texts: The meaning of "the" in a standalone "the greater"

texts:
Often I read that "X's quality Y was the greater by virtue of Z", which makes perfect sense as a result of me being used to this form of expression, but not when I am now trying to understand what is that "the" referring to. If we drop the "the", what precisely happens to the meaning? Which is the the's noun?

In particular, I can't figure out which one to use:

"Because A is much greater than B, C is also greater."

or

"Because A is much greater than B, C is also the greater."

Update

It seemed quite clear to me at the time of writing, but now that I re-read the question and the answers, I can see that this is quite confusing, actually. Because I didn't provide examples.

Example: from here (emphasis mine :)

  The excitement was the greater because constitutional, or quasi-constitutional, issues were intertwined to an almost Tudor degree with the personal and dynastic; indeed the wider significance is the more pressing because of the passions with which recent events have been fuelled.

This has the form:

A was the greater because B, C, D, E, blah blah

Pretty awful piece of pretentious writing if you ask me, but it does use language correctly.

Example: from Mrs Daffodil Digresses (emphasis mine)

  [...] husband [...] refused to revisit the scene [...] and remained inexorable, when Alphonse F., entering while the discourse continued, volunteered to spare his friend’s feelings by visiting the chateau and obtaining the required papers.

  The marquis thanked him cordially, adding, that the relief was the greater, inasmuch as he would have been compelled to enter their favourite sitting-room, in which their last, as well as so many happier, hours were passed.

Example: from The British Magazine (emphasis mine)

  [...] they broke open the doors, and were confounded at finding the habitations abandoned. Their astonishment was the greater, as they could not comprehend in what manner the French escaped; and when they did, they could not make use of their canoes pursue the fugitives, because the were still encumbered with ice, which prevented that kind of navigation.

So, this usage is usually to be found in literary works of archaic variety. I'm leaning to treat it as one of those language patterns that doesn't have an analytic explanation, and is to be learnt and used as a unit, by feel. I suppose that it can be interchanged with "greater still" in all of those examples, and feels about right. So my rule for its appropriateness would be: it's appropriate to use iff substitution with "greater still" preserves the meaning.


texts:
What is the meaning and origin of the idiom "bulky and leaky"? I ran into it in the sentence:

  Java already has somewhat a (bulky and leaky) type of closure: anonymous inner classes

There is another "bulky and leaky" citation from the internet I cannot see direct meaning:

  Loan waivers to farmers are expensive, and do not solve any problems in the long term. What the farmer needs is a guaranteed monthly income. He should not be worried about the cost of production. The government should subsidize that and let cheap grain reach all citizens, especially the poor. The PDS is bulky and leaky, and it should be replaced by cheap retail prices for all, subsidized at the point of production, not the consumption side. This will incentivize farmers to stay in agri.

PDS for public distribution system - "The Indian food security system was established by the Government of India ... subsidized food and non-food items to India's poor" (from Wikipedia).


texts: What does "to throw down" with somebody mean?

texts: I can't find the following phrase in an dictionary: "to throw down" [with somebody]. What does it mean?


texts: Can you use the word alight in this way?

texts:
For as long as I can remember I've believed that the word alight could also be used to mean something like took flight, or took to the air. As in: "The bird alighted from the branch." Or: "His prayers alighted to heaven." Of course the normal usage is precisely the opposite: "The bird alighted onto the branch." But I always took this to be similar to how cleave usually means to split apart, but can also mean to come together in the right context.

Recently, I needed to use alight in this way, and on looking it up found no dictionary that supports such a usage. So while it's a little surreal to me, I'm starting to wonder if I've just been flat-out wrong about the word for however many decades. Is the word alight ever used in the above sense? If not, is there anything (an idiom, an archaic usage, etc.) that might explain where I got such a strong impression?


texts: Is "bitten" the correct word choice in the following sentences?

texts:
I believe that "bitten" – not "bit" – is the correct word in each sentence below. Am I right?

I was bitten by the love bug.

Joe said, "I got bitten by a mosquito."

The dog had bitten me.

I had been bitten by a dog.


texts:
Sorry has two pronunciations in my dictionary: ˈsärē and ˈsôrē. The first is the one I am interested in because, as someone pointed out to me, the or pattern in English is nearly always pronounced as "oh-r" not "ah-r". At the time, I couldn't think of any other words that pronounced or as "ah-r" but overheard someone say "tomorrow" and realized there are a few others:

tomorrow
sorrow
morrow
horror (the first o and only in some places)

The question is this: Is there a commonality between these words that allow for a är (ah-r) pronunciation? Perhaps a similar history? Does the double-r make the difference?


texts: What linguistic structures appear in conditional statements?

texts:
I am working on natural language processing and seek to determine if a given sentence is a conditional statement - ex:

If I go to the store, then I will spend money.
I would have gone to the store, if I was hungry.

What parts of speech appear in conditionals? What structures do they form in grammar, and how can I distinguish them from normal phrases?


texts: How do I reference letters when explaining my characters' accents?

texts:
Sorry if the question is confusing. Didn't know how to phrase it 100% right. Basically, I wanna write in my novel something like:

  He had a thick accent on his Hs.

How do I write that? That the character has a thick accent on the letter H. Should I write 'H's, 'Hs', Hs, Hs, or something different? And please don't change the format of the sentence, nor turn the "H" into singular.


texts:
I'm always confused by this and can't find it anywhere. Here's an example of what I mean: (literature here in context of academic literature, such as journals, proceedings, etc.)

  In the literature ...

or

  On the literature ...

Another one:

  ... an overview on the advances of ...

or

  ... an overview in the advances of ...

Someone care to say which ones are correct and why?


texts:
I have been listening to the song Written in the Stars by Tinie Tempah and the lyrics go like this:

  Oh written in the stars
  A million miles away
  A message to the main
  Oh
  Seasons come and go
  But I will never change
  And I'm on my way

What does message to the main mean?


texts: Which is the proper way to use "correct" after asking question in a sentence?

texts:
Here are some example sentences:

  Your name is John, correct?
  You're married, correct?

I am even curious about using ", right" instead of the other in certain sentences. Is the comma before "correct" necessary, or is there some other proper way to compose it?


texts: What does this quote from Yevtushenko's poem mean?

texts:
This is from Yevtushenko's poem, "Conversation with an American Writer":

  Oh, our descendants will burn with bitter shame to remember, when punishing vile acts, that most peculiar time when plain honesty was labeled "courage"...

I am slightly confused as to what he is saying here.

Is he pessimistic? I dont think so: He's optimistic, right? He's just saying that in the future people will see that acts like this are just acts that must be done simply because they are the right thing to do, right?


texts:
Does "Deutsche cites one case in particular" in the following context mean "Deutsche is only one of them"?

  Context:

  Lefebvre’s ‘slogan’ implies, for my purposes, art that is sited or
  ‘plays some part’ in the ‘culture’ of the city and that is produced as
  a response to – and therefore, importantly, contributes to producing
  in turn – city existence. At the same time I am interested, as I
  believe I have intimated, in the notion of the city itself as a
  performing and performative entity or cultural product based on how
  people and other phenomena act, are seen to act or, indeed, are
  permitted to act, within it. Of course, these various instances of
  relationships between art and the city have been the subject of
  theorisation – to an ever increasing degree and from a range of
  disciplinary points of view – and they are fraught with
  ‘difficulties’. Not least I take note of Rosalyn Deutsche’s critique
  of art history’s ‘several traditional ways’ of categorising this
  relationship: ‘The city can be a work of art. The city, or the
  experience of the city, influences the subject matter and form of
  works of art. And, of course, there are art works situated in the city
  – public art’. Despite noises by some critics – Deutsche cites one
  case in particular – in the direction of a new public art ‘immersed
  in, rather than aloof from, metropolitan life’, such delineations
  always seem to collapse back into assumptions of aesthetic essence
  and, indeed, transcendence which ‘ignore the city’s social processes
  and their effects on the everyday life of residents’


texts: Combining upload to somewhere and download from somewhere

texts:
I want to combine the following sentence in a way, that it won't lose its understandability.

Data upload to XXX and data download from XXX are possible.

I thought something like following:

Data upload/download to/from XXX is possible.

Is there a better way to write this sentence, or is it even grammatically correct?


texts:
Is there a British equivalent of "taking a rain check"?
It would be very useful to have a phrase that I can say to British people which means "I need to cancel and I'd like to reschedule but I can't give a specific time right now."
Is there one?
Edit: This phrase is widely recognised in the UK but very rarely used. It is usually misunderstood as meaning "I'd like to reschedule (to a specific time)".


texts:
I recently heard someone say 'between he and I there's difference'
Is it correct not to use him and me?


texts: Using a person's name to stand for their body of work

texts:
I am choosing between two sentences

"We now define a function which in essence is already in Dirichlet's work."

"We now define a function which in essence is already in Dirichlet."

The principle of parsimony suggests that, all else being equal, the second sentence is better.  I feel that I've seen the second construct many times before, but I cannot recall or find specific examples.  I guess it's a type of metonym, but I don't know if it has a specialized name.

My question is, am I correct in recalling that the second construction is quite common?  As a follow-up, which I understand is subjective, is the second construct formal enough for writing a journal article?


texts:
The obvious answer is "a meal which is hot", but when I see this phrase it often seems as if there is a deeper meaning present, as if there is some major distinction between hot meals and other meals (cold meals? lukewarm meals?).
E.g. (from the Wikipedia article "Lunch"):

In Finland, lunch is a full hot meal, ...
In Romania, lunch (prânz in Romanian) is the main hot meal of the day.

