texts: Where would the commas go in a sentence like this?

texts:
That was especially detrimental to me, who desiring to become a professional athlete, always avoided eating those types of foods.

When I try to look at what the main sentence is, it seems like it would be "That was especially detrimental to me." since you couldn't say "That was especially detrimental to me always avoided eating those types of foods."  If that's the case, then the second comma would need to be removed.  But the sentence just sounds awkward to we without the second comma.

I'm kind of making the sentence up, so I changed it a bit, and let's say the person is referring to a quota he was given of having to eat at Mc Donalds every day.


texts: What's a word that describes an intent (only action)

texts: For example a person says "I want to call", but he doesn't mention the person he is going to call. So his intent is to call, but it's missing because an entity is missing (the person name/the number). So what do you call a --partial-- intent?


texts: Present perfect or simple present in relative clauses- British English

texts:
Might I pose yet another question on the (tedious?) subject of the contrast between present perfect and simple past? I have been asked if the following sentence should be:

"This is the report I prepared" or

"This is the report I have prepared".

The situational context would have been the start of a meeting, but I have no details as to what was said before the sentence at hand. However, I would suppose that the audience knew in advance of the data and expected the speaker to brief them about the document at some point.

My initial response was that the present perfect is not strictly necessary here. Or rather, as I told my student, the inflectional past "I prepared" is better in this relative clause.

Now in terms of the rules of thumb traditionally given to learners at intermediate level, actually there are more than enough reasons to justify the use of the present perfect: the time when the work was done is not specified, the report was obviously completed and there was now-relevance at the moment of speaking. My student was right to appear confused.

I have since been trying to rationalise my reaction and determine if mine was a valid intuition or just a knee-jerk, irrational response to bad pronunciation (as in "the report I HAVE prepared", the auxiliary being unduly marked) I know that in AE it is quite acceptable to use the simple past in many cases where BE prefers the present perfect. But I would like to know what the use of the preterite in the above case implies to BE speakers, if it doesn't sound downright wrong.
(This post has been edited to clarify question and context.)


texts: What's the English for "chiodo scaccia chiodo"?

texts:
I'm looking for a BrE or AmE saying that conveys the idea of the Italian saying "chiodo scaccia chiodo", that is "one nail drives out another". The only suggestion I could find is "one problem drives away another" which doesn't appear to be a common one.

Besides, the exact meaning of the Italian proverb is that an issue  ( often a heart affair) can be best solved by another issue of similar nature. For instance:

If your girlfriend has left you for someone else and you  are sad and depressed, the best solution to your problem is  a new girlfriend ( who will help you forget the old one), or if you lose your job you'll best solve your problem by finding a new similar one, but a new job will not solve the "girlfriend" problem and viceversa.

What is the English idiomatic expression used in the examples cited above?


texts: If a word can be both an adjective and a verb, can you still use the past principle as an adjective?

texts:
For example, the word "averse" could serve as both a verb and an adjective. Can I still use "aversed" as an adjective? Are "more aversed" and "more averse" the same thing?

For another example, are "more cleaned" and "cleaner" both good grammar and meaning the same thing?


texts: Word for "there is no meaning in life or meaning in anything, anything at all"

texts:
What is the word for the world view/attitude that "there is no meaning in life or meaning in anything, anything at all"?

I think the term starts with an e or something. I thought it was enigmatic or eglism or something but it's not.

The word isn't pessimistic.  The word is more like a religion/belief than opinion


texts: A single word meaning 'easy yet powerful'?

texts:
I'm looking for a single adjective to describe a piece of software which is very easy to use, but has powerful features for users who have access and knowledge.

It's for a succinct marketing statement. The use would be something like this:

[easy yet powerful] images with your comments.

Hope that's clear, makes sense and some one has a good word.


texts: What is the difference between a Summit and an Apex?

texts: Summit, Peak, and Apex are often interchanged. What is the difference between Summit vs Apex or Peak vs Summit


texts: Is the phrase "this will blow your and your friends’ minds." correct?

texts: I couldn't find this specific type of phrase on here yet. I'm especially not sure whether to use the plural in this phrase. Should I use your and your friends' -mind- or -minds-?


texts: What is the most apt word to describe sexual humour in a movie?


texts: Does it make sense to say "It beggared belief of the most astonishing nature"?

texts: Basically, I've been trying to find out whether saying "What he said beggared belief of the most astonishing nature" makes sense. I believe it doesn't as the phrase "beggars belief" already indicates that the object which beggars belief is very astonishing and surprising. However, I thought I would ask this just to make sure.


texts:
They live the quiet life on farms
They live the quiet life in farms

Which is correct?


texts: Is “left-handed compliment” considered offensive?

texts:
Is the phrase “left-handed compliment” considered offensive against left-handed people? Wikipedia and Wiktionary don't mention it being offensive, but I want to make sure.

I’m aware of “two left feet” to indicate that someone’s a bad dancer, but that’s describing yourself, and you may actually be right-handed, whereas “left-handed compliment” may be describing the speech of someone else who may or may not be right-handed.

I’ve also heard of sinister, but a person using the word could reasonably claim that they didn’t know that it is derived from left-handedness.


texts: A "conjecture on" or a "conjecture about"?

texts:
As a non-English scientist, the question bothers me. Maybe the answer depends on the context? Allow me to give a few examples. These are titles of a short text:

Is it better to say "A conjecture on the inner mechanisms of cells" or
"A conjecture about the inner mechanisms of cells"?

Is it better to say "A conjecture on the working of enzyme XYZ" or
"A conjecture about the working of enzyme XYZ"?

Is it better to say "A conjecture on the structure of DNA" or
"A conjecture about the structure of DNA"?

Is it better to say "A conjecture on deducing the molecular structure" or
"A conjecture about deducing the molecular structure"?

Is it better to say "A conjecture on the origin of chirality" or
"A conjecture about the origin of chirality"?

For those who do not believe it: Google gives only a few pages of hits when searching for the two expressions ("A conjecture about": 13 pages; "A conjecture on": 7 pages). The number is so small that no conclusion can be drawn. Also there seems to be no discussion of the issue anywhere on the web.
Update: For usage statistics, look at https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=a+conjecture+concerning%2Ca+conjecture+respecting%2Ca+conjecture+regarding%2Ca+conjecture+on%2Ca+conjecture+about&year_start=1800&year_end=2019&corpus=26&smoothing=3&direct_url=t1%3B%2Ca%20conjecture%20concerning%3B%2Cc0%3B.t1%3B%2Ca%20conjecture%20respecting%3B%2Cc0%3B.t1%3B%2Ca%20conjecture%20regarding%3B%2Cc0%3B.t1%3B%2Ca%20conjecture%20on%3B%2Cc0%3B.t1%3B%2Ca%20conjecture%20about%3B%2Cc0#t1%3B%2Ca%20conjecture%20concerning%3B%2Cc0%3B.t1%3B%2Ca%20conjecture%20respecting%3B%2Cc0%3B.t1%3B%2Ca%20conjecture%20regarding%3B%2Cc0%3B.t1%3B%2Ca%20conjecture%20on%3B%2Cc0%3B.t1%3B%2Ca%20conjecture%20about%3B%2Cc0


texts:
I am trying to convey the following idea:

  "fruit species of a kind that people commonly eat the fruits
  themselves, as well as drink the juice extracted from them (for example, grapes and apples)."

However, no matter how much I try, the wording sounds extremely awkward. Can anyone suggest an elegant way of writing this? Thanks.


texts: Is the use of "among" correct in expressions like "talking/discussing/celebrating among themselves"?

texts:
I am not really sure about the use of among, so I have got these expressions which I am not sure are correct:

  They were talking among themselves and were completely ignoring me.
  These are Giants fan celebrating among themselves their World Series triumph.

I know I am stretching it too much in the second example to include among.


texts:
I wonder that whether there is a special reading way pertaining to American or British.

For example,

  Figure 12.3 shows a paused video touched on in Section 2.10 with the
  width, height, and duration showing.

Is Figure twelve point three shows a paused video touched on in Section two point ten right?


texts:
Backstory (skip this if you want): I've been programming in JavaScript for
a while, and for the longest time I've been using a database system called
"MongoDB". I come from Australia and I believe I have been preconditioned by my
culture (along with most of my friends) to pronounce it the first way in the list below. Hopefully you can understand my confusion.

The real question: I have heard it said these ways (in order of frequency):

Mong-oh-dee-bee
Mon-go-dee-bee
Both of the above, but with 'dee-bee' replaced by 'deb'

Which is correct?


texts: Lowercase "moon", "sun" and "solar system"?

texts:
From a grade school textbook:

  Good morning, children. I'm an astronomer. I study the stars and the
  planets. They're amazing!

  We live on the Earth. The Earth is a planet. It rotates all the time.
  The Earth takes 24 hours to rotate completely.

  There are eight planets in the solar system and they all go round the
  sun. Some planets go quickly and some planets go slowly. The Earth
  takes 365 days to go round the sun.

  At night you can see the moon and the stars. The moon goes round the
  Earth. The moon takes 28 days to go round the Earth.

  In the day you can see the sun. The sun is a very big star. It's 100
  bigger than the Earth! It's the only star you can see in the day.

  [ Stella Maidment and Lorena Roberts, Happy Street, New Edition,
  Class Book 2, Oxford University Press, published 2009, 2013, 2014 ]

This work may contain some astronomical errors, but that is not the theme now. I've highlighted some instances where two bodies appear in the same sentence, including "sun" and "moon", and where only one takes a capital letter (Earth). I'm reading this Q&A (in particular this answer) on the use of definite articles with earth/moon/sun; the Wikipedia article on capitalization has a reference to the Mayfield Handbook of Technical and Scientific Writing, which suggests to:

  Capitalize astronomical terms such as the names of galaxies,
  constellations, stars, planets and their satellites, and asteroids.
  However, the terms earth, sun, and moon are often not capitalized
  unless they appear in a sentence that refers to other astronomical
  bodies.

  The sun is an ordinary star. Venus and Earth differ significantly
  in the composition of their atmospheres.

