understand, and I fully understand that. We’re going to have a good discussion, and we’re going to see what happens. But we have to have border security.

PELOSI: Mr. President — Mr. President, please don’t characterize the strength that I bring to this meeting as the leader of the House Democrats, who just won a big victory.

As far as I can tell, there are two plausible ways to interpret this:

Pelosi is saying that she is the leader of the House Democrats who just won a big victory, and Trump is (negatively) characterizing/trivializing her role/power as the leader. In other words, the "as the leader of the House Democrats" clause is referring to "I".
Pelosi is saying that, while her personal role in the party may be in limbo (depending on whether she wins re-election), Trump is overlooking the fact that House Democrats, as a whole, already won the election and have strength/leverage irrespective of Pelosi's election. In other words, "as the leader of the House Democrats" clause is referring to "strength".


texts:
Consider this sentence:

  This situation is analogous to the classic problem of cracking a
  hashed and salted password: We see the X as a password and Y as a salt.

What are the other ways to refer to the different "objects" here, instead of just using see?
As the rest of my text is rather formal, see feels like a bad fit.

Edit:

To be crystal clear, my goal is to argue the use of the analogy by comparing the X and Y to the password and salt.


texts: Verbs formed from noun or adjective roots by adding -ja-

texts:
I know that there exist some verbs which were formed in Proto-Germanic by adding the causative marker -ja- to nouns or adjectives, such as these pairs:

doom (noun) > deem (verb)
food (noun) > feed (verb)
tale (noun) > tell (verb)
full (adj) > fill (verb)
blood (noun) > bleed (verb)
hale (adj) > heal (verb)

However, I'm not too sure about how those evolved from the original word until now. I supposed it is related to I/J-Mutation. http://www.etymonline.com/imutate.php

Could you please explain it properly?


texts:
I (US Mid-West) definitely pronounce this as having two syllables, with a schwa between  the R and the L.  In fact, I find it difficult to make a consonant cluster of RL.  This is contradicted but dictionary entries that give the pronunciation as having one syllable.

How many syllables does the word have?


texts:
Someone, guilty of a wrongdoing, defends his position by reminding the accusing party that, at some point in time, s/he was guilty of the same wrongdoing too. This is instead of making an apology or a promise to change behavior in the future. What do we call such a discourse?

Speaker A: You treated the audience with disrespect (The guilty part does not deny the accusation)
Speaker B: Yes I did, but did you never do the same thing? (Suggesting that Speaker A isn't in a position to make accusations)

Now, I have considered using many phrases and expressions like "fault-finding," "blame game," "finger pointing," "cherry-picking," and "apologetics." While they are 'close' to what I want to say, they all roughly connote an act of defense by denying guilt and laying it on someone else (usually the accuser), as in "You did it, not me!" What I am looking for, however, is a word/phrase suggesting that the accused party indeed admits guilt, but tries to ameliorate his position by saying something like "Hey, but I am not the only one. You did it too."


texts:
Market survey or marketing survey?

When you ask somebody to answer your questions, which term is correct?


texts:
Can I say, "Your example was quite graphical"?

A person wrote an answer to me on StackOverflow and provided a very good example with pictures. Saying "your example was good" or "nice" or "clear" seems to me to be too general. On the other hand, I've searched and didn't find any case of "graphical example" on Google.


texts:
In Article Two of the United States Constitution there is this Statement:

  shall take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed

Now I want to know whether "be" can or should be replaced by "are", and why is it not in the said Statement.


texts:
Whenever I try to google it I get redirected to "Hot Air Balloon". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hot_air_balloon

What's weirder is that there is not a single mention of "aerostatic globe" in the "hot air balloon" wiki itself.

To be honest, I've always called the hot air balloons, aerostatic globes. But I don't really know where I originally got this name from.

Searching for "aerostatic globe" inside quotations will show me images of what seem to be very old hot air balloons.

Are aerostatic globes just old hot air balloons?


texts:
a. Some guy with red hair was there.

  b. Some guy was there with red hair.

Do both these sentences express the same meaning? I saw it in Wikipedia as examples of extraposition.


texts: When and where did 'bulldozer' originate, what did it originally apply to, and how did it come to refer to earth-moving machinery?

texts:
In “How to Steal an Election,” an editorial in this Sunday’s New York Times, historian Jon Grinspan writes,

In the [U.S.] South at the end of Reconstruction, white Democratic rifle clubs “policed” the polls. They invented the term “bulldoze” in 1876 to describe the use of a “dose” of bullwhip to terrorize African-American voters.

Merriam-Webster’s Eleventh Collegiate Dictionary confirms this etymological date of origin and—generally—the etymological source of the wording, albeit with an equivocal “perhaps” thrown in:

bulldoze vb {perh. fr. bull [“a male bovine”] + alter. of dose} vt (1876) 1 : to coerce or restrain by threats : BULLY 2 : to move, clear, gouge out, or level off by pushing with or as if with a bulldozer 3 : to force insensitively or ruthlessly {bulldozed the program through the legislature} ...
bulldozer n (1876) 1 : one that bulldozes 2 : a tractor-driven machine usu. having a broad blunt horizontal blade for moving earth (as in road building)

A quick search of the Elephind newspaper database yields an interesting early explanation of the term’s origin. From “Bull-Dozing—A Comprehensive Definition of the Term,” in the Iola [Kansas] Register (November 25, 1876), reprinted from the Cincinnati [Ohio] Times and written by that newspaper’s New Orleans, Louisiana, correspondent:

The word here in this muddle is “Bull-dozed.” I see some Northern papers persist in printing it “Bull-dogged.” The bull-dozers are organized and armed bands of assassins and robbers, who ride about the country by night, killing innocent people and spreading terrorism among republican negroes. The Bull-dozers are successors to the Kuklux, the White League, the White Liners, and other similar organizations. It is to [t]hese ruffians that Louisiana owes her sad condition today. ...
...
Perhaps, just here, it will not be amiss to explain the origin of this new term of “Bull-dozer.” It originated in Mississippi. The “black-snake” whip that teamsters use upon oxen or mules is called there by a compound word, the first of which is “Bull’s.” It is abbreviated to “Bull,” and the whip is called a “bull.” Whipping an obstinate animal or [Black person] with it is called giving the animal or [Black person] a dose of the bull, or bull’s dose. The Kuklux and White League used that instrument to beat Republicanism out of the negroes, and oblige them to vote the Democratic ticket, or keep away from the polls. Hence the name for these bands of roving scoundrels, “Bull-dozers,” or “Bull-dosers.” They pronounce it “Bull-doozers” here [in New Orleans]. This is the real and only origin of the term, and the name is very significant and appropriate, as many a negro with a scarred back can testify.

This explanation seems quite plausible, but it raises a few related questions:

1. Is the Cincinnati Times correspondent’s account of the word’s derivation accurate?
2. Where and when did the earliest published instance of bulldozer/bulldoser and bulldozing/bulldosing (in whatever variant forms they may have taken) appear?
3. How did a word with such a repellent origin come to be adopted as the name for the automated earth-moving machine now widely used in construction, and when did this occur?


texts: Is there a name for the type of shorthand sentence that excludes yourself as the subject? e.g., "Going to the park."

texts: See this all the time. Doing it right now. Leaving out the "I am" piece of the sentence. Does this have a name?


texts: what does "single" in "the single fastest way" mean?

texts:
The course info says:

  These micro-courses are the single fastest way to gain the skills
  you'll need to do independent data science projects.

the fastest way is easy to understand, which means you will spend least time to master(or finish) something.

usually, the fastest implies only one or top one, why bother to add another "single"?

what does "the single fastest way" mean?


texts:
I want to write "Hall thrusters are propulsion devices whose power spans from 0.1 to 20 kW."

