texts:
This question is specifically about The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language by Huddleston and Pullum.

Here's CGEL's definition of word:

In order to avoid possible misunderstanding we will restrict the term word to the syntactically-oriented sense, so that hard and harder are different words, and likewise are and is. (Page 27)

How CGEL defines noun is not so clear, but from the following distinction between proper noun and proper name, CGEL seems to define noun as a single word:

In their primary use proper names normally refer to the particular entities that they name: in this use they have the syntactic status of NPs.
...
Proper nouns, by contrast, are word-level units belonging to the category noun. Clinton and Zealand are proper nouns, but New Zealand is not. (Page 516)

In the following excerpt, CGEL seems to define compound noun as a single word (Page 448):

But CGEL also classifies a two-word unit such as full stop as a compound noun (Page 451):

QUESTIONS
(1) Does CGEL define the term word as a lexical unit having no space within when written or printed?
(2) Does CGEL define the term noun as a single word?
(3) Since CGEL says full stop is a compound noun, does the term compound noun as defined in CGEL include not only a single-word unit but also a multiple-word unit?
(4) If answers to the above questions are all 'yes', how can you say the term noun is a single-word unit and at the same time that the term compound noun can be a multiple-word unit?


texts: Is there a phrase to indicate the other party said something obvious

texts:
My first language is Spanish. In Spanish, we have a phrase to indicate when someone has said something so obvious or basic that everyone knows and so there's no need to say it. Is kind of sarcasm. Not really offensive, but you are saying the other party has said a dumb thing.

Felicitaciones, inventaste el agua tibia.
Congratulations, you invented warm water.

The other day, I wanted to reply to a comment in a chat, but was not sure if that would have had the same impact/meaning in English as it has in Spanish.
Aditional Info:
In my case we were talking about an Android Game "Summoner Wars", where you collect monsters and runes, then equip the better runes to mosters to make them stronger.
You usually have to repeat same level multiple times, so as your monster get stronger you finish each level faster.
And the comment was: "You need equip stronger runes to reduce your time". and I was thinking Yes, you just invented the warm water.


texts: Is there any semantic difference in the following sentences?

texts:
1.My dream is to go home.
2.My dream is going home.


texts: feminine colloquialisms to connote platonic endearment:

texts: It seems as though in the U.S./in English we have a million words to connote endearment to men(albeit in a somewhat strange way) that are used with varying degrees of gender neutrality. But I'm wondering if anyone has any traditionally feminine terms of endearment or terms of endearment traditionally used for women?


texts:
What is the meaning of "to riot in understatement"? Can you paraphrase it? I include 3 examples from Gore Vidal:

In the spring of 1948 I was twenty-two and my third book, "The City and the Pillar", was a bestseller. The remittance crowd was not friendly, to riot in understatement, nor were certain far-flung recipients of the Bird's letter.
From then on, in public and private, he often behaved boorishly (to riot in understatement).
Yet do I find it perceptible – here to riot in understatement – that I, who was once a leading personage in and about those scanty playgrounds of human interest which we nickname literature seem now to have become, for all practical results, unheard-of thereabouts.

Is it close to "euphemistically speaking" or "to say the least"?


texts: "It has not been unchanged." Is that a valid sentence?

texts:
Do I have to understand the sentence:

  It has not been unchanged

.. as if the related subject actually changed, or whether there has been no change at all? In short, is this a double negative?


texts: Difference between "think of" and "think about"

texts: Is there a difference between "think of something" and "think about something"? I've also met "have heard of/about something".


texts:
I realize this may be a super-rookie question, but I have to ask. It is in connection with my logic module.

Is 'an eye' in this sentence a designator?

  I was told to keep an eye on him

I know "I" and "Him" are designators, but is "an eye"? I mean, it is not a specific thing it refers to, only some eye ... or is this wrong?


texts:
In textbooks, they say "absorb" heat and "give off" heat.

Is there a single word which can perfectly take the place of "give off"?


texts: Why "Now is the time" 50 years after "Donald in Mathmagic Land"?

texts:
Reading about leet speak on Wikipedia in Spanish I stumbled upon this "Now is the time" text among several other examples of it.

Why this one caught my attention? I clearly recalled having read it in an old (golden old) Disney cartoon called "Donald in Mathmagic Land", one of my favorites of all times. You can watch the scene online, but here you have a cropped clip (from 25:45 to 25:50 approx.) and a frame, just in case:

Complete clip "Now is the time" (I know, two dots)

Every time I watch it I wonder about the text, if I am missing a literary reference or something... and forget to dig into it minutes later. But, after finding it again in some random place I thought to myself "now is the time to find this out". Well, googling it yields results about song titles long after 1959, the release year of this Donald's cartoon.

I find unlikely the leet speak sample is a reference to this movie so... why the same text around 50 years later? Now is the time to what? Is this a phrase or idiom of which I'm unaware?


texts: What is the name of the word of the feeling of almost getting hit by something? like a near miss but emotionally?

texts: I am writing a personal narritave for my freshman writing class and I just cant come up with the word that fits at the end of this. "Then out of the blue comes a curveball, something so unexpected she’s completely stunned. He came out to her. He’s AroAce. With that she felt (insert word here)"


texts:
If "international" is the generic word for anything that is global, what is its generic antithesis? As in:

  This is an international affair/This is an __ affair.

And please, don't give me national, because I know that's what I'm not looking for.


texts: Weekend vs Weekends for multiple people?

texts: In a phrase like "The meeting Friday has been canceled and I hope you all enjoy your weekend(s)" which is correct? Should weekend be singular since there is only one weekend being referred to or should it be plural since there are multiple weekend experiences occurring (one for each employee). If it's interchangeable is there a particular grammatical justification for this or is it just a unique aspect of the word 'weekend'?


texts: Word that means avoiding a previously selected item for a certain period?

texts:
Background: In my line of work, we test samples from certain rivers each year. However, if we tested samples from river x and river y this year, we will leave them out of our sample selection over the next 2 years. That way we do not end up testing any river for consecutive years.

What term best describes this selection method? I have come up with a periodic selection and rotational selection. Are there better words to convey the message?

Thank you.


texts: I wonder whether it is the relative pronoun

texts:
Truth be told, I never graduated from college, and this is the closest I've ever gotten to a college graduation.

In this clip from Steve job's speech in Standford school, I wonder what is the part of "the closest"? Do I see it as the adjective, dropping the pronoun "one"?

I think it should be like this:

this is the closest one (that) I've ever gotten to a college graduation.

Right?

If that's the case, should I think "the closest" is basically the object of a verb "have gotten"?

Then, what is the meaning of "get" in here?


texts: What does this sentence mean? "Knowledge of the oil industry an asset."

texts: My question is about "an asset" in this context, what does it mean? and can one paraphrase the above sentence, so it can be more understandable?


texts: Capitalizing lowercase names in technical writing (programming)

texts:
In a world of programming, there are number of tools which have purposefully lowercase names: like tmux or sed. When talking about this tools, how does capitalization work?

Do I never capitalize these, even when a sentence starts with these? Do branding rules apply here (like iPhone or eBay)?


texts: It is very difficult to solve. vs. It is too difficult to solve

texts:
'It is very difficult to solve.'
Is this sentence above grammatically correct?
Or does it have to be corrected as
 'It is too difficult to solve.'   ?


texts: Is there a term for using "cannot" when one really means "doesn't want to?"

texts:
Statements like "I cannot jump 30 feet vertically" are different than "We cannot approve your loan at this time" or "We cannot admit you to our university" as the second two examples really mean "We don't want to."

Is there a term for this?


texts: What is a word for someone who knows where to hit another where it hurts?

texts: By 'knows where to hit someone where it hurts' I mean someone who uses another person's weaknesses and feelings to their advantage. Say if their opponent had low self esteem about a certain part of their body the person would make sure to bring it up in the argument to weaken their opponent.


texts:
*Today’s New York Times reported that Cable news channel, Current TV fired its star anchorman, Keith Olbermann as follows;

“Current said on Friday afternoon that it had fired Mr. Olbermann — one of the nation’s most prominent progressive speakers — just a year into his five-year, $50 million contract. It was the culmination of months of murky disputes between Mr. Olbermann and the channel that he was supposed to save from the throes of ratings oblivion.”

Though my professional background was advertising (long, long ago), I heard the word, “ratings oblivion” for the first time. Does it mean “declining viewing rate,” or “rise of oblivion rate” of the show?  Why is it “ratings oblivion,” not “oblivion rate (or ratings)? Is it a new advertising jargon?


texts: Where are the missing commas in the text below?

texts: For works of art and the finest treasures of the Renaissance period look no further than the beautiful city of Florence. This is the home of the famous Michelangelo statue of David amazing paintings by da Vinci and Botticelli in the Uffizi Gallery and the magnificent Duomo. Enjoy an evening stroll on the medieval Ponte Vecchio a photographer’s paradise or climb Giotto’s bell tower for a wonderful panoramic view of Florence.


texts: A word for words that are both the same and opposite

texts:
I just had a conversation where the sentence 'The system is broken because it's fixed!' was correctly spoken under the pretense where fixed means that it's rigged. Assuming that context of rigged matches as a weak synonym for broken, the question came up - what's the word for a pair of words that are simultaneously synonyms and antonyms?

I am not asking about autoantonyms. I am not even looking for a single word. I am trying to find a term to describe the relationship of two different words, where one is an autoantonym and where one of its definitions is synonymous with the second word, causing the two words to be synonyms and antonyms at the same time.

In my example:

fixed = rigged: fixed and rigged are synonyms
fixed = repaired: fixed and rigged are antonyms

What is the label given to the relationship between fixed and rigged?


texts: Is it alright to use the word "and" immediately after a comma?

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  Should I put a comma before the last item in a list?

I was taught in my school that the following is wrong:

  Tom, Dick, and Harry went to school on Thursday.

Instead, the correct form is:

  Tom, Dick and Harry went to school on Thursday.