These usages seem to use "hot meal" as carrying a substantial quality, that the temperature of the food involved is somehow associated with its quantity or ability to satiate hunger. Is there some such association?
What does "hot meal" mean?


texts: Is the line blurring between "accent" and "dialect"?

texts:
The definition that I have had in my head for most of my life is:

dialect: a variation of the original language (usually regional), sometimes even using different vocabulary and grammar
accent:  a discernible influence of another language (usually because the speaker is not talking in his native tongue)

Yet, I keep hearing about Southern, Scottish or New York accents...shouldn't these be more accurately called "dialects"?
I could see that the answer might not be as clear cut in the US as in the UK because there are probably far more "native" American speakers whose ancestors' native language was not English...
Disclaimer: I'm German myself and I'm more or less assuming that "accent" and "dialect" directly correspond to their German "lookalikes": "Akzent" and "Dialekt". Maybe the semantics of those two words are simply different in English? If so, feel free to close this question.


texts: Differences in meaning between using parenthetical comments and not

texts:
What are the differences between using parenthetical comments and not?

Such as if you have this sentence :

  Calhoun's ambition,  to become a goalie in professional soccer,  is within his reach.

Compared to :

    Calhoun's ambition to become a goalie in professional soccer is within his reach.

It's an english task of mine.. Have searched for it with no satisfying result on the Internet.


texts: What do kids say instead of "videotape”?

texts:
In a conversation I just had I used the word "videotape" to mean recording a video on a cell phone. It occurred to me that this is probably not the word youngsters use today, but I couldn't think of a suitable alternative (other than "record," which seems too formal to me).

Google didn't provide any enlightening answers and I didn't see anything related on this site.

What words or expressions for "recording a video" are commonly used by kids in casual conversation? I'm mostly interested in American English.


texts:
What is the difference between saying a subtitle vs subtitles.
What would a subtitle refer to - one sentence or an entire subtitles?
For example, if I create a srt file for a movie, would that be a subtitle or subtitles?


texts: "On or off campus" vs. "On- or off-campus" vs. "On-campus or off-campus"

texts:
It does not matter if a student lives __ as ...

I'm writing a formal report. Which of the following should I use to fill in the blank? Which one is correct and more formal and looks/sounds better?

a. "on- or off-campus"

b. "on or off campus"

c. "on-campus or off-campus"

Additional question: Is a. even grammatically correct?


texts: What's a good idiom or saying to say "don't leave your current job before getting another"?

texts: Someone asked me why I am looking for a new job while I am currently working. This got me thinking if there is a idiom that says something about it being wise to not leave your current job until you have another sure thing lined up etc.


texts: "Mathematics (...) greatly intrigue her." Is it grammatically correct?

texts:
I was looking at the news and came across Alison Harcourt, who is an Australian grandmother still working as a tutor and mathematician from young (here).

I decided to make an anagram related to it, and after doing so, I am not sure it makes sense. Here it is:

  The beautiful, ground-breaking Australian grandmother, Alison Harcourt. Says, "I've always loved numbers." Met a smile.  = Mathematics (bounds, binomials, areas, values and formulae) greatly intrigue her. She's very old, but working. A natural!

Yes, I am aware that the first phrase changes from present tense to past tense, but am not concerned about that. What I am concerned about is this particular sentence:

  Mathematics (bounds, binomials, areas, values and formulae) greatly intrigue her.

Ignoring the brackets, we get

  Mathematics greatly intrigue her.

Which doesn't make sense. The word "intrigue" should have a plural.
Not ignoring the brackets, however, the sentence sounds okay.

So... is this sentence grammatically correct, or is it not?


texts: Meaning of "yield" in acrostic for 'pray'

texts:
Some people expand the word pray as an acronym for: praise, repent, ask, yield.

What does yield mean in this religious context?

Original wording of question was: "Some people expand the word pray to mean..."


texts: Why objects of prepositions are called "objects"?

texts:
Textbooks of English grammar say that there are three types of objects: direct objects, indirect objects and objects of prepositions.

But I cannot understand why the former two types (a major element of a sentence) and the last one (just nouns after prepositions) are treated equally. Are objects of prepositions called "objects" just because no other proper word was found, or is there a practical meaning?


texts:
On Lexico.com I found this example:

With strings and piano, all restraint vanished.

while on Wikipedia I found another:

All restraints require a physician's order to be applied.

Does all restraint mean every restraint? What is the difference between sentence 1 and 2?


texts: right (opposite of left) connected to right (legal term)?

texts:
Does anyone know of a connection, or some sort of established historical/etymological explanation why in a few languages, "the opposite of left" and "truthful claim to" are the same or seemingly related words? Do they all have a common root? Did they develop independently?

Examples:

English: right  -  right
French:  droit  -  droit
German:  rechts -  Recht
Polish:  prawo  -  prawo
Russian: право - право
Portuguese: direita - direito

Maybe some people can enhance this list by adding more examples?

My question also on linguistics.stackexchange.


texts: Is "widower" the only word that adds a suffix for men?

texts:
The word "widow" is for women, while the male version adds "-er" onto it.

I can't think of any other words in English that does this. There's words where male and female have different endings ("actor" versus "actress"), and cases where you specify maleness by putting "male" at the front ("male nurse", "male prostitute", "male geisha"), but nothing where you take an existing word, fail to remove anything, and then add some suffix. Are there any such words?


texts: Is this statement, where the same pronoun refers to two entities, grammatically correct?

texts:
I had this conversation with a friend earlier:

  Friend (to a group): If you don't like [this show], there's something wrong with you.
  Me (to friend): Or you're just a little more mature than you and me.

In my statement, you switches from the other members of the group (or maybe people in a general sense) to the person I am talking to. Is this okay from a syntactical perspective?

I can't think of any other examples where the same pronoun switches people without using a noun in between. Is there something in this statement that makes it obvious the pronouns have switched what they're referencing from a pure grammar perspective?

Edit:

To clarify, what I was trying to say in my response is "We both like this show, but that's probably because we're both immature. The other people in this group might not like this show because they're more mature than us, not because there's something wrong with them."


texts: Why does "going to kip" mean "going to sleep"?

texts:
"Night, folks; I'm off to kip."

  noun
  1British a sleep or nap:
        I might have a little kip
  [mass noun] :
        he was trying to get some kip

  verb (kips, kipping, kipped)
  [no object] British
      sleep:
           he can kip on her sofa

Oxford Dictionaries has it as:

  mid 18th century (in the sense 'brothel'): perhaps related to Danish kippe 'hovel, tavern'

Any further etymological info?


texts: Connection between "But the consequences of [...]" and "someone cannot do [...]"

texts:
The text is quoted from a letter written by Thomas Jefferson to James Madison in 1785. (source)

  I am conscious that an equal division of property is impractable. But
  the consequences of this enormous inequality producing so much misery
  to the bulk of mankind, legislators cannot invent too many devices for
  subdividing property, only taking care to let their subdivisions go
  hand in hand with the natural affections of the human mind.

I'm not quite sure how "But the consequences of [...]" and "legislators cannot invent [...]" are connected together using a comma.

Is it correct that this sentence means "Because of the consequences of [...], legislators cannot invent [...]"?

Thanks :)


texts: What are the differences between "being aware" of something and "being educated" about something?

texts:
People are not aware about cleanliness.
People are not educated about cleanliness.

Do you think that both of the sentences stated above are correct? If both are correct, which one is best? And what are the differences between the meaning of them?


texts: Do Americans with PIN-PEN merger confuse "imminent" and "eminent"?

texts:
The PIN-PEN merger is a merger of the vowels /ɪ/ (KIT vowel) and /ɛ/ (DRESS vowel) before nasals [m n ŋ]. The resultant vowel is more raised and is closer to [ɪ]. Pin pen, him hem, kin ken are homophones for those who have this merger. Wikipedia says that this merger is commonly found in Southern American English, Midland region, in areas settled by migrants from Oklahoma and Texas who settled in the Western United States during the Dust Bowl and also AAVE.
I read a lot about this merger in different articles and websites and can't find any instance of merging imminent and eminent. I watched many Youtube videos (through Youglish), but of no use.
Imminent and eminent only differ in the initial vowel sound for most (if not all) speakers of General American and Southern Standard British English:
/ˈɪm.ɪ.nənt/ and /ˈem.ɪ.nənt/
The vowels are before a nasal consonant, so PIN PEN merger is most likely to take place in the areas I mentioned above.
Do those Americans who have PIN PEN merger also merge imminent and eminent?


texts: Is it appropriate to use "it's" as a contraction for "it is" here?

texts:
I saw this in an English text, and I was wondering if the "it's" here is used correctly:

  The morality of it’s debatable but you can ...

I would be inclined to write it as:

  The morality of it is debatable but you can ...

but I am not a native English speaker.


texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  Does “notified by [date]” include the end date?
  “I will do it by Monday”. Does it mean before the beginning or before the end of Monday?

If something has to be finished "by spring 2013," how long do I have?

Does this imply the beginning, or the end of spring?


texts: What's the difference between "hallow", "sacred", "holy" and "saint"?

texts:
Hallow, sacred, holy and saint seem to resemble each other but are not identical. So what's the difference between them?

I have searched http://dictionary.babylon.com and spotted:

  Hallow:
  sanctify, consecrate, bless, exalt, glorify

  Sanctify:
  consecrate, make holy; make free from sin, purify; become holy

  Saint:
  person canonized by the Christian Church for his holy qualities; extremely holy person, very righteous person

  Sacred:
  holy, worthy of reverence; sanctified, consecrated; pertaining to religion

  Holy:
  sacred, consecrated; divine; devoted to the service of God or religion; saintly, godly

So to hallow is to make holy, a saint is a holy person, but holy and sacred are circularly defined...


texts:
I'm currently working in a slogan and my outcome so far is something like

  Fine Results, Simple Methods

However, by googling "fine results", the search results shows me that there is little to none usage of these words in that exact order.

I'm not asking for marketing advice or whatsoever, but I'm very concerned if this combination of words would sound odd to US English Speakers (which are my target audience);

And just to provide a bit more of context, by "fine results" I meant very good results. Something better than "okay results" but not exaggerated as:

"amazing results"
"astonishing results"
"remarkable results"
"wow such results"

I would be glad if anyone can help me on this or at least leave a comment telling me if it sounds strange to you or not :)


texts: I have received a letter with four separate questions that are numbered from 1 thru 4. Now, I am going to prepare a reply letter and intend to provide my answers to each of these questions. Would you please share with me how to write an introductory sentences telling that my number one answer is for question one, and so on.


texts: Some problems in understanding a word in a sentence

texts:
I am translating the following text from English to Italian and it is not very clear for me the meanig of the phrase written in bold. Can somebody help me? Thank you in advance.

