texts: Status of sometime vs some time in AmE and BrE

texts:
There are a few uses of "sometime" and "some time". There are two in particular I'm interested in.

One is to refer to a period of time. Examples:

I will spend some time tomorrow doing the washing.
She spent some time running around the backyard before returning back inside.

"sometime" is considered wrong here.

And the other use is "some indeterminate point in time". Examples:

Historians date the fall of the Roman Empire at sometime in the late 5th century.
I will arrive sometime tomorrow.

In this second usage all online sources I've seen and this answer say "sometime" is correct", and implying (as far as I can see) that "some time" is incorrect.

I had a feeling that "sometime" in the second usage I mentioned may not be the only acceptable form, and also that the sources I saw were American websites (though I can't be sure). So I've done a search on Google NGram Viewer, with search terms I feel will minimize confounding results, for its frequency in BrE and AmE.

The terms I used was "happened sometime in", "happened some time in".

In American English the results show the single word version, "sometime" to be more frequent ever since about the 60s.
Link

In British English the results show the two-word version "some time" to be generally more frequent over the entire period, up to the latest point for which there is data (2008) (link).

Searching for the terms "born some time in" and "born sometime in" shows the single-word version leading in frequency by an enormous margin in American English, and has been the more popular version since about the 1920s (link) whereas in British English the difference is much smaller, with one prevailing over the other and vice versa during different time periods. Further, it seems the trend is that even in British English the single-word "sometime" is becoming more frequent (link).

I know that writers of American English will definitely say that the two-word version "some time" is definitely wrong for the second usage I mentioned, I'm just wondering if British English writers consider "some time" to be correct, acceptable, or incorrect, or whether they use it themselves, because there does seem to be a difference between BrE and AmE from the looks of it.

Also, I'm aware that in many parts of the world written English is neither purely AmE nor BrE, but to a lesser or greater extent can be a hybrid of the two.


texts: Can I use "As an inspiration, we briefly ..." to start a paragraph talking about the prospect？

texts: I'm writing the last paragraph of a scientific paper. Does the opening sentence of "As an inspiration, we..." sound natural if I want to talk about something about the prospect of my present research?


texts:
I'm sure this might have been asked, but couldn't find it, so forgive me if it is a duplicate.

Is saying "I had a fever" correct ?
I've also heard people saying "I had fever",

but don't have any proof of either being correct.
My guess is, they're both right.


texts: Rules for removing last vowel when adding "-able"?

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  When to drop the 'e' when ending in -able?

Both are correct for these words:

sizable, sizeable
sharable, shareable
takable, takeable

But these words are incorrect:

storeable (storable)
makeable (makable)
tasteable (tastable)
minglable (mingleable)
acknowledgable (acknowledgeable)
managable (manageable)

Are there rules for this?

The case for keeping the "e" seems to be that the "ga" in "acknowledgable" would be read as "gall" rather than "germ", but "minglable" shouldn't cause that problem.

I'm also not sure why we couldn't keep the "e" in words like "storable" or "makable".


texts:
So I want to make a sentence presenting a list first and asking a question about it at the end. But I am confused whether semi colon should be used or colon should be used. I am of the view that colon should be used but it's better to ask than to make an error.

Here's the sentence

  Ice-cream, candy and pie: too sweet to go together, aren't they?


texts: Looking for a word that means something you thought happened but it didn't

texts:
I'm looking for a word that means something you thought happened but it didn't.

For example, you thought someone went missing but they just went for a stroll or they just went out and didn't notify anyone.
Is there a specific word for that or not?


texts: When should I use "born to" vs. "born of"?

texts:
I want to shorten the sentence "Memories can only ever be created now." I'm debating between

  Memories are born of now.

and

  Memories are born to now.

The former sounds better, but is there a grammatical difference?  E.g., one can say "a child is born to two parents" (literal) or "wisdom is born of pain" (figurative).


texts:
It is as if the “I know” does not go well with a metaphysical emphasis (Ludwig Wittgenstein, On Certainty)

In this context, what is the meaning of the word “emphasis?”


texts: Is there a word for something that would be hilarious if it weren't true?

texts: I've been thinking all day but nothing is coming to mind. I feel like I'd use it a lot if one existed.


texts: What do you call a person who loves to run?

texts:
If we follow the pattern of 'cat lover',  is it correct to say 'run lover'?

If I use Google translator to Spanish (my mother tongue), 'run lover' sounds more like a shout you'd say to your lover to start to run.


texts: What is a word to describe the state of singularity?

texts:
When we have reached as far back into some history as we can theoretically go, like for instance in describing the precise theoretical moment when time began we have reached a singularity.

Is there a word to describe that state?

It seems like the obvious answer is 'singular'.  To us it in a sentence I might say:

  The moment when time began is the singular moment in history.

My question is two-fold:

Would this be the correct use of the word singular?
Is their another word I could use instead of singular?

Edit

Based on the comments below it would appear that the answer to my first question is no. I will amend my example sentence to be:

The moment time began is the ____ moment in history.

So my question is what is the best word to fill in the blank?

Another example that describes the concept that I am looking for would be a train moving from a complete stop. There is a precise moment when a train begins to move, though most often we describe that moment in terms of two distinct states when it was moving and when it was still. I am looking for the word to describe the moment when the movement began. I know that it is an infinitely dense moment and that is described by singularity. I am looking for the tense of that word, singularity,  that completes the sentence.


texts: It is impossible to speak knowledgeably about the embedded nature of law in society without addressing the central notions of Karl Marx’s political theory


texts: Should I use "even though" or "although" in the following sentence?

texts:
Even though we were becoming closer and closer, we remained just as
  friends.

  Although we were becoming closer and closer, we remained just as friends.

Which is the one above correct?


texts:
3 questions.

Is term "Cruise" correct when you sail on sailboat? I do not mean  day trip but trips from 2 to 30 days. Sailboat is not necessarily big, about 30-50 feet.
What do you call  stays in ports and marinas? Is there a different term for stay in inhabitant place?
Is terminology for motorboats the same?

I need it for web site I developing, want things to be called right.

Thanks!


texts: Is there a non-vulgar version of "pulled it out of their ass"?

texts:
Is there a non-vulgar version of “pulled it out of their ass” ? It's a useful phrase, but not one to be used in professional environments.

For example:

  There is no way John’s projections for next year’s sales are accurate. He ____.


texts: Why do English-speaking children mispronounce “spaghetti” as “pasketti”?

texts:
At first glance, this might seem like a very stupid question, and in full honesty, it is. But get this. In Norwegian, spaghetti is the same word, and I don't remember ever hearing any child ever say pasketti, or similar.

However, Norwegian children are not better. I personally mispronounced Støvler (boots) as Stølver, and Klovn (clown) as Knolv.

I am curious if anyone knows why. I'm guessing there must be an explanation.


texts:
Which would be correct . . . there doesn't seem to be, or there aren't . . .

There doesn't seem to be any records.

There aren't any records.


texts: What does it mean by being in an impossible position? Here's the context: The NHS has been left in an “impossible position” following the case of Ashya King because the parents of other young cancer sufferers now expect their children to receive the treatment, one of his doctors has said. (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/health/news/11526281/Ashya-King-case-has-left-NHS-in-an-impossible-position-medic-claims.html)


texts:
I'm trying to understand the usage of "knew from" in the following quote:

  (suddenly cleaning ladies knew from sun-dried tomatoes, suddenly hog farmers knew from creme brulee)

Source: The Corrections

To me (not a native English speaker), this seems ungrammatical. I understand the meaning of phrases like "know a from b", but I'm unable to parse this in any way that makes sense. Does "knew from" has some special meaning here?


texts:
I want to explain something in the first sentence and then say some opposite thing in the second sentence. I thought, I could use the phrase in contrast to make the flow of a paragraph.

For example:

  The statistics illustrate a low overall result. In contrast, the
  figure shows a good completeness.

I doubt whether I am using the phrase in contrast correctly because I found the usage of in contrast to something correct as well. So, my main concern is whether we should use in contrast to something or simply in contrast followed by a comma.


texts:
I've heard that conjoiners (in terms of grammar) are similar to articles.

According to sources, articles can be words such as the, an, a, some (in unique cases). Conjunctions can be and, but, as well as. Are conjoiners the same as conjunctions? Or are they closer to articles instead?

My question is: Is there a clear difference between each, or can the terms be used interchangeably with one or the other (articles or conjunctions)?

  You're missing an article in this sentence.

And:

  You're missing a conjoiner in this sentence.

Or:

  You're missing an conjunction in this sentence.

And:

  You're missing a conjoiner in this sentence.

Or is the term conjoiner archaic and no longer is used, unless for very unique cases?


texts:
Is there a definition in English for "Number" to mean a sequence of 1 or more of (digits/numerics, alphabetical letters, symbols, and/or spaces).
Ex:

134432A
134432-A
134432.A
134432 A


texts:
If not used when misgendering, making unasked for assumptions about gender or in a hostile context, can usage of the words female/male be insulting?

More specifically: can a non-native speaker be accidentally insulting by using female/male describing human genders, for example in a internet discussion.

Background:
In my native language Swedish, the term used for animals' genders differs from the one most commonly used to describe human gender. If you would use the words for animal gender for a human it would either sound a bit weird/unusual/humorous or insulting/demeaning depending on context.
I used Google Translate for:

Swedish (the terms used for animals)->
English (got female/male)->
Swedish (got the terms used for humans).

I could interpret this as English lacks the distinction but human-specific gender-words exist in English as well: woman/man. A quick websearch show me a lot of usage of female/male for humans so clearly it can be used without being odd/insulting. In order to avoid being accidentally insulting in the future: are there times when I should not use female/male for humans?

Edit: Found an example of someone (seemingly) offended by "female" in the comments to this question (Look for user33333) Word a male can use to refer to a female that is not old or young (girl/lady/woman)


texts: Is “stang” so out of use it is widely considered an incorrect form of “stung”?

texts:
I have a sentence in a short story which wants to use 'stang' instead of 'stung'.