The reasoning I was taught is that it's wrong to use "and" immediately after a comma (conversely, it's wrong to precede the word "and" with a comma). I am highly suspicious of what I was taught in my school. Can someone confirm or refute the above thesis with a strong reference?


texts: Word/phrase for free flight rides given to pilots

texts:
I remember that pilots are given free flight rides on other flights and that there was a particular term/phrase for this.
Any ideas?


texts: What is a word that describes both adding and editing data?

texts:
Often when making websites, I will create an HTML form object that I will use in two places: once on a page that allows a user to add a new object, and once on a page that allows a user to edit existing objects.

What is a word that describes such a form? It isn't so much a management form, since managing implies that the object is already created. It isn't a creation form, since that implies we are only making new ones.

More generally, it's common to have a workflow capable of adding new data and editing existing data. Is there a common English word or phrase to describe such workflows clearly?


texts: How to express combinations using "any [...] by [...]"

texts:
I'm writing a text in which I need to repeat combinations of k out of n - for example, "any 2 out of 6" - but I think something the likes of "any 6 by 2" would be more appropriate since the subject is sports gambling (calculating combinations and odds on a betting ticket) and, as I said, there are several of those on a page.
English is not my native tongue and I'm having trouble finding such information / examples on the web. Maybe the right way would be "any 2 by 6" or this "any [...] by [...]" is not even used to express combinations in English. So, I didn't want to make this question ambiguous, but I would appreciate any pointers / more appropriate alternatives you can give me in addition to your answer.
Note: On the Wikipedia "Combination" page, I saw "n choose k", but I don't think that would go well with my text either.
EDIT: I have received complaints and most people seem not to get what I'm asking so I'll just provide some kind of a sample and what I think it should look like in light of Invoker's comment below:

Any 1 out of 3 = 3 combinations
Any 2 out of 3 = 3 combinations
Any 3 out of 3 = 1 combination

I need to make this text even less formal, I mean express those in a shorter form, yet still common or familiar. I'm looking for the appropriate, most common way of expressing combinations that would be easy to understand, yet not be lengthy.
I think the following would be most suitable:

Any 1/3 = 3 combinations
Any 2/3 = 3 combinations
Any 1/3 = 1 combination

Of course, this is only an example and after each line other calculations including odds may come up. Also, the numbers involved get higher as well.
Thank you for the patience with my inability to express this in a more straightforward manner.


texts: Idiom for "The solution for the problem is the cause itself"

texts:
Is there an idiom or phrase which means:

  The solution for the problem is the cause itself.

I was thinking of

  Use the snake to suck out the venom

which, I'm unsure, is a valid phrase.


texts: I'm in need of a word that describes someone who has two personalities (they don't necessarily contrast each other, good/evil).


texts:
I'm not sure about the meaning of desk warrior, as it appears in this passage taken from The Economist (my boldface emphasis):

  Those [South Korean students, my note] who score well can enter one of
  Korea’s best universities, which has traditionally guaranteed them a
  job-for-life as a high-flying bureaucrat or desk warrior at a
  chaebol (conglomerate).

I cannot find it in the dictionaries at my disposal. It seems to me that it is a sort of ironic or even disapproving epithet for a particular kind of white collar employees who hold a position of some responsibility.


texts: What is the meaning of the phrase "to the extent that"? Is the phrase equivalent to "to that extent", which I suppose means "to that degree"?


texts:
Not sure if "if" phrases should have a comma following them or not. Examples:

If an agreement cannot be reached, the band may have to break up.

If I forget my keys, I will be locked out of my house

If the system fails, the developers will have to fix it.

Is the comma necessary? Is there a case where it's not needed?


texts: What is it called when you repeat a part of a word?

texts:
For example, in the movie My Cousin Vinny, a character named Rothenstein, who pronounces the last part of his name "Steen", upon hearing his name pronounced Rothen"Stine", objects saying something like:

Stine!  Did you hear that?  She said Stine.


texts: What do you call a single sentence (in a whole response) that solves all the problems?

texts:
For example, let's see my question in Academia: I may not be admitted to the school that have the professor I have interest in. What should I do?

So I know that I shouldn't put all my eggs in one basket. In fact, I know most of the reasons behind the top answer. However, until that top answer appears, no answer and comment could enlighten me. The different between that answer and other answers is one single sentence in a whole answer:

  Yes, that might mean changing your proposed research, but your research career will span decades; there's plenty of time to go back to your initial proposal later.

After reading this one, my mind is suddenly clear, and I feel that I don't need to read the rest of the answer to know what to do. It seems that my mind has been stuck somewhere, and this sentence unstuck it.

How should I call this sentence?


texts:
In conversation sometimes I’ll say something like this:

  What’s that do?

which uses “s” as a contraction for “does”.

Is this a “real” contraction, or is it incorrect usage of a contraction?


texts: Is "pal" too informal when the other person is much older than me?

texts:
I have an online friend (here on StackExchange) and I happen to know that he is significantly "more experienced", he's a professor while I'm a student, and his contribution here is larger than mine. Still, we surely consider each other friends, we treat each other equally, make jokes on each other etc. Is it ok to call such a person "pal" in the chat, like:

  Thanks a lot, pal!

Or is this word too impolite in this case? And would there be a good substitute for this situation?


texts: Inappropriate meaning of "inappropriate", depending on context

texts:
The meaning of the word "inappropriate" somewhat changes depending on context.

In the sentence

  In an email reply to my professor, I misunderstood what he told me and
  wrote something inappropriate.

the word means something that is at least a little insulting, hurting or irritating in a negative sense.

When I say the use of "inappropriate" in the text is inappropriate, that does just mean the word is not used in the right manner, with no further implications.

The correct meaning (assuming no rudeness, insult etc) with only one word changed would be

  In an email reply to my professor, I misunderstood what he told me and
  wrote something wrong.

It can be written in nicer forms, but this is a modified example from a real question text.

I think the best example of this effect, is the word, "fuck".
It can even have context dependence on the voice modulation!

I am sure there are many examples - write as comments if you like!

So, are my assumptions right?
Does this context dependent meaning change have a name?
Is there some more formal description of it?


texts: "everyone should go to jail FOR when they make a mistake"?

texts:
"Yes, I do think he should go to jail, everyone should go to jail for
  when they make a mistake," said Kim Ballinger, the victim's domestic
  partner.

From this link: http://abc7ny.com/news/nypd-officer-peter-liang-found-guilty-of-manslaughter-in-stairwell-shooting-that-killed-akai-gurley/1196360/

Isn't that "for" redundant and breaking the whole sentence?


texts: Can "shop" (related to selling or stores) be used as a transitive verb?

texts:
How is shop used as a transitive verb? The only transitive meanings I can find are reporting someone to police or Photoshopping an image.

I found one discussion about transitive 'shop', centered on what's being offered up for sale (a baseball player's contract), and related to American English sports writing:

  ...plans to shop Teixeira, who is eligible for free agency after 2008.

Most other instances I see are from retailers and seem to occur only in the form of a command/inducement:

  Shop Peapod today! (mailer, online copy)
  Shop our huge selection of products at great prices
  (online copy)
  shop appliances (section link)

Do speakers actually say things like, "I shopped Store Foo" or "She shopped the selection at Store Bar" or "We shopped appliances"? Or is this peculiar to advertisements? I've had no luck figuring out how to search for usage examples so far.


texts:
I don't know if commas in this sentence are needed or not:

They did not manage to go to the gallery nor took a trip to the shore because John can't stand heat.

I feel like a comma isn't needed before nor, but I'm not so sure about a comma before because.


texts: Breaking Tense: "May be" vs. "May have been"

texts:
This may be simple or trivial, but when writing in the past tense, is it wrong to switch to present tense to use the verb "may be"?

Sharon may be irrational, but it was not completely her fault.
Sharon may have been irrational, but it was not completely her fault.

The first sentence implies that Sharon often acts irrational, and this is something that can be taken for granted. The second sentence does not imply this; it tells the reader that Sharon was acting irrational at a certain point in time, but she is not always like that.
I know it can be jarring to shift tenses in writing, especially in the middle of a sentence. However, I cannot tell whether or not the first sentence with "may be" is disconcerting to read. Depending on the situation, I would use either sentence, but I want to know how the first flows and whether or not it is grammatically incorrect.


texts: Difference between 'take' and 'steal' w.r.t. kidnapping

texts:
As synonyms for kidnapping, is there any difference between Take and Steal. The question raised to me based on two movie titles with almost identical plot:

  Stolen (Starring Nicolas Cage) and Taken (Starring Liam Neeson).


texts: Can you help me identify this literary term?

texts:
I am trying to write an essay based on a book I read in class where there was a guy (Okonkwo) who hated his lazy father, so he became hard working and furious at anyone who wasn't due to his father's nature. Then, his son hated his ways, so Okonkwo's son vowed to be accepting of others due to how much he hated his father's ways.

I am about 90% sure that I have heard a term for this type of repeated action (I don't mean a motif), but I can't get my finger on it. Any response would be helpful.

Also, if it matters, the book is Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe.


texts:
The term stateside means "in the United States", is there an equivalent  word for the UK, or any other country?

Some examples might be: "It feels weird being stateside again." or "I'll be stateside next week."

I imagine it could be kingdomside or even queenside, but I've never heard anything like that.


texts: What's the word for someone who acts sanctimoniously, especially under a pretence to improve their reputation?


texts:
Recently I used the term medicine students to mean students of medicine. This was corrected to medical students. I googled and found that the term I chose is not really used.

However I still hear computer science students or Japanese language students. Why not medicine students then?


texts: Correct punctuation in numbers with mixed numbers and words like "2 thousand"

texts:
What is the correct punctuation when writing a mix of numbers and words, when writing a big number?