  Twitter is an exceptionally successful platform for many people who
  are marketing a product or service, but it does require that you build
  slowly, over time, and connect only with people who are involved in or
  buying from your industry already. This guaranteed engagement, and
  because the platform is free, it makes perfect sense.


texts: What's the meaning of "And this because"?

texts:
What's the meaning of "And this because" in the following text?

  And this because, Terasaki added, “there is both a practical and moral
  imperative to rid the world of those apocalyptic weapons."


texts:
Yesterday I posted a question(https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/186907/how-do-expert-writers-avoid-using-i-when-they-mean-to-address-themselves-in) and received a good  yet insult-ish like answer. I'm not a native so I am just wondering if the idiom You can't make silk purses out of a sow's ear either is insulting or borders on being so.

thanks every one


texts: Word between "proficient" and "mastery"?

texts:
I'm writing a résumé for the first time and I want to convey that I have a near-mastery of a programming language. Most sample resumes use "proficient", but that sounds like I'm not very good with the programming language. I have almost 10 years of extensive experience with the language, so I feel qualified to claim that I have "mastery" of the language. However, I don't want to use "mastery" because that sounds arrogant.

What's a word with a meaning between "proficient" and "mastery"?


texts:
I don't know where I've heard such expression. I try to explain (for sales) what our software tool does and I use this sentence: "It helps you to deploy apps in a very simple fashion". And then I describe the steps of how it works.

I googled this expression and I found only one reddit post. Is it a widely used expression in the US? Will native speakers understand me? What about non-native speakers like EU folks, will they? Can I rephrase it as "in the simplest possible fashion"?

Thanks!


texts: What is the difference between the prefix iso and homo

texts:
I haven't found a ancient Greek site on stack exchange, so i hope it is  ok to ask it here:
What is the difference between 'iso-' and 'homo-'?
Do they both mean 'same'?

For example:
isotope, isomer, isostasy, isomorphism...
homophone, homosexuality, homomorphism...


texts: Is "voluminous" more commonly used to describe women's (not men's) hair?

texts:
Is the word voluminous more commonly used to describe women's hair? What's the male counterpart?

Actually I'm not very sure about my statement. But judging from Google Images. It seems like it is more commonly used to describe women's hair.

What's the male counterpart of the word?


texts:
Does even when grammatically work the same as even though and even if work? Or is it more of a time expression?

Following the rules is essential, even when it’s difficult.
Following the rules is essential, even if it’s difficult.
Following the rules is essential, even though it’s difficult.


texts: How to describe a person with no criminal record?

texts:
The only word I know to describe such a person is clean. I tried to find out an adjective or a phrase that explicitly talks about criminal record, but couldn't succeed.

Examples:

  There is no criminal record, he/she is + adjective.
  There is no criminal record, he/she is + phrase (e.g. adverb + adjective).

Is there such an adjective or a phrase?


texts: Personification of a Vehicle and it's sleeves

texts:
Normally, to describe something which has special abilities or something secret, we use the phrase Something up its sleeve or something similar to that.

Now, if I had to say the same thing about a VEHICLE, which word other than sleeves should I use?

What could construe as the vehicular equivalent of sleeve?


texts:
At times I come across at this form of using should:

  Should we wish to cancel these semantic actions—sometimes termed the default actions—of
  the event, we simply return the value false from the event handler.

It always starts with ‘should’. I understand it as ‘If we want to…’. I couldn’t find definition in my grammar book.


texts: What is the origin of "have a gander"? (When meaning "look".)

texts:
The phrase "have a gander" meaning "have a look" is common in the UK. (Also can be "have a goosey gander" or just "have a goosey".)

What is the origin/meaning of this phrase? I always assumed that it was Cockney rhyming slang, but I can't think of how it would work as rhyming slang (additionally cockney rhyming slang also has "butcher's" meaning "look", as a rhyme of "butcher's hook").

So why does have a gander mean have a look?


texts: Should this be a restrictive or non-restrictive relative clause?

texts:
Which makes more sense in American English?

The non-restrictive relative clause:

  The bed has a thickness, which may be adjustable.

versus the restrictive relative clause:

  The bed has a thickness that may be adjustable.

The use of the word may suggests to me that it is non-restrictive, however, I feel like it is more correctly written as a restrictive clause.  Are both acceptable, and if so, how do their meanings differ?  The meaning I desire, is a bed with a thickness, that may or may not be adjustable (i.e., the bed's adjustability is not determined).

These sentences don't make much sense, that is because I took a much longer sentence and both genericized it and stripped it down to the the portion that applied to my question.  I think the key point is if the relative clause contains words like may or could that make the clause optional, does it make sense to ever use the restrictive clause?


texts: Are 'ages' and 'aged' acceptable in those sentences?

texts:
I teach children aged 10 to 14.
I teach children ages 10 to 14.


texts: Can "Targetings" be a plural form of "Targeting" as a noun?

texts:
I understand words like "surrounding" can be "surroundings", or "binding" can be "bindings".

But is it appropriate with "targeting" as a noun?

Here is a recent headline - "UN chief calls for probe of tanker targetings"
by The Associated Press, Friday, June 14th 2019 - https://wlos.com/news/nation-world/un-chief-calls-for-probe-of-tanker-targetings


texts: Why is it "astrologer" and "geologist", but not "astrologist" or "geologer"?

texts:
(There may be other examples in this vein, but these two stuck out to me recently.)

We call someone who practices astrology an astrologer. We call someone who practices geology a geologist. It seems odd that the subjects they practice (astrology, geology) are both created from Latin roots in the same way, but the titles take different forms.

There are some results searching for "astrologist" and "geologer", but they are far less prevalent or noted to be dated usages. (ngram viewer: Astrologer vs. Astrologist, Geologist vs. Geologer)

Why the different endings?


texts: What is the correct way of asking, How are Mom and Dad?, or How are Uncle and Aunt?

texts: While Chatting when you have to ask your friend, how are your mom and dad? Which is the correct way of asking How are Mom and Dad?, or How are Uncle and Aunt? or simply How are your mom and dad?


texts: Jester means professional fool. Fool is a bad word. Is Jester word derogatory?


texts: Analyzing structure: "as fast as X so faster will I Y"

texts:
I am analysing the following:

  I will aid my disciples;
  as fast as they acquire this balanced power and joy
  so faster will I push them.

I grasp the general idea that "I will push them" "faster" than "as fast as they acquire".

At first, it seemed to me that the last two parts are clauses closely joined by conjunctions as and so.

But after contemplating it some more, I'm compelled to read "as fast as (something)" as a verb modifier. Is this the case? Is this fragment a verb modifier for "will push"?

If the last part is a verb modifier, then what is the function of so?

How should I parse this?


texts: Is there any difference between "the rise of the moon" and "the rising of the moon"?

texts: I would like to know how these two are different, "the rise of the moon" and "the rising of the moon", or if any of them is not grammatically correct.


texts: What would the next step in an approval process be after "formally"

texts:
When a form is run through an approval process, I want to create statuses for different stages of said approval.

For now, I have the following:

Requested (Initial request was submitted)
Approved formally (Request has been checked formally, meaning that required data is present and it doesn't contain any formal errors, such as wrong date format, too few characters, etc.)
Approved ...?
Approved financially (The request can be paid for)
Resolved (Request has been processed)
Closed (Request has been shipped)

What I am missing is a word for the requests content has been checked it makes sense, is correct in the domain and can be implemented/resolved.

I was thinking about "Approved contextually" but that doesn't quite sound as what I want.


texts: Why is there no plural indefinite article?

texts:
The takes either a singular or a plural subject.  A/an only takes the singular.

When we pluralize a noun preceded by an indefinite article, we simply drop the article (sometimes replacing it with some).  Why is this?

3 years later:

Whilst on a separate goose-chase, I came across Greg Carlson's 1977 paper A Unified Analysis of the English Bare Plural, which addresses this issue in refreshing detail. It does not answer my question etymologically, but it substantiates the premise that the so-called null determiner is ambiguous:

  ABSTRACT. It is argued that the English ‘bare plural’ (an NP with plural head that lacks a
  determiner), in spite of its apparently diverse possibilities of interpretation, is optimally represented in the grammar as a unified phenomenon. The chief distinction to be dealt with is that between the ‘generic’ use of the bare plural (as in ‘Dogs bark’) and its existential or ‘indefinite plural’ use (as in ‘He threw oranges at Alice’). ‘Ihe difference between these uses is not to be accounted for by an ambiguity in the NP itself, but rather by explicating how the context of the sentence acts on the bare plural to give rise to this distinction. A brief analysis is sketched in which bare plurals are treated in all instances as proper names of kinds of things. A subsidiary argument is that the null determiner is not to be regarded as the plural of the indefinite article a.

The primary distinction is summed up in these examples:

Weeds grow refers to all weeds, or weeds in general. It is not equivalent to Some weeds grow.

Weeds grow in my garden refers to some weeds, and is equivalent to Some weeds grow in my garden.

I understand that context is often sufficient to determine the scope of the noun without a plural indefinite article1 - but that applies to the singular indefinite article a/an as well. In fact, it seems that a/an is even more redundant, since both Dog barks and Dog barks in my garden are equally indefinite, not generic.

1Carlson 2001 is further germane analysis. In here, he gives examples of sentences for which context is not sufficient to determine the scope of the null determiner. For instance, I only excluded old ladies can mean I excluded all old ladies (generic), or that all those whom I excluded happen to have been old ladies (indefinite - some old ladies may have gotten in after all).


texts:
What does the phrase 'kick the long ball' mean in the lines below?

  Real maturity begins when you finally realize that no-one is coming to the rescue.  It is only when you accept total responsibility for your life situation, with no excuses & no blaming of others, that you move into a mental position to 'kick the long ball' in your own life.


texts:
I see a sentence in this site:

  But both can be quite strong depending on how they are spoken.