I am not sure about "whose" part, because it feels like it's supposed to be used only when talking about humans (am I right?).

So is there any other word that could replace the "whose"? Or can it be used in this way and I am just overthinking it?


texts:
What does "carry water for" mean in the following context?

  When Comey testified, there was nobody carrying water for the White House on the Senate Russia probe -- even though half of the panel is comprised of Senate Republicans. But that changed Tuesday, with a variety of Republicans coming to Sessions' (and the White House's) aide.

The phrase doesn't appear in Merriam-Webster or The Phrase Finder. It also doesn't appear in the Online Etymology Dictionary.


texts: Difference of "as/like in the previous week"

texts:
Does the following correctly express the difference between "as" vs. "like" in this context?

  As in the previous week, Jimmy climbed the tree.

Jimmy climbed the tree and he also did it one week earlier.

  Jimmy climbed the tree like in the previous week.

Jimmy climbed the tree and he did it the same way one week earlier.


texts: do specialst fields have their own colloquial vocabulary not shared by laymen?

texts:
I saw the following passage in a PSAT study guide. One of the questions is about the use of the term 'hot spot'. Can we say it's being used colloquially and technically at the same time?
The question amounts to whether colloquial language is necessarily a part of laymen's terms.

Geologists call these volcanic areas hot spots. Lying deep in the interior of a plate, hot spots or intra-plate volcanoes are sources of magma, the red-hot, molten material within the earth's crust.


texts:
I have a question about using the phrase "some kind of _".

Is it incorrect to say "some kind of + plural noun"?

  For example, is it wrong to say "are these rock-like things some kind of chocolates?"

I didn't use "kinds" and that kind of adds to my question. Is "kind" always plural, like "some kinds of chocolates"? Because although I'm using "some", it feels like "kind" shouldn't be a countable noun.

Anyway, I don't think I've heard of "some kind of + plural", but I think it makes more sense then using singular, since I think chocolates are countable. Please help!


texts:
I'm looking for the opposite of "error-prone", specifically in the context of programming style. As in, "Jack has not-error-prone coding style".

Some words that are inappropriate for this context are "infallible", "error-less" and "unfailing". Nobody writes infallible code. "Reliable" hits a little closer to home, but it describes the outcome more than the process. If you have error-prone coding style, it just takes longer to get your program to function reliably.


texts:
What is the meaning of "in-pace"? Here is a sample:

And once I was caught I would have been thrown into the in–pace of some convent, to die there between two doors, withdrawn from the world.


texts: What to do if ellipses are already in a text

texts:
What should I do to let a reader know that in a quote the ellipses aren't mine and have been placed by the original author? This is the quote:

  My home university did a study of its alumni a few years back, and they discovered that out of all the various degree subjects, the one that led to the highest average income was ... mathematics. (Stewart, Letters, 1)


texts:
A word I know exists is escaping me right now and I'm hoping one of you can help. I'm looking for the word to replace X in the sentence:

"The skills of person A and those of person B are not X."

E.g person A has a lot of the same skills as person B but not completely the same. The items in group A and group B are not identical but they do share commonalities.

Thank you in advance!


texts: What does the "work" part mean in the following English words: network, clockwork, etc?

texts: I know several English words with "work" word as a second part: network, clockwork. Maybe someone can give more examples. They have some meanings in common - they are close to "machinery" or "system", but apart from that they seem very different. What were the historical reasons for producing such words?


texts: Can we have inversion with temporal expressions?

texts:
Is it correct to say:

  "On Friday is a concert at Trafalgar Square."

or do we have to say:

  "On Friday there is a concert at Trafalgar Square."

I know that inversion can occur with locative phrases ("Outside were five police officers", "Into the room rolled a ball") though I have some doubts when it comes to an example such as "On the table is a book".


texts: What is the difference between "prognosis" and "pathogenesis"?

texts:
Google definitions:

Pathogenesis:

  the manner of development of a disease.

Prognosis:

  the likely course of a medical condition.

They sound similar, perhaps it is about time I used a proper online dictionary.


texts: Correct punctuation to define a person's position

texts:
If I have a list of people in, for example, a business, are there any style guidelines for defining their position? E.g.:

John Smith --- Director
Mary Higgins --- Chairwoman

My instinct is to use an em dash (indicated by the triple dashes above). I haven't found anything in the Chicago Manual of Style on this topic.


texts: Is this correct usage of to throw light on?

texts:
Suppose it's dark and you see a person/ an object lying on the road or somewhere and you tell your friend " throw light on it". Is this correct? Because the only usage of "to throw light on" I have come across is to explain something.

One more question:
Suppose the bedsheet is all crumpled and you have to tell someone to make it even/good (I don't know how to put it) then how do you say it?
Can you say "straighten it"?


texts: Need help with this specific use of "Should"

texts:
"We will retain his rights should he wish to be moved elsewhere at a later date"

What are the rules with using "should" like that? should he wish to and so on.

Because it looks weird. but I know it's correct as it's not the first time I'm seeing "should" being used like that.

thank you


texts: "next two weeks" vs. "in 14 days from now"

texts:
Which one is most appropriate and why?

  I will have my laptop next two weeks.

Or

  I will have my laptop in 14 days from now.


texts: I am looking for a term that defines the impossible connection of action with abstract nouns. For example, "War on Terror" (action noun- abstract noun), or "humans consume a high rate of energy" (consume - rate).


texts:
Not a native speaker here.

What is the exact opposite of grant?

Yes, i've been to a thesaurus and a lot other antonym sites.

The word i'm looking for isn't 'refuse', 'deny', prohibit', etc. I want to know if there's a word (or more) for doing the opposite of granting, for example, someone's wishes.

Like when you do the opposite of what someone wants.

In the sentence:

"The odds never bothered to hear our wishes, or perhaps it listened closely to them as to know what to (word)"

The italics could be replaced by 'not grant', though does anyone know of a more specific word? Would 'forfeit' be fit to replace the italic?

Thank you


texts:
A neighbour of mine died last week a moment after reaching his climax during the sexual intercourse with his young partner. He was 79 years old.

Is there any available English word to describe his sudden death?


texts: "He knows his counterparts in each branch"

texts:
Can I use the word counterpart this way:

  He knows his counterparts in each branch.

The context is that he works as the marketing manager in one of the company branches. And the counterparts refer to those who work as the marketing manager in other branches. Or should add something in front of the "counterpart"?


texts: What words sound like opposites but are synonyms?

texts:
Somewhat related to this question, I am curious to know what words in English would seem to be opposites at first blush but are in fact synonyms?

Immediately I can think of flammable and inflammable.


texts: "English" pronounced as /ˈɪŋlɪʃ/ ING-LISH

texts: According to Wiktionary, in Old English the term Englisc still shows in its pronunciation the sound /g/, so how come it is not pronounced by some speakers according to the Longman Pronunciation Dictionary? Any other terms where a similar phenomenon appears?


texts: What is an idiom to describe someone who takes sides with both of two opposing sides?

texts:
What is an idiom (or an adjective) to describe someone who considers and takes sides with both of two opposing sides?