I'm especially not clear about the hyphens or spaces. Is it for example:

  2-thousand euro

or

  2 thousand euro

As far as I could find, when writing it all in words there is a space and no hyphen:

  two thousand euro

Is the mixed-case the same?


texts: "Known not to ..." or "Known to not ..."

texts:
Which one of the following word orders is correct:

  This program is known not to work correctly.

or

  This program is known to not work correctly.


texts: A strange use instance of Present Simple in a sentence

texts:
I'm reading an article in the NYT. And it has the next paragraph:

  I watched Abraham interview half a dozen deportees. What he said was true: They were like him. To a middle-aged farmer who had three daughters in the United States and was on his way to his mother’s town, Abraham said, ‘‘Is there someone where you’re going who might hurt you?’’

I cannot figure out the use of "interview" here. I do understand the situation: Abraham, the interviewer (a deportee himself), is interviewing a dozen of the deportees, but why Present Simple? Is this grammatically correct and if it is, what is the rule for this?

As for me, it would have been more correct to say it in any of these ways:

I watched Abraham was interviewing half a dozen deportees.
I watched Abraham had interviewed half a dozen deportees.
I watched Abraham interviewed half a dozen deportees.
I watched Abraham's interview of/with half a dozen deportees.

I reread a unit in Murphy's English Grammar for Present Simple and found no condition for this use of "interview". It states that Present Simple is used in two situations: an action is permanent (like "I live in London" and the action happens repeatedly, all the time, like "I drive a bus, this is my job").

Could anyone explain this use of Present Simple to me, please?

Thank you.


texts:
Is there a word that fits neatly into this sentence?

  My, his lexicon is so large he is practically thesaurus-like

My instinct is thesaurean or thesuarian but neither seem to exist.


texts:
I need your expert skills to solve this confusion regarding the use of gerund and participles.

Here is the sentence
Standing in the shallow end, he would practice his arm movements.

I want to know whether the introductory phrase is a gerund or a participle.


texts: Styles of prepositional phrase, noun phrases and verb phrases

texts:
May I ask how does a prepositional phrase, noun phrase and verb phrase sound different to you as native speakers, when they are used to convey the same meaning in a sentence?

Editors working on my essays have revised them frequently to and from each other, but I can't decide over which to use in writings of different styles, e.g., formal essay, dialogues in interview articles, and writings targeting professionals or a young readership...etc. Below please see two of the sentences revised by them. Thanks!

Example 1:

Original version:
Additionally, our communications technology system is in the process of renewal, and that has resulted in various technical constraints.

Revised version:
Since our communications technology system is undergoing renovation, this has resulted in various technical constraints.

Example 2:

Original version:
Despite many being enthralled by fortune-telling, we are the masters to decide how our lives turn out.

Revised version:
Despite many being enthralled by fortune-telling, we are the masters of deciding how our lives turn out.


texts:
reference : part of something you say or write in which you mention a person or thing - Longman

How can I analyse in which phrase?

I asked a similar question before - Here

However, this sentence is quite different from the previous one. In previous case, in which was located right after a noun. So it was easy to find the subject of in which but it is located after a verb(write) in this sentence. The only subject is part of something. If so, what's the meaning?

Here is my attempt. According to the previous answer,
1. reference is part of something you say or write
2. You mention a person or thing in the part of something.

I could understand these two sentences respectively but I'm struggling to find relations of two sentences. I think it's because of in which

I mean,
1. reference is part of something you say or write
2. reference is a person or thing you mention.

These are more like acceptable to me.


texts:
A man may live a very intense life if he be passionately devoted to
field-sports or beetles.

I am guessing the if he be passionately devoted to field-sports or beetles. is a subjunctive clause, because it is finite yet tenseless. And it seems that if someone be and be someone only work with be. Mandative subjunctive, it's vital that someone do something, works with lots of verbs.
My questions is, is  if someone be a vestige of old English, or is it something totally different?


texts: Equivalent Metonymy of "The Crown" for the Pope and Papacy

texts:
I'm writing about the English Reformation-era split allegiance to the king and pope, and I want to write a sentence comparing allegiance to "The Crown" to the equivalent metonym for the papacy. I thought of "mitre" for the Catholic headdress but I don't believe the mitre is exclusive to the Catholic church.

The sentence so far:

  In her book Shakespeare and the Grammar of Forgiveness, Sarah
  Beckwith broadly contextualizes Shakespeare as initially occuring at
  the moment of a profound splitting of the self, painting the picture of
  a society under pressure to speak allegiance to the crown while
  thinking, or feeling, an interior allegiance to the pope's mitre.

I want to replace "pope's mitre."


texts: When pluralizing a hyphenated acronym, where does the "s" land in the acronym?

texts:
The following example uses the acronym for Transportation Rail Specialist - Explosives (TRS-E).

Is the plural (TRSs-E) or (TRS-Es)?


texts: Does the word 'filter' make sense when it is applied to at most one element?

texts:
I recently came across a Stackoverflow question, and in the comments there was a discussion about the usage of the word "filter".

In the comments, someone said this:

  Filtering at most one value has the same sense as iterating over at most one value. Both words imply more values.

I was curious about whether this is actually the case. Does the verb "filter" imply more values?

If I have a box containing either one or zero items, it is pretty strange to ask someone to remove all items from the box, if the number of items being at most one is known beforehand. One rather talks about removing the item from the box if it is present.

But what about filtering? Is it conventional to use the word "filter" when at most one value is present?

If not, what would be the alternative?

Note: the link to the particular Stackoverflow question might get some insight of the context of this question.

Related: Sieve vs filter? Are they opposites?


texts: is "over the past years" a natural sounding expression?

texts:
I have heard "over the past few years" or "over past years", but I just read a document that said "X, Y and Z have been beneficial over the past years".  This strikes me as wrong, but I found the expression used here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-trade-performance-over-the-past-years-trade-and-investment-analytical-papers-topic-3-of-18

Am I wrong and the phrase is fine?


texts:
Is the below sentence weak?

  He who can fool a customer should not be treated without disgust.

I have read in many manuals that using passive voice is weak in things like story and essays. ( Correct me if above sentence is not passive)

How should I rewrite it in active voice and why?

Any help is appretiated.


texts: We all know it from cowboy films and the like but where does the 'siree' come from? Is it a deliberate mispronunciation of 'sire' ?


texts: Could someone explain the grammar to me - use of "be changed" in The report recommends that radar screens be changed. Why it is used like this? What does this usage should express? Where (under what name)I could study it in detail? Thank you in advance. Edi


texts: Is this correct: "a door of opportunity opens up for people"?

texts:
So I am debating myself whether the use of  "of"  in the sentence:

a door of opportunity opens up for people

is accepted?
And shouldn't "for" be more appropriate to use?


texts: "I was late, and so I got fired." Can we use two conjunctions in a row?

texts:
Is it incorrect to use "and so" to link an antecedent and a consequent, when "so" alone would do it?

Note: there is an existing question with a similar title (Use of “ and so”) in the EL&U database, but it doesn't address the same issue. That question is about repeating some words from the antecedent. I'm asking about the appropriateness of "and so" itself.

The fact that it is fine to say "...and so do I," is because 'so' is used as an adverb. Or "...and so it goes." Both of these are 'so' meaning 'this way'. "I found a dollar, and so I picked it up," is using 'so' as a conjunction. It's the usage in this last example that I'm asking about.

I was late, and I got fired.
I was late, so I got fired.
I was late, and so I got fired.

I feel in my deepest soul of souls, or at least I kind of suspect, that this use of "and so" is technically incorrect, despite being incredibly common and almost no one having specifically asked this question until now. There are other questions regarding "and so," but not questioning whether this combination is itself proper. Did this come from spoken English, when someone says "and" to continue a story before realizing that "so" is more descriptive?

I can't think of another case of two coordinating conjunctions next to each other. Subordinating and coordinating, yes:
"I was late, and, because the boss saw me, I got fired." or even:
"I was late, and, so it wouldn't happen again, I got fired."
But these are different than my question.

A happened, and so B happened. Too many conjunctions!

Edit: This is not the same question as the suggested duplicate "Use of 'and so'", which I obviously saw before posting this, as I mentioned that I searched for duplicates before asking. That question was to a particular aspect of how to use "and so". I am asking if and why and how "and so" is justified at all. The other person did not ask whether "and so" is correct in itself.

The question marked as duplicate is, word for word:
If "and so" connects predicates such that the second is the result of the first, do we need to repeat the same words in the second?

My question is:
Is it not in fact incorrect to use "and so"?


texts: Mistrust of cultures and subcultures: Alternatives to xenophobia?

texts:
I'm seeking terms that emphasize a distrust or misunderstanding between ingroups and outgroups. There are a few issues I have with using xenophobia.

Xenophobic groups tend to be rather large and fairly general. Think mainland Japanese vs. outlanders or USA vs. Middle East. (Yes, I am making broad sweeping generalizations. That's the point.) What if I want to indicate mistrust between members of similar communities, who nevertheless have differing cultural traits? Examples: soldiers vs. citizenry, religious vs. secular, gun-owners vs. anti-gun supporters. Those are heavier examples. As a lighter one, consider a word that can generalize xenophobia to how subcultures like heavy metal fans were viewed by suburbia in movies like Detroit Rock City.
The suffix phobia is fixated on fear and dislike, not necessarily distrust and misunderstanding. Perhaps these are similar in meaning, but I am slightly dissatisfied.
Related words, such as some in this post, tend to be focused on negative personality flaws (e.g. bigotry). Xenophobia doesn't cast that same light. It's, how to say, more clinical or academic in its diagnosis.


texts: What do you call somebody who brings forth change?

texts:
Looking for a word for a body or group of people who are the initial/prominent cause of a change. For some reason my mind keeps going to angels in the bible? I think there may be a phrase used to describe angels as some kind of bringer forth of change or judgment. Unsure. The _____ of change.

Please help. My mind is drawing a blank and I've been googling for 15 minutes and have found nothing.


texts: When you're angry at a situation but there is no action you can take

texts:
In a situation where you are so angry at something, but there is nothing you're able to do, and you quiver/shake, what is the word or phrase I'm looking for.