Is depending on […] an adverbial clause?


texts: Is past perfect necessary when you are talking in chronological order?

texts:
I have a question about using past perfect. I know that it's used when you want to refer to an older past event while talking about a more recent past event. But if you begin talking about past events in chronological order, is past perfect really necessary?

For example, I want to write the following sentence:

  "When I called her last time, she told me that she wan't feeling well due to a cold. So when I saw her in the hallway this morning, I stopped her to ask her how she was doling."

The thing is, people have told me that I should use past perfect in the above sentence and I just can't seem to understand why.

I'm confused as ever!


texts: Is it wrong to say "dovetails off" something?

texts:
Can you say “dovetails off” something? Here’s the sentence:

  If you boil it down to that core objective, then everything else dovetails off of it.

I’m trying to figure out the correct preposition. Would it be correct to say “everything else dovetails with it?” Or are both of these okay to use?


texts:
What is a single word that captures that one is "about to be" (but not quite yet) X?

For example, the "about to be" employee of the company.

This is something like: The incipient X. However, clearly "incipient" implies that one has already become this X.

Has my mind simply lapsed and there is some obvious term for this which has escaped me today, or is there a neat word for this which is not common? One could use "future", but I don't like this because it does not capture that it is happening soon. Maybe a better rendering in many words is "the soon-to-be".


texts: What word means breaking something that is already broken?

texts:
I am writing an essay on Shakespeare’s Othello and need a fitting word that means something along the lines of breaking something that is already broken as a result of other means. My phrase is:

  [...] drove the blade deep into his ____ heart.

I need a word there that describes the fragile state of the heart after it has been (emotionally) broken through love (in a bad way) and is about to be killed through a physical object. In this case, the blade being pushed into the man’s chest.

Hopefully my question makes sense, I am struggling to put my thoughts into text but if you need any clarification, please ask.


texts: Is there a word/phrase/idiom for temporarily satisfying strong feeling of hunger?

texts:
Imagine a situation where you've been invited to dinner at a friend's place. You're extremely hungry but you learn that the dinner won't be ready for another half an hour. So you decide to eat an apple or a bite of bread or some other small thing which will not satisfy your hunger fully, but will temporarily make it more tolerable. Is there a word/phrase/idiom to describe this small snack prior to a big meal?

The Russian equivalent of what I am looking for is заморить червячка, which literally means to starve/kill the little worm. The only translation I found of this idiom was to stay one's hunger. However, I couldn't find any usage examples of it and the google query for define:to stay one's hunger doesn't return anything useful, so I guess this idiom, if used at all, isn't very common.


texts: Can I use the term global figures to describe final totals in a personal individual balance sheet that has no global connection or reach?


texts: Is it ok to use pervasive in a positive context?

texts:
I read this paper and something that I am not sure about is:

  Inspired by Pattern Theory [41], we attempt to model three important and pervasive patterns in natural signals: sparse discreteness, low dimensional manifold structure and hierarchical composition.

Is pervasive an appropriate word here? Isn't it only to be used in negative connotations?

For example: does "important and pervasive" is a valid conjunction?


texts:
Is it grammatically correct to omit "is" in the following sentence? Is it correct in formal speech?

  The Soviet Union is the largest land power, China the greatest
  land-sea compound country and the United States the biggest sea power.


texts:
I am not sure how to use the "now", where to put it in the sentence.

I have:

  "I studied [...] in the joint masters program [...] and I want to
  continue my career [...]".

I think for understanding it is good to emphasize that I graduated and NOW I want to continue my career in [....]. That's why I think a now would be good.

What is correct?

  "I studied [...] in the joint masters program [...] and I now want to
  continue my career [...]"

or

  "I studied [...] in the joint masters program [...] and now I want to
  continue my career [...]"


texts:
I have seen the word applicality being used at some places but couldn’t find its meaning when I looked it up on the internet. Example usage:

  But because law doesn’t exist doesn’t mean it can’t be argued in court of the applicality of new technology and intent of previous laws.¹

Is there really a word like that? If yes, in what context do we use it and how is it different from the work applicability?


texts: In terms of clause analysis, does this constitute a complex sentence?

texts:
My usual grammatical spidey-sense has let me down here.
The sentence "I can’t begin to fathom how their tiny bodies would cope with what they had to carry" FEELS complex to me. I feel that
i) "how their tiny bodies would cope" is a subordinate/dependent clause.
BUT
ii) it also feels like the object of the main clause "I can't begin to fathom".
So I'm currently labelling it like this: Main clause [I can’t begin to fathom] + subordinate clause [how their tiny bodies would cope] + prepositional phrase [with what they had to carry].
Is this correct as you understand it - I feel there's some grammatical info I've missed here for this confusion to occur!


texts: Answering or calling in response to a job posting?

texts:
Which of this is correct when calling concerning a job opening:

Hello Mrs Goodman. My name is ..... and I'm answering the advertisement for a ..... that was in ..... paper."

Or

Hello Mrs Goodman. My name is ..... and I'm calling concerning the advertisement for a ..... that was in ..... paper."

I saw the first example (the one with answering) on a website but it didn't sound right to me so i decided to create this thread to get the opinion of other members on WR. I would really appreciate your response.
Thanks


texts: Synonym of "button" as a technological term?

texts: Do you know any appropriate synonyms for the word "button" in the context of User Interface design?


texts:
On gardeningknowhow.com I read:

What is a Long Stem Rose?
When we refer to long stemmed roses, we are typically speaking of
Hybrid Tea roses...etc.

I'm not sure if this is a language question or a horticulture question, or maybe both. Are both terms, "Long Stem Rose" and "Long Stemmed Rose" correct, and if so, are they synonymous?


texts: Correct way of reading The Nibelungenlied

texts:
I'm trying to read "The Nibelungenlied" in metrical English translation by George Henry Needler (http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/etext05/niebn10h.htm). However, I've got certain difficulties with doing this.
The translator explicitly notes in the preface that the strophes of the poem have this structure: three regular lines with two half-lines each with three accented syllables and a caesura in the middle, then fourth line with three and four accented syllables in each half respectevily, so that the last line of strophe is lengthened.

I was unable to read it aloud keeping the rhythm, because after reading three regular lines, fourth isn't getting into my mind no matter how I try. For example, take the first strophe:

To us in olden story / are wonders many told
Of heroes rich in glory, / of trials manifold:
Of joy and festive greeting, / of weeping and of woe,
Of keenest warriors meeting, / shall ye now many a wonder know.

So, my first question is: how are the accents placed in the last half line (shall ye now many a wonder know, for example)?

Moreover, the poem has many "strange" rhymes, that do not sound rhyming at all, like "die — misery" (strophe 70) and "war — afar" (strophe 83). Can someone give me pointers on how to interpret them? Maybe I should look for pronunciation of the corresponding word in Middle English (the author is trying to make the language look archaic)?


texts: Does the expression head over heels mean the same as head over feet? To be madly in love with someone?


texts: Is “if they would do something” correct English?

texts:
We were discussing if the following sentence would be proper English:

  I asked them if they would do me a favour.  (A)

The meaning is that I am referring to a point in the past where I asked another person (group of persons, whatever) to be so nice and do me a favour of some nature.

Somebody claimed you mustn't use "if" with "would" in this fashion, but instead say:

  I asked them if they do me a favour.  (B)
  I asked them if they did me a favour.  (C)

But I think this has a different meaning, both versions (one with "do" and one with "did").

I can think of yet another option:

  I asked them to do me a favour. (D)

but I suspect this has a slightly different meaning, not including the tone of the original question.

Could you bring some clarity to the matter (for the layman, please), which is correct and if the meanings of A through D correspond to the intended meaning I described (if they are correct, as the semantics of them would be undefined otherwise -- obviously).


texts: Is there English word corresponding to Japanese “Bureikoh” meaning an occasion you can talk freely disregarding status and position?

texts:
Both Japanese and Chinese have words, “無礼講 - Bureikoh”—in Japanese (verb form　無礼講する) — meaning to make no distinction of status and position where you can speak and act freely without considering pressure and authority of others, difference of position, status and class  and “不分座次 - bù fēn zuò cì” (in Chinese) meaning no separation / distinction of seating position and class, at a gathering such as party, dinner, banquet, and social meeting,.

When we convene an unofficial meeting and after 5 o’clock gathering, we used to say “Let’s have a “Bureikoh” meeting (party). You don’t need to worry about whether your remarks benefit you, or harm you throughout the occasion. Speak up freely anything that comes to your mind” to participants. At Bureikoh gathering, everybody is considered to be totally equal, regardless company CEO and sales clerk, boss and subordinate, senior and junior, coach and player, professor and students. You are not punished by whatever you spoke out in Bureiko gathering.

The concept of “Bureikoh” dates back to the warring Middle age (13 Century) when the monarch needed to listen to the voice of his followers on his governance, policy and deeds.

Apart from the provenance of “Bureiko” and “bù fēn zuò cì”, is there any English short word corresponding to “Bureiko,” or “Bù fēn zuò cì” in the meaning of equal opportunity of speech and opinion among all?

In Democratic western countries where everybody is regarded to be equal, I wonder if the concept of "Bureikoh / Bù fēn zuò cì" is viable or not.

Addendum:

I thought “informal meeting” could be close to “Bureiko.” But if you call your CEO or boss a “nuts” or “F_ you” on spot even if it’s informal meeting, you’ll probably get the backlash. Whereas, “無礼講-Bureiko literally means “No punishment on rudeness,” thus nobody will be punished (theoretically) by throwing abuse to, or criticizing superior in expressing his / her own personal opinion, once Bureiko is declared upfront of the gathering, because it’s the rule of Bureiko.


texts: Proper grammatical form of transition words

texts:
When using a transition, do I put the semicolon before or after it?
For example, if I'm saying "in fact" is it written

(;in fact,)

or

(,in fact;)
?


texts: What word could I replace "importantly" with in this sentence?

texts:
I am looking for a synonym to the word "importantly" in this sentence (as well as other grammar tips because this sentence is messing with my brain):

  "Perhaps more importantly, I learned the importance of the qualities of true friends, who were always there to support me."


texts: Does "Streetwise person" carry any negative meaning?

texts:
Ok, I am wondering whether "Streetwise" carries any negative meaning.