Dictionaries that include 'stang' say it is 'obsolete'. Would you as a reader accept it?

  a shriek so fierce her throat stang with it

To my ear 'stung' doesn't have the same impact, but perhaps the 'obsolence' of stang is too distracting?


texts: What is the difference in meaning and usage between "excoriate" and "execrate"?

texts: Both nearly mean to criticise. So, what is the difference in usage?


texts: "interacts with" at the end of a sentence

texts:
I would like to ask help about the following sentences. I am not sure which of them are correct and which of them are wrong. It is not a school assignment, I just couldn't decide which of them is the best.

Andrew notifies the admin about the software the user interacts with.
Andrew notifies the admin about the software that the user interacts with.
Andrew notifies the admin about the software the user is interacting with.
Andrew notifies the admin about the software that the user is interacting with.
Andrew notifies the admin about the software that user interacts with.
Andrew notifies the admin about the software that user is interacting with.

Thanks!


texts:
I want to talk about the banning of plastic at/in/from schools.

I just wondered which preposition is the best or the right one?

The sentence is:

  Teachers are in favor of banning plastic at/from/in Maximilian Gymnasium (name of school).

AND

  Teachers are against banning plastic at/from/in Maximilian Gymnasium.

Which preposition(s) would work best?


texts: Hypernym for bills, expenses, salaries, other incomes, etc

texts:
I'm building a budgeting database application/program and I'm looking for two words as names of tables or variables in it.  This question seeks one of them:

It encompasses the following:  I have bills & expenses, and I have sources of income. I'm looking for a hypernym that encompasses all those.

To clarify, there are things I'm not looking for:

a. There are questions here already on english.stackexchange that ask for a hypernym for income/expense or debit/credit but the answers all seem to refer to the transaction (the event of transferring money).  I'm distinctly not looking for a word for that (the word transaction covers that I believe).

b. One might think of a word like "entity" that might refer to the company AT&T that I pay the phone bill to, and Apple, that I pay my iCloud subscription to each month.  But maybe I also pay Apple for my Apple Music subscription each month.  Those last two are two different items.  So I'm not looking for a name for the companies or other entities I'm making the payments to.

I get a monthly bill from AT&T for the phone.  I get a monthly bill from Apple for Apple Music, and another monthly bill from Apple for my iCloud subscription.  Those are three records in this table (even though two are from the same company).  If I was only looking at outgoings I might call this table Bills, but I'm looking for a hypernym that would encompass those and incomes as well: eg. two other records in this table might be 'salary from my job', and 'rent paid to me for a property I rent out'.

Edit/update:  As Roger Sinasohn pointed out in the comments: yes, I'm looking for a countable noun.

An example sentence could be where I click a button to delete a bunch of these records, and need to pop up a confirmation warning first:

"Do you really want to delete these whatevers?"

I'd really rather not have to say "Do you really want to delete these incomes and expenses?" or whatever.

It doesn't have to be one word.  eg. another question asked for a hypernym for anywhere that serves food (restaurant, cafe, fast-food place, etc.).  If that's what I was looking for here, then "eating establishment" might be ok.  But if more than one word, it can't just be a string of all the words I'm trying to find the hypernym for (incomes, expenses, etc.).


texts: How should I use "sell out" & "be sold out"?

texts:
I am quite confused.
It seems that sometimes people use the active voice "sell out" & sometimes they use the passive voice "be sold out" to express the idea of "(of tickets for a concert, sports game, etc.) to be all sold".

The tickets sold out within hours (active voice i.e, The tickets did sell out within hours). Source
This week's performances are completely sold out. (passive voice)
Source

Sometimes it is not "the performance" that is sold out, it is "we're sold out." (passive voice) Source. And sometimes it is "we've sold out" (active voice)  Source

I have evidence that "to sell out" = "to be sold completely". E.g., The tickets will sell out by tomorrow but "We can't get into the theater because the tickets are sold out." Source

Could you explain how to use "sell out" & "be sold out"?


texts: Difference in meaning between did you speak to... and have you spoken to...?

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  How do the tenses in English correspond temporally to one another?

What's the difference in meaning between "Did you speak to the landlord this morning?" and "Have you spoken to the landlord this morning?"


texts: what is the difference between charity/foundation/cause/trust

texts: I looked at dictionary but i couldn't understand the difference between charity/foundation/cause/trust with simple examples please


texts:
Ok so... My friend and i used to walked to school sometimes but we haven't done that recently.
I messaged him " we haven't walked in a while "
He replied " for a while* "
And now we're arguing over it.
Which is correct?
Thanks


texts: When should a verb be followed by a gerund instead of an infinitive?

texts:
Some verbs are followed by ing, e.g. I enjoy swimming. We can't say I enjoy to swim. Likewise, some verbs are followed by to, e.g. I decided to make a plan.

Which particular verbs are followed by ing and to? Can you please provide a list for that?

Moreover, which verbs can be followed by both without having the meaning changed?


texts:
In our country, Turkey, when someone wants to know if you're a freshman, or sophomore, or w/e (knowing if you're in high school, or in university) he/she usually says: (making a literal translation here)

  Which grade/class are you (in)?

and you'd reply with

  "Second grade/class." or "I'm a second grade/class student."

However, I've never seen this kind of reply, or rather question in English. How would you ask if you want to know the person's grade/class in university? And how the answer should be?

Besides that, my real intent for asking this is that I'm writing a paper (in English) and it concerns second-year students, but other people will also have access to that paper. That's why I want to indicate that it concerns only second-year students by adding a short text onto the cover page. I wanted to know what should I write to indicate that. I thought about

  For second-years
  For second-year students
  For sophomore(s?)

but I'm not even sure if these fit, or if there's something better to say.

I think the title and tags might need a modification as I'm not sure if they match with the question.


texts:
According to the Mac OS X's built-in dictionary app, the pronunciation of the word "rebut" is "rəˈbət". It is also the case on this site.

Shouldn't it be "rɪˈbʌt" instead?


texts:
When my friend say "I'm gonna wear weird costume.", could I say "Why would you do that?" in future meaning?

When my friend say "I took your panties yesterday.", could I say "Why would you do that?" too? in past situation?


texts: What's the etymology of this Maine synonym for "yes"? I've always wondered. OTOH, "finest kind" is pretty obvious.


texts: Is there a term for someone trying to dismiss an argument without addressing the points?

texts:
Let me give you an example. Two people are having a debate on the internet (surprise, surprise). Person A and Person B go back and forth a few times. Person B catches Person A in a fallacy. Instead of addressing the point, Person A respond with something along the lines of "not even going to bother to read this" in an attempt to dismiss the argument without addressing it at all.

Is there a word or expression for this?


texts:
In a documentary, a scientist says about a theory:

As an experimentalist, I am not spun up about it.

What does spun up mean? I couldn't find a meaning that makes sense.


texts: Is there a word for the side of a shoe that touches the ground but is perpendicular?

texts:
Is there a word for the band going around a shoe right above where it touches the ground? Not the sole, which is parallel to the ground, but the part on the side that is perpendicular to the ground?

For example, when describing the shoe below, you might say that its ____ is black:


texts: Do we capitalize the word that comes after a number?

texts: For example, is it "0.89 is a real number" or is it "0.89 Is a real number"?


texts:
Here is the sentence in question:

•   Dedicated to continuous learning in the workplace.
•   Dedicated to continual learning in the workplace.

I also feel that the sentence needs to be simpler.


texts:
I have a list containing some information and I need to refer to that list. Is a sentence "From the list above ... " ok? Example:

item 1
item 2
item 3

From the list above is obvious there is a variety of items.


texts: Why does the US Declaration of Independence use the word "depository" instead of "depositories"?

texts:
In the following paragraph from the US Declaration of Independence, it seems to me "depository" should be plural.  Is it an error, or is there a reason for it?

  He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual,
  uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public
  Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance
  with his measures.

This question is not only about whether it's an error, but also whether there is a reason for it.  All the answers I'm seeing and finding seem to point towards it's being technically correct but not as correct as it could be, but with no explanation of why that word choice was made, other than the implied assumption that it was a semi-error, in the sense that the plural would have been more correct but wasn't strictly required.

But those answers don't really answer it, as they only vaguely assume that answer, while arguing that it was technically correct, which only answers part of the question.

In any case, on the assumption that a complete answer is not really available, I will just assume it was a careless semi-error, not worth correcting because it was technically correct, and because the author did not have a word processor.

I'm also seeing a notice that the question was marked as an exact duplicate while I was typing the above additional paragraphs.  It doesn't say what it was marked as an exact duplicate of, just that it was marked as an exact duplicate.  I will assume the above 3 additional paragraphs clarify the question to make it clear that it's not the exact duplicate of whatever.


texts: How to go backwards when quoting from something?

texts:
I am trying to take a quotation from a book (The Awakening if you're interested), but the part I am trying to quote does not well fit my sentence, I am wondering if there is an accepted way to quote one phrase, and then follow it with a bit from earlier on, but in a seamless way. Here is my sentence currently:

  As Edna contemplates what to do after Robert’s letter, she considers that nothing “but Raoul and Etienne...

and I want to include a section saying:

  matters to her.

This is the full section of the book I am quoting from:

  "It makes no difference to me, it doesn't matter about Lèonce Pontellier —
  but Raoul and Etienne!"

I would ideally end up with something like this:

  As Edna contemplates what to do after Robert’s letter, she considers that nothing “but Raoul and Etienne ... makes [a] difference to [her]" ...


texts: Which word is technically correct in English: debrick or unbrick?

texts:
With certain electronic devices if you make a mistake you can brick (used as a verb) the device, so that it ends up in a defunct state. So the device ends up being bricked.

What is the correct term to recover from this bricked state? On the web one can find the terms debrick and unbrick, but which one is correct?


texts: How do I make this sentence sound clearer?

texts:
How do I make this sentence sound clearer:

  I was rereading the mail that you sent me yesterday.

I'm referring to a mail that was sent a while back which I was rereading.
This sounds like I was rereading a mail which was sent the day before.

Edit: I was wondering if there was anyway to make it sound clearer while keeping the word "yesterday" at the end of the sentence.


texts: What on Earth does "cheap at half the price" mean?

texts:
I hear this all the time, "cheap at half the price", to indicate that something is cheap (mostly in an ironic sense, but often used literally), but it makes no sense to me.