  [ Mayfield Handbook of Technical and Scientific Writing, section
  9.1 ]

Is capitalization preferred with Sun, Moon and Solar system, as in the the star, the satellite, and the body containing them; is it generally accepted to give specific consideration (as does the MHoTaSW) to cases where more than one name appears in the same sentence, and to prefer lowercase when there is only one?


texts: The use of the genitive in: We had a good time despite "its" raining

texts:
"We had a good time despite its raining."

Why does the genitive pronoun not work here, yet in the majority of examples we have a choice between accusative and genitive pronouns:-

  We had a good time despite him being ill. OK

  We had a good time despite his being ill. OK

  We had a good time despite them arguing. OK

  We had a good time despite their arguing. OK

  We had a good time despite it raining. OK

  We had a good time despite its raining. NOT OK.

And what exactly is "it"?

Also am I correct in thinking that their arguing is a noun phrase, whereas them arguing is a non-finite subordinate clause? And if that is true then with a sentence like "We had a good time despite arguing" what is despite arguing? Is it an NP or a non-finite clause? Or is it a Schroedinger's cat?


texts:
Example one:

  Once they give their money, that's it, they don't want to hear it anymore.

  Once they give their money, that's that, they don't want to hear it anymore.

Example two:

  Today's lesson will only cover the introduction about the course. And That's it

  Today's lesson will only cover the introduction about the course. And That's that

Are the above examples with That's that correct? I feel that That's it and That's that has a little difference in connotation and That's it has a larger arrays of meaning and can be used in more situations that the other, is that true?


texts: What is the origin and meaning of the term "Butt Buddies"?

texts:
Today, in the midst of chatting on other SE sites, the term "bum buddies" was used. Some other users took this to be offensive, saying that it was just a slightly less egregious version of "butt buddies". I was not offended by the term, but others informed me that it has homosexual connotations.

I always remember using the term to refer to close friends, almost as a synonym of "bosom buddies".

Can someone guide as the correct usage (so I can avoid using inappropriate terms in the future)? If there is any history on the term that could be useful as well, please include it.


texts: Is the "live" in "He only lived a few days after the accident" intrasitive or transitive?

texts:
An example sentence from the Cambridge Dictionary:

[I] He only lived a few days after the accident.

[I] means "intransitive verb". He (subject) + lived (verb) + a few days (noun).
What part of speech is a few days?
From the Longman dictionary:

number 5

way of life[intransitive always + adverb/preposition, transitive]
to have a particular type of life, or live in a particular way

used 'transitive verb' like 'She lives a very busy life.'
From the ELU question Adjective pluralization:

She is 16 year old.

'16 years' as acting as an adverb.
My questions are:

In "He lived a few days.", is a few days an object (noun) or an adverb?
How is it different from "He lived for a few days."?
"I walked ten miles." Number + measurement — how can I deal with 'part of speech'?


texts: Does thoroughly fit well in this sentence? Is it appropriate to use it in a formal sentence?


texts: "Late to the party" vs. "late for the party"

texts:
I've heard both versions, usually in similar contexts. Which one is correct or more correct — or more prevalent — in the USA?

  He: This deal ends at 7 p.m.
  She: Sucks, I am late to the party.


texts: Is there a word or phrase for "when someone tells you to do something and you're going to do but they continuously tell you to do it"

texts:
There are a lot of people like this. They tell you to do something, you say OK and you're going to do it (in a short time like 10 minutes or so), but if they see that you are not doing immediately what they told you, they will continuously tell you "do it", "do it", "do it". Like, every 10 seconds, they tell you to do it and annoy you so much so you do it.
Is there a word or phrase to express that in English? I only want to know a phrase for telling again and again continuously.
Example: My uncle told me to bring him tea while I was reading a book. I was in the middle of a paragraph when he told me that. I told him "OK, bringing". Then I continued reading, just wanted to finish the paragraph, my uncle says again "bring the tea". And he continued to say that after every 10 seconds. I had not finished the paragraph and he said that so many times that he made me stop reading and bring him tea.
Is there a word or phrase for that?


texts: I was sitting beside the road and I saw a bus coming from AHEAD or FRONT

texts:
I was sitting beside the road and I saw a bus coming from ahead

I was sitting beside the road and I saw a bus coming from the front

My friend: Which direction is the bus coming from?
Myself: From the ahead or front?
Is the phrase in bold not grammatical?


texts: How are "might" and "may" used in the past?

texts:
OK, we all know that epistemic modals such as may and might can be interchanged to express possibility in present & future

For example: he might be late, and he may be late are almost the same. Source

But might is also the past form of may in indirect speech:

For example: He said he might be late = He said "I may be late"

I had some feeling that people lived 100 or 200 or 300 years ago may have used may and might differently from what we are using nowadays.

I would guess, in the past, ‘he might be late’ means ‘it was possible that he is late’ and  ‘he may be late’ means ‘it is possible that he is late’ The word might expresses it was possible and may expresses it is possible, but I may be wrong.

I found this information in this book "Grammatical Change in English World-Wide"

The book says:

"something might happen" in the past (maybe 1000 or 200 or longer time ago) (might + inf) is equivalent to "something might / may have happened" (might / may + have +PP) in Modern English.

Q: So, how were might and may used in the past?


texts:
I recently found myself reading a phase with one of the terms. It sounded wrong.

Which one is correct/better?

1) Regardless, it is advisable to follow X guidelines
2) Regardless, it is advised to follow X guidelines

I did some searching on the matter, but couldn't come up with anything solid.


texts: Is starting an email with "As I told you on Monday" considered condescending?

texts:
Take an email providing a followup on something starting like this:

  As I told you on Monday, ....

Does this generally sound a bit condescending? To me it implies that you are repeating something because the recipient ignored it or didn't understand it or you are sick of waiting for a reaction.

So personally I'd write something like "As discussed/mentioned on Monday", but I'm curious if I'm just interpreting it in a negative way of if the wording above really does have a negative connotation.


texts:
Microsoft Office is claiming a statement I recently made is a fragment, however I do not agree with its opinion.

  Bob, to my knowledge that resource is
  currently unsupported.

Can anyone provide any insight into whether this truly is a fragment or not?


texts: I'm reading a book titled "Map Is Not Territory" by J. Z. Smith. And in the book, it says "This suggests, without arguing direct LITERARY DEPENDENCE, a community and continuity of tradition." (p.31). Can you teach me what this "literary dependence" mean?


texts: Using superlatives for comparing two things

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  Use of the superlative when only two items are present

Is it strictly incorrect to use the superlative when comparing only two things?

  i.e. I have two sisters. Mary is the
  eldest?

Should it always be the comparative?

  i.e. I have two sisters. Mary is the
  elder?


texts:
What do they mean? How should I use them? Which one is more appropriate to what context?

I was talking to a colleague of mine and we couldn't get to a consensus about what should we say when referring to drinks, for example:

  A lemonade is made of lemons.

or

  A lemonade is made with lemons.


texts:
Probably that is extremely strange question , but can I change pharasal verbs by tenses ?

There is no something else information at the most popular resources .

For example , break down

Past  Simple --- broke down

Present Simple  --- break down

Future Simple --- will break down

If true , what the forms ? (Simple Tenses , Future - in - Past , Passive Voice)


texts:
In each below, should there be an intervening comma between the two repeated words?

That’s what makes Tony Tony. (what makes Tony who he is.)
That’s what makes her her. (Same logic.)
That’s what makes him him. (Same logic.)

Thanks.


texts: Using a present progressive verb as a conjugation substitute in a compound sentence?

texts:
I realize this is mostly used in colloquial English. I am not much of a grammarian.
I have seen examples of this sentence structure more and more frequently in formal writing. Is it acceptable? If not, how do I re-phrase it to make it acceptable?

  The ventral surface of the (species) lacks uniformity, being slightly blue in larvae and deep red with spots in adult individuals.


texts: a grammar question : to be in adjective clause

texts:
Please explain the grammar of this sentence:

  She was the first woman to be nominated for the national prize.

Why do we use "to be" here? And is it necessary?


texts: How do I say that someone lives in a place that is away from the current place?

texts:
Here's the sentence I want to say : My parents stayed at my sister's for a few days before returning/leaving _________.

With returning, I could say 'home' or 'to their place', but that does not convey that they're not from around here.

With leaving, I could say 'town' or just the name of the current place, but I want a general way of conveying it. What if I don't want to name the place, or it is the country side, not town?

I'm not committed to using returning/leaving. Suggestions that remove these words altogether are welcome too.

Edit: To rephrase, I'm looking for a way for out-of-towners to say that they're going back.


texts: What does "not XXX in the sense of it does not XXX" mean?

texts:
This could be a weird example, but consider the following statement:
"She is not cute in the sense of being a cat."
Which of the following should this sentence be understood as?
"She is not (cute in the sense of being a cat)." i.e. She is cute, and moreover, not just cute being any random cat--indicating that she stands out to be cute even among her kitty counterparts. In this case, "in the sense of" is only modifying "cute" but not the "NOT".
OR
"She is (not cute) (in the sense of being a cat)." i.e. As a cat, she is NOT cute. Shame on her.

For instance, I see a professor saying this in his handout:
"In fact, the model is not identified in the sense that data cannot distinguish
between model A and B."
In this case he is clearly using "in the sense that" as a "because" clause explaining how this model is "NOT identified".
The fact that there's another "not" in the subordinate clause just made this sentence even more confusing.
This kind of sentences can really take me a while to understand, which makes me wonder if that's my fault as a non-native speaker or if there actually exists ambiguity to some extent.

Is this a common way to use "in the sense of/that" to modify the entire negative independent clause?


texts: Is the phrase "...could only know by then" correct?

texts:
He told me he would give me the answer after the trip. Was there
  something he could only know by then?

I don't know why but it sounds a little weird to me. Anyway, to make sure I searched on Google. As you can see, there's only 1 result.

Did I misspell something? Or use a wrong word?


texts: What's the English equivalent for the French expression "veille technologique"?

texts:
In French, the expression veille technologique means the act of following the current trends in technology. Is there such a phrase in English?