Streetwise(a): having the experience and knowledge necessary to deal with the potential difficulties or dangers of life in an urban environment. Source

But then, if you Google "streetwise thief", then it will show like 3000 results.

I wondered whether Streetwise person means "the ones who use his life experience and knowledge to deceive other people who are not streetwise"?


texts:
Today, I am writing technical documentation that instructs the user how to install software to a server.  I encountered the following sentence and am unsure which is correct:

  When installing to a server other than that on which SQL Server is installed, ...

Should on be changed to upon?

  When installing to a server other than that upon which SQL Server is installed, ...

It all seems like a mouthful, but appears to be grammatically correct.


texts: "To be elected chairman" vs. "to be elected the chairman"

texts:
I have a question regarding the correct use of the definite article "the":

One of my books says:

  Definite article the is used before
  nouns denoting a position that can be
  held by one person at one time

Example: He has been elected the chairman of the committee.

But another book says,

  No article is used before predicative
  nouns denoting a position that is
  normally held at one time by one
  person only.

This means that "He has been elected chairman of the committee" is correct.  So my question is this: which one is (more) grammatically correct?


texts:
I'm wondering how to use an ellipsis after a complete sentence within a quote when not intending to use the entire quote.  Specifically, I'm looking at a Bible verse.  Consider the following:

  "Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective." - James 5:16

I want to quote and reference the first sentence (bolded part) of this verse.  I can't simply write

  "Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed." - James 5:16

because this indicates the the entirety of verse 16 is this one sentence, when in fact there is more.  So I figure I need to use an ellipsis to denote the omitted content, but if I use it like this

  "Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed..." - James 5:16

that seems to indicate that the sentence continues on after the part I've chosen, when in fact that is the end of the sentence.  So then I think I should do something either like [period-space-ellipsis]

  "Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. ..." - James 5:16

or [4-dot ellipsis]

  "Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed...." - James 5:16

but those both look weird and wrong to me.

So what is the correct way to do this?


texts: A term used to watch how someone performs a task?

texts: A term used to watch how someone performs a task ?


texts: Can one say "I am burning with questions about [a topic]"?

texts:
I am burning with questions about XYZ topic.

To mean:

  I have a lot of questions about XYZ topic.

Possibly:

  I have a lot of burning questions about XYZ topic.

Is this something others will understand?

Background

I went to send this in an email to a colleague. It made perfect sense to me as I wrote it and I'm sure I've seen or heard this said before. But on reading back my email, I wondered if it makes sense. I looked it up (on Google) and couldn't find any obvious reference to this specific phrase...

A google search for burning with questions brings up results of "burning questions"; especially links to a video series "[celebrity] answers Ellen's Burning Questions". This would suggest that the phrase "burning questions" is significantly more common than "burning with questions"
A google search for "burning with questions" (using quote marks to search for the exact phrase) is more successful, and quotes about 42,300 results, but the majority of the first page is about one single paper "Creativity and bipolar disorder: touched by fire or burning with questions?", which implies that this paper is using an unusual phrase.


texts:
I see a lot of Google results for this term, but not a single one explaining it. The phrase search "What is a quickfire auction" returns zero result (and will soon return this question).

What does it mean exactly?


texts: Looking for adjective - classic word for devoid of embellishment

texts:
I recall coming across a word in an article that just spoke to me and described my approach to creativity.

The context it was written in referred to a creative piece devoid of unnecessary embellishment, frills, etc.  It might have had its roots in a reference to clothing (no excessive lace, ruffles, etc.).

Does anyone know the word? Two kids in two years, and my brain just cannot come up with it!
Of course, I should also mention I was a math major, so my word knowledge is lacking.


texts:
The opposite of 'lock' is quite clearly 'unlock'.
But what is the single-word opposite of 'lockdown' ?

The family were relieved when the time came to _________________.

EDIT : The comment is noted that this looks for a verb.
I would also accept a noun in the following sentence :

The family were relieved when the time came for ________________.


texts:
Do you remember Northern Exposure? I hope so. Chris had a light-sign in his office:

And when you search Google Images for "on the air" some of the signs shown have "on air" without "the".

So which one is grammatically valid?

Personally I'd prefer "on the air" as it looks better as a sign.


texts:
One of the meanings of the word "lifesaver" is swim ring. English is not my first language, so I'm trying to understand how closely related these two phrases are?

For example, if I say "lifesaver" to a native English speaker, is this the first thing that comes to mind?


texts: How do they express the time, in American and British English?

texts:
I don't know if this is a good question. But as far as I know, and as I do it, American English also say "after" other than "past" in expressing times.

For example, a quarter after six instead of, a quarter past six as in British English.

The other difference I know, so far, is that the British use dots to separate "hour" and "minute" in digital times like "08.35" while Americans use a colon e.g; "08:35".

So is what I know, so far, correct? Or are there any other differences that I don't know about?


texts: What does “You hit singles, you hit doubles,” mean?

texts:
Roger Cohen, New York Times’ op-ed columnist wrote under the caption, “Ambivalence about America” in New York Times August 18 issue.;

  Geostrategic shifts over the past year indicate that the United States
  is Imperial Rome, A.D. 376, with various violent enemies playing the
  role of the Visigoths, Huns, Vandals et al.; the loss at home of what
  Edward Gibbon, the historian of Rome’s fall, called “civic virtue,” as
  narrow interests paralyze politics; the partial handover of American
  security to private military contractors just as a declining Rome
  increasingly entrusted its defense to mercenaries - - and the apparent
  powerlessness of a leader given to talk of the limits of what the
  United States can do. There is no record of the Emperor Valens’s
  saying, as Obama did, “You hit singles, you hit doubles,” but perhaps
  he thought it.
  http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/19/opinion/roger-cohen-ambivalence-about-america.

I don’t understand what “You hit singles, you hit doubles,” mean? In what context has President Obama delivered this phrase? Is it associated with a serial baseball hits? Does it mean the U.S. has suffered repeated internal and external difficulties?


texts: "This is Figure 7 on page 777" or "This is Figure 7 on the page 777"? Why not "the"?

texts: I cannot understand what is wrong with "on the page 8"? My instructor claims that it is "on page 8". It is a specific page to which I referring to on a particular book. What is wrong with "the" in front of "page 777"?


texts: Singular and plural ambiguity of the noun "trio"

texts:
According to dictionary.com, a trio is defined as "any group of three persons or things".

trio
noun, plural trios.
any group of three persons or things.

Trio is a singular noun that refers to a group of people. Is this singular word ambiguous with its plural meaning? This is the sentence that sparked this question:

Without idle chitchat to distract them, the trio was reminded of their missing friend.

The fragment uses the word "them" to refer to the three people. However, should "was" be "were", or is it fine as it is? Since trio means a group of things, yet the word itself is not automatically plural, I find it disconcerting to switch from plural to singular pronouns.


texts: What if money were beautiful - vs was beautiful

texts:
This website, https://celo.org/about - has a statement (screenshot below should it be removed in future)
The statement is "What is money were beautiful?".
This does not make sense to me.
In British English should it not rather read "What is money WAS beautiful?"


texts: Is there a comma after 'I' in "You can trust that I, and my team of professionals..."

texts:
You can trust that I, and my team of professionals are your best option for health insurance coverage.

Is the comma optional? Because I would like to go without it because though I like this phrasing it is a bit clunky as it is.


texts:
Working on a game and I need a single word that represents the 5 senses: smell, touch, taste, sound, and sight.

At the moment I'm using "perception" which I don't think is adequate.


texts:
I ask this because I recently had a debate with my family about how to pronounce this word, miracle. They said it was pronounced with the "mir" in miracle the same way "mir" is in mirror. (/ˈmɪɹəkəl/).

Whereas I said the "mir" was pronounced like "mer" in merry (/ˈmɛɹəkəl/). So, I consulted an online dictionary to prove my point, and the pronunciation guide clearly showed their way of saying miracle, but the spoken pronunciation to my ear clearly was saying it the way I thought it should be said, though they heard it their way.

So, I looked again and found this dictionary that has the pronunciation spelled out their way, but the UK vocal pronunciation clearly sounds like my way, while the US pronunciation clearly sounds like theirs.

Meanwhile, these dictionaries have pronunciation spelled out their way, but the accompanying vocal pronunciation widget clearly sounds like my way, though they still say they hear it their way. Example.
I'd post more sources, but I need more reputation points. Others have their (my family's) pronunciation spelled out and the vocalization corresponds, but by far the more common scenario is my family's pronunciation being spelled out, but mine being the spoken one.

The only dictionary I've seen that offers the pronunciation guide that I think is correct is Wiktionary (again, can't post link yet), though I'm more skeptical of that source.

So, which is correct? /ˈmɪɹəkəl/ or /ˈmɛɹəkəl/? Or is it just a matter of US vs UK English, and I've unknowingly been using the UK pronunciation (according to Cambridge dictionary) my whole life despite being born and raised in the US?


texts: What does it mean to say, "It's only who knows when I will respond"

texts:
I would like to know what does "It's only who knows when I will respond." mean? Is this an idiom?

Background: She is pretty much busy with her work lately so she seldom replies to him. She said, "I was pretty busy lately. It's only who knows when I will respond. Sorry about that." ? By the way, the two are still getting to know each other virtually.

It's quite vague to me but from what I understood, only then she can reply as soon as possible to people who are much closer to her like her parents and the like? It's like she only prioritizes replying to people whom she knows more?

Is my understanding correct?

Any idea is very much appreciated.


texts: What is the origin for the idiom "a hot potato"? I know previously hot potatoes were used as hand warmers but I don't understand how that fits the meaning of the idiom.


texts:
A solution is hypertonic to a cell if its concentration of
  non-penetrating solutes is greater than that within the cell.
  A solution is hypertonic to a cell if its concentration of
  non-penetrating solutes is greater than the concentration of
  non-penetrating solutes within the cell.