Of course, if something was half the price it could probably be considered cheap, especially when compared to its actual price. But it is not half the price, it is the price it is.


texts: What is part of speech of "fifteen minutes" in "She is fifteen minutes late"?

texts:
Look at this sentence "She is fifteen minutes late"

"is" is linking verb & "late" is adjective.
Then I don't know whether "fifteen minutes" is noun or adverb of time?


texts:
Please help me with the correct form (tense) of verbs in the following phrase:

  Some ideas had been previously suggested, but because something else is happening, no idea proved good enough.

The context: the ideas were suggested in the past, but they are some new ideas suggested in the present too. Something else happened, but is still happening.


texts:
I’m confused about the following-
Would it be “Lightning fast deliveries like these” or “lightning fast deliveries like this”?


texts: What is the difference between "structured" and "structural" feedback?

texts:
I wrote something about a team providing "structural feedback" and a native English speaker corrected it to "structured feedback".

When I googled for the difference, I couldn't come up with much.

Are there any native speakers here who have a feel for the difference between "structured" and "structural" feedback, what different meanings they might express, and/or why one or the other might be preferred?


texts: What does "default" mean in financial sense?

texts:
I've heard word "default" used in a financial sense. My intuition tells me that the defaulting party is asking for protection against its creditors, but I don't see how that is different from say bankruptcy.

For example the "default" was used in this video.


texts:
I am looking for a word, or words, which would appropriately convey that two items can go together. As an example, a Sword and Shield. I am using this for a game that I am making, and I have items which can go in the off-hand slot of the inventory. So, as an example, if you have a one-handed sword, axe, or mace equipped in the main hand, you can equip a shield in the off-hand slot, because these things are, as I'm currently calling it, unifiable. Other such examples are a Bow and Quiver. However, with a Bow equipped, you cannot equip a shield, because a Bow is not unifiable with a shield. Another example is a Staff or Wand, which are both unifiable with a Tome. Again though, a Tome cannot be equipped with a Sword, Mace, or Axe, etc.

Sentence example:

"You can equip a Shield with a Sword, because they're _____."
"You cannot equip a Tome with a Bow, because they're not ____."

It may be unnecessary to post this, but here is the coding example of this concept written out. I just want a better naming mechanism for the function:

        public static bool IsUnifiableWith(this ItemType itemType, ItemType other)
        {
            switch (itemType)
            {
                case ItemType.Bow:
                    return other == ItemType.Quiver;
                case ItemType.Dagger:
                    return other == ItemType.Dagger;
                case ItemType.Fist:
                    return other == ItemType.Fist;
                case ItemType.Instrument:
                    return other == ItemType.Score;
                case ItemType.OneHandedAxe:
                case ItemType.OneHandedMace:
                case ItemType.OneHandedSword:
                    return
                        other == ItemType.Shield ||
                        other == ItemType.OneHandedSword ||
                        other == ItemType.OneHandedAxe ||
                        other == ItemType.OneHandedMace;
                case ItemType.Scythe:
                    return other == ItemType.Phylactery;
                case ItemType.Staff:
                case ItemType.Wand:
                    return other == ItemType.Tome;
                case ItemType.Phylactery:
                    return other == ItemType.Scythe;
                case ItemType.Quiver:
                    return other == ItemType.Bow;
                case ItemType.Score:
                    return other == ItemType.Instrument;
                case ItemType.Shield:
                    return
                        other == ItemType.OneHandedAxe ||
                        other == ItemType.OneHandedMace ||
                        other == ItemType.OneHandedSword;
                case ItemType.Tome:
                    return other == ItemType.Staff || other == ItemType.Wand;
                default:
                    return false;
            }
        }

What other words could convey a matching of items, as I have mentioned?


texts: English word for the nature of thumb bending backwards?

texts: One of my friend used to bend his thumb backwards. I wonder, is there any word in English to call the nature of thumb bending backwards?


texts: Question about a sentence by Graham Swift in "Waterland"

texts:
I still have a question about the sentence "whose need of stories is matched only by the need adults have of children to tell stories to" from the novel "Waterland" that was written by Graham Swift.
http://www.fiction2.com/waterland-online-graham-swift?page=0,2

I began, having recognized in my young but by no means carefree class the contagious symptoms of fear: ‘Once upon a time …’
Children, who will inherit the world. Children to whom, throughout history, stories have been told, chiefly but not always at bedtime, in order to quell restless thoughts; whose need of stories is matched only by the need adults have of children to tell stories to, of receptacles for their stock of fairy-tales, of listening ears on which to unload those most unbelievable yet haunting of fairy-tales, their own lives; children – they are going to separate you and me. Lewis has seen to it. Forgive this emotion. I do not deserve your protestations. (We need our Cricky and all that stuff of his.) I do not expect you to understand that after thirty-two years I have rolled you all into one and now I know the agonies of a mother robbed of her child.… But listen, listen. Your history teacher wishes to give you the complete and final version …
And since a fairy-tale must have a setting, a setting which, like the settings of all good fairy-tales, must be both palpable and unreal, let me tell you...

The sentence about which I still have a question is below.
"whose need of stories is matched only by the need adults have of children to tell stories to,"
The adults have the need of children to tell stories to.
The adults need the children to tell stories to.
Does the word "children" function as the indirect object of the infinitive "to tell stories to" in the sentence "The adults have the need of children to tell stories to"?
I think that the sentence should be "The adults have the need of children to listen to the stories" or "The adults need the children to listen to the stories".
Why is "to tell stories to" used in the sentence "by the need adults have of children to tell stories to" instead of "to listen to the stories"?


texts: What's the difference in meaning of the two sentences?

texts:
A good watchdog barks loudly when strangers come on your property, which gives you a feeling of security
A good watchdog barks loudly when strangers come on your property which gives you a feeling of security

From the first sentence we get a sense that "property" gives a feeling of security. I find this absurd in the given context. But if I remove the comma before "which", does the meaning get changed to 'a good watchdog's barking gives a feeling of security'?


texts: A word for an informed guess in mathematics, proved later to be the correct guess

texts:
I am looking for a single word, used in mathematics (but not exclusively), meaning to take a guess which will later be proved to be correct.

I believe it starts with an 'a', and I seem to remember it being something similar to alcantz, alcats, ancaltz, first hearing it used by a professor in a lecture.

Edit (to add an example sentence): An example sentence: "I solved the problem through the use of an (insert word)."


texts:
I've been  recently hearing foreigners ( for the most part in their speech) use the word yummy very much  .

I don't know why this word sounds horrible to my ear, that's why I want to know if this word is used among natives? If yes - how often?


texts:
There is a pejorative phrase in the United States for country hicks that has recently arisen:

  'murica

Implying that that user of the phrase doesn't pronounce their words properly and doesn't care.

Specifically it denotes people who are carefree about their appearance and behaviour, who don't live in the coastal states and are unworried about needing to come across as intelligent.

In Australia - the equivalent phrase is:

  'straya

My question is: What is the UK equivalent of 'murica and 'straya?


texts: Should "head teacher" be capitalized, when it's not really anyone's occupation

texts: Basically I want to say from my head teacher, but his occupation is not really that; should it still be capitalized?


texts: Is it common to say There is some sort of reason to support my stance on this? How do we say some sort of reason in such sentences?


texts:
I am looking for a word which refers to how much of a professional someone is in a particular domain or endeavor.

For example, let's assume we're talking about playing the piano. The question might be

  What is your ____ in playing the piano?

Possible answers may be:

  I am a sporadic pianist.

  I am a hobbyist.

  I am a career pianist.

Expertise and proficiency (and synonyms) are not quite right. It's possible that someone who plays the piano infrequently and only as a hobby plays quite expertly. Someone can play the piano professionally but with limited proficiency.

I am open to different parts of speech. A neutral connotation seems preferable. If no suitable word exists, a term or phrase would be acceptable. I am considering "vocation(al) level".


texts: What would have been said around 1900 for a woman saying she needed to go to the bathroom in the state of Virginia?


texts: Difference between "plethora" and "surfeit"

texts:
I've always thought that "plethora" was closer to "a large number" while "surfeit" denoted a clear excess of something.  Indeed, the google defines plethora as "a large or excess amount" while surfeit is "an excessive amount of something".

So, is the general consensus that a surfeit is more than a plethora or is that just my distinction?

I've recently started getting quizzical looks when I use the phrase "we have a plethora --- one might even say a surfeit --- of X".  But maybe the looks are because nobody really talks like that, rather than my uncommon understanding of the meaning of those words!


texts: What are "How to ... ?" questions (errors) called?

texts: I see questions formed like "How to do this?" every day.  They are so frequent that I wonder if there is a name for grammatical errors of this kind.


texts: " You can do a 10-minute warm up, 15 minutes of hills". Why "minute" is not in the plural at first?

texts:
I read the following the whole sentence: "You can do a 10-minute warm up, 15 minutes of hills, and a 5-minute cool-down"
When you write a mix number-time , you don't need plural?


texts: What is the fundamental difference between these two sentences

texts:
He donated a million dollars for keeping the tigers alive.
He donated a million dollars to keep the tigers alive.


texts: Word, phrase or idiom for enforced charity?

texts: Like when you must pay for a plastic carry bag for your shopping in a superstore but it all goes to charity. Little contrived inconveniences designed to extract money from you. There must be a specific term to capture this phenomenon of soft enforcement?


texts: Can anyone help me translate this Lancashire dialect phrase 'O Full True un Pertikler Okeawnt...'

texts:
O Full True un Pertikler Okeawnt o wat me un maw mistris un yerd wi’ gooin to th’Greyte Eggshibishun e’Lundun.

Thank You!


texts: How is the spelling of a hyphenated word read?

texts:
How is the spelling of a hyphenated word usually read out loud?

For example, with "Anglo-Saxon", do we say:

  "It is spelt as A—N—G—L—O—dash—S—A—X—O—N."