An example would be if a group of people harass you but you don't dare retaliate, or a friend has been mistreated, but more thinking a situation where some other person is totally dominant over you and prevents you from taking action.

I guess an example would be: "I stood there quivering with **** rage" but I don't know if it is a single word or a phrase I'm after... both are welcome.


texts: Is it ok to omit a possessive apostrophe before a capitalized appellation (President, country name, VP, PM)?

texts: In a recent Financial Times article (Yemen PM Escapes Assissnation), the apostrophe necessary to show possession was left out. I've seen colleagues do it as well. Isn't it supposed to be "Yemen's PM Escapes...?" Other times I've seen people write "Japan Minister of Finance tackles deflation..." or "India VP resigns..." I have noticed that in most of these cases, the omission of the apostrophe was right before a captilazed appellation (president, country, municipal, etc.) What's going on? Firm grammar rules stipulate that there be an apostrophe, yet there isn't one. If the FT does it, then there must be an exception (in journalism?) that I'm unaware of. Must there or must there not be an apostrophe?


texts:
I'm in a bit of a trouble over the words

objectivization
objectification

Which of the above would be correct in the context of making something objective (impersonal, unbiased).
I suppose the same issue would be with subjectification and subjectivization.


texts:
I'm having a hard time to comprehend the difference between the three prepositions "of"&"in"&"at" in a lot of occasions.The below is an example of that,so which sentence is idiomatic and why ??

1- My first attempt of making a pancake.

2- My first attempt in making a pancake.

1- My first attempt at making a pancake.


texts:
I would like to know what a particular form of publication is called, when a work is a collaborative effort of many writers and possibly more than one editor, published in weekly or monthly parts and intended to be bound into volumes by the subscribers (or perhaps reprinted bound by the publisher at a later date). Does anyone know what this is called?

An example would be The Times History of the War (here).


texts: A word for "Doing the correct thing for the wrong reason" when you know the correct reason but are motivated by the wrong one

texts:
I was given a description and example of a word in high school and have always remembered the description and example but not the word.
The example given was "Wearing a helmet when riding a bike because you don't want to get fined by the police rather than because it's safer to wear a helmet".
There are similar questions on here but I believe they have the assumption that the subject is unaware that they are doing it for the wrong reason. In this instance, the subject knows that it's better for their safety to wear a helmet, but their actual motivation is to avoid getting a fine.


texts: Using "by" with the future perfect continuous

texts:
Does anyone know if there is any reason why a sentence like:

"By 2020 I will have been working in London for 5 years."

Might be considered incorrect? I realise in everyday life this sentence would "pass". What I want to know, however, is whether there is any ground whatsoever to consider it incorrect under the strict standards that might be applied to formal or academic writing. Particularly in regard to the preposition "by".
I know that this usage of "by" is common with the future perfect "By 2020 I will have worked in London for...", but I find the future perfect continuous to be compatible with other prepositions (and even the absence of prepositions) e.g

"Next year I will have been working in London for 5 years."
"At 11pm I will have been working for 6 hours."
"In 2020 I will have been working in London for 5 years."

Is there any grammar rule that might prohibit this usage of "by" with the future perfect continuous?
I'm inclined to think not, as the sentence sounds fine to me, but I'd be interested to read the opinions of others on the matter.


texts: How to identify a phrasal verb + object from a verb + prepositional phrase

texts:
In sentences with the combination “verb + preposition + noun phrase” is there a procedure to identify whether it is a phrasal verb + object or a verb + prepositional phrase? or does it solely depend on the meaning?
For example consider these two examples from which I think the first one has a phrasal verb and the second one a prepositional phrase:

She always talks about her childhood friends

She fell from her bicycle

I think in the first example “talk about” is the verb and “her childhood friends” the object. As for the second example, I think “fell” should be the verb and “from her bicycle” a prepositional phrase.
The two examples seem a lot similar to me and the fact that one has an object and one doesn’t is somehow unexplainable to me.


texts:
There's one thing that caught my eye in a GRE sample essay. Below are the prompt of the essay and an excerpt taken from it.
Prompt:
"As people rely more and more on technology to solve problems, the ability of humans to think for themselves will surely deteriorate.
Discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the statement and explain your reasoning for the position you take. In developing and supporting your position, you should consider ways in which the statement might or might not hold true and explain how these considerations shape your position."
Here's the opening paragraph of the essay:
"The statement linking technology negatively with free thinking plays on recent human experience over the past century. Surely there has been no time in history where the lived lives of people have changed more dramatically."
The expression in bold struck me as odd, so I googled it up to see if anyone has ever used that before. But I found nothing. I could probably get the meaning of this expression based on the context, but I am not sure if it is idiomatic. Have you ever seen it or heard of it before?


texts: Pronunciation of 'cos' (as in the mathematical term)

texts:
What is the correct pronunciation for the mathematical abbreviation 'cos' when it is not pronounced in its complete form 'cosine'? I pronounce it as 'k-aw-ss', but a couple of Canadian friends I have pronounce it as 'k-oh-s' (like the adjective 'close'). I tried looking up dictionaries but none that I came across list the IPA / phonetic pronunciation for the mathematical abbreviation.

(I think the former is the British English pronunciation, and the latter is the American English / Canadian English pronunciation.)


texts: What situations or group activity is it inappropriate to use formal English?

texts:
I think this might be a duplicate, but I will continue on  anyway.

Just as the question says, when would it be inappropriate/out of place to speak formal English? The reason I ask this is because I am still learning formal and informal language. Also, why would it be inappropriate to speak formally during that time? I read that informal speech is used with friends and family, but is formal speech different?

According to http://www.phrasemix.com/concepts/casual-speech: Use casual English with your family and friends. If you speak formally with these people, it may seem like you're angry with them or trying to push them away.

Oh, I also apologize for asking this, I am not a native speaker of English.


texts: Expression for asking a question in a way that assumes a certain solution?

texts:
Especially (but not only) with technical problems, people often ask questions in a way that assumes a certain solution.

For example:

  Where can I get a cheap taxi to the airport?

But the person really just wants to get to the airport cheaply, and the best answer might be "Take the train." However, the question already assumes that a taxi is the right solution.

Or:

  What is the best glue to assemble a wooden garden shed?

Which assumes that using glue is appropriate, when nails or screws might be better.

This behaviour is also described in "How To Ask Questions The Smart Way" by Eric Steven Raymond: Describe the goal, not the step.

Is there an expression for this kind of questions? It is similar to "begging the question", but not quite the same.


texts:
Two questions:

1) Can there be a prepositional phrase between the verb and its objetcts as in this example:

  "They see in front of their eyes the two towers."

or is that grammatically incorrect?

2) Am I assuming correctly that the following examples are not sound because of the word order:

  Example 1: They visit to have a good time many countries.

  Example 2: He told that I was employed Marie.


texts: Origin of "Around the clock" or "Round the clock"?

texts: From a Google search it seems the origin is unidentifiable? Does anyone have any ideas on plausible origins?


texts: Is "subtle" a positive, neutral or/and negative word?

texts:
I wonder whether subtle is a positive, neutral or/and negative word? Looking up its definition, it seems that the word means things unclear for good reason.

For example, I  wonder if subtle can be used to describe a class that is not easy to understand? If so, would that mean more of that the class is difficult to understand because of the complexity of its content, or due to the inability of the lecturer?


texts:
I have been preparing for the SAT, and this question has been confusing me a lot lately.

  Some scissors (A) are designed for left-handed use, although most (B) of them
  (C) sold in stores (D) are not specialized.

When I initially read this sentence, I thought that B was incorrect (of them). I thought that it should have been "of those."

To my surprise, however, there is no error in this sentence.

Why is "of them" correct and when would it be appropriate to use "of those"?


texts: What do we say when glue does not stick anymore?

texts: I want to know how can we says to a glue that does not stick anymore, can we say "Glue has faded"? is there any specific word in English for this phenomenon?


texts:
How is try and why and what I can read to improve my understanding?

I write wrong the sentence - Every one of the clerks [were] given an increase in salary.

Now I know what try is the word [was] in the brackets above.

What book or site or page I shall read to improve my understanding of its case?


texts: One word for "more you try, worse it gets"?

texts: Is there a word for  "more you try to improve, worst it gets"? Here is an example sentence - "Being on a diet may help reduce weight but it overall worsens your health".


texts:
http://www.economist.com/news/united-states/21588388-georgias-governor-faces-ethics-questions-not-first-time-raw-deal

  ...., he has two options: accept the charges or rebut them.

Is the sentence fragmented, as gerunds or "to" are needed when you have verbs inside an appositive.
Should the sentence rewrite as the following:

  ...., he has two options: to accept/accepting the charges or to rebut/rebutting them.


texts:
I am often getting things sent to myself and other people. Is it wrong to say:

  Please send to... [address] attentioned to [name]

I often say:

  Please sent to... [address] and attention it to [name]

On the other hand, I might receive something and it is not mine so I ask a group:

  There's a package here, attentioned to [name]

I guess in the first instance, it should simply be "attention":

  Please send to... [address] attention to [name]

Can you say the last one? "Attention to [name]"?


texts: how to merge the several short sentences into one sentence

texts:
I am optimizing an expression for a paper and not sure if the long sentence express my idea exactly.

The long sentence is

  The commonly accepted description is that superpixels are non-overlaping groups of connected pixels which are perceptually homogenous.

In the long sentence, superpixel is a terminology in computer vision. The main idea of the long sentence is from the following short ones.

  superpixel is a group of connected pixels.
  superpixel is perceptually homogenous.
  superpixels are non-overlapping.

The relationship among image, superpixel, and pixel is that

image is a set of pixels.
image can be partitioned into superpixels.
superpixel is a group of pixels.