Do these convey the same message?


texts: What vs Where ...is the common ground/basis

texts:
According to Merriam-Webster the common ground is

  a basis of mutual interest or agreement

and the basis is

  the principal component of something

Both are often used in the context of being found (like a place). Wikipedia states that finding common ground is a technique for facilitating interpersonal relationships. Historically, it refers to the commons, which in many communities were a place which was available to everyone, such as the village pump, or the sidewalk of a road. Yet in her 1888 novel "Robert Elsmere" Mary Augusta wrote

  What common ground was there between him and any such exquisite youth?

I could find many examples for both what and where being used in questions asking for the common ground or the basis.

All four of these grammatical constructions are widely being used:

What is the common ground for A and B?
Where is the common ground for  A and B?
What is the basis for X?
Where is the basis for X?

Are all of them correct? Do the what versions differ in meaning from the where versions?

Thanks in advance.


texts: What is the subject of the sentence, "The term rules includes the following: "?

texts: I am trying to determine if I should use the singular "includes" or the plural "include" depending on whether "term" or "rules" is the subject.


texts: Meaning of "rendition" in the phrase "rendition camp"

texts:
In the movie series XIII the main character was imprisoned in something they called "a rendition camp in Romania". In the movie it looked just like a prison. He was put there on the order of NSA or CIA or some agency without a proper sentence, they kind of "deposited" him there because they had considered him dangerous.

What is the exact meaning of the word rendition in the phrase rendition camp? I cannot find the definition of the phrase and none of the definitions of the rendition itself does not make sense (a performance or interpretation, a translation of a piece of writing, visual representation or reproduction).


texts: Sentence structure and meaning (parallel structure)

texts:
In the first paragraph of this article about friendship, I encountered the following sentence:

  Already the characteristically modern relationship, it [friendship] has in recent
  decades become the universal one: the form of connection in terms of
  which all others are understood, against which they are all measured,
  into which they have all dissolved.

I am struggling to understand what this sentence is trying to convey, especially the bolded part. My guess is that it means

(1) Any other people are considered friend if and only if I understand them.

(2) I always evaluate other people using friendship as the only measure. That is, I always divide all other people into two groups: friends and non-friends, and there exists no third catagory.

(3) Once someone becomes my friend, he/she is integrated(dissolve) into a large homogeneous group, namely friends, and is not treated as a separate person any more.

I am particularly not sure about the second and the third points, while not 100% sure about the first point as well. If anyone understand this sentence I will be grateful for any help.


texts: May I just say, I was born and raised in the United States and I use the term "spelt" but others say it should be "spelled" but... why is spelt apparently a grammatical error?


texts: Which of "is acquired by" or "is acquired to" is preferred?

texts:
In the following sentence:

  They have access to private information that can only be acquired by those who invest millions of dollars in network communication...

should I say the following instead?

  They have access to private information that can only be acquired to those who invest millions of dollars in network communication...


texts:
Which phrase is correct grammar?
At a recent funeral of a married couple whu died 2 days apart, the funeral home printed the following phrase on the bulletin.

"2 life's well lived"
Or
"2 lives well lived"

Which phrase is the correct grammar?

Thank you


texts: "a causal relationship with" or "a causal relationship to"

texts:
I saw the posting "Relationship to” vs. “Relationship with” but I'm still not sure which one is more appropriate in the medical context--more specifically, on adverse events.

An injury for which a causal relationship with the drug cannot be excluded.
An injury for which a causal relationship to the drug cannot be ruled out.


texts: What is the correct/popular pronunciation of Probably?

texts: I heard people pronouncing "Probably" as "Praw-b-lee", is this limited to particular area or it is correct pronunciation every should follow.


texts: Of a "something", Why does "Of" can be used here and how to use it?

texts:
"Most of the articles in the magazine are of a didactic nature."
There is a "Of" put before "a didactic nature"
Why does "Of" can be used here, and how to apply this sctuture to other sentence?


texts: What's a "brace" in the expression "brace yourself"?

texts:
I know the meaning of the expression, "brace yourself," and also the meaning of the word "brace" but I don't understand why they have that word in that expression and what its origin or history is.

Why brace? Aren't braces what dentists install in people's jaws?


texts: What is the meaning of the phrase 'all our'?

texts:
I read a sentence recently:

  May there be sweet-sour flavour in all our lives.

What is the meaning of the phrase "all our"?

Does it mean "in the lives of all of us" or "all through our lives"?


texts: If a trip meant "for business" that results in a trip "for pleasure" can be characterized as a boondoggle, then is there a word for the converse, where a trip "for pleasure" (eg. vacation) results in seeking out and taking advantage of a business opportunity?


texts: Can we say "The student can do still better"- with the same meaning as "The student can do better ?"

texts: A teacher remarked in progress report of a student that she "can do still better" to say that she can do better than what she did now. Is it correct?


texts: In sales terms I've met pitch for a lot of time as a sort of presentation. But what is this little difference between the presentation and pitch in term of sales or other public speech in a conference for example.


texts: What do you say when you have done something and must sign a document indicating that it has been done

texts:
The question is in the title but an example sentence would be:

Every party must read the overarching obligations and sign a document ............

A wordy way to say it is:
Every party must read the overarching obligations and sign a document indicating they have done so.

I feel like there must be a more formal way of stating it.

Would "to that nature" work?


texts: Quotations Marks Around Simple Words That Come After "Said"

texts:
I read somewhere that you should always add a comma after "said" and quotation marks around whatever word comes after "said," no matter how short the phrase is. Is this entirely true? Here's what I mean:

  "He said, 'Yes.'"

Are the comma and quotation marks really necessary? How about in this example:

  "I'm sorry I didn't say, 'Please.'"

Would a comma and quotation marks always go after "said" no matter how short the phrase is?


texts: Is there any rhyming word for the word 'month'?

texts:
I searched but I found that the word 'month' I am looking for, has no perfectly rhyming word. Is it true? Can anyone suggest rhyming words for this word?

I also have certain words like 'millionth'. Is this a suitable match for rhyming with 'month'?


texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  Are the rules regarding absolute modifiers too absolute?

Reading the sentence below, written on The Telegraph, it can notice the phrase quite unique.

  I never imagined a situation when I would write this line, but I think
  I need the help of a Welsh speaker. There is something quite unique
  happening with the Wales team and I need a name for it.

Considering that unique, from the Latin for one, means "being the only one of a kind", does it need to change quite unique with the only term unique or, maybe, with the phrase almost unique?

Or, is quite unique acceptable to use for native English speaker?


texts: "This cake, what is my favorite, makes me happy"

texts:
Lately I have heard many people using what in place of which in adjectival phrases:

  This cake, what is my favorite, makes me happy.
  This cake, which is my favorite, makes me happy.

Is the first usage grammatical?  Which is the preferred usage?


texts: I looked up the synonyms of the word tunnel and came across 'shaft' in the list. However, I have never heard of a tunnel being called a shaft before.


texts: p,q is (or are) the number (or numbers) of variables in dataset (or datasets) X and Y, respectively?

texts:
I found a similar question “Numbers” or “number?” Which sentence is correct?
However, I found my question a bit more complicated.

So, what's the correct combination of the following sentence?

p,q is/are the number/numbers of variables in dataset/datasets X and Y, respectively?


texts: Term for something that can be advice but is actually a warning?

texts:
Is there a term to describe a phrase that can sound like advice but is actually a warning?

I work with math and algorithms and I often tell clients, "you will improve what you measure". I intend it to be a warning - measure the wrong thing and you are sunk. But it otherwise sounds like pretty good advice!

So is there something I can use to describe this type of phrase?


texts: The definition of a requiem is a song which plays on one's funeral. I was wondering, is there a word which means the opposite - a song which is used as a celebration of one's birth? Thank you!


texts: Quoting a password at the end of a sentence: Where to put the point?

texts:
Recent Slashdot article:

  They feature Wi-Fi that can't be turned off (protected, however, with a WEP password of "abcde"), an unencrypted database, and administrative access with a hardcoded password of "admin."

Is the password admin or admin.?

Here it might be easy to guess, but in technical documentation for enterprise software it would be hugely ambiguous and could cause a lot of trouble if understood wrongly. Especially if the password is 4@$p).<...

Is there a convention for punctuation around passwords in English documentation?


texts: Sentence structure with adjectives/adverbs

texts:
Kindly consider the following sentence.

  She sat bored at the edge of a cliff.

I have a few issues while identifying its structure. I can see sat is a verb; therefore, it's starting with S+V.

The next word bored is either an adjective or an adverb. I'm not sure. Can I get some help here?

Lastly, at the edge of a cliff is a prepositional phrase, which is working as an adverb.

Overall, the structure might be S + V + C + C but not so sure.
(Subject + Verb + Adjective + Adjective Complement)

Appreciate any help. Thanks!


texts: Word for inexplicable physical discomfort?

texts:
A while ago I saw a photo of a lotus seed that scarred me for life. Now whenever I see the picture of a lotus seed or something that even has a similar pattern I feel uneasy, shudder and get goose bumps. Sometimes the sound of nails on a chalkboard elicits a similar response.

Is there a single word that describes this particular sensation of physical discomfort?


texts: Is the use of the word 'in' at the end of this sentence incorrect?

texts: It is never too late to change the direction your life is headed in.


texts:
I am not really ready to get married.

Did I put "really" in the right place? I just want my sentence to sound stronger than "I am not ready to get married."


texts: What is the word for a list of photographs taken by a photographer?

texts: There is filmography for films, bibliography for books, discography for music, but I can't seem to find one for photographs.


texts: What does this quote "It is always the latest song that an audience applauds the most" mean?

texts: This is a quote from Homer. I was wondering what doest it mean, the word "latest" means "last" or "newest"?


texts:
[Question editted following @Davo comment]

I stumbled upon this riddle, which is referring to oil:

  It flows out of the soil,
  It burns you if it boils,
  And holds us in its coils,
  More valuable than gold,
  As black as it is old.