Or do we say:

  "It is spelt as A—N—G—L—O—hyphen—S—A—X—O—N."


texts:
I am unsure how to specifically define a water-rich area. I assume that it is an area of water surplus but I am led to believe it has a more specific definition for I have been asked it as a separate question.

It is given in the context of this sentence:

  The government is expected to allow companies in water-rich areas to make money from selling it to drier regions

I have done a google search and nothing comes up straight away, and I haven't been able to find a specific definition for it.

Is it exactly the same as the definition for "water surplus"?


texts: What is the descriptive word or image for something really small, really detailed?

texts: I'm thinking of something like "hairpin" or "miniature": this hairpin/miniature piece of knowledge is only useful when someone is choking on a black, titanium ball-pen while sitting on their head.


texts: how can you describe the sound of rustling leaves in just one word. If you want to write what they can hear as if it is onomatopoeia. I do not want to write that he can hear rustling, I just want to use one word


texts: Glottal stop "t" in English pronunciation

texts:
I am a new learner concerning English sounds. Could someone help me?

Does the letter t at the end of word but this word being connected with next one, is it also pronounced like a glottal stop? For example, that it was ......, the last "t" in that.


texts: What is the word that actors use to describe the process of getting familiar with a script?

texts: I'm looking for a word that theatre people use to describe the initial stages of reading through a script. It's something like chewing the script or singing the script.


texts:
In a typical scenario, where someone finds out their best friend started dating, they start fantasizing (in quite vivid and colorful details, sometimes outloud) how their friend will do bunch of daring (sometimes erotic) things with their date, etc.

Such things only happened in person's head.

Is this the case of a person having Wild imagination, or Overactive imagination? I do not quite understand the differences between these two.


texts:
Which sentence is grammatically correct?

  What are the elements in the poem that make it joyful.

or

  What are the elements in the poem that makes it joyful.


texts: Sponges (Porifera) come in three body forms - asconoid (vase-shaped), syconoid (pleated vase), and leuconoid (network of chambers, like bath sponges). I was wondering what the etymology of these terms was.  Since they are scientific terms, I'm assuming Classical origin, but I don't know enough Greek or Latin to recognize the roots.


texts:
I'm not sure why in some situations articles are not going before a noun. E.g. I found this sentence:

  The best time to go out for dinner.

Why is not here a dinner?
This link says that we don't put articles in front of noun if is already some determiner before, like this and that. But for is not a determiner, so I'm wondering why it's not correct to say a dinner?


texts:
The sister to a husband becomes the wife's sister-in-law. If the sister in-law was to marry a woman, would she also become the wife's sister-in-law? If so can you keep calling the family of your in-law's spouse in-laws as well?

For example,

Chrono [M] marries Amy [F]
Chrono's sister Fate marries Nanoha [F]
Nanoah's brother Kyouya marries Shinobu [F]
Shinobu's sister Suzuka marries Arisa [F]

Would Amy use the term "in-law" to describe Arisa and her family?


texts: notional subject-verb agreement other than for measurement, degree, etc

texts:
This is best illustrated with an example:

Nikkie has 7 children. Sam has no children.
Sam thinks Nikkie's kids are cute, but she thinks it would be a lot of work to raise them all together.

Sam: "Your children are so cute, but I think 7 children (1) is or (2) are too many to raise together!"

First of all, I do understand that plural nouns require plural verbs, and yes, "child/children" is a countable noun; thus "Your children are so cute." However, as I think of the meaning of the phrase "7 children" more and more, doesn't it become a sort of measurement like dollars, miles, liters, etc?

Like we say, "1,000,000 dollars is a lot of money," should't we say "7 children is too many to raise together"? Or am I over-analyzing here?


texts:
Could one use:

  He is dating John's ex-wife.

instead of:

  He is dating an ex-wife of John's.

John has more than one ex-wives.
   I think if it has already been established that she is one of John's ex-wives, then sentence #1 could work, but taken out of context, it would give the impression that John has one ex-wife.

Could one use:

  She is dating the ex-president of Xland.

instead of:

  She is dating an ex-president of Xland.

Could one use:

  She is dating the former president of Xland.

instead of:

  She is dating a former president of Xland.

And would '2' and '3' give the impression that she is dating the fellow who was the prime minister right before the current one?


texts: Where can I find a relatively inclusive word-list for analysis of prefixes and suffixes?

texts:
To illustrate a simple example, when I encounter the word "claustrophobia", what I already knew is the left part "claustro-" means "small and enclosed", and I want to discover if "-phobia" has a fixed meaning of "fear". So if I have a word-list, I can search all the words that has "-phobia" and look up their meanings to confirm my guess.

Perhaps there are other reasons I need a word-list. For example, I sometimes want to discover questions like which words has the form "xxyyzz" (like bookkeeper) or which words has the part "ijk" (Dijkstra).

I've found a few word-lists but they are too small to include more complicated words like names of famous person and places, technical terms or obscure words.


texts:
For some reason I cannot understand the following sentence

"Unless we mutually agree otherwise in writing, you will..."

Is this mean that agreement must be in writing or that it does not have to be in writing (verbal)?


texts:
This is film critic Robbie Collin for The Telegraph:

Whether Listen Up Philip is a significant step up for Perry or just business as usual, I can’t tell you: his previous two features, Impolex and The Colour Wheel, have yet to be released in the UK.

What difference would it make if have is replaced with are ?


texts:
I know 'How' can be replaced with 'the way'  in the sentence.
So, I've brought some sentences confusing me.
(I was talking about some policy the government would implement later on. And all of sudden, 3 replies came across my mind.)

this is how other countries do
this is the way other countries do
this is what other countries do

I guess number 3 makes sense, and number 1 doesn't because it doesn't have an object. Number 2 would be wrong as well since how and the way would work in the same way. And then, what if I use the verb 'use' in the number 2?
ex) this is the way other countries use, which is correct grammatically because the way can be a noun. However, number 1 (this is how other countries use.) is not applied.
this is all I've been thinking so far. Am I correct??


texts:
What punctuation is preferable in the sentence below?

Complex sentences have two clauses, one main (or independent) and one
subordinate (or dependent).
Complex sentences have two clauses: one main (or independent) and one
subordinate (or dependent).

Is using an em dash an option here?

Complex sentences have two clauses — one main (or independent) and one
subordinate (or dependent).


texts:
I know both the meaning of give and cleavage, but I cannot understand some sentences including those. This is from an article about pregnancy.

  Loving your new dewy, pregnant glow? Thank the hormones HCG and progesterone (they increase the number of oil glands in your face, making your complexion shinier and smoother) and your boosted blood volume, which can make your skin slightly flushed and plump. And if the girls are giving you all kinds of nice cleavage these days, it's because estrogen and progesterone are spurring milk-producing glands to grow there (and there's plenty more of that to come)!


texts:
You should never act out a fantasy because the reality never matches up.

Is this a famous saying (especially about sexual fantasies)? Or is there any sayings or quotes similar to this?
I read this in a novel in which a woman says “They say you should never act out a fantasy because the reality never matches up.” As this woman often uses word plays or parodies of famous phrases, I am interested in whether this sentence is also some kind of parody.
Thank you for your kind assistance!


texts: "Interested" is to "interesting" as "curious" is to what?

texts: I can't find any perfect matches in dictionaries. Does there exist such a word at all?


texts: Single word to denote both request and receipt

texts:
Whenever I am ordering components for some project I put them in a project tracker. A line might be like:
Order and Receive 5 Boxes

or
Request and Pick up the Check

When writing code to do networking you also have this problem. You have some code to "request" some data, and then you have code to handle what happens if the data doesn't come through. But on top of that there is a function that hides all that complexity and just "____"s the data.
Obtain, requisition, and acquire are all decent solutions to this problem. The problem is that they don't explicitly contain within them the idea that the task is both started and completed within the scope of this single word.
Requisition is much more like a request that has a high probability of success. Obtain and acquire certainly have a connotation of success and completion, but without the idea of the process that precedes them.
Those words are also a bit erudite.
Compound words are probably fine as long as they are normal use. Phrases are less good but maybe ok.
I have taken to using the made up word carg for this (because to me it sounds a bit like both cargo and the Spanish word encargar, which means to place in charge). But it turns out you can't expect others to know your private made up words.
Any other ideas? :)


texts:
Is there a specific English word for a woman that has not given birth yet? I don't mean a sterile woman. I mean a young woman, who is not pregnant, who hasn't got children, who hasn't given birth.

The young woman hadn't had children, but wanted them in the future. She was a typical _____.


texts:
I heard the expression "something is beyond your kin", see an example:

  Woman, you're playing with forces beyond your kin.

I can't find a way to fit any of the entries of the definition of 'kin' in this context. Anyone?

EDIT, I actually misunderstood kin for ken. The kick back from the previous statement shows it:

  Sheldon: "Woman, you're playing with forces beyond your ken."
  Penny: "Yeah, well your Ken can kiss my Barbie".


texts:
I know the correct term is "man on a mission", but in any instance "man in a mission" is correct?
Thanks in advance
Best regards


texts: What should be the correct form of 'be' verb in the following sentence?

texts:
So I was asked to rewrite the following sentence with the correct tense of the verb given in bracket:
It is I who (be) to do it.
Initially I believed, the following would be correct:
It is I who has to do it.
But after researching for a while I think I am wrong and the has verb needs to be replaced with am. Any suggestions?


texts: Will this sentence make any sense to readers? Grammar question

texts:
We sat on the ground in the alley i remember, talking about anything.
OR?
I remember we sat on the ground in the alley talking about anything.

Is the first one grammatically correct?


texts: What does "made her sign waivers" mean in this dialogue?

texts:
A: Christine polley is well. You have an affidavit from three
  independent psychiatrists who evaluated her.

  B: Likely made her sign waivers as soon as you paid them.

From Boston Legal Season 1 Episode 2

What does "made her sign waivers" mean in this dialogue or context?

I know "make one sign waivers" mean make one sign to abdicate his or her right, but I'm not sure how it make senses in this conversation.