I am wondering if the long one presents the ideas of the short ones.


texts: Is the correct phrase "Doing it healthy and safe" or Doing it healthy and safely?"

texts:
I'm working on a tshirt and want to use the phrase

  "Doing it healthy and safe."

Or should it be

  "Doing it healthy and safely."


texts: Pronunciation of "Oceania" in British English

texts: How is Oceania properly pronounced in British English? Is it /ˌəʊʃɪˈɑːnɪə/, or /ˌəʊʃɪˈɑːnə/? I know a lot of people who use the latter, but I have always been taught the former.


texts:
From Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray.

  Major O'Dowd, who had served his sovereign in every quarter of the world, and had paid for every step in his profession by some more than equivalent act of daring and gallantry, was the most modest, silent, sheep-faced and meek of little men, and as obedient to his wife as if he had been her tay-boy.

What's a "tay-boy". I couldn't find the word in my dictionary. Nor did a quick Google search yield any useful results.


texts: What is the origin of the | (pipe symbol) in typesetting?


texts:
I wanted to tell the person that we can ship the package instead of they come to us.

  Could you please help to provide us the address?
  Our team could ship the package to you.

The first "could" is correct but the second, I'm not sure.

Please advise.

I had read the http://www.yourdictionary.com/could but I couldn't find the same situation.


texts: Is it possible to use “have” in this case?

texts:
I know it is acceptable to use the verb get when saying you are trying to get yourself to do something or you are trying to make yourself do something

Examples:

After much hesitation I finally got myself to enter the dark room.= Even with difficulty the speaker succeeded in convincing himself to enter the room.
Despite being extremely lazy as I was, I made myself get up.=The speaker forced himself to get up.

But is it possible to use the verb have in this way too?

Example:

I need to have myself standing at the door, when the guests come in.
I need to have myself ready for the meeting.
I want to have myself see the painting.

All of the last three sentences sound very odd if not utterly wrong to me, so are they?


texts: A word that means "element", "alloy" and "compound"

texts:
I'm looking for a word that basically means an element, alloy or compound. So if this was the word:

pickle (n)
    An element, alloy or compound.

Then copper, iron, steel, glass, tin etc... could all be referred to as 'pickles.'


texts: What is the difference between "been" and "being"?

texts: What is the difference between been and being?


texts: Talk about A more than B vs talk more about A than B

texts:
Which sentence has the correct grammar?

I talk about A more than B.
I talk more about A than B.

I think the first one is correct, while my friend uses the second one.

Dr. Karp’s interview may ask children if they miss their biological parents or how long it has been since they saw their parents last time, all of which would sway them toward talking more about their biological parents than do other adults in the village.

The above sentence is what my friend wrote. I think the word, do, is redundant. Am I correct? Also, which one, "talk about A more than B" or "talk more about A than B", should we use in this sentence?


texts: Is there a word or phrase for someone who always tries to get more than he needs or deserves?

texts: This person always tries to get more than he/she needs, especially gratuities, gifts and souvenirs. Looking or sounding ridiculous is no barrier for him/her.


texts: How to punctuate this sentence with a semicolon?

texts:
How can I punctuate the following sentence? The semi-colon usage is nonstandard, since the second clause is dependent, but I'm not sure how else to do this besides an em-dash.

The goal of this meeting is to plan the next phase of the construction
project; particularly, to address the customer's concerns about the
design of the kitchen.


texts:
In "proper" British English, can you "reach" someone to a location?

My mother in law keeps using the word "reach" as a synonym for "take" (or "transport"):

"I'll reach you to the train station."

It sounds incorrect to me, but she's adamant that the word "reach" is being used correctly. We're both native English speakers.

I can't find any information to support her (unless I'm mistaken):
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/reach
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/business-english/reach_2

The closest I could find was...

"We live within (easy) reach of the station."

Who's correct? :)


texts:
I was drawn to the expression, “How to make you hear our tears” in the following sentence of the comment written by Sonia Sanchez under the caption, “Remembering Brother Martin” as a part of special article - “One Man, One March, One Speech, One Dream" in Time magazine (August 26 – September 2, 2013 issue):

  “How to tell you about this aristocratic word sorcerer with a
  commoner’s eye? How to make you hear our tears as he welcomed our
  souls and held our hearts in his hands?”

Though it may sound like a sticker, we see somebody’s tears / tear drops, but we don’t hear tears (albeit it rhymes well) . Is it possible, or even usual to say “hear someone’s tears"?

As I checked a dictionary (Merriam-Webster), it defines tear as:

1.noun

a. singular: a drop of clear saline fluid secreted by the lachrymal gland and diffused between the eye and eyelids to moisten the parts and facilitate their motion.

b. plural : a secretion of profuse tears that overflow the eyelids and dampen the face

2.
 a transparent drop of fluid or hardened fluid matter (as resin)

3.
plural : an act of weeping or grieving

Does “hear our tears” in the above quote come under the definition 3 of the above?


texts:
I am writing a business plan.  It is lengthy, so instead of always mentioning the company by its full name, I will write, "the company provides...".

Another writer wants me to capitalize "The Company" everywhere it is written in the document. I don't believe that is correct as company is not a proper noun. Help.


texts: Which one of these words is more suitable for "having" or "accomplishing"?

texts:
I want to express the achievement of a goal such as "Buying a car", or "Learning a Skill".
Can I say:

  "I obtained a new car."
  or
  "I obtained piano playing skill."

Is there a word better than obtained for expressing this, one that works both for acquiring a skill and acquiring property (the car)?

I'm looking for a word that combines both concepts, is commonly used, and is clearly understandable for both types of acquisitions.


texts:
Currently reading an article on smart contracts, I came across the following sentences. I cannot understand the bold part.

  Smart contracts are agreements between parties that do not need an
  intermediary that checks that conditions are met. They facilitate the
  elimination of a third party and the urgency of trust and transparency
  when underwriting legally binds obligations.

I looked "underwrite" up in a dictionary, and was almost sure that it should mean to sign, because only by signing can a contract become legally binding. But that doesn't seem to make sense here. Does underwriting here mean signing?

Does the bold part mean:

  smart contracts facilitate the elimination of the urgency of trust and transparency when ...

or does it mean:

  the urgency.... legally binds obligations

?

Why are trust and transparency urgent when underwriting makes obligations legally binding?


texts:
As a proper noun, and as something commonly referred to in everyday life, I've heard both "the internet," and "internet" when using it as a noun. Ex:

  I went on the Internet

Vs.

  I found my answer via Internet

Although the second of the two sounds more awkward when saying it out loud, is it still acceptable?


texts: plural or singular verb agreement for superlative adjectives

texts:
Sentence in question

The widest range of books are/is available here

Should I use are or is there?
Case for are:
The article the: hence the noun phrase (range of books) in question is countable and since it is plural(books) so are is to be used.
I have no arguments for is.
Kindly correct me and provide some general guidelines for the subject–verb concord for the relevant cases.


texts: A word used to describe a fish trying to eat bait bit by bit

texts: What is a word used to describe a fish that tries to eat bait with light continual biting? In other words, the fish tries to eat the bait bit by bit but never swallows the whole hook.


texts: What does "salad days" mean, and when was it coined?

texts:
What does salad days mean? I've heard the term used to describe past better days, but what does that have to do with salad?

Also, when was the phrase coined?


texts: Past perfect or past simple in combination with present perfect?

texts:
Suppose I received a document from my colleague, studied it and then gave him feedback in a letter. How should I construct the following sentense?

  I have examined the document you gave me and...

or it should be

  I have examined the document you had given me and...

and just in case (though I hardly believe it is correct)

  I have examined the document you have given me and...

From one point of view both he and I know when he gave me the document so one should use past simple. On the other hand past perfect might be used here to indicate that the moment he gave it to me occurred before I read it.


texts: pass on - pass down / passed on - passed-on

texts:
What is the difference between pass on and pass down?

E.g. "Local knowledge is passed on orally or within practice from one generation to the next." or "Local knowledge is passed down orally or within practice from one generation to the next."

Is it possible to use it as an adjective: e.g. passed on knowledge/passed down knowledge. If this is possible, would you write it with hyphen or without (passed on or passed-on)


texts: "Not only my husband but also my son is a doctor"

texts:
Starting to review grammar. It's a little confusing for me to identify which is the correct one.

  Not only my husband but also my son is a doctor.

Someone said that it must be doctors because there are two subjects in the sentence. But someone else believes it must be a doctor because it follows is.


texts: What are some synonyms for 'Benefactor'?

texts: Is there any synonyms for benefactor that also mean 'someone who makes others do good in the world'?


texts: As I understand it, he and him are etymologically, and for purposes of grammar, different cases of the same word. If it's the same word, wouldn't it be sufficient to use himself alone—with maybe the redundancy reserved for emphasis?


texts: Looking for an adverb (or maybe verb?) to represent someone implying "duh"

texts: I'm looking for an adverb/verb implying what someone would do/look like if they were asked an incredibly obvious question and didn't want to respond with words, just a gesture.


texts: How to ask about delivering time of a product?

texts:
I'm buying a product from a company that is established in another country.
I need to know how much time it takes to send the product to me.

What's the correct way to ask this?

I was wondering that something like "How much time it takes to deliver the product?" would make sense, but I don't know if it's correct and sounds right.


texts: What does "in copy" mean in the following sentence?

texts:
All documents should be attached to the visa application in copy.
  Original documents should be submitted, too. They will be returned with the
  passport.

What does in copy mean here?


texts: Term for words meaning both a concept or its best form. Ex: "principles" means "virtue" or "any morals" (good or bad)

texts:
These might also be examples:
"logic/reason" as in "valid logic" or "any logic".


texts: Miss Marple and the “angels” of theatres

texts:
I recently happen to rewatch the 1964 movie “Murder Most Foul” and noticed that on a couple of occasions  Miss Murple refers to the so called “angels”, that is, as she is explains,  wealthy individuals who finance theatrical productions that run the risk of  being shut down. Her last line in the movie is:

  "Mr Cosgood, whatever else I am, I am definitely no angel."