It seems that the meaning of coils here is as in its clutches, but is it acceptable to use hold something in coils in a similiar manner?


texts:
William Hartson called the word “surely one of the ugliest words ever to slither its way into our dictionaries”, but regardless of what he would like to say about the word, I actually have always found it quite delightful, and others must have thought so too since seeing as it became so widespread.
I have heard in sources that it derived from college slang, and Online Etymology Dictionary puts:

also humungous, by 1972, American English, apparently a fanciful mash-up of huge and monstrous.

I found the following use in 1969 in "Princeton Alumni Weekly, Volume 70."

The response was humongous ( Gargantuan in size . Bigger than big )

In the example since the author is seen to feel a need to define the word surely leads one to assume that the word was exceptionally infantile to the English tongue.
In a 1967 book titled Current Slang the word is defined:

Humongous , adj . Heavy , large

And it looks as though by 1970 the word was being used freely and does not infer that a reader might be unfamiliar with the word's meaning.
I cannot find any records on who coined the word, and if so, where did it first appear? It is such a "new" word, that I doubt there cannot be found the first coining of it.


texts:
Consider the following sentence, please:

  I don't like these comments coming from you.

How would a native speaker of English analyze the above sentence? I tried to analyze it myself in the following ways:

1) I don't like these comments that are coming from you, with a relative clause at the end and probably an emphasis on the phrase 'these comments.'

2) I don't like these comments' coming from you, with an apostrophe after 'comments', meaning "I don't like the fact that they are coming from you." 'coming from you' functions as a gerund phrase here.

3) I don't like (these comments) and also (the fact that they're coming from you), with "LIKE" as a di-transitive verb and the two bracketed parts as its two objects. An analogy can be drawn with the verb "see" in the following sentence:
"I saw him doing this."

So, my question is: To a native speaker, which one/ones seems/seem correct. I know a proper context could limit the number of analyses of the given sentence. But, without a given context, in how many possible ways the above sentence could be interpreted by a native speaker is of my concern. Thank you in advance.


texts: Rules for sentences containing lists of things

texts:
Is the following sentence grammatically correct?

  "Symptoms of lactic acid build up in muscles include cramps, spasms,
  fatigue and sensitivity."

Does "sensitivity" need to be qualified, as in "sensitivity to touch"? Can someone point out the "rules" that come into play here?


texts: Do I tell time "by" the Sun, or "from" the Sun? Or both? And what about the shadows of the trees?

texts:
So, I ran across this quote:

  Early men didn't have clocks. They told time by the sun and shadows of the trees.

And it provoked a doubt in me: I think I have heard native speakers use "tell time from the Sun", and here we have by.

So I went googling, and I found detailed articles on the subject, apparently written by native speakers, featuring both. In their headlines, even.

So, which is it?

To tell the time by the Sun
To tell the time from the Sun

Or is it both? And if so, are there any nuances, subtle shades of difference in meaning, between the two usages?

And speaking of shade, does the story change if the clock does? Do we tell time by or from the shadows of the trees?


texts: Correct term for a group of thirty-two things (or the general rule for anything over twenty) - duotrigectet?

texts:
I have found this source a little useful, but I am unsure what the correct term for a collection of thirty-two things is. Sextet, octet, dectet etc. are the terms for 6, 8, 10 etc.
The "prefix form" of 32 is "duotrige" and the "base name" is "duotrigesimal". Is the term I am looking for duotriget, duotrigeset, duotrigectet, duotrigestet or something else?

I imagine the rule will be the same with every number over twenty, so if you know the correct term for a group of twenty things or whatever please answer with that.

Update: after realising that there is no precisely "correct" way of forming such a word, the nature of my enquiry has changed: given I'm going to have to coin a term myself, what would be the best semi-regular term? (of course there is no definite correct answer to this question)


texts:
I'm struggling with a phrase and need help with that, it's from the book Born to Run by Christopher McDougall (Random House, 2018):

  There were other races out there and other Tarahumara runners, and it wasn’t long before Fisher had regrouped and was careening from mayhem to mayhem like a frat boy on a road trip.

My main problem is with last 5 word: like a frat boy on a road trip. I know that "frat" probably refers to Fraternity, but I couldn't figure out how can it be related to the topic in the book.


texts:
The phrase nuthin' doin' in American slang means "There's nothing interesting or exciting going on".

How does doin' come to mean "happening"?


texts: What do you call it when someone is polite after being rude? Like if somebody interrupted another person talking and then after talking for a long time, the person finally says 'may I please say something?'


texts: What is the word to mean to apply attributes of an entire race to a single individual?

texts:
Normally racism is used to mean generalizing about an entire race based on a few individual examples, but what is the word to mean to apply attributes of an entire race to a single individual? That is often referred to as racism as well, but I believe they are distinct and would like a more precise word or term. I know the terms for the logical fallacies associated with it, but am seeking a general English term.

For example, three nurples bit me, therefore all nurples are biters. This is a case of an overgeneralization.

This is the term I'm looking for: Most nurples are savants. Aijan is a nurple. Therefore Aijan is a savant. This is a case of fallacy of division.

Is there a more plain word to express the second example, carrying the connotation of racism, but not the word racism proper?


texts: the meaning of 'times': multiplication or addition/subtraction

texts:
Judy can jump rope 50 times.
Bill can jump rope 150 times.
He can jump rope 3 times more than Judy does.

In the last sentence, 'times' means 'multiplication'.
I wonder if this following sentence is possible :

He can jump rope 100 times(150-50) more than Judy does.


texts: Is there a good term for "a person or people who have made a statement"?

texts:
I am currently writing an essay in response to a lengthy quotation by the authors of a book, and struggling for a concise way to refer to the authors. The book title does not feature in the question text, so I feel that "the authors" would be an unhelpful term - particularly as the subject is theology, so I am using the term author in another context already.

I have a tight word limit and a dislike of clumsy phraseology, so I'm not really happy using accurate but ugly phrases such as "people who made the statement"; ideally I would like to reference them within the flow of a sentence. Below is a sentence where I've put "authors", and would like a good alternative:

  This being the case, it is likely that more people are being tarred with the authors’ “single model of atonement” brush than is really fair.

I suspect that there may be several answers that are technically correct, but I'll know the right one for this essay when I see it! If anyone posts an answer that fits the question but doesn't fit my usage, I'll edit the question to clarify.


texts:
(Note: I'm not talking about the same kind of redundancy as in this question).

Is "may or may not" correct, or is it a redundant version of "may or not"? I've seen both, and I don't know which one(s) is (are?) correct:

The position of lecturer is occasionally given to individuals [...] who may or not have a doctoral degree.
The position of lecturer is occasionally given to individuals [...] who may or may not have a doctoral degree.


texts:
Can we use the word soon before past participle in passive sentences?
Is the following sentence correct?
The window will be soon installed.


texts:
I was disappointed to see a favorite storybook from my childhood has been edited.  (Harry, the Dirty Dog; ISBN-13: 978-0064430098)  I distinctly remember the text written as follows:

  ...but everyone shook his head and said, "Oh, no, it couldn't be Harry."

I was taught that the male gender form takes precedence, when speaking several individuals of each gender.  However, the book was edited to read,

  ...but everyone shook his head their head and said, "Oh, no, it couldn't be Harry."

ARGH!  Please assure me that the original version and I are correct!  There are some other minor edits that have simply ruined the book for me.  (My linguistic snobbery helped, too.)


texts: T- and D-elision: I hateTHem OR I hated'em

texts:
I would appreciate your help with these two questions:

1)

  I hated them.

Will the speaker omit the D or TH sound?

Will he say:

  I hateD'em

OR

  I hateTHem.

Are both variatons possible?

The example is quite tricky because 'them' is the Middle English 'hem', hence you get the silent H, like in the case of 'him' and 'her'. Usually, you retain the latter or "mix" both sounds, but I'm not sure what happens in this case.

2) What about the sentence:

  I helped them.

Would an American, or any other speaker that uses the flap T sound, flap this T and said:

  I help̚Dem.

I realize there are accents without the voiced "th" sound, but this is a question to those who do use the voiced "th" sound in their accents. I'm mainly concerned with the GenAm accent.

PS: If you're wondering what's the /p̚/ symbol above the /p/, it's the /p/ sound with no audible release, an unreleased stop consonant.


texts: "How to..", "How do you.." or "How do I.." when asking a practical question

texts:
As the title says, I'm asking because you can split the StackOverflow questions to three groups according to their openings, for example:

"How do I serialize an object...",
"How do you serialize an object...",
"How to serialize an object...",

And asking questions quite often myself, I'm curious which is the proper way.


texts: Is it correct to say "Group of one or more things"?

texts:
The context that I need to use this phrase is that I have a category/group where in there may be only thing or multiple things. I believe that using "Group of things" is correct.

But it is appropriate to use "Group of one or more things" even if the group/category contains only one thing?


texts:
I just had the following exchange with a co-worker:

  Me: Do you prefer a rubber band or do you prefer a clippy thing?

  Her: I would prefer neither.

  Me: You would prefer either.

  Her: Well I can't prefer either because...

  discussion ensues

  Me: So you have no preference.

  Her: I have no preference.

I gave her a rubber band, but I still wonder:

Can one prefer neither if none of the presented options meet one's preference, which nonetheless exists?

My feeling is that I prefer either, while likely incorrect, is an acceptable usage in the course of banter to play off the repetition of the word prefer and to mirror the question's construction.

My primitive Google searches return nothing helpful.
The best search result in the archives is not really relevant:
Which is correct: "prefer X to Y" or "prefer X over Y"?


texts: A translation for the clair french word?

texts:
What could be the translation for the "clair" word in English?
I mean "clair" in the sense decrypted, not clear.
(sorry for my bad english)


texts: Usage of "certain" in these newspaper articles

texts:
Is the usage of "certain" in these newspaper articles correct?
Excerpt from Mutual funds for P1,000 a month (Inquirer.net) (emphasis mine):

"Because remember, you're acquiring shares. So it's good for the
investor ... You can never get the timing right when you invest, but
if you're doing it on a monthly basis, you're indifferent to how the
market moves, because your objective is really to reach a certain
amount in terms of investment over a certain period of time," she
says.
Cognizant of the market's demand for better yield, Pami allows
switching from one fund to another.
"What we're really pushing for is diversification, maybe have a
certain bucket in fixed income, a certain basket in equity-based funds and then a certain portion in the peso and dollar funds,"
Morales says.