I mean someone who, for example, says that both of contrasting sides in an argument could be right.


texts:
Are morphemes commonly found at the end of words considered suffixes?
For example: "erate", found at the end of words like accelerate, operate, refrigerate, considerate, nonliterate, etc.
I am a bit unsure as to the full scope of affixes, whether they have to carry a concrete meaning with them, or if they could be common components of words with a more vague semantics.
Also, some affixes, if they are affixes, seem to carry a functional meaning, like "converting" a root from one word class to another, like "sentient" to "sentience". Here, ience/ence is the "converter", but is it considered a suffix, a morpheme, neither or both?
I also recognize that ient/ent is the same as ience/ence, only regarding adjectives.
So, let's get back to the "erate" thing. Common found combination of letters, is it a morpheme, affix, neither or both? Is it just common, or is it functional, like ience/ence, or does it carry a concise meaning, making it simply a suffix? Perhaps it's meaning is just "of or pertaining to a verb/adjective". And that's something I noticed, the pronunciation of "erate" differs whether it is a verb or an adjective.
So yeah, how does it all work?


texts: Proper usage of the words "that" vs "which"

texts:
usage of "that" vs "which"

Is there an improvement to X "that" or "which" you think should be considered?


texts:
So I got confused about the usage of whether and if

1.

  I was wondering if you could tell me
  I was wondering whether you could tell me

2.

  I wondered whether you could tell me
  I wondered if you could tell me

Which ones of those can I say, and which ones are incorrect?
Can I use the first block as well as the second? Is there a difference between them except for the time form?

I'd appreciate any kind of feedback


texts:
I've been reading an article and the author uses such a phrase :

  If our model binder deserialized JSON into a ComicBook it would not be
  able to make that determination because serialization is an all or
  nothing affair.

While everything was good but suddenly I saw this "serialization is an all or nothing affair" and it doesn't make much sense to me. Could you please explain what he might be meaning?

Source article in case you want to see more context: http://haacked.com/archive/2011/06/30/whatrsquos-the-difference-between-a-value-provider-and-model-binder.aspx


texts: How to restructure this agglomeration of adjectives so it gets readable?

texts:
A co-worker is writing an important document. There is text which explains the diagrams, but we expect that many diagonal readers will just try to understand everything from the pictures, so we need lots of condensed information in them. So he needs really descriptive labels in the diagrams.

While his argumentation is solid, the whole thing ended with a bubble in a diagram bearing the label adapted personal value dependent user interface. To make it clear, I agree that all this information needs to be conveyed by the bubble's label. But I think that the usual rules of adjective parsing will require the reader to read it in the wrong way. The actual thing he is talking about is a user interface, which is being adapted depending on personal values. But I think that people will rather read that as (adapted (personal (value dependent (user interface)))), if they don't give up at all.

Any ideas how to reconstruct the label so it is both readable and contains all this info? Maybe a rearrangement of the words so it will be clear that we are talking about personal values and not a personal user interface? I tried Adapted personal-value-dependent user interface, but this still seems to create the wrong precedence.


texts: Does the verb 'to provide' collocate with the word 'feature'?

texts:
In a computer science report, is it correct to say the following sentence:

  A certain package provides multiple features.

In other words, does the verb to provide collocate with the word feature?


texts:
Could someone explain what the pudding means here. I'm a bit confused.

  From the stammering and awkward conversation, she had with Haroun that
  day Naveed  discovered to her consternation that her future husband
  had no ambitions and a tiny appetite. Nor was he in any hurry to have
  children. The confidence with which Naveed had stated, 'I'll fix him,'
  ebbed out of her in the physical presence of this pudding of a young
  man

  From Salman Rushdie - Shame.

From wider context: Naveed met her future husband Haroun for the first time and is really disappointed.


texts: What is the origin of the phrase "Let that sink in"

texts: In my own research, I found some references as far back as 1905 but does anyone have the origin of the phrase "Let that sink in"?


texts: Is It Ok To Write "100%" In A Formal Text?

texts:
I'm writing a text that is neither mathematical, nor statistical, but rather I want to emphasize a point. For example, I'd say "It's 100% involuntary..."

Is it acceptable to employ "100%" in normal nonfiction writing, as a synonym for absolutely or completely?


texts:
Is there an English word which means a "reverse blink?" By this I mean, having your eyes closed and then opening them for a fraction of a second and then closing them.

This question was inspired by http://what-if.xkcd.com/115/


texts: Is the phrase "even know" in place of "even though they know" valid in any known regional dialect?

texts:
My friend will use the phrase "even know" in place of "even though I/he/they know" or "even knowing" and is adamant it is a valid phrase where she comes from.  For example:

  The cop gave me a parking ticket even know parking is free on Sundays.

I have never heard of it, but I was wondering if anybody here has.


texts: What does the phrase "you are in the swamps" mean?

texts:
Generally speaking when someone says "you are in the swamps", what do they really mean to say? In other words in what kind of situation would someone use this phrase?

EDIT:

In response to a comment I am editing this question. Apologies for the late edit.

Backstory: I said to an individual that I have made peace with the fact that I just can't write code and I feel really bored because of this. He replied in that case you are in the swamps.


texts: How can I distinguish between the singular and plural of "species"?

texts: I've been reading a Wikipedia article that describes the symptoms of rabies in various species, and I want to add a clarification note about which species (or species) a specific paragraph refers to. How can I make it clear that I'm referring either to the singular or plural of the word "species" when the singular of this word is the same as its plural? "Species or species" is the only grammatically correct way that I can think of, but it seems redundant and confusing. Is there any better way to contrast the singular of "species" from the plural of "species"?


texts: What word should I use to describe a kid who has pooped in their underwear?

texts: I have seen some kids who can't go to the restroom in time and their poops stain on their underwear. I would like to know what word I can use to describe this situation?


texts:
I know the basics about past tense vs present perfect tense, but I'm wondering in some situations whether the "connection to the present" (which seems to be a necessity for the present perfect tense) does indeed exist or not, e.g., in the following example from computer programming (where you can "call a function", i.e., execute it):

  Only use function A if the function B was called before.
  Only use function A if the function B has been called before.

What's the correct way? Is it different in American English vs. British English?


texts: Is there an expression or word for emotional/spiritual arrival?

texts:
I am looking for an elegant expression, or better a word, to describe emotional arrival, to be settled down spiritually, to have come home in a sense that you know what you want, you are at peace with yourself, that kind of thing.
I'm a German native speaker, and in German this would be 'angekommen sein' (direct translation: 'to have been arrived')
Is there a quick and elegant way to say this?


texts: What did daughters (roughly 19 and 11) affectionately call their mothers in the 19th century (1883ish)?

texts: I'm writing a short historical fiction essay on Mercy Brown and family, and was wondering what Mary Brown (19) and Mercy (11) would have called her while she was on her death bed with consumption. From what I've seen, they are a middle class family in Exeter, Rhode Island, and the particular incident I'm writing about (Mary Olive Brown's death), is in 1883.


texts:
I like elephants. A friend of mine was very excited therefore to tell me an elephant joke this morning. Problem is I don't get it, and she didn't hang around long enough to explain it to me. What is the language gag here? Here's the joke (I think):

  A friend of mine gave me an elephant for my room the other day. "Wow", I said, "An elephant. Gee, thanks very much." "Oh, don't mention it".


texts: Difference Between "letter" and "paper in 19th century English

texts:
Recently, I found a civil war journal of a family member of mine who fought and eventually died for the North in the US Civil War. He notes what he receives from home, and he talks about receiving letters and papers as though they were distinct items. Here are some examples:

May 4 th
Recieved 1 letter and 1 paper from home

May 14 th
Recieved 1 letter from Znes O. 1 letter and papers from home. 1 paper from brother.