I can only think of expressions like keeping up to date or keeping current with technology, but find them too wordy and colloquial.


texts: Meaning of the phrase "Educational pearl"

texts: I've found that phrase "Educational pearl" on this page and have no idea what it means. Can someone explain it for me please?


texts: Is there an English expression from Latin for "in writing", "written", etc?

texts: Is there a Latin expression that is now used in English for "written"? For example, "Here is my request in written form." - to replace "in written form"? Or, "We took written notes.", you get the idea.


texts: What is the name of this construction "something-o-something"?

texts: In the phrase "franco-prussian", what is the name of this construction using the contraction "something-o-something"?


texts: Which one to use "a major part of" or "the major part of"?

texts:
When do we use "a" or "the" before "major part of" or just "part of"?
as in the examples of:
"I use the major part of my energy on studies"
"I use a major part of my energy on studies"


texts: Did the way quotation marks are used, change at some point, in the past 100 years?

texts:
I hope this question is allowed - I'm considering it question from an etymological standpoint :)

I have noticed that on vintage signs / memorabilia / magazines, phrases or words are quoted, seemingly for no reason. They almost appear to be used how we would use an underline or exclamation point today, something like the below (though usage varies):

  I hate "doing laundry"

Anecdotally, I've noticed older folks (60+) occasionally using quotation marks in this same fashion on social media. It always stumps me, as I've grown up always reading them as either (obviously) demarcation of a quote, or as mocking/scare quotes.

I've added some reference images below. For the second one, look to the bottom right corner.


texts: What is the meaning of the suffix "don" in town names such as Wimbeldon, Huntingdon?

texts: What is the meaning of the suffix, "don", in towns such as Wimbeldon, Huntingdon?


texts:
When I attend a web conference, sometimes I'm too lazy to plug in a headphone. Because of this, I usually find that it is difficult to hear what people on the other side say, and so this problem put me into an awkward situation that forces me to eventually plugin my headphone.
My question is 'what should I say in order to inform people on the other side that I can hear better now when I finish plugging the headphone.' I want to say something similar to 'I can hear clearly now'. But after checking it with the dictionary, 'clearly' is used for a writer (write clearly) or speaker (speak clearly) rather than a reader or listener.


texts: Has “Fat Belt” been established as a metonymy for the Midwest? Doesn’t it sound derogatory to the Midwesterners?

texts:
I found the word, “Fat Belt” in the headline of the article in Time magazine (October 11 issues), titled “Salad restaurant chains sprouting up even in the ‘Fat Belt.’” The article reads:

  “Salad restaurants are thriving on the East Coast, but a novelty in
  the Midwest — what investors call the fat belt,” John. A. Bornoty, a
  42-year-old entrepreneur, tells the Detroit News. “Our focus groups
  told us people are craving a fresh, healthy menu at affordable
  prices.”

Urban dictionary (though I know it is unpopular among EL&U users for the lack of credibility) explains “fat belt” as the word describing the status;

“It is when some girl is wearing pants (i.e. jeans skirt) and thereis a roll of fat hanging over the edge. This gives the illusion that the fat is actually a belt...... something very gross.” However, this definition appears to be irrelevant to “Fat belt” appearing in the above article and used as the metonymy of the Midwest.

Does ‘fat belt’ mean the geographic belt of areas where the ratio of obese people is significantly high?

Is it a relatively new word? Doesn’t the word carry a smack of derogatory implication? Can I use it lightly just like the Bible Belt, the Corn Belt, and Rust Belt in front of the Midwesterners?


texts:
I am creating an application where the admin will have the ability to mark some items as featured or if the item is already featured he can switch back to unfeatured but by unfeatured I does not mean what dictionary says below but I mean normal. So what is the proper term for that?

  Definition of unfeatured. 1 obsolete : having ill-formed features : deformed. 2 : lacking features : unvaried. an unfeatured wilderness.

Image:


texts:
A friend has asked me if they can say: I said those words on the hoof.

It doesn’t sound right to me as I’m used to hearing it with eating: I had to grab lunch on the hoof.

Is it correct, and if so, why?


texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  Framing a question to which the answer is an ordinal number
  How should I phrase a question that must be answered with an ordinal number (e.g., the third prime)?

If the answer is

  This is my 6th bid

what will the question be?


texts:
Conversation as below
Friend said he doesn’t like looking at pictures or videos of himself
So I commented
“ maybe my edit ( I made a video of him diving ) isn’t Good enough !?
He replied , “ definitely not your edit”.
What does that mean ?
Does it mean it has nothing to do with my edit or he just doesn’t like Looking at pictures


texts: Where to use these words exactly: "simple," "simplicity"

texts: I just want to know how to use these words and in which context: simple and simplicity.


texts: Looking on thesaurus.com I can find only synonyms for "desert" with negative connotations. Are there any synonyms with positive connotations? Specifically, something that invokes the sense of clean desolation and unspoiled nature.


texts: Etymology of "history" and why the "hi-" prefix?

texts: According to Etymonline, history comes from the same root as story. If they are from the same word, where does hi- come from? Is it just because of the English habit of taking names from other languages verbatim or is there something more to it?


texts: Is "helter skelter" a word or two words or two non-words? What do we call it?

texts:
The phrase "helter skelter" is strange because you don't see the word "helter" or "skelter" used anywhere, and when I searched Merriam-Webster dictionary for either word it links me to the definition of "helter skelter."

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/helter-skelter

Since helter and skelter are separated by either a space or a hyphen whenever it's used, it seems like a "compound word," but compound words are made up of other words, whereas "helter skelter" is made up of two "non-words" (for lack of a better word (so far)).

What do we call this?  Is there a term for a word like "helter" that is only a word when it's paired with another, "skelter?"


texts: About the usage of whether to.....or not

texts:
I would like to know whether the following three sentences are grammatically correct or acceptable.

Whether to kill him or to keep him is up to you.
I have to decide whether to kill him or to keep him.
Whether to kill him or to keep him, we have to beware of the consequence.


texts: Does anyone know the origins of "lucks a mussy" ( phonetic as I don't know correct spelling).

texts: My mother used the saying lucks a mussy ?correct spelling and I have always wondered about it origins and meaning.  I think it means Lord have mercy but am not sure on this.


texts: Comma use: Finally, only 10% of patients, being not admitted to hospital care, received rehabilitation

texts:
Finally, only 10% of patients, being not admitted to hospital care, received rehabilitation.

Finally, only 10% of patients, not admitted to hospital care,
received rehabilitation.

How should I use commas within the aforementioned sentence?


texts:
Is this usage of by itself grammatical? I know it's OK in the following
sentences:

Will the dog be safe left in the car by itself? The door seemed to open
all by itself. The computer shuts off by itself if you don't use
it. The house stood by itself at the end of the street.

But in all these cases we've got a subject doing something by itself
whereas in our sentence by itself refers to it which is not a
subject but a direct object. Shouldn't it be rephrased: It cannot be
drunk by itself or It cannot be being drunk by itself?


texts: I wonder whether these terms can be used interchangeably and what distinctions might be made between them. It seems to me etymologically that kindness is more related to belonging and the behaviour of care one gives to those that are like us, benevolence may be closer to goodwill than kindness as its roots are about wanting the good for the other ? Thank you


texts: What's the meaning of using 'OF' in the beginning of this sentence?

texts:
Any detailed meaning of using 'OF' in the beginning of this sentence? Or we actually can substitute 'OF' for other articles without changing any details?

Thanks in advance!


texts:
I would like to know a couple of words so special about soccer even Google can't help me.

What is the "gate" called (if you make the score, you kick the ball into the "gate". We call it "gate" (maybe door or front door) in Hungarian language. Maybe "net" or "goal" in English? Which is the right word?
What do you say if somebody makes a score? (We say "He made a goal", "kicked in the goal", "kicked the ball into the gate", etc., but we rarely say "he made a score", because scores are for the final standing of the match, so teams make scores (0, 1 or 3) not players.
We have the word labdabiztosság which is a special word in soccer to show the player's ability to be able to secure the ball and not lose it against the enemy easily. If somebody is labdabiztos it means he is not easy to dodge and have the ball taken away from him, so the ball is "secured" for his team. The literal translation is "ball security" (e.g. "This player is ball-secure".), but I don't think that's the phrase I'm looking for.
Another word is gólveszélyes which means "how dangerous this player is for making a score, what the chance is that this player makes the score if he is in the right position (in front of the 'net')". Word-for-word my best shot is "goal-dangerous" or "score-dangerous".

How do you say these soccer skills and phrases in English?


texts:
And in those 10 years I can say that I may have learned a thing or twelve.

What's the meaning of "learned a thing or twelve"? Is it an idiom?


texts: Is it correct to say ‘not that urgent’ to someone who is offering urgent appointment thinking that there is something urgent?


texts: What is the etymology of the word teeter totter?

texts:
Seesaw and teeter totter are two names for the same piece of playground equipment.  I grew up using the word teeter totter mostly, but was aware of seesaw, as it was used in books.

I was wondering whether it is a regional difference or a generational difference.

From thefreedictionary, I found that there are even more terms used for this equipment: tilt or a tilting board,  teedle board,  dandle or dandle board. Teeter or teeterboard, and  teeter-totter, which is probably the most common term after seesaw.  So it is indeed a regional term,
which also explains why Google Ngrams has no recorded use of teeter totter in British English:
Link to Ngram for seesaw teeter totter in British English

Yet, if seesaw was in use since before 1800, how and why did teeter totter come into use seemingly all of a sudden just before 1920?
Link to Ngram for seesaw teeter totter in American English

Link to Online Etymology Dictionary for seesaw


texts: Would it be okay to use 'who' in this sentence twice?

texts:
"By a commander called an induna who reported directly to Chaka" or " By a commander who is known as an induna who reported directly to Chaka."?
By a commander who was called an induna who reported directly to Chaka.


texts:
"To have" seems to fill a lot of different needs in the English language, apart from its literal meaning of possessing something.

It's an integral part of perfect and perfect progressive verb tenses: I have run, I had run, I had been running, I will have been running, etc.

It also indicates need: I have to eat, I had to leave (or is this another tense of some sort?)

This leads to forms of to have showing up multiple times in a sentence, and yet it makes perfect sense: I had to have had at least three apples.

How did this come about?  I've noticed avoir and tener also have these same uses in French & Spanish, respectively.


texts:
Which is correct?

  How much is the two fares?

  How much are the two fares?


texts: How are English forms of Irish names used?

texts:
I've noticed that many Irish people use both their English and Irish versions of the name.