I guess B thinks there is a give and take between psychiatrists and the lawyer who defends Christine polley, but I'm not sure how it is.


texts: What is the mental or emotional status of being in “mom mode”?

texts:
Washington Post (Sept. 9) reports that:

  The tennis star meanwhile spent her post-loss time in mom mode, at
  least on social media, while Billie Jean King and the National
  Organization for Women called out tennis for having a double standard
  toward women, under the headline, “Serena Williams fined $17,000 for
  U.S. Open outburst; Billie Jean King calls out ‘double standard’

I know she has a baby, but I’m not clear with the implication of being in “mom mode.” I checked the meaning on a couple of print and online dictionaries and found only a single playback in urban dictionary, which defines it as “become protective or nurturing others.

Does this definition fit the scene?  Does it mean she turned domestic? Doesn't it have a sexist tone? Is “mom mode” a very common English expression?

What does “mom mode” exactly mean in the situation of the player of the U.S. Open  Women’s Final?


texts: Non-offensive substitute for a swear word

texts:
What term describes a non-offensive substitute for a swear word?

For example, Battlestar Galactica used frack instead of fuck. Another example is the use of snap instead of shit.

I think I may have heard a single-word term used to describe such alternate non-offensive words before, but I don’t know what it is.


texts: Is saying "where is the brakes" is correct? I was watching a video on YouTube and the guy on it said: Ow! Where is the brakes?


texts: What is the term for the slash in a slashed zero?

texts:
In some (rare) typefaces you'll see a slash through the character for the number zero. In even fewer cases you might see a slash through other digits, such as seven. Is there a name for this slash?

If it were a pronunciation-modifier it might be called a diacritic, and if it were additional marks on the end of some glyphs it might be called a serif, but these descriptions don't fit the slash on digits.

I looked at the Wikipedia article Slashed Zero, but even that didn't actually have a word for the mark.


texts: In my example, how do I use in-text citation?

texts:
I'm writing an economics research paper based on my professors journal. We only use one reference, and that is my professor's journal article. I want to use a sentence which has in-text citations. I also cannot reword this sentence because it is a list. It is exactly as follows:

motor vehicle accidents (the leading cause of death and injury in this age group), homicides, suicides, falls, and other accidents are all strongly associated with alcohol consumption (Bonnie and O’Connell, 2004).

Should I put quotation marks on it? Should I cite it using his journal as the reference or do I use the same citation he uses?


texts: In what case you would say "I speak things" instead of "I say things"?


texts: What is a word that means a collection of a set of smaller collections, that does not use "super" (or "sub" for the smaller collection)?

texts:
I'm looking for a pair of words that essentially means "super-collection" and "collection" where the super-collection contains a set of collections. (Alternatively, could be thought of as a "collection" which contains a set of "sub-collections".) I want the words to NOT use either "super" or "sub". I'm open to general English or jargon from specific domains.

Example usage:

  Ok, we've got five _<collections>_ – let's group them together into a _<super-collection>_.


texts: What do you call a circular paved protuberance added to a paved street?

texts: I used to own a house located in a modern suburban street with a circular protuberance, a circular paved (tarred) surface appended to the paved street it was part of. Four houses with their gardens were positioned around this circular paved street area. The number of properties in the street was thus increased by three. The point of entry into the circular paved area had the width of the street. This drive-in entry area could have accommodated one property. By serving as the entrance to the circular paved area, it allowed three extra properties to be erected. What is the name of such a circular paved street area?


texts:
How do I pronounce the word "lounge"?

The problem is on Google I found many links which play audio for pronunciation.
 Unfortunately I am not having an audio device so I cannot hear anything.


texts: Is there any real difference between "to" as a preposition and "to" as an adverb?

texts:
I'm really in doubt. On the free dictionary I read this concept of "to" as a preposition:
"1. (used for expressing motion or direction toward a place, person, or thing approached and reached): Come to the house."
Right below I read this concept of "to" as an adverb:
"18. toward a point, person, place, or thing."

For me, there's no difference. Is there any subtle thing I cannot see that makes the difference?
Thanks.

source: http://www.thefreedictionary.com/to


texts: I was in an argument and the other party stated in his last sentence "don't be stupid". Does this statement actually mean that I am stupid and should quit being stupid or what? Is this statement insulting? And is it appropriate in arguments?


texts: Is there a word or phrase for when you lead people to believe something obvious is about to happen but it doesn't

texts:
I'm looking for a word or phrase which best describes the idea of making someone think something is about to happen but it doesn't. To put that into context:

Lets say a director essentially wants to copy a scene of a famous movie frame by frame, and that scene ends with a famous quote. You know the phrase is about to be said, but the director intends to let you down, for effect.

It has been bugging me for most of today, and I've looked up in online dictionaries and thesauruses.

Words I have found that I closely resemble the description, but i don't think quite fit:

Irony - "an outcome of events contrary to what was, or might have been, expected."
Deceive / Mislead - "cause (someone) to have a wrong idea or impression."


texts: I often say to people ''you're feeling all made up'' when they are really happy about the outcome of a situation, where does this saying come from?

texts: I often use the phrase ''you feel made up'' or ''all made up'' when someone feels really happy or pleased about the outcome of something or how things have gone. Where does the meaning for this come from?


texts: What is the exact word used for this unusual "interval" of sorts?

texts:
I knew this word a long time ago. Then I lost my memory. childhood and all. mva trauma, head injury.. I was good with words before because I was a songwriter, and I had a feeling that this word was etched in my memory somewhere but was just inaccessible.. knowing this word again could solve a lot of consequent problems in writing/overcome writers block to some degree for me.

So here it is: You know how there is an "interval" between say a "train of events"? "Interval" is the best and only word I could think of -closest to this phenomenon- to describe it.

To be a bit more vivid, imagine a train (locomotive) with 10 carriages, and the third and fourth carriage missing above the wheels. So, as the train moves past you, there is a "gap" that transitions through your visual and sound spectrum yes? What is this phenomenon? "Something" (that) passes by you.. It is a very obvious word, but I just can't figure out.. Even after one of you points it out, I might have to give it a memory marker to make it a long term memory- as my short term memory is still not in very good shape (or maybe it's just in the head).

Further, imagine this "gap" or "interval" of sorts streaking past you like a bullet.. What is this phenomenon? :)


texts: Origin of the expression "you can't make chicken salad out of chicken something else"

texts:
I discovered this expression:

  You can't make chicken salad out of chicken something else

I heard this expression from one of the NBA basketball TV commentators on Fox Sports Oklahoma, who uses it in the affirmative, and uses something else instead shit. He uses it when a basketball player manages to score from a play situation that didn't look good at all:

  The player made chicken salad out of chicken something else.

I would like to know what is the origin of the expression and where does it originate from. Any ideas?


texts: Single word for (request, response) pair? (casual words ok)

texts:
I'm looking for an unambiguous word (or expression) for referring to a question and a corresponding answer as a single entity.
The word should express that no more and no less than 1 question and 1 answer is covered, and that they correspond to each other.
The terms "request, response" may be technical jargon but I'm looking for a general word (it may be technical or not).
(In case this should be obvious, please merge this to ELL, I'm not native.)


texts: I am looking for a word that describes the profession that involves frequent traveling


texts:
I hear all the time native speaks like this and they ignore to add to

Dad didn't have to go tell him that

While non natives will say like

Dad didn't have to go telling him that
Or
Dad didn't have to go to tell him that

Which one is correct?


texts: Is the phrase “totally imaginative” grammatically correct?

texts: I’ve just come across the phrase in a review, but it doesn’t sound right to me. Can something be “totally imaginative”?


texts:
I am looking for the name of the figure of speech,  where two words with similar meaning are used together to convey an idea more emphatically. For example: 'Cease and Desist', 'Null and void',  etc.

I tried googling but nothing concrete turns up.

Thanks.


texts: How to report that sentence indirectly: "He will come and see me tomorrow."?

texts:
How to report that imperative sentence indirectly: "He will come and see me tomorrow."? Should we use "would" or "should" in the reported statement: "X ordered that he would / should come and see them the following day."

Thank you very much for the answer. I am not a native speaker of English. I learnt that "will" constitutes a command when it is pronounced strongly and I thought the statement "He will come and see me" was an order. If it was an order then it would be or could be reported with the reporting verb "order." If the statement can't be taken as an order then there is a problem either with my apperception or the knowledge I obtained regarding the use of "will." I would be very grateful if somebody would explain what is wrong with my knowledge. I'll clarify my example. Tom to George: "Arthur will come and see me tomorrow!" Can't we use that statement as an order? If we can, can't we report it with the reporting verb "order"? Many thanks in advance.


texts: What is the meaning of "impartiality" in this paragraph?

texts:
The failure of Iran's Hezbollah paramilitaries to make "a serious attempt to break up" the peaceful reformist student protests over the sentence was thought to be associated with Supreme Leader Khamenei's implicit criticism of the sentence and the "impartiality" of his failing to side with conservative hardliners. - Source

According to Wikipedia, impartiality means "is a principle of justice holding that decisions should be based on objective criteria, rather than on the basis of bias, prejudice, or preferring the benefit to one person over another for improper reasons."

Despite considering the above definition, I have problem understanding the meaning of impartiality in the paragraph. I don't know if it says that the person in question has failed to be impartial, or has been impartial in failing to be side with conservatives. I am puzzled.


texts: First or second syllable accent for "detail"?

texts: I used to pronounce 'detail' as ['di:teil] with accent on the first syllable. However, these days I hear people (and on the radio) say [di'teil] with accent on the second syllable. Is my pronunciation incorrect? Is there a regional preference for this?


texts:
Just saw this quote,

"Just think, if it weren't for marriage, men would go through life thinking they had no faults at all! "

Is it fair to assume the meaning of the below is same as that of the above one?
If not what is the difference?

"Just think, if there wasn't marriage, men would go through life thinking they had no faults at all! "


texts: Usage of the noun "aesthetic" to refer to a set of artistic principles and motifs

texts:
Is it non-standard to use the term "aesthetic" to refer to a set of artistic principles and motifs that define a particular artist or artistic movement? From Wiktionary's entry for aesthetic:

3. (Internet slang) The artistic motifs defining a collection of things, especially works of art; more broadly, their vibe
Her most recent works have this quirky, half-serious 90's teen culture-inspired aesthetic.