In the more contemporary expression, the one I am familiar with,   angel investors , refers affluent individuals who provide capital for business start-ups. Checking  its origin it appears that the latter derives from the former:

  The application of the term "angel" to a kind of investor originally comes from Broadway theater, where it was used to describe wealthy individuals who provided money for theatrical productions that would otherwise have had to shut down.

While the contemporary meaning appear to be from the late ‘70s.

  In 1978, William Wetzel, then a professor at the University of New Hampshire and founder of its Center for Venture Research, completed a pioneering study on how entrepreneurs raised seed capital in the USA, and he began using the term "angel" to describe the investors who supported them. (Wikipedia)

Google Books  shows usage of angel investor/investing only from the early ‘90s , often with reference to digital start-ups.

Questions:

Apart from the movie cited above, is there more evidence of “angel”, with the above connotation,  used in theatrical contexts?
Was its originally  a BrE or an AmE expression as suggested by Wikipedia?
What years do the earliest usage examples refer to?


texts: What is it called when a single word is offset by commas?

texts:
I'm not sure if I can generalize this type of construct, but is there a grammar term for single words surrounded by commas? Consider the following examples:

  Let's assume you are given a length of time, say, 10 minutes.
  Tristan was, unsurprisingly, late to the meeting.
  The plain-looking building was, well, plain.

Are these known as appositives?


texts: "From the above analysis, we can see that" VS "From the analysis above, we can see that"

texts:
What is the difference between this two sentences?
I looked into the google,and found that these two sentences are used.


texts: Good words for "before" and "after" that sort the same, both logically and alphabetically?

texts:
TL;DR - Silly OCD question looking for better words.
I have a list of event labels in a computer program similar to:

renderer_before
renderer_after
before_notify
after_notify

This is all well and good...those names convey the context of each event succinctly and accurately.
BUT! It bugs me that "before" comes after "after" when sorted alphabetically. Same for "pre" and "post".
What is a good pair of words that indicates a relative sequence between two things, that just happens to alphabetically sort in the same order?


texts: Why is 'doing the right thing' followed by the preposition 'by' here?

texts:
Here is the sentence in question including some contexts:
"I don’t know how long I stood there weighing the pros
against the cons — doing the right thing by Jacob, seeing my closest friend again, being a good person,
versus making Edward furious with me."
Could you use 'with' here instead of 'by' or turn the original sentence into “...doing the right thing with Jacob by seeing him, my best friend, again...” ?


texts: Difference between  “robot”, “machine”, and “automaton”

texts:
What is the difference in meaning between  a robot, a machine, and an automaton? I was inspired to ask this because I really can’t understand the subtle (or not so subtle) difference in meaning here.

I believe that robot is something that can operate on its own with AI (artificial intelligence).
An automaton is something like a black box: if we enter A, we know we will receive B (although we have no idea why).
Machine is everything mechanical.

What brings all this to my attention, and that maybe my understanding about the meanings of these three words is wrong, is this question.


texts: Direct Object or Complement or Something else

texts:
She failed to respond.
She wanted to smile.
She decided to return.
She preferred to travel by train.
She managed to save a little money.

Are the infinitival clauses complements or direct objects in these sentences? Are they complements in the last two sentences and direct objects in others?


texts: Can the given question be a reference to the given riddle? WOULD vs WILL usage

texts:
I got the following riddle from facebook:

"I was challenged, and I failed.
Calling all my intelligent FB friends... try to answer this  I challenge you. Pm me your answer.
I failed! As I've promised, I'm posting this photo of myself chosen by NAME
Your turn! Read the riddle. If your answer is incorrect, I can choose any of your photos and you have to post it along with the riddle. If you answer correctly, I'll write your name in the comments (with a trophy emoji)
Riddle: It's 7:00 AM. You are asleep and there is a sudden knock on the door. Behind the door are your parents who came to have breakfast. In your fridge are bread, milk (pasteurised), juice, and a jar of jam. To answer, what will you open first? Answer direclty thru PM only, answers in the comment section will be deleted. Thanks!"

At first I thought the question was a reference to the riddle, so I answered "open my eyes". But it seems the right answer is "messenger" because for someone to answer the riddle one needs to open the messenger app first.

A friend of mine says that the question is also a reference to the riddle therefore he thinks his answer is also right. The point I made to him is that the question would only be a reference to the riddle if the conjugation "would" was used, because the riddle is a hypothetical situation. He says that the verb in the present is also fine and there's no reference to a hypothetical situation so according to him this makes the question refer to the riddle too.

Does the verb in the present 'will' instead of 'would' removes all the reference to the riddle? Is that enough argument to rule out "open your eyes" as the right answer?


texts: Is the use of past tense as "let me know if you needed" common?

texts:
Here is a literally-quoted passage  from Martyrs in Paradise: Woman of Mass Destruction by Terry Reese Downing:

  "How nice of you. And thank you," she again was appreciative.
  "My pleasure. Go back to rest and sleep. Let me know if you needed something and don't hesitate to wake me up," he told her.

Is the use of past tense common in these kind of contexts? Does the use of past here get the point across in a less direct way?


texts: "Please be considerate of..." vs. "please be considerate to..."

texts:
We have a sign on a door at work which slams when people aren't careful. It originally read:

  Please be considerate of those here and close this door quietly.

Someone crossed out the of and changed it to to.

My question is: which variant is more correct?


texts:
By Googling, the difference between remove and move can be found as follows:

As verbs the difference between remove and move
is that remove is to move something from one place to another, especially to take away while move is to change place or posture; to stir; to go, in any manner, from one place or position to another.

I question why I don’t hear remove to while it is defined as to take something from one place to another?

remove to in Ngram Viewer
remove to vs move to in
Ngram Viewer

I thonked a line that said “Remove my soul to Luca’s body!” (Think of it as a spell or command in a fantasy writing) and I’m sure that the sentence means “Take my soul out of my body and place it in Luca’s body!”
I just wondered why I shouldn’t say it.


texts: Word to describe gay people who are in a relationship with each other

texts:
Can I use these words?

  A gay couple (not sure if couple can be used only for married
  people)

  A gay lovers (not sure if I should put s here or if lovers can be
  used to describe two people who love each other)


texts: What's up with G. M. Hopkins's use of accented characters?

texts:
Here are a some extracts from G. M. Hopkins

  I say móre: the just man justices;
  Keeps grace: thát keeps all his goings graces;

Or this

  And áll trádes, their gear and tackle and trim.

Or this

  Yet both droop deadly sómetimes in their cells
  ...
  For a rainbow footing it nor he for his bónes rísen.

Why does he have acute accents on some of the vowels?


texts:
I'm just working on translating document from English to Polish. The document is called "Account Transcript" and it is from US Internal Revenue Service.

Transactions table at the bottom contain Payment with return item with code 610. I don't what what it means.

Could somebody please explain me it?


texts:
Is it appropriate to say 'my Pleasure'- In a job interview and e-mails closings.

  "I really enjoyed talking with you - my pleasure"

Or would a simple 'thank you' be more appropriate.

Can "my pleasure" carry negative connotations?

  "It is a great pleasure to write to you".


texts:
Cabs can drive people anywhere, but cannot be hailed at, or below Jon Street and Frank Street.

My question is should there be a comma after anywhere?
Is but a conjunction in this case? I am not sure, because "[cabs] cannot be hailed at, or below Jon Street and Frank Street," is giving me trouble.
Is be hailed a infinitive in which case the phrase two lines up is not a sentence because there is no verb?


texts: What is the meaning of "annihilated in detail"?

texts:
I ran across the phrase "annihilated in detail" while listening to Professor Garrett G. Fagan's instruction regarding the History of Ancient Rome. This comes from a lecture on Marius and Sulla with regards to a particular Roman battle:

  They split their forces. As a result when the Germans came on, they were annihilated in detail.

Since the word annihilated already means to utterly destroy, the phrase in detail seems superfluous, not unlike "very unique". However, a search for the phrase "annihilated in detail" in Google returns enough results that it makes me think that it likely has a particular meaning.


texts: One day every month or for a day in every month?

texts:
I am an online seller at Amazon and I will put a note on my product. But how to create this sentence I am not 100% sure.
Ventilating one day every month will extend the life of the product.
or
Ventilating for a day in a month will extend the life of the product.
or how should I make this sentence in other way? I want to say that customers should ventilate the product one whole day in every month. Otherwise the product gets mold.


texts: Are the maximal noun phrases found by this code incorrect?

texts:
I was reading the accepted answer
to this question on natural language processing
In there an english sentence is given:
"Natural language processing (NLP) is a field of computer science, artificial intelligence, and computational linguistics concerned with the interactions between computers and human (natural) languages."
Now my grade school understanding of noun phrases suggests that the maximal noun phrases here are:
"Natural language processing (NLP)"
"field of computer science, artificial intelligence, and computational linguistics"
"interactions between computers and human (natural) languages"
But the maximal noun phrases that the code finds are:
"['natural language processing', 'nlp', 'computer science', 'artificial intelligence', 'computational linguistics']"
Is my intuition correct and this computer code is NOT GIVING maximal phrases or do I have an incorrect understanding of noun phrases.


texts: Need audio short stories wrote in all tenses

texts:
First I apologize for my weakness language

Second Sorry if this topic I put it in wrong place

I read in effortlessenglish course for Aj Hoge that the best way to learn Grammer not to study it but read more stories and every one story must be wrote in all tenses

so please anyone can give me links to download a lot of audio & test stories and every one of this stories are wrote in all different tenses

and thank you


texts: Short word that means "someone who takes notes"

texts:
I have stenographer, secretary and recorder already (but they don't seem to be precise enough) and I'm hoping to find a shorter word if possible please.

Some context, I'm a software engineer and the naming of entities within a program needs some precision. Since I was coding a simple example for a more non technical user I wanted a shorted and more precise word.


texts:
Is it?