For example, Moya Brennan, born Máire Ní Bhraonáin

Can someone tell me what is the official status of these 2 different names?
Do both the names appear in the passport/ID or just the Irish, thus making the English variation an unofficial name used in English context?
Would Máire change her name to Moya is she would move to England?
Are Irish traditional names still in use today, or does the anglicized form prevail in modern times?

Thank you.


texts: Should "hens" (as in a hen party) be capitalized?

texts: "Love from your hens" or "Love from your Hens". Unsure of weather to capitalize the word hens when discussing a group of girls from a hen party.


texts: 'Would you prefer for me to do X?' or 'Would you prefer me to do X?'—which is better in English and why?

texts:
For example, is it better to say

  Would you prefer for me to come in today or tomorrow?

or

  Would you prefer me to come in today or tomorrow?

What is the grammatical reason for including the 'for' after 'prefer'—or for leaving it out?


texts: Would the term "guy" to refer to a man be used in the "30s?

texts: I'm writing a story that takes place in 1940. Would the dialog include the word guy to refer to a man?


texts:
Normally, if a word is generally uncountable ("English vocabulary"), but sometimes it becomes countable to convey particularity or variety ("the many vocabularies of various English dialects"), it'll be labeled as [U, C] in the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary, or as [uncountable or countable] in the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English. The noun leave is, thus, only uncountable, as it's only labeled as [U] and [uncountable]. I even consulted Wiktionary, and it's still labeled as uncountable, with no plural form given. And yet, this Wikipedia page employs a host of singular and plural forms of leave of absence.

So could leave of absence ever be countable and take a singular form as a leave of absence and a plural form as leaves of absence?


texts: Between 5 and 10 means: “5 and 10” or “6 and 9”?

texts: Please enter between 5 and 10 characters.


texts: What is the grammatical function of the word "Go" in this sentence spoken by astronauts?

texts: I've recently come across this strange sentence, which I believe is a command spoken by NASA astronauts, "Apollo, you are Go" and it sounds grammatically incorrect since "go" is a verb and not an adjective, it's unlikely to be an abbreviation or even a grammatical mistake as the people working there must be well-educated. So, please enlighten me on this. Thanks in advance.


texts: "In face of all that" to start a conclusion

texts: I googled and looked up for sentence examples and similar expressions but found nothing, so this is the last place I'm asking this. Does "In face of all that" work as an alternative to "In conclusion"? Could anyone suggest other ways to say that?


texts: What tense is "You were unable to do it."?

texts:
"You were unable to do it."

Can you describe the tense of this sentence? Is it Past Progressive?


texts: What does it mean when someone says:"It's a little more than that" and when we can say it.


texts: How to Correctly Imply Possession for the Surname "Camus"

texts:
My surname is Camus. Spoken by the French it is correctly pronounced "Camu" (loosing the "s"), but spoken by the English it is all too often pronounced  "Camus" using the "s". This leads to a slight change in the way one might imply possession.

In all articles written on Albert Camus, I see "Camus's" used to illustrate possession, but here I wonder what is correct; if you are French you would choose the pronunciation /is/ over /izis/ (ie. "Camus'"), but if you were English, you would choose /isiz/ over /iz/ (ie. "Camus's").

Am I right to suggest that both of /isiz/ and /iz/ these are acceptable depending on the choice of pronunciation of the name itself? Or is there a "right way"?


texts:
"I wish I could just sit here and lay down beside you forever."

Shouldn’t it be "lie down" instead of "lay down" here?  As we know that the verb following " could" should be of base form. But, here "lay down" is past form of "lie down".

Besides, if we consider "lay down" in present tense it means " laying egg" or "laying something"-  meaning not consistent with the context.

I  want to if the sentence is correct.


texts: Is there a contraction for non-exclusive or?

texts:
I find that often, in technical writing, I want to specify that or is non-exclusive: or ≠ xor; or = and/or.

(Stylistically, "and or" is terrible and gets tiresome quickly;)

As an example of the type of ambiguity that can arise, see I need clarification on the use of the word “either”.

If one has established an "xor" in natural language, "or" can be assumed to be non-exclusive can be assumed, but that may not be explicit enough.

Has attempted to introduce, even unsuccessfully, a contraction for "non-exclusive or" that relates symbolically to xor?

--------------------------------------------

Russel & Whitehead used "v" as a symbol.  [See: Symbol for 'Or']

See also: Does “or” mean both conditions?


texts: I want to know how to correctly use me and I or you and I in a sentence

texts:
I would like to understand how to you the word me and I in a sentence using correct grammar.

The difference between you and me :  The difference between me and you
The difference between you and I  :  The difference between me and I


texts: What is the name of this system of proof correction marks?

texts:
I remember in English classes when my teacher had used this sort of system when correcting essays in the class.

I never asked her about what it was and just complied and made the revisions to my essay according to the markings.

I'm quite interested in this subject now—I've illustrated a reference of it and linked to it below. Can anyone tell me the name of this system, and where can I learn more about it?


texts: What is the grammatical function of "open" in "break open"?

texts:
In a sentence like the following, what part of speech is open.

  The students broke open the hostel gate.

The M-W dictionary states "break open" is a phrasal verb. And the dictionary defines a phrasal verb as:

  a phrase (such as take off or look down on) that combines a verb with
  a preposition or adverb or both and that functions as a verb whose
  meaning is different from the combined meanings of the individual
  words.

Then, is "open" an adverb here? If not, what is it?


texts: What does it mean by "Is that still a thing"?

texts:
Someone asks "I want to know about your girl friend. Is that still a thing?" to his friend.

What does he exactly ask about? I don't understand. Please help me understand.


texts: Is "Be ye..." subjunctive or imperative?

texts:
In Early Modern English, the second person plural (singular) declensions were:

Nominative: - Ye (Thou)
Oblique: - You (Thee)
--and--
Genitive: Your (Thy & Thine) & Yours' (Thine)

In Language there are exceptions to rules, or what-have-you, but it is to my understanding that "Be ye" is subjunctive, not imperative, unless it is a different form of subjunctive. Obviously in English Bēon was the original infinitive which evolved into "be," before the north received "Earon" from Latin, however the North readopted "be" for subjunctive. In my thinking, "Be ye" and "Be thou" would mean the same thing: subjunctive, e.g.:
"Be ye good and good should come/be thou good and good should come" would both be the same as saying "If thou beest good, good should come --" it may not, but it is an obligatory return vs. all saying: "Be you good and good should come/Be thee good and good should come --" it may not, but it is not an obligatory return regardless of how you act.
Obviously this is not the best example for subjunctive, but my question is clear -- one is imperative and one is saying if you choose to act a way then "x" will happen...


texts:
"James Watt invented the steam engine, which substituted machine power for human power."
I've read this phrase, and thought "that can't be worded right, it ought to be 'substituted human power for machine power,' as in 'substitute this for that."
Is the phrase worded correctly, or am I gone and crazy?


texts: A verb meaning "did not", other than "omitted" and without a sense of "failed to"?

texts:
I need a verb to express the sense that a person did not do something, but without suggesting that he tried and did not succeed (so not "failed"), or that he had a list of things to do and missed one out, or that he otherwise intended to do it but forgot (so not "omitted"). The point of view needs to be objective.

It could go for example in the following sentence:

  "He ____ to show any of the signs of genuine amusement, such as eye wrinkles".


texts: meaning of "mask out" in screen printing

texts:
I'm having a hard time translating a passage about screen printing.

  For screen prints, mesh (originally silk) is stretched tautly across a
  frame. An image is glued or otherwise affixed onto the mesh to mask
  out compositional areas...
  Areas masked out by compositional shapes are nonporous and obstruct
  the ink through the mesh.

I looked up the dictionary and it says the phrase to mask out means "to conceal or cover part of something from view." So do the verb "mask" and the phrase "mask out" mean the same?
I searched every website related to screen printing to figure out the basic concept of screen printing, but I don't still get it. And a friend of mine told me that since the particle out is after mask, mask out means "to cover except the compositional area." Is he correct?

For example, if I want to get a star print on my t-shirt using screen printing, how can I get the star-shaped print by masking out the compositional area(=a star shape)?
Maybe in here "the compositional area" does not indicate the image(the star) itself, but the background area except the star shape? I'm getting confused..
Or mask out means "to mask except the star shape"?
I want to understand the meaning of mask out and compositional areas (Are they shapes or backgrounds?) more clearly.
Thanks...


texts:
What does "let her down" mean in the song below:

  She knows, she knows
  That I never let her down before.


texts: I am trying to find out if there is any connection between 'gopher' wood, the wood from which Noah is supposed to have built his ark and 'coffer', in the sense of a strong wooden chest. Gopher seems to be derived from 'kophein' the Greek for basket and an ark is also a strong box as in the ark of the covenant ('arca', 'arcere' etc.). Any thoughts?


texts: Is there a "left-right" counterpart to "upside down", "inside-out" and "front to back"?

texts:
(Source: Merriam-Webster)

Inside out

  in such a manner that the inner surface becomes the outer - turned the shirt inside out

Upside down

  in such a way that the upper and the lower parts are reversed in position

Front to back

  with the front where the back should be :  backwards - He accidentally put the sweater on front to back.

QUESTION: Is there an analogical "left-right" counterpart with the meaning of

  with the left where the right should be (and vice versa)

My primary use case is telling ones' kids they put on their clothes, shoes or gloves in a wrong way.


texts: This question arises when I try to describe my itinerary to ticket service in the UK. Take for example, I plan to buy a ticket from A to B. B is the terminal. How to say its counter part A? I cannot find a proper term. I have to say "I will depart from A" or "I plan to go to B from A". Or I even use "departure place" to refer to B.


texts: A word that is the study of heirarchies of information

texts:
What would be the study of hierarchies of information?

We have meetings where we discuss this and need a word to characterize them. Like building trees of information and relationship. Something like ontology or phylogeny but for this specific use.


texts: Use of "a staff" to refer to a single person

texts:
In Singapore, it's quite common to use "staff" for a single person, and not uncommon to use "staffs" as a plural.  For example, from a local university's press release:

In US English this would be incorrect, and Merrian-Webster notes that expected plural of "a member of staff" is simply "staff".  Is this considered correct in any other variety of English?
(As a parenthetical note, this type of confusion around irregular plurals is fairly common in Singapore, because the majority of the population is of Chinese origin and Chinese doesn't really have plurals in the English sense.)


texts:
I would like to ask a question whether provided below sentence is correct or not:

'As the deadline for registration is due shortly,(...)'.