This news article appears to agree with Wiktionary's claim that this usage originated as Internet slang. I grew up on the Internet, so I'm not sure whether to believe this or not. I would have sworn that this was a standard, non-slang usage of the term.


texts:
When someone says

  I stand corrected.

What does that mean?


texts: How to avoid that "that that" that is so very awkward

texts:
In all seriousness, are there any common patterns or strategies people use to avoid having to write a sentence in which "that that" appears?

For example:

  Evidential decision theory recommends taking the action that you expect will yield the highest utility, given that that action has been taken.

I am aware that the construction is grammatical; it's just rather ungainly in written form.
Interestingly I find it doesn't usually sound as awkward as it reads, since people usually pronounce the two differently, with a long a on the second 'that'.


texts: How did 'cordon bleu' come to be applied to cookery?

texts:
The cordon bleu -blue ribbon- was a ribbon worn by the Knights Grand Cross of the French Order of the Hoy Ghost, the highest order of chivalry under the Bourbon kings of France.

The OED entry on cordon bleu mingles examples of its use with the altogether ironic application of it, in Britain, to cookery.

Perhaps it was in the 19th century, when the British began to travel (especially after about 1850 by rail), that it became apparent that since British culinary tradition would never be able to hold a candle to the French, that Britain began to adopt a French vocabulary into its eating establishments.

Thus it was that as early as 1826 that we find a reference to the coveted blue ribbon to something as mere and ordinary as a cook.

  1826   M. Kelly Reminisc. (ed. 2) II. 83   His chief French cook..was
  a great artist, a real cordon bleu

Thackeray in 1849 writes:

  1849   Thackeray Pendennis (1850) I. xxxv. 343   ‘How good this is!’
  said Popjoy, good-naturedly. ‘You must have a cordon bleu in your
  kitchen.’

By 1959 the Good Food Guide is awarding the chivalric ribbon to a British housewife:

  1959   Good Food Guide 266   The wife's cooking is described by a
  member as ‘Cordon Bleu’.

Along the way, in the 19th century, something must have given impetus to this idea of good cooks (the first indication of the word chef in English is in 1845) being worthy of the blue ribbon of the highest chivalric order under the French kings. Does anyone know what it was, or anything of its history?


texts: What’s the difference between a reflexive and intensive pronoun?

texts:
There are a few types of pronouns, among other there are reflexive and intensive pronouns. Every website I visit, they give me the same examples.

E.g.
Found on Grammar Monster:
• Reflexive pronouns (e.g., itself, himself)
• Intensive pronouns (e.g., itself, himself)

What is the difference?


texts: Does the collocation "to have a bad sleep" exist? For example, will it be grammaticaly correct if I use it in the sentence "He had a bad sleep last night and was not able to wake up on time"?


texts: "mimic like a _____ (animal or something else)"?

texts:
In my mother tongue we use monkey to describe a person who imitates or mimics a certain behaviour much like a copycat in English. I am surprised that the same image is not used in English, and even more surprised a cat was used to express this meaning. I don't see how a cat imitates things, it is actually known to be a rather self-willed animal that knows how to get what it wants, so to say. Probably that's why you have to add "copy" at the beginning, whereas monkey has the meaning of imitation inherent in it, a bit like parrot (with the difference that "parrot" refers to imitating words somebody said or the way they speak.)
So if I see someone imitating me, I can say in my mother tongue:

Don't be a monkey! (Which in English would be Don't be a copycat)

Are there any idioms or words that would express the meaning of imitating someone's gesture or behaviour? It can include the name of an animal or not. The sentence could look something like the one I gave already:

Don't (be (such) a) ____ !

or

What are you? A ____ ?

Note that my sentences are similar to what I would say in my mother tongue. However, the English idiom might have a different structure, so other ways of saying this would be acceptable.


texts: Why is fingernail paint called "nail polish"?

texts: The paint that is commonly used to color the fingernail is called (in the United States) "nail polish", when it is clearly a paint. Obviously it was at one time customary to polish nails instead of paint them, but is there any other reason for using "polish" to describe a substance better described as "paint"?


texts: "End-user" or "casual-user" is better for software application's user?

texts:
"End-user" is the widely accepted term, but a lot of scientific papers use "casual-user".

Is there any difference between them?


texts: Less 'aggressive' phrasing/word for "ruthlessly remove unnecessary complexity" from requirements

texts:
Note - there is currently some misreading of this question, reflected in the given answers - it's referring to the removal of unnecessary detail, from requirements, not a word for 'simplifying the code', or 'simplifying the codebase'. Also I've now removed a paradoxical error that was previously present in the question

I'm a software engineer, and I often express the desire to be 'ruthless with removing detail' from the formal requirements definition for a piece of software (a formal requirements definition is a document written in English that describes the requirements of what the software will do, e.g. a user will be able to press button 'x', and 'y' will happen).

The word 'ruthless' can have an aggressive interpretation however, and I'm wondering if there's a softer sounding single word, or succinct phrase I can use to represent something more like the meaning of "rigorously remove unnecessary complexity", that is applicable to software requirements.

A term that I'm looking for would be equally useful for describing "the maximised reduction of any set of complex requirements where that reduction will lead to a reduced time to deliver those requirements in a usable form".

I sometimes use a phrase like "let's leanify the requirements", to convey my meaning. In software engineering as with other forms of manufacture, 'lean' methodology is often employed, and to do something 'lean' is to minimise the required effort for a given outcome.

There are references to 'leanify' being used by others, however its usage doesn't appear on Google Ngram Viewer:

https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=leanify&year_start=1800&year_end=2000&corpus=15&smoothing=3&share=&direct_url=

Other terms I've come up with are similar to what I'm looking for, however they don't capture the required meaning as well as 'leanify':

optimally simplify
streamline the development
optimise efficiency
optimise the simplicity

Is there a more popularly used word that represents the concept as well as 'leanify', or that is close to it?


texts: Doubts about using an ellipsis within a quotation and outside a quotation

texts:
In many books, authors end their quotations by using ". . . ." (a period to end the sentence and an ellipsis to indicate ommited material).

Is it acceptable to apply the same structure in sentences that are not direct quotations?

For instance:

Today, Mary went to the park. . . .

Should the sentence be written in another way? If so, how?


texts: Which tense to describe the analysis on a dataset?

texts:
It is normal to analyze a dataset in a paper. I am not sure when to use present/past tense to describe how you analyze the data and what your results are. Here I use a short example text to illustrate this:

  We analyze the epidemic spreading dataset in 2008. Let I(t) represent
  the number of individuals that are/were infected at t. I(t) is/was averaged between 1am and 3pm when the spreading is/was stable.  Our
  analysis shows/showed that the epidemic has/had infected 100
  individuals, and most of them are/were in EU. The results show
  that on average each individual has/had three neighbors.

Could you please help decide the tense of the verbs in the cited paragraph? It would be good if some explanation were provided.

I ask this because I see that in many papers they use the present tense for analysis results of an old data. I am not sure that is correct.


texts: What does the phrase "His mouth worked when he thought" mean?

texts: “Jody was only a little boy, ten years old, with hair like dusty yellow grass and with shy polite gray eyes, with a mouth that worked when he thought.” (Steinbeck, 4) -The Red Pony


texts: What is the difference between Mollify and Placate?

texts:
I am learning the GRE Vocabulary. so both are explained as:
appease someone's anger or anxiety, make someone less angry.

Difference?


texts: Which email message would it be preferable to send to my coworker, who has a cold?

texts:
Which of these messages would be most suitable?

I'm feeling so sorry for you. I hope you will take good care of yourself.

I am sorry to hear you are sick. Please get better soon.


texts: What other ways can this be phrased? This doesn't even sound right to me. How do you put a possessive-passive sentence properly. Quite confused for some reason.


texts: Why are surnames often misspellings of English words?

texts:
Why do English surnames so often seem to be derived from slight misspellings of common English words?

Weekes
Thorne
Browne
Lilley
Keene
Paige
Lowe
Hooke
Hawthorne
Sargent
Whyte
Chappell
Horne

ad infinitum...


texts: Word Request: To do with physical appearance

texts:
The word doesn't carry much connotation, maybe something like "that person cares about looks". What I mean is it doesn't carry any double meaning, it is very strictly related to appearance only, maybe a little bit about being self-important/self-obsessed?

I'm relatively sure you could use it like this in a sentence "She got boob implants, she's so ____"

The word is not vain, narcissistic, superficial, conceited, snobby, cosmetic, shallow, flamboyant, ostentatious, classy, exhibitionistic, gay, extravagant.

It's not a very complicated word, probably 6-10 letters.

The definition would be something like "To do with (outward/physical) appearance".


texts:
In many psychological, religious, and ethical theories it's been suggested that you know yourself, through contemplation, cognition, etc.

It's like trying to recognize who you really are deep inside, and why you do what you do, stuff like that.

But do we have a name for this knowing yourself?

Update: I'm searching for a universally recognized name, and to clarify even more, if theology means knowing God, I'm searching for something like you ology, or to know yourself.


texts:
When the water is hot enough, what is the sound made by the kettle?

Is Choo-choo correct ?


texts: Is there a single word for "The excitement and enthusiasm at the beginning of a new job/romance" etc.?

texts:
In my native language, there is a single word to express the high energy and enthusiasm shown by many at the beginning of a new job/project/romance etc. Normally it is used with a bit of skepticism/sarcasm.

I am looking for a single word or phrase in English that expresses the same


texts: "I want to look better in the eyes of my classmates." Is this good English?

texts:
The goal is to express my wish to be more acceptable and/or respected by my classmates.

Is

  I want to look better in the eyes of my classmates

the right way to put it?


texts: Formal way to suggest a time for a business call

texts:
If I was asked to set a time for a business call, what terms can I use to formally suggest/ determine a time?

Can I use the following in formal writing?

"5 O'clock would be good for me. Would this suit you?"


texts:
I've recently come across a phrase

  "Develop against the Sandbox and learn to use the different operators in your testing."

It's not clear why the preposition against is used in this case. Can it be replaced by in? What is the exact meaning of to develop against here?