If it depends on context, please provide some examples of offensive and not offensive usage ;)

What I have in mind is to say something like "The Zulu were a savage people compared to e.g. the United Kingdom".


texts: What does the sentence, "You could do worse than review some of Lenny Bruce's material." mean

texts:
I understand that it's an indirect form of compliment, also known as litotes. Here's a question already on that, "You could do worse than [x]"

I couldn't get my head around, if it's a suggestion to review some of Lenny Bruce's material, or it's just a compliment to some of Lenny Bruce's material.


texts:
In British English, my friend informed me that my use of the word cookie was incorrect in referring to a baked item having no chocolate bits in it. Instead the appropriate term would have to be biscuit, as cookie always required some form of chocolate to be inside the biscuit.

Is this assertion correct?

The Oxford dictionary only explains the meaning in American English, not British English: "A sweet biscuit."

In case this is relevant, the object in question was a slightly sweet ginger-biscuit/cookie.


texts: Ambiguity in assigning a clause to one of the two preceding clauses

texts:
Consider the sentence:

We use a transmitter to communicate with a device that is placed in the package using a new technology.

Here, the part "using a new technology" applies to "We use a transmitter to communicate with a device" -> We use a transmitter to communicate with a device using a new technology.
However, could it sound like "The device is placed in the package using a new technology"?
If so, how to avoid the ambiguity in the phrasing?


texts: A word for someone who "believes good and evil are actual things that exist"

texts:
I'm writing a story about a zombie apocalypse. There's a word that keeps slipping my mind, but I can't seem to describe the meaning well enough to find the word online, so I'm gonna post the passage it pertains to here.

  Princess sneers down at keith. "Oh come now, you don't find anything you see here impressive?"
  "I admit," he responds, his expressionless gaze never wavering. "what you've done here is incredible. But not impressive. I'm not all that impressed by evil."
  Princess doesn't respond right away, looking Keith over thoughtfully. Finally, she laughs, causing Meredith to jump. "Evil? Oh, girls, we have ourselves a (((.....???????.......word????)), isn't that cute?"

Princess in this context isn't amused that Keith doesn't like evil. She's amused that he believes good and evil are actual things that exist, and not man made concepts. The word I'm looking for would describe someone like Keith.

Any fellow writers out there wanna give me a hand? I would greatly appreciate it.

Perhaps I'm grasping at straws, looking for a word that does not exist...but i feel it should be there.

Perhaps it would help if i knew the word for someone who believes good and evil are subjective, or don't actually exist.


texts:
When writing a report to the parents of a student of his test score, you would write something like this:

  Your son's first math test was on Friday, his score is/was 96%.

"His score is 96%" seems correct, because at the current moment his score is the same 96%. On the other hand, "His score was 96%" seems to be more correct because you're writing about an event in the past, as if you were saying:

  He was awarded the score of 96%.

Which is the correct verb to use?


texts: What is a thing called that takes measurements?

texts:
A measurer? Doesn't pronounce well

A sensor? Doesn't work because there's a simple counterexample that a ruler takes measurements without being a sensor

Specifically, I'm looking for a word that can be used as a name for a software component that produces measurements.


texts: What natural mechanisms in English are used to avoid to mention the number of things and the gender of people?

texts:
Sometimes it is necessary to ambiguate things. The bottom line is that I don't lie.

Say, I have DOG. I don't want my neighbor to realize that I have only one dog, because if she realizes that I only have one, she will call me to find a partner for it, which I don't want, but I also don't want others to know that I have more than one dog, because some people may ask me to pay more charge for the town. If in the situation, people ask me a question: "What pets do you have?" I don't lie and don't want them to know wether I only have one dog or more dogs. I just have DOG generally. What could I say?

As for the gender of people, I don't want the listener to know if my friend is a girl or a boy, because if I use the pronoun "she" in the later context, the listener may say: "Oh, you have a girl friend now!" which I don't want to discuss about. If I use "he", the listener will advice me to make girl friend, which I also don't want to hear. I just want to express the concept of 3.SG.

Maybe the examples are not so realistic, but I often find it burdensome and awkward to have to meet up the mandatary grammatical requirements in a language in a conversation, because I sometimes want to avoid to expose wether something I only have one, or have not only one, and a friend which I have is a boy or girl. Besides, considering about politeness, I should also pay attention to these.

There are some mechanisms that are used for that, while not all of them are suitable. One of the largest problems is that it can works unnaturally. If I say "I like dog or dogs. Now I have a dog or some dogs, I am happy with it or them, but it or they eat so much." It is also unnaturally to say: "I have a new friend. The friend is very nice and helpful. Whenever I have questions, the friend explain to me in detail. Tonight I am going to dinner with the friend." Here I have mentioned "the friend" several times, which is very weird, and the listener would suspect that I am trying to conceal the gender of the friend. Furthermore, some written forms cannot be adapted to oral language. We do write "she/he", "(s)he" and so on, but at least in daily conversation, the forms are uncommon.


texts: Is anything/all that replaces the name of a place supposed to be capitalized?

texts:
In my case, I want to know whether both words or either word of "The Badlands" should be capitalized. "The Badlands" is specifically what people use now instead of the real name for a place.

-We live in Africa, but everyone calls it The Badlands now.
-I wouldn't know what happens in other places, I'm from The Badlands.
-We roam The Badlands day and night.
-We are the people of The Badlands.
-One day, I want to leave The Badlands.

Lastly, let us say I have always been using "the" before "badlands" but in a few sentences I switch to
-These badlands have always been my home.
or
-We will continue to roam these badlands.

To me, only the last two sentences don't need the capitalization but the rest do. Possibly not "the" but "Badlands" yes. Is this so?

Thanks in advance for the help.


texts: What's a good word/phrase for "something that may not lead to anything concrete"

texts:
I was passing a lead to a potential project to my manager via email. Because he's super busy, I wanted to say something like the following at the end of the email.

"I hope this doesn't add _______ to your busy schedule."

where ______ = something that takes time to follow up, but may not lead to anything concrete

What's a good word/phrase for that? Or is there a better way to end the email politely?

Thanks a lot


texts:
Without your awareness, a pickpocket will pull some object from your pocket or your bag.
What can we call somebody who does the opposite action, pushing something in your bag or your pocket?

Edit after comments

I asked this question to know if, in English literature or usual expressions, there were an expression which corresponded to this completely unusual behavior; it is the stage that corresponds in a scenario current from limning.
Putpockect put in a text where it is a matter of pickpocket, seems clear, and for no English-language


texts: What is word for "complaining without fully understanding"?

texts: I have a situation of a co-worker who keeps complaining about process without having a deep/fully understanding  of existing processes, some of things he complains already exist and some don't but with a little reading he can get that information, what is the word or a few words to describe this?


texts:
The context of the word groove here is musical groove. In youth slang of electronic music fans it means aesthetic pleasure while listening to music.

Can I use groove as a transitive verb? As in, "X is grooving me", or even on itself?


texts: A word to describe "work that is ready to be done"

texts:
I'm writing an application that generates a spec sheet for a publication.  At the top there will be a list of the various components (ads, articles, etc.) and how many there are for each status type:

Pending (pending content)
These elements are missing the content necessary to begin working on for a few different reasons:

It is an ad space that hasn't been sold yet
It is an ad space that has been sold, but the advertiser hasn't decided what to do with it yet
The content depends on something that hasn't happened yet (eg. an interview that's scheduled for some time in the future)
The copy text and/or photographs for the element haven't been provided yet

??? (ready to be worked on)
These elements are ready for placement into the publication, but they involve a bit of touching up.

If photographs are provided, only the best can be chosen to appear in the publication as space is limited
Some photos require alteration
A place must be found for elements without a predefined page number
If the element is an ad and the advertiser does not provide an ad design, we design an ad for them

If there's too much content for the number of pages that have been allocated to the publication but not enough to justify adding additional pages, then non-advertising elements need to be trimmed down.  If there's too little content or we've decided to add additional pages, then non-advertising elements need to be fluffed up a bit (extra photos chosen, pull-quotes added, etc.).
Published (laid out for publishing)
These elements are locked into the publication and cannot change.  Once all elements reach this state, it goes to the printer for publishing.

I'm looking for a word to say "these elements are ready to be worked on".  It would be extra awesome if it could be used interchangeably to say "mark this element as ready to publish".
The word their current application uses for this state is Approved.  The Approved state is really only relevant to ads where we're doing the ad design (ie. the advertiser has approved our ad design) and not a general label for all elements on the spec sheet.
Words I've considered:

Processing (makes sense as a label for a collection, but not much sense for changing the state of a single element)
Completed (sounds too similar to "Published")
Queued (sounds weird on a design document)

A single word would be best since spaces require extra work to deal with in the application, but if there's an exceptional short phrase I'm willing to make an exception.


texts: What is the point of using parentheses around only part of a word?

texts: I sometimes see parentheses around only part of a word. What does this mean? For example, someone typed the phrase "mission (im)possible".  I am unsure what the significance is of putting parentheses around (im).


texts: What is origin of the phrase "Don't say boo" or "Didn't hear boo"?

texts:
I've very infrequently heard the expressions:

  "Don't say 'boo' [to them]"

(meaning don't say anything, no matter how small or insignificant)

or

  "I didn't hear 'boo'"

(meaning I didn't get any kind of reply or acknowledgement, no matter how small or insignificant.)

I've looked online for the etymology of the phrase, but have come up empty.  I did find a small sample of pages where the phrase is used.  See:

http://www.gofigure.co.nz/doc/content/view/896/21/
https://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/say+boo
https://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/didn%27t+say+boo
https://forum.wordreference.com/threads/she-hasnt-said-boo.1223325/

Would anyone know the origin of this phrase?  Google Ngram shows "hear boo" appearing around 1910, then a resurgence in the late 1960s:

I'm aware that "boo" is a word used as an exclamation to scare someone.  But that seems opposite of the way "boo" is used in these expressions.  Maybe it's used because it's just a short word...but why that particular short word?


texts: One word describing making an uncharacteristically stupid mistake?

texts:
I am looking for one word to describe making a mistake that ordinarily should have been well within your ability to perform properly.