Main issue here is the phrase: "...is due shortly". I am aware that payment can be due shortly, but I am not quite convinced if this collocation can be used that way. I would be thankful for any thoughts or ideas.


texts: Is "root access" acceptable in a professional setting in Australian English?

texts:
In Australian English, which has a slang meaning of "root" which is best avoided in a professional setting, is "root access" acceptable in a professional setting?

If not, what synonyms, preferably ones which have a nuance of a Unix OS as opposed to a Windows OS, are more suitable?


texts: "quantifying" business problems the right word?

texts:
I am searching for the correct word which describes the process of measuring a problem and trying to express it with numbers. So from text to numbers. I thought "quantifying" should be the right word, but I am not sure if it is correct in this context. I want to use it in my cover letter for job application. Something like this maybe:

  Quantifying and solving business problems is my passion and I am
  always eager to accept new challenges.

Is this correct, does it translate?


texts:
What is the appropriate preposition for the following sentence?

  Is having trust in your employer important to you?
  Is having trust for your employer important to you?


texts:
Case A:     "There stands the boy who has two heads."
Case B:     "There stand the boys who have two heads." (If you are keeping count, the last two children have a total of four heads.)

My question is, what is the number of each of the whos and would linguists consider each of them to be uninflected?


texts:
Someone told me I can't say, someone's words reached someone else nicely.

For example:

  "His/your words reached me nicely"

Is that true?


texts: Use of are or is for this specific sentence

texts:
A friend said "some people are going downtown tonight"
And then someone answered: who is 'some people'.
Is the correct response to ask who are some people? Or who is some people?


texts: What is that generic feeling when you are not excited about a thing and other are utterly thrilled?

texts:
What would you call your feeling when everyone from a place you just arrived which is your homeland right from your neighborhood to TV channels is excited for newly launched car models like Audi A8, a toyota cruiser, range rover sports etc and you see advertisement everywhere while you are ok with it since it has become so common to you that you don't feel like discussing even sometimes feeling like giving them a lesson or two about the glitches and design flaws in these cars and you aren't into automobile business in anyway (neither designer nor sales men). You are a commoner. Just that your current country of residence is well a developed country while your home country isn't.

PS: car examples are hypothetical. Its a generic feeling for anything you knew before everyone else and you are like i am about to steal their thunder, shall i or shall i not coz i will appear bragger.


texts: Word/Phrase when you've identified a grand, but sort of irrelevant, injustice/tragedy?

texts:
I was trying to tweet about some cosmic injustices and wanted to describe it better than just saying "unduly sad", or "unfair".  Any suggestions?

Examples of the emotional state I'm trying to describe:
When you realize that mankind will likely never expand beyond our local global cluster and you feel sad, even though the local group is still pretty big.

We should be thrilled about recent increases in life space, but when you are actually unduly feeling cheated because Adam and Eve maybe lived to 900, even though you know that probably isn't even accurate.

When you are sad to learn the sun will expand and burn up the earth in few billion years, even though that is a ridiculously long time from now.


texts: What is the name for a person who raises turkeys?

texts: Some agricultural professions have specific names assigned to them. For example, a person who raises sheep is a shepherd and a person who raises cattle is a rancher. What would a person who raises turkey (or perhaps poultry in general) be called?


texts: "I’ve just arrived" vs. "I just arrived": Are they both correct? Do they mean the same thing?

texts:
My grammar book suggests that when using words like just, that you should “always” use present perfect. So the correct form should be I've just arrived according to my book.

Is this true?

I ask because I see a whole lot of people using I just arrived all over the place.  I therefore cannot help but wonder whether this is an incorrect form that is somehow nonetheless in wide use by native speakers, or whether it's also a correct form just with a subtly different meaning.


texts: How to express something opened my eyes to something in English?

texts:
I am trying to find a common expression of saying that my eyes have opened after something has happened in my life.

For an example: I have moved to another country, learned many things about people, their approaches to living, points of view and so forth. And this experience has opened my eyes/mind widely so I have changed my world view...

Could you please share some common ways of saying this?

Thanks in advance.


texts: I'm looking for a word that begins with C,and means that a topic has been previously researched/studied

texts: I don't actually know if one exists but it would make my life easier if anyone could think of one.


texts: What's the opposite/antonym of "epicene" in the linguistics sense?

texts: The title says it all. I am looking for a word used to describe a noun that has different forms for male and female referents, e.g. emperor and empress. I guess "gendered" would work fine, but I wondered if there was a technical term for it. Thanks in advance.


texts: About the usage of "had" in this sentence?

texts:
Epistemologically speaking, it is facts about the relationship had with the trusted that determines the justification of trust, it is not the mere absence of defeating reasons. (Source)

It seems to me that the usage of the "had" in the above sentence is problematic or at least weird. I take "the relationship had with the trusted" to mean "the relationship that is held with the trusted" or "the relationship held with the trusted". But the usages of "had" instead of something like "held" sounds not right to me. Is it so? Is it an old style?


texts: Meaning of "easy" in "easy on the eye/ear"

texts:
Easy on the eye/s

  Also,easy to look at. Attractive, beautiful, as in That model is definitely easy on the eyes.  ; c. 1900 .

(AHD)

Easy on the ear/s:

  To have a pleasant and enjoyable sound. I find classical music to be very easy on the ear. After months of lessons, your sister's piano playing is finally easy on the ear.

Though the meaning of the above expressions is intuitive, you would not say that the model is easy or that classical music is easy without being easily misunderstood.

So what usage does "easy" in the above expression refer to? did "easy" at the beginning of the 20th century have a different connotation? Was it an AmE expression originally?


texts: How do u know when the "ou" in route is pronounced as "oo" or "ow"? Or does it just depend on the person who says it


texts:
Which is right, "had been" or "were"? Are both acceptable?

By the time the kids left preschool, they had been able to say what was on their minds.
By the time the kids left preschool, they were able to say what was on their minds.


texts: How do you pronounce words with the letter d?

texts: I'm foreign and this causes me a lot of trouble. Sometimes the 'd' is pronounced normally [d], for example - done, but sometimes it's pronounced as [dʒ], for example - dream. How should I pronounce words like these? Is there a general rule to this?


texts:
Should I use "guidance on" or "guidance in" in the following sentence? Google search showed that "on" is more often used.

Thank you for the guidance not only on research and statistics but on life in general.


texts: Adjective to something that can be redone

texts: What adjective could I use to refer to something that can be redone. i.e: for something that can be removed, it would be 'removable', so what would fit to something that can be redone?


texts: Do you italicize the contraction attached to a foreign word?

texts: I know you italicize words in other languages when writing. But what if you add a contraction? Is it abuela's or abuela's?


texts:
Most corn seed is genetically engineered.
Most people in town are unemployed.
Most fish is/are seawater species?

Is there any general rule that separates where the majority part described by "most" is plural, and when is it singular? Especially, when it's describing some entity composed of parts.


texts: using would + have to in non-conditional sentences

texts:
Which timeline (past vs present vs future) does this sentence indicate?

  Project managers would have to organize copywriters, editors, and designers as well as feedback from clients or other stakeholders.

Is it okay to use would + have to in “future imaginary situations” without having an if clause?


texts:
I came across the phrase ‘bit it’ in the quote from Washington Post’s William Branigin’s comment to support the Washington’s decision not to show the picture of the dead body of Osama bin Laden in Washington Post’s ‘Comment of the Day’ (May 4). It reads:

  Good, because showing that picture would be the U.S. lowering its standards for those that like and enjoy gruesome, bloody bodies. I am sure the pic will get out somehow, but not because of Obama. If folks do not want to believe bin Laden is dead, so bit it. He's dead.

As I met the phrase, ‘bit it’ for the first time, I checked up its meaning in English dictionaries at hand and through Google, but wasn’t able to find any entry of this phrase. Only Internet Slang Com. carries definition of ‘bite it’ as “to fall and bite the ground” with an example,"Toey bit it hard this morning on his way down the stairs,” as its usage.

So, what does “Bit it” mean? Is it derivative from (or past tense of) “Bite it,” or “Bet it”?


texts: What does "the outside world" mean here?

texts:
The following is from Bertrand Russell's Political Ideals

  When any group of men has a strong corporate consciousness--such as belongs, for example, to a nation or a trade or a religious body--liberty demands that it should be free to decide for itself all matters which are of great importance to the outside world. This is the basis of the universal claim for national independence.

(emphasis by me)

What does the author mean by "the outside world"? Does it mean the real world as opposed to the mental world? Does it mean the other groups?


texts: What does "risk divides too wide for any bridge" mean?

texts: I read a sentence "China should re-learn Deng’s self-knowledge, or risk divides too wide for any bridge." Can you help explain the meaning of "risk divides too wide for any bridge" and show where the definition is? Thanks!


texts: Word for someone with the ability to change appearances

texts: What's a word for someone having the ability to change their own or someone else's appearance? I've heard witch, pythoness, shapeshifter and siren, but any other words I'm missing?


texts:
can you help me about the exact meaning of the following passage?

  He had called on university communities nationwide to mix with
  ordinary people to form a jameeh’e tohidi, or unitary Islamic
  paradigm.His message, which had leftist undertones, resonated strongly
  with the young people, who poured out in the streets to enact that
  coming together.

The words in bold are problematic.
Thanks a million.


texts: Are there sentences in languages which use grammatical gender that lose meaning when translated into English?

texts:
English nouns which don't denote people or animals with natural gender do not (apart from a few rare examples) use grammatical gender. So for example, "table" is always an "it" in English, whereas it could be masculine or feminine in another language.

So, is English missing out by not using genders in this way? If so, are there sentences which cannot be translated into English without losing some of their meaning?


texts: what is correct? either of both parties, or either or both parties

texts: my problem is trying to find out what is the correct phrase between a)either of both parties shall report to us the new discovery,  and, b) either or both parties shall report to us the new discovery


texts: It was done / It had been done yesterday

texts:
Which one is correct and why?