P.S. Sandbox is a simulation interface that allows to reproduce an ecosystem of an application.


texts:
Reading scripture in front of a donkey.  The country of origin of this proverb is Afghanistan (as far as I know) but we also have exactly the same idiom, identical in meaning, in our native language - the gospel was being read in front of (above the head of) a wolf but he was howling - let me go, the sheep are fleeing!

We use this expression when we want to emphasize that talking to a person (getting through his/her thick skull) is a futile endeavor; it's useless. I had been talking about the dangers of tobacco to him for an hour or so, when he took out a pack of cigarettes and started smoking.

I would like to know whether there is an equivalent expression in English, germane to the above-mentioned one?


texts:
1.To do things you have never done before is called growing.
2.To do things you have never done before is called growing up.

It is a problem for me to tell the difference between grow and grow up. Please enlighten me on it.


texts:
Consider the phrase

  A transformation rule is a matrix, where certain elements can be accessed by a common name

"Common" can be interpreted in two different, both semantically correct ways

Common in the sense that the name is frequent.

  Emily is a common name according to http://www.studentsoftheworld.info/penpals/stats.php3?Pays=GBR

It can also mean that more than one object shares the same characteristics

  12 and 8 has 4 as a common denominator

How shall I distinguish case (1) from case (2). Is there a way to reformulate the phrase to unambiguously make it like in case (2).


texts: What does it mean to say that a river "drains" a city?

texts:
When someone says that a river drains a city, for example:

  The river Thames drains the whole of
  Greater London.

What does it mean?


texts: Logical disjunction and English Language

texts:
In Logic Or signals a Logical disjuction it means an inclusive OR.

I get into trouble when saying OR and mean inclusive OR.

Is the person Black or Male?

I usually get this considered a "wrong" question.

How can I make it explicit that I mean inclusive OR, in a natural and formal way?

And/or does not seem formal or natural.


texts: What does Conan Doyle’s “at the Sydenham end of the road of that name” mean?

texts:
Can anyone tell me about the sentence from (Sherlock Holmes series) Norwood Builder by Conan Dolye?

  Mr. Oldacre is a bachelor, fifty-two years of age, and lives in Deep Dene House, at the Sydenham end of the road of that name.

Here, the last part, "the road of that name", is what I am unsure of.

My understanding is "at the Sydenham side of Sydenham road." But can this be interpreted as "at the Sydenham side of Deep Dene road" too?

Is what "that" indicates obvious here, or can it be ambiguous?


texts: Are/were these strings of decorative colourful triangles known as "dags"?

texts:
There is an English word "dag" with various senses divided up into various etymologies.

This question is about just one particular sense having this definition on Wiktionary:

  A hanging end or shred, in particular a long pointed strip of cloth at the edge of a piece of clothing, or one of a row of decorative strips of cloth that may ornament a tent, booth or fairground.

From this description it seems "dags" must be these, which I've known since childhood but never thought about what they might be called until recently:

From the Wikipedia article where I found this image, I've learned they are also known as "bunting", though bunting comes in many forms and this might not be the prototypical one people would think of first.

As an Australian I have to say I am very familiar with two other senses of this word and this question is not about those, so please don't answer about these:

Wool dirty with feces around a sheep's backside.
An unfashionable or socially awkward person.

I'm only specifically asking about the one sense that seems to fit the picture and the Wiktionary definition.

Can anybody verify that "dag" is in fact a term referring to the decoration in this photo?

I would expect evidence to come from a large and/or old dictionary or encyclopedia, but perhaps also an illustrative sentence. It may be regional and/or no longer used.

Here are some more photographs I found via Google, but which I don't believe are free to include due to copyright, so I'm only providing links to them: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.


texts:
I have hard time understanding the term oily-Gammon in this sentence from How To Debate Politics Like A Gentleman.

  Teddy Roosevelt would frequently lose his cool during debates on the Assembly floor. He’d call his opponents “cold blooded, narrow-minded, prejudiced, obstinate, timid, old psalm singing Indianapolis politicians” or “oily-Gammon, churchgoing specimens,” or simply “classical ignoramuses.”

The only meanings I can find for gammon are the following:

Ham which has been cured or smoked like bacon
A victory in backgammon (carrying a double score) in which the winner removes all their pieces before the loser has removed any
Nonsense, rubbish

What does oily-Gammon mean?


texts: Suppose today is Wednesday and someone told me to schedule the meeting on the coming Friday. Which Friday would that be?


texts: Whether to use "it" or "they" when we talk about using X and Y?

texts:
Using X and Y is generally good practice, but there are also cases where it makes things worse or at least gives nothing.
Using X and Y is generally good practice, but there are also cases where they make things worse or at least give nothing.

X and Y are nouns.
Which sentence is more accurate?

The real case:
(The real case is related to computer programming; and so it could be hard to understand by people who aren't developers)

Guard statements
Using them is generally good practice, but there are also cases where it …

makes the code less readable …
here goes an example

or at least gives nothing.
here goes an example


texts: Laugh to world to world laugh to you is grammatical

texts:
I want to know this statement is grammatical?

  Laugh to world to world laugh to you

I had this statements too:

  Laugh to world then world will laugh to you.
  &
  World will laugh to you if you laugh to world.
  &
  Laughing to world will force the world to laugh to you

Actually I'm searching for a sentence in the same meaning that make more sense, And I think the first statement is the better one. I need to know my selected is the best one and is grammatical?


texts: Phrase to mean a 'bad teacher'/'poor teacher'

texts:
What phrase, expression, or even well-known literary character signifies a 'bad/poor/incompetent/incapable teacher', that is, someone who is not good at teaching. I would like to describe a teacher in the same way that quack describes a doctor.

Unfortunately 'incompetent' and 'incapable' are not very funny or witty, or insightful, or enlightening (nor are those words nouns), and I'd like my word to be rather less prosaic if possible.

For example:

  Mark Carlson is a ______ , he cannot teach a thing.


texts: How to refer to males and females in a trans-positive world?

texts:
I have a presentation coming up with a big client. One of the executives I'm presenting to is a transgender person. For context, I'm in sales and marketing - I make TV commercials.

In the meeting I need to talk about a script involving male and female actors. I have to explain why we'll use a male actor for 'part 2', and a female actor for part 1.

I'm nervous about using the word "gender" or "male" or "female" or any other word like that. I  know  that using gendered words can be offensive these days, especially to trans individuals, but I don't know which words exactly are offensive. Internet search only brings up results for how to refer to transgendered persons specifically, not how to refer to non-transgender people. I can't figure out for the life of me how to discuss this subject without breaking the rules.

Hope somebody out there can help. Which words should I avoid, and what words can I use without being insensitive?


texts: Why is text thought to be moving forward to our left while we write to our right?

texts:
Text to the left is said to be "leading" the text to our right, and text to the right is said to be "trailing" the text to our left. We also say the text to our left is "in front of" the text to our right.

I'm not sure I've ever heard someone say the text to our right is "behind" the text to our left, and I don't know if when someone says the text to the left is "before" the text to the right, means it as "coming sooner"  or "is in front of".

Anyway, this paints the picture of characters having fronts pointing to the left and moving forward to my left. Why is this? Why would characters have fronts and move and move leftwards?

EDIT: Here are some examples (EDIT 3: To further clarify, these are not questions I'm making, these are examples I've found on the SE network of usages of the terms I'm asking for):

Can you use an article in front of the word “software”?
Leading spaces are not preserved when pasting text
What is trailing whitespace and how can I handle this?
How to write a lead sentence

EDIT 2: Just to clarify. This question has nothing to do with shapes. I'm asking about why text has a sense of direction that faces leftwards.


texts: Are "excerpt" and "excerption" interchangeable?

texts:
Can excerpt and excerption replace each other in a particular sentence without changing its meaning? For example, given these two sentences:

  He presented excerpts from William James' philosophical writings.
  He presented excerptions from William James' philosophical writings.

Do both these nouns give the same meaning or change the sense in any way? Or is either of these two sentences wrong?


texts: I know when people use the phrase "that awkward moment when", it is clearly a sentence fragment. What exactly is it called though? A dependent clause? A noun clause? I have no idea.


texts: "The fact of it being ..." vs "the fact of its being ..."

texts:
Which one of the following is correct/preferred?

  This process is devised in such a way that it works automatically
  while always revealing to the user the fact of it/its being
  intact.

Both "the fact of it being ..." and "the fact of its being ..." can be frequently found on the web. But perhaps one should be correct/preferred.


texts:
Do you need to capitalize the first word in this situation?

Do you want to eat with me? with Hannah? with Bailey?

or

Do you want to eat with me? With Hannah? With Bailey?

If that is so, why is it like that?


texts: By which, to which, at which, to whom: are these relative pronouns in adjective clauses?

texts:
From experience, I know that:

  which, who, where, why, whom, there, that

are relative pronouns but I wonder about the expressions:

  'by which', 'to which', 'at which', 'to whom

Are these also relative pronouns in an adjective clause?

  Example: this is the lab to which I go everyday.

Here I believe which is the only relative pronoun: not the combined words to which.  I think that to is just a preposition modifying the relative pronoun meaning.


texts: I need a word to describe a group which is not accepting of others not of themselves. Sample sentence below

texts: Your organization treats people in a very "exclusionary" manner. ( Meaning that it is a group that is not accepting of others not of themselves.


texts: What is a word for the 7 deadly sins AND the 7 heavenly virtues all together?

texts: Obviously, just for the 7 deadly sins you would use 'sin' and for the 7 heavenly virtues you would use 'virtue' or 'heavenly' but what word would you use to describe all 14 of them together?


texts:
What does the term for the in-law relationship become when someone is widowed?

For example when someone is divorced, I have heard the relationship dubbed ex-in-laws. Is there a similar term or phrase that I can use in a widowed relationship?


texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  “My friends and I” vs. “My friends and me” vs. “Me and my friends”
  Can “myself” stand for both “me” and “I” in “my mother and I/me”?