May 25 th
Received from home 1 package contains 3 pr or gloves also 1 paper 1 letter.

"Paper" meaning newspaper doesn't really make sense here in context, and they are obviously different for letters. What did he mean by "paper"?


texts: Why "chickentown" in Clarke's "Evidently Chickentown"

texts:
Evidently Chickentown (warning NSFW language) by John Cooper Clarke. I gather the overall meaning of the poem is, to quote after wiki, to convey a sense of futility and exasperation [through the use of repeated profanity].

What I don't understand is why the author chose to go with Chickentown since chicken is, as far as I know, a metaphor for a coward. Is the titular Chickentown a reference or is there some other meaning behind it (or none)?


texts: Is this statement grammatically correct - "I have spent too long confusing nice for good"

texts: My confusion is whether the right way of writing this would be "confused X with Y" or "confused X for Y"


texts:
On the Skeptics StackExchange you quite often read users referring to certain things and practices as "woo".

What is the origin of this word? How did it come to be synonymous with skeptics?


texts:
My company is ordering a product and/or service from another company. When stating obligations on paper, would the company doing the work, from our point of view, be better described as Vendor or as a Contractor?

What would be the fine differences between the two?


texts:
Which of the following punctuation is correct:

  1) Ask questions, for example, "what is the author's purpose?"
  2) Ask questions. For example, what is the author's purpose?3) Ask questions. For example: 'What is the author's purpose?'


texts: Someone that ignores others but hates being ignored themselves

texts:
I know this person that common courtesy doesn't apply to. If I don't reply to a text or a missed call from them within 5 minutes, it's always quickly followed by another 10-15 texts or calls one after another. When I text them, it could take up to 2 days to a week to reply (usually when they want something).

If they post something on Facebook and nobody comments, they lose their mind. When I share some really good news to them, I get nothing; not even a congratulations, good job or anything.


texts: Difference between "at that time" / "that time"

texts:
What's the difference between at that time / that time?

  When I faced the issue previously, at that time John helped us to resolve it.
  When I faced the issue previously, that time John helped us to resolve it.


texts: What are the difference between knelt and kneeled?

texts:
kneeled (Dictionary.com):

  to go down or rest on the knees or a knee.

knelt (Dictionary.com):

  a simple past tense and past participle of kneel.


texts: Non-negative one/two-word description for person who regularly enforces rules verbatim without any consideration for circumstances?

texts:
I frequently come across people who go no further than the text defining rules and who try to enforce said rules without taking into consideration the circumstances behind rule offenses or the potential reasons why the rule was put into effect to begin with. I can imagine that not being a precise enough definition, so here is an example:

Management in an imaginary software development company with a limited number of office computers puts a rule into effect prohibiting employees from coming to work when they're not scheduled to in an attempt to ensure there are always open computers available. PersonA (who is not scheduled to work) needs to give PersonB (currently working) a flashdrive, and plans to leave the office immediately after giving it to PersonB. PersonA arrives at the office, but PersonC refuses to let him/her into the building, even after PersonA explains that he/she just needs to drop something off. PersonC states that "rules are rules" and "they cannot be broken under any circumstance" without any consideration for why the rule exists and the circumstances regarding PersonA "breaking" the rule.

Regardless of whether or not that viewpoint of rules is right/wrong and what PersonA could have done differently (e.g. give the flashdrive to PersonC to give to PersonB), is there a term respectful enough to be used in a workplace discussion that describes that way of thinking regarding rules that's more manageable than "person who regularly enforces rules verbatim without any consideration for circumstances"?


texts:
"Throughout this and last year" sounds more correct, but saying "this and last" implies two, leading me to believe "years" could be right.

This is kind of similar, but the most conclusive answer given there is "both work," so I don't have a real answer yet.

**Side note, I'm actually using the word "semester(s)," just figured using "years" is a little more generic so people looking for the same thing in the future can find this easier


texts: Question mark usage/position when sentence ends with a declarative quotation?

texts:
Who said "I am hungry?"

The quotation is not a question, but do I put "my" question mark there anyway?

This is related to, but not the same as Position of question mark when sentence doesn't end with question


texts: Single word request and/or idiom—worse news

texts:
What is a word/idiom for worse news on top of bad news?

Like when someone tells you bad news (a doctor) then tells you even worse news?

Here is an example (I’m sorry it is so long!  I don’t know if this is okay to post here, but this is the piece I looking for the word/idiom for):

“Your daughter’s symptoms of vomiting and headaches were cause for concern.  The E.R. doctors gave her fluids and ran an MRI, then called me in.” Dr. Ulestig sits across the small table from me, his serious eyes searching my face for a sign that I am following his words.  I look down at the styrofoam cup I clutch in my hands.  The coffee in the hospital brought to mind the cheap motor oil I put in my college car.  During that time I didn’t have money to splurge on expensive things that were unnecessary, considering my car was a piece of sh*! back then.

“Karen?”

“Hmmm?” I look up to see the worried face staring at me.

“Did you hear me?  I was telling you the results of the MRI.  It showed a small mass within her thalamus.”  He pauses, waiting for a response. “In her brain.”

“Brain?” My own brain seems to be repeating the sequence ‘does not compute, does not compute’.

“A tumor.”  He simplifies. At that word a strangled sob breaks out of my betrayer of a mouth. “It is fairly small for this type of tumor.  The next step is a biopsy.  We need to see if it is malignant or benign.  And that will tell us how aggressive it is.”

“Cancer?  How?  Katie is barely 6.”

“Unfortunately, this type of tumor is specific to children and young adults.”

“And if it is the bad kind?  What does that mean?  How will you fix her?” I demand.  A part of me knows it isn't fair to put the responsibility of Katie’s life on this kind, gentle doctor who I just met, but I need something to focus my anger and blame on.  Dr. Ulestig’s eyes soften and he tilts his head.

“We don't know yet if it even is malignant.  It could be benign.  But I will give it to you straight.  It won’t be good if it turns out to be malignant.  This type of tumor is called Thalamic Glioma.  There are several Grades.  The one we really don't want is Grade III.  That is malignant, and nasty.  I will not lie to you.  If she has a Grade III tumor then we need it to be a juvenile pilocytic astrocytoma.  If it isn't then the prognosis isn't good.  Karen?  Are you with me?” He reaches out to touch my wrist.  I look down at his hand.  My cup in being crushes from my shaking hands and my lungs can’t find oxygen.

“What do you think it is?  Cant you tell anything?”

“I don't like to guess before I have all the information, Karen.  If I tell a patient that their test looks fine but the next one shows they have a fatal cancer then what would happen?  Or the opposite?”

“Please.  I need to know.  It is worse not knowing.” I beg him.

He sighs, rubbing the back of his neck.  I didn’t notice before, but he is very young to be a doctor.  He can’t be more than 24 years old.  How can this kid save my own child’s life?

“On the MRI, we can tell the from the way the tumor is growing, if it is malignant then it would most likely not be a JPA.  The tumor would be inoperable an incurable.” The pain in his eyes threatens to break free and flood out, but I suspect for my sake he keeps it in.

“She is going to die?  No.  No!” The few people spread around the cafeteria turn to stare, but I don't care.  Not only am I told that my baby girl has a tumor, but it is most likely one of the only tumors that attacks only children and cannot be removed or helped with medicine.  I press the heels of palms over my eyes.  What I wouldn’t give to turn back time to when he told me she had a tumor.  Then I thought I would break at the bad news.  Now I know that I will shatter at the even worse news.


texts: Is /sʌbˈsiːkwənt/ a correct pronunciation of the word "subsequent"

texts:
Usual pronunciation of subsequent is /ˈsʌbsɪkwənt/, or maybe /ˈsəbsəkwənt/.