  It was done yesterday.

or

  It had been done yesterday.


texts: Tense for fulfilled thesis project requirements documentation

texts:
I reached a point at which I need to write about software project requirements in my thesis. Unfortunately I am not sure whether to go with past or present tense for this section.

In this section I have various sentences like:

Once X was automated
  -- or --
Once X is automated

The second step required the generation of X
  -- or --
The second step requires the generation of X

The requirements are fulfilled so past tense seems appropriate to me. On the other hand the section should only introduce the requirements and not include information about the project status.

Are there any rules (or guidelines) that one can follow in such cases?

Thank you.


texts: When does the time window start for the term "due"?

texts:
Say something (a bill, a task request) has a deadline of May 1st. It's pretty clear that on May 2nd, it's overdue. What's less clear, and is leading to some arguments where I work, is: at what point is it "due"? As soon as it's assigned/generated? Two weeks before the deadline? Midnight on April 30th?

Edit: to clarify, the debate centers around when is it correct to start using the term "due". We've been using it to label tasks about 2 weeks to a month before the due date, and some people are saying that that is misleading, because those tasks are only "available" that early, but aren't due until... well, some nebulous time closer to the due date. (Which leaves the rest of us wondering why the word "overdue" bothers to exist.)


texts: Use of "too much" in passive voice verb structure

texts:
I encountered this passive voice sentence in a textbook: "He was influenced too much by Japanese fashion."
My understanding is that the words "too much" are functioning as an adverb in this sentence.

"He was influenced by Japanese fashion too much."

"He was influenced too much by Japanese fashion."

However, it seems strange to say, "He was too much influenced by Japanese fashion." I can't understand why it sounds strange to me, however.
If I replace "too much" with a different adverb, it seems to work fine. For example:

"He was quickly influenced by Japanese fashion."

"He quickly was influenced by Japanese fashion."

"He was influenced quickly by Japanese fashion."

"He was influenced by Japanese fashion quickly."

To add, if I use "much too" the sentence seems correct. For example, "He was much too influenced by Japanese fashion" sounds correct to me. I understand "too much" modifies nouns, verbs, and adverbs, while "much too" modifies adjectives and adverbs based on this post: "much too [something]" vs "too much [something]"
However, I just can't understand why, "He was too much influenced by Japanese fashion" sounds strange to me.
I think I made a mistake in my thinking. What do you think? Any help is greatly appreciated!


texts: Usage of "granularities" (in plural form)

texts:
I wonder whether it is correct to use the word "granularity" in its plural form.
For example:

X and Y are commonly used granularities in Z research.

This study can be conducted at both coarse and fine granularities.

This study can be conducted at different granularities.

Can I use "granularities" in the above sentences? Or can I simply use the singular form "granularity"?


texts:
I had a gentleman say "Excuse I" to me the other day as he passed me in the hallway.  He was a professor at the university I attend, and so it got me thinking:

Is "Excuse I" acceptable grammar even though "Excuse me" is more commonly used?


texts:
Yours sincerely or Your's sincerely
which one is correct when yyandou write complimentary close and how?


texts: Does the expression 'salad days' sound old-fashioned to a native speaker nowadays?

texts:
I was fascinated when I first came across the phrase "salad days". I thought "in my salad days" sounded much more of a literacy style than the common expression "when I was young".
But when I tried to use this phrase in front of a native English speaker, he pointed out that it is an old-fashioned expression that hardly anyone uses nowadays. I sought verification from another native speaker and he simply said that he had never heard of it, not to mention using it.
Then I looked up "salad days" in the dictionaries and LDOCE (Longman) tags it "old-fashioned" while M-W says it is "somewhat old-fashioned".
Finally I fell back on English Corpus and found "salad days" actually was still in use in newspapers and magazines, for example.

The numbers provided further evidence that Netflix’s salad days may be over, particularly in the U.S., where most households that want its
12-year-old streaming service already have it. — Washington Post,
"Netflix’s US subscriber growth slowing as competition looms," 16 Oct.
2019

Back during the salad days of their relationship, Ms. Cooper and Mr. Weah traveled together to Monte Carlo and Mexico. — Helene Cooper, New
York Times, "Liberia Holds a Free Election. Make That
‘Free-for-All.’," 6 Oct. 2017

I also checked youtube videos and found that "salad days" is also used by some of young youtubers as well as some celebrities in their spoken English in a talkshow.
Does salad days fit the definition of an old-fashioned word or expression?


texts: What do you call a device that tells a live audience what to do?

texts:
While reading this post on the Politics SE, I saw an answer that mentioned something which the poster referred to as a "crowd warmer:"

There are crowd warmers (*) that tell people when and how to cheer (clap after each sentence, cheer after the "highlight", cheer some more when politician talks about his opponent).
(*)I don't know the exact translation of the french term "Animateur de foule".

I tried looking up translations for the French phrase and had no joy. I looked up "crowd warmer," but it seems to mean "opening act."
I think I've seen something like an old-fashioned light-up sign that says "Applause" to tell live studio audiences to applaud, but the device I'm asking about could signal other actions as well. I've also seen supertitles at operas, but that's not the right word either. Is there a word or phrase for a modern device that does what the user described?
Example:

The ______ instructed the audience to cheer when the speaker raised both hands, but to boo when he shook his head.


texts: If I say "I am annoyed", is that in the passive voice?


texts: How do I say that something is a "side" interest?

texts:
I am writing my profile and I want to say that reading is a "side" interest i.e. it is something that I don't do regularly but I am passionate about it.

I don't want to use the word "side" or the phrase "side interest".

Is there a better way to say it, which can captures the two elements above (i.e. it is not my principal interest and I enjoy it)?

My current sentence is: Javeer took up reading as a side interest. (Note: I describe what I read later in the profile.)


texts: "children's literature" or "children literature"?

texts:
I am always confused where to use a "possessive apostrophe".

From what I found on the internet it seems to me that children's literature is correct. What about garden chair? In my eyes it's the same. Garden is describing what kind of chair it is. Children is also describing what kind of literature I have in my mind.

Could someone please explain?


texts: What's the difference between a "conflict of interest" and the "appearance of a conflict of interest"?


texts:
In a WSJ article, I read the following sentence:

  One hunter few a knife, pulled the man’s hair taut, and cut off his scalp.

My search in dictionaries and on the web have failed me.  Which verb is "few" a past tense of?


texts: Is the adjectival form "to be concatenated" correct?

texts:
I have the following sentence:

  Fetch the transformations which need to be concatenated.

Is the following adjectival form of which need to be concatenated correct?

  Fetch the to be concatenated transformations.

Are there any more (even more succinct?) variants?


texts: What does 'get under the skin to' mean in this context?

texts:
The stress hormone cortisol has many different functions in our body. It regulates blood sugar levels, immune responses and inflammation and can increase the risk of heart disease. It also increases the chances of surviving cancer. High levels of cortisol have been linked to mental conditions such as anxiety and depression. Laboratory director Sheldon Cohen said: "These data provide important insights into the way in which our intimate social relationships can  get under the skin to influence our health." Researcher Brian Chin added: "It is exciting to discover a physiological pathway that may explain how relationships influence health and disease."

Thank you in advance.


texts: What's the correct usage of "over the phone" and "on the phone"?

texts: What's the difference between over the phone and on the phone and what are their respective usages?


texts:
I am looking for a word that represents a condition something like "lightly touch" as follows:

When I walk on this crowded station, I often feel someone who comes from the opposite direction lightly touches my backhand (dorsal).
Last year when I flipped a newspaper, the page corner lightly rubbed my brother's left eyes. His cornea was torn.
The opposing car lightly touched my car yesterday night. The scratch was not realized until I washed it this afternoon.

Is there a single word instead of "tip" to represent "lightly touch/rub"?


texts: What is the difference between “Gay” and “Homosexual"? Is it only by gender?

texts:
I was interested in the line “...most Americans use the word 'gay' now instead of 'homosexual'” in Maureen Dowd’s article titled “Happily Never After?” in today’s (April 2) New York Times:

  I’m worried about how the justices can properly debate same-sex
  marriage when some don’t even seem to realize that most Americans
  use the word "gay" now instead of "homosexual"; when Chief Justice
  John Roberts thinks gays are merely concerned with marriage as a
  desirable "label," and when Justice Samuel Alito compares gay marriage
  to cellphones.

When you say “instead of,” it gives me an impression that they are different things, for examples, “I use margarine instead of butter,” “They use acrylic panels instead of plate glass for windows” and "The new car uses aluminum instead of steel plate for the body."

However, when I checked Oxford English Dictionary, it renders “gay” as:

  a.1 (of a person, especially a man) homosexual.

  relating to or used by homosexuals:

  n. a homosexual, especially a man.

Also OALD defines Gay as:

  a. (of people, especially men) sexually attracted to people of the
  same sex. [Syn.] HOMOSEXUAL

Aren’t “gay” and “homosexual” the same thing except “gay” being applied to men?
What’s the difference between “gay” and “homosexual” other than gender attributes?


texts: Have difficulty/difficulties (in) doing something

texts:
What is syntactically the -ing-phrase in both the versions with and without the preposition? For example in He has trouble [in] keeping things in perspective right now.
Secondly, does the latter derive form the former?


texts: Word for a number that has all the same digits

texts:
In Metropolis, all bus routes are numbered with a number >10, but not all numbers are used.

Buses 33, 55, 222, and the special 55555, and only those buses, go to the airport.  All the buses that go to the airport, and only those buses, are numbered such that all digits are the same.   The local taxi service (phone #777-7777) also goes to the airport.

What is a concise way of describing a number with multiple digits that are all the same digit?

Under 100, I would call them "multiples of 11."   Is there a word for the more general class, narrower than "palindrome?"


texts: Should a colon be used after "for example"?

texts:
I am having difficulty deciding when a colon should be used in a sentence. I have a specific example that I was unable to resolve via browsing the web

  The research centre will use confidence intervals as well as certainties to to convey their findings. For example: Average surface temperatures will increase by two degrees by 2020 (95% confidence interval).