For example, if someone is considered especially gifted in perceptual organization, yet they fail to notice how to open an extremely simple lock, what type of mistake is that?

The connotation I'm looking for is something like a gross blunder, or an uncharacteristically stupid mistake.

The one word can be any type of word, i.e. noun, adjective, verb, etc. For example:

"You have made a (noun)."
"You just (verb)ed."
"That was very (adjective)."

Words like "gaffe", "blunder", "mistake", to me at least, don't indicate the extreme uncharacteristicness of the stupidity involved.


texts: Usage of *what* for *that* or *than* in BrE

texts:
Occasionally, when watching British television or movies, I've come across a construct that isn't used in AmE.
Using what as a replacement for that or than as a determiner or comparison.
Here is an example from the classic Monty Python Parrot Sketch:

C: Never mind that, my lad. I wish to complain about this parrot what I purchased not half an hour ago from this very boutique.
O: Oh yes, the, uh, the Norwegian Blue...What's,uh...What's wrong with it?
C: I'll tell you what's wrong with it, my lad. 'E's dead, that's what's wrong with it!

In AmE we would always say ... parrot that I purchased ...
I've also heard it used as a replacement for than in a comparison:

He thinks he's got bigger balls, what I got!

I'm guessing that in this case it's merely a colloquial deletion of than and should be than what I've got.
My question:  Is this considered a colloquial usage in BrE?  Or is it fairly standard in the Queen's English?
It seems to me that it might be colloquial based upon John Cleese's accent and intonation, but I don't have the ear for the British accent to pinpoint a regional vs. a socio-economic class of accent.


texts: Which meaning of "to conceive" came first?

texts:
"To conceive" has two primary meanings

to give birth
to originate (an idea)

Either one could be a metaphor for the other. MW just gave the etymology of the Latin parts without giving a history (and I don't have the OED available).

Which meaning came first?


texts: Looking for an expression that sounds worse than "cardboard" to describe blandness of a food

texts: How would you exaggeratedly express food that tastes nothing to sound even worse than "It tastes like cardboard"? I want a word that sounds beyond a average man can imagine. "Shit" would have its unique flavour, so I wouldn't put that in the list.


texts:
Which one sentence is correct: "For those who know" or "For those who knows"?
Google gives me about the same number (1 070 000 vs 783 000) of search results.


texts: Why does American English still write "glamour" with a "u"?

texts: Why is it that in American English the word glamour retains its u while humour, neighbour, and others have shed it compared with their British spellings?


texts: I've recently taken an interest in silent letters, and I discovered that the letter h in ghost was inserted by a faulty printer. On a search for similarly romantic etymologies, I ran into gherkin, from the archaic word gerkin, which stems from the Danish term gurken (according to Wiktionary and Etymonline). Is the story of the suddenly appearing h another such malfunction, folk etymology, or something else? Thanks.


texts:
Sentence: He walked to his friends that were in the store to talk to them.

Do I need a comma after "store"?

Thanks.


texts:
A copywriter just sent me over a copy deck that had the word subcopy to describe the text immediately after the page title. Up until now I had been referring to it as a description.
Example:

TITLE
Going to the park.
SUBCOPY
I can still remember the days of my youth when a trip to the park was ...
BODY
...

Is subcopy a word and does anyone have a better alternative?


texts: What is a good word for a tutor-student?

texts:
After asking this question on MathEducators.SE, I was struck by the absolute awkwardness of not having a word to refer to the student of a tutor. As you will notice, the question contains in its title the awkward phrase "tutor-student;" I would like to find a suitable replacement for that word in my day-to-day use [as I am a tutor!].

Question in short: What is the single-word equivalent for "tutor-student"?


texts: Is the word "elide" a word commonly used by English speakers, or is it a more esoteric word used in law or crossword puzzles?


texts:
I'm trying to label customer data with a word describing how typical they are. There is basically 3 possible values: typical, temporarily untypical, untypical. But I'm not sure if "untypical" is the correct word. Should it rather be "atypical" or "nontypical"? Does it matter if we're talking about technical things? Is there a difference for british and american english?

EDIT:

Considering the recent activity and interest, I'll give an explanation of what we're doing. We're trying to predict customer behaviour (product consumption per day). To do this, we have a long history of measured product consumption for every customer. When we get those values, we label them as either "typical", "atypical", "shortterm typical" (this is our solution to the question. I know I wrote "temporarily untypical" earlier, that was wrong, sorry).

When we predict future behaviour, we usually only use the "typical" values from the past. The "atypical" values are considered correct, but not a good information to predict future behaviour. The "shortterm typical" values are for special times. For example when a customer is in an economic crisis, his yesterday's product consumption will be good information to predict his product consumption for tomorrow; but it is not good information to predict his product consumption in 2-3 years.


texts: Use of sophisticated words (to muddy the waters?)

texts:
EXAMPLE:

In probability theory and statistics, variance is the expectation of the squared deviation of a random variable from its mean. Generally, it measures how far a set of (random) numbers are spread out from their average value.

Poker players and journalists use the word "variance", where people would normally use the word "luck" or "bad-luck". They use it inappropriately or with syntax errors (e.g. "it is due to variance", "you have to beat variance" etc.).

My take is, that this is due to players liking to downplay the effect of luck on poker and present it more as a skill based game. Luck has bad connotations with "gambling". Variance sounds more "scientific" and less "gambling".

My question is, can you give me other examples of sophisticated words being used inappropriately or where a more common word would get one's point across better? Why are people doing this?


texts: Word or phrase that means to ascertain whether someone is alive or dead

texts: Diagnose comes close to this meaning, but the result of a diagnosis is not usually a binary classification. I'd like a word or phrase that means to determine whether someone is alive or dead, or analogously, a word or phrase that means to determine whether a device is functioning or broken.


texts: How to ask a person whether his old question is still needs to be answered by me?

texts:
A person msg me a week ago with a question. How should I ask him whether the question is still needs to be answered?

Is your question still actual for you?
Is this question still valid?
Is your question still a current matter?

Etc

Thanks!


texts: Word for: feeling of relief in realizing you don't have a responsibility you thought you had

texts:
For example, waking up from a dream where you had an assignment due you didn't do but in waking you realize it was only a dream and you didn't actually have an assignment due, and feeling relief.

Looking for a word with this meaning to replace a word in a language other than English...

Edited


texts:
Which is correct?

...others are compensated thus.
...others are compensated thusly.

This page says 'thusly' is incorrect: http://www.thefreedictionary.com/thusly
However without the 'ly' is sounds wrong.
This page on adverbs didn't mention adverbs at the end of a sentence as being wrong. http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/adverbs.htm
It provides some examples:

A viewpoint adverb generally comes after a noun and is related to an adjective that precedes that noun:
A successful athletic team is often a good team scholastically.

I just think '...a good team scholastical' would be wrong. Why is 'thus' different?
This related question also says 'thus' over 'thusly', but the word was not at the end of a sentence. "Thus" vs. "Thusly"


texts: Understanding X/Understanding *of* X: What's the distinction?

texts:
Say we have two sentences that use understanding as a gerund:

Understanding how to open this door is crucial in the event of an emergency.
My understanding of physics is woefully inadequate.

What is the distinction between these two that calls for the inclusion of of in the second sentence but not in the first?
(I have an inkling that it's got something to do with the determiner, but I can't quite pin it down.)


texts: "Games creation" vs "Creation of games" and similar

texts:
I'm updating my CV and I want to list some software tools along with what have I used each tool for. However, I'm having some trouble with the following choices:

"Video games creation" vs "Creation of video games" vs "Creating video games".
"Vector graphics edition" vs "Edition of vector graphics" vs "Editing vector graphics".
"Audio recording and edition" vs "Recording and edition of audio" vs "Recording and editing audio" .

Which one sounds better or is more correct? Any rules or hints on when to use each option (specially between the first and second option of each case; the use of "of" is always complicated)?


texts: Is this "When doing something" sentence correct?

texts:
I was wondering if this sentence is okay:

  The algorithm is inspired by the indirect local communication among the
  individuals of a population of ants when (they are) searching for food
  resources.

If I omit 'they are', does it remains correct? Can I replace 'when' with 'while' or 'whereas'?


texts: I am a sponsor. Do I call the person I sponsor a "sponsee"?

texts: What is the best word to use to describe the person who I am sponsoring? Or is there such a word?


texts:
They made a party for you.

Sounds plain wrong to my ears. People don't "make a party" unless their intended meaning is that they attend it, much as "I made the train this morning." However, I lighted upon some very curious things on Google Books:

  "We came to Albany to be with my father. He made a party for us."
  "A party?"
  "A St. Patrick's Day party. He's out getting us a green cake." (source: The Main by Trevanian)

  Miss Crumm made a party for the entire school, and took us down to Norman's Falls and creek, about a half mile back into the woods, for a picnic. (source: Jew Boy in Goy Town)

Trevanian grew up in New York. Jew Boy in Goy Town, a story set in the Catskills New York, was also by an author seemingly from NY. I also found a post on WordReference where a user who claims to be from NY asserts that "make a party for my parents" is just as fine a usage as "throw or give a party" and another user states they've only heard it in New York and Toronto, contradicting everyone else.

So I wonder if this is a regional/dialectal usage peculiar to the New York area.


texts: What do you call someone who cares more about what someone else does than that person themselves?

texts:
I’m writing a story, but I need a word to describe somone in it who cares more about what their kid does than the child themself. Sorry if I messed up any grammar within that question.

Just to clarify, the 1st person cares more about the other’s actions than the other’s well being.

Once again I apologize for any incorrect grammar.