However, today I heard an educated person pronouncing it /sʌbˈsiːkwənt/.

Is this a correct pronunciation?


texts:
There is but one king, and I am one.

Here, the 'one' at the end of the sentence stands for 'one king' and 'one' is not specifying (in this particular place) a numeral. It is implying 'I am that one' or, more specifically 'I am that one king'.
Therefore, should 'one', when used in this way, not be considered an article with a well deserved place in the much documented sequence :

zero ... some ... a/an ... the ... null

And, if so, where in the sequence should it be inserted ?

Zero example : Who would wish to be king ?
Some example : There are some kings, it is so.
Indefinite example : I am a king and everyone knows it.
Definite example : They respect the king, thus they respect me.
Null example : Many wish to be king but the fact is that I am King.

Reference 1 :  Stack Exchange - Why is 'any' not an article ?
Reference 2 : Acquisition of the Zero and Null Articles (Peter Masters)


texts:
I looked up 'ley' in my Concise Oxford Dictionary and found the following definition.

a piece of land temporarily put down to grass, clover, etc., in contrast to permanent pasture.

Can anyone tell me what 'put down' means? I cannot find its meaning in the dictionary.


texts: How would you paraphrase "have sth before sb" in the given context?

texts:
How would you paraphrase "have sth before sb" in the following sentence?

  This elevation is, moreover, essentially rooted in the nature of our spirit, it is necessary to it, and it is this necessity that we have before us in this elevation.

The elevation refers to an abstract philosophical case where the actual though is elevated to a more Godly platform.


texts: What is the etymology of the term 'hunch'?

texts:
Oxford states the etymology as:

late 15th century: of unknown origin. The original meaning was ‘push, shove’ (noun and verb), a sense retained now in Scots as a noun, and in US dialect as a verb. [The] noun derives probably from a US sense of the verb ‘nudge someone in order to draw attention to something’.

Hunch in Scots means 'push' as a noun. Did the Scots not use it as a verb? Why did the US use it as a verb?
In the example below, the meaning of 'hunched over' is 'bent over' according to the Guided Compositions book.

The usual hectic traffic awaited me as I hunched over the steering wheel of the company car.


texts: What would you call a person dumps his work on you

texts:
What would you call a person who systematically dumps his work on you in a bid to evade responsibilities (with a work philosophy that when you don't learn or do it, you are never given the responsibilities and thus have no fear of making mistakes) but cluelessly whines to the same people around him for not having all the benefits that they (the higher ranking hardest working colleagues) earn.

PS: Owing to a bad management (Racial discrimination, Poor work ethic,ignorance, etc), if it helps.


texts: Used as an adjective, when should the words regenerate vs. regenerative be employed?


texts: word for something that somebody likes to rant about frequently

texts:
I'm sure there's a word for this that I've forgotten. I'm looking for an English term for something that somebody likes to rant about frequently. The closest I can come is "hobby horse" but it isn't specific enough: it means something that somebody likes to talk about a lot, rather than specifically rant.

Something that could work well in the sentence "I'll never quit this [word here]" because I like to rant about it. For hobby horse I had a similar sentence in mind: "I'll never get off this hobby horse" but of course "get off" only works because of the word "horse".


texts: Verb form of "to blacken" versus "to brown"

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  Verbed color names and “-en”

It just sounds right, but why is brown its own verb when "to make Black" turns into blacken?

I assume it's something to do with the -n ending of brown. Is it so?


texts: Would see someone [do vs doing] something

texts:
I remember seeing an expression along the lines of "An act that would see him X"
For instance:

"The chess player prepared to make the move that would see him [win/winning] the game."
"He insulted the man in an act that would see him [dead/die]."
"The general ordered his men to perform a manouevre that would see the battle won."

Since I couldn't find anything about this on google (every question I've seen has been related to verb tenses), I'm beginning to doubt whether this expression even exists. If it does though:

When the expression refers to a person's state, which is correct? A simple present verb or an adjective?
When it refers to something passively, which is correct? A simple present or a progressive verb?
Are any of the above three sentences incorrect?


texts:
I must send a professional email but I'm not sure what is best to start it with, hi or hello.

The question may seem to be simple, but unfortunately I am not too good in English.


texts: Is there a word describing a parent who does not recognize their child as adult?

texts:
Consider a parent who has a grown-up and independent offspring. However, they refuse to respect and recognize the independence of the child and do not really consider them as adult. I know it is possible to say :

The parent does not see their child as an adult.

However I was wondering if there is a single verb or any other type of word that describes the parent or his action in this situation?


texts: What is the word for this type of pawn or figurine?

texts:
Is there a specific name for this type of figurine? Specifically, I mean a sculpture with a column for a base and some kind of animal head emerging from it?

You commonly see this type of figure on fictional battlefield maps denoting where ally and enemy troops are.

Edit: Further researching shows that a similar object, but with a human head is called a 'term'1. Though these seem to be much larger.


texts: What is the definition of the following sentence ''His broad, windburned face bore a set"?

texts:
I was reading a fantasy novel by Terry Brooks, The Sword of Shannara, and in the first paragraph I came across the following sentence:

  His broad, windburned face bore a set, placid look, and only the wide
  gray eyes revealed the restless energy that burned beneath the calm
  exterior.

I know what the sentence means except for the part "bore a set" and I could not find anything so far on search-engines.
I am not a frequent reader of novels but when I read I really want to know exactly what every sentence means so thanks in advanced.


texts: When did men start to lose their "virginity"?

texts:
According to the Online Etymology Dictionary, the word virgin came from 2 languages:

  Anglo-French and Old French virgine "virgin; Virgin Mary"
  From Latin virginem (nominative virgo) "maiden, unwedded girl or woman"

It seems clear to me that it started to mean a female/woman instead of a male.

The origin of its noun form virginity seems to be from the same origin:

  c. 1300, from Anglo-French and Old French virginite "(state of)
  virginity; innocence" (10c. in Old French), from Latin virginitatem
  (nominative virginitas) "maidenhood, virginity," from virgo (see
  virgin).

According to Oxford Online Dictionary, virginity seems to be a gender-neutral word:

  The state of never having had sexual intercourse: I lost my virginity

When and how did the words virgin and virginity start to function as a gender-neutral word?
What (word or phrase) was used for males before the words became gender-neutral?


texts: I have a complex list delimited by semicolons. What punctuation, if any, do I use to set off that list from the rest of the sentence?

texts:
Sometimes a complex list doesn't need terminal punctuation:

John, my friend; Tom, my enemy; and Darren are all coming.

But when it does need terminal punctuation, I'm flummoxed. I think I should use whatever terminal punctuation the last list item would ordinarily take; in other words, I shouldn't change anything to account for the semicolon-delimited list:

John, my friend; Tom, my enemy; and Darren, whom I don't know, are all coming.

But it feels strange to separate list items with a "stronger" separator than the terminal punctuation—it feels as though I'm associating the rest of the sentence with the final list item rather than the whole list. In some cases, the easy solution is to set off the list with dashes or parentheses (see this answer), but that's not always an option.


texts: What is the difference between "cosmos", "world", "universe"?

texts:
Are these words different in meaning: cosmos, world, universe?