Have I used a colon correctly in the above example?


texts: Etymology of 'rime' and 'unrime', meaning 'to put on/takeoff outdoor clothing'

texts:
These terms were in use when I was a boy in South London back in the 1930s/1940s. My grandmother would tell me to "Rime up well." or "Get well rimed up." when I was going to go outdoors on a cold day and when I came back I would say "I'm going to get unrimed", meaning 'take off and hang up my outdoor clothes'.
I used the term today and had to explain it to my wife who said she'd never heard it.
Now I can't see it in the O.E.D. Sixth Edition (2007) or anywhere else


texts: What is the term for being able to understand only the auditory form of a language?

texts: What is the term for the condition of not being able to read, write, or even speak a particular language, but only being able to understand the auditory form of a language. For example, a boy could only understand Chinese in auditory form, but he replies to his parents in English.


texts:
The European audit authority "the Court" systematically presents its findings/opinions with sentences that begin: 'the Court considers that....' This sounds like a gallicism to me. Can we use 'consider that' in this way? If so, how does it differ from 'believes','thinks', 'finds' or 'feels'?

e.g. 'The Court considers that the information system at present available to the Commission does not effectively serve the Commission’s needs.'
'The Court considers that competitive tendering would have been feasible for contracts for management services and audit'.


texts: A fancier way of saying, “I'm not a fan of…”

texts:
I am looking for synonyms–the more ‘fanciful’ the better–of "not a fan" as in

  I'm not a fan of his, but give the man a break!

The expression, “I'm not a fan of his/her” or “I'm no fan of his/hers”, is often used when someone means they dislike a particular person, their views, work or their policies. More often than not, the speaker uses it in a non-derogatory fashion.

... I've really never been a fan of hers. I never disliked her, but was rather ambivalent.
All Jenner said was, "I'm out of the loop, I can't say much". I'm not a fan of hers but what's the harm here?
“I probably regret going after John McCain as hard as I did on a different format. I'm not a fan of his, but at times I made it more personal than it should be,…”
I'm certainly no fan of his myself, but I definitely sympathize with him and shudder to imagine such a horrible end.

I would like users to suggest a more formal way of saying, I'm not a fan of ___. For example,

  I'm ________ Jacob Rees-Mogg, the British Conservative MP, but I have to admit his English is flawless.


texts:
"Science" might not be the appropriate word but I think it conveys the gist of my question:

  Is grammar always an agreed-upon, exact process among professionals when identifying usage and parts of speech (in the same way that you can rely on 2+2 to always equal 4), or can the lines become blurred when analyzing some of the more difficult aspects of it?
  (For example, can there be a debate where a word's part of speech in a sentence can not be agreed upon, even though both sides have recognized and valid arguments?)

The reason I ask this is because I want to find better and more accurate ways of approaching and thinking about grammar. I am a beginner in grammar and I find myself thoroughly stumped attempting to analyze complicated and sometimes even simple everyday sentences. Most of the time, many of the words and usage of such words seem ambiguous.

I have always thought of grammar, and tried to approach it, as a black-and-white thing that can be solved with a formula.  Is this correct? Is grammar black and white? Or do things get as muddy as they sometimes appear to me?


texts: Apostrophe when the noun is for the use of rather than belonging to

texts:
Do the examples 'buyers guide' and 'teachers lounge' carry an apostrophe. At first glance they appear like possessives, but actually the first words are more like descriptions. My instinct is 'buyers guide' rather than 'buyer's guide' or 'buyers' guide'.
This is different to a question about children's books, as that earlier question is complicated by the plural not ending in S.


texts:
What is a better definition, the consumer business industry or the consumer goods industry?? And also, is there an acronym??

I am in between those two, would really appreciate your help


texts: I am looking for this definition because of the book Quarry for Middlemarch, which my lit professor said was George Eliot's notebook for all her research for her novel, but all of the definitions I have found so far don't really talk about quarry meaning anything like notebook.


texts: "Who would be the best person for this job?" vs "Who is the best person for this job?". What's the difference?

texts:
What's the difference between:

Who would be the best person for this job?
Who is the best person for this job?
Who may be the best person for this job?
Who will be the best person for this job?

And what does "would" mean in the sentence?


texts: Verb that means "to be in a relationship with"?

texts:
I know you can say, I'm dating him or her. Is there a verb (an -ing verb in this case) that can be used like that but for being in a relationship (the further step)?

Example:

  Sam's not exactly a gay man. He's a transgender. So technically
  Mark'll still be ___ing a woman.

I checked the synonyms of dating. Bus as I expected they all mean dating, not being in a relationship.

(Idioms are also welcomed.)


texts: Phrase to mean one is described by his name

texts:
I found in some other languages such as Chinese an interesting idiom which describes some people; for example, when you see a person is named "Smart" and he/she is really smart, one would say: "a name fits his person" as a literal translation.

I would like to see if there is some specific phrase, idiom or proverb to describe such a situation.


texts: How to describe a thin mist rising from the surface of a river?

texts:
I'm looking for a phrase to describe the kind of water vapour rising from the surface of a river in the morning. It doesn't have to be a single word but I wouldn't be surprised if there is one.

I'd call it mist or fog but, as far as I know, these could refer to something much thicker (particularly fog).

  As the sun climbed higher above the horizon, _________ rose from the surface of the river, enveloping the reeds.

Fume also comes to mind but it seems to have negative connotations.


texts:
I was reading this article about jokes on 30 Rock. A sentence seemed strange to me, and I had to reread a few times. They are talking about a writer, Robert Carlock, writing jokes for a character, Dr. Spaceman:

  Robert Carlock, in particular, is the Spaceman expert. Most of the
  jokes for him, as this one did, come from him.

So, the antecedents are in the first sentence, and the pronouns are in the second. From the context you can figure out that the first him is referring to Spaceman, and the 2nd him is referring to Carlock. The sentence just seems very awkward. Is it grammatically correct? Could there be a more clear way to have written it?


texts:
As far as I know, using ellipsis in the second part of the sentence is very common. However, using it in the first part of the sentence looks unusual, at least to me. Is it grammatically correct to use ellipsis in the first part of the following sentence?
"His first was a failure, but this second book is a total success."


texts: Plural or singular verb for collective term

texts:
Should the verb, in the following sentence, be singular or plural?

A series of samples was produced.

In a related question I found a reference. However the text in that reference seems to contradict itself.

Nouns that are “collective” take a singular verb when the group as a whole is meant.
Commonly used collective nouns include “number,” “majority,” “series,” and “variety.”
Note that when collective nouns refer to a singular group as a whole they are often preceded by the word “a”;

Based on these rules, I would expect that, since I am using an indefinite article a series, the singular form of the verb is to be used. However the reference uses plural in an example

A series of western blots were performed to assay protein expression.


texts: Word for "willingness to accept status quo"

texts:
I'm looking for a word that would allow me to describe the willingness to settle for what there is, to accept status quo, instead of wanting something better.

It's the attitude that makes people use the aphorism "perfect is the enemy of good" to justify mediocrity.

Sample sentence:

  The prevalence of [word] among engineers is why our industry produces so much substandard software.


texts: What is the generic term for Escher type figures?

texts: Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impossible_object) calls them Impossible Objects (which they obviously are) but I have seen another term, possibly from mathematics or psychology, to describe such figures.


texts: Is the pronunciation change from "woman" to "women" unique in English?

texts:
Is "woman/women" the only English word group that undergoes a change - via conjugation, pluralization... whatever may be the cause - wherein a syllable of the polysyllabic word has spelling changes that do not have a significant change to its pronunciation (i.e. the "-man" and "-men" sound as "mun" in both cases), while simultaneously having another syllable that Does have a change in pronunciation, even though its spelling did not change (i.e. the "wom" pronounced as "woom" (or womb) and "wihm" (wim, whim) respectively)?

Mind you, "children" is not a correct answer because it begins as a (albeit, differently pronounced) single syllable/word and transforms into a polysyllabic word.

Edit: to clarify, I'm looking for specific words that follow the unusual pattern of the "woman/women" construct: a specific syllable changes pronunciation without a spelling change while another syllable changes spelling without a pronunciation change. One commenter @john Lawler pointed out the Umlaut factor in this word and sparked a notion to me that the answer might lie among German cognates, but in my life I've never found any words like this and that is why I ask the question. If you have evidence that this word group is not unique for this quality then please provide examples. Also, my curiosity is so piqued by Lawler's suggestion that I would welcome even German words that do this as examples, though I'd request a translation and phonetic transcription with that, please.


texts: Conversation skills vs Conversational skills

texts:
I'm trying to write a sentence like this -
"Our classes have enabled children to enhance their reading, writing and conversational skills."
Is this correct? Or it supposed to be conversation skills? I feel both are correct. Is there any difference in the meaning conveyed either way?


texts: Is is correct to say "future prospects"?

texts: Prospect means the likelihood of a future event occurring. Although I have seen this many times, even in my questions for an essay, or as the name of a company, I doubt about the usage of this collocation. I believe it is pleonastic and circumlocutory.


texts: What is it called when a word no longer literally describes something?

texts: An example of this would be the word "Film". Film is no longer the medium that we use to record movies but we still refer to movies as films. What is it called when an older term is used to refer to something but it no longer applies in the literal sense?


texts:
The jury (takes / take) their seats in the courtroom.

I understand that 'the jury' refers to a singular group but does this apply when it is referred to as a plural in 'their'? Thanks.


texts:
Several months ago, I was writing a fan-fiction story set in the Sonic the Hedgehog universe and I ended up constructing this sentence:

"...Sonic and his allies and Dr. Robotnik and his allies..."

My intent here is to group Sonic and Sonic's allies together and Dr. Robotnik and Dr. Robotnik's allies together, but doing so with "and"s causes this problem. I fixed it by replacing the second "and" with "versus", thus reading as:

"...Sonic and his allies versus Dr. Robotnik and his allies..."

My question is: is the original construction still valid?

I'm also curious about my usage of "his" to refer to two different males in a row.


texts:
In some books, I see the use of the word "breaths" in the phrase "they held their breaths".  Is this correct?  And if it is, should I go by the Ngram (below) in spite of grammaticality?

http://ngrams.googlelabs.com/chart?content=held+their+breath%2Cheld+their+breaths&year_start=1800&year_end=2000&corpus=0&smoothing=3

Or are both correct? (If so, I would go with the more popular "held their breath".)


texts: What is the name of the place trophies go?

texts: My best guess is trophy case but I'm assuming I'm wrong.


texts:
I'm looking for a noun that would represent the state of being up to date.