What is correct?
We are a family of four: my father, my mother, my brother and me.
or
We are a family of four: my father, my mother, my brother and I.
or
We are a family of four: my father, my mother, my brother and myself.


texts:
In a textbook published by Oxford University Press, there is an email written by a booking manager in reply to a customer's request for a discount:

Dear __________ ,
We would be able to offer you a 10 % discount on the total. I hope that is helpful.
Regards,

What is another way to say the second sentence? Is it OK to say "I hope you're satisfied" or "I hope this could meet your expectation"? I thought it's kind of awkward to say "I hope you're satisfied" since the customer hadn't received any benefit when the letter was written.
Could any of you help? Thanks for your reply in advance!


texts:
In transcribing a business letter written in 1776, I keep finding an apparent abbreviation, 'qsd' with a line over the s, e.g "this to be qsd my brother." Can anyone tell me what this means?
The letters are hand-written by William Phelps in London to James Morrissey in Madeira and concern the shipping of wine and other commodities between England and Madeira. William, his brother Joseph and James M were in partnership.
I have attached further screen shots.

Below are transcriptions of three passages which include the elusive qsd.
"The first ten pps was for Mr Thomas Neale to be qsd my Brother, & the nature of his transaction with us, was you see invested in Wheat,…"

"...& write them to the purport of the letter. I shall write by them, where you may amend as you think proper. One for Mr Hemsted you will ship & one for Capn Miller's owner, this latter to be qsd my Brother & included for account & risque as per advice, having his order by me. Mr Hemsted you will write inclosing him bill of lading for it."

"The five pps of Wine shipt by Wylie have qsd over to Mr Morris, wch made a Ballance for the Furniture had by my Brother, for here & Madeira, so we have no Wines coming our account, but those you will have shipt by Forster & Laurie & I hope shall gett rid of all those on hand long ere those arrive."

I feel that it must be a verb, with a meaning such as "charged to" or "consigned to".


texts: Should I Use “These” Books or “Those” Books

texts:
On this site there are links to books that I read. I recommend these/those books.
  Below on this page there are links to books that I read. I recommend these/those books.

Should I use these or those?

EDIT: I replaced “lists” with “links”.

NOTE: Each link redirects the visitor to another site.


texts:
Are you comfortable with him? (correct)
  Are you comfortable with whom he is? (??)
  You're comfortable with whom he is. (??)
  Are you comfortable with who he is? (??)
  You're comfortable with whom? (correct)

Why does adding he is change the usage of who/whom?  I understand that the is is reflective and takes the nominative case, but my brain is not "computing" because I've never seen anything following with ever be nominative...until now.

Please enlighten me.

PS: There are no tags for 'nominative' or 'dative' or likely any of the other cases.


texts: Is there a single word for the smell of leaves?

texts: I suppose earthy could work (here), but I want to know if there's one particular word in the English language that specifically pertains to the unique smell of leaves in the fall. The best answer on this Yahoo Answers page also proposed dank or musty but those don't quite fit either. Any help?


texts: Is the use of the preposition "on" and the parentheses in the sentence below correct?

texts: "The 20 marks are distributed as follows: (10 marks on grammar and 10 marks on vocabulary)". Shouldn't we use "for" instead of "on" and delete the parentheses?


texts:
If I were to take this literally, I might think this meant that someone was going to strip me naked and tie me to to a palm tree on a sunny day. I also understand that tanning refers to the process by which leather is cured, whether by chemicals or UV exposure. Growing up in the states, I know this to mean that you're about to get a thorough ass whooping.

It seems obvious that this idiom take it's origins from the way that leather is processed, but what is the relationship? Are hides physically beaten as part of the tanning process? Is it hyperbole that you're going to skin someone and make a nice purse out of them? Or maybe the nice red color your butt takes on after a good lashing?


texts: can "one' be substituted by "they" in a sentence?

texts:
I'm wondering if this sentence makes sense. If more examples could be offered, that would be appreciated. Thank you.

  As long as one has a pastor certificate and gifts and can analyze the Bible, it means they are approved and anointed by God.


texts:
Is there a single word for "put away" that would work in all of these contexts?

Put away the toys.
I put away the groceries.
The dishes were put away.

From searching I've come across a few possibilities, but none quite fit.

Stow

This seems the closest to what I'm looking for (by definition), but doesn't seem to fit well for the groceries or dishes example.

Stow the toys.
I stowed the groceries.
The dishes were stowed.

Stock

This one fits pretty well for the groceries example, but seems to fail pretty badly for toys and dishes.

Stock the toys.
I stocked the groceries.
The dishes were stocked.

Stash

Unexpectedly for me, this seems to come pretty close, but the dishes example feels to me like it should be "stashed away" instead.

Stash the toys.
I stashed the groceries.
The dishes were stashed.

For the benefit of people who think I haven't said this clearly enough,
I want a word that can fit into the blanks in the following sentences:

________ the toys.
I ________ the groceries.
The dishes were ________.


texts: the meaning of the phrase "Halloween came at what was considered the end of summer"

texts:
i have difficulty understanding the following sentence
"Halloween came at what was considered the end of summer and the harvest season, when snows and cold weather would shortly arrive"
(the source link will be at the bottom)

the part where i don't understand is "what was considered"
if i take away that phrase, it makes perfect sense to me

"halloween came at the end of summer and the harvest season, when .... "
To me, the sentence suggests the time when Halloween first appeared,
and that's probably why it says "came at [a specific time]"

but "what was considered the end of summer...."
sounds like an idea of the time, or an object, as in "take off what was called a jacket"

hence "came at what was considered ..." doesn't make sense to me
where the preposion "at" doesn't quite work with "what"
it sounds like i'm saying things like "I arrived at what was considered a night time." Rather, i would say "I arrived at night" or "I arrived at 6 O'clock" or even "I arrived at the time that was considered night"
or "I arrived at when was considered night"  if it ever makes sense

Was i wrong to interprete the sentence as
"Halloween came at the time that was consindered the end of summer ....."

Does that sentence make sense to the native speakers?
If so, what how do they mean by "came at

link:
http://www.headsupenglish.com/advanced/listening/halloween.pdf


texts: Name for the central region of the human hand/foot?

texts:
According to Wikipedia, the human hand is conventionally divided into the following parts:

Wrist: The region surrounding the carpal bones.
Palm: The underside of the hand, lying superficial the metacarpal bones.
Opisthenar (AKA back of the hand): The dorsal area lying opposite to the palm.
Heel of the hand: The area of the palm that is most proximal, lying over the bases of the metacarpals.
Digits: The four fingers and the opposable thumb.

Meanwhile, the human foot is conventionally divided into three parts:

Hindfoot: Comprises both the ankle (talus) and the heel (calcaneus).
Midfoot: Comprises the arches of the foot, made by the remaining five bones of the tarsus.
Forefoot: Comprises the anterior "half" of the foot that is formed by the metatarsal bones as well as the five toes attached to them. (Theoretically, it's probably reasonable to just identify the metatarsus alone as the forefoot proper, since the toes are technically appendages of the foot as a whole.)
Sole: The underside of the foot as a whole.
Instep: The arched part of the top of the foot between the ankle and the toes.
Toes: The digits of the foot.

However, this leaves a very crucial question unanswered: Are there plain English names for the "main body" of the hand/foot, i.e. the 3-dimensional portion that lies between the wrist/ankle bone and the digits, as opposed to their separate subdivisions or 2-dimensional surfaces?


texts: "How much" questions without auxiliary verb

texts:
Are all these questions and their answers possible?

a) How much costs this book? -> Ten dollars costs this book. (Ten dollars as a singular subject, the price).

b) How much costs this book? -> Ten dollars cost this book. (Ten dollars as a plural subject).

c) How much does it cost this book? -> This book costs ten dollars. (Ten dollars as an object)

d) How much does this book cost? -> This book costs ten dollars. (Same as the one above).


texts: Why is "er" sometimes pronounced with a long a sound as in the words inherit, ceremonial, and hysteria? (But not in the words exercise or commercial)


texts: Is there any difference between deputies & lawmakers?

texts:
As a non-native speaker quite often I get in trouble with slight differences between concepts. So, regarding to this doubt I think both of them are used to express the same thing but I'm not sure about it.

After looking for an answer in my dictionary but having no answer, I was told by a lawyer (ESL-learner) that these two words are similar in the matter of laws. However, I wanted to make it clear.

Could anyone help me out?


texts: To + verb in sentence without any other verb

texts:
From time to time I come across a sentence with to + verb, but with no other verb in it. I see it often in news titles. For example:

  Squall, Tina and Lightning to appear in Final Fantasy Explorers

But what does it mean? What is the difference between this form, and that:

  Squall, Tina and Lightning are appearing in Final Fantasy Explorers

The first time I saw that, I thought it was a mistake.


texts:
What is the appropriate question tag for the following sentence?

  A man like you shouldn't do this , _________ ? ("should you" or "should he")

I think it should be "should you" after reading about question tags from my textbooks and conversations with my online friends. This question was in my English 2nd paper (Grammar) exam. My teacher said "should you" is incorrect and the answer is "should he" because "like" is a preposition in the sentence therefore "a man" is the subject.


texts: The difference between "past continuous" and "present perfect continuous"

texts:
Let's consider the following context:

  You come to the office on Saturday and see somebody finish some
  actions and now (s)he is sitting at your workplace (you didn't expect
  to meet anyone), but anyway you are not surprised and just want to
  know what's happened.

There are at least two ways to ask your colleague:

  What were you doing here?
  What have you been doing here?

According to the rules I've learned, there is no big difference between these options.

Of course, our choice could depend on what my colleague is doing when I ask or other rules I don't know, but I do want to know what native speaker feels comparing these two questions in the above context and what the difference is.


texts: What do you call a person who makes a tender?

texts: I am writing a document and need to find the word to describe a person who makes a tender.  Would it be "the successful tenderers...".  I expect there is an apostrophe somewhere but I'm not sure.


texts:
FAQ stands for 'Frequently asked questions', with the plural being implicit in the acronym FAQ. But it is common to see the word 'FAQs' being used, which treat the word FAQ as an object in itself, and an s being added to its end in order to pluralize it.

Which one is the correct usage for FAQ ?