Does world mean just the Earth and not other planets?


texts: Word for using quotation as part of sentence

texts:
Is there a word to describe the co-opting of a well-known phrase in the course of regular conversation or writing? For example, a sentence regarding death might refer to "shaking off the mortal coil" without mentioning that the phrase is taken from Shakespeare (perhaps assuming that the audience will be familiar with the reference). If it's not an exact quote, this could be called a "paraphrase" of Shakespeare. But what could it be called if it is an exact quote?

Example: What adverb could be employed to complete this sentence: The phrase "shuffled off the mortal coil" was made famous by Shakespeare, and is used by this author ______y.


texts: What expression do you use in a CV if you have redone something?

texts:
I am writing my CV at the moment and I am at a tricky part.

I have redone a software for a company and I want to include this in my CV.

I have in my CV: "Erstellung eines Warenwirtschaftssystems in Visual Basic", although even this does not quite cover this.

They had an old system using Basic or something and I used a modern language, Visual Basic (don't trash me on that — I was young and needed money).

What would be the expression in correct English?


texts: Punctuation following “along the lines of ”

texts:
When the phrase “along the lines of” introduces an indirect quote, what punctuation, if any, is used?

This is the original sentence that brought up the issue:

  I heard replies along the lines of “must be nice to have the time for a vacation.”


texts: Why do eleven and twelve get unique words and not end in "-teen"?

texts:
In short, why is it not oneteen and twoteen, and we start at thirteen in English?

In another thread, I supposed that despite that fact that people have ten fingers, amounts of items leading up to and including twelve were more common because twelve is more easily divisible evenly by two, three, four, and six. Both English and German (which are related) switch to a -teen (-zehn auf Deutsch) ending after twelve. Based on that thread, so does Norwegian. Could this be the explanation?

Looking at other languages (Arabic, Japanese, even a related romance language of French), this doesn't seem to apply, and you'd think that if something so fundamental as divisibility were the explanation, we'd see a more universal distribution across them.


texts: Do all definitions have some sort of circular reasoning?

texts:
Say you wrote a simple sentence like, the fox jumped over the fence. You could replace the subject (fox), with its definition. For example, A carnivore, of the dog family (especially those of the genus Vulpes), jumped over the fence.

Assuming all words have a definition, It seems like you could repeat this process indefinitely. However, there are only a finite number of words. Therefore, you would have to use some sort of recursive logic. I do think this is a flaw in our language.

Is this assessment wrong?

For instance, artificial intelligence may surpass humans in every conceivable way. When we program them, we need to be very careful of how we define "Do not harm humans."

I find this problem similar, but not the same, as to how you can not prove that logic works, without using logic.

Note*(I am a realist. Some patterns can be seen in the universe, and we can label such patterns. For example, you can design a neural network to predict the next frame of a video. The neural network can't make predictions without identifying properties. So those properties must exist without human intervention.)

That aside, I think my question might have more to do with mathematics. We can treat definitions like an algorithm or formula. Each word has a set of variables that defines it. Each variable can have more variables that define it. My problem with English is that you never get down to the numbers. To me, it is like asking what Y equals and getting the answer X. Then, asking what X equals and getting the answer Y. I would like language to boil down to indivisible unites. If it does not, I think we are missing a lot of meaning and utility the English language could have. If English does boil down to such units, I would like to know what they are.

In summary:
I only see two possible answers. First, English uses circular reasoning to define things. Second, the basic building blocks of English are...


texts: Usage of "if and only if" as a nontechnical term

texts:
The phrase "if and only if" (iff) is commonly used in the field of mathematics (⇔) and computer programming, as a conditional expression in classical (Boolean) logic.

Within that scope, it might not mean the same as a simple "if:"

  If it rains, I will get wet.

I will get wet if it rains, but, there are numerous ways to get wet.

  I will get wet, if and only if it rains.

Only rain, exclusively, can make me wet.

Do these distinctions apply in this way (example above), outside of the aforementioned domain?


texts: What is a good word to describe someone who is talking down to you and thinks your decisions/actions are wrong?

texts: So if someone is giving you an attitude when you are telling them about certain life decisions you made.  And that person really doesn't understand the situation, not to mention they are ignorant... how would you describe what he or she is being?


texts:
Math proves often start with "let". For example:

  Let A be a set.

This is easy. But what about introducing several things in that manner?

  Let A be a set, B be a group, and C be a number.
  Let A be a set, let B be a group, and let C be a number.
  Let A be a set, B be a group, and let C be a number.
  Let A be a set, B a group, and C a number.

Which is the most correct one?


texts:
The sentence is:

  One of the limitations of liberalization is that it increases the vulnerability of (a/the/no article) domestic market to foreign shocks.

Am I free to use either 'the', 'a', or no article in this sentence? If one is better than the others, please explain why.

And is 'domestic market' together a noun or only 'domestic' is a noun?


texts:
Let's assume a woman is 50 and looking for a younger guys above 30 and I am 20. Would this be a right sentence?

I see you are looking for a younger man, but why not even more younger?


texts: Is this just an error or am I missing something?

texts: I ran across the following passage on a package of tea: "As the farmers all our teas come with a Tea Passport guaranteeing quality and sustainability from bush to cup". I don't see how this could be gramatically correct, but maybe I'm missing something? The closest gramatically correct sentence I could think of would be: "[Just] as the farmers[,] all our teas come with a Tea Passport ...". This would be gramaticaly correct but would probably not make much sense ("both our farmers and our teas come with a tea passport"). Any other suggestions? The tea is packaged in the UK so I assume it's British English.


texts: Why was it necessary to divide alphabets into vowels and consonants?

texts:
This may be an extremely simple question. I know pretty much what do we do when we see any vowel but I am curious why were these two classes created in the first place.

I beg pardon for another question : Why were only these letters chosen as vowels :

a , e , i , o , u ?


texts:
"For the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous: But the way of the
  wicked shall perish."

[Bible _ Ps 1:6 {see BibleHub}; closest to ERV, but with 'Lord' where ERV has 'LORD' (and this is an important exegetical difference) and with a capital after the colon (which isn't).]

I have understood the sentence as "Because the Lord knows the ways of the righteous, the ways of the wicked shall perish"

I have understood the meaning of the sentence from the Bible in my own way.  But I can not understand the use of "But" in the second part of the sentence because the sentence in the Holy Bible begins with the conjunction "For".

I think the sentence reads well without the conjuction "But"

Could you please explain to me the special use of "But" in the sentence?

As far as my knowledge goes, "Because "and "but " do not come in the same sentence..

Let us observe the following sentences

"Because the teacher knows the ways of the goodstudents, but he punished the bad students" (I think)
 is not acceptable in modern English

Because the teacher knows the ways of the good students,he punished the bad students
sounds natural for me

"The teacher knows the ways of the good students so he punished the bad students" is commonly found in the standard grammar books
Anyhow., I feel that "because and "but" can not occur in the same sentence.
The quotation from the Bible is really special use and its grammatical use cannot be questioned but is called antithetic parallelism which is rarely used in normal English


texts: When “and” connects two 'subjects', can we remove the article pertaining to the second 'subject'?

texts:
When “and” connects two subjects, can we remove the article pertaining to the second subject (as in the following example)?

Original sentence:

  The implementation of the algorithms on the CPU and the GPU is presented.

Sentence after removal:

  The implementation of the algorithms on the CPU and  GPU is presented.

Note that the meaning intended to express in both sentences is that the algorithms are implemented both on the GPU and on the CPU.

Thanks!


texts: Can the object of a preposition change the verb?

texts:
Is this correct?