I want to say this

  The documentation is not accurate and up to date.

like this

  The documentation has problems with accuracy and __.

Various on-line dictionaries say up-to-dateness but that is kind of clumsy. Are there any alternatives?


texts: Understanding why this is a complete sentence: 'Not happy or content.'

texts:
I'm perplexed why the grammar check considers this a grammatically complete sentence:

Not happy or content.

To me, it's missing both a subject and a verb.  Could someone shed some light on this for me? Thanks.


texts: Is there any dictionary to look up for words that have similar vowel pronunciation?

texts:
I would like to make smooth-sounding sentences and slogans, so it is important to me to find words with similar pronunciations.

Is there any dictionary that can help me find words like that?


texts: basketball expression: "Plays with a lot of flair"

texts:
This is an expression that I don't really know the meaning of when applied to basketball playing: "Plays with a lot of flair"

Can anyone elucidate the meaning for me?

EDIT: after reading a couple of answers, I still don't know if people will usually refer to enthusiasm or to skills/ability/elegance. There are sports where one and the other don't mean the same. In actual fact, in many sports, people who are highly-skilled and elegant don't usually play very enthusiastically...


texts: grammatically, rotate + er is it correct?

texts:
I try to name something as its usage is rotate+er.
The main usage is doing a rotation on a reliable circle, so I pick rotation as the verb.
My main lang is Indonesian, but I always try to give my best when it comes to writing in english.
The easiest name is changer but it's too broad, and losing the context it 'doing' on a reliable circle. So what is rotate + er, grammatically?
additional q:

what is the term for verb + er = a concrete thing?

 link to ap.wa.hp.rotate.er


texts:
The 'to infinitive' has the structure to + verb as in to go, to eat, to ride, etc. The word 'to' is thought to be a preposition. However, since a preposition needs an object and a verb cannot be an object, can 'to' be more of an adverb, since it modifies a verb in the structure? An adverb modifies a verb.

W R T: The word “to” in “to succeed” is a preposition-particle (some call it a particle, others a preposition – these really refer to the same thing); we see the following: A preposition needs an object which is related to a noun or a pronoun in a sentence to satisfy its definition.

An object in a sentence is also usually a noun or a pronoun; though there can be others like the 'that-clause', the 'where- clause, etc. The object receives the action done by the subject.

In a phrase like the following which has the 'to infinitive' [notice that 'to' is part of this verb phrase (and keeping in mind that a preposition usually does not modify a verb)] :i.e; in, I want to go; go is a verb and cannot be the object of the preposition.

In: I look forward to meeting you; 'meeting you' is not an object; etc.

Thus, since the to-infinitive has the structure: to + verb, and the verb cannot be an object- it is more of a state or intention or an action- 'to' in this structure cannot be a preposition. If it is definitely not a preposition then since it modifies a verb, indicating an 'intention', and an adverb by definition modifies a verb, 'to' is an adverb.


texts: What is the best way to refer in English to a zoo all whose animals are carved in stone?

texts:
I of course don't have English as my primary language, so have some forgiveness. I would translate the name as

"The Rock Zoo" (doesn't seem to make it)
"The Zoo on Rock" (better)
"The Zoo on Stone"
"The Zoo on Stones"

Which one(s) is( are) correct and  proper? Is there a better way to say it?


texts: "was" or "were" – "one of the messages which was/were"

texts:
My question is should I use was or were in the following sentence:

  ...this is one of the messages, which was/were sent in the space 37 years ago.

Which one I should use?


texts: What do you call an interfix that has semantic meaning?

texts:
At university I was introduced to various affixes; prefix, suffix, interfix.

The latter, I was told, could be created by putting an adjective in the middle of a word, thus interrupting it; abso-bloody-lutely or done-diddely-one (as used by The Simpsons' character Ned Flanders). It is highly likely this kind of 'interruption' is mostly used in spoken language.

However, according to Wikipedia, Glottopedia, and other sites, an interfix has no intrinsic meaning and is phonological, used to link two morphemes; speed-o-meter, for instance.

What I would like to know is what to call an "interfix" that may have meaning, and/or is used as a form of exaggeration. Is it still considered an interfix?


texts: Use of the word "analyzation" in formal writing

texts: What is the consensus on the use of the word "analyzation" in formal writing (ie ...a problem arises in business analyzation...")? One the one hand, some dictionaries, such as Merriam-Webster and Collins, list it as an actual word, although they do not include uses or definitions. On the other hand, it sounds horrendous in use. Am I wrong to advise against its use?


texts:
Modern man is the child of technology, which is influencing and shaping the progress of all his affairs, But though we be the children of technology, we must be its masters and not its slaves.
The above is a quotation from Julius A. Statton's speech entitled "Science and the process of management" made in New York in 1963.

I have been taught that "though" and "but" cannot occur in the same sentence. But "though / although" and "yet" can occur in the same sentence.
I have seen sentences like the following:

Though he worked hard, he failed in the exams

Though he worked hard, yet he failed in the exams.

He worked hard, but he failed in the exams.

In the given Quotation "though" and "but" occurs in the same clause side by side.
Since Julius A. Stratton was a native speaker I cannot question the grammaticality of his use but I would like to know whether the use is acceptable in modern English.


texts: How Do You Choose Whether To Use These, or Those, or The +Noun

texts:
First of all, I know that there have been discussed a few threads on similar topic, but the threads didn't cover all my questions.
How do you choose whether to use these, or those, or the + noun when posting replies to the thread?
For instance, there are some random sentences, which I've just made:
1) The first post
Don't do it! If you do it, I'll be angry with you.
Did you hear it?
What? I didn't.
What is the first answer supposed to be for the first post?
a) These sentences are wrong. — This would be my personal preference
b) Those sentences are wrong.
c) The sentences above are wrong.
(Note: These/those/the sentences above are intended to be
Don't do it! If you do it, I'll be angry with you.
Did you hear it? What? I didn't.)
2) The first post
Don't do it! If you do it, I'll be angry with you.
Did you hear it? What? I didn't.
a) The first answer
*These/those/the sentences are wrong. — I would choose these in this case.
I don't know.
Bad things happen.
*(Note: These/those/the sentences above intended to be
Don't do it! If you do it, I'll be angry with you.
Did you hear it? What? I didn't.)
b) The second answer
*These/those. — This time, I would choose either those or 'The sentences in the first post are wrong'.
Okay. I'll keep it in mind.
Good bye.
*(Note: These/those/'the sentences in the first post' are intended to be
Don't do it! If you do it, I'll be angry with you.
Did you hear it? What? I didn't.)


texts: What's a word that means "something that isn't upsetting"

texts:
I thought it would be "unupsetting" but apparently, that's not a word.

Edit: I don't want a word like comforting, I want a word that negates an already negative word like upsetting.


texts: What is the correct form and why: The crocodile was alive for millions of years or the crocodile is alive for millions of years

texts: I'm pretty sure that the correct form is "was alive for million of years" but I need to know the grammatical explanation for it.


texts: Using "one" in a sentence multiple times, does it sound right?

texts:
I just came across the following sentence in the book "The theory of everything":

  If one keeps traveling in a certain direction on the surface of
  the Earth, one never comes up against an impassable barrier or
  falls over the edge, but eventually comes back to where one
  started.

Using multiple "one"s repeatedly in a sentence sounds odd to me. Since I found it in a reputable book, I am wondering whether it sounds good to the ears of a native English speaker. Wouldn't it be better to replace the second and third "one" with "he", "she" or "they"?


texts: Meaning of "knocked him down in the kennel" (London 1818)?

texts: I having hold of him all the while; he then began striking me as hard as he could in my face, with both hands, and I was obliged to let go to defend myself; I knocked him down in the kennel, and as he endeavoured to get up, I made a grasp to lay hold of him again; he got from under my arm, and ran down Holborn; I pursued ... source; Old Baily records online.


texts: Why is there a preference for seemingly inconsistent punctuation of abbreviations like US, UK, EU?

texts:
Today, the WSJ reports: "EU, U.K. Make Progress in Brexit Talks but Clash Over Divorce Bill." So, it appears as though they have no uniform/simple rule for such abbreviations' punctuation.

I've looked into this before and found that the Wikipedia-preferred abbreviations are U.S., UK, EU. Oxford Living Dictionaries has US, UK, EU. Encyclopædia Britannica has U.S., U.K., EU. Merriam-Webster has U.S./US, UK, EU.

So, it appears that several styles do not require a simple (style-internal) consistency for such abbreviations. What is the idea behind this preferred (seeming) inconsistency?


texts: Should I use a comma before "and" or "or"?

texts:
Is using a comma then an "and" or an "or" after it proper punctuation?
Example:

  I fell over, and hurt my knee.
  Should I go, or not?


texts: Trying to describe a field for a user guide

texts:
The field is "Previous login". Which of the two options is more concise?

  The duration since the last login
  The length of time since the last login.

A colleague mentioned it should be (2) because "duration" needs to be applied to a subject, e.g. "duration of". Is this correct?

I'm leaning towards (1) because duration=length of time.


texts: Succinct Synonym for "Multi-use" or "Reusable"

texts:
I am trying to find a laconic and "ringy" synonym for the word "multi-use" or "reusable". The word needs to be an adjective. To give you an idea of the context, think of a sheet of paper on which one can write, then erase what was written and then write again. It is this property that I am wanting to capture with the word.

Added from comments:

I feel like the word re-useable carries too generic of a meaning. I would like something related to writing, paper, sheets, etc., if it is possible. Think "emptyable" or something like that. I am trying to zero in on the erasability property. I … feel like there is something better than "eraseable" or "erasable".

Edit (Providing an example of intended usage):
"The notebook, filled with ____ pages, was paradisiacal for a detail-obsessed and correction-prone writer."


texts:
I found the phrase 'roadway-in-time' while reading a novel.
The whole sentence was,

  He was two years older than she was, and as she drove along this roadway-in-time, he slowly came into focus once again.

Can you tell me the meaning of it?


texts: What is the negative form of 'host-specific'?

texts:
What is the negative form of 'host-specific'for the following context:

Five additional host genera for C. beticola (Apium, Chrysanthemum, Limonium, Malva, Spinacia). They are not host specific.