The closest definition of "certain" in this context on Oxford Advanced Learner's dictionary seems to be: "used to mention a particular thing, person or group without giving any more details about it or them". I would like to ask if this definition applies to the usage of "certain" in this context. Or is there another correct definition that applies?

Another example — excerpt from Hazing eyed in death of graduating UP student (Inquirer.net) (emphasis mine):

The village chairman of Talisay, Tiaong, Quezon, Pedro Panopio, who was designated by the family to speak on their behalf showed the Inquirer a statement written by the duty guard of the Veteran’s Memorial Hospital identified as a certain Jonathan Garduce.
He noted in his handwritten statement that Chris was brought to the medical facility at around 1:08 a.m. Monday by a certain “Dr. Francisco Cruz” aboard a white Toyota Innova with license plates ZXB-393, followed by two other vehicles: a Nissan Trooper (WGL-515) and an Isuzu van (XAS-548).

The closest definition of "certain" in this context on Oxford Advanced Learner's dictionary seems to be: "used with a person's name to show that the speaker does not know the person". I understand "know" in that definition to be the fourth definition of "know" in Dictionary.com: "be acquainted with (a thing, place, person, etc.), as by sight, experience, or report: to know the mayor". Does it apply to this or to another correct definition?
It seems that in this context, though, it is used to state that the names are unconfirmed (not from an official source) or just to emphasize the names. The writer of the news article is not expected to know (be acquainted with) the persons mentioned in the article personally, after all.


texts:
In the song "Tea for the Tillerman", there are two things that baffle me.

The pronunciation of the word "Tillerman". It sounds to me that he is saying /tilman/. Why is that?
What does a tillerman do by profession? What is its meaning in the context of the song?


texts: "As if" & "As would be the case if"; Also, "As though"

texts:
On a Q&A site in Japan, I read an expression that as if comes from as (would be the case) if.

Are both about the same thing?
Is this claim historically true?
If so, what does "as though" come from?


texts: Difference between "Coming weekend" and "This weekend"?

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  “Next Friday” vs. “This Friday”

Consider the following statements:

  I'll meet you coming wednesday
  I'll meet you next wednesday
  I'll meet you this wednesday

All the pages I've seen till now, like this one use next and this, but I don't see anywhere what the coming means.

As I know it, coming wednesday means the current week's wednesday and next wednesday is for the next week's wednesday.


texts: Why does "Mickey Mouse Operation" refer to a poorly run company?

texts:
A phrase I commonly hear (and use myself) when a company (or individual, in some cases) does something that seems foolish or not planned is to ask

  What kind of Mickey Mouse operation are you running here?

A search on Google leads me to Urban Dictionary, who confirms how I have been using the expression to mean

  Substandard, poorly executed or organized. Amateurish.

However, The Walt Disney Company is one of the largest entertainment corporations on the planet today. This Google Ngram shows that the expression did not become popular until about 1970s, well after Mickey was created. While I know the company did not achieve their current, prestigious status overnight, and I am not looking for history of company...

Why did the expression become popular and have a negative meaning associated with it?


texts: Is there a term for opposite words that can be used to mean the same thing?

texts:
For example

"1 in 20 Americans suffer from..." and "1 out of 20 Americans suffer from..."
"it is down to you" and "it is up to you"

They seem like great ways to add to creative writing.

Is there a specific term for these words? (like homonym, heteronym, etc)


texts: "I said I would/will go" — which one is correct?

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  Usage of “will” and “would”

  I said I will go.
  I said I would go.

Which one is correct?


texts: Words that are synonyms for multiple meanings?

texts:
A lot of words obviously have multiple meanings. Also, a lot of words have synonyms. Are there groups of words that are synonyms for multiple meanings?

For instance, say word A has Definition A1, Definition A2, Definition A3. Word B has Definition B1, Definition B2 and Definition B3. These words would be synonyms for "multiple meanings" if for instance Definition A1 = Definition B2 and Definition A3 = Definition B3.

Is there a word for this concept? Also, how common does this happen? Finally, what are some good resources where I find can these kinds of words?

Thank you.


texts: How should I interpret "…should exchange for one-and-twenty shillings" from Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations.?

texts: the book talks about a Guinea exchanging for "one-and-twenty shillings".  I don't know what this means and its hard to google.


texts: Sentences starting with "No matter how he"

texts:
Is the following grammatically correct?
No matter how he kept tossing and turning, he could not fall asleep.

If grammatically correct, is it different in meaning to:
No matter how he tossed and turned, he could not fall asleep.


texts: Which preposition comes in the phrase "assistant professor in English"

texts: Which preposition should I use in the sentence "He is an assistant professor in English" or should i use "He is an assistant professor of English"?


texts: Grammatical analysis of these two sentences

texts:
Isn’t Istanbul a good city?

and

  Istanbul is a good city, isn’t it?

In (1) what is the term for how “Isn’t Istanbul” is being used here? At first it looks like its function is to act as the subject, but it looks like an extended noun phrase on second glance acting as pre-modifiers to “a good city”.

From what I can see in (2) “a good city” is the predicative nominative with “Istanbul” acting as subject. The “isn’t it” is a subordinate clause.


texts:
I have a question about repeating the definite article. At my job, we have to discuss various cost elements. In our reports, people never repeat the definite article, but I think it's necessary. Here are some examples:

The proposed and objective indirect costs are summarized below. VS. The proposed and the objective indirect costs are summarized below.
The variance between the proposed and objective indirect costs equates to $450,000. VS. The variance between the proposed and the objective indirect costs equates to $450,000.

I believe that the term "indirect costs" is a non-count noun -- you are discussing a set of indirect costs (i.e., there are multiple different indirect costs items, such as engineering overhead, material overhead, G&A, etc).

Failing to repeat the definite article seems to suggest that you are referring to one set of indirect costs when you are really discussing 2 different sets of costs (i.e., the adjectives "proposed" and "objective" are referring to 2 different sets of costs/subjects). That said, the meaning is likely still clear within the context of the overall document. Should the definite article be repeated in this case?


texts: A word describing physical or online address

texts:
I'm working on an application that tracks accredited activities doctors can participate in and gain credits. These can be seminars, online courses etc. What should I call the field whose value can be either a physical address (i.e. the address of a hotel) or a URL?

Could 'venue' be used when referring to a URL of an online course?


texts: Which is the preferred spelling, "byproduct," "by-product," or "by product?"

texts: I've seen the word "byproduct" written several different ways and I'm wondering which is the preferred format? Is this a variation between US and British English or just a matter of a "house style?"


texts: Difference between "Call into" and "Call"

texts:
I was reading a text in which the author used "call into" when explaining Templated Razor Delegates within the following sentence:

  Note that the delegate that’s generated is a Func.
  Also, the @item parameter is a special magic parameter. These
  delegates are only allowed one such parameter, but the template can
  call into that parameter as many times as it needs.

I am wondering what "call into" means here and what would the difference be if he used "call" instead.

I've done a small research and I found this in which it says "call into" means "to call to a person or a pet to come into something or some place." and well, it doesn't make much sense in this context I believe.

Note the complete text can be found here at: http://haacked.com/archive/2011/02/27/templated-razor-delegates.aspx


texts:
Why is being used in the sentence below, and what does it mean?

  Lisa is upset about not being invited to the party

Are they trying to use the passive voice?
If yes, how would the sentence look if we use the active voice to frame the same sentence?


texts: 'that make me' or 'which make me' and when to omit 'that'

texts:
Should I use 'that' or 'which' in the following sentence?

My teaching experience and technical background are not the only factors which/that make me a suitable applicant.

Additionally, how do I know when to omit 'that' from a sentence? For instance, consider these sentences:

It was during those 2 years that I began comprehending the sophistication of techniques employed in the industry.

It was two years of my life that I enjoyed thoroughly.

I am confident that I can make a positive contribution to your organisation.

In which of the above should I omit the word and how do I know when to do so?
Thanks


texts:
My kids watch the "Lego NinjaGo" series and have been asking me about the title song, called "Weekend Whip" by The Fold. As much as I tried looking for the meaning of the word "whip" in the context of the song I couldn't find anything that would make sense. I guess it should mean something like "fight" or "training", but I am not sure about either. Could someone shed some light on it for me? Here's a short extract for reference:

  We just jump up, kick back, whip around and spin,
  and then we jump back, do it again
  Ninja-Go!
  Ninja, come on, come on
  and do the weekend whip!


texts:
I know that the noun faculty can be both singular and plural, but I’m confused whether it’s countable or uncountable when used in sentences like this one:

  Many international faculty have difficulties with. . . .


texts: Why aren't words for specific groups of animals in the dictionary?

texts:
Common words that group animals together such as a pack of wolves or a flock of birds are universally recognized by all the dictionaries.

The lesser known ones, such as a tower of giraffes are not defined in any dictionary.

A quick Google search, however, reveals that tower is the correct grouping term for giraffes. How come these uncommon words aren't defined in the dictionary?


texts:
I'm wondering how these measurements should be read aloud:

10cm ("ten centimeters" or "ten CMs")
30km ("thirty kilometers" or "thirty KMs")

I'm from the U.S. and would only ever pronounce them in the first way, but have recently heard them pronounced in the second way and wondered if that is common and accepted as correct in areas that use metric measurements.


texts: A word for a collection of collections of video content?

texts:
If I were to put together collections of scientific lectures either by speaker or topic, what might I call them as a whole, if all the collections too were grouped into one item?

I am looking for a word that is similar to anthology, but that seems to refer exclusively  to literary content. I have thought about series, but what if you have a collection of series (like, what would all the series of Star Trek be called if they were put into one set)? Simply, I have considered collection and selection, and more aptly, compilation. Collection might work but it seems to general of a word and compilation seems accurate, but kind of sounds like tech jargon. A single word would be nice, but I am open to a two or three word combo. As it sits now, I feel stuck with [unique name] collection series.