Even though the subject/verb is never part of a prepositional phrase, the object of the preposition influences the verb?

Example  Some of the houses were red
          Some of the house was red.


texts: What is the difference between ‘Is it free’ and ‘Is it on the house?’

texts:
One of my friends said, ‘Is it on the house?’ in Australia, but some felt a little awkward.
Do Australians not usually use the expression, ‘on the house’?


texts:
I want to say something that means "maybe it is not correct", but by using "may". Should I say

A. "it may be not correct",

or

B. "it may not be correct"?

If one of these is equivalent to "maybe it is not correct", what is the meaning of the other one?


texts: Meaning of "if the shoe fits wear it" doesn't fit

texts:
Just now I read the phrase's meaning and was surprised.

I always thought that the meaning goes like this: if something is in a really bad or unacceptable condition, but it's serving the purpose, then don't dispose of it, or don't complain unnecessarily about it.

Don't you think the meaning I explained is closer to the phrase?


texts: What does "run for the hills" really refer to?

texts:
I know that it means "run for your lives", but why would running to the hills be a good idea to hide? Aren't the hills the easiest place for the enemy to spot the peasants/people who "run for the hills" or "run to the hills"?

Why isn't the saying:

  Run and hide in the forest!

Or even:

  Run and hide!

?


texts:
I'll apply for exchange program and i need write reasons for applying and I'm not native speaker. So I would like as that is there any mistake in my personal statement or is it understandable?

"My main reason for participating in a student exchange is to experience my profession and  to upgrade my skills by using maximum opportunities within different distant education. Since METU listed among the top 200 universities in Engineering and Technology, it will help me to expand my knowledge in IT field. Also I would like to get familiar with world education system and gain life experience."


texts: When to use double negatives in written English?

texts:
I have always been a little confused as to when to use double negatives when writing (I am unsure if this is what they are termed in English, it is the term used in Mathematics).

E.g. when to use:

  "I am not staying!"

Thus using two negatives - not & staying

...as opposed to:

  "I am going!"

Here using a single positive - going.

Both sentences begin with "I am..." which infers that the person is going to do something, but then this can either be followed by two negatives, so to speak; "...not staying" which cancel each other out and mean going, or it can simply be followed by the word "...going."

In Mathematics a double negative is equal to a positive, and this also seems to be the case in the English language (and perhaps others). However when to use either one seems up for debate.

There are plenty of other examples, e.g. "I am not unregistered." or "I am registered."


texts:
Can which clause modify participle phrases?

Which clause is usually used for summarizing or explaining the clause before it.

  1 His wife was stunning, which was always his pride.

  2 I left the key at the office, which did not help the situation at all.

A. What I am curious about is if it can modify the phrases, such as absolute phrase and participle phrase as below (italicized part is where the which clause modifies):

  3 His wife was stunning, always attracting other men, which bothered her
  husband a lot.

(here, his wife's always attracting other men bothered him.)

  4 I left the key at the office, having been too distracted by the
   appointment, which was always the problem I had.

(here, being too distracted by the appointment was always the problem he had.)

B. Also, is it possible for the which clause to modify the clause, not the phrase, as below?

  5 She was stunning, born between superior parents, which was her only
  pride.

(as clearly seen, her being stunning, not her being born between superior parents, was her only proud.)

C. And now, here is the last question. Can which clause modify the whole clause and the phrase altogether?

  6 I was cooking a horribly shaped octopus, causing me to
  vomit, which was (or is it were?) a serious problem.

(With this, I am not sure as to which to use (was or were), for there are two actions but those two actions are happening simultaneously)

Are all three versions, A,B, and C, correct, or are there ones that are not acceptable?


texts: Proper grammar for "Coaches Only Apparel"?

texts:
What is the proper phrasing for this e-commerce shopping category?

Coaches Only Apparel
Coaches' Only Apparel
Coaches's Only Apparel
Coach's Only Apparel


texts: I came across an exercise in my schoolbook in which only unexpected was an accepted answer. I did some research, and found out that unexpectable is not a word you can find in dictionaries such as Oxford and Cambridge. However, Merriam Webster offers a definition for it and this is a dictionary I trust. My question is... is the latter accepted only in spoken language? If not, what is the difference between the two words?


texts: I need a word or phrase that refers to the fact that your suffering is for the benefit of another

texts: One whose suffering is not because of who s/he is, but God has given that person to suffer for the benefit of another.


texts: What are the best words to describe subjects being compared?

texts:
I tried to Google this but no luck so far. I was wondering if there was proper words to describe the comparison of 2 subjects?

The first subject would be the object being compared in relation to
the other (the baseline).
The second subject would be the object compared to the first one.

So you could say, subject 1 is taller than subject 2 for example.

Do we say subject 1 is the subject of comparison and subject 2 is the comparee? I saw some scientific article using the word comparee but it doesn't sound proper to me.

Given the topic,  I am updating this question with more context so that it is less confusing. It looks like comparison subjects can have quite a few different names depending on their context. Here is the context I'm looking for (watch out for the pseudocode - yes I'm know I'm not on Stackoverflow...):

function isGreater(subject1, subject2) {
    if (subject1 > subject2) {
        return true;
    }
    return false;
}

More precisely, I'm looking for the left/right words (subject1/subject2) which would be the most semantically correct. We're also presuming that the order does not change and that is example is way much simpler than what I'm trying to solve (which is why semantic variable names make sense).

Please help!


texts: Is there a word (or phrase) that describe a series of mishaps/misfortunes in one's life?

texts: I don't mean something like 'many hardships' or 'several tragedies'. I'm looking for a word or short phrase that would describe just a really rough spot or time frame in someone's life. For instance, [s]he was fired, lost a loved one and/or a friend, a pet died, [s]he wasn't getting much support from those around him/her. How can I describe such a cluster of emotional events in a simple way?


texts: What does this person mean by: "I want to be thrown free of the accident"?

texts:
From this Stackexchange question:

  In the US, the NHTSA, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration,
  was formed in 1966. Prior to this there really wasn't a regulatory
  agency in the US for such things - the world was a much more laissez
  faire place then. Innovations in safety came from the manufacturers,
  who noticed and wanted to do something about deaths rates. Volvo
  introduced the 3-point belt in 1958, but it wasn't until well into the
  70s that cars came with them standard as part of the default belt.
  Mercedes pioneered crumple zones. US cars in the 60s often had safety
  belts as options, not even standard equipment. We had a 1973 Ford that
  had shoulder belts strapped up in the overhead over the windows and
  you had to take them down and connect them to use them. They were
  terrible. No give, so you couldn't even reach the radio.

  Old cars were death traps. Anyone who gives their kid a 60s Mustang to
  drive is giving them a bomb. Gas tanks behind the rear seat, solid
  steering columns that extended past the front wheelbase, no side
  impact protection, etc.

  It's really the same thing with head restraints and airbags. It took
  government regulations to make them happen, because people tend to
  just not care. There was a national outcry about the extra expense of
  airbags when they were introduced. A car without them would be
  unthinkable today. It wasn't until the 80s that wearing seat belts
  even became widespread. The popular opinion of the time was, "I
  want to be thrown free of the accident," a view since proven as wholly
  terrible.

  Lately, the US Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has led the way
  for changes. Smaller side windows (protection against SUV side
  impacts) and larger A pillars (offset frontal crash protection) are
  the direct result of their tests and manufacturers wanting better
  rated vehicles.

Huh? "I want to be thrown free of the accident"? I've read this 50+ times now and it just doesn't read as English to me. What could he possibly be referring to?

What does it mean to "be thrown free of" an accident?


texts: Derogatory term for a corporate employee

texts:
I’m looking for a derogatory term for a person who works in a big, international business.

In Polish we have a few informal words for that, like korpoludek (“corpo little guy”) and korpoczłowiek (“corpo man”).

There are also offensive terms, like (for women only) korposuka (“corpo bitch”), but I’m not looking for equivalents of that.

Edit after DevSolar comment:

I’m pointing at the following characteristics: boring, repetitious, and mindless work, and insignificance of the person.

However — just to be specific — the Polish terms I mentioned have broader meaning.


texts:
The phrase "for all intents and purposes" seems redundant and circular to me, because of the overlap of the meanings of the individual words:

intend: have in mind as what one wishes to do or achieve.

purpose: intended result of effort.

The thing that one wishes to do or achieve is the intended result of the effort. Thus saying the same thing twice. Is this done for emphasis as in the phrase "last and final call"?


texts: what does "into the blue" / "to the blue" exactly mean?

texts:
What does it mean? And when is it used?

If someone says:
"To the blue", "into the blue"?
What to expect from that?


texts: What is a general word for a shape which allows entry/exit through only one of its faces?

texts:
What is a general word for a shape which has only one entry/exit side or face?
For example, if it's a rectangle with 4 sides, then things can only pass in/out from one its side while other sides are blocked.
The field of context is mathematics, computation, physics.


texts:
Just reading this article and in one of the first sentences it says:

  A few days ago, 32-year-old Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan died in his car,
  after two motorcyclists attached a magnetic shaped charge to the door.

I'm trying to understand what "magnetic shaped" means or what is a "magnetic shaped charge", if it is some special term?


texts: Is the phrase "...no longer" being properly used in the following sentence?

texts:
And the even stronger feeling of detachment upon reaching mine no
  longer knowing who I was.

Is this use of "no longer" grammatical? Should I add a comma before no?


texts: Do I use italics for hotel and restaurant names?

texts: I'm writing a bio for a friend, and I mention many hotels and restaurants, some of which are foreign. Should I use italics?


texts: What is the word for the primary piece of literature on a subject

texts: The word I'm looking for describes a piece of literature/media well-known among members of a certain profession/practice as the bible of their trade. For example, A Twist of the Wrist by Keith Code is well-known among motorcycle riders as the go-to resource for a beginner learning to ride a motorcycle.


texts: What's an intelligent/sophisticated way to say "changing from negative to positive"

texts:
i am currently working on a new website for posting daily articles and guides on gaining full control of your mentality.

What i am inquiring for, is a sophisticated but brief way of saying "to change from something from negative to positive.

example:
to change negative thoughts to a positive perspective
to be pessimistic minded but to make progression towards becoming optimistic

Thank you.


texts:
Which one of the following sentences is correct?

  Here is the details you requested.
  Here are the details you requested.

Having googled "Here is the details" and "Here are the details", I've got 18m+ results for the former and 11m+ results for the latter.


texts: "What have they to say?" vs "What do they have to say?"

texts: Is "what have they to say?" grammatical? If so, what is the difference with the phrase "what do they have to say?"? Do they mean the same thing?


texts:
Is it correct to write:

  "skills acquired at large companies.."

Can "at" in this sentence be interchanged with the word "with"?


texts: what is the purpose of the suffix 'ish' at the end of the adjectives 'girlish' and 'boyish'

texts:
Hi could anyone tell me what is the purpose of the suffix 'ish' at the end of the adjectives 'girlish' and 'boyish? I mean you could use the suffix 'ly' but what is the need of the ish? I know that it indicates that the person being described is not entirely behaving like a 'girl' or 'boy' but can anyone shed any light on the actual purpose? I would be grateful if you could direct me to any literature or references to support.

Thank you! :)


texts: Common expression for "we haven't been spending much time together"?

texts:
Like a couple not spending much time together. The only thing I could come out with is "we've been a little apart," though I'm not totally sure whether it is common or not.

Other suggestions?


texts: Should a chapter title be punctuated with quotes in text?

texts: If one is typing the name of the chapter inside a story, do they put quotes around it? If not,  how is one indicated?


texts: Is there a word or phrase for knowing what to say but not how to say it?

texts:
As kind of a real-life example, I'm struggling to write a description of the Crusades from the point of view of a Catholic pope.  I know that through the Crusades, the Christians basically "rescued" the city of Jerusalem from the so-called "filth" that inhabited it. (Note: Please do not be offended by my use of the word "filth")

You might say there's a tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon going on here.


texts:
A colleague of mine found reference to the word "Exgest" in a contract. In context, this appeared to mean the opposite of the word "Ingest" which was used earlier in the contract. These words were intended to convey the consumption and processing of data in a system.

Does this word, "Exgest", actually exist, and what does it mean?

Edit:List of prior research:
google: exgest
google: word definition exgest
google: site:dictionary.com exgest
reverse lookup: opposite of ingest
merriam webster search: exgestdictionary.com exgest
english.stackexchange.com search


texts: I need one word for adding and subtracting question

texts:
A kid asked me a question to say one word for adding and subtracting question. The question goes

  While adding and subtracting we put ____ in a correct place.

We have to use one word in the blank space.

I am confused if the answer is "operation", "sign", "operator" or something else.


texts: Significance of location in a sentence or absence of comma for purpose of determining noun modified by preposition

texts:
In consideration of the following sentence, I have a question about which word is modified by the final preposition, "without charge."
The sentence:

A “thing of value" means any form of credit or promise involving extension of a service, entertainment or a privilege of playing at a game or scheme without charge.

The placement of "without charge" at the end of the sentence with the participle "involving" and so many prepositions seems confusing. Is there a grammatical rule based upon the absence of comma after "scheme" or the location of "without charge" at the end of the sentence which determines whether "without charge" relates to "form," "credit or promise," "extension," "service, entertainment or privilege,""playing," or "game or scheme"?


texts: Negative counterpart for the word "rave" in the sense "favorable criticism"

texts:
What is the one-word for a piece — art piece etc., maybe topic, subject — that has gained popularity through negative reviews or appraisals?

In other words, I am looking for a one-word noun or adjective that is the opposite of rave in the sense "favorable critism".


texts: Can I give subject line as 'I would be on leave'?

texts: I am planing for a leave tomorrow (because I have some personal work need to be done); I want to send a mail to my boss, here can I choose subject line as I would be on leave. or is there any issue with I would be on leave (alternatives are most welcome). Please shed some light on this. Thanks in advance.


texts: The proper use of Quotes with parenthesis, brackets, and braces

texts:
"{bla bla bla}"

Do the quote marks go inside or outside the braces.


texts: How negative is "skip school?" Could a student use it when addressing a teacher, in a neutral sense?

texts:
I told my EFL students that in general, "skip school/a lesson/class" has a negative connotation. So, when speaking to a teacher, a student should say "I can't come to class tomorrow" rather than "I'm going to skip class tomorrow." But it then occurred to me that "skip school" may be neutral in some contexts.
It's been a long time since I was a student, and I'm not sure I can trust my intuition. Would the following sentences be socially acceptable, or odd/impolite?

(A student to a teacher) "Would it be all right if I skip next week's lesson? I've got a doctor's  appointment."

(a parent to a teacher) "Tommy needs to skip school for a few days for family reasons. Could he get his assignments in advance?"

For additional context, this question came up when reading an article like this one from the BBC, titled "Swedish teen Greta Thunberg skips school for climate protest."
https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-europe